This is exactly what I was trying to say (Re:Looney). Scrap the platform comparisons and the education of the developers... That's not what I was trying to critique, it's almost irrelevant (I say 'almost' because the next post is going to lambaste me for saying education is irrelevant). I just don't want AV to turn into some cash grab and have the quality bottom out too.
Call me a traditionalist, I like my games in one package for one price.

If you like games in one pack, maybe you should wait until Amanda finishes all chapters. Egh that will be a long time though.

*gulp* i really hope the chapters are gonna show up on shockwave because if they are not then my mom says shes not gonna pay for them for me.

@looney_mooney: a one-time fee every year was not an option, unless you meant $20 for AV3, then $20 for AV4 the following year, and so on. Let's assume that Amanda kept going with the full version of AV3, then AV4 and AV5 as a trilogy. AV3 is 20 hours long. AV4 would be about the same, and AV5 as well (again, we're making assumptions). So you've got 60 hours. And they might have taken a year each to make. So you're getting 60 hours worth of gameplay, for $60, over 3 years. Or maybe longer, if she chose to have a break from RPG games between each segment.

Now let's work on the chapter idea, and we'll assume that AV4 and AV5 will both be split into 2 chapters similar to AV3. So now you've got 6 chapters, all about 10 hours each, and all costing $10 each. All up, you're still spending $60 and getting 60 hours of gameplay. But because they're being done as chapters and built onto the previous game, rather than started from scratch, you're going to get them in half the time - a year and a half rather than three years.

At least that's the idea. So yes, I guess you're paying more money over the same period of time, but you're getting twice as many hours of gameplay over that time too.

So what WAS going to be called AV4 and AV5 will now become chapters of AV3. AV4, when it comes, will be a completely new story.

@Macca44: I don't believe you'll have to wait a year for chapter 1 of AV4 to be produced. Previous games have taken this long because they've been so large. Now that Amanda's treating them as chapters, even the first one will be able to be completed, tested and released much faster than a full 20-hour game would be. I don't know if it will be 3 months like chapters of AV3 or maybe a bit longer. That will depend on the game itself, and on how efficient we've become at following our schedule

@mara34: really, don't worry about that. Amanda is not one to sacrifice quality for quantity. Try the games out when they're available, and chances are, if you think the quality is dropping, others will too, and it will reflect in sales of the game. If that happens, Amanda will have to revisit her plan. But there's no sense in claiming that's what's going to happen when you just don't know You might end up thoroughly enjoying the game, and pleased that you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter...

Thanks Shaz

@macca: I think that depends on how successful the chapter idea is, doesn't it?

I'm very pleased with the Chapter idea. However, I'm just worried that people might think it's just up to grab people's money, since Aveyond 3 will be split into 2 chapters, but 4 more chapters from what used to be Av4 and Av5 would be added on as well, which makes people think that Aveyond 3 consists of 6 chapters, a.k.a. $60, which they won't think it's worth their money.

It is worth $60. And it would still be worth $60 if it were AV3, AV4 and AV5 as a trilogy, since each separate game would be $20.

It's been a little while since I finished school, but to me, that looks about the same

No - I meant that some people might have thought that AV3 would not be worth $60. But it's actually 3 games.

i'm confused, will this chapter system be continued till aveyond 5 for sure?

ujwal:
It has been stated several times in this topic that Amanda is trying chapters, and if it works well, she will continue with them. However, if it doesn't work out, for whatever reason, she will go back to one full game every 1 to 3 years.

I personally love the idea of it being in chapters so the wait in between games isn't so long. Making the game, beta testing, preparing it for release, etc, will be much quicker when built upon the existing game.

oh, ok thanks tiniponi. i didn't read the whole thread, so didn't knew about it

No problem at all, and don't be embarrassed. We all ask occasionally things which are already answered.

What I meant was a one-time fee for the whole game (You know, before it was split up into chapters), whenever it came out, however many years apart, not paying a one time fee every year. I wasn't clear in my post (I was writing it pretty late). Sorry!

But I get what your saying now, and I like the idea of getting more from the game over a shorter period of time.

well that's gonna be a lot of $$$ out of my pocket then....

How so, Lone_Hunter? The game is still priced at $1/hour. The only difference is that it's now a package of ten hours instead of twenty.

I think it really just feels like more money. I realize it isn't, but just taking a glance at it, as I did the first time, it seems like it will just empty your pockets.

Anyways, after thinking about it a bit more, I think this is a very good idea. Now AV4 will not be a continuation of this, which I thought was rather strange, and it will feel like a complete game once it is all over. One small problem... over the course of all of the games, my desktop is going to be rather full of AV___'s. xD

It really feels cheaper to me, I would pay more in fact for such a funderful game!
I'm actually starting to like the idea too.
( BTW: Fun + Wonderful = Funderful 8D )

@ipink: Is it perhaps the wording is confusing people? (and some psychological thing going in)

Maybe the wording should have been AV games(AV3, 4, 5, etc.) are each getting split into chapters of roughly equal 'play hours'? And the price is split.

@looney: there's nothing preventing you from waiting until all the chapters are out for a particular game and than purchasing it all at the same time.

@KTC
I think it is the wording that confuses people. I was confused at first when I read it, but then I figured out what she meant.