How do people feel about games that you need to pay for? [Poll]

General Discussion
, ,
21

This thread remind me that i really oughta make a secondary itch account. I’m willing to throw a couple bucks at creators, but only if i can do so (semi)anonymously

22

@skitterwave
If we are talking about privacy/anonymity, you should know that the creator can see your email whenever you pay for something. I do not do anything with this info, but I can imagine not wanting to share this.

Now to stay on-topic.
I don’t mind paying for a game, but I do want to know what the game is like before I do.
Either a demo version or the full version with the option to support the creator after is what I prefer to see.

2 Likes
23

Mostly depends on the quality and the effort that was put in the game. A friend one day told me that people should always put value to their work ,but, despite that i understand that, is hard for me to say when is about games of the type that are here. However, i would support a game if there is the option for that after playing it because at least i want to test it.

24

This is my thoughts as well. I will happily pay money for games I know that I enjoy. I happily buy Chunky Cheerleader, The Weighting Game, and D.I.E.T, because I’ve played the demos and highly enjoy them. I need to know I’ll enjoy the game (via some kind of demo or other user reviews). It also helps when the dev is communicative.

1 Like
25

I don’t have much disposable income at the moment, but my general criteria are:

  • Must have a playable free demo that is largely bug-free showing the main game-play loop. If it doesn’t work, hangs, or have obvious bugs then I’m not going to accept that the paid version is better. This is your shop-window, and it needs to be treated as such.
  • Obviously it has to something I might enjoy.
    • Writing is important with few typos or spelling errors. Any inattention here often infects the code too.
    • It’s got to be accessible to my colour-blindess (protoanomalous)
    • I don’t get on with platformers, rythmn-games, and RPGmaker
    • If it has art, it ideally should be a style I like
    • Single-player
  • Must have a decent amount of gameplay. I tend to evaluate on a $/hr-of-fun scale. Don’t expect me to pay $5 for a 30min game with no re-play value.

Things that additionally put me off purchasing/supporting:

  • Demo games that are way behind the paid release.
  • Paid releases that add content but don’t address long-standing faults/bugs. Fix what you’ve done first, then move on, otherwise the whole thing becomes fragile.
  • Release immediately followed by a bevy of bug-reports that should have been caught by basic testing.
  • Constant advertising/mention of the paid version.

Note: Patreon is kind-of different to platforms like itch. It isn’t a “purchase” really, just support for something you believe in and want to encourage.

1 Like
26

Regardless of the outcome (of this poll or otherwise), the investment NEEDS to be worth the “reward”. :wink:

27

Any games are still paid, maybe not directly, but the games have all sorts of paid bonuses that make it more fun to play.