But it involves promotion space. I have read reports from indie developers, that their sales drop up to 95% when they aren't on the Steam store mainpage anymore. I guess the same is true for Impulse. If Gamestop decides to promote only AAA titles on the frontpage (or even sells the space to the highest bidder), indie developers will certainly get hurt.

 

I feel JUST like Jim Raynor in Brood War when he, Fenix and Mengsk allied with Kerrigan. "I know what you mean Fenix. I'd love to believe that she's on the level but there's a part of me that just knows better...."

 

From peoples posts about GameStop (MAN what a fitting name...GameS-T-O-P!  A permanent STOP to ALL games THEY don't approve of make truckloads of money from) I believe they will do everything in their power to make as much money as humanly possible NO matter what gamedeveloper DIES in agony!

....and selling frontpage space seems SO obvious for them that it stands out like a naked chick on a soccerfield!

Despite the uncertainty, fear, and hatred... I preordered Sins Rebellion today anyway. 

Gamestop has screwed many of us over in the past and might just do it again.  However, Brad's stamp of approval does currently have meaning to me and so I am willing to give Gamestop one LAST chance to prove they aren't just another evil empire.

Gamestop executives, if you are monitoring these forums you will see where your reputation currently is, and what you need to do to mend it.  Don't disappoint those of us who are willing to "see how it goes".

 

A truck load of used games.

I'm sure the Gamestop employees you've meet are great people and I trust in your opinion of their enthusiasm and intent.  And I am happy for the Stardockians who were given the choice to stay on.  But the Gamestoppers you meet don't run the company.  They may run their division with earnest pie in the sky ideals, and they may be real stand up kind of people with earnest passion for their industry.  But they do their jobs under direction of the board.  The executive officers and the voting shareholders  ultimately dictate what is to be done and how. They determine how many resources to allocate a given project.  They decide when and if a product line should be dropped or marginalized.  The macro decisions are all made by a separate entity which is expressly motivated by profitability.  Indeed the publicly traded corporation is legally bound to protect the profit interests of its investors.  If indie games don't make adequate profit, they will be dropped or marginalized.  If the profitability margin for AAA Game X isn't deemed sufficient by the board, support for it can be dropped. The department heads have no say over this.  They, and the executive officers, work for the shareholders.

I know you understand this Brad because you've talked about how beneficial it is to us the end user, that Stardock is a privately held company.  You've told us how Elemental was initially profitable; but due to your commitment to post sale support, you've invested resources and made decisions which have guaranteed its unprofitably.  How you can make decisions based on long term profitability over short term.  Decisions motivated by developer passion and end user experience.  How you and your employees are free to participate in community discussions.  And more.  You tell us these things are not possible with a share held company.   I agree.  And I respect the way you have done business and appreciate your customer centric decision making.  Stardock has been a bright star in an otherwise dull sky.   Whereas Gamestop is a blackhole I've learned to steer well clear of.

The executive officers and voting shareholders who've made the decisions to scam their customers and employees are still there.  These were calculated decisions not accidents.  They made the choice to go to court rather than to pay their employees.  They choose to offer a payroll plan which gives them kickbacks on hidden fees.  They carefully crafted the hidden fees into customer reward plans.  They made the decision to charge a bogus tax on service plans.  And more. I judge the corporation based on the decisions of its leadership.  The employees have nothing to do with this for they have no say over these things.  The employees and department heads can be full of compassionate enthusiasm for the customers they service.  Their minds can be full of bright ideas and passion for the gaming world.  They can be all starry eyed over all the good things they plan to do for the industry.  But they don't have a say in these things.  They are given a job.  Their bosses ultimately decide for how long and in what way these jobs are done.    

 

 

They can tell you this and they can believe it themselves.  But if they are unable to earn sufficient profit, they will marginalize it, or drop it entirely.  They would have no choice.  They are legally bound to protect the investments of their shareholders.  Beyond that, they can tell you what you want to hear, in order to get what they want.  All you know for a fact is that they have told you they think a particular way.  To gauge any truth and conviction in their words, one has to look at their history.  People can say anything.  It is in actions not words where faith should be founded.  

 

Yes, but it is hard to factor discounts in. It is rough number that does not consider quite a few things in fact.

I hate gamestop, and refuse to shop there for years now because of their slimely business practices and how often they try to rip off the customer by selling used games for full price. Suffice to say impulse lost a customer, I will not do business with gamestop. Its sad to see Stardock get Souled Out. If Brad really thinks Gamestop cares about the PC Platform and indie developers and the like then he is a big fool, Gamestop does not care.

 

A small history lesson, Gamestop was the business that killed PC Gaming in brick and mortar Retail, and they did it with a smile. I myself watched for years as their offerings shrunk and shrunk until PC Games was a tiny rack in my town, which is better at least compared to most people i know whom told me PC Racks disappeared altogether in their gamestops. They wont change their stripes, all they want is money since they see how much business steam has.

 

This move really reaks of selling their soul to the devil in the hopes Gamestop with a foot now in the digital platform can use its resources to kill off Steam.

Alright, so I read an interview from PC World concerning the sale and Brad says the following:

If Impulse isn't best of breed technology, then what is, Steam?" says Wardell. "Steam is the most popular, to be sure, but technologically? Let me put it this way. The technology difference between Impulse and Steam is such that any objective developer who looked at the two would overwhelmingly...let's just say the gulf is significant enough that it's not really a 'depends on your point of view' thing.

Would you, Brad, care to expand on this?  I know you were just responding to remarks by some analyst, but I got curious anyway.  It doesn't really seem to matter if Steam is technologically superior or not.  The features available on Steam are just better in my opinion than what's been available on Impulse, or even just better implemented.

Because that's exactly what it is.

Why the heck would I give the benefit of the doubt to someone that has repeatably shown me nothing but contempt?

Just wanted to chime in my support for the ponies. All Hail Twilight Sparkle!

I get the pony hookup every Friday that I can. I should totally put on a Pony Avatar.

 

My biggest concern over the Gamestop sale is the future support for Indie titles we don't really see on Steam. On the other hand, even big retailers like Amazon.com have rolled out good Indie support -- better than Steam. Also, some of the Steam overlay stuff is turning into a memory hog. And what gives with it hiding all the games in that /common subfolder? Irritating. Meaning maybe it's Steam that will eventually turn into an industry dog, here. Despite all its cool features. And the way I keep buying most of my games from it because of its cool features and great deals. How long can they keep that up, really?

 

We do have other good venues like GoG and GamersGate to which we may turn.

 

Still, I refuse to be anti-Gamestop just because they are "corporate". Since when did nerd-rage mean anti-corporate? Corporations are the engines that drive computer technology forward. IBM labs, Intel, blixx, I'll say it:

Capitalism, Ho!

Gamestop could do some interesting things. Some online London retailer (name escapes me right now) has an interesting return-credit (buys back your old digital download games for store credit by removing the license) model. Would be interesting if Gamestop implemented something like that.

Anyway, after cruising the forums, I'm now concerned about how gamemakers will support IMPULSE now that it has been sold. I don't want to have any patching problems. I admit I won't buy any newly released titles from Impulse until the dust clears.

For me, though, the lodestone is Indie support. Lots of my favorite games these days are "Indie" releases. Software development seems to have taken a turn back to the old folks-in-a-garage model, and I'm likin' it. If you ain't got the games, you ain't gettin' the dollars. Amazon and GamersGate have most everythin'. Personally, I think I'll buy more from Amazon. I'm comfortable with building a digital library through them.

My two cents (because I had to plug the ponies),

-MrBats

 

That first one, is because of Gamestop's mistreatment  of retail- forcing employees to shill pre-orders or lose hours.  When you need hours, you'll do anything to keep them.

 

I believe that Stardock was better then the competition.  I don't believe that Gamestop is worse.  That's how little regard I hold Valve and Gamersgate in.

 

I'll give Gamestop a chance to rebuild their image, but if they don't, it won't hurt me to write them off- and become a tinfoiler myself.

 

One thing I've realized if you can't boycott everything though- I don't want to end up living in a shack in a wood, chopping my own trees, and making an "oak" to kill Jerry Lawler in the Mid-South coliseum by cutting myself like an emo with an axe.

 

Quick update:

It seems that for one reason or another Star Ruler may be pulled earlier than originally planned.

Link: http://forums.blind-mind.com/index.php?topic=3235.60