So I have a philosophical gaming question for you.
Visual novels are admittedly pretty niche in the gaming market as a whole.
If they don’t sell well enough sequels don’t happen.
So, as a patient gamer, do I pay full price for these games to support further development even though that means buying less games.
Or do I wait till they go for deep discount like I have been and have therefore been able to spread my limited support around more.
If my end goal is making sure these games keep being made as much as possible, what’s my best option?
I am all for the patient gaming mentality and typically wait until games are 50%+ off before I think of purchasing.
Looking for opinions on my best course of action. Thanks!
It’s quite easy, actually. I usually play everything years after release, however, if I’m really into a certain series, I’ll buy it right away. If I don’t care for the wait, I probably don’t care enough about whether or not a sequel is being made.
Of course that only works if you don’t get hyped easily. I play a lot of games, but usually only 1-2 per year are released within said year.
The question is moot from both sides of the deal, but understanding why is important.
For something like a game, you will only ever pay approximately what you think a game is “worth”. How you determine that value is entirely up to you and should be based on your own opinions and beliefs. Therefore, if you derive value from supporting niche developers, that’s great for you and you should continue to do so as you wish. If you don’t value that quite as much, then wait for a sale price that does.
Your individual decisions will not affect the decisions of publishers and developers.
Their decisions will take into account the total profit that they think a game can provide over its lifetime. This is determined by the initial price and sales as well as future discount prices and sales. The way they estimate the potential profit of a new project is based on past data. If they see most of their sales at launch time, they will price the game accordingly. If they see more revenue over time from sales, then they will price the game accordingly. As long as they continue to hit those goals, then they will continue making products for those audiences.
Therefore, the best way to support the projects you like is to buy the game when the price justifies the value to you. That is buy it whenever you want. The only way to not support (I am purposefully avoiding the word hurt) the publisher and developer is to pirate the games.
I think that, if you have the resources to support that niche, which the savings from cheap offers hopefully allowed for, and you want to see it grow, it’s worth paying more.
Buying isn’t supporting. Capitalism is not a social support network.
Companies have spent millions and taken years to convince people that going shopping is a kind of activism.
If I suggested you donate money directly to a video game company, or volunteer your time to help them you’d see right away how fucking weird that whole concept is.
Patient gaming is a budgeting technique, not a strict law you must always adhere to.
I separate upcoming releases into two categories: games I’m so excited for that I would gladly pay full price at launch, and games I’m willing to wait on. Which games go in which category depend entirely on you and your budget.
