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[mrkgoo]

Ahoy, all. So, while Word Ace has taken off like a rocket on the Pre, it has yet to really crank up a full head of steam on the iPhone. We've sent codes to a lot of review sites, but we have very few actual published reviews (though the ones we've gotten so far have been great).

So, here's a question for you all, just for information's sake:

Have you told anyone else about Word Ace? Why or why not?
If you were given an in-game reward for telling someone about Word Ace, would you be more likely to do so?
...if that reward was an Award?
...if that reward was 10K chips? 50K chips? 100K chips?
...if that reward was an increase to your daily chip bonus per user you'd successfully referred?

Any other suggestions on how to spread the word would be greatly appreciated!
seppo

I convinced two friends to get it, and we played happily for a while (in fact they are in NZ, so it was a good time to catch up), but we all got a bit annoyed at cheating.

 

[centracore]

I've started adding Card Ace friend codes to the OP, as the friend list is the same in both games.

I'll update the OP with all the relevant Card Ace info tonight and ask a mod about changing the topic title.. GAME ON!

 

[helava]

Awesome! Thanks, centracore.

If anyone has a sec, if you can please nominate Word Ace for Best Mobile Game here: http://mashable.com/owa - we'd really, really appreciate it!

Thanks!
seppo

 

[mrkgoo]

Hmm...just an idea, is it possible to 'ramp' the free chips?

For example, if you have collected chips for free for 7 days, then on the 7th, maybe you can get 3000. I dunno - maybe you don't want to give away too much, just wondering if it were worth trying to get people playing everyday.

 

[helava]

That's an interesting idea, mrkgoo - I think the main problem is letting people know that works. But we could make an award for it, and so at least some people would figure it out. We'll see, though - if anything, we're giving away too much already.

seppo

 

[mrkgoo]

That's an interesting idea, mrkgoo - I think the main problem is letting people know that works. But we could make an award for it, and so at least some people would figure it out. We'll see, though - if anything, we're giving away too much already.

seppo

I think you are too. I was just thinking about possible ways to do things - I figured you already considered it, and have come up with the best options that work for you. I wouldn't make use of it, since I don't log in every day, however.

Man, I'm tempted to buy more chip packs. I'm no where near a good player, so I tend to go on these weird aggressive streaks. I time it all wrong and go all in for a bluff, but get called. After topping out at $126,000, I lost it all and got bumped under $20,000, and thus couldn't enter the big boy tables.

Played some more, determined to get back to $20,000 but ended up getting under $10,000. Was about to buy a chip pack, but didn't see an easily accessible way through card ace, so just kept playing. Managed to get back to $20,000 before I quit out.

Curiously, I'm getting the same kind of 'hang' bug occasionally. Every now and again in Card Ace (and I used to get it in Word Ace too), I lag out, and have to actually quit the game, only to notice that I'm disconnected from my wifi. REconnecting and going back into the game seems fine (thank you for reconnection in the game!). At first I thought it might just be my crappy connection, but another friend from NZ experienced the same thing for Word Ace.

 

[helava]

We're looking into the hanging. We've gotten reports from a small but consistent number of users that something's going on, so we've spent some time looking into it. We're actually gonna take a field trip sometime in the next week to areas that have really lousy reception so that we can try to replicate some of the things people are talking about (we can't, for the life of us, seem to get the game to freeze or crash on us).

re: chips in Card Ace - there isn't a way to get chips in Card Ace, and unless something changes, there unfortunately won't be. We're even going to have to remove the chip purchasing from Word Ace Pro at some point in the near future, due to some really strange rules that Apple has in place.

seppo

 

[mrkgoo]

We're looking into the hanging. We've gotten reports from a small but consistent number of users that something's going on, so we've spent some time looking into it. We're actually gonna take a field trip sometime in the next week to areas that have really lousy reception so that we can try to replicate some of the things people are talking about (we can't, for the life of us, seem to get the game to freeze or crash on us).

re: chips in Card Ace - there isn't a way to get chips in Card Ace, and unless something changes, there unfortunately won't be. We're even going to have to remove the chip purchasing from Word Ace Pro at some point in the near future, due to some really strange rules that Apple has in place.

seppo

That's a real shame, since it is how you based your revenue model. I don't mean to pry but I it something that apple has changed since you published or something you overlooked?

Anyway, give us a headsup before it changes if we need a last ditch attempt to donate.

 

[helava]

That's a real shame, since it is how you based your revenue model. I don't mean to pry but I it something that apple has changed since you published or something you overlooked?

Anyway, give us a headsup before it changes if we need a last ditch attempt to donate.

I'm not sure how much I can say about it, so I'll err on the side of "no comment" - but basically, it's out of our hands. We're trying to do what we can to make it all work, but at some point, it is what it is.

With each game we learn a little more about how things work in the mobile market. Good times.

seppo

 

[helava]

Oh - on the plus side, donations, which are coming online with 1.1, should still be able to be purchased on the iPhone. No chips, but donations will be fine, and potentially other in-game items. We'll see.

seppo

 

[mrkgoo]

Amazing!

Hmmm. Too bad I have no friends here to play with. I think I'm going to ship these back home for a buddy. My only regret will be that one day Self Aware will become famous like Nintendo, and the signed set will become a collector's item...

 

[helava]

Just wanted to let you know that we're about a week away from submitting the update to Word Ace to Apple. It'll add:

1.) Donations! This is something we wanted in on day 1, but for various reasons, it's taken a long time to get there. Of course, there's a caveat - it may not go live immediately with the update, depends on getting some kinks worked out w/Apple.

2.) In-game Player Ratings - like playing with someone? Give 'em a thumbs up, and it'll add to their peer rating, which is visible to everyone. Hate playing with them? Give 'em a thumbs down, and they'll never see anything, but *we* will, and we'll check it out.

3.) In-game gifts - like every other poker game under the sun, we'll have stuff to buy (using in-game chips)! It's gonna start with drinks - it's just a neat way of giving something to the other players at the table if you're having a good time. Like playing with someone? Grab 'em a mojito. Hate 'em? Send 'em a bottle of poison. Crystal did a fantastic job with this stuff, and one of the neat things we're trying out is that the drinks get consumed over time - so you'll see someone's drink empty over time. It's a small detail, but it really adds a lot to the atmosphere.

4.) A handful of other details - from new awards, to minor tweaks to graphics & animation, everywhere we've found things to polish up, we've polished 'em up.

Most of all, we've finally got the tools in place to start getting really aggressive about cheaters and really aggressively obnoxious/offensive players in Word Ace. Originally, I was really worried that it'd be hard to tell the cheaters from really good players, but we've done some clever things, and we should start seeing the impact of those tools soon. Not gonna say it's a cheat-free haven - we can't pre-emptively ban cheaters until they've cheated, of course, but we can make sure they're not in the pool of players for very long. Over the next few weeks, everything's going to continue to improve, as we're gathering huge amounts of data & experience as we start rolling these things out.

Woo!
seppo

 

[mrkgoo]

Sounds awesome. Don't forget to define cheating. I think a lot of people don't really know it's cheating.

 

[mrkgoo]

Hmm...just curious, now that you can have free apps with in-app purchasing, what is the fate of Word Ace vs. Word Ace Pro?

 

[helava]

Word Ace 1.1 is finally live! Should be available on the App Store now (at least, it is for me): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-ace/id326694383?mt=8

1.1 adds player ratings, gifts, an expanded player info chiclet, and will soon (finally) include donations!

re: In-app purchasing & Word Ace Pro, the situation is actually a little strange, due to some obscure restrictions on in-app purchase. We will have it enabled for donation purchasing, but unfortunately, on the iPhone, players will not be able to buy chips.

The upshot of that, though, is that you will be able to link your iPhone account with your Facebook account soon.

I hope you get a chance to check it out!
Thanks!
seppo

 

[helava]

Back from the dead...

Two bits of news:

1.) All the Ace games just got an update that enables Push Notifications! It's now much, much easier to play with your friends!

2.) There are now ways to get free chips (which still helps support the games' development) by downloading free (or paid) apps from in-game. So even if you never want to spend another dime, you can still help us out in a huge, huge way.

3.) As an experiment, the games also contain iAds - we're giving it a shot to see if it'll help fund the games' continued development. We'll see if people think it's too intrusive, or if they're effective.

4.) We've also got new Retina-display compatible high-res icons! We're working on uprezzing the entire game. Art assets got completed yesterday, so just getting 'em into the next build is all that's left.

Cheers!
seppo

 

[Nester]

Any chance at this coming to Android sometime? I enjoyed nights before bed hopping onto Word Ace for a few rounds when I used to have my Pre. Now that I've switched to the EVO, I miss it!

 

[helava]

Any chance at this coming to Android sometime? I enjoyed nights before bed hopping onto Word Ace for a few rounds when I used to have my Pre. Now that I've switched to the EVO, I miss it!

Heh. We're working on it. Card Ace: Blackjack is already live on the Marketplace, and we're working on Card Ace: Hold 'Em at the moment. Once that's done, then Word Ace.

seppo

 

[helava]

FYI, a second run of Word Ace decks is finally available - I know this is probably way, way too late for most of you, but info on getting them is located here:

http://www.selfawaregames.com/blog/2010/09/17/word-ace-cards/

Cheers!
seppo