Pretty much every TBS demo ever made is limited to X number of turns (usually 100). And most other demos just have horribly limited content (doesn't put much of a hit into the download size, though...).

Placing a simple time limit on the demo, especially when the maps provided can be pretty easily played to completion within said limit (and you can of course play again if you like), isn't at all out of line or unexpected IMO. The point is to let you see how the game plays so you can decide whether to buy it, not to give you a free day of entertainment.

I don't believe I just spent my time reading this thread. lol

I demand a refund on my time!!!

Yeesh, this is an angry thread. I commend the people who have acted civilized here, and those with open minds. I don't think people are asking for refunds or free games.

Personally, I feel that rolfski has a point. I hate trying out demos of games that have a time limit. The fact that it's a limit per game makes this a whole lot more attractive - having an "expired" game on your computer is really, really lame - but atill, I think removing a majority of the game features from the demo would be better than a time limit.

Example features to remove: some orbital structures, cruisers, all but one or two cap ships from each faction, some of the tech. Having limited maps with few AI was a good decision. The goal here is to not interrupt a player in the middle of an experience, nor to give a free game, but to give a complete experience which leaves players wondering what the full game is like.

One final note: the demo advertises "90 minutes of playtime." If this is per game, instead of total, as I'm getting the impression it is, make sure you advertise that! As I said, players like me hate seeing a hard-and-fast time limit.

Ben

I like the limit being time: it means that players will get to see practically everything (if you hard tech you should see the top of any tech tree). It's also a really simple thing to implement in comparison to wading through the units and buildings, deciding what to restrict and hacking up all the files. Sooner they got the demo done the sooner they started on 1.04, so good choice.

There should be a time limit to this thread........like right now!

What the hell is the difference between a time limit and a watered-down neutered short snip of gameplay?

90 minutes is a hell of a long time.

Truly you have a dizzying intellect.

The demo is very generous.

Here I thought this was going to be about a hack that removes the time limit.
I love Stardock for their trust, and their faith in honest gamers.
Rare.

So we can either have:

1) A featured-stripped version of the demo, that arbitrarily forces you to play a certain way and usually doesn't offer any sample of what the game is about. Imagine if you could only play TEC, could only build three research stations, and could only build frigates. But you can play FOREVER SO ITS GREAT!!!!

vs.

2) Having every option open to you, but you just can't play long games or big maps, allowing you to experience all kinds of options and features.

What kind of moron says 1 is better than 2?

The only problem with time limit demos is that they usually are too short. 90 minutes is EXTREMELY generous.

If you seriously find a reason to whine about 90 minutes, then you're never going to be happy or you're just a troll. You want to 'finish it'? What kind of finishing is a game where you can't get past the second tech tree? Everyone already knows that you CAN finish the game in 90 minutes, so, well, don't take this the wrong way, but either grow the fuck up, or shut the hell up.

As someone who has been waiting for the demo to come out, I'm very happy with the 90 minute limit. While getting a full game for free would have been nice  , 90 minutes should give me plenty of time to see if I like the game, and if I do, I will gladly buy a copy.

I think he's complaining out of frustration that he can't play longer.


If it was entirely pointless Blair probably would have locked it rather than respond to the OP. The flaming does seem to be getting kind of excessive though.


He's said a number of times that he'd rather they limit the demo by including only one race and/or restrict the researchable techs.

Nothing says "Welcome to the SoaSE community" like 2 pages of flames. If you don't agree w/ the OP just tell him why and leave it at that.

90 minutes is a fair amount...considering how big this game can really get...

It's a demo,

If you want the full unedited, complete with all features and no time limites, buy the full version.

I think the developers point rolfski is that you did get a free game. The demo-game is capable of being completed in 90 minutes. If the games shuts-off prior to completing you lose. IMHO this is extremely fair by the game developers. I believe you may be mistake as to most players motivation at playing a demo. The reason they play a demo is to help them to determine if the game is worth the exchange of money. Not playing the demo because it may end prior to achieving a win or loss would not deter me from trying the demo, especially since it is feature rich.

If you do not like playing a game with time boundries in it, an RTS game is not for you. You have probably answered your own question regarding purchasing the game by not downloading the demo. However, knowing that the free demo may be fully completed in 90 minutes, you should feel free to download it anyway and enjoy it.

So let me see if I got this right:

The OP basically wants a free game.

Dude, do you even understand the point of a demo?

I really feel I'm a lone one calling in the desert here. So let me get a few points straight:
- Yes we all think that this is a great game, including me
- Yes we all think that 90 min should be enough to show the value of this game, especially because it will give you enough time to finish a few maps.

However, that's not the point: when trying to achieve critical mass with a demo, it's not about the real value but all about PERCIEVED value.

Ironclad/Stardock is aiming to reach a big as possible audience with this game: check Frogboy's vision on marketing in multiple articles.
My thesis: The time limited mechanism decreases the percieved value of the demo and is therefore a less effective marketing tool to get people to buy this game. Even if it turns out that it's actually a more valuable proposition, the percievement is what stops people from playing the demo in the first place.

Yep, and this is why you created this topic, right? To educate IC on how a 90 min demo will cause great dissatisfaction, and lead to a poor reception of the game?

I've concluded that the demo's limitations were a success. One, you came here to lecture IC on how a 90 min limitation for a demo is somehow a bad thing. Seriously, a demo.

Second, the fact that this somehow aggravates you (lets be serious, you're the only one complaining) seems to indicate that you wanted more from the demo, which generally results in a game purchase. If the usage of the term "dumbest" doesn't settle that fact, nothing will.

All that crap about marketing is simply amusing.

I don't think that's what he's asking for. In the last paragraph of the OP he says:



His point, imo is that by limiting the demo to 90 minutes (per game) ppl won't be able to experience some of the late game goodness of SoaSE. From the quote above I think the OP does recognize that the demo needs to entice ppl but not give them the full game. However it looks like he feels a better way of doing this is:



The suggestion of limiting the demo to one playable race, on a single map (or two), and no multiplayer doesn't seem like he's asking for a free game. Though I don't think limiting a demo this way really suites SoaSE there are lots of RTS demos that take this approach.

Trying out the demo is a fallacy. Buy the game. Now.

I have held this game in my hand twice now in best buy and I ended up carrying it around till I finally put it back each time. I just don't think I can get an idea if I will like the game in 90 min so I haven't downloaded the demo. PC gamer had a great review and all but I just can't decide what to do...this game or ********* 40k. I have played that demo and really like the game. I don't have time to play more than one game, plus deal with the waggro I would get for doing so. At this point I'm torn.

Maybe I'll just try the demo and if I can't get a good vibe from it I’ll just pass. Sure looks neat though I would like to see the ship models b4 I commit. Hope that’s all in the demo.

Gona try and find it and Dl it now...

So how long would it be to your liking? A week? A month? Maybe 6 months, after that you will surely know if you want to buy it or not.

Uh you have to become a gamesspot member to Dl it??? Please tell me there is another way?

I don't mind the 90 minutes at all. I just needed the demo to see if it would run on my laptop and it does. I'll be buying it now.

It is pretty darn obvious that rolfski wants to be able to play the game without paying for it. And an unlimited small map demo would allow him to do that. But once he mastered it, it wouldn't be much fun anymore.

He is probably the same type of person that complains when WOW gives them a 7 day demo, that's hardly enough time to get your character advanced at all   

I think he just doesn't like the demo being limited to 90 minutes per game. As he said in the OP he'd prefer the demo limit the playable race, the number and/or size of available maps, and no multiplayer access.

i'm with the guy that said he can know whether or not he likes a game after 5-10 minutes.... >.< thanks for a great demo, i didn't have to play it, but i had i would have bought the game a lot sooner... i know this because i fell in love with the game after about.. ho...hum... 5 minutes or so

I think the people who want to download the demo are already interested enough in the game to try it anyway. As mentioned, a "turn limit" for TBS demos is standard and that niche is quite close to the SINS niche. So the kind of players who are even interested in buying are probably used to such limitations.

Time limitation also better serves the 4X strategy niche. Those kind of people like complexity, so showing off all the features with a time limitation is better compared to cutting features without a time limitation.

It's also a nice cliffhanger moment when the game ends and it feels like it could go either way. You want to get the full game so you can see the ending.