First Spore expansion

[Wraith]

Spore Expansion Listed by GameStop and Amazon (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170350) (1up)Gamers looking forward to the inevitable expansion of Spore might not have too big of a wait ahead of them. Fansite Hooked on Spore discovered listings for a Spore Cute & Creepy Parts Pack on both Amazon and GameStop, both of which have since been removed. Fortunately for us, Google keeps a nifty little record of all the internet's screwups.

While there's no information other than the name, November 18 release date, and $19.99 price tag, this sounds suspiciously like the kind of expansion pack commonly released for The Sims -- offering little more than new parts for customization. When questioned, an EA representative stated that they've "yet to announce details on any future Spore products." For now, we're left wondering if this is the "horizontal expansion" Will Wright was referring to, or if there's something more ambitious in the cards for Spore.
... I'm not against expansions, but this isn't the kind of expansion I wanted to see for Spore, if it's as the title implies. I'd rather see them add some additional gameplay and some new parts, like most of the Sims expansions (like Open for Business and Nightlife).

I guess the value of such an expansion kind of depends on the quantity and quality of parts added. If it's only a handful of parts for each palette, this is definitely a no sale for me.

[Raen]

Well an expansion should be more than just extra content. However while I haven't played Spore, but from what I've read and seen I don't know where an obvious place for expansion is. I mean what would you like to see in terms of new gameplay?

[crazyD]

Well an expansion should be more than just extra content. However while I haven't played Spore, but from what I've read and seen I don't know where an obvious place for expansion is. I mean what would you like to see in terms of new gameplay?

Enhanced space content, making the previous stages not suck so much.

[Brady]

I never made it to the space stage. I just couldn't gather the strength to pass the tribal stage.

I'll not be buying this.

[Suave Peanut]

Is it not kind of soon for an expansion pack? By the time this releases, it will have been hardly two months since Spore launched. That's seems like too small of a window.

[Brady]

Is it not kind of soon for an expansion pack? By the time this releases, it will have been hardly two months since Spore launched. That's seems like too small of a window.

My guess is that it is sort of like damage control. The game didn't get the reviews/sales they were expecting so they are going quickly after the wallets of all those that really did enjoy the game.

[Shjinta]

Honestly. It would seem that every developer is going Casual = Money. even WoW is becoming like that. Though. I wonder.. Can they use the future expansion packs to fill the other stages of the game with better content?

[Wraith]

Enhanced space content, making the previous stages not suck so much.Precisely.

[Lint of Death]

I think it would be neat if as part of an expansion pack they made allowed for an alternate creature stage where structure/shape/number of parts mattered more than the kind of parts.

[J Arcane]

My guess is that it is sort of like damage control. The game didn't get the reviews/sales they were expecting so they are going quickly after the wallets of all those that really did enjoy the game.
I don't know what skies they were aiming for then if it didn't get the sales they wanted, considering it was a number one seller until it got overshadowed by Warhammer, and is still routinely in the upper top 10 in sales.

The Sims sold by the gajillions, and they did the exact same sort of stuff with it as well.

Personally, I concur with the sentiment that I was hoping for more actual gameplay expansion, and less in the way of shovelware extra parts bits, and if this story is true I can't see it being anything but given the price, name, and release date.

[VerseD]

This sounds like a waste of money, just like all those expansions for The Sims. It looks like EA expected this to be a big seller on the scale of the Sims franchise, but playing with alien tribes just doesn't have the universal appeal of screwing around with a down-to-earth family.

I'd rather see revised gameplay and more of it in an expansion for Spore.

[itchyeyes]

I just reached the center of the galaxy last night, and while I'm really wanting more gameplay, this is not the kind of expansion I'm looking for. Even though it's already the most robust portion of the game, I think the space phase should be the focus of at least one expansion. I'd like to see ways to specialize planets for something other than just spice production, better weaponry upgrades to take on the Grox, a passive income upgrade for planets, more diplomacy options, and better ways to manage large empires so you're not constantly flying all over the place babysitting people, to name a few.

[itchyeyes]

This sounds like a waste of money, just like all those expansions for The Sims.
The thing is, a lot of the Sims expansions were actually pretty robust. Open for Business was essentially a whole other game within the framework of The Sims. It wasn't until after they'd put out 3-4 decent expansions that they stated with the shovelware expansions like Ikea furniture packs.

[Telefrog]

The thing is, a lot of the Sims expansions were actually pretty robust. Open for Business was essentially a whole other game within the framework of The Sims. It wasn't until after they'd put out 3-4 decent expansions that they stated with the shovelware expansions like Ikea furniture packs.

I agree, but from a purely moneymaking standpoint which one do you think had more profit? The gamechanging expansions, or the shovelware stuff packs?

I predict a lot more of this type of crap for Spore. The Insect Part Pack! The Aquatic Part Pack! The Alien Invader Part Pack! The Dinosaur Part Pack! And let's not forget the ultra profitable Best of Sporepedia Pack! filled with user-made stuff.

[itchyeyes]

I agree, but from a purely moneymaking standpoint which one do you think had more profit? The gamechanging expansions, or the shovelware stuff packs?

I predict a lot more of this type of crap for Spore. The Insect Part Pack! The Aquatic Part Pack! The Alien Invader Part Pack! The Dinosaur Part Pack! And let's not forget the ultra profitable Best of Sporepedia Pack! filled with user-made stuff.
Could be. I think it depends a lot on how well they sell. The Sims "Stuff" packs were really scraping the bottom of the barrel, but by the time they were on expansion pack 5 or 6 they're really only selling to the die hard fans anyways. They're going to have a much harder time pushing that kind of stuff on consumers right out of the gate, especially with Spore being a bit less of a broad based game like The Sims is. I think they'll find they need to offer something a bit more compelling to get the kind of sales they want.

Also there's the question of what they want to accomplish with an expansion pack. Part of the purpose of an expansion pack is to keep people interested in the game, so as to boost sales of the game itself and to provide an interested customer base when you launch the next expansion pack. Going for the cash in expansions right out of the gate kills a lot of that continued interest that you want as a publisher.

[Telefrog]

Also there's the question of what they want to accomplish with an expansion pack. Part of the purpose of an expansion pack is to keep people interested in the game, so as to boost sales of the game itself and to provide an interested customer base when you launch the next expansion pack. Going for the cash in expansions right out of the gate kills a lot of that continued interest that you want as a publisher.

Brad Wardell (Stardock Games) actually has a very insightful blog post or article about the conventional wisdom around expansion pack sales. I'd link it, but my Google-fu is weak right now. Anyway, the industry standard projection for expansion pack sales is somewhere around 30% for buyers of the basic game, and the bump in sales of the basic game to new buyers spurred by the x-pack is about 10% of the original sales.

Obviously, The Sims/Sims 2 likely had better figures, but I suspect that Spore will be closer to the industry norm.