While waiting for the class itself to arrive, feel free to update and enjoy: *New Content* New Items / Weapons *UI Tweaks* Map now displays current difficulty setting Graphics added for various buffs / debuffs Sounds added for Final Boss / Crystal Caltrops *Balance Changes* A percentage of all monsters initially populating a level have a small chance to be asleep until attacked Wand is now a Wizard-only weapon Heaters are now Crusader-only shields *Bug Fixes* Axes / Warhammers work again Map / Leaderboard now displays the correct game level / world for all levels Final Boss cosmetic errors corrected Exploits removed from second boss fight Teleportation is now a safe action in the second boss fight
I just updated but I get the same error message that Wes referred to... hopefully this is just the case for the time being.
Wow this is a tough thing IMO. I can definately see the reason behind this but before I started to use the Fairy exclusively, I regularly used a wand with the cursader when facing enemies weak for magic. That was often the only magic weapon I found and without it, the Dungeon-levels became really tough. In the last weeks, there was a discussion if the game is too tough with the crusader. Now I think it is even getting more difficult. I will give the Crusader 1-2 gos to see how this works out now.
Apple has red flags up the yin-yang throughout their documentation to make sure IAPs work as described. There's a separate review process for them, located in a separate part of their dev site, and the Skelly IAP is currently still listed as 'In Review', so that's gotta be the problem right now. The benefit to this design is that, if content is available through a third-party server or is meant to be unlocked over time, an in-game store can populate with new products as Apple & the developer approve them *without* players needing a fresh update. The drawback is that IAPs aren't necessarily released with their paired updates, should the developer intend.
The question is, was it previously mentioned that it was going to be an IAP, or is this another surprise like the iADs?
Slipping an iAd into content you've already paid for is one thing. You paid for it, and we decided we wanted more money for the same stuff, effectively. That was why, in response to the negative feedback, we readily removed it. IAP is quite a different ball-game, since the same game that you paid for is still there, untouched except for the usual improvements / additions. (heck some of the skelly's design updates found there way into the crusader / wizard games, too, like the Sleep debuff)
I understand the rationale, and I agree with with supporting a game that I have enjoyed since release over its long, admittedly bumpy, but generally upwards progression. My question was, was it previously mentioned that this was to be IAP?
That doesn't really answer the question though. Was this announced as IAP back in the day? No one is calling into question whether you deserve to be paid for your work, but I think I've been following the news (and this thread) FAIRLY decently (not perfectly) and this is news to me. I paid for your game, and I rather like it too. It's one of the few that has survived the longest on my iPhone. I play it from time to time, but also it sits there, mostly waiting to fulfill its potential as a game without so many flaws, bugs and glitches. I don't have much beef with you wanting 99 cents for your new character, but at the same time I feel like with such a small dev team, you should focus on making sure the game is in good shape before you go looking for more revenue. Just a respectfully stated personal opinion.
To my recollection, we haven't stated one way or another publicly whether this would be an IAP or free update. It wasn't until very recently that the decision was made internally, even.
Well, I think you're going to find people are a bit disappointed to have been expecting it one way and getting it the other. Again, not mad at you for wanting to get paid for your efforts, but I'm expecting people aren't going to be too pleased about this, overall. Especially (and I really hope I'm not coming off like I'm trolling you) when people paid for the game, and it (as a poster above put it) has had kindof a bumpy ride, and then someone has to consider if they want to give more money to this game that still isn't operating at 100%. I'm still on the fence. I was excited about Skelly but I'm not so sure I feel like paying. I genuinely don't know which side of the fence I'm going to fall on here.
We have a bad history of saying 'well wait until the next one!', but there's light at the end of the tunnel here as far as bugs. It might seem like we've been pumping more content into a broken game. In reality, that's both a true and incomplete way to put it. The Skellyman is practically the first bit of new content I've put into the game without using it as an excuse to fix existing issues in the game. Shopkeeper? Fixed a slew of bugs with an old item format and paved the way for making a new way of making items efficiently. In-engine cutscenes? Taught me how to synchronize loading of graphics for load-time / space efficiency which proved invaluable in preventing memory overflows. Even Hell, with its animated lava, exacerbated game-breaking problems with torches that had existed for some time to the point where I was able to consistently reproduce, identify and fix the problem. And ready to be pumped into Apple's queue tomorrow morning is one mother of an update to improve framerates on pre-3GS devices by up to 50% (fifty!), improve battery life, and significantly cut back on load times. It may have only taken me a few days to implement, but this whole development process I've been chasing down leads on what needs corrected to make this happen. tl;dr I can understand how people might be miffed at putting up with a buggy game *and* having to pay again for a significant part of this update. I hope they realize how much has been done and will continue to be done to improve the game for everyone, though, on stability, performance and content fronts.
Well I can tell you that after all of this time, I still hope every time you update the game I will suddenly not think you are the worst developer ever and immediately recant everything I have ever said about this game, and suddenly exclaim it to be the best game ever. Because I still see at its core its potential to rival some of the great Roguelikes ever. I even sometimes feel bad about how badly I speak of this game...and then you do something like this and that guilt is gone....
agree, it's more important to make game running smooth (it is still too jerky) and stable. and in my opinion it's not about this iap, personally i am tired to see how developers add new feats but dont want to optimize the performance and make the game more stable.
Therefore, with your history of providing free updates, people must have assumed this one would be free too (I know, I know, we assume too much! Customers are all take-take-take). To say "we haven't stated one way or another" is a bit cheeky. The answer, as far as I am aware is, "no, we never said this". It's all about being honest, like mentioning that this would be an IAP on your blog or any other PR channels you are using to promote the new content. If it was a recent decision, make a post about it. It might keep your fan base loyal. The way this is handled (not the actual IAP) makes the difference.
Having followed this game since initial release (and even watching the Skellyman concept trailer on youtube) I'm glad to see the class finally reach the game. My initial reception to the IAP decision was "$6 for a broken game and you STILL want to charge for it?" but seeing how much has improved (but also how much is yet to be done), I don't mind paying for the IAP if it goes towards improving the state of the game. Oh and that bit about skeletons being a garbled mess in my earlier post, I think it was just because I loaded a game instead of starting new. The crash was due to trying to switch weapons by dragging one item over another already equipped I believe. The inventory screen has always had problems but I don't think it's crashed like that before on me.
