Summerbatch - v2 consideration

[Peder 🚀]

So I watched the counter go wild and count from 9 years and down for 5 minutes several times faster and faster, until it went to a full stop at 12... Now, WHERE IS THE SUMMERBATCH?! I DEMAND ANSWERS! XD

[Calin Leafshade]

The website says they'll be an official trailer "soon". Surely that shouldve been released *before* the bundle went live.
Speaking of which, why isnt the bundle live yet? The timer is at zero.

I googled "summerbatch" and got nothing. No press, no reviews, nothing.

I don't think you were ready, m0ds.

[CaptainD]

I gave it a mention on 2 of my blogs, neither of which have been picked up for just the search term "Summerbatch" (with "Summerbatch PC adventure games I found them though).

[Mati256]

I found your blog with just "summerbatch" CaptainD.
Also, looks like it's live right now.

[m0ds]

It's available!

Haha Peder, yeah, I don't know why that happened - but I too saw that, it seemed to reach 5 minutes and then go wild.

Calin - well, the website is #1 on Google search, but yes, you didn't find any press reviews yet because there aren't any published so far. It's on sale for 3 months, we have time to get more press interest, it's not all about getting everyone to buy it the minute it comes out. The trailer was a last minute addition due to someone's suggestion a few days ago, and with all the other tasks, it's not going to be ready until tomorrow or Monday, I just haven't had the time.

CaptainD - thanks! Search by date and they're there, but no idea why not in a normal search. But it seems the term "summer batch" isn't all that uncommon.

A proper thread in completed games coming soon, just trying to poop and eat first.

[Chicky]

Nooo! Not paypal!

Urg, Paypal are useless. A while ago they 'limited' my account, stopping me from logging in whilst preventing me from using my cards with any other Paypal services.

Is there an alternative m0ds? I would like to throw some cash.

[m0ds]

Hi Nathan - have you tried it without logging in? This time round, I'm afraid other payment processor options were just too expensive. When the company grows, I'll definitely move it away from PayPal, but in these early stages - it's the most economic choice, despite it being despised by many

[Chicky]

Yep, Paypal are crafty. It's no biggie, i'll just hijack a friends account when the opportunity arises. Congrats on the release!

[CaptainD]

Looking forward to seeing the amount raised after day one! 

Downloading my copy now...

[qptain Nemo]

Cheers for everybody who bought and will buy the summerbatch!
In case someone likes PISS soundtrack and thinks I (and my indie dev cause) deserve some additional support, you may proceed to buy the music from http://qptainnemo.bandcamp.com/album/piss or just get it for free if you think you've paid enough for the bundle.

[ddq]

I think you're doing it backwards. Instead of opening without any press and running it for far too long, hoping press will drum up later, the optimal strategy is to generate anticipation and have a short window of availability to increase perceived demand. Someone with only moderate interest will see the site and say "oh that looks neat, I might buy that later" and forget it quickly, while a limited sale time improves the chances of impulse buys. Too late now, though.

[ThreeOhFour]

I don't like the idea of aggressively marketed sales with COUNTDOWN TIMER OMG 3 DAYS LEFT!!! and things when you can have a polite sale that lasts for longer and lets people make their own choice rather than impulse buy.

But then, I don't really care how much money it makes, I guess. I did plan to send my game out to some press sites earlier but mine was the last finished, so it never happened. It's all my fault 

[Radiant]

Nooo! Not paypal!

Urg, Paypal are useless. A while ago they 'limited' my account, stopping me from logging in whilst preventing me from using my cards with any other Paypal services.

Precisely the same happened to me, and since I can no longer log in, I can also not access their help and service desk. Sorry guys, if this is paypal-only then I have no way of buying it.

[selmiak]

I think you're doing it backwards. Instead of opening without any press and running it for far too long, hoping press will drum up later, the optimal strategy is to generate anticipation and have a short window of availability to increase perceived demand. Someone with only moderate interest will see the site and say "oh that looks neat, I might buy that later" and forget it quickly, while a limited sale time improves the chances of impulse buys. Too late now, though.

but with that 'strategy' (which probably is not even a strategy ) even videogame magazines and blogs HAVE TO buy it to review it. And looking at these humble bundles, some of them can be quite generous, when listed by name on the website as the highest paying customer *wink wink*

[m0ds]

Hehe, I like the arguments, definitely. Helps you focus on your business sense

Day 1, no press beyond AGS and Adventure Gamers, plenty of sales. Tomorrow, the 50 sites we hope to get coverage from... I'm sorry, but the "anticipation" strategy is reserved for games that are already anticipated, Summerbatch #1 never was - but perhaps will be in the future and such a marketing strategy will be necessary.

In the meantime, thanks everyone, for your overwhelming support! Let us know how you get on with the games

I'm looking into a way to get it if you absolutely hate or can't use PayPal, I KNOW this is an issue for some people (some of my closest AGS friends in fact) - just wait a little while longer. Three months is plenty of time to make sure we can cater for you folks, you can't get it now - I'm sorry, but you can't hold me or the team accountable for the fact you fudged up your PayPal

Oh Summerbatch and commercialism, with your funny people commenting ways! Appreciate it though, keep the comments coming

[Calin Leafshade]

I think I agree with ddq. For something like this you need to over generate interest, and you do that by creating pressure behind the release, this creates momentum.

Some people were going to buy it anyway (adventure game fans) so you need to try and concentrate their purchases at the start so that you make a splash. This splash, in turn, generates more natural media coverage which generates more sales.

The humble bundle is an example of perfect execution. They released a very funny, viral trailer before hand which generated interest and had a very simple, nice looking, easy to use site to buy the games from and it sold a *shit load* even though the actual games in the 1st bundle weren't that good.

Having said that, I wish all the developers the best of luck in getting a lot of sales!

[ddq]

As an alternative to PayPal, I've used Amazon Payments. Dunno how easy it is to integrate, though.

[Fitz]

As an alternative to PayPal, I've used Amazon Payments. Dunno how easy it is to integrate, though.

As a frequent customer at Amazon, I second that.

Finished PISS in one sitting last night. ThreeOhFour at his best. Hard to leave until you finish.

Next up: Barely Floating.

Btw, would everyone like a review in the bundle's Completed Games thread or individually in the game's profile page?

[Frodo]

Congrats on releasing the Summerbatch.  All the games look amazing 
Such a pity you won't make it work properly in IE8 though.  It will put a lot of people of, if they're forced to install another search engine.   

I have a question though.  Will the games work in Windows 7?   

[Fitz]

I have a question though.  Will the games work in Windows 7?   

Yeah, they run on Win7 just fine. The only problem I came across is that when I originally installed it in C:\Program Filex (x86) (as suggested by the Install Wizard itself) it demanded I run it as Administrator -- and... well... I'm totally blonde. AGS itself did that, too, way back when I first installed in on Win7 -- and I had to tinker with the access settings a bit. Not impossible to do - but too much of a hassle, if you asked me. In any case... If you ever experienced that with any of the AGS games, all you have to do is simply place it in some other, non-system folder.