"Kings of war/Mantic rules issue" Topic

I'm trying to download the free rules off the Mantic site, but keep getting sent to the shopping cart asking for personal info to make a $0 USD purchase.

Is this correct? You used to be able to get the rules with a simple click.

Yep you need to enter that stuff. Is is a purchase but you don't have to enter payment info since cost is zero. Pretty sure they do it to grow their mailing list.

Signing on is pretty much par for the course with any free rules download from any company I have dealt with.

Mantic, Warlord, Catalyst Game Labs, Scotia Grendal, and a few 6mm sci-fi I've downloaded free stuff from lately all require a sign on first.

Must be a new (last 5 ish years) thing. I've never come across it before.

Once everyone is giving away rules, things start to evolve.

If your handing over information, then they are not free rules at all. Your trading for them. It would be nice for them to come clean about that. It's probably legal to call them free (??), but seems dishonest at the least.

Success!

Just feed them a bunch of nonsense and don't sign up for anything. No personal details required. 0.

You are taken to a checkout page with the download button.

A simple one click download was far superior. I'd just download the lot. Now people will be cautious, like me, and just download the thing they are after, thus not getting exposure to other games to try. That and Mantics user data will be riddled with rubbish, making for unreliable stats. Double fail for Mantic, and that's if people are not just completely put off entirely, as I almost was.

Hope your listening Ronnie.

(I'll add that I dislike the new site design. The old site was much more user friendly)

I think a set of rules is worth giving my email for. I signed up earlier this year, and have three new Star Saga sets within the past month I am anxious to try. I think your marketing is working, Ronnie! Keep up the great work!

Marketing yes, but are the extra hurdles for people to try their games worth it? Being lampooned by spam is a sure turn off to me.

They are definitely missing people due to the complexity and confusion of just downloading some rules (yes, I know some are all up with all that, but others are not). I used to simply click download on their old site, now all this rubbish. I'm glad someone is enjoying it.

Also there are no army lists for Kow. Not exactly what I'd call free at the best of times, unless you have orcs or dwarfs, the only two, partly, included.

Humph..

I touch on above that this seems to be coming about now so many sites have "free" rules. I wander what may change next? They are already sending you to checkout, why not charging 99c? Actually you appear to have to buy the lists now (unless I missed them) or your "free" rules are useless. So they are already charging for them!

I really don't know the answer to this. But in 20 plus years I have yet to buy anything I can think of from a company that gave me free rules – I have dozens of sets I haven't even read yet. But for whatever reason, I have made purchases from most if not all that have required me yo sign up. I may have skipped some downloads in the process, but I wonder if the perception of value comes into play.