MRY
Wormwood Studios
Some developers talk about it publicly, but I don't think I should. It may be specific to each game.
Well, that's not what Dave said, and I'm not sure it's true. He just said it sold more copies. But Primordia sold like 35k in a Groupees bundle, while the rest of the WEG catalogue (which was in a separate bundle) sold 5k. The Primordia bundle had like 16 other games in it, so while it drove copies sold way up, it drove revenue per copy sold way down. I think it is certainly possible that Resonance has grossed more than Primordia. I think Groupees bundles can basically be seen as giving the game away for free (at least in Primordia's case), so "success" in Groupees really just means that we inflated our units-sold statistic.Primordia is second only to Geminie Rue in terms of gross revenue - despite the relatively low reviews. Speaks well of the word of mouth, I guess.
Well, that's not what Dave said, and I'm not sure it's true. He just said it sold more copies.Primordia is second only to Geminie Rue in terms of gross revenue - despite the relatively low reviews. Speaks well of the word of mouth, I guess.
It's second only to Gemini Rue in terms of gross earned.
Yeah, I thought he had said "copies sold." "Gross earned" and "gross revenue" are interchangeable -- Dave uses them to mean revenue prior to Steam/GOG/Humble cut.
Because I love dissing video game reviewers, I'd add 4) the writing and presentation was often too subtle for them. You don't beat players over the head that Clarity was a strong female character. I don't think she ever even complained about the robopatriarchy keeping her down! She just is. Contrast this with how indie favorites like Gone Home deal with their themes.My best guesses are (1) Primordia plays better when you are taking your time and poking around at things, and thus suffers if you're playing to complete it and meet a deadline (getting stuck is probably especially annoying to reviewers for that reason); (2) the strong visual references that Vic did to BASS turned off some reviewers (who viewed it as copying) but pleased players (who viewed it as homage); and (3) the game lacked something of the counter-cultural spirit that indie games are supposed to have. But yeah, I don't get it.
It's the one place where I tend to think that the criticism reflects a hostility to the game's perceived political positions rather than an authentic substantive criticism.
Richard Cobbett is a very good reviewer, and I often find his criticism insightful and to the point.
Bee has had a soft spot for Cobbett ever since the...drunken Twitter incident.
I thought Cobbett's latest RPG editorial on RPS was pretty average. The one about game length and shitty game intros.
Bee has had a soft spot for Cobbett ever since the...drunken Twitter incident.
God knows there's enough to dislike about it!
I don't think anyone is suggesting insincerity, we're suggesting arbitrary, capricious, and ultimately stupid criteria for forming the opinion in the first place.Gragt Maybe, though John Scalzi was nice enough to let us be the first (only?) game on which he ran a Big Idea post. Partly because of a more-than-healthy level of self-loathing and partly because I believe most people to be sincere, I am inclined to assume that criticisms of the game are based on genuine dislike. God knows there's enough to dislike about it!
What is internet anonymity for if not to cast judgement on others?Given that I form opinions on completely arbitrary, capricious, and stupid bases myself, I can hardly get on too high a horse. (There is little in life more satisfying than when I dislike something for an outrageous reason, and then after the fact I find some justifiable reason, such that I can say, "I was right all along! It turns out that guy with the weird hairline is a bully, so it's totally fine that I didn't like him because of his hairline!")
I must admit that I have the game from the Groupees bundle. This makes me part of the Steam statistics. This also gave me a DRM-free copy of the game, so I did not see any reason to buy it again on gog.com. I think it was released there later? I'll certainly tell people that it's a great game, so there's your word-of-mouth hypothesis in action.pippin Steam will almost always outsell GOG. Also, since Bundle sales tend to get reported as Steam sales, that further amplifies the effect. It is not 9 to 1, though. GOG performed pleasantly well compared to Steam for Primordia.