Sit down. We need to have a talk.

[BasiliskWrangler]

There is a lot of talk around here about possibly not doing a DVD version of Book III. Before you protest, let me discuss this with you.

- I love the physical media (you should see my game library and my Blu-Ray collection). But in the past 3 years it has become clear that the world is moving away from physical media, especially for games. Even I buy a majority of my games in digital form now. Gone are the days I could browse 3 full walls of PC games at Electronic Boutique.

- Only about 3% of all the copies of Book 1 and 2 we sold were DVDs. Yes, we probably would have sold more if we had ordered more discs when we ran out, but sales had dropped to 1-2 per week at that time and ordering another 500 (minimum order) didn't make sense.

- Shipping sucks. The U.S. government has made it as hard as possible to ship packages outside of the States. We have to fill out Customs Forms for each disc and literally stand in line with boxes of packages, waiting for each package to be scanned and processed. This is why places like Amazon just build distribution centers in other countries, because international shipping from the U.S. is a nightmare.

- It's just not worth it. We generally charge $10 - $12 more per disc to cover all this shipping cost, but by the time we pay for the discs, the packaging, the shipping fees, our time to handle it all (or pay a shipping company to do it all for us), we barely break even. And if a disc gets lost in transit then we do it all again for free (this has happened at least a dozen times).

So...what are the options?

Well, we could make all the artwork and disc content available for fans to make their own discs. This would include the DVD case insert artwork and DVD disc artwork. You print it yourself and make your own disc and disc case.

Also, with Plimus we can set an option to have them send you a disc if you buy it through us. This isn't a pretty disc in a cool box, but rather just a copy of the install file on a disc that is sent to you, for an additional $6.00.

So...what is everyone's opinion of this?

[Vroqren]

As nice as it is to have a physical copy of games, I agree with you that the world is moving away from this. I would probably end up just buying it electronically anyway, so I have no objections. Everyone here is all for you getting more money for your work: you deserve it.

[Randomizer]

I have the CD-ROMs for Book 1 and older Spiderweb Software games and a few other companies mostly from back when I had dial-up. Back then tying up a phone line for hours to get the games was a pain.

I still like a physical version just because it's so easy for a hard drive to get damaged so I have to reload them. I already had to do that once just after I got my computer, then a few years later reloading the operating system required removed gigabytes of material to make room for installing the new version before deleting the corrupted old version.

But if everything else that I would get is available for download, then I guess it doesn't make a difference. Shipping is getting harder just for the physical labor of getting them out.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I would however encourage you to give some serious thought to releasing a special Collectors Edition that contained all three Eschalon games with some special features and the editor tools after you have made your final update to the series.

Yes, this is still planned, but probably not for a couple years. It would be a final Collectors Edition disc with updates of all three games, for all three platforms, plus soundtracks, developer tools, and a selection of fan-made maps. It would be very limited (perhaps a single run of 500 copies).

[munster]

International customer here. Yes, I've moved to electronic downloads rather than physical media for pretty much everything to do with the PC, not alone games.

So for the sake of you going through all that hassle sending me a disc in a case for me to stick on a shelf and leave to get dusty, I am perfectly happy to go the "download over the internet" route instead.

With much appreciation for all the hard work you do and the enjoyment the games have given me!

[Rotnefson]

I'm personally against archives of any kind so electronic all the way.

[xolotl]

I'm one of that 3% who would be buying the physical version if it was available, but I totally understand if it simply doesn't make financial sense to do so. It seems like there's probably far more useful ways you could be spending your time/money than providing a niche product to a demographic that's simply not large enough to make it worthwhile. I'd imagine most folks would feel the same way. Mostly we're just looking forward to Book 3, however we end up getting it!

[Painted Lady]

I pretty much don't need a hard copy of the game if I can download electronically. The CD would make a nice collector's item, but who knows how long that format will endure? Any one remember the 3.5" floppy that ruled the world for a few decades?

[Randomizer]

I pretty much don't need a hard copy of the game if I can download electronically. The CD would make a nice collector's item, but who knows how long that format will endure? Any one remember the 3.5" floppy that ruled the world for a few decades?

I still have files on 5.25" discs. I know people that have them on 9" discs, paper tape, and punch cards.

Next year I'm going to see about acquiring a 5.25" drive for my old Pentium 1 tower PC so I can access the old discs.

[SpottedShroom]

I'm one of those people who doesn't like owning a lot of physical stuff, so digital distribution is great for me. I bought Books I and II in digital-only and plan to do the same for Book III.

N+1 on the idea of a collector's edition on physical media, though. I like having more ways to support my favorite developers.

[TheBuzzSaw]

I don't think physical media will die off entirely because it is transitioning to the niche collector market. I think you should still offer physical media; just charge much more for it. Make it worth your while. The majority will buy digitally, but the few who insist on having a collectors item can still get it.

[IJBall]

Let me put it this way - if you put out a DVD, with a cool case and cool cover artwork, I would definitely prefer buying that version (as I did with Book II).

But if you don't put one out, I will still absolutely buy the game via electronic download (as I did with Book I).

So, while I'd miss having the cool DVD-in-a-case, it wouldn't effect me buying the product.
I suspect a number of us who would buy the DVD will feel exactly the same way.

(Please still consider doing stuff like putting out a cloth (or fold-out paper) Eschalon world map later, though!!)

[Vroqren]

(Please still consider doing stuff like putting out a cloth (or fold-out paper) Eschalon world map later, though!!)

+1 to this. I would pay so much for this...

[Unbeliever]

MOST preferable is distribution through GOG -- or at least, a GOG-style, electronic-distribution-with-redownload-capability-but-no-DRM type of setup.

I agree that physical media are on the way out. I haven't yet used the DVD on my year-old high-end Maingear Potenza -- apart from testing briefly to make sure it actually worked.

[I bought the DVD of Eschalon 2 mainly as an excuse to throw you more $$$.]

So yeah, downloads are fine. If you could arrange some way for us to redownload in case of user idiocy ("Backups? What are those?"), that would be even better.

Oh, and cloth maps. Disk or no disk, we need cloth maps. Get on it.

[MyGameCompany]

Download is fine for me. While it would be nice to have a case, I'm happy if you include the cover art so I can print it myself. But everything that would be on the DVD could also be offered as a download - I'd pay more to be able to also download the soundtrack and some fan-made maps.