Aquaria hit the P2P

[RvLeshrac]

And from the standpoint of advertisers, its not worth it if its unobtrusive. Because if its unobtrusive, then its ineffective. And there is no point in paying large amount of money if its ineffective.

Not true!

If the ad is intrusive, it is worth *LESS* than if it is subtle. People are more likely to remember the ad if it pisses them off, but less likely to buy the product or recommend it to their friends.

[IceD]

It's true.

And really, 30$ isn't something (rather nothing), even for me in Poland  . Indie games are the future and we should support independent game creators, and It's likely i buy te game in meanwhile (my friend got it nad i was playing Aquaria with him - he's a real computer nerd and loves everything related to game creation). So, don't hesitate and buy the game! Aquaria, Derek and Alec really deserve this!

Oh, and btw - the best way to fight with p2p is ignore this society - if people won't bring the interest there would be nobody to seed the torrents...

[rinkuhero]

It might not be enough to cover the development costs as they are now for mainstream games, but it'd probably be enough to cover development costs for low budget games. For instance, Desktop Tower Defense (a flash game) reportedly made over 100,000$ through ads, so much that the author quit his job to begin to make flash games full time. 100k wouldn't cover the development costs for a game like Final Fantasy 13, but it'd cover the development costs for a game like Aquaria.

[Crizzle]

Meh, 100K would cover the costs of development for a game like Aquaria...but what about the livelihoods of those who developed it? What sort of profit would they be making? Not much, and that's why the incentive for independant developers to produce new games seems fairly low.

[Xiagan]

Dunno if you read Dueling Analogs, but the actual comic fits perfect in the (asleep) advertisemet discussion.

[ilGaspa]

Call me a dreamer, but maybe something can be done.. what you think of adding an entry to the main menu? Something like "Few words from the author", where you explain who are behing Bit Blow, how much love you put in the creation of the game... something like the introduction to a book that the author writes for the first page. It's not a nag screen, so it won't make anyone mad...
How would this help solve the problem? You see, I think most people that download from P2P just hear of Aquaria from a review, open thei P2P program and download it: they don't know that Bit Blot it's not EA or <put gaming monster company name here>... they don't know that every license counts, they think they are, as always, a drop in the ocean and that what they do won't hurt you: let they know who you are. Good games made with love are rare: lot of peoples would pay for Aquaria, if they only took time to know that's made by you and no by a mega-gaming-monster...
And besides..I like to know what the authors of my loved books think of their work... I think that a little "Few words from the author" screen would fit perfectly in the Aquaria atmosphere

[inkblob]

I found out about the game via a p2p undercurrent, frankly it's a good word of mouth network.  things that get posted are first considered worthy and then the degree of popularity is sort of thermometer of what a slice of the public thinks.  I actively use torrents for tv, really not much else, but saw the buzz around this game from there, and then saw it posted on a few tech blogs and prompted me to look into it more, where I found out that the game was independent and would benefit directly from my purchase.  I've been telling lots of people in person about it and posting it on the various forums I'm on hoping that at least one of those noodles will stick as well.

 I just did a quick look at a few sites and it's still being distributed but it's mostly seeded with very little leechers if that says anything ( it's usually the case but the ration seemed steeper )  and on any site that had comments there were people saying to support the developers and others saying they had already bought it.  the p2p impact on Aquaria might be significantly different than a commercial game as people think they are not impacting a commercial game's sales as much, and not all, but some people who frequent those sites have a bit of a conscience. personally I am quicker to go see a band live and buy their album or shirt at the show, and do so anytime a band I like comes through town, or if a band is on a smaller label. it's hard to equate game and application developers as artists and comparing them to musicians and setting your morale compass that way might help. it's sort of the difference between a drop in the ocean to a tablespoon in the bathtub, it really does make a difference!

[Dencore]

I'm sorry but stealing a game from indie devs is ridiculous. Sure I download torrents all the time, but it's stuff that I can't get anyother way (PlaneScape Torment) or from a company that has made alot of money from the game (StarCraft).

Makes me mad!

[PiscesToAquaria]

I think it's naive to assume that the bulk of people leeching off of torrents have a conscience.  What you mean is that the few people who bother to post on torrent sites claim to have one.  Chances are many of them do not, and the anonymous silent masses almost certainly do not.

I do agree, however, that piracy increases the mindshare a game gets.  It may be possible to capitalize on that extra awareness, with something built right into the product, which gets distributed with it regardless of venue.  What the details would be, for something like ad revenue which includes pirated copies in the overall multiplier, I have hardly a notion.  I need to punt.

[Glamador]

I refuse the torrent a game.  There are only 2 circumstances that would cause me to get a game illegally via torrent.  1.  The game is out of print or elsewise incredibly difficult to find.  Or 2.  The game has no demo and a friend REALLY wants me to play it.  But in option 2, if I like it and it's available, I will purchase it.

Of course I torrent plenty of other things.  Not movies, I used to do that but now I've started to feel really guilty about that.  I used to torrent movies b/c my parents never took me to movies or else refused to go to blockbuster because of the huge late fees.  But both of those issues have changed, so no more movie torrents for me.  The only thing I download nowadays are legal torrents, foreign things that I couldn't get any other way, and anime.  I refuse to purchase anime in stores because it is HORRIFYINGLY overpriced.  25 dollars for less than 2 hours of content?  You can get a 2 hour movie for 10-15 bucks depending on its age.  As far as cost per minute, anime pricing is atrocious.

[Alphasoldier]

I use torrents for:
1. Movies, the Cinema's here are HELLISH expensive and yes I go there from time to time and alot of Movies are not worth their money.
2. Games that I already own or have owned and lost for any reason.
3. Games that have no demo. I just want to try it and most of the time if I like it I buy the original afterwards.
4. Games who aren't worth their value in the stores. Short and ugly games.
5. Music. Somehow I never bought a actual Music CD or a Album or anything else, even thouhg I love to listen to music. Must be because Napster existed in the time that I got into the internet and downloading.

Yes I use torrents alot, but all that I actually do with it doesn't really seem all that illegal, more likely righteous, besides the music... but who doesn't do that? I mean those singers are already rich enough, no need to give them more money. =p

[Glamador]

Well the new ones arn't rich if you steal their music outright.

[Dozin]

@Alpha

Who doesn't download music (via pirate networks)? People who buy the music of course

There is plenty of creative-commons/free music floating around out there. I know 80% of it can be considered junk, but when it comes to the free music scene, you can be rewarded with some real gems if you dig hard enough.

[Xiagan]

I think it's naive to assume that the bulk of people leeching off of torrents have a conscience.  What you mean is that the few people who bother to post on torrent sites claim to have one.  Chances are many of them do not, and the anonymous silent masses almost certainly do not.

I think we were at this point of the discussion already, but this people wouldn't have bought the game this way or that way, so you can't consider it a loss... and maybe a friend of them sees it and then he goes and purchase it. Who knows?

I bought more Albums since I started downloading music. A lot more...

Good free music can be found on jamendo.com for example.

[Alphasoldier]

I never bought music, propably never will. And I find it kind of hard to find out what's free music and what isn't cause there are anough songs on my comp which I think is free, while alot of people paid for it. Further, I know that all the music from the celebs aren't free, but I don't even listen to most of that music, only groups I ever downloaded from that isn't free would be Metal bands, Linkin Park ( omg EMO, SHUNN), and SOAD and those kinds of groups. Further I listen alot to OST from games. AND that alot of music isn't available in the shops anymore, which is kind of depressing too.
Or paying 5€ for one fucking single, damned Britney Spears