How much are you willing to pay for a game?

[cloudyssky]

So right now I'm working on a project and I have to pay the artist for it, which is costly. After this project is complete I'd like to sell my next one so I wouldn't have to pay her directly out of my own pocket. So in order for you to buy a game, what factors do you look at? What's the maximum price you're willing to pay? What length would you like the game to have if you were paying $5, $10, or $15? What differences would you expect between a $5 game and a $15?

[kinougames]

I know what I look at. Obviously, first, the art. The art of a game is what instantly tells me "yes" or "no". I am a serial RPG buyer...I buy RPGs over other games because I want a story with my gameplay and I want it all illustrated beautifully.

Then I look at the topic of the story. There are certain topics I don't like; straight sci-fi, anything involving a high school, anything that seems to, in general, have a very shallow run-of-the-mill story. If the topic of up my alley, I look to the gameplay. If the gameplay doesn't seem completely obtrusive to me finding out the story, it's all good.

As far as length, $5 is for under 5 hours, $10-$15 for 5-10 hours, and over 10 hours of gameplay is an easy $20 from me if the ducks are in a row. I would also be cool with $20 for games shorter than 10, but close-by, if it were just that amazing.

[SusanTheCat]

My prices are similar to kinougames: $5-$20

$10 is what I would expect to pay for a decent game. $20 for an awesome game.

Susan

[Deji]

I'm not a gamer, but I do like pretty art, so I'll instantly be attracted to anything that looks pretty or artistically interesting to me. If that condition is not fulfilled, I won't even bother, I'd rather go and read a book.
After that, I'll look at the setting/story and see if it matches the kind of things I personally like or, if it doesn't, if the premise of the story plus the pretty art is attractive enough.
Then I look at the gameplay. There are things I don't like, like curtain shooters, FPS and strategy games (I suck at that badly, so they just frustrate me xD). If it seems interesting and it doesn't look like I'll be frustrated or bored to death after some time, then it's ok.

About pricing, I see games like I see everything else I buy: If it's prettier/cooler/fancier/tastier than another thing that fulfills the same function, I'm willing to pay more. If it keeps me entertained for a long time, I'm willing to pay more as well. If I feel like I'm helping or supporting something/somebody that interests me by buying it, I'm also more encouraged to buy it or pay a bit more than something else of similar treats. So there are three factors in there that influences how much I'm willing to spend.

For regular commercial games I can buy at the store, the max I'm willing to pay is USD$60 for an interesting cool game I enjoy every moment looking at the screen because it's so well done that will also keep me entertained for a while~
For indie games, I'm willing to pay up to USD$20 if I like the art and the idea of the story enough and they can entertain me for a couple of hours (I think "I go out and spend $20 on food/drinks, so why not spend the same time on a game that'll entertain me for about the same time?"). If they have all that AND can entertain me for more than one day, I have no problems paying more C:

Again, I'm NOT a gamer, and I don't buy games often (nor I go out often or shop for things often). Maybe gamers have a tighter budget and they'd like to spend the less money possible on the most amount of games possible.

[kinougames]

Oh, that is a good mention, because I see it often.

I am not limited to $X for indie games. The idea in people's head is that indie games are not as good than mainstream console games, and the fact is that I've paid premium prices for games that were basically bleh and nearly nothing for games I would've rather paid the higher price for.

I would pay up to $40-50+ for a really amazing indie game of good length, 20-25+ hours. It's basically all about how much enjoyment versus how much time. More enjoyment means I'd pay for for a shorter game, somewhat less enjoyment means I'd need a longer length to satisfy the same pricing. Animamundi I paid $30 for, and I would've easily paid $60 for the sheer awesome that is that game.

[Deji]

Well, I'm making a couple of assumptions here:

I assume companies big enough to export their games to my faraway country have big budgets and can afford to make long pretty game by default (or at least try to), and that with the amount of sales they make they're able to reduce the cost of the game and that one single sale won't affect them much as a company.

I also assume indies don't have a big ass budget to pay for great art or make super long games, they can't put their games on stores on different countries across the world, they usually don't lower their prices much based off quantity and that also by buying a game from them I'm helping them survive as indies.

Now, sure, if and indie gives me an awesome game super entertaining and pretty and even long, I don't mind paying as much as I pay for any other game I can buy at a store that can give me pretty much the same; I'm being considerate to indies because they're indies.

Maybe I'm horribly wrong, but, again, I'm not a gamer, so take anything I may say with a tablespoon of salt and just a personal opinion xD

[Greeny]

I probably shouldn't be posting in this thread, since I generally dislike internet money transfers for any reason, but I'd like to say that I'd probably be more likely to buy something if I could get a cd or something physical shipped to me, even at an extra cost.

[kinougames]

@Deji

Some of those assumptions are good to make, but I feel like indies should be judged individually. Even big companies make mistakes, and I feel that all new groups should start lower to establish quality and work their way up, but I'd be upset if I made a Nintendo quality game that took a lot of time and effort and money and people said "oh well, they're just an indie, so the game is probably crappy."

(Also, I'm really sore about it because I just played the latest Golden Sun after playing two really good Golden Sun games and it was so short I felt very ripped off and that's Nintendo...)

Also, not all companies need a big budget to sell in stores, some countries are easier. (Like Japan. xD)

[Mirage]

It depends on the game. I'm willing to pay more if the game looks good. The length sometimes also effect this, but not always. Say, if the game is 5 hours in length but it's quality 5 hours, then I don't mind paying 20 USD. If the game is 60 hours in length but it's mundane 60 hours, I probably won't even buy it.

[KomiTsuku]

The problem in life is simple. I can stick my head out my door, yell down the hall for a pirate, and get the entire hall to stick out their heads. Hell, I just took fifteen minutes and found almost every game on the commercial list for Ren'py for free, illegal download. The internet is a horrible, horrible thing for trying to turn a profit on games. People wonder why I work for free, despite paying artists huge sums of money... I've accepted the inevitable. Gotta turn a profit with physical product. Illegal downloading makes me sick...

But the illegal scene isn't the focus of this thread. Back on topic! Personally, if this is your first shot and I don't have recommendations like crazy, I will not buy over $20. After the first one, I'm willing to step it up a little bit, if it looks like it will be worth it. I do give second chances, but it won't take priority over something that already has won me over. While pretty art has been mentioned, I am very big into a good, interesting story. If I think I'm getting the same rehashed story I've read a dozen times, you aren't gonna get my business.

The differences in prices... For amounts that low, I don't do any major distinguishing. It could be an hour long, as long as it was worth the hour I put in.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Take it for what you will.

[cloudyssky]

I've accepted the inevitable. Gotta turn a profit with physical product.

As true as that is, I still think a profit can be made here on the internet. Yes, pirated copies will be made inevitabley, however, I think that can actually help a game maker or producer in the long wrong. Let's say you put your game out to buy, and 100 people buy it with cash like they're supposed to. Now let's say the game makes it's way onto something like ThePirateBay and 300 people download it there for free. If those 300 people like the game, then they will probably get my next one. Granted, most of these 300 people will just get it free again. But as we saw with Minecraft, eventually some will get their wallets out to support the developer to make another great game if the first was great. Also, those 300 people may visit my website, which can raise traffic, which can help me gain advertising easier.

In the end, pirating hurts more than it helps, but it still helps in minor ways. Publicity is the best kind of profit you can make.

[Alera]

^ I agree with @cloudyssky on that last one.

To be honest- I sometimes play pirate games too. (but I actually haven't even thought that there were pirate versions of Renpy's VNs. O.o ) But that's because I can't get the originals in my country. But if I have the chance, especially if it's a game I really loved and I find it- instant buy!!! >w< I know what it is to create a game, so I like supporting the developers!

And actually- I really like to have the real thing in my hands. I love original CDs. It makes me feel like I really have the game, and it's not just virtual.

Ah, and to answer the actual question- for VN games- I would probably spend around 10-15$ for a pretty good game. Art attracts me the most, next is the gameplay and the story. So if a game has awesome arts, enjoyable gameplay and is actually not really short- because I like pretty long games- maybe I could give even more. ^^

Just...if I could. OTL
I should set up a decent PayPal account and should actually start earning money on my own.

[Wintermoon]

I'll pay up to $20 for an indie game if it's really really good and fairly long. I like to support indie game developers, but I just can't afford to spend more than that on a single game. If you only charge $10 for the same game, I'm more than twice as likely to buy it, so you'll actually make more money from me on average.

I'll only pay up to $10 for non-indie games. All non-indie games eventually reach that price point if they're any good, and I see no reason to financially support the big publishers. Sometimes I have to wait a few years to play a certain game, but I don't mind. If the game was worth playing ten years ago, then it's still worth playing today. If the game is no longer worth playing today, then it was never any good, and I saved a bunch of time and money by avoiding it.

I've also found that I generally prefer indie games over non-indie games, which is another reason for why the indie games get more of my money.

[Snowflower]

As for me, I am willing to pay up to $25 dollars for high quality games... if they are terribly done, that I won't even bother with the money.

Although I am willing to pay ^ that much, I absolutely love finding under $10 game bargains on the Internet... or even better... FREE

But I am not all against paying. I think the money issue just depends on high well the game has been finished, and the entertainment factors. If a game has fabulous plot line, but lacks the professional art, than as long as the art is acceptable, I will pay around $5-$10. I think the art quality plays a big part in the amount of money that can be charged for the game.

[SilverxBlue]

Factors to look at, Hmmm.... Maybe, The art (Obviously.) and the length of the game. I usually check the play time of the game, if it is under three hours then the art or the writing or the gameplay has to be so good for me to buy it. I want a game that keeps me occupied for a long time.
Oh and I think the amount I could pay depends on who I could ask money from, I could go as high as $30 for my mom, but for my dad he'd go berserk at $10. o_O