This is one of the most shameless and biggest in-app purchase abusing iphone game
- Thread starter prwxv3
- Start date
chixdiggit
Member
Wow. How on earth do they expect anyone to pay anything for that game much less $100?
Axispowers
Member
...I don't even
CambriaRising
Member
They don't. They expect someone to fuck up and hit the "Buy" button.
Charges of which are usually non-refundable.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Pretty sure you can set it to require a password every time, but I don't think its the default setting. I think the default is that once you enter your password once for something, it'll remember and be active for some amount of time after (something like 10 minutes or something) and you don't need to enter it again for that duration.
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
lol why the outrage? That's hilarious.
Isn't it? I've never changed mine and it requires it every time, even for free apps.
Femmeworth
Banned
This has to be a joke or an experiment. It just has to be.
Jetpack Joyride?
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
I know I had to set it to ask every time for my iPad. I got it as a gift 5 months ago, latest model at the time.
So your solution to making "better" mobile games is just to not make any?
What will the hundreds of millions of people currently playing (and paying for) mobile games do in such a world?
CambriaRising said:
It's very easy to get refunds for App Store purchases.
Reflec Beat Plus.
ramoisdead
Member
EA is downloading the app right now and taking notes.
Mario, just give your games a price and be done with it. Why the freemium stuff with in-app buying?
Your games are solid, don't cheapen them by being freemium.
CambriaRising
Member
The default on my phone is to ask after it has been 15 minutes since the last password entry.
So it is possible to download the app and accidentally do an IAP here because of the password entry when you downloaded it.
Tell that to the smurf berries I got robbed for.
Femmeworth
Banned
Graduate to PC/consoles/handhelds. /half serious
The Re-Volt port to iOS/some android stores uses it so you can buy the full game from the demo and get cheats for $1 for all cars/tracks/clockwork carnage each. Worth the $4 easily for the 90's awesome.
TF2?
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
Ignoring this shitty game in the OP, I find the IAP hate in general to be pretty funny. If there was a good game on the app store for $2.99 people would be happy to pay for it, but if the same game was $0.99 with a $1.99 IAP it would be like 'WTF KIND OF SCAM IS THIS'
Uncle Rupee
Banned
Yeah I don't have a problem with it if it is done in a honest way.
Freemium games should be like game demos where you get the first few levels for free but if you want to continue playing you pay a dollar or something.
That way they will still get the attention of people looking for a free game, while still leaving the door open to make some money.
I almost did the same thing. I was not expecting an amount that high.
Since moving predominantly to freemium, exponentially more people are playing our games than ever before, with more content than ever before, and on average paying a fraction of what they had to before. Our success is also allowing us to create higher quality, deeper and more engaging (free) games.
Not a win win?
Femmeworth said:
So in order to avoid playing mobile games for free, playing where ever and whenever they want, and paying according to their appetite, they should restrict their gaming opportunities and also pay much more? /also half serious
AcceptableGhost
Member
I am saying that if you can't make games without them being turned into (literal) garbage due to the financial model than that model is busted. You think visibility is bad now, just wait a couple years. There won't be any room for anyone to make money except apple and people who are big enough... to be getting advertising on T.V for their shit free to play game. So maybe you should keep doing what your doing, I wouldn't recommend mobile to anyone new though.
Shatter is probably going to be the best game your studio ever makes. "Higher quality, deeper and more engaging" is a fucking lie when talking about your F2P stuff.
Which sucks for me because I enjoy your games. But since the move to freemium, I no longer touch your games.
Why can' t devs offer the choice, freemium with IAP along with a fixed price?
This example is rendered humorous by the blatant absurdity of it all.
Sadly, you have companies like GameLoft employing similar tactics in their supposedly more legit offerings.
Dungeon Hunter 3 was bad enough.
A numbered sequel of an otherwise OK (and until that point, improving) Diablo clone franchise turned into a shitty Gun Bros, stule freemium arena game.
But the recently released Dungeon Hunter 4 is literally shameful.
It suckers you by promising an actual DH1/DH2 style Diablo experience, and then bombards with its obscene freemium bullshit.
I mean, being free like DH3 (and unlike DJ1/DH2), I expected energy sapping exploration and timers setting up temporary paywalls. I also expected the thoical dual currency tactic of locking away better loot behind real-cash only transactions.
But they go fucking overboard by dropping that same uber loot directly into your inventory, loot that cannot be equipped until you drop cash onto it, nor removed from your inventory. They literally turn your inventory into an in-your-face mini-store front.
And yeah, the expected full IAP store front is always a menu away, regardless.
What the fuck?
Just charge me the $7-$8 bucks you used to for your clones and leave me the fuck alone with that freemium shit.
Sadly, you have companies like GameLoft employing similar tactics in their supposedly more legit offerings.
Dungeon Hunter 3 was bad enough.
A numbered sequel of an otherwise OK (and until that point, improving) Diablo clone franchise turned into a shitty Gun Bros, stule freemium arena game.
But the recently released Dungeon Hunter 4 is literally shameful.
It suckers you by promising an actual DH1/DH2 style Diablo experience, and then bombards with its obscene freemium bullshit.
I mean, being free like DH3 (and unlike DJ1/DH2), I expected energy sapping exploration and timers setting up temporary paywalls. I also expected the thoical dual currency tactic of locking away better loot behind real-cash only transactions.
But they go fucking overboard by dropping that same uber loot directly into your inventory, loot that cannot be equipped until you drop cash onto it, nor removed from your inventory. They literally turn your inventory into an in-your-face mini-store front.
And yeah, the expected full IAP store front is always a menu away, regardless.
What the fuck?
Just charge me the $7-$8 bucks you used to for your clones and leave me the fuck alone with that freemium shit.
AuthenticM
Member
"Arthur Gies should defend this game's microtransaction policy"
LOL
LOL
Relevant consumer affairs segment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dHVq4A7Gl-o#t=1027s
Also goes into the process of obtaining refunds from Apple and the way they handle such things.
Also goes into the process of obtaining refunds from Apple and the way they handle such things.
Literal garbage? Not sure I can take you or your arguments seriously.
We publish quality games at a fair price. Tens of millions of people think so.
The retail console model is actually broken. So, I'm not sure where you are advising sending developers next.
Hmmm are you referring to our BAFTA nominated shit free to play game, or one of our other highly rated shit free to play games?
We aren't a mobile games company. We are a digital publisher across mobile, tablet, desktop and console.
I wouldn't recommend game development in the first place, but I'd recommend mobile in a heartbeat over starting a console dev.
MTMBStudios said:
Ok.
Uncle Rupee said:
Some freemium games are like that.
This has to be a troll game. Either that or made by some dude in China or somewhere.
Anyway, I think the reason this shit happens is simply because Apple didn't originally anticipate the app store becoming a video game platform. I still think that generally, Apple only gives a shit about video games because they all of a sudden started making money for them. They probably don't look at how traditional platform holders curate and handle game releases.
That said, I also don't like people instantly ignoring any and all free games. I've found like, a couple good ones on iOS. Big PC freemium hits like DOTA 2, League of Legends, Hawken, and Planetside 2 are also becoming prevalent. Even if 90 percent of what represents the business model is shit, you still can't discount that 10 percent that might actually be worth playing.
Punch Quest (which is now $0.99) is a good game. Undercroft is a good free game, although it has no IAP and is actually subsidized by an MMO.
Shit I wished full-fledged games were like that.
Anyway, I think the reason this shit happens is simply because Apple didn't originally anticipate the app store becoming a video game platform. I still think that generally, Apple only gives a shit about video games because they all of a sudden started making money for them. They probably don't look at how traditional platform holders curate and handle game releases.
That said, I also don't like people instantly ignoring any and all free games. I've found like, a couple good ones on iOS. Big PC freemium hits like DOTA 2, League of Legends, Hawken, and Planetside 2 are also becoming prevalent. Even if 90 percent of what represents the business model is shit, you still can't discount that 10 percent that might actually be worth playing.
Punch Quest (which is now $0.99) is a good game. Undercroft is a good free game, although it has no IAP and is actually subsidized by an MMO.
Shit I wished full-fledged games were like that.
Uncle Rupee
Banned
Wouldn't it be crazy if Nintendo was doing this to undermine the credibility of the app store?
I've been looking into making my own game in Unity and this would be my strategy for the app store.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
Even non free games have IAP now, which means they come with the same bullshit, tired gameplay that free games have like massive grinding, waiting times and all that.
The problem is the more a game gets downloaded or the more money it makes the higher it charts which means paid apps mostly disappear from the top list. So IAP bait gets the most publicity while decent apps disappear from sight.
Off-Kilter
Banned
Does Apple even screen apps anymore? Jesus.
These "devs" should be ashamed for this kind of shady manipulation.
These "devs" should be ashamed for this kind of shady manipulation.
I was watching this other one too:
"Duck vs Hunt Crazy 2 Adventure Time Hunting Free Games"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buCuiZFd1q8
$100 for a kids mode loool
"Duck vs Hunt Crazy 2 Adventure Time Hunting Free Games"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buCuiZFd1q8
$100 for a kids mode loool
rohlfinator
Member
I thought Puzzle Retreat did it well: the game is free (on Android, think it's 99c on iOS) and had a decent set of free levels, then you can purchase additional level packs for 99c each, or the full set for a couple of bucks.
The problem is that almost no games actually do that. The whole reason the model is successful for most companies is that they get some users who will pay far more in microtransactions than they would have for a full retail game.
AcceptableGhost
Member
This shit really saddens me. It would be fine if this guy was like "well it makes us a lot of money, so we keep doing it". I am okay with making a quick buck while an entire ecosystem and financial model continues to implode. But actually thinking that your F2P skinner boxes are engaging and worthwhile to people who care about video games is on another level, it is something I really can't comprehend. I guess after some point it just becomes "well I am making money, so what I am making must be great no matter what". What I am saying, I find it really fucking hard to believe that anyone who works on F2P games thinks that what they are making is good or that going F2P has actually made their game (as a video game) better.
The Omega Man
Member
EA is crying right now lamenting the fact that they didn't make an atrocity of this level first, whoever made this is going to get bought buy EA to make the sequel.
Hugh Buelow
Member
To be honest, (heavy) IAP/freemium turns me off. I can't shake the feeling that with those games, I get "ripped-off" even if, in the end, I might end up paying the same (or less) as a traditional complete game.
On a similar note, I'd like to ask you how you feel about games like the one in the OP and Final Fantasy: All the bravest. Do you think games like these could hurt the model to the point where it is not viable?