New IAP model?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by Kenan2000, Mar 22, 2015.

  1. Kenan2000

    Kenan2000 Well-Known Member

    Nov 25, 2013
    1,134
    1
    38
    Basically,we have a freemium game with a pretty messed up freemium model.

    Why cannot we have a special IAP thing that we can buy for like 10$ or 12$ that greatly decreases the amount of energy taken/greatly increases the speed of energy regeneration.

    It might as well give us the free premium currency once in a certain amount of time/give us some bonuses that normal,free players don't have.


    Gameloft made this idea come true with Mc5 but it's only for these players who bought it before the freemium update.

    Why cannot this exist in other freemium games?You still spend money,freemium model just gets easier and much more player friendly.It is not like energy disappears forever or you get 10x gold or 100000 "gems"per hour.

    I know that this might sound absurd but this is a pretty good idea that might as well satisfy both freemium and premium gamers.
     
  2. Based Xatu

    Based Xatu Well-Known Member

    Aug 27, 2013
    1,937
    0
    0
    Korean games were the first to do the VIP system, right? GL did this with DH and that odyssey game.
     
  3. coolpepper43

    coolpepper43 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Aug 31, 2012
    4,615
    7
    38
    On the toilet
    10-12 bucks should take away any sort of energy system. That is the price point for a pure premium game.
     
  4. Kenan2000

    Kenan2000 Well-Known Member

    Nov 25, 2013
    1,134
    1
    38
    It's just that the VIP system does not really change anything in most of the times from my experience in freemium games and it has a time limit,which is pretty absurd but oh well.

    If I pay for vip then it means that I pay to make the game more fun,if everything remains the same then it's not fun and I've just wasted my money.
     
  5. Greyskull

    Greyskull Well-Known Member

    Dec 13, 2009
    5,588
    1
    38
    Photographer/Social Sciences adjunct/sweet sweet l
    Fort Lauderdale
    If MC5 is not currently installed for the update (any app for that matter), you get no benefit of previous ownership.

    With the install size of games only getting larger, this has become common to me.

    Either release a separate "freemium" app or keep paid paid and free free.

    For some odd reason quite a few members and commentators here take the side of developers/publishers as opposed to consumers.
     
  6. Based Xatu

    Based Xatu Well-Known Member

    Aug 27, 2013
    1,937
    0
    0
    Consumers have proven to not care about the publishers and developers, at l day on the mobile market. I've been gaming since I was 4, and I've never seen such a stingey group of people when it comes to gaming. Every other group is willing to pay $20-60 for a full game, but mobile gamers expect a full game for $5, and think that means something.

    I understand IAP becomes intrusive with some companies, but knocking down a game when developers have no other way of making money from their games-except ads- is crazy.

    "I paid $1 for this game, and the developer turns this freemium?!!!? I'm never supporting them again!" We get these a lot.
     
  7. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
    12,747
    543
    113
    England
    Great post. Totally agree. Depressing some of the comments you read when people expect lifetime upgrades on a 99c game and moan when they dont get them
     
  8. sinagog

    sinagog Well-Known Member

    Aug 15, 2014
    937
    0
    0
    "Capitalism's greatest trick was convincing the world that they owed it something".
     
  9. SaltyRyan

    SaltyRyan Active Member

    Sep 14, 2014
    40
    0
    0
    Indie Game Dev
    Canada
    From a former F2P developer, I can tell you that the reason a model like this exists is because it likely because it is time-based rather than use-based, and for the most egregious of freemium models, more time spent usually equates to more money spent.

    To put it another way, there's probably a chart somewhere that says that a heavy user (i.e. the type of person who would buy a timed "speed up") would likely spend as much or more to get one-time-use refills across the same period of time. For consumers, it's a better deal but for the companies it isn't necessarily a financial slam dunk. Sorry to be so cynical about it.
     
  10. CrazedJava

    CrazedJava Well-Known Member

    Jan 29, 2015
    339
    0
    0
    This is my frustration as well.

    A lot of F2P games with punishing IAP models make money hand over fist.

    Good news, this will not last. Bad news, this is not going away anytime soon. Also, the F2P/IAP model will be with us in some form forever. Maybe less abusive than it is today but it's a proven and viable business model.

    They've been talking micro-transactions since at least the 90's. The technology and means just finally caught up to the concept in the 21st century.

    While F2P games are making money, developers who want to actually charge upfront for a full featured gaming experience get pushback for any amount. Especially if it is over $5.

    When mobile games first arrived they were simple affairs and it was common to see games between $1 and $5. I remember paying $2 for Tetris to play on my old Motorola Razr (NOT a smartphone for you young'uns)

    Mobile games have evolved quite a bit from the simple affairs they used to be. Yet when developers try to *gasp* make some money there is so much pushback it doesn't make sense to bother.

    The consumers are the ones pushing the F2P model. When they stop paying to speed up timers or for premium currency that buys you nothing and see all their money go down the drain when the game is inevitably taken offline (which happens more often than people realize) and start paying for full game experiences then they might actually get away from the glut of "me too!" clones out there.

    In the mean-time I await the next Clash of Clans clone.
     
  11. SaltyRyan

    SaltyRyan Active Member

    Sep 14, 2014
    40
    0
    0
    Indie Game Dev
    Canada
    Another incentive (and it's worse on Android but still happens on iOS) is piracy. Free to Play games deal much less with this problem because of their always-connected nature. Pay-once games are far, far more likely to be pirated. So it's a double-whammy of a hill to climb.
     
  12. Toronith

    Toronith New Member

    Oct 8, 2014
    3
    0
    0
    United States
    This is the part that saddens me the most. It surely is a good wall against piracy, but for people like me who don't have constant online access available it really sucks. Not to mention problems that arise from their servers going down/being slow, or the game becoming unplayable when it's taken offline(so later users will never get a chance to experience it). I hope these always-online games don't become more popular.

    Games like Crossy Road are the best example of F2p, in my opinion. No paywall, almost every character is unlockable in-game with relative ease, and it even caters to offline players by caching video ads for you. If F2P is the future of mobile, then I can only hope games like Crossy Road are what we will come to expect.
     
  13. SaltyRyan

    SaltyRyan Active Member

    Sep 14, 2014
    40
    0
    0
    Indie Game Dev
    Canada
    Crossy Road specifically gives me hope. Stories that the game made $10 million (http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/3/8142247/crossy-road-earnings-10-million-gdc-2015) are bound to turn heads and turn "opt-in video ads" into a viable business model that are both consumer- and business-friendly. Having these examples of success go a long way towards securing investment in new models.
     
  14. Rip73

    Rip73 Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2011
    4,399
    0
    0
    Incorrect.

    The server converted all paid buyers account to Veteran automatically whether it was installed on device at time of update or not.

    So whether you had it installed or not at the update time or whether one re downloaded after the update, if one had purchased it, one's account is Veteran with all the benefits of previous ownership.

    The benefit of an always online classes connection.
     
  15. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2012
    2,075
    0
    0
    True, but I don't think piracy is the reason why we have F2P games. I think it's quite presumptuous from developers to convert all pirated copies into sales and saying: "that's exactly how much money has been stolen from me". Of course some may disagree with me here, but my main point is that only a fraction of those pirates would actually buy the game if they couldn't pirate it anyway. Mostly the only way to get money from the pirates is to force ads upon them in a free game.
     

Share This Page