Dark Meadow by Phosphor Games Studio

[indyraider4]

Phosphor, thanks for working so hard on this game. It's fantastic. With all of these negative comments directed at you (for seemingly no reason) I wanted to at least say that Dark Meadow is easily among my top 3 games. I'm excited for health packs to return as normal, but even without that, I'm still loving the update because of the elevator and mysterious exploded hospital roof. It is seriously amazing and easily the most visually striking and haunting thing I've ever seen on an ipad.

Thank you for all of your hard work and caring about members of the community, thank you for making a visually amazing game that's fun and has a strong and engaging plot, and most of all, thank you for committing to your work and to your fans.

I'm excited to see what else you've all been working on. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some sort of Dark Meadow sequel or companion piece.

[Echoseven]

Look guys, a lot of you seem awfully set on being negative to whatever the developers say. They already said they're doing something (whether you consider that enough or not is another deal), but the fact they ARE doing something is already showing a level of commitment many do not display.

They could've disappeared from the forums forever, leaving both versions as they were - many have done this. Instead, while they're making concessions to those of us that paid (again, whether this should've been done initially is not the point I'm trying to make - that's a different discussion) you're slapping them for being here.

If I may make an analogy:
A dog doesn't listen to a "come here" and runs away from the owner. When it eventually comes back, the owner smacks and calls it a bad dog. Now, is the dog more or less likely to come back the next time?
(I am so not calling the developers a dog, just sayin')



So thanks, Phosphor Games, for not leaving us out in the dark. Yes, it's not an ideal situation and more can be done for sure, but thanks for the steps you've already taken.





Edit:
I'm not saying we should grovel at developers' collective feet, begging for scraps, but show a little respect, dammit.

[callmericardo]

Obviously the premium version needs looking at, but some of these arrogant, nasty accusations are really unnecessary.

[the9quad]

Originally Posted by callmericardo

Obviously the premium version needs looking at, but some of these arrogant, nasty accustaions are really unnecessary.

Word.

[Kschreck]

Well I will say this. I do appreciate that the developers are looking into the issues at hand. I also appreciate them taking the time to respond to comments here on the forums. I enjoyed their game and hope for their continued support of the platform.

So let's hope that these issues are worked out and that the problem is put behind both us and them as developers.

[PrayForDeath]

I just installed thefree version. Game looks cool on the new ipad, but it seems if you go to the main menu and then back to the game it ports you back to the beginning?

Also, i couldnt find any way to heal myself (besides leveling up), and thus i died after 15 mins of play. I think thats too punishing.

[Delusionaltool]

Phosphor that's awesome you would post on a weekend, i am upset with the changes but you already know that but I'm also happy you are fixing it cause I love the game just not the added fluff and for that thank you I'm awaiting a fix. People get upset but I have seen some harsh stuff said on here people need to chill

Few pages back phosphor guys listened to the criticism and said a fix is comming. Let's just wait it out,

phosphor could we know the changes your making on the game to fix it? I'm hoping its just taking the sun coin stuff out and making the items more expensive gold ones, leave sun coins to the freemium game but have gold Iap in premium game people would buy gold they do in infinity blade.

[Boobi]

Phosphor got caught forcing a paywall on the premium version and now they want to slide by. Every change you see they intended, Now they want to convince us giving them money to play a game we bought is in our best interests. Simply fail phospor.

[Johnny101]

Some of these recent posts are hilarious. People are getting upset over people voicing their displeasure about this update. Guess what folks, they have a right to!

I agree their is no need to throw personal insults but saying your upset about an update is fine. In my posts I didn't call the Devs any names but I was upset.

The comment the dev made about ignoring their loved ones to post on the weekend was over the top though. I have a family and loved ones, ( don't we all) It only takes 5 minutes to type an email.

Anyone who has bought this game from the beginning ( like myself ) and has followed these guys from the beginning knows why people were upset.

Anyway, I agree that we all should lay off and let them rectify this situation like they said they would.

[dib]

I simply detest buying an app in order to support a dev, and then retroactively having that support mean nothing when they change their entire format in an update.

I buy a lot of my apps from Reddit, where people will promote their indie titles. I would resent saying "sure, I'll check this out and support you because you're trying hard and not resorting to some crooked IAP scheme" only to see them turn around and adopt it.

I am fed up with seeing IAP applied to apps as nothing more than a money generator. They attach these real world values to something that doesn't represent time or effort on their part. They're charging merely to change a variable from a two to an eleven. They let it influence game design by implementing artificial bottlenecks and grinding to slow the pace of the game, solely to help steer more players to paying for that shortcut. Oftentimes, players who _already paid them_. To further compound the sleazy business of the mobile market, they will also market to us with in-game ads for other apps, and worst of all these product promotions and surveys with the promise of virtual currency rewards.

I bought this game way back just because I felt (at the time) iOS could use more Unreal based games. I heard negative reviews regarding the actual gameplay, but went with it anyway. And I actually never got around to playing it. Now I know I won't ever bother. But if I could take back those few dollars, seeing as they changed the terms of the game, I would.

I do want to praise Toucharcade for the review of the updated Dark Meadow. Reviewers here often excuse or glance over the integration of IAP in apps when we rely on them to criticize it. The only recourse we have as customers is to one star the app (check Zynga's Tiny Tower ripoff to see how effective that is) but you guys can influence people's purchasing decisions. I don't bother with free app-a-day deals, or Apple's top 25 list. I do purchase many of my apps after seeing them listed on the front page and given positive remarks. Lines need to be drawn so IAP becomes less socially acceptable, so that future incidents like this are prevented.