5 ms·

This business model is cool, free game digitally, but boxed it costs money. (let's ignore the "you need the original doom" stuff for the purposes of considering

This business model is cool, free game digitally, but boxed it costs money. (let's ignore the "you need the original doom" stuff for the purposes of considering this business model) Also, the company providing the actual boxes, Limited Run Games, does cool stuff. I thought a game was going to be digital only, and then found them doing a version in a real box, DRM free, no steam activation required; I thought that was cool of everyone involved. I miss big boxes. Apparently they disappeared because Walmart wanted to make room for DVDs by removing software SKUs, so the software publishers downsized the boxes so they wouldn't have to put fewer SKUs on the shelf at Walmart. https://rome.ro/news/2018/4/18/big-box-extinction https://rome.ro/news/2018/4/18/big-box-extinction (intro) and https://rome.ro/bigbox https://rome.ro/bigbox (actual blog post w/ story) Lastly, John Romero, if you're reading: fix your blog ^ why is the intro not included on the blog post page?

pdpi 8y ago
Needing the original Doom is par for the course for this sort of megawad project, even if it’s Romero making it. There’s a bunch of tricky licensing issues around shipping the original Doom wad that you’d need for core game resources.
- PostOnce 8y ago
  Yeah, understandable; that's what I meant by the "let's ignore you need DOOM" part, because everything Romero made he's giving away free. So his business model is still "it's free digitally, but costs for the box set". What I wanted to avoid was people saying "oh but it's not free you have to buy DOOM", which is irrelevant to the idea at hand. Now that I think of it, locomalito did this before, http://www.locomalito.com http://www.locomalito.com -- he makes retro freeware games, and occasionally sells box sets of those for a fee.
  - ido 8y ago
    I've looked into it & you're basically making cents on the dollar on these limited edition boxed sets due to manufacturing cost at such a small scale + shipping. It's nice for a hobby but not a good way to make a living.
    - PostOnce 8y ago
      Sure. It could always be used as a promo tool / halo product though; e.g. the press you can generate with the limited edition could move units of the non-limited one. But you're right, generally it's a hobby or just a gesture for the fans, not a business decision -- and that's cool.
- gadders 8y ago
  Does "Original Doom" also include the version on Steam?
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    I hope so, I've preordered already in the hope that SIGIL runs on the original release - then I'll be playing it on my actual 486 when it arrives! Obviously I'll have to transfer the WAD over but it's set up so that Win 3.1 can see my NAS so the fact that it ships on USB media hopefully shouldn't present a problem.
  - Zardoz84 8y ago
    Install Zandronum or ZDoomGL, and copy the doom.wad to it. You will get a much better experience.
    - gadders 8y ago
      Good tip, thanks.
  - throwanem 8y ago
    Yes.
- Zardoz84 8y ago
  Today it's very easy picking DooM from GOG or Steam, or any warez site.
ido 8y ago
This business model is cool, free game digitally, but boxed it costs money. If you're not Romero (and probably even if you are) this is a plan to make basically beer money - or any way, not enough to support a development studio making these games. I suspect this is mostly a hobby for him.
- vanderZwan 8y ago
  I agree with both you and with GP. It's more of a "feel good" symbolic support model, and that's great! There should be a place for that in our lives too. Being paid for working on something that ultimately isn't about the money is actually a really tricky problem to solve, and this feels like a decent approach.
- lostjohnny 8y ago
  It works in music though A friend of mine runs a small music label in Italy ( https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/ https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/ ) in the stoner segment and had some success printing vinyls in limited edition of the bands he publish You have to create your fan base first, but usually when you build it from the ground up it's loyal and buys everything you print He makes enough to sustain a small business and had the satisfaction of getting in touch with the bands he once listened to when he was younger and to republish them (Nebula, Nick Oliveri from QOTSA, Brant Bjork from Kyuss)
  - transpostmeta 8y ago
    It works for the label, but does it enable the artists to live off of their music? I doubt it.
    - diablerouge 8y ago
      Most musicians live off the money they make touring and performing. It's rare that a musician makes enough money off of record sales alone.
    - lostjohnny 8y ago
___alt 8y ago
While I suspected the disappearance of big software boxes had something to do with available shelf space, it didn't know it was competition from DVDs that were the main factor.
lostphilosopher 8y ago
Chris Anderson wrote a book on these sort of "pricing" systems: _Free: The Future of a Radical Price_ [1]. Worth a read if you're into this idea. It includes some interesting historical examples of creative selling. Can't say I _agree_ with the book, but glad I read it. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp/1401322905 https://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp....

pdpi 8y ago

Needing the original Doom is par for the course for this sort of megawad project, even if it’s Romero making it. There’s a bunch of tricky licensing issues around shipping the original Doom wad that you’d need for core game resources.

PostOnce 8y ago
Yeah, understandable; that's what I meant by the "let's ignore you need DOOM" part, because everything Romero made he's giving away free. So his business model is still "it's free digitally, but costs for the box set". What I wanted to avoid was people saying "oh but it's not free you have to buy DOOM", which is irrelevant to the idea at hand. Now that I think of it, locomalito did this before, http://www.locomalito.com http://www.locomalito.com -- he makes retro freeware games, and occasionally sells box sets of those for a fee.
- ido 8y ago
  I've looked into it & you're basically making cents on the dollar on these limited edition boxed sets due to manufacturing cost at such a small scale + shipping. It's nice for a hobby but not a good way to make a living.
  - PostOnce 8y ago
    Sure. It could always be used as a promo tool / halo product though; e.g. the press you can generate with the limited edition could move units of the non-limited one. But you're right, generally it's a hobby or just a gesture for the fans, not a business decision -- and that's cool.
gadders 8y ago
Does "Original Doom" also include the version on Steam?
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  I hope so, I've preordered already in the hope that SIGIL runs on the original release - then I'll be playing it on my actual 486 when it arrives! Obviously I'll have to transfer the WAD over but it's set up so that Win 3.1 can see my NAS so the fact that it ships on USB media hopefully shouldn't present a problem.
- Zardoz84 8y ago
  Install Zandronum or ZDoomGL, and copy the doom.wad to it. You will get a much better experience.
  - gadders 8y ago
    Good tip, thanks.
- throwanem 8y ago
  Yes.
Zardoz84 8y ago
Today it's very easy picking DooM from GOG or Steam, or any warez site.

ido 8y ago

This business model is cool, free game digitally, but boxed it costs money. If you're not Romero (and probably even if you are) this is a plan to make basically beer money - or any way, not enough to support a development studio making these games. I suspect this is mostly a hobby for him.

vanderZwan 8y ago
I agree with both you and with GP. It's more of a "feel good" symbolic support model, and that's great! There should be a place for that in our lives too. Being paid for working on something that ultimately isn't about the money is actually a really tricky problem to solve, and this feels like a decent approach.
lostjohnny 8y ago
It works in music though A friend of mine runs a small music label in Italy ( https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/ https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/ ) in the stoner segment and had some success printing vinyls in limited edition of the bands he publish You have to create your fan base first, but usually when you build it from the ground up it's loyal and buys everything you print He makes enough to sustain a small business and had the satisfaction of getting in touch with the bands he once listened to when he was younger and to republish them (Nebula, Nick Oliveri from QOTSA, Brant Bjork from Kyuss)
- transpostmeta 8y ago
  It works for the label, but does it enable the artists to live off of their music? I doubt it.
  - diablerouge 8y ago
    Most musicians live off the money they make touring and performing. It's rare that a musician makes enough money off of record sales alone.
  - lostjohnny 8y ago

___alt 8y ago

While I suspected the disappearance of big software boxes had something to do with available shelf space, it didn't know it was competition from DVDs that were the main factor.

lostphilosopher 8y ago

Chris Anderson wrote a book on these sort of "pricing" systems: _Free: The Future of a Radical Price_ [1]. Worth a read if you're into this idea. It includes some interesting historical examples of creative selling. Can't say I _agree_ with the book, but glad I read it. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp/1401322905 https://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp....