Why is this game not more popular?

SigilFey · 10-10-2011, 02:07 PM

And that's a serious question.

The way I see it, it most likely boils down to the fact that the actual in-game screenshots do nothing to reach out and grab your attention. I find it to be disappointing that all of the love and care that went into this title will be missed by many gamers who would truly enjoy this game and others like it.

I don't think that gamers have become so spoiled by multi-million dollar projects incorporating state-of-the-art hardware transform and lighting effects and motion-captured animations that they cannot appreciate phenomenal gameplay without the bells and whistles. Just look at the massive success of Minecraft and Terraria. I know many people that still play Ultima VII. And I think that some of the most successful apps made for the iPhone/iPod/iPad market prove that people are willing to set aside graphics and just enjoy great gameplay.

So how to increase the popularity of Eschalon and other great indie RPG's?

sh4dow83 · 10-25-2011, 06:52 PM

i think gamers ARE largely spoiled. they do not want to pay appropriate prices if it doesn't say sony/EA/etc. on the product. which is tightly linked to their desire for technologically advanced graphics. fun and longevity is secondary. even though many have probably played minecraft longer than most full-price games they have ever played, they probably would not pay the same price for minecraft. simply because it doesn't look as impressive. nevermind the fact that most full-priced PC games i've played in the last couple of years were HORRENDOUSLY bug-ridden compared to indie games.

now in the opposite direction: yeah, you could probably appeal to many more if you would price indie games ridiculously cheap. but how is that fair to those developers who pack these games full of content and don't sell a million copies?

another huge problem is "marketing" (i don't mean actual ads). i love indie games but have a VERY hard time finding decent ones because there just isn't a good indie review site out there. the ones that are out there have this moronic modern blog layout which doesn't provide any overview as to which releases were rated the best. something like ign, gamespot, etc. simply doesn't exist for indie games. if there was something like that, my guess is that sales would rise dramatically.

SigilFey · 10-26-2011, 02:32 AM

Hmm. Maybe a solution would be to start up a site that spefically tried to compare indie titles with mass market titles in the same vein.

Players could click on "Baldur's Gate", for example, and then be taken to a list of quality indie reviews and demos that shared similarities.

The major challenge is that most of the really great indie titles, like Eschalon, are based on software games from the early 90's. Many of the younger gamers today wouldn't be able to relate to awesome titles like Master of Magic, Jagged Alliance, or X-Com. They would only be able to loosely compare those games to more modern, and horrendously inferior, retakes like Elemental: War of Magic, Silent Storm, and UFO: Aftermath.

crosswire · 07-17-2012, 02:47 AM

The only thing that kept me away from this for so long was the limited resolution.

jhorto1 · 07-17-2012, 06:37 PM

I bought this a while back for linux and played through book I. I had a blast with it and just picked it up on steam for the convenience factor.

I just recommended the game through the steam interface. Maybe if all of us did that, it would help get the word out on this great game.

Resonanse · 07-18-2012, 11:37 AM

Because it's a niche game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sh4dow83

i think gamers ARE largely spoiled. they do not want to pay appropriate prices if it doesn't say sony/EA/etc. on the product. which is tightly linked to their desire for technologically advanced graphics. fun and longevity is secondary.

Fun and longevity isn't something tangible players can see before they purchase a game. Graphics and gamplay videos are. It's not about gamers being 'spoilt', it's about gamers knowing they're going to enjoy AAA titles because they are 'safe' purchases, more familiar. If someone hasn't played an old-school styled RPG why would they pick up Eschalon?

10-10-2011, 02:07 PM	#1
SigilFey Join Date: Jul 2011 Reputation: 12 Posts: 131	Why is this game not more popular? And that's a serious question. The way I see it, it most likely boils down to the fact that the actual in-game screenshots do nothing to reach out and grab your attention. I find it to be disappointing that all of the love and care that went into this title will be missed by many gamers who would truly enjoy this game and others like it. I don't think that gamers have become so spoiled by multi-million dollar projects incorporating state-of-the-art hardware transform and lighting effects and motion-captured animations that they cannot appreciate phenomenal gameplay without the bells and whistles. Just look at the massive success of Minecraft and Terraria. I know many people that still play Ultima VII. And I think that some of the most successful apps made for the iPhone/iPod/iPad market prove that people are willing to set aside graphics and just enjoy great gameplay. So how to increase the popularity of Eschalon and other great indie RPG's?

10-25-2011, 06:52 PM	#2
sh4dow83 Join Date: Sep 2011 Reputation: 4 Posts: 70	i think gamers ARE largely spoiled. they do not want to pay appropriate prices if it doesn't say sony/EA/etc. on the product. which is tightly linked to their desire for technologically advanced graphics. fun and longevity is secondary. even though many have probably played minecraft longer than most full-price games they have ever played, they probably would not pay the same price for minecraft. simply because it doesn't look as impressive. nevermind the fact that most full-priced PC games i've played in the last couple of years were HORRENDOUSLY bug-ridden compared to indie games. now in the opposite direction: yeah, you could probably appeal to many more if you would price indie games ridiculously cheap. but how is that fair to those developers who pack these games full of content and don't sell a million copies? another huge problem is "marketing" (i don't mean actual ads). i love indie games but have a VERY hard time finding decent ones because there just isn't a good indie review site out there. the ones that are out there have this moronic modern blog layout which doesn't provide any overview as to which releases were rated the best. something like ign, gamespot, etc. simply doesn't exist for indie games. if there was something like that, my guess is that sales would rise dramatically. Last edited by sh4dow83: 10-25-2011 at 06:55 PM.

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10-26-2011, 02:32 AM	#3
SigilFey Join Date: Jul 2011 Reputation: 12 Posts: 131	Hmm. Maybe a solution would be to start up a site that spefically tried to compare indie titles with mass market titles in the same vein. Players could click on "Baldur's Gate", for example, and then be taken to a list of quality indie reviews and demos that shared similarities. The major challenge is that most of the really great indie titles, like Eschalon, are based on software games from the early 90's. Many of the younger gamers today wouldn't be able to relate to awesome titles like Master of Magic, Jagged Alliance, or X-Com. They would only be able to loosely compare those games to more modern, and horrendously inferior, retakes like Elemental: War of Magic, Silent Storm, and UFO: Aftermath.

07-17-2012, 02:47 AM	#4
crosswire Join Date: Apr 2010 Reputation: 51 Posts: 573	The only thing that kept me away from this for so long was the limited resolution.

07-17-2012, 06:37 PM	#5
jhorto1 Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 2 Posts: 31	I bought this a while back for linux and played through book I. I had a blast with it and just picked it up on steam for the convenience factor. I just recommended the game through the steam interface. Maybe if all of us did that, it would help get the word out on this great game.