I was waiting to buy this game till after i finished a couple of others, but at $1 getting it right now.
It's only been a week, and it's been doing well on the charts, but thanks for the sale. Bought. Edit: $2.99 was supposed to be a launch special too? It's okay that developers put games on sale at will, but not when they've made promises beforehand, especially those regarding pricing. I'm benefitting from from the sale, but I'd imagine some customers who thought they were actually getting a launch special won't be very happy.
People forking out for games need to realise that in the current App Store environment, damn near every game will be $1 or free at some point in its life cycle, and that they take that risk if they pay more. They certainly can't get mad if a game drops in price, especially when it keeps happening (even if the developers say it won't, like Lucy with Charlie Brown's football).
The thing is that the game has been in the top 50 at $2.99 and that the developers explicitly stated that $2.99 was going to be minimum price in the near future at least, which would have provided the incentive for many people who didn't necessarily want the game to get it. Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I never do when it comes to prices on the AppStore; I do quite the opposite actually. I even said that I'm benefitting from the sale since I was waiting for a price drop myself, but yeah, not the best move in my opinion in the long run. But, like you said, there's been many, many other similar occurrences on the AppStore for this one to matter.
i've often paid for games that go down to free or a $1 within a week or two of me buying it. I dont see it as a big deal. The extra price you pay is the cost of wanting to play games RIGHT AT THAT VERY MINUTE, rather than waiting for the game to go on sale/free, which, in most cases anyway, does happen. introductory price =/= sale anyway. this is a sale for a day.
*Bought.* I didn't really need yet another tower defense game, but Tiny Heroes seems very nice and for this price I can't skip.
not mad, just disappointed. It's a sweet game. and I like your Lucy reference yeah, I based this purchase on the dev previous history with price drops (which didn't occur quickly), and now I will based my future purchase of an iPad version on this app's price history.
Here's a brain twisted... Developers have trouble selling games at higher than $0.99 because many consumers refuse to pay higher prices (even $2.99 does not likely net great profit) but then consumers get mad because the game has become devalued by price discounts. These angered consumers vow to never again pay more than $0.99 for a game forcing the next indie developer into the same bind. How are developers to get out on top? Part of me wants to buy Tiny Heroes tomorrow after the sale just to make a point; but I got it today anyway because I am part of the problem. Edit: This is also very, very predictable so I don't understand the consumer frustration. Now most games debate at $2.99 then drop to $0.99 (fool me once shame on your; fool me twice shame on me).
Here't the thing, I might look at app sales and pricing differently than the rest of you. If I feel I got my money's worth by the time an app goes on sale, I don't care. Honestly. I am not a kid and so, well, don't have restrictions like some of you. I also figure with all the games I get for free when they drop it averages out. The game is worth 3 dollars; the game is worth more. What I honestly felt bad about - and I apologized in the main thread - was recommending the game! I jumped up and down from here to the high heavens practically jumping out of computers telling people to buy this game! What if someone didn't listen until yesterday? I can't imagine they feel like they got their 3 dollars worth. I wanted people to get his while it was on an introductory SALE! Not kick themselves later for waiting and having the price RISE. NOW they will kick themselves for NOT waiting - just a few days! DAYS. And the reason the developer gave in the main thread just didn't seem plausible to me - he was away so they had a release "party" today so to coincide they made it 99 cents. I guess there have been sales for less things but to be honest, this seems silly! Make it 99 cents the day it comes out as the LAUNCH day (unless my definition of launch day is really messed up) and THEN go to INTRODUCTORY sale for a bit and THEN settle on a price. Who cares when you party is! Or be upfront about that - say gee our launch sale is delayed cuz I am at a conference; wait until 9/15 which is REALLY the launch day! That seems like a logical progression to me - Dev home for the party or not - but maybe I am trying to be logical in an illogical world. Again, I am not upset about the price, I played it to death so far. I am highly urging anyone who did not get this to get it at this price because it is worth well more. But I do feel bad about recommending it to someone who just paid 2/3rds more, perhaps because I was so positive about it. Though I dunno, I hesitate to really encourage you cuz it DOES say "today only" so who knows what tomorrow will bring.
@undeadcow Dude, they announced that $2.99 was the launch sale and never went to the regular price before dropping it to $0.99. I don't give a shit that developers put their games on sale whenever they want; I already said it wasn't about that. Of course that happens all the time; we all know that. I've never once complained about buying games for the full price. However, you can't say you're selling a game for cheap so customers should get it now because you EXPLICITLY say that the price will go UP after a limited time. Also, top 50 at $2.99 isn't high enough on the charts for you? If they had made the game full price, which I assume to be $4.99, for even one day, it'd be fine since this $0.99 sale is one day thing, but they didn't. They betrayed their early adopters with misleading advertising, and that's frowned upon in the marketplace. Companies like EA have dropped prices from $6.99 to a $0.99 within two weeks, but hell, they didn't ever promise anything or suggest that $6.99 was a temporary thing. There's a difference. From the events so far, the launch sale advertisement just seemed like a way to rake in some extra money during the initial few days where sales are generally guaranteed to come in. The game shoots up the charts because it's new and by a veteran developer. After that, when the momentum starts slowing down and right before the game starts its decline down the charts, what better action to take then to make it a dollar while it's still very visible on the charts to ensure that it continues to ascend on the top charts? Look, the game is already number 22 on the paid charts. Generally, this would be an excellent marketing plan since making money in the AppStore is all about the visibility of your game. In this case, not so much. I wouldn't feel any worse or better if I had bought the game in the past 7 days for $2.99 since price isn't an issue to me. The pricing in the AppStore never is. It's just the practice.
http://appshopper.com/games/death-rally They didn't drop the price until over a month after the game went on launch sale. Demand becomes more elastic in the long run, meaning more time reduces the hurt customers feel from having bought something for more since everything gets cheaper over time, generally. Also, it didn't feel like they were trying to pull some bs since their game had already fallen off the charts at $2.99 long before a month had passed. They were just trying to save their game. No, they didn't deliver on their promise, but it didn't feel like like it was out of ill-intent or something done under the table. Also, they delivered a free content update every 2 weeks for nearly two months and then another large content update a month after that two month period.
Dude, $4.99 was supposed to be their launch sale. They dropped the price from $4.99 to $2.99 after 10 days. >_>
Confirmation? I thought $2.99 was the launch sale..and that they released it at the "normal" price of $4.99. Edit: If $4.99 was really the launch sale, I still stand with everything I said in post 16, and agree that it's just about the "same shit."
