Its a shame how everything has become about $$$

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by 99c_gamer, Feb 26, 2012.

  1. 99c_gamer

    99c_gamer Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2009
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    What happened to the old days where people would make freeware games and only satisfaction of making something fun was good enough. i guess Im annoyed by the way that the appstore has made everyone seem greedy all of a sudden and only about the $$$.

    Even on this forum half the top posts are about money.

    Every game i download seems like its either full of adware or nagging pop ups trying to get me to buy something. I think its getting a bit out of hand.
    Anyone else notice this?

    I think the last straw was the simple calculator app that i dled for ipad its full of nagging pop ups so i finally broke down and gave them a dollar now its nagging me to buy something else! Unbelievable. I think im about to protest by making my own calculator app and release it for free like it should be.
     
  2. TouchDeveloper

    TouchDeveloper Active Member

    Feb 19, 2012
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    Self-selection. In the old days, making money from an app wasn't worth the trouble one had to go through to set up e-commerce sites, etc. So only the people who didn't care about the money put out games. Apple made it easier to make money and this brought in the developers that didn't want to do it for free. So you see a lot of them relative to those that just want to do it for satisfaction. Besides, Apple gives the hope that you can perhaps even make a lot of money which sways some of the "satisfaction" people.

    On the other hand, the quality of many paid games over earlier freeware is significantly higher partly because of the platform and partly because of the motivation people have to put in the effort. So if someone wanted to put out freeware, either they have to put in a lot more effort than they might have otherwise or try to get some money for it.

    Of course, the developers are in angst about what happened to the customers who paid $19.99 or more for a piece of software that was more in line with the effort they had to put in it, while now people expect to get the same software free or at $0.99 (when a cup of coffee costs several dollars and lasts 10 minutes) and want it to be maintained and upgraded to perpetuity. Apple happened, that is what.

    Who is greedier? Developers who want to charge for their work or Consumers who want something for nothing?
     
  3. Devcade

    Devcade Member

    Feb 23, 2012
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    Hey, it costs me $99 dollars a year to pay for Apple's developer program. :)

    Some people need a return on their investment for all the time and work they put into it.

    Being greedy is something else entirely.
     
  4. If everyone was charging .99c

    for their apps (like your name implies) we wouldn't be having this discussion. it is all the free games that have killed everything.
     
  5. Obg1

    Obg1 Well-Known Member

    Feb 17, 2012
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    I think that giving apps and game for free is bad for both the developers and users.
    Developers don't return on their investment and users get low quality apps.
    Most developers are not greedy and the competition causes lowering prices.
     
  6. 99c_gamer

    99c_gamer Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2009
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    #6 99c_gamer, Feb 27, 2012
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2012
    but before the app store most indy developers were just making flash games it wasn't really about the money. Some of the best indy games I've played are either completely free or at least started out free.

    So I dont buy the argument that it impacts quality.

    I'm not against people trying to monetize their effort I just wish it were done in a less shameless fashion. Accidential clicks, hidden microtransactions, constant nagging pop ups, etc. are not cool.
     
  7. ShadowsFall

    ShadowsFall Well-Known Member

    May 15, 2009
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    Summer job soon
    TA 09'
    Right, especially hidden microtransactions. We can't even enjoy a freemium game without a worry we mis-click, costing us a good amount of money.
     
  8. 99c_gamer

    99c_gamer Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2009
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    I was thinking of making a list of all the great free applications ive used in my days. When you think about t There are so many great ones,

    Vlc
    Winzip
    Mirc
    Open office which gives a complete office environent yet on the ipad you cant even get a simple calculator

    Way too many to list just off the top of my head
     
  9. mr.Ugly

    mr.Ugly Well-Known Member

    Dec 1, 2009
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    Berlin, Germany

    well satisfaction about your work hardly puts and foot on your table.

    half the posts on this board are about money because the developer asking are not earning any!

    of course its greedy to even get a few dollars out of your work.

    not sure what your main income is.. but whoever pays you.. you might be less greedy in his eyes if you work for free from now one.. i mean the satisfaction should be enough not for you right? why should someone pay you, your family members or anyone something for their work.. riiighhhtt? yes?


    well this thread is quite a revelations.. people want to earn money.. wow!
     
  10. Markus Hanka

    Markus Hanka Member

    Dec 24, 2011
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    Freelance 2D Artist
    Beijing
    Actually there are still free games. On Windows there is for example "Treasure Adventure " http://www.robitstudios.com/treasure-adventure-game/ That's a big and highly polished game made by one guy who worked for over 2 years on that just for the love of games. But for me it is a big mystery why he doesn't charge money and more so why someone is complaining that the appstore or this developer forum is all about money. In the "good old days" without digital distribution hobby developers would have no chance to get their games out without a publisher. So nowadays there is the possibilty for hobby developers to get to a place where they don't need to spend all their spare time but can actually make a living out of it? How greedy has the world become all of a sudden! Unbelievable! You can make your calculator app, spend the 100 USD for your licene and get your app out there for free without monetizing. Until then you shouldn't occupy the moral high ground. I think you have no idea how much time and work goes even into the small apps. It is already somehow baffling how people can rage over 1.99 Dollars for a game but this thread is a new low.
     
  11. DistantJ

    DistantJ Well-Known Member

    Jan 25, 2012
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    #11 DistantJ, Feb 27, 2012
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2012
    I used to do free games, on the internet, when I was a teen. These days though it costs a lot of money to live. I'm basically charging for my time. I can dedicate time to making these games if I can make back that time in pay. That's pretty much how it goes; we gotta pay the bills somehow. Say you worked in Starbucks, you'd hate it if people started saying coffee should be served for no pay.

    I do laugh at this 'old days' talk, as if it was ever any different. The majority of good PC apps have always been demos nagging you to get a license. To get most of these apps running you have to spend a huge chunk of your time, if you just work on one in your evenings and weekends it's months before anything is achieved, and if you're talking about games, well, it'd probably be years. You think we should starve just so that you don't have to pay 99 cents?
     
  12. nicolasgb

    nicolasgb Well-Known Member

    Feb 4, 2012
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    Co-founder at HereWeGames : http://www.facebook.co
    Paris, France
    I'm curious as to this comment : has it ever happened to you, a mis-click in an iOS freemium? Never happened to me since you're be prompted for your itunes password ... (unless you made an IAP in the last 15minutes, then you won't be asked for your password)
     
  13. 99c_gamer

    99c_gamer Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2009
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    I understand you guys wanting to get paid and all. I do it for the fame. I believe that If you make something good fortune will come in due time.

    I realize that Everyone wants to be the next Mark Zuckerburg but
    Imagine if Facebook started off by charging people 99c to create an account where would they be today? Maybe top out at 50k users if they're lucky.
     
  14. mr.Ugly

    mr.Ugly Well-Known Member

    Dec 1, 2009
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    Berlin, Germany
  15. 99c_gamer

    99c_gamer Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2009
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    That is just work. Obvisouly im not going to make somebody elses commercial apps for free.

    Another example is the dude who made linux. Became famous now he can name his price. He didnt make his money by nickle and diming people for a project he did in his spare time,
     
  16. Markus Hanka

    Markus Hanka Member

    Dec 24, 2011
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    Freelance 2D Artist
    Beijing
    What, this guy is a developer?
    For the fame???
     
  17. VRPgames

    VRPgames Well-Known Member

    Jun 2, 2011
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    Ireland
    One can not feed the dog with mere words.
    World is full of people who want something for nothing. It doesn't work that way. Free applications are not free. You get free software because developers subsidize it. They either have full time job, another source of income, sponsorship or just successful in making paid software.
    If somebody wants to sell either a product or a service they can charge anything they want for it. It's the consumers that make people rich and poor, they decide whether to use a product or not.
     
  18. mr.Ugly

    mr.Ugly Well-Known Member

    Dec 1, 2009
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    ahh thats "just work".. and a developer who sells his app on the store is what?

    should the guy who pays you for your work then hand out the app for free?

    yeah makes sense.. then he will become the next suckerberg or torvald right.. especially if its an ipad calculator app.. if that would be free.. booom!
    instant fame, no matter if he wants it in the first place.. right.. maybe he just wants to pay his bills.. bahh.. greedy bastard.. he can easily live with his parents or under a bridge.. disgusting greedy rats..

    :rolleyes:
     
  19. racingspider

    racingspider Well-Known Member

    I have a full time day job and two kids. When I get home, after dinner, giving a bath, reading books to the kids, etc, and they go to bed. I do my SECOND job.
    Writing games. The first one I made took a year of "free time". It hasn't paid well - but the game is cool.
    I've been working for 4 months on weekends and after the kids' bed time. I'm enjoying the project and hoping people love it when it is done, but to say I ought to do it for free is preposterous.
    Why is my time worth zero?
     
  20. antireality

    antireality Member

    Mar 11, 2011
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    graphics driver monkey
    Kingston Upon Thames, UK
    Honestly - I love coding, and I used to love doing it for free, back when I was a teenager and there weren't things like 'cost of living' to worry about, but even then if there was no cash charge for software people would start demanding features, or set amounts of your time to be put into development and bitching that what you produced wasn't on par with that which was produced by a team of a few hundred paid employees. I gave up doing it. Even if you give in and give people what they want for free they'll still find some way to try and gouge you for more.

    That said I will write apps for free when the following things happen:

    *Apple stop charging for appstore presence
    *My landlord stops charging for rent
    *the local council stop taxing me
    *Utility companies stop billing me
    *Tesco let me walk out of their doors with an acceptable amount of food and cleaning products without charge...

    ...basically when my cash requirement hits zero I'll want zero to cover my life and will happily just sit there coding away.

    Also I'd like to point out that personally I find this idea that is perpetuated by 'open source advocates' and 'app cheapskates' that charging for software somehow makes evil is offensive.
    I have to live, If you really believe that then let me walk into the shop or office of whichever other industry you are in as a dayjob and ask for your goods or services for free. I pretty sure I know what the answer would be - 2 words, and the second being 'off'.
     

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