Hints to increase sales
from 
Stardock Forums
Stardock Forums
Er... I'm not sure I'm in a position to give counsels... nevertheless there are a few things many games don't do, and which could make them sell better... so the following may help.
1. Don't translate voices unless you have very good actors for every languages. The reason for this is that most of the times voices are much less good in foreign languages than in English. This can become irritating. I have a very bad remembering for example of the french voices in Alpha Centauri.
To simply put subtitles would be much better. Don't forget most of us prefer to see american films with subtitles than with fake voices. To read subtitles ins't that annoying, and anyway we're used to this.
2. That may seem obvious, but : send copies of Galciv to gamer reviews early enough to allow them to publish the review at the time of the game's release. That would be in their April issues, usually being released at the end of March. Don't forget to do the same to foreign reviews. I say that because in the review I use to read ('Joystick', in france) they bash very violently the games which they haven't received early enough, arguing that was intended to, so that gamers would not be aware of the game's flaws. I'd rather say it's because some american editors forget to care of the foreign press; I'd say it's a mistake, the potential market in Europe, Japan and other countries could double their sales.
3. This is maybe the most important : release foreign versions as soon as possible. Or people are going to download it on Kazaa. The fact you don't need foreign voices could allow you to do so; also, you could perhaps release english versions in foreign countries once you've got english subtitles for the videos. Anyway most people can read english; among gamers the number is nearly 100%; the thing they usually can't is to understand spoken english.
Ok, I hope this helps; I've been checking this site frequently and I must say Galciv looks great !!! So I really hope there'll be a lot of players all around the world.
Keep up the good work,
Benoit
1. Don't translate voices unless you have very good actors for every languages. The reason for this is that most of the times voices are much less good in foreign languages than in English. This can become irritating. I have a very bad remembering for example of the french voices in Alpha Centauri.
To simply put subtitles would be much better. Don't forget most of us prefer to see american films with subtitles than with fake voices. To read subtitles ins't that annoying, and anyway we're used to this.
2. That may seem obvious, but : send copies of Galciv to gamer reviews early enough to allow them to publish the review at the time of the game's release. That would be in their April issues, usually being released at the end of March. Don't forget to do the same to foreign reviews. I say that because in the review I use to read ('Joystick', in france) they bash very violently the games which they haven't received early enough, arguing that was intended to, so that gamers would not be aware of the game's flaws. I'd rather say it's because some american editors forget to care of the foreign press; I'd say it's a mistake, the potential market in Europe, Japan and other countries could double their sales.
3. This is maybe the most important : release foreign versions as soon as possible. Or people are going to download it on Kazaa. The fact you don't need foreign voices could allow you to do so; also, you could perhaps release english versions in foreign countries once you've got english subtitles for the videos. Anyway most people can read english; among gamers the number is nearly 100%; the thing they usually can't is to understand spoken english.
Ok, I hope this helps; I've been checking this site frequently and I must say Galciv looks great !!! So I really hope there'll be a lot of players all around the world.
Keep up the good work,
Benoit
. Concerning Marketing this game: I learned about it when I visited the Forum Boards for MOO3, awaiting the release on March 7, and there ARE alot of complaints! One guy was so disappointed he mentioned to return his copy of MOO 3 and would wait for the final release of Galciv. Now, isn't that a funny way to find a probably much better 4 X game? LOL
Or, it could have been one of thousands of people considering how horrid the game was.
