You know what really grinds my gears?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by iJoe, Jul 22, 2010.

  1. iJoe

    iJoe Well-Known Member

    Jun 9, 2010
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    #1 iJoe, Jul 22, 2010
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2010
    I'm sure all of you have felt this way. Whenever there's a released app, either it be a game or other entertainment purposes, you expect updates on it. As there's nothing more exciting than going in the App Store to find one of your favorite apps has an update that improves the performance/adds content and such.

    But if there is ONE thing I really really hate, it's developers not updating the app itself but only adding 'retina display.' Yes, we get it, iPhone 4 is out, however please don't ignore all the requests to fix bugs/crashes. And then have the audacity to improve something so minor just so it looks 'prettier' on the new phones.

    I know this grinds your gears too. You see your favorite game that was released at launch or even a couple weeks ago. And it had problems, it was slow/laggy, crashed when you reached a certain level, or just needed extra content to make you fall in love with it all over again. So you wander into the app store like normal looking for other apps when lo and behold. Your Updates section has the number: 1 by it. You tap it to find out, WOW! Space Zombies from Mars is finally getting that update it deserved! Maybe the developers listened and improved gameplay and made it run faster? Or maybe even added additional characters/levels?! Oh I can't wait to see what it is...

    Wait, what? 'Added support for 'Retina display.' Mother ******!!!!
    So to all you developers out there. Please don't neglect those who bought your apps. If you're going to update the app to cater to iphone 4 users, at least add content that your fans requested, cause when you don't, it just really grinds my gears...
     
  2. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    Check reviews before buying and only purchase apps/games you feel are complete and work the way you want them to at that time. Between TouchArcade, the forums here, and the myriad of other similar review sites and communities there's pretty much no excuse for being ignorant to whether or not a game sucks before buying it. Furthermore, for a lot of games, adding Retina Display support can be a quick fix, especially if they're 3D. Adding more content is tons more work, and unless the game is selling well, there's pretty much no incentive for developers to keep producing new content when they can move on to a new (and hopefully more profitable) project.

    It's just the fact of life in the hit-driven economy of the App Store. When you release a game for a buck, and only sell a couple hundred units, it's hard to rationalize spending the time improving it.
     
  3. sammysin

    sammysin Well-Known Member

    Feb 23, 2010
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    Government Official.
    Swansea, UK
    Alright Peter Griffin.
     
  4. wootbean

    wootbean Well-Known Member

    Feb 8, 2009
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    the next whiskey bar
  5. sid187

    sid187 Well-Known Member

    Dec 23, 2009
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    yeah thats all sounds good till apple comes out with a update that breaks all the software that worked.. you know bought before the update!

    heh
    chris.
     
  6. Somerandomdude

    Somerandomdude Well-Known Member

    May 31, 2009
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    Doing nothing of importance.
    Somewhere
  7. sammysin

    sammysin Well-Known Member

    Feb 23, 2010
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    Government Official.
    Swansea, UK
    Hahahaha! Someone is on the same page as me.
     
  8. funkynubman

    funkynubman Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2009
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    News Reporter/ Superhero
    Right. Behind. You.
    Wow, you are really spoiled. Just because a developer doesn't spend their time updating your favorite game because you want tons of new free content and goodies and everything you fantasize about, doesn't mean they can't at least perfect the game with the latest and best graphics on an iPhone yet. Because you expect people to cater to your every little video game update wish, you won't accept any update to a game besides "a whole new map!" or "more characters!" or "new weapons and zombies and ninjas!"
     
  9. dumbname

    dumbname Well-Known Member

    Oct 22, 2009
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    You know what really grinds MY gears

    People who reference family guy and fail to deliver the same level of comedy. Especially when it is so obvious they try to be funny. Man, this thread was a bigger letdown than LeBron leaving the Cavs to join the Heat
     
  10. Mondae

    Mondae Well-Known Member

    Feb 26, 2010
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    Perv, why do you care?
    Other gears? You sure are pessimistic. When I have free wifi somewhere, I just download all the unimportant updates then.
     
  11. MikeV

    MikeV Well-Known Member

    Sep 15, 2009
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    sub-contracting
    VT
    hahah no
     
  12. bmn02102

    bmn02102 Well-Known Member

    May 24, 2010
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    #12 bmn02102, Jul 22, 2010
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2010
    This annoys me too, but not for the same reason. The problem with "retina display" updates is that the high definition graphics are included in the application files installed on your device whether or not your device is actually compatible with them. What does this mean? It means a completely needless filesize increase of several MB for all users who aren't using an iPhone 4.

    32GB isn't actually all that much storage, and I know I'm not the only one who's constantly managing my stuff to keep it within the limit. While small increases in size like this may not seem like all that much, they really add up.
    Let's say you have 150 games on your iPhone, and they all release "retina display" updates in the next month, each of which raises the app size by 5MB (a conservative estimate - it's closer to 50MB for games such as NOVA, and even Paper Toss doubled in size to almost 18MB). That's 750 megabytes gone in a single update cycle, blown on space for files that your phone can't even display.

    I'm always hovering at 200-400MB of free space, and I'm having to be careful what updates I download because of this (well, that and the morons who mark their app as "iOS 4 only" after a multitasking update, even though there's nothing that would prevent the app itself from working in 3.1.3...I swear there's a special place in hell reserved for those guys).


    The problem is that I can't think of much that devs could do about this, since there's no way that I know of to specify directories to install/not install according to OS version. Maybe the best solution would be to have the app automatically identify the type of device it's running on when it's first run, and delete the HD content if it isn't an iPhone 4.
     
  13. iJoe

    iJoe Well-Known Member

    Jun 9, 2010
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    That's right! If companies try to release an app and KNOW it's buggy and refuse to release an update, they figure, 'forget it, we'll just release a different app and make money off of that.'

    Problem is that nobody will take their company seriously. Consumers will suspect that once a game is released it will never see an update. See if you read my post I mentioned also BUGS and CRASHES. A lot of games I have are buggy and no longer exist on my ipad. And as such have a list of companies that I don't ever buy a product from ever again. It's not about giving me free things, just giving me the game I payed for. :cool:
     
  14. RttaM

    RttaM Well-Known Member

    Jan 12, 2010
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    LOL! You just said "Comedy" & "Family Guy" in the same sentence. :p

    AMERICAN DAD FTW!
     
  15. Ace_97

    Ace_97 Well-Known Member

    It only irritates me if it's a big time company and not an indie dev. Big time companies have people and resources, but don't update most of the time. (Good) Indie devs have less people and resources, but they usually update.
     
  16. Mondae

    Mondae Well-Known Member

    Feb 26, 2010
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    Perv, why do you care?
    I fixed it.
     
  17. Somerandomdude

    Somerandomdude Well-Known Member

    May 31, 2009
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    Doing nothing of importance.
    Somewhere
    Indie devs often make a game to be the best it can be. If that requires an update, then so beit. As long as they can get the game the way that they think would be best, they'll work toward it to the best of their abilities. Big companies, on the other hand, make games, see how they do, then move onto the next project, almost never looking back.
     
  18. RttaM

    RttaM Well-Known Member

    Jan 12, 2010
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    Heh. I approve. :p
     
  19. sammysin

    sammysin Well-Known Member

    Feb 23, 2010
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    Government Official.
    Swansea, UK
    You know what grinds my gears? Being cold and eating cold fruit while I'm being cold, which in turn makes me colder. :rolleyes:
     
  20. Random_Guy

    Random_Guy Well-Known Member

    Apr 6, 2009
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    Australia, mate!
    Lack of oil makes me grind my gears. :(
     

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