had the old ipa did a restore and got my old save back now im happy n love this game again . i highly doubt that i will update it, its much better now.
Surprisingly, i'm not that mad because of the freemium version. I'm not that greedy and i don't really care about it, altough i would love to feel "a little love" by people who created this game for buying it for full price. But i have other issues with this update: - I always think that a great game, deserves a bit of IAP (up to 10$) if it succeeds to deliver joy and to take your mind away from the usual boring life. Isn't that what they are for? So when you're paying - you're not paying for game itself, but for a quality time, like you would do for anything else that gives you pleasure (food/sex). The joy i received from this game, cost me 5.99 + 9.99$, and i don't regret it, i wanted a better sword and i got it. But now, since this update, i feel like all of my hardwork have gone to waste. I don't feel cheated, but i feel dissapointed, which also makes me sad, because all the good apps will go freemium one day and you won't be able to enjoy a game without paying extra tens of bucks. I'd rather pay 10$, but enjoy a full-featured experience. Please Phosphor Studio, let me enjoy this one. There has been many great suggestions on how you could achieve that. - I'm level 38, and i was getting around 1400gold from every drawer and bags of gold. Since the update, i'm getting the same from the bags of gold and half of that from the drawers. Is this a bug? Or it was intended this way? This means again, less content, less satisfaction from the game. - Then there is the low res textures with no AA and jagged edges i mentioned before, which definitely is a bug. - The map is a great addition, but it's too small and blury. A fullscreen map would be better, or at least with no black edges around it. - The previous appstore icon was much better, imho. - The only new feature that i like is that you can use medipacks while fighting, that alone would save me a lot of awakenings. Either way, this update was a dissapointment, but just because it was a great game in the first place, one of my favourites i must say. I just hope you'll listen to us, and keep it - (almost) the same.
this game has been on my wish list since i got my iPad (first idevice) a couple months ago, waiting for a price drop of at least a couple dollars ... but from seeing all this it looks like i should just skip it. too bad. looks exactly like my kind of game.
I think Dark Meadow's biggest problem is that at the end of the day, at its core, it's not a free to play game, and that is incredibly obvious regardless of whether you're playing the free or paid version. Successful free to play titles are built from the ground up with the delicate balance of actually being a fun game to play without paying while teasing the users that are willing to pay into opening their wallets. In its current form, Dark Meadow is doing neither. The compulsion driving the impulse-based free to play world is the decision between waiting (or facing some similar limitation) and paying. The player needs to feel like everything in the game is totally achievable if they're willing to play for a reasonable amount of time. Tiny Tower is a great example of this, as it feels like everything in the game is attainable as a free player, and their IAP currency is generously doled out in game for free. What happens then is as a player the impulse you get is along the lines of: "Well, I could wait a little longer or I can just do this IAP to push me over the edge." "Hmm, I could just wait another couple or hours, or I could just flip out a dollar and finish these floors now." "Eh screw it, I'll flip out three bucks so I have extra currency the next time I want to speed things up." In Dark Meadow, the compulsion the player seems to experience is: "Oh wow, this game looks amazing and these items you get with sun coins are really awesome, I want them." "Let's grind up some monsters." (30 minutes later) "WTF, I only earned 20 sun coins? That doesn't even get me anything. Or CLOSE to anything. Welp, #### it, deleted." The time investment required to feel like you're close to buying ANYTHING in the free version of the game is just insane. As a player you never get close to the vital tipping point between "Eh I'll keep playing to earn it" and "I'll flip out a couple bucks" for the game to ever monetize because the first option doesn't even exist. Instead, players choose between frustration and paying, and frustration is the last feeling I'm looking for when I play a video game. Cliffsnotes: Something is very, very wrong with your core game design and monetization method if you're charting like this in the top downloads ...and charting like this in top grossing. I'm not sure I've ever seen a free to play game that monetized so poorly. Some of these regions you barely need to sell $100 worth of something to appear on the top grossing lists. Also, the fact that sun coins and consumable items exist at all in what was supposed to be the paid "premium" version after committing to two separate versions of the game is straight up cray. I'm sort of at a loss as to what the point of the current paid version of the game is right now, as it seems like it's just the free version but with a price tag and a pre-packaged consolation prize for anyone who was duped into thinking the paid version would be any different from the free version.
Hey Eli these are all great points and thank you for writing it out. In terms of what changed in the current version of The Dark Meadow, players are still not required to spend any IAP to complete the game- it is balanced the same as before. For people that are confused, like Infinity Blade, we have always had IAP in the game for players who didnt want the challenge to earn everything. Completing the game can be done in the same amount of time as before, the only additional time required is the new world content. The entire sun coin currency is optional, and if a players chooses to not care about it, they have the exact same underlying currency / balance system as what was in the previous version of the Dark Meadow, and again can get to the end of the game. The grind is no different than what was in there previously. What we underestimated was how much a vocal minority of players wont just ignore a system they dont like- some of the forum members mentioning Can you make a filter so I dont have to see this content , that less content would be ideal for them then content they wont participate in. The trick here is that every user is different. In just 1 day we added half as many users as we had from the previous version from 6 months, and the overwhelming complaint for that group is mobile retina doesnt work. That group is actively engaging in Tapjoy as well. We are in process of testing a patch that we think rectifies the main complaint of the posts here (impossible to grind for unique weapons in the premium version). Once that patch clears testing and is verified to work, we will let users know.
@phosphor chip the grinding in this update as pertaining to earning weapons etc is much harder attain than in previous versions. Stat boosting weapons are really ineffective unlike before. it seems like im getting 75 less more money than before although xp gain seems be intact, example with my level chests gives me 22000+ before now im getting like 1500 to 2000. I get more from enemies but it still way less than i got b4.
does the game have any support for the retina display in the iphone 4? i'm trying the free version but i see jaggies in almost all the place
I had never heard of this game before. I got the free version thinking that it was going to be a small portion of the full game. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is the full game. I hope that the developer does increase their income from this version.
they are listening!, i made alot of comments on this and its exactly this...the premium should not have sun coins period keep that on the free version, you can have iaps in the premium just have it be gold ala infinity blade you can buy gold cool... all sun coin items become more expensive gold items... i should not go into the menu options and see a disable adds toggle in a premium game period... you pay money to not have adds in the first place... and gh0ti hit the nail right on the head! what people are trying to say it just that you made the premium version the freemeium with the adds off and that is why people are so upset... toucharcade is a very vocal community run stuff by us your fans the people that give you money in the first place to see if hey that is a good option or not.... gh0ti: hit the nail right on the head!!!
Yes thank you Delusionaltool- We understand the problem you can't earn the unique weapons, and we are going to address this in the upcoming patch where you will be able to.
Yes, they were supposedly listening when we all voiced are anger on this app going to freemium.... Then they said, no we understand that's why we will keep the premium version seperate from the Freemium version.... Basically we got a Freemium version 1 and a Freemium Version 2. Ghoti's last post was spot on, and he is being very nice about it. I find most gamers are pretty intelligent. You just can't pull the wool over their eyes. It didn't take long for the vocal minority to be upset ( vocal minority total BS) If you read all the app store reviews and the touch arcade comments on this update. You know we are not in the vocal minority. The majority of people are upset about this.
The thing is, it's not a "vocal minority." If the way the in app purchase is balanced was appealing to anyone, Dark Meadow: The Pact would be appearing in at least one of the minor market's top grossing charts. For instance, right now it's above the top 100 free download fold in fourteen different markets. Regions like Croatia, Slovakia, and hell, even Romania (where it's currently sitting at #12 top free overall and #8 top free game) are microscopic compared to the US market. If anyone in those markets was buying even the smallest about of IAP, Dark Meadow: The Pact would at least be somewhere on that same region's top grossing chart. Some of these markets have top grossing charts with a bell curve that starts at the $10 mark for #200. Again, the spending compulsion here is all wrong which in turn is completely ruining the game. What pushes people over the edge of flopping out some coin for IAP is a feeling of, "I can almost see the edge, and I can get to it myself, I'm trying so hard to resist... but, what the hell... Here's a couple bucks." That sort of impulsive conversion of a dollar or two to essentially cheat around whatever limitations the game has in place can even be fun. Dark Meadow doesn't have that. Even in the paid version. You're never even teased with the notion that any of the sun coin items, save maybe health packs are even attainable by just normally playing the game (which really makes me question the testing process of this game if anyone felt differently). Sun coin items feel like they only exist to taunt players with the fact that in order to get the best sword in the game they either need to fork out substantial amounts of money, or sign up for a Discover card, which seems equally crazy. I think before you guys go rushing to release any balance tweaking patch you need to sit down and spend some significant time playing the free to play games currently available on the App Store. There's some major lessons to be learned from titles like Temple Run, Jetpack Joyride, Zombie Highway, Metalstorm, Zombie Gunship, and all the other absolutely fantastic and incredibly fun free to play gamer games out there. Anyway, I'm just interested in Dark Meadow seeing the success it deserves, since at the end of the day I know how easy it is for proper game studios to say "Welp, #### iOS" when the profit margins for console titles can be so much higher. The last thing iOS needs is more studios capable of serious AAA stuff pulling out.
Vocal Minority??? Wow, talk about adding insult to injury. Call the people who paid $5.99 for the game the "vocal minority." There is something in business about keeping your customers happy, but insulting them? That's a first. As a business owner, the number one rule is to keep your customers happy. Because without customers, you have no business. Quite honestly, the person from Phosphor who called the paying customers the "vocal minority" should be released from your company. If this person insulted my customers, that person would be let go, immediately. In less than 24 hours, your reputation as a company has shifted in a negative way. If this many people are upset, either we are all wrong (we're not), or you are wrong (you are). As a template for successful FREE games, check out Temple Run, Frisbee Forever, Blood and Glory, Pocket Legends, or SafeKracka. Simply put, all of these companies understand how to make a successful FREE game. And with all of these free game offerings, if you do not change your ways, your customers, the ones who paid, will move on to greener pastures. There are far too many other options out there. The only reason why I responded a second time is because I really do (or I shall say "did") like your company and your game. I want you to succeed. But, you are quickly sliding down a path of negativity from which you will not be able to return. As hard as it is to build up a good reputation, it is THAT easy to have it come crashing down. Just my two cents.
I don't think it was greed that caused this. I think they developer wants to get paid for the hard work and investment to make the game. Developers have to have ways to get reimbursed for the game. Unfortunately the race to 99 cents or free created this problem.
Wow. This post really makes me think that you guys are so out of touch with your fanbase that I don't know what to say. Eli's right about the fact that this game just is not a good fit for freemium.
you know i dont think they meant vocal minority as being mean, just a few on here on the forums and apple reviews are upset not everyone i get what they mean, their english is not very good either ive seen it in a few posts so it might just be a issue with there grammar and how their language is natively., they have said thank you to us countless of times with our nagging about the issue of what they have done to their game and have been pretty cool even tho were the ones ripping on them...and they are even actively trying to fix it cause i dont think they realized what they did till we told him what they did...at least the ramifications of it.
Yes, developers have the right to try and make money..... Just don't do it at the expense of your original paying customers. It's simply bad practise.
So wait, is it even possible to find first-aid kits anymore? Or are those another IAP carrot-on-a-stick, too? I just redownloaded the game after hearing about an update featuring new areas, etc. Can't say as I've noticed anything new yet, but the inability to get first-aid kits beyond the initial 10 is making the game neigh on impossible. The Dark Meadow has kind of turned to shit.
there working on a fix for all the premium people, from what it sounds like there gonna take suncoins out of the premium and make them all more expensive gold purchases, what they did was made the premium the freemium but with no adds they really screwed the pooch on this one lol, but they are working on fixing it so its not like they are doing nothing...
