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[Captain_Frisk]

I like the idea of physical versions including a code to redeem for the same expansion or some type of discount at funsockets.

Granted, I've just bought all the physical versions but hopefully Base and DA do something like this for me.

Lots of people seem to like this idea, somehow not realizing that it makes no money for Goko.

That depends on the financial model.  Obviously for pre-sold expansions it doesn't make sense... but I could see an argument that there should be some revenue sharing for physical copies sold in the future. 

I am for example considering not buying dark ages and guilds - primarily because my physical cards haven't been touched in years.  If they came with a FS coupon - then that might push me to do that.

[Kuildeous]

What's your preferred payment option and how much would you be willing to pay?

• One-time fee, up to ... $*
• Monthly / Annual fee, up to ... $* per month/year
• Free base game with up to ... $* for big expansions (Intrigue, Seaside, Prosperity, Hinterlands, Dark Ages) and up to ... $* for small expansions (Alchemy, Cornucopia, Promos)

* Fill in what you think is fair

I would be willing to pay $10 for a big expansion and $5 for a small expansion. I'd be a little annoyed at doing that since I own the physical cards, but they can't just give away the virtual cards. Buying Dominion physically supports the designer, the artists, the printers, and the distributors. Online Dominion now has other costs, which includes the designer and artists still but also includes the programmers and the hosting.

I would think that $15/$7 would also be fair, but I'd be really hard-pressed then to pay for an expansion twice. Maybe if I were smarter than I am obsessive and actually bought the expansions after they've been out and marked down, I could do it. On the other hand, $15/$7 is a steal for those who don't buy the physical cards.

I would be happy with $10/$5. If it were higher, I'd probably still pay for them, but I think I'd hold out and see if there is a package deal. $15/$7 with a possible $75 or so for all of the expansions would sit well with me. With five big expansions and three small expansions, that would be like getting the smalls for free with only a lump sum of $75. And that $75 is only a little more than the $10/$5 I'm willing to pay.

[jsh357]

'Big' expansions don't appear to exist in the beta.  The bigger ones have been split in to parts.  Personally I think $3-5 per is fair for a game like this, and some will even see that as asking too much.

[Davio]

I would also love a package deal.
I'd rather buy all the expansions (and coming ones) in one go and be done with it.

[Ozle]

Yep, same is true for IRL dominion.

I would probably look for comparisons to high end board games on itunes.  Le Havre is 5 bucks I think?  Ascension was around that + ~3 per expansion?

San Juan / Puerto Rico are $7.99.

Nightfall is the same as ascension.

Base Dominion is free.
So following this logic, Base + Expansion of one of these games here will probably cost $10.99, therefore putting each Dominion expanion about that price would make sense, but because there are so many expansions, a little lower

And im back to my $7 price range again!

[Insomniac]

If I was gonna guess I would say they'll be $5 / expansion. Seems fair and low enough that casuals will buy one or two

[Beyond Awesome]

If I was gonna guess I would say they'll be $5 / expansion. Seems fair and low enough that casuals will buy one or two

With all the sets they have ready, that would come out to $45. That seems reasonable. They still need to add Cornucopia, Hinterlands, and Alchemy.

[pingpongsam]

I like the idea of physical versions including a code to redeem for the same expansion or some type of discount at funsockets.

Granted, I've just bought all the physical versions but hopefully Base and DA do something like this for me.

Lots of people seem to like this idea, somehow not realizing that it makes no money for Goko.

Huh?

If someone buys a physical copy and sees he can activate that set on Goko for say $5.00 instead of $7 then when he decides to do so it nets Goko $5.00. For new people who have never heard of Goko this drives them to their site to spend additional money on expansions.

I'd say it makes a load of sense.

[LastFootnote]

I'm also hoping for a price tag of $5 per 11-13 card expansion. I'm also hoping for no monthly/annual cost if they can swing that and still keep the servers running.

[GigaKnight]

You realize most full games in the iTunes store sell for between $0.99 and $5, right?

Our game is free!

That's the model everyone likes these days - free but you pay for more stuff. Valve has a game coming that's paid for entirely with hats.

I'm happy to get any of it for free! 

My apologies if these have already been answered, but:

• If I buy all the expansions, can I use them with people who have none of them?
• Is auto-matching supported?  How does this interact with the answer to question 1?

I'm sure Donald knows this but, depending on the answer to these questions, charging per "pack" could potentially segment the player base in deep ways that selling hats does not.

[ftl]

1) Yes
2) Not yet, but it might in the final release, and it was in a previous version. (Could have been shelved for the moment due to the lack of players online during the beta)

[blueblimp]

IIRC, the Ascension iPad app does: $4 for a big expansion (and the original game also costs $4) and $2 for a small expansion. Ascension has iffy game design, but the iPad implementation is stellar. On the other hand, mobile prices are likely to be lower than desktop prices, because you can get more volume on mobile.

[Captain_Frisk]

IIRC, the Ascension iPad app does: $4 for a big expansion (and the original game also costs $4) and $2 for a small expansion. Ascension has iffy game design, but the iPad implementation is stellar. On the other hand, mobile prices are likely to be lower than desktop prices, because you can get more volume on mobile.

Agreed on all points.  Also - the digital version has (most likely) a rate based cost per transaction.  App store for example is 30% of price.  Don't know who they are using for payment processing, but its likely on the order of 30 cents + X% of the transaction.

Of course - they do have a cost to deliver service to each individual - and heavy users like WW and I are likely to cost more than random gamer who just wants to play once a month.

[Kirian]

Ascension has iffy game design

There's an understatement.

[werothegreat]

Ascension has iffy game design

There's an understatement.

It's diverting enough, but it is certainly a bit too luck-based for my taste.

[Beyond Awesome]

I'm probably alone on this, and I know the payment plan has been established, but I would have proffered say $7.99/month to play all expansions. In the long-term this would net Funsockets more money because they would charge on a monthly basis, but also people would see there is a low entry. Maybe, they could still offer free play with base Dominion and a one-month trial with all expansions. But, they have already decided a pricing plan. I just think monthly would make more sense from their perspective. Because, what happens when everyone buys all the sets and no more revenue is coming in? Also, to most players, $7.99/month seems cheaper than having to buy everything at once.

[WanderingWinder]

I'm probably alone on this, and I know the payment plan has been established, but I would have proffered say $7.99/month to play all expansions. In the long-term this would net Funsockets more money because they would charge on a monthly basis, but also people would see there is a low entry. Maybe, they could still offer free play with base Dominion and a one-month trial with all expansions. But, they have already decided a pricing plan. I just think monthly would make more sense from their perspective. Because, what happens when everyone buys all the sets and no more revenue is coming in? Also, to most players, $7.99/month seems cheaper than having to buy everything at once.

Not to me.....

[werothegreat]

I'm probably alone on this, and I know the payment plan has been established, but I would have proffered say $7.99/month to play all expansions. In the long-term this would net Funsockets more money because they would charge on a monthly basis, but also people would see there is a low entry. Maybe, they could still offer free play with base Dominion and a one-month trial with all expansions. But, they have already decided a pricing plan. I just think monthly would make more sense from their perspective. Because, what happens when everyone buys all the sets and no more revenue is coming in? Also, to most players, $7.99/month seems cheaper than having to buy everything at once.

Not to me.....

Yeah, I'd like to concur.  One of the main reasons I never played WoW, but absolutely adore Guild Wars, is the fact that I abhor the idea of a monthly fee to play a game.  I'd rather pay up front.  And Guild Wars has obviously proven that this business model works.

[Tombolo]

From what they've said, I'm hoping to pay not much more than $5 for each chunk.  I think $10 is where I start evaluating how much I really wanna continue playing.  I don't have much money to burn right now, though, so even if it's something like $3 I might not get everything off the bat.

I'd almost rather see a model where you can buy individual cards.  I am probably a minority, but given my limited cash flow and opinions, I'd rather pay, say, $2 each for cards X and Y than $5 for XYZ...even though I'm going to be compelled to come back later and pick up Z when I have more money and all the other cards. (please don't actually use that scale, Goko)  I get the cards I like sooner, and they get more of my money eventually!  I usually hate anything involving microtransactions but they could milk me for a good bit of extra money that way, and I could play fewer Pirate Ship games.

[greatexpectations]

I'm probably alone on this, and I know the payment plan has been established, but I would have proffered say $7.99/month to play all expansions. In the long-term this would net Funsockets more money because they would charge on a monthly basis, but also people would see there is a low entry. Maybe, they could still offer free play with base Dominion and a one-month trial with all expansions. But, they have already decided a pricing plan. I just think monthly would make more sense from their perspective. Because, what happens when everyone buys all the sets and no more revenue is coming in? Also, to most players, $7.99/month seems cheaper than having to buy everything at once.

guilds.
updates to card art. 
pay to play tournaments.
features to allow for fan made cards. 
paying to 'loan' sets to friends.
pass and play features.
the other games they have on the goko platform.
ai design capabilities or contests.

[GigaKnight]

1) Yes
2) Not yet, but it might in the final release, and it was in a previous version. (Could have been shelved for the moment due to the lack of players online during the beta)

Cool, thanks.

Just thinking about it, given the answer to 1, I imagine auto-match will create a kingdom with the union of the players' purchased "packs".  This avoids segmenting the player base, increases player exposure to exciting new things, and provides a really straightforward opportunity for upselling ("Did you like those cards you don't own?  Buy them here!").

[ftl]

Ooh, that would be nice!

It would also avoid people gaming the rating system by not buying packs they're not good with.

[Kuildeous]

I'm probably alone on this, and I know the payment plan has been established, but I would have proffered say $7.99/month to play all expansions. In the long-term this would net Funsockets more money because they would charge on a monthly basis, but also people would see there is a low entry. Maybe, they could still offer free play with base Dominion and a one-month trial with all expansions. But, they have already decided a pricing plan. I just think monthly would make more sense from their perspective. Because, what happens when everyone buys all the sets and no more revenue is coming in? Also, to most players, $7.99/month seems cheaper than having to buy everything at once.

I can appreciate the idea of a monthly fee so that revenue keeps coming in.

I wouldn't go for a high amount, though. $7.99 a month is just too much for me. In one year, that's $96. I could buy all the expansions (pre-Dark Ages) from Amazon right now for $156. With Dark Ages and Guilds--after the Amazon discount--that's about 2 years of subscription. And I would have the physical cards.

I could go for a few dollars a month. Maybe I'd go for $5 a month. That would be $60 a year. I'm not that keen on that idea.

On the other hand, charging something like $3 a month for access to all the cards seems ridiculously low.

Since the product is coming out in the next week or so, I guess they already have their pricing model in place, so we're probably just tilting at windmills.

[p1q0]

Donald -

I assume you are driving this question and if so you're going the wrong way.

1) The answer is not on this forum.  This forum is full of die hard veterans.  They are not your market.
2) You seem be to trying to monetize the product based on current audience.  That's the wrong approach.  The audience for online games is much different than the audience for board games.
3) You want market share.  It's really the only thing that matters.  The only real win for you here is to get a lot of buzz.  You want to reach well beyond your current audience.  Tapping your current audience a second time is pretty limited.
4) A high pricing model will NOT generate buzz.  What's much more likely is that if you come up with something complicated or expensive you will not get enough numbers (remember, isotropic is 'thin' for game matching and it's free).  Dominion is more about playing an opponent than something like Angry Birds.  Beating the mediocre AI is going to get dull quickly.  Having no one to play on the server makes this an instant dud.
5) Your real win scenario is having bloggers and other writers say stuff like - 'I found this really cool new game, blah blah Dominion blah blah, and it's $X at the ITunes store.'  You aren't going to get that by charging $10 a set or some other crazy number.
6) Market share allows you to do everything.  Lack of market share means you do nothing.  Remember how you couldn't get a game published and then there was dominion and now you can publish just about anything you like?  Well the same thing applies to online.  You need a hit.
7) Based on all of the above you need a really simple, really cheap model.  You want market share.  Nothing else matters.  Charge something outrageously low, like $1 a set (a full set) or $5 for everything.  Why?  Because anyone will shell out $1.  And what you want is scale and volume.  You need people to give it a try.  The base set for free is the right idea but I don't think its enough.  Giving people a fraction of the experience is going to stink.  Dominion is a simple game.  Anyone can pick it up.  Give them the chance.  Yes you have server costs.  How much can that possibly be?  Bandwidth should be zero.  What you need is for that girl on at the coffee shop to tell her friend to just get the app so they can play and then have her tell her friend and well, you know.

Scale.  Volume.  Market Share.  That means stay cheap.  And asking people the most they would pay is 100% the wrong direction.

[Beyond Awesome]

Donald -

I assume you are driving this question and if so you're going the wrong way.

1) The answer is not on this forum.  This forum is full of die hard veterans.  They are not your market.
2) You seem be to trying to monetize the product based on current audience.  That's the wrong approach.  The audience for online games is much different than the audience for board games.
3) You want market share.  It's really the only thing that matters.  The only real win for you here is to get a lot of buzz.  You want to reach well beyond your current audience.  Tapping your current audience a second time is pretty limited.
4) A high pricing model will NOT generate buzz.  What's much more likely is that if you come up with something complicated or expensive you will not get enough numbers (remember, isotropic is 'thin' for game matching and it's free).  Dominion is more about playing an opponent than something like Angry Birds.  Beating the mediocre AI is going to get dull quickly.  Having no one to play on the server makes this an instant dud.
5) Your real win scenario is having bloggers and other writers say stuff like - 'I found this really cool new game, blah blah Dominion blah blah, and it's $X at the ITunes store.'  You aren't going to get that by charging $10 a set or some other crazy number.
6) Market share allows you to do everything.  Lack of market share means you do nothing.  Remember how you couldn't get a game published and then there was dominion and now you can publish just about anything you like?  Well the same thing applies to online.  You need a hit.
7) Based on all of the above you need a really simple, really cheap model.  You want market share.  Nothing else matters.  Charge something outrageously low, like $1 a set (a full set) or $5 for everything.  Why?  Because anyone will shell out $1.  And what you want is scale and volume.  You need people to give it a try.  The base set for free is the right idea but I don't think its enough.  Giving people a fraction of the experience is going to stink.  Dominion is a simple game.  Anyone can pick it up.  Give them the chance.  Yes you have server costs.  How much can that possibly be?  Bandwidth should be zero.  What you need is for that girl on at the coffee shop to tell her friend to just get the app so they can play and then have her tell her friend and well, you know.

Scale.  Volume.  Market Share.  That means stay cheap.  And asking people the most they would pay is 100% the wrong direction.

Interesting theory. I think they should at one point offer a month of free play of all sets as a marketing gimmick. Or, a one-month free trial of all sets. But, maybe not off the bat. First, get the people at Gen Con and on these forums to buy it, and then market it to a wider audience.