>However, I'd point out that I'd have registered Curses if it had been
>shareware rather than freeware, and I know I'm not alone in this.
If I had a dollar for every promise to register software I'd written...
(Not saying *you* wouldn't register Curses, just that this line of
discussion is terribly unfair to shareware authors, because it deceives
them into believing they can actually make some money. Some can, but
writing shareware is like buying a lottery ticket. Generally, your
return is what the scrap of paper is worth.)
>Maybe I should send Graham a tenner?
Couldn't hurt!
>Although a crippled game isn't really an option, I would have thought
>that a viable approach would be to release about half the game as
>shareware - "if you're enjoying this, then register and get the
>remaining puzzles and the endgame." Certainly not as a viable strategy
>for making a million, but sufficient (I would have thought) for a
>useful hobby income.
I guess that depends on how you define "useful hobby income". It may pay
for a sandwich now and then.
>I simply don't have the option of playing modern games that are all style
>and no substance on the Tube, and until I do, games for the z machine
>represent the best available option.
Ugh. More "non-text games are all fluff" rhetoric. I don't mean to be
harsh, but have you played enough non-text games to make such a sweeping
statement?
Dave Baggett
__
dmb@ai.mit.edu
"Mr. Price: Please don't try to make things nice! The wrong notes are *right*."
--- Charles Ives (note to copyist on the autograph score of The Fourth of July)