The new Hosted Games and Choice of Games omnibus apps are available to download and have been for a few weeks now. However, both apps still only have 2 reviews on the UK App Store. Let’s correct this and get reviewing! It’s free and only takes a minute.
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I have just taken a look at the US store and there are not a lot of reviews on there either. Like it or not, the omnibus has been forced upon CoG, the readers, and the writers. Let’s all embrace it and support it. There is no other choice.
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Well, there’s getting android or steam if one can.
True, not the same, but… apple gets their share of money from that stuff… so if it becomes noticable to them that stuff sells less well with the omnibus app than before…
I think the real problem is that the omnibus apps are pretty bad. They need serious updates to be more user friendly. We can review them all we like, if I didn’t know about Cog before and downloaded the app, I would be pretty disappointed.
The omnibus app IS bad at the moment. It is still bare-bones at the moment, and will improve with time. However, without any reviews (just 2 in the UK) it doesn’t even get a star rating. No one will know it exists unless they already know about it. It is our duty to help it as much as possible.
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Is it?
Do you want to support cog or apple’s selfish antics?
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I don’t actually see a problem in having all the games in one app. It would be convenient for me and the people at cog could promote the app itself, rather than all the games separately. That, from my point of view, would be great. But the app is not something I can promote right now. It’s just that they seem indecisive. They should make an app that is, first of all, usable and incorporate it for all the platforms.
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Cog is trying to. But they had to scrap something together cause apple forced them (see the respective thread)
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Yes, Hosted Games authors in particular would appreciate everyone giving the Omnibus a positive rating.
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CoG was given NO choice in the matter. It does no good to complain about Apple. It accomplishes nothing.
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HG authors like @andymwhy and myself, and others, are being released soon through the Omnibus, so yes we are asking folks to give the Omnibus a positive rating. What else are we supposed to do?
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I’ve been trying to explain it to readers on FB, and it confuses the shit out of everyone. It doesn’t help that the app doesn’t have “Omnibus” or “Collection” or “Library” in the title, and unlike CoG’s Omnibus, it doesn’t have the flame maze symbol, which would draw attention to it being a HG Omnibus.
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And yes it will probably take a while before the HG Omnibus looks/functions like a real app, but in the meantime, games are still being released, and we really need readers’ support NOW, not months down the road.
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I just honestly feel sorry for the authors suffering from apple’s antics, especially since (as said in the thread) other, actual copy-paste-mass-produced shite games don’t get an omnibus forced unto them.
Like, how exactly are Tally Ho and Xor ‘too similar too each other’ while Ice-Princess Elma’s (cause copyright) brain surgery and manicure 4 and Mermaid Princess’ magical wisdom teeth extraction 6 are not?
So, sorry if I came across as asking to stop supporting the authors.
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There definitely needs to be a better symbol/picture (aka flame) because I can honestly say I have not been able to find the app on my phone. Nothing about the current one reads “Hosted Games” except for the actual title. I know it was rushed but making it recognizable as HG would be great. And as someone else has said, as of right now, I can’t say I can positively write a review. The apps just need a lot of work.
To write a positive review:
Focus on the content (lots of IF games in one place).
Acknowledge the shortfalls (the interface could be better).
Give hope for the future (It’s new and things are getting better with each update).
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