My latest idea is to have the lite version of the game be the full game, including the same Open Feint leader boards. The only difference is it will also include a nag screen before the start of each game, saying "Upgrade to remove this nag screen and help out Shen" with "Buy Now" and "Not Yet" buttons Basically anyone who wants the game can get it for free all the time, but buy getting the paid version they remove the nag screen. I guess it is a bit like free versions that have ads, where the paid version is ad free, but with 1 hard coded full screen ad for the full game. Any thoughts - either from developers or players?
That sort of 'shareware' model isn't all that successful in the software world to the best of my knowledge. Most people will just put up with the nag screen. I think the problem is that it never feels 'worth' it to spend money just to remove a nag screen. I personally think you would have better results to also remove a handful of moderately useful functions of the game and offer them in the upgrade as well. I'm much more likely to pay for shareware software if there's a feature I really need, than if it's just to remove a nag screen. …Saying that, if you're looking to experiment then do it! It could work a much different way on the App Store and you never know.
Nag screens Personally, I do upgrade from "nag" or ad-supported versions of software if I enjoy the game and the "price is right". Of course I have a background in software development (in another lifetime), and so I have a basic orientation toward encouraging development by purchasing full versions if I'm going to play the game. One comment on how not to do it IMHO: I got an ad-supported version of a package the other day and it nagged me to connect to the internet in order to refresh the ads, allowing me 3 more plays before doing so. Because I have an Itouch, not an Iphone (and I'm very happy with it, thank you very much), and thus no continuous wireless connection, I didn't have a good way to do that. I upgraded to the full version much more grudgingly than usual, since I was annoyed at that limitation.
And while I'm ranting.... A friendly reminder to developers: please make it very clear in your game description and/or game requirements information if an internet connection is REQUIRED in order to play the game.
I think most normal (read: not developers) people would just put up with the nag screen. How many people never paid for WinRAR? I think a good bet would be to just do a few levels, or rounds, or whatever, and offer a ton more in the full version as an incentive. "Did you know there are XX more levels if you upgrade now?" would be more likely to pique people's interest if they like your app
We currently are working with the model specified, except with adverts poping up before each game. We found that not many people are transfering over at all, we've had around 1000 free downloads and only around 50 pro sales, people have said that you don't get much more in the pro version so its not really worth paying to upgrade. We thought that getting rid of the annoying adverts would just be enough for the players but we were wrong. We are currently changing it so that the free version is limited and the pro version has even more new features and we are going to see how that method works and compare. This should be up within the next few days so i'll let you know if we see any difference after a week or 2.
