Thanks for the update, Jason… really interesting and helpful!
And is there any chance of the omnibus itself popping into the top ten RPG apps ranking when a popular new game comes out? Or because the algorithms favour new apps, would CoG’s omnibus app float permanently at #99 or so?
An omnibus proably has pros and cons. I’ve kind of got limited space on my phone and would prefer to just install what I want (I’ve had the delight games one on my phone forever and it kind of annoys me I have to have games I have zero interest in installed.) On the other hand I can see the appeal, particularly if you can move between platforms with it and it might help stop the early games from getting buried. I’ll admit I wouldn’t have even looked at some of the delight ones if they weren’t on my phone (didn’t change my mind not to read them, but I did look at them at least to see since they were there anyway.)
Just out of interest, would it cause the omnibus to float to the top? I wouldn’t think that it would since it’s an update to the game rather than a new install? If anything I think it reduces new game visibility. I often don’t even realise a new story has been added to the delight collection until I bother running the update and have time to look at the program to see what the update was. If anything it would bury newly released games in the stores more wouldn’t it? Particularly since COG emails seem to get bounced to my promotions folder in gmail so I often miss them.
I think @MultipleChoice said it best: New games have to start out standalone, then be incorporated into the omnibus a year or so after release. Otherwise the prime exposure on the App Store is lost, meaning significant revenue is lost. The omnibus app itself would only be as popular as the most popular CoG or HG and not a lot more due to reader overlap.
In short, the omnibus is great for those who already know about these games but horrible for growth.
By my reckoning, it would be in the Top Free List like Epsiodes and Choices, rather than Top Paid, because the app would presumably be free and then the stories would be pay-to-unlock. So how well the app ranked would depend on how much it could gross compared to the others, I guess?
I will echo the sentiment that I am glad CoG opened up the opportunity to discuss this now, when it’s still just a nebulous future prospect. Hopefully there will be some middle ground to please the hardcore readers, the casuals, and the authors themselves. And of course, hopefully Apple doesn’t renege and make it where the omnibus app is the only choice for CoG to continue at all.
Excellent job guys. I’ve been following since 2011. It is crazy to see how far yall have come since broadsides, dragon, and vampire. I wish more success on you all. If I have to rebuy the games onto the new app I will
Best of luck…
That is all
Why the 21 Jump Street reference? xD
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There are a lot of great points in this thread, and I’m especially glad to hear from other authors. @Eric_Moser summed it up well: an app within an app isn’t just hard to explain, it’s a hard sale.
Us authors operate as independent contractors, not as a nameless collective of content creators for the company. Individual apps allow for this distinction, and I can’t stress enough just how crucial that is for any aspiring author’s writing career.
My recommendation: instead of an omnibus app that hosts games, make a portal app that links to games in their respective marketplaces.
For core fans: the core fans are the ones who will be downloading this portal app. This greatly improves their ability to search through the increasing catalog of interactive fiction. It’s much easier and customizable than relying on app store search functions.
For non-core fans: non-core fans will not be downloading this app and are unaffected. They’re going to find our stories on their phone’s app market, same as always. However, the fact that a portal exists means converting them into core fans is that much easier. Linking the portal app on each game’s start page, for example, is great advertising.
For authors: no negative impact on launch, with increased game exposure to core fans. It’s a win all around.
For @dfabulich: a portal would be a lot less programming-intensive. You’d still need a slick frontend UI, but not having to host every game in the app itself makes this much easier than an omnibus. This is much more within the scope of a single, part-time developer.
In my opinion, this is the best and safest step forward.
I love to read about the intricacies of the editorial market for text based games, and people from CoG staff always have been very open about it, which I’m very grateful for.
I still think the PT-BR market is a big one, and not necessarily for translated content. There are certain cultural aspects of Brazil that are rarely properly presented in games of any kind, but that I think would be very fitting for Interactive Fiction. Things like life on the favela, the militarization of our police, the widespread corruption that presents itself across all of our governmental institutions and the overall brazilian “sense of humor”, which is our way of dealing with the nonsensical events which we are familiar to.
Like, for real, there are things that happen to us in our everyday lives that, if presented as fiction, would seem completely unbelievable to people who aren’t from here. That’s the kind of thing I think lacks representation.
For the most part, games in english are enough for brazilian players, but I believe that a game in PT-BR with a brazilian setting is something that could really have massive appeal around here.
Perhaps the same could be said about the mexican situation? Choice of the Dragon is a great game, but it does not scratch that cultural itch of representation that people might have.
Anyway, I completely understand CoG position on the matter. I think it falls to us as authors to try to come up with a proof of concept ourselves and test those waters with things like Twine so that we can either help the “local market” to expand or settle down and admit that, in the end, the market just isn’t that good.
To chime in with everyone, thanks again for the newsletter and the peek into the business side of things. It’s great to see the background behind things.
We had hints of the Omnibus App several months ago. I stumbled upon this along the way too: https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/08/apples-widened-ban-on-templated-apps-is-wiping-small-businesses-from-the-app-store
Now that things are in the open, we can discuss more. I think it’s fair to say that CoG wasn’t thrilled to hear about this new move and was forced to start thinking about a solution. I’m very happy to hear that Apple has changed their mind. Like others, I have many reservations and worries about such an app.
CoG put a positive spin on things, and yes, the older games might have some new light shed upon them, but like everyone else, I worry about the new apps.
Now that Apple won’t be enforcing this, I have faith in CoG and know that they will do what’s best for the company, the authors, and the stories. 
Congrats on your success! Now, will you check and answer your submission email please? Also, regarding the Spanish market, there are hundreds of millions of rabid Spanish-Speaking readers, but few actual buyers. You might have better success with physical print versions of the game in Spanish and selling them. Everyone’s trying to figure out how to SELL eBooks to the Spanish. Part of the reason is the financial infrastructure of some of the countries, not wanting to use their credit cards online, etc. Whoever solves this problem will become a multi-billionaire.
I buy and play most of the choice games that come out for many years now, and i must say i dont like the omnibus app idea at all. I dont see how it would significantly improve over google play search function to just click on all games by company and look through them, or check cog site for new releases. But i do see a lot of downsides, most of which others already pointed out, like reduced visibility for new players.
With this kind of app i am also worried that it may indirectly encourage making shorter and less fleshed out games. If they are just parts of an app it diminishes their standalone value of being their own full, long games. And we will end up with short stories like every other episodic app that i know.
From what I understand, CoG just want to put together all of the stories all on one place. I don’t think this will be like Episodes or Choices where we have to earn diamonds or other in-game currency just so we could unlock good choices and very short stories each play.
I think @MultipleChoice 's suggestion would be a great alternative for this. The newly released CoG/HG would get to be release on it’s own and then eventually be incorporated with the omnibus app after a year or two of it’s release.
No, no, no, no that would be absolutely horrible, even if its a “freemium” model, which I also loathe. I’d like to pay in one transaction for a complete product if at all possible.
Sorry I meant was I don’t think this will not be the same with Episodes or Choices. I prefer to buy a full game too.
Edit: I corrected my previous post. XD Sorry about that. I absolutely ahbor it when I play those otome games over the Playstore.
We read our email and reply to it every day, usually within hours of receipt. I’d have to ask @abbytrevor but the only email(s) from you are from June of 2016 when we considered you to write for us.
Editorial emails are often responded to in batches, due to the high volume of submissions. If it’s been more than two weeks and you haven’t heard from us, your email probably did not reach us.
@jasonstevanhill i think you did waste a lot of money for a single translation, 10000 is too much for 1 short game, i dont know who translated it but im sure it whould have been more easy to just hire a spanish / english translator to work for your company than hire a individual service. 
OK. I’ve sent it twice to two different emails I have for your company. Could someone check the bulk/spam folder or give me a different email to send it to?
Jeff Rivera | Writer | Producer | email: Jeff@JeffRivera.com
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Mary_Duffy COG Staff
January 23 |
We read our email and reply to it every day, usually within hours of receipt. I’d have to ask @abbytrevor but the only email(s) from you are from June of 2016 when we considered you to write for us.
Editorial emails are often responded to in batches, due to the high volume of submissions. If it’s been more than two weeks and you haven’t heard from us, your email probably did not reach us.
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In Reply To
mrjeffrivera
January 23 |
Congrats on your success! Now, will you check and answer your submission email please? Also, regarding the Spanish market, there are hundreds of millions of rabid Spanish-Speaking readers, but few actual buyers. You might have better success with physical print versions of the game in Spanish and s…
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