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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 13, 2008 17:42:21 GMT -5
I disagree with the people that say that if the game weren't free, people would stop playing it.
Look at how many people have downloaded Super Monkey Ball at $9.99. Why did they? Because they got early hype, and it escalated.
By AF starting out as a free app, they kind of generated the same kind of hype for themselves.
Fix the bugs, make it stable, and charge for expansions.
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 13, 2008 17:49:01 GMT -5
Lol same here Here's something I'm interested in: If you right-click an app in 'Applications' and click show in Explorer (show in Finder for Mac), you find all the apps in the .ipa format. I'm sure it's illegal, but theoretically if you sent the app to a friend, and the friend placed the file in the Mobile Applications folder, which is where all the other apps go, wouldn't iTunes detect the app and allow you to sync it, thus getting a 'free' app? Nope. All apps are protected by Fairplay.
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 13, 2008 17:49:56 GMT -5
One clarification from my earlier posts: I'm not advocating that Aurora Feint, The Beginning should become a paid app when it gets bug free. I think that it should stay free. It is like the "Lite" editions of all of the other free apps. This is AF's introduction to their type of game. It gets people on board and teaches them how to play (and creates addicts). So, if you consider this the "lite" version, then when you get to levels 8/8 and 4/4 and master everything it is "game over". you've had your free taste. BUT... AF Part II (The middle, the continuation, whatever it's called) - that can be a paid app (provided it's bug free, of course), with all of the never-ending collectibles, players, etc. that everyone wants/expects in an AF paid app. This is exactly what I'm saying.
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 13, 2008 17:51:23 GMT -5
eliu87 - you have an interesting point. maybe i will try that with my husband when he gets home from work tonight (his iphone, my ipod) and see what happens. After all, everything we own is community property, right? so how could i be stealing? That isn't the same thing, because your computer authorizes the app. If you're using the same computer to purchase apps for each device, they can already be swapped between your devices.
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Post by eliu87 on Aug 14, 2008 16:49:30 GMT -5
I disagree with the people that say that if the game weren't free, people would stop playing it. Look at how many people have downloaded Super Monkey Ball at $9.99. Why did they? Because they got early hype, and it escalated. By AF starting out as a free app, they kind of generated the same kind of hype for themselves. Fix the bugs, make it stable, and charge for expansions. Super Monkey Ball is different. Firstly, SMB has already been released on 4 different platforms, including the GameCube. SMB is created by a well-known and popular game company, Sega. SMB also was demonstrated by Steve Jobs at the iPhone demonstration. SMB received front page featured placement in the App Store. SMB was heavily marketed by Apple. AF really can't compete with that type of hype.
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 15, 2008 1:54:55 GMT -5
I'm not suggesting that AF can compete on the same level; I was only using it as an example. The iPhone app store demo, etc, was exactly the kind of hype that I was referring to. Personally, the first thing that I did as soon as the app store went live for me, was purchase Super Monkey Ball, and before I watched the keynote presentation, I'd never even heard of it before. Without the demo/hype, I never would have bothered with it. As I said, it isn't on the same level yet, but the high number of downloads and great reviews will continue to generate interest in AF. Keep The beginning for free, and it will continue to attract new players. Put a small price tag on future expansions, and those that become hooked on The Beginning will want more. If you build it, they will come.
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Post by eliu87 on Aug 15, 2008 10:59:59 GMT -5
The only thing is, SMB was popular because it was marketed and backed by Apple. Anything that Apple markets, the product/person rockets into fame. For example, Leslie Feist was a normal folk singer until Apple used her song 1234 in one of their commercials. Result: Feist is now a very well known and popular singer. On the other hand, AF's hype is totally generated by user opinion. And while AF may possibly be the best free app out there, or at least the best free game, start pricing it and there will be a lot more competition from many decent apps. And I'm sure a lot of them out there also have hugely supportive user forums
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 15, 2008 11:32:19 GMT -5
In any case, I'd like to see further AF development, and the best way to ensure that is for the developers to be compensated for their work.
I have an interesting article that I will post a link to later. (I will be so glad when iPhone finally gets copy and paste!)
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 15, 2008 16:30:03 GMT -5
This is the article that I promised.It starts off with the story of the app store application, 2 Across, a crossword puzzle. No one ever heard of this lady, and the only exposure that she got was the app store--Just like AF. Her first check from Apple was over $25k, and the cost of her app is only $5.99!
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Post by asmeurer on Aug 15, 2008 18:08:10 GMT -5
2 across has a lite version, which seems to be a must for apps to succeed. By the way, if you do want a crossword app, I would recommend trying Cross Light. I prefer the interface, though 2 Across gets crosswords from the New York Times.
Still, that's pretty amazing that she's making that kind of money.
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Post by eliu87 on Aug 15, 2008 22:57:33 GMT -5
25000/6 is around 4100 downloads, so at 400 downloads a day, it took her 10 days to get 25K...wow!!!
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 16, 2008 0:23:06 GMT -5
You're not even factoring in the 30% that Apple keeps!
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Post by thod on Aug 16, 2008 4:39:16 GMT -5
All
I didn't wanted to fan the flames around free vs non free. Maybe we should start a different and dedicated thread for this. But I felt I share the following two bits:
quote taken from a ZDNET article and the issues twitter has in the UK after discontinuing the free SMS service >>If outbound SMS messages are costing the company too much money, why not just charge users for this feature? Because that would break the unwritten Web 2.0 rule which says that you can’t charge users for a feature that you once offered for free. The freemium model only works because you offer users a basic service for free and then charge for additional features that you add later or charge for right from the start.<<
This fits pretty much into the - Aurora the beginning has to stay free opinion voiced here a lot.
At the same time I had a look at free mmo's - inspired by nbnb's remarks. To inform myself a little bit more about the current market I started at Wikipedia.
There I followed a link to List of free massively multiplayer online games
They do list 5 categories:
Free play 8 total (only 2 new after 2003)
Free play with advertising 5 total ((only 1 new after 2003)
Free play with micro-transactions 54 total
Optional paid subscriptions 16 total
Free play in open or closed beta 7 total
The interesting conclusion I get from this is - the (completely) free model for an mmo seems to be pretty dead. All the new development seems to be done in some form of paid or free and paid hybrid. I could be wrong with my conclusion - but the data about free offerings looks pretty bleak to me if I look at the possible longer term future.
Taking all this into account I think: Aurora Feint the beginning should stay free. You will lose lots of players otherwise - and disgruntle players who stay. See the unwritten net2.0 rule. Aurora Feint part II is unlikely to stay free - and probably shouldn't be free. Only that way we could expect a fast growing world and a quality we expect nowadays from game play.
I'm open to be convinced otherwise. But please try to use arguments and best of all - provide some data why you think I'm wrong.
Thod
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Post by eliu87 on Aug 16, 2008 20:44:06 GMT -5
Perhaps we should move this to a different thread...after all the title of this thread is how to make Paypal doantions
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Post by theconfuzed1 on Aug 17, 2008 1:35:03 GMT -5
The thing is though, that without comment from the developers, we don't even know if they want this!
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