Steam feedback

The tale of the siblings Althea and Shea https://www.winterwolves.com/seasonsofthewolf.htm
kadakithis
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by kadakithis »

It now sounds like a game making fun of and lampooning games that do, that sort of thing. If you ever make a parody of that gaming trend, Jack, I am right on it!
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IotaOne
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by IotaOne »

Hello!

This is my first post here. Usually i only read through the forums without commenting, but since
you seem a bit to be at a loss of answers in matters of buyers i want to try to point out some
conspicuities from the view of someone who likes your games but didnt buy sotw (yes, i'm one of those).
This are not facts or the ultimate wisdom, just something i noticed.

-At the frontpage at the store, if i read the description box i have no clue what the story of the game is about.
Maybe you are saying this is no big deal, since there is plenty of information down below, but you have
to provide a reason to scroll down.

-The banner of Loren was a super duper eyecatcher. That was mentioned already but attention is important,
especially for computer games.

-Loren was mentioned somewhere in the media. Even the german games page i usually read mentioned it.
If i wouldnt visit ww's site daily i would not have known about the existance of sotw.

Of course these arguments are not important for themselves, but if we talk about steam, its all about the sum of mass.

personal notes (i know the notes above were already personal but i am at loss of adjectives here and i am not a native English speaker):

The art style of sotw did not catch me. I cant exactly give you a reason here but the human/elf characters give me
a different impression than in other titles, especially in the bathhouse group scene the girls look unproportional.
On the other hand e.g. the character drawings in Amber's Magic Shop make me want to buy the game without knowing what it is about,
altough of course there is a lot of established advanced trust.

"Dont do your own marketing" - this is a quote from a journalist for indy developers. The context was completly
different but it can be applied to most developers for various reasons.

I apologize if i was not that helpful or sounded hostile, and of course nobody wants to hear that somebody didnt like his/her work,
but actually i cant say whether i like the game or not, there is just no reason for me to buy it, aside from not enought time to play
right now etc.
"Truth is like poetry. And most people f*cking hate poetry."
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jack1974
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by jack1974 »

No worries you're not sounding hostile :) Replying shortly to some points:
- Loren was mentioned in the media. Actually I got more reviews of SOTW than Loren before Steam launch. Loren's review started to come only after it was on Steam. I just got a request for a review code from the same german magazine who reviewed Loren for example :wink:
- Banner. Yes probably. Yet as I said in another post, Roommates banner was super-popular, more than Loren, and yet the game sold less than SOTW. So I am not convinced it does matter that much, I think is simply Steam that's different now. If I launched Loren today would probably make 1/10 of money too. I spoke with many other indies and nobody had success launching a game on Steam in last 18 months. It's just too crowded now. Loren probably had the sexual element (which now seems popular on Steam... :lol:) to catch the attention.

Just think this: "Of the 4300+ games on Steam (released 2003), 2500 have been added in the last 18 months." That means 4/day, vs before which was 1/day or less. Quite a difference!!!

Regarding the art, OK I don't know about that I think is personal tastes.

If by "don't do your own marketing" you are suggesting I should hire a marketer, no thanks. Even in this case, speaking with several other indies (and TOP indies... not like me :lol:) they all had very bad experiences, paying PR/marketing agencies several thousands for no visible/tangible results. I'd rather keep that money and add more art/music/stuff to the games!

In any case, as I have already said, the issue is that the game sold less DIRECT. Steam is a world apart. But if the game sold less than Loren even direct... it simply sells worse, for a reason or another. Sometimes games are like this, they don't work and you don't know what to do. Lesson learned for the future :)
kadakithis
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by kadakithis »

Iota, I mean I am somewhat new here but people are pretty nice, as long as you are not out and out rude or mean people don't really mind. We are fans, but Jack asks for input sometimes and some love it and some don't. I bought SotW because it was made by Winterwolves and gave me a lesbian option that wasn't made just to tantalize, or ends in sorrow and death. I had apparently bought most of their games over the years accidentally looking for just that, Imagine my surprise that Spirited Heart, Heileen, Loren and Love and Order were all made by the same person.

Honestly, I will even buy the non lesbian options games to support the only one I know on the market who makes this stuff, I enjoyed SotW but disliked the combat system and the lack of social interactions. Despite already buying the game, they listened to my critique, not necessarily agreeing with it, but as long as you aren't mean, people are pretty awesome on here.

On Topic: I will say that the art did seem different. Some characters like Vealis looked pretty awesome, but Althea looked... blank? It felt really weird playing Althea at times because she seemed more generic beside characters like Vealis, Rowinda, and Krimm. Shea wasn't as blank? but he seemed to lack a particular character as well. It might be that Saren and Elenor had different backgrounds and reactions in some cases while Shea and Althea lacked the intresting backgrounds and character of the rest of the cast.
Madance
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by Madance »

I bought SotW because it was made by Winterwolves and gave me a lesbian option that wasn't made just to tantalize, or ends in sorrow and death. I had apparently bought most of their games over the years accidentally looking for just that, Imagine my surprise that Spirited Heart, Heileen, Loren and Love and Order were all made by the same person.

Honestly, I will even buy the non lesbian options games to support the only one I know on the market who makes this stuff(...)
Don't we all, my dear, don't we all? Lesbians do get the shorter end of the stick when it comes to well made romances, since most of the games target the male audience rather than the female audience. So it's a nice change to see a real romance and a real character... Really, some so called AAA games could learn a lot with some of Winter Wolves Games around here. 8)

Really, I looked everywhere for a game author that would care as m :wink: uch as Jack does, and I feel like our feedback is relevant to them as much to the community itself. So don't be afraid to express your opinion on anything. Here, it is listened and taken into consideration.
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Miakoda
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by Miakoda »

kadakithis wrote:It now sounds like a game making fun of and lampooning games that do, that sort of thing. If you ever make a parody of that gaming trend, Jack, I am right on it!
And now I have in mind a game titled Love Bites!
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Sylrissa
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by Sylrissa »

Miakoda wrote:
kadakithis wrote:It now sounds like a game making fun of and lampooning games that do, that sort of thing. If you ever make a parody of that gaming trend, Jack, I am right on it!
And now I have in mind a game titled Love Bites!
Makes me think of a vampire romance game :lol:
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jack1974
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by jack1974 »

kadakithis wrote: On Topic: I will say that the art did seem different. Some characters like Vealis looked pretty awesome, but Althea looked... blank? It felt really weird playing Althea at times because she seemed more generic beside characters like Vealis, Rowinda, and Krimm. Shea wasn't as blank? but he seemed to lack a particular character as well. It might be that Saren and Elenor had different backgrounds and reactions in some cases while Shea and Althea lacked the intresting backgrounds and character of the rest of the cast.
Ah I misunderstood here, I thought the original poster referred to the DESIGN/ART, not the characters personality. I think it's not writer's fault in this case since the fact that you could both play as one of the two siblings made things more complex. The DLC will fix this issue, because the party is split in two, a sibling on each :)
Sylrissa wrote:Makes me think of a vampire romance game
One of my secret project (still just an idea) would be called "Bite Me". It's about zombies :lol:
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IotaOne
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by IotaOne »

jack1974 wrote: If by "don't do your own marketing" you are suggesting I should hire a marketer, no thanks. Even in this case, speaking with several other indies (and TOP indies... not like me :lol:) they all had very bad experiences, paying PR/marketing agencies several thousands for no visible/tangible results. I'd rather keep that money and add more art/music/stuff to the games!
I didnt mean you should do that, but if you plan to invest time and/or money, you should consider what you did already anyway (speaking with other indies, getting infos, having a plan at all).

Personally i think you are on the right track, as you mentioned steam is pretty crowded but you already have your customer base.
"Truth is like poetry. And most people f*cking hate poetry."
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jack1974
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Re: Steam feedback

Post by jack1974 »

Yes I always try to do something new, to experiment. I think in modern market the most important thing is the "catchy theme". As others said, "Loren The Amazon Princess" (just the title) is more attractive than "Seasons Of The Wolf" :) I need to find a more interesting theme/setting for future games. Then I think with the current writers I have available now, I'm almost sure to get a good/decent story. But I need to get people's interest first (for non-loyal followers).
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