Gameloft IAP Discussion

[Screwguy]

so no more RACE TO THE TOP 25 Paid Apps for Gameloft now.

[Xapped]

Originally Posted by K?!

Your not renting the game. How often do you reinstall and app, anyways? Twice a year, maybe? And going online to register it simply means that you tap a "restore purchases" button. This isn't restrictive DRM, it's just a new selling scheme. I doubt Gameloft is going to default and I'd imagine they'd give the IAP to everyone rather than no one if the did.

Let's say you moved, and it will be a week before you get internet. You decide maybe you should play some [game here] and reinstalls it with itunes. You can't.

It is DRM.

(Although the servers are maintained by apple, which shouldn't go down anytime soon.)

Another reason I could think of is maybe the game would not work for older devices, so less complaints about 'I bought this game and it doesn't work!'

Edit: Some people say that if you jailbreak, you can't purchase in-app-purchases. My iPhone is jailbroken and it can purchase IAP.

[VeganTnT]

Originally Posted by Xapped

Let's say you moved, and it will be a week before you get internet. You decide maybe you should play some [game here] and reinstalls it with itunes. You can't.

It is DRM.

(Although the servers are maintained by apple, which shouldn't go down anytime soon.)

Another reason I could think of is maybe the game would not work for older devices, so less complaints about 'I bought this game and it doesn't work!'

Just to add to this

---
When you download the game it is 100% of the game. The IAP is just a key that allows you to go past whatever the "demo" is.

While it IS an anti piracy tactic it's incredibly easy to get past. It just requires a bit more knowhow the just running an auto cracking program.
---

The other big issue for us as consumers is that we no longer OWN our games.

I'll give an example:

I bought Stoneloops of Jurassica when it came out. Although it was pulled from the AppStore I still have my IPA. I still have it on my iPhone and as long as Apple doesn't change iOS in a way that breaks the game... it's mine forever.

If I bought Starfront: Collision and got the IAP key to play the rest of the game then there isn't much of a difference... UNLESS it was removed from the AppStore.

Let's say Blizzard says there are one to many similarities to StarCraft and want it pulled... Well as long as I keep Starfront on my device I'm completely fine. If I ever take it off my device then I'm in trouble. A reinstall means I need that unlock key again, but since the game is pulled I can't get it.
---

Even from Gameloft's position it isn't a very attractive proposition. They can never be on the top paid apps chart, they have a lower average rating in the AppStore, and any useful reviews (unless liked) will be drowned in the sea of people just trying it cause it was free and leaving bad reviews

[Cilo]

Originally Posted by VeganTnT

Just to add to this

---
When you download the game it is 100% of the game. The IAP is just a key that allows you to go past whatever the "demo" is.

While it IS an anti piracy tactic it's incredibly easy to get past. It just requires a bit more knowhow the just running an auto cracking program.
---

The other big issue for us as consumers is that we no longer OWN our games.

I'll give an example:

I bought Stoneloops of Jurassica when it came out. Although it was pulled from the AppStore I still have my IPA. I still have it on my iPhone and as long as Apple doesn't change iOS in a way that breaks the game... it's mine forever.

If I bought Starfront: Collision and got the IAP key to play the rest of the game then there isn't much of a difference... UNLESS it was removed from the AppStore.

Let's say Blizzard says there are one to many similarities to StarCraft and want it pulled... Well as long as I keep Starfront on my device I'm completely fine. If I ever take it off my device then I'm in trouble. A reinstall means I need that unlock key again, but since the game is pulled I can't get it.
---

Even from Gameloft's position it isn't a very attractive proposition. They can never be on the top paid apps chart, they have a lower average rating in the AppStore, and any useful reviews (unless liked) will be drowned in the sea of people just trying it cause it was free and leaving bad reviews

Just reiterating who I think was squarezero mentioned earlier in this thread, you never own anything digital anyways. You are purchasing a license for personal use, you don't purchase rights to the product. So stating that you own a game, cd, dvd, tv show, song, app, ect. is not entirely true. All ownership and rights are solely to the creator and usually digital anything carry no warranties and can be changed at anytime.

[COHagan23]

Originally Posted by Cilo

Just reiterating who I think was squarezero mentioned earlier in this thread, you never own anything digital anyways. You are purchasing a license for personal use, you don't purchase rights to the product. So stating that you own a game, cd, dvd, tv show, song, app, ect. is not entirely true. All ownership and rights are solely to the creator and usually digital anything carry no warranties and can be changed at anytime.

When a consumer purchases a software product it is true that they do not own unlimited or exclusive rights to the software or source code but they do own the LICENSE to use it. A software license will always state terms of use and as long as the consumer does not violate those terms the publisher is NOT entitled to revoke or otherwise terminate said license without cause. A software license does not ONLY protect the rights of the publisher it also defines and protects the rights of the CONSUMER.

This IAP model is an interesting approach but it clearly has flaws that can affect the ability of the consumer to enjoy the perpetual nature of a non-subscription based software license. It deserves critical attention and thoughtful discussion not blind defense from individuals parroting inaccurate and all too commonly held misconceptions about digital rights.

[DtheGOPkiller]

Very smart move by gameloft to battle piracy. And I cannot blame them at all. So many people think it's not really stealing but it is just as much stealing as if you picked the wallet of someone. It's immoral and just plain wrong. I always put myself in others shoes and I would never like to be robbed so do unto others as you want done to you. As for being able to put the games on other devices I have it on my iPhone 4 and my 7 year olds 3rd Gen touch at the same time and if you manage the game trough iTunes your saves and everything are still intact. For me it has acted just like anyother App/Game I have had before the only difference is no need for a separate lite version and it makes it harder for thieves to steal it. I hope more and more games go this way because for those who steal the games they are taking money away from developers that we want to make as much money A's possible so they continue to make better and better games on iOS devices.

[elimcfly]

I play the secret of ayden offline and everytime it goes to load the next segment, it says "Get online to purchase". Even though I have already shelled out the $7 for it. It's quite annoying.

[Teknikal]

First recent gameloft game I haven't bought you may read into that what you will.

Not saying I'm right or wrong but the first time they bug fix or something won't that change the DLC to another DLC. To be honest I don't know but to many times DLC seems to just vanish on me or forget it's installed I just don't like it.

I'm sure plenty of people will buy it anyway but they will probably lose some sales including mine.

[COHagan23]

Originally Posted by DtheGOPkiller

Very smart move by gameloft to battle piracy. And I cannot blame them at all. So many people think it's not really stealing but it is just as much stealing as if you picked the wallet of someone. It's immoral and just plain wrong. I always put myself in others shoes and I would never like to be robbed so do unto others as you want done to you. As for being able to put the games on other devices I have it on my iPhone 4 and my 7 year olds 3rd Gen touch at the same time and if you manage the game trough iTunes your saves and everything are still intact. For me it has acted just like anyother App/Game I have had before the only difference is no need for a separate lite version and it makes it harder for thieves to steal it. I hope more and more games go this way because for those who steal the games they are taking money away from developers that we want to make as much money A's possible so they continue to make better and better games on iOS devices.

How many times has someone posted how "smart [a] move by [G]ameloft to battle piracy," without realizing that this particular flavor of software distribution via IAP is in reality much less secure than a "traditional" iTMS app purchase? You don't even need a jailbroken device to pirate this game or Sacred Oddyssey. If this is Gameloft's attempt at battling piracy it is an epic failure. But it's funny how people with barely an anecdotal understanding of piracy or software publishing think it is revolutionary in its cleverness.

I whole-heartedly agree that piracy is wrong - as a software product manager and designer I know first hand who is hurt by it. But in my opinion appending more and more intrusive, annoying or inconvenient forms of DRM that interfere with fair use is not the way to succeed in combating piracy. If anything it encourages the very activity it was intended to prevent by giving crackers incentive in the form of a new challenge and alienating a significant portion of your legitimate potential customer base. An alienated consumer that loses trust in a software publisher is far more likely to pirate that publisher.

[bomber]

In-app purchases can be verified via Apples server, while regular payments not. So it is in some ways more secure for the developer, although there are easy ways to detect cracked paid apps as well.
I'm not sure if this is the good strategy for Gameloft though since their business depends on being highlighted / featured by Apple and having promotions via price drops. They don't have social games yet where in-app purchases make sense.