Pricing - due for an update?

PC : Turn based Empire building in the ancient Near East.

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Kissaki
Senior Corporal - Destroyer
Senior Corporal - Destroyer
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Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:52 pm
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Pricing - due for an update?

Post by Kissaki »

As much as I love Chariots of War, I do think nearly £12 for a 14 year old game is a bit steep. Especially considering slitherine.com is the only place people are likely to find and buy the game, I don't think it is going to attract many new buyers at that price. What's more, it is more expensive than some of the newer games (like Spartan and Gates of Troy), and I suspect pricing is decided based mostly on release date - and several games have an erroneous release date listed. Chariots of War is listed as being released February 2007, for example, but it was actually released in 2003.

I purchased the game in 2004 or 2005, in a 3-pack Paradox strategy box which also included Legion and a third game which was either Victoria, Europa Universalis or Hearts of Iron (I forget). Back then I paid the equivalent of £2 for that collection. And even when CoW was new, I doubt I would have been interested if the price tag was what it is today, because as great as the game turned out to be, it wasn't exactly groundbreaking in terms of graphics or other features.

Also, bronze age Mesopotamia isn't something which gets much exposure these days, so not many people are going to find the game out of historical interest. I myself had little interest for that part of history when I bought the game, and I was mostly drawn to Legion - as I did have an interest in ancient Rome. At the price for the collection, however, I didn't mind getting Chariots of War on the bargain, but I played Legion for a while before even installing CoW. Once I did get around to CoW, however, I was taken immediately. In my mind it did almost everything right, and I was a bit annoyed with myself for waiting as long as I did before playing it. It was an improvement on Legion in every way, and though Spartan and Gates of Troy made further improvements, there were ways in which Chariots of War was still better. But had the game been nearly £12, I would never have picked it up in the first place.

What with games both new and old being sold on Steam and GOG for much less, which at least look better from description and screenshots, Chariots of War cannot compete the way it is priced. I still have my old Chariots of War CD, and it is still working beautifully (and running without issue on Win 8.1), and I know that it is well worth £12 and more, but if it is hoped that new players give this game a chance, I am confident that a higher profit could be made from this title with a significantly lower price tag.
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