Should I retire the Garoul (werewolf)
RawArt
Posts: 5,889
Hi everyone
I will be soon releasing a new werewolf into the market, and with the new tech behind it, it is quite a step up from my old Garoul character.
http://www.daz3d.com/garoul-the-werewolf
So rather than having too many were's, I am thinking of retiring the old boy.
But that said, I still think garoul has some cool traits to it.
However if anyone comes into the shop looking for a were....they will most likely choose the new one over the garoul anyday. So it may end up sitting there unwanted and unloved.
What do you guys think...should he get retired?
Here is the old and the new
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Comments
put it on sale for two weeks and then retire it
Nah...that would just come across as a cash grab...and mark me as a greedy PA (not saying I am not greedy...thats just a simple fact LOL)
But I do want the people to get the best for their money, so that is where the new hotty comes in.
Depends on a few factors. One, how much better would the new werewolf be over the old? Two, would the the new cost more than the old do to the improvements and if so how much more? Three (or possibly Two b), could keeping the old negatively impact the sales of the new, like would the average customer understand the improvements or would they purchase on price alone?
I think the new one is a huge improvement over the old......but of course I would, or I wouldnt have even bothered to make it LOL
Becoming my own competition in making products is not always the brightest move...but sometimes the artist in me takes over and ties up the business-manager and locks him in a cold dark place.
The fact that the new one has real fur and doesnt just rely on displacements is already a big step up (though there are displacements on it too, for times where people dont want to wait on the real fur to render)
As for pricing.......my pricing has stayed in the exact same range for over 5 years now (maybe more).....thats one of the tough things about this market...there is always a huge outcry whenever we try to increase prices.....so I stay consistent (though there may come a time where i will have no choice but to up the $ a bit..thats just a life reality)
Rawn
From what I see from promo image new one looks more like MS Lycan (more muscular, stockier, more feral) while Garou is more human-like (smoother, lankier). I'd say keep the old one too because it provides some needed variety in werewolf species.
There could be value, both to you and to the community, in having two alternative werewolves at different price points. Have you considered asking DAZ if they'd like to take Garoul on as a PC item? You'd get (whatever deal it is that DAZ offers PC artists), and PC members would have a chance at an inexpensive lycanthrope. It would certainly add some needed variety to the Platinum Club.
There is a danger that having a cheap werewolf on the market could drain sales from the new hotness, but it might not. Sometimes any old werewolf will do, but sometimes you absolutely need the shape-shifting, flesh-rending very best in modern were-thing technology.
The new one looks pretty impressive. Not the kind of thing you want to meet in a dark runtime. Or rather, it is, if you know what I mean.
The more variety, the better. One werewolf, isn't going to meet the needs of all who are looking for one.
Like having an actual wolf's head on a bipedal body as oppose to an human/canine combo.:-) wink, wink, nod,nod.
Anyway from the pictures, they DO look too similar. If that is the case, go ahead and retire it. No point in keeping the older version if the new is similar in style.
And that's greatly appreciated . . . along with the fact that it's very reasonably priced considering the quality of your products.
When you retire something, does this mean that those who purchased it in the past and never downloaded it, won't be able to later when they decide to. Sounds weird, but based on members previously posting complaints of the Daz store not informing them that they already have certain content when they try to purchase it again, it seems there are quite a few members that simply accumulate a lot of content until they need it.
Also some people may rely on the Daz site as the backup for their purchased content.
Just a couple of random thoughts.
As long as you've purchased an item in the DAZ store you can download it whenever you need to...even if the item is no longer in the store. And the new product library makes that a lot easier to do. ;)
Nah...that would just come across as a cash grab...and mark me as a greedy PA (not saying I am not greedy...thats just a simple fact LOL)
But I do want the people to get the best for their money, so that is where the new hotty comes in.
Give it away for free, and put a link to your new one on the site where you give it away.
They do look different, and since the new one presumably uses LaMH the older may be more useful to Poser users via DSON, even if they need to rebuild the material settings.
...or maybe consider bundling it with the new one. 2 werewolves for a price of one.
I often think about buying the Garoul or the MS Lycan (because I only own the old anubis-style Night World Lycantrophos - wich don't work for modern horror) but can't decide wich to buy because booth have their pros an cons... the Garoul lacks the muscles and the MS Lycan lacks the fur.
If I had to choose now I would choose the new werewolf because it has the best of booth - as far as I can see at the promo.
Since you also have The Man Wolf wich looks similar to the Garoul I would suggest to put these two in a bundle, this will make it more interesting.
A couple of months ago I needed a wolf-man for a render. Tried the Man-Wolf, wasn't happy with it. Tried Garoul, wasn't happy with it. Fifty-fifty of each and voilà! Liked it so much I used it in two other renders, here and here. So I'd say no, don't retire it -- no matter how much nicer the new pup is, somebody's project may need a touch of Garoul.
Quite funny, I never bought Man-Wolf, looked too tame/toon for me, but Garoul went straight in the cart - he's got a dangerous & sinister vibe about him.
So it really depends what the new guy in Rawtown is gonna look like - just tell me he'll give me nightmares and you'll have won me over.
Will there be more previews coming?
The top image in my first post is the new one ;)
I think what I may end up doing is retiring Garoul, and then give those who have garoul a small discount on the new guy too. They really are not related sets, so they dont really warrant a cross selling like that. But I want to give garaul a good farewell party (before he gets eaten by the new guy).
Rawn
It's a werewolf-eat-werewolf world out there ...
The top image in my first post is the new one ;)
I think what I may end up doing is retiring Garoul, and then give those who have garoul a small discount on the new guy too. They really are not related sets, so they dont really warrant a cross selling like that. But I want to give garaul a good farewell party (before he gets eaten by the new guy).
Rawn
Aw! Maybe he can avoid being eaten? It is a sad end for a nice character like him -_-
FYI:
➔ I'll almost certainly continue to use some percentage of the Garoul morph.
➔ Whenever I use it I'm gonna credit it, just like I've been doing.
➔ Someone trying to buy the products needed to make the same or a similar character they've seen in one of those renders is going to be disappointed at being unable to do so, and probably baffled that you're refusing to take their money for (what from the customer side looks like) no good reason.
So, up to you. Oh, I was wondering: why are you considering killing Garoul but not the Man-Wolf?
I already have both Garoul and ManWolf and see no problem with buying yet a third variant. After all, the big strength of Genesis is the ability to mix and match, so the more sources to borrow from, the better.
That said, there are other kinds of lycanthropes that aren't as well represented in the figure world, let alone genesis, so might I suggest that you consider some alternate head morphs for Garoul and the others to take them in those extreme. I've been able to pull off feline and simian variants using various creature sets, but more extreme shapes like a rat head would be awesome, as would a geo-grafted bird beak and some different kinds of claws...
I think you are a excellent content creator, and love your work and look forward to seeing your new Werewolf I am sure it will be awesome. I am also sure I also will not be able to use it either, just like the Sasquatch (also very awesome). I hope you will still create things that can be used effectively in poser with Genesis. If you updated the Garoul with Poser companion files I'd buy it right now, as well as the Taurian and a lot of other things too.
Oh, and as far as the looks of the two designs. I agree that the new design is better in many ways, but I have to say that, from what I can see, Garoul's feet look far more wolf-like, which makes him (or is it her, hard to tell with all that fur, :ohh: ) preferable in many situations.
Greetings,
whispers Fox heads; more slender and longer muzzles...!
But of course I would say that...
;)
-- Morgan
Actually, I like Garroul. And I bought him exactly because he looks less werewolfy than your new improved one. Not everyone prefers the same look on these kind of charracters. And with Genesis and it´s ability to mix morphs, Garroul is a good adition for creating fantasy or sci-fi charracters.
I love Garoul, it was one of my Very First Genesis figures. I'm not for nor against it going away. Just saying I love it.
I have Garoul. Love him. He hasn't shown up in a lot of renders lately, but that's because I haven't done a lot of werewolves.
I have Man Wolf. Love him (and I admit, I remember asking about something like it to RawArt on FB, so I always felt that the Man Wolf was "mine")
I'll probably buy any shape-shifting type critter that RawArt makes for Genesis, since I have yet to be disappointed with one. :)
Unlike everyone else, I can't really see much difference between the two. Unless the legs look more animal on Garoul and more human on the new werewolf.
I guess the difference in poses and darkness are preventing me from seeing the difference.
As for retiring Garoul, I have no opinion since I don't spend money on Genesis products. However, I do hate to see products removed from the store. Especially, if there really is a substantial difference between the two werewolves. Not everyone prefers newfangled stuff over the old tried and true :wink:
I love your work Raw. Your new sasquatch was your best work yet.
Now that I've seen what you can do with the LAMH on sasquatch, I wonder how these old models would look with hair.
I can't see buying another animal/critter figure without hair, so if it looked good with hair, I might still buy it, but that really is the only way I'd buy a figure sans real hair unless it was very inexpensive..
You know, your combination of these two looks impressive. I'd like to advise RawArt to bundle these two up, and keep them in the DAZ' store. They don't look resource-intensive, and with each other, you have a plethora of choices! So, RawArt, keep Garoul and bundle him with Man Wolf. I do not think he should be retired. But it's your choice.