The Drunken Lizard Pub

solution is simple:

draw images for disk and box, anyone who want physical media will be allowed to burn CD-R, lighscribe image on disk and print boxcovers, in Russia this will cost 2$, 1$ for CDR and 1$ for printing
intallation can be handled by steambackup, also such way completely legal.

problem solved.

Well...I probably would have bought digital anyway.

BasiliskWrangler wrote: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).

And as long as you're still doing this, I'm pretty happy.

I stopped caring about physical media years ago, in fact, I prefer digital distribution.

I'm with the people who want the game any way they can get it.

GOG would be awesome, Steam is fine, Plimus (which I don't know about yet), DVD -- all good.

A collector's edition with all 3 games and the goodies you mention would be MOST welcome in my household. I hope you have a mailing list (email or post) to let people know when it becomes available to order. I want to be one of the select 500!!

I'm really not a fan of the way everything from games, to films and even TV are trying very hard to go digitally only,I still love to have a physical copy of something both to have something to show and so I don't have to worry about requiring an internet connection and a company keeping there servers open to enjoy something.

That said I can see your point of view on it and to be honest I probably wouldn't have been purchasing a physical copy of Book III anyway, the trilogy DVD set on the other hand I was very excited about from the moment it was mentioned and I'm pleased to hear it's still being considered

I'd simply say that if it's not worth the effort from a financial standpoint then don't do it - either that, or charge more for the physical copies.

I do not care. Discs from the U.S. are insanely long. In any case, to order them I will not.

You could charge for the disc whatever seems appropriate to you and make it pre order only.
So if you get 500 people to buy it you can order a batch and its still worth your while.
I would certainly be among those 500.

OK, give me electronic download so I can have it on my computer 10 seconds after it's released.
Then let me pay in advance for the collectors' edition DVD.
I can pay now if you like.
; - )

I don't think I'll ever find time to physically visit a store and buy a DVD. I'd much rather prefer what you suggest - ie download an image file and burn it on the disc myself. But there is a catch.

Not so long ago I was using 3G where a 12 GB data plan was equivalent to about $50 in my local currency.

No issues if its a small download. But if its a large download - we maybe adding quiet a bit to the actual cost. And a lot of folks won't understand that they'd otherwise be paying similar amounts for shipping and logistics. That correlation is hard to make, and it gets skewed in favour of shipping as the file size increases.

If its a large download - you need a country specific affordability model factoring in the file size and the local cost of downloading it. One size won't fit all.

Unless there's a map, I prefer digital distribution as well.

If there is a map, it doesn't even have to be cloth, I don't discriminate as long as it is gorgeous, and preferably shipped rolled instead of folded.

unlikely that sprite game powered by 10 years old engine will ever hit 1gb (packed).

I also want to chime in and say that I prefer digital distribution. Gog.com is great, even Steam works well, although I must say that I like GoG much more as I have much greater freedom in doing what I like with the games I buy. For instance, I have can take the stuff I download from GoG to any of my computers, I don't have to log in on some server somewhere to make it work.

I think the DRM craze is a passing trend really. It is to no value to the consumer, doesn't stop piracy at all, and costs a lot of money to develop and maintain.

only way to force users to buy game (and not to pirate it) is online services.

steam workshop with mods is easy to implement and will push game forward without much investment, GOG feature no similar service.

I have no issue with Digital Only Distribution. Honestly, if it saves you money and allows you to devote more time to living your lives and making more games, the hell with the Physical Media