I haven't noticed a thread like this before, and search of course brought up nothing, so apologies in advance if this has already been discussed. So I'm at a point now where I won't give the time of day to most games if they don't have some sort of social network implemented. I didn't want it to turn out this way, but I'm addicted now. It started with Xbox Live. I loved how they had achievements, and it gave me something extra to shoot for when I had beaten a game to death. I'm not exactly an "achievement whore" with it, like I wouldn't run out and rent Avatar so I could hit punch 10 times and unlock 1000 points, but for the games that I did buy I wanted every single point out of them. It's mostly an OCD thing, I think. Well now, this same type thing has invaded my iDevice gaming. It started out innocently enough with Plus+. Skee-Ball was my gateway drug. I had owned a few games with Plus+ prior to this one, but had never bothered with it. But the achievements in Skee-Ball were infectious, and I found myself going back to my other Plus+ games to check them out. Then I was buying games JUST because they had Plus+. Now it's gotten about 100x worse because I've grown extremely fond of OpenFeint, which is in a TON of games. I guess my bottom line is this. If the game isn't some triple A title, or something I've really been waiting for, I'm probably not going to bother with it if it doesn't have some sort of social network attached to it. There will be exceptions, but for the most part, this is true. Even with how many $1 or free games there are that look like they might be worth a download, I just don't have the time if it doesn't give me points to earn or achievements to work for. Just curious if anyone else has opinions on this matter (Zincous I'm sure you do!). I know there's some of you that absolutely despise all these social network systems, and I totally understand that. Please weigh in with those comments as well. I personally love it, and I've really discovered some hidden gems because I've tried something just because it had OF or Plus+ that I might not have tried before. But at the same time, I'm getting overwhelmed trying to keep up with all the new games coming out with these features. I'm also curious if any developers read this thread to get your comments on this matter, too. Thoughts?
I used to like OF, but it became too overwhelming. Every other game now has it and it's hard to keep up. Therefore, having it would not affect my decision of buying it. However, I loooove Plus+. It definately convinced me to buy certain games. Plus, I like the UI of it much better than OF, scoreloop, or other networking things. Join the Club: http://forums.toucharcade.com/group.php?groupid=132
It doesn't necessarily dictate my purchase. If a game is solid after all the research/hands-on/screens/videos/previews/reviews I see. That ultimately is how my decision is made. I will note that when I see a Plus+ or OpenFeint icon on a game, or a post stating "enabled" I cant help but want to check it out to see how solid the game is/might be. The majority of games I feel are not worth the purchase though, so I see those games with "enabled" networks stamped on them as merely a tool for better marketing to a certain degree. So Yes seeing them intrigues me but No it isn't how I make my decision in purchasing a game. I see having Plus+, OpenFeint, and Agon as a plus for sure though.
Haha yeah I feel the same way I went through a stage where I bought every single OF game that had achievements. Currently, I'm just getting the free OF game right now unless the game with Of is actually good or has a lot of points or something. I hate getting the OF games and then realizing they only have like 3 achievements or are just crappy games. And I have like 45,000 OF points so I think it's time to cool off
Hey thanks for the link to the group, I hadn't seen it before. And I previously felt just about like you. I didn't like OF. I tried it out when it was new, and thought it was ugly and sucked. Then when I got into Plus+, it seemed so much better. Also, it bugs me how there's not really any quality control over the achievements in OF. It seemed like all the Plus+ games were good quality games, with well thought out achievments. But since my first foray into OF, it's grown and improved a lot. Now, I feel it's on par with Plus+. It still bugs me when there's crappy achievements, but there are a lot of developers that use OF and utilize it well. But yeah, it is overwhelming. @Zincous: Yeah, you are like Mr. OpenFeint to me. I love having you on my friends list, cause if I feel like getting a new OF game then all I have to do is look through your list of games played for ones I don't have. I don't even need that thread you made! But still I'm wondering if this madness will ever end for me, or if I'm doomed to be a life long addict. And with Agon and Scoreloop becoming more prominent, how many more am I going to have to keep up with?!
Lol yeah. Openfeint.com just improved a whole lot, and now lists all the games with OF on their site, and an easy way to tel if the game has achievements or not etc.. so I use that now. I am also staying away from Agon and Scoreloop. I'm just not interested in them. Gameloft Live is another one I haven't gotten into for achievements, I just like their games.
+1 to that Zincous. I don't even know of an AGON enabled game nor scoreloop. I tend to stick with Plus+ and OpenFeint. My only two gripes about OpenFeint that you may be able to help me with are: There are games that I have deleted that still show up on my OpenFeint acct that I don't want there (i.e. my brute light) under my profile. I like to have everything organized. (I guess same goes with Plus+ games on this.) I have tried several times to link my Facebook picture and it wont let me. I have tried to logout and login, refresh, tried OpenFeint's website to maybe try to manage account, etc. for both of these issues. Any suggestions?
The first thing, there's nothing you can do about removing those games. I want the same feature, but it's just not available (yet?). And on the second thing, do you have any games witht he newest OF? 2.3+ In the newer updates to openfeint you can change/upoad any pictures, not just having to sync with Facebook. My issue with OF is that you have to load groups of games by 10's to see peoples lists. Very annoying.
Thanks for the fast response. Yeah I hope that becomes available because I'm big on manging and organization of games. The loading is definitely something that needs tweaked. I don't have Wifi on my iTouch where I am at right now but the latest Openfeint enabled games that were recently updated that I own are Stair Dismount and Chronicle Defenders. Do any of those have the latest version? I'm patiently waiting for The Battle For Wesnoth update. I believe Kyle Poole Said it will offer OpenFeint integration iirc.
Oh, you're right. The website is quite nice. I had never even bothered checking it out before, thanks! And oh crap, I forgot about Gameloft Live. Dammit, it's happening with that one now too. EWJ got me started on those achievements. Now, I've found myself purchasing Real Soccer 10 because it was on sale for $1 and has achievements. And I hate soccer!! What have I become?? Ah well...
You guys are crazy ;-) I'll make sure we get "games list management" in sometime soon so you can let your OCD side run free and clean up your My Games list. And the paging by 10 comment is good to hear. I'll see what we can do on that one as well! Oh, and check out Arcade Hockey if you're looking for a free app with OpenFeint 2.3. Thanks for the support guys. (p.s. we just quietly announced 2.4 for developers -- www.openfeint.com/developers -- it's got lots of swankyness)
Lol! I have OCD...takes one to know one huh? Thanks for letting us know it will be implemented, I very much am looking forward to this.
For loading games by 10's, why not something like you do with the friends lists now? Alphabetical and nice, no loading for every ten like it used to be. Thought you'd carry that over Glad to hear "games list management" could be soon. Also, if you see this, how come we can no longer see our pending friend requests past the first ten anymore? In the newer versions, there's no option to load more. I have to load up an app that hasn't upgraded to the newest version of OF to see requests past the first ten. And OpenFeint 2.4 looks great! Can't wait to see it. Hope some devs update/release soon with it. Thanks a lot!
I like plus+ and I admit I am buying games just because they have plus+. Now, when there are so much games for iPhone, I percieve plus+ as my guide what is worth buying/playing... Also plus+ achievements/awards are better in terms of balance (how hard they are and how many points you get) than this in OF. Collecting those points is quite fun (and there is no dissipation like in OF, where one game has 20 points but the other like 500). Personally I don't like OF - it started as very clunky "online service" (also feint - precedessor of OF - was "stealing contacts" one day) and I feel that it didn't change a lot since then. Even if I have a game with OF, I am not using it (I am not enabling "internet" part of a game). Also I have never bought a game because it was OF-enabled. To be honest the main reason why I have not bought some games was because there was OF in them. Also so many games have OF today (it's free/open) but so few of them are really good... most of them feel "completely random" and good titles are sinking in the pool of so-so "games with OF"... And the last is AGON. I like it - it's least known of the three, but it really works. It's the least inrusive too. A lot of good games are AGON-enabled and while I'm not considering to buy them "because those have AGON", I am considering to buy them "because those are good games" (ie. Inkvaders).
Oh, the pusher is here! So, just because I stayed up til 5am trolling your website, meticulously working my way through the list of games with achievements, downloading every one I don't have in search of my next fix, this somehow makes me crazy?? Oh, yeah... it does. Ok, seriously, I have never considered myself an "achievement whore" with Xbox, but with OF, there's no better description for me. I freaking downloaded Gen Con Mobile and fake updated my Facebook and Twitter to unlock a few points. Seriously, I think I am ready to admit I have a problem. But I'm really looking forward to the swankyness of the new OF. Thanks for your reply and being open to the nice suggestions others have given. @estyst: I agree with what you're saying, I've felt the same way regarding some of the downsides of OF. But apparently, it wasn't enough to keep the needle out of my arm. How long ago have you tried out OF? It has changed a lot for the better since it first started, and besides some of the games having crappy achievements or being crappy games in general, I consider it on par with Plus+ in all other aspects. In some ways I even think OF is better. If you're not strictly looking to nab every achievement point, there are some really quality games with OF, and I think the service enhances those games even more. You might just not ever like OF, which I'd understand, but you may just want to check out the newest version if it's been a while. I'm not personally responsible if you happen to become addicted to OF however.
*shudders* In general, it makes no difference, but I am a tad more likely to pick up a game with OpenFeint.
Guilty! No offense but for such an addict, only 8,000 points And I'm going through your list of games, think there's a few I may pick up now
