Free to play is fine, as long as the game can be played without internet connection for single player experience.. Online only is a big NO for me..
I hate the games that force to connect to an internet on iOS!! I prefer to play at home in xBox or PS one using a wifi network before playing in ios. All the portability and the meaning of mobiles games IS LOST!!... especially on devices like ipods or ipads that dont have mobile data network!! I'm out of this... PS: i played this game and is a great job, but it's a shame to have to get away from this game... Sorry devs
Hey this looks pretty good, but the real reason I went to this thread. WHY WON'T KONGREGATE WORK WITH THE DEVS TO MAKE FANTASY ONLINE OR CRYSTAL SAGA ON MOBILE DEVICES! THEY WOULD BE EPIC! Well when crystal saga didn't put all the servers together it was better, but if u guys haven't tried those games I suggest u do. They're so good and aeria already has some mobile games, so why not have crystal saga
I have been playing this game lately and i have to say i like it overall, but it does have a few hangups. 1 - As people have mentioned; needing to be online all the time. I'd imagine there are numerous reasons for this (ability to sync, hacker protection, MP, etc.), but i still feel like its not necessary. Just about everything in this game can be attained from what i see so if someone wants to hack and get all items early, its the same thing as someone paying for it early. Yes the devs loose money to hackers, but its money they wouldn't have gotten to begin with and instead they loose players that would spend money on it. 2 - The store system. I appreciate that just about all elements can be purchased with in-game currency, but i am a little annoyed some items are left to chance. For example, you units need to have certain stones to rank up. They need 3 stones of a certain kind depending on what class they are. The store sells these stones in packs of three, but the packs are all random. This is ok when you start collecting, but when you need one specific stone, you could waste a lot of in-game money just buying packs for one stupid stone. If they had a way to buy specific stones at a higher cost per stone, this would be fine. This is the same when you want to buy new units form the shop; they are randomly generated, but you still pay for them. 3 - The need to grind. This isn't as bad as some other RPGs so its a lesser concern. The game is fairly generous with its money drops. However, due to the item i talked about above in #2, you will need to grind sometimes to get the right items you want. It ultimately leads to large amounts of bought items at the shop that you wont use. 4 - Upgrading abilities. The most traditional way of this in RPGs is simply when a user levels up, they can get new abilities. This game requires in-game money and time. You can kill timers with the higher level currency (crowns), but its normally not worth the cost. I understand the devs need to have IAPs in some form, but having to spend both in-game money and time to upgrade abilities feels a little heavy to me. All in all, this game has potential and i personally dont see the above items as game changers for me; i still enjoy it a lot. But i can see why many users would feel different after spending a few minutes with it. Hopefully things are adjusted/changed when this hits the US app stores.
For all the reasons Scape mentioned this is not good. When will devs realize that people just wNt to pay once for a game rather than Iaps micro transactions and other forms of blood sucking?
I hate to say this, but its really because of one reason; they dont make enough money in the app store otherwise. A game like this with all it takes to create is probably worth at least 15-20 bucks out the gate. I have only seen a few games come in at that price and most are well established triple A titles (XCOM) or high level brands (Squarenix). If this game hit the store at even ten bucks people would say 'wow, that seems kind of expensive' and walk away. IAPs allow them to still get players and downloads so they get more circulation and more 'buzz.' IAPs also has potential for people to spend more money than the 10-15 bucks it would take them to buy so it can generate even more revenue from some players. Mind you, I'm not saying i agree with IAPs - in fact I hate them. But i also can see why the current app market doesnt allow for this type of game to be bought once and owned. I really hope that changes as things like XCOM and Oceanhorn get the numbers they should to show people that games in the app store CAN be sold for more than a few bucks.
Ok. Well how about a solid $5.00? And I get the whole game. I would pay that. And I believe there are others who would too. Not as much as $20 games like XCom. But not as low as the usual 99 cent Chillingo games. The company still makes profit, the gamer gets high quality and doesn't break the bank. It's a Win- Win! Hehe.
I get this and i would love to see that too; this was the plan for awhile with games like this that are high quality. However, less people initially buy the game for 5.00 when they don't see the immediate value. Why buy one game for 5 when i can buy 5 .99 cent games? Again, i dont personally think this as i believe higher level games should have a higher price tag, but they have to change something when they dont sell. Either that or the market itself has to change. Which, as i stated, i hope games like XCOM and Oceanhorn do change that. Is Battleheart Legacy out yet? I know the first Battleheart came out at 2.99 and it was well worth the price. However, this game probably has more man hours and staff connected to it. So i think they need a higher price than 2.99. But if your talking about some new details on Battleheart Legacy I'm all ears; cant wait for that one
Because free with IAP's will always make more than $5.00 straight. This is a business, and they are looking to make money. Look at the games like this. Clash of Clans, Crime City, War of Nations, Avengers Alliance, Hello Hero, etc, etc. The first paid app to make an appearance on the top grossing side of Role Playing as of 1/27 is Baldur's Gate 2 at #28 for 14.99 Why? Because people enjoy winning. At anything. It's why we continue to see the rise of sub genre's in sports, e-gaming, cards, everything. So we continue to see a rise in F2P games with competitive arenas, leaderboards, competitions. I play 2 myself. AA & Hello Hero, but have spent 10.00 dollars on AA (part of it was buying Dr. Suess books, which I donated to a library.) and 0 dollars for Hello Hero, which, if you need to spend money to be competitive at that game, you might want to find something else. And while this thread has several people who say they won't pay or play this game, it doesn't matter. Toucharcade forum members comprise a small amount of the iphone/ipod/ipad gamers. This game will be near the top of the top grossing imo for strategy or roleplaying. So the real question is this. Would you release this game for 2.99-3.99 and make a tidy sum. Or would you F2P and more than likely make 5-10 times that amount guaranteeing money in the bank for your family, paying off a mortgage, money for your children, their college etc. Everyone claims they would make the honest choice. Honestly I would make the choice that helps my family. And that choice isn't even hard.
Sigh. You are right. Until gaming companies can make serious money making serious games we will end up with more and more shovel ware Where 20 thousand pre teen girls pay an extra 2.99 so their online character can have the leapard print bangle accessory. It's kinda sad.
The people that do make serious money on these kinds of games develop them on computers and consoles; places where larger costs for purchasing are the norm. Hopefully mobile devices will get there someday. Now back to Lionheart Tactics - does anyone know the US release date? I am fine playing this through the NZ store, but if its in a short time i may just wait till US release to put time into characters.
After all that I said Kudos to Mika Mobile for going the 5.00 route. Better people than I would be in that situation.
Scape, You summed it up well, these points are pretty much bang on. Another thing to consider with free + IAP's is that under the current structure the game continues to get supported and you get constant updates of new content. Thanks, Kevin
