I paid full price because I want to honor Cliff’s hard work. Even if I’m on one income now (my wife died 2 weeks ago), this game has kept me busy and is therapudic.
Just wondering, but which gets you more money, the discount one or the full-priced one through steam?
But I want a chance to pay MORE. dingbat game designer will go broke and stop making these crazy good games
I’m having a bit of a pricing experiment too. The new race is $5.99, just like the last ones were. However, there is the option to get it at a discounted rate, if you are in certain circumstances, which I’m letting you decide for yourself. There are more details on the buy page, together with stats to show who took the discount (not by name, just by percentage).
The details are here:
positech.co.uk/gratuitousspa … nomads.php
I think this is quite an interesting experiment in terms of games pricing. If you agree, please feel free to digg, tweet, slashdot submit, facebook like, or otherwise mention it to people. Every such mention helps, and is appreciated. Also feel free to leave feedback on the new ships.
Note that the Nomads don’t come with new scenarios, just the new ships (and a few new module variants). I figured that the real meat-and-potatoes of a new race was the ships, not a new backdrop and a new enemy fleet.
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I’m very sorry for your loss, scratch. Feel free to PM me if you ever need a stranger to talk to.
Excellent article, thanks for the pointer. And of course Cliff isn’t losing money on this (I mean not on a per-sale basis), it’s a product with effectively a zero incremental cost of production. But I rather like the price model he’s going with on this one, and worry that if too many people select the discount version he won’t feel like doing it again. Which would be a shame for those folks who really really need the discount.
I’ve been wrestling with this thought, personally. If I buy the product, I’ll probably think of it more as a donation than a purchase. I would be willing to pay for a new feature to the game, especially if it came with a DLC race such as this, but this feels like a more limited version of the DLC I already have and don’t use. I’m not terribly happy with the the stats for the hulls that in the game, so why would I conclude I’ll be pleased with these new ones?
So I’m torn between letting the game stagnate and paying for “features” I don’t care about, even possibly encouraging the release of more such products. If it had at least one new innovative game feature (preferably more than one, but I’d settle for one) such as the tribe salvo weapon or the order’s radiation gun, I would pay the full price in a heartbeat - if for no other reason than to encourage production of more features. But based on the stuff that’s in the game already, I have no reason to conclude that I’ll get anything more than a few racial weapons that are similar to currently existing weapons (the Nomad Fusion Laser, perhaps?) and a few unbalanced hulls.
I think I’ll pass on this one and make up for it by purchasing the campaign a couple times.
(Which reminds me: While Cliff is exploring the possibility of different pricing models, I’d like to suggest special “gift rates” as a type of pricing model, too. I bought the game in a Steam sale, and bought additional copies for my friends. I can’t do that now that its full price, although I still encourage friends to buy the game and download the demo.)
I like this new “experiment”. And, looking by the sales, more people bought the standard version so far, which surprised me.
Now, if only I had a way to buy this without having the need of an international credit card (I do have the money, but I’m outside US)… oh well, the whole internet payment business should make a way for people like me (hehe!).
PayPal?
Well, I can’t add funds here without an international credit card (which is not easy to get).
But nonetheless, this is a problem I have with all with all the international online game shops.
Thanks for another race cliffsky… and more turret graphics… and new ship hulls…
Hmm interesting experiment you have made… if you were just another big games company i wouldn’t have any doubts and choose the discount… but when i can support the game that i also dream about and have fun and know the man and people who create this then here you go… fair price for fair content
I just noticed this game today, on a slashdot article. Congrats Cliff. I will probably wait a bit before downloading the demo to try the game, but I wanted to chime in on DLC. Personally, my price limit for DLC is $4.99. I think the $3 version is a great deal, and would wait a few months for a deal on steam to pay $3 instead of $6. If there was an option to pay what you want for DLC, like some developers have tried, I would pay $3, but would pay up to $5 if I was really into the game. Like Borderlands.
Good luck Positech, I do hope to be back, and will probably be once I see a deal on steam.
I’m sure Cliff accepts donations through PayPal. 
Oh! This is something I ran into earlier, thought it might be interesting:
http://flipthemedia.com/index.php/2010/06/wolfire-games-pay-what-you-want-experiment-pays-off/
I, like many fans of this game, am going to get the expansion. So all I’m looking at is a difference of three yanqui dollars. And that is, frankly, an amount of money that I can find in my metaphoric couch. It’s pretty close to the amount I spend for a brief but mutually gratifying interaction with a barista on the days that I feel I’m too good for the coffee-like swill available at work (I’ll miss the smile). It’s less than the cost of a pack of fresh Magic cards (I’ll miss the scent). Hell, it’s less than the difference in cost between a pound-and-a-half of burrito and a fried pork sandwich at lunch (but I gotta stop eating those burritos, they go straight to my waistline).
It is an interesting exercise in pricing, though. Cliff, have you looked at Kickstarter, and considered using it to help line-up funding?
I paid full price because:
I want to support the developer.
The price wasn’t a large sum.
VAT is 17.5% (for now).
I felt like not paying full price because:
The expansion doesn’t offer very much (in my view).
I already bought the other expansions and felt that, they too, didn’t offer enough.
Paypal and BMT Micro messed me around, (because I ordered while on holiday in another country).
It’s easy to choose the lower price, because all working class need the extra money.
I’m on a pay-as-you-go dongle, so I’m paying by the MB for the download.
For future expansions, I won’t want to pay full price because:
I’ve already got several extra races, (from the other expansions).
I want an expansion that expands the existing races, (which would also incentivise the purchase of each race).
How about expanding your experiment and adding an extra purchase link: Pay the remainder of the full price, if you bought the discounted version and liked it. After all, the software pirating slogan is: Like it? buy it! (or words to the effect of).
It would be interesting to see how many come back and give the rest of the cash.
+1. I’ll gladly pay Cliff the difference in a few weeks since I bought the discount version because I’m broke atm.
Hmmmm… Why not a link where you can pay more? Name your price (must be above the normal price). Worth a try?
Thanks to Cliffski for the expansion, really appreciated…
As for the price, let’s face it, how many people out there can’t afford $6 but can shell out $3? all we’re talking about here is the price of a cup of coffee…When I look around at the big gaming companies and how they treat their customers I have absolutely no problem paying $6, and would be perfectly happy to pay twice that 
I agree with the suggestion above for an option to pay what you want above the asked price, he’s making brilliant games and selling them for what is, frankly, a pittance…
Yes I second this also, Make a link were you are able to pay MORE than what the price that Cliffski is asking for his DCL and full game programs. If we like it so much and feel that it is worth $20 to us then let us WILLINLY pay $20 for the game. While those that can not aford the $20 pay only the asking price.
what say ye Cliffski is it worth looking into and seeing what will happen?
Lonestar
Maybe I should do that for the campaign thingy.