I’ve got a question do you mind IAPs (in app purchases) also what would you consider to be worth an IAP?
*new character with high stats? (Example Navy Seal background in Choice of Zombies)
*new character that starts part two in a way that is possible without it but is difficult to achieve? (Example Be the consort in Choice of Romance)
*side story (no in game example yet - but something like in Zombie Exodus getting to play as Devlin prior to meeting him in the game and then again during his stay in Temperance)
*new storylines (no in game example yet - but something like a new villain to face during Heroes Rise)
I personally think it needs to be one of the last two suggestions to be considered worthwhile (although I’d consider paying for the hard to achieve character depending on how hard it was to achieve).
@Nocturnal_Stillness I agree with you. The first two are acceptable only in free-to-play online games as the devs have to pay for servers, websites etc. Otherwise, they are quite annoying. The last two are awesome because they remind me of good old expansion packs.
I never put a coin in first and second THERE ARE PURE CHEATING WITH ZERO ADD VALUE and a waste of money.
For the other 2 i preferred called expansions or DLCs in the sense add value and expand a great story . I pay for example for a non powered SRT member in your game in another delegation exemple ingland with some cameo mc of unnatural or the story father or protagonist mother when they meet and falling in love.
I pay for something that ADD something new NEVER FOR CHEAT
In app purchases make me simultaneously dislike the author, and feel ripped off at being sold a game while only getting a fraction of it. Just serve it up in one nice, juicy bundle, and bump the price up a tad at the outset.
Yes, I think IAP have to be worth paying for. For example I hate the idea of only being given half the game and for the game to make me feel I’m missing out story content by not paying extra. But I don’t mind paying for something that enriches the world (like my example for a Devlin side story which shows you what happens when the main character isn’t with him, you don’t NEED it to get the full story for the MC of the game but it’d enrich the world if you do choose to get it.
While I couldn’t do the human-only playthrough for Unnatural due to how the story is. The original plan for the character you became if your character died was going to be human (it was dropped due to the time and effort it would have required [basically writing the game twice] but I do intend to either have it an option for a potential season three or even just a side-game)
@DSeg Either it’s part of the initial game, in which case I’ve been denied the product I purchased, or its a proper development, in which case it should be an expansion. I don’t like this worrying half-expansion trend of milking profit out of games through IAP’s, DLC’s, and their ilk.
@Nocturnal_Stillness Then I’d think “Why didn’t purchasing the game grant me that route, in the first place?” - When you buy a game you expect to get it, not get the mere bulk of it, and have to pay extra for the trimmings to complete the product.
@Drazen An IAP/DLC can have its quality on the level of a full expansion pack. If a writer produces an expansion-like IAP that adds true content, it’s worth the money.
Since I buy from the chrome-store I can’t purchase IAP even if I wanted to, which I don’t. I’d rather a game was slightly more expensive and had all the content, than having to pay extra to unlock more things.
I tend to feel cheated if there’s story which I have to pay more for. I resent that. I’d be as likely not to bother buying the game at all.
In the Devlin example, I’d rather it was a stand-alone side-story with enough content to be a game, even if it was one of the shorter games.
I’d say allow the IAP to provide a boost, making the game easy-mode. Give unlimited cash, a lot extra money, a hint device, a walkthrough, that sort of thing. I still wouldn’t buy it mind you since I can’t. Although I think in the likes of Zombie Exodus being able to play through with maximum stats and so not having to worry about dying and just being able to experience the story may be worth shelling out some extra money for.
@Dseg i opine like you if the writer develop a brand new story that completed the anterior experience is logical that it cost money, for the effort . Its stupid pretend that all that add and completed story has to be in the principal videogames gamebooks and films would be no rentable due time production would increase years with no benefit at all only expenses, no company could resist ten years without launch a game that contains all possible content for 59 dollars , lol no profit means no games books films THIS IS A INDUSTRY NOT BENEFIT ZERO PRODUCTION
@FairyGodFeather@Drazen What is the difference between a new game and an IAP that adds the same content and costs the same amount of money? Unlimited cash and such things are bad, but a game-like IAP is fine for me.
For Zombie Exodus, it was free (as all Hosted Games at the time), and the app was a succinct story (beginning-middle-end). I was allowed to add IAP to extend to the story for those who liked the free portion. I wish that model worked better, since I like the try-before-you-buy model. But downloaders gave bad reviews in anger of being “forced” to pay for content they feel they should receive. Also, there are technical complications. Because of that, I would be reluctant to try it again. ZE:SH will be one story with a brief online preview, one price for all chapters. I wish the IAP for content model worked better. I know others are trying it, and it’s possible I didn’t work it right.
I would buy IAP to make a long game easy, since my time to play is limited, and I’d like to experience content faster. For example, I would pay to overpower a Borderlands or Skyrim character to go through the game faster. Luckily, free mods allow it. I have not found a text-based game I felt overpowering my character would improve my experience.
@DSeg If that is the case, then why isn’t an expansion? Something that truly adds a substantive amount of content shouldn’t be a mere dangler on another game. As for your second question: Assuming no difference in the quantity and quality of content, the difference between an IAP and an expansion is dependency upon a prior game; And why would you want to blur the distinction betwixt the two facets, by introducing dependency?
@Nocturnal_Stillness Naturally. And I would say an expansion is any reasonable addition to a prior game; By “Reasonable,” think in terms of “Would suffice as a stand alone” - Otherwise it falls into the “incomplete” category; I dislike paying for incomplete games.
@Drazen I figured @Nocturnal_Stillness is asking this question because he is planning to expand his game with an IAP some day. If he does make an IAP and it turns out to be expansion-like I am okay with it.
your experiences with people’s negative reviews regarding the free part 1 and pay for additional parts is one of the reasons I decided that Unnatural would be best a pay for it all. (However depending on how the “demo” trial with reckless space pirates goes we could get those bad reviews anyway
I wasn’t intending to have an IAP but the subject has been mentioned in passing and I would like to know what the fans think so if I ever decided to I would know what people thought and could best arrange things.
@Nocturnal_Stillness It didn’t last time I checked. The likes of Heroes Rise, which has IAP, doesn’t have them in the chrome-store.
@Dseg I don’t need the original game. I don’t need any original saves. I can just pick it up and play it on its own. I can restart it without restarting the whole other game. I can see new and interesting things. My stats don’t need to carry over.
Okay found one of my favourite links in regards to DLCs etc. http://www.fortressofdoors.com/2012/07/freeloadable-content-alternative-to.html It’s not speaking about the mobile market but I do think some of it carries over. The company bought my goodwill with offering any expansions for the first game for free. It’s sometimes the tipping point between buying a game or not buying it for me.
It’s one of the reasons I shelled out for Academagia too, despite a high initial price, since I knew that any future expansions were going to be free.
From that link I like the following statements.
It’s impossible to sell more copies of DLC than of the original game
DLC’s price must be substantially less than the original game’s
Many people in your audience will never experience the DLC content
And I do also like “One of the biggest reasons I make games is so that as many people can enjoy them as possible. As long as I make enough money to keep doing my job, I don’t like restricting and fragmenting the experience, which is exactly what paid DLC does.”
@Nocturnal_Stillness If you ever decide to do an IAP and it’s a side story/new storyline, you have my support.
@FairyGodfeather Thanks for bringing up these points. I didn’t really think it through; I just figured both have the same price and the same content - what’s the difference?
