Universal Air Supply - SOS (by Quantum Sheep) "Jeff Minter Meets Jetpac"

The exact formula is unknown, but I will say this:

I started the iPad Musician Facebook group. I kept hearing from all of the major developers of music apps that ratings weighed heavily into the rankings algorithm. I decided to do a test. I encouraged everyone who had the app "audio share" to go and submit a new rating for the game. The game had been holding strong at the same rating in the music category for months (around number fifty I believe). With my campaign we submitted a total of around 50 ratings in less than 24 hours. That alone, with no extra sales at the time, shot the app up into the top 10 of the music category. This increase of course increased the sales as well, which then made our little experiment sort of difficult to keep track of.

What we learned from the experiment:

Ratings for apps, especially smaller indie ones, matter WAY more than you would ever imagine, and actually are one of the main thigs taken into consideration in apples proprietary ranking algorithm.

The moral: rate the apps you love, always.

We could just as easily do this for AS:SOS now.

 

It would e better for this game not to get too many people jumping in until after the possible GC fixed update is live. Also it would be smart I think to update the game listing with info about the GC fix being submitted to curb any disappointment that its not there.

 

100% agree. It doesnt take long to rate the app on itunes and will only help the dev. I got a promo code so i cant rate it but i did gift it to my friend (as i felt guilty !) so hes left a glowing review

 

You can rate through GC, but the way it's been acting lately it's hit or miss. I recommend at the very least leave your rating in the AppStore and if possible a one word title ie. "Awesome" or "Lame", or whatever best describes your feelings. Then in the optional body you can either leave it blank or write a little something. You can always go back later and update your review, in this case, as stated above, the more ratings Sheepy gets soon will be crucial to the games visibility.

 

You can do a rating through GC if you launch GC from the game itself (which currently doesn't seem possible from this game). But in the appstore you can post a blank review with the score on it. This is pretty easy to do. It will not show the blank review but the stars will end up added to the total rankings. You can also do as Rich suggested and post a one word subject for the review and then leave the body blank if you want the review to show. I too understand how hard it is at times to not get overly wordy and critical of a review even on the appstore.

If you want to completely delete a review (which I've done for games where I didn't wish to make a negative review but my positive review wasn't valid or the dev did something to really cheese me off) then you can actually do that within iTunes on the PC/Mac.

 

I personally like longer reviews on the app store

For 'some' apps the second i see lots of 5 star ratings and one word answers i start to think they're fake

Obviously not for this great app but for some other 'average' apps i've seen which dont seem to be that good but 'amazingly' have tons of 5 star reviews mostly all with one word descriptions

 

I've been watching this thread like a hawk lol. I really like being in here, such a great, friendly atmosphere. QS deserves dedicated "fanboys/girls"

 

If you look at one of my hundreds of reviews I've never left the "one word" method. In the above instance though, I think it is a sure fire way to know that the said rating "stuck" on the AppStore. In giving my long, sometimes detailed to a fault, reviews I've had other reviewers accuse me of being associated with the dev

But yeah, I prefer to at least outline some of my thoughts on the app and give credit where it is due to hard working, talented developers.

 

Every developer in the world loves you for that! Thank you!

This actually educated me quite a bit!

Previously, once a game went 'Live', the only way to change its description text was when you submitted an update.

The changed text would only appear when the update went live.

Following what you said, I just tried to edit the page and it lets you! The text changed immediately on the 'Live' version. I was v. chuffed!

I added a note about GC as well as a few choice words from reviews around the net!

If I'd know I could do that, I'd have done it previously! But now I know, thanks to you!

Ta!

Thank you - and please thank your friend!

Ha!

You know, I always read every single review - even the bad ones! You might pick up some useful info, and it's a joy to read favourable ones (as you can imagine!).

The 'bad' ones are useful too - they can make you see things you might have missed, for example.

It's all good. Personally, if I like a game, I'll always leave a star rating. That really does help as you need about 5 of those to get the average to appear on the store page.

You! YOU!

Useful info again - thanks

Fake reviews are pretty easy to spot, aren't they? I always encourage people to leave *honest* reviews. In fact, I had to 'correct' one guy on Twitter that encouraged someone to leave a *good* review - I commented that it should be 'honest' first.

Because, I don't know about you guys, but I value authenticity. I'd rather know I earned a good review, rather than fake it.

Having said that, I don't like to be mean - so if I really hated a game, I just won't put a review up. If it's a good game with some flaws, I'm more than happy to say so.

Developers like to know where there's room for improvement, believe me. And they'll largely try and improve if they can - but they need to know about it first!

(Which is why I like to hear people's feedback in places like this! It's awesome )

This field's big enough for loads of you! Come on in! Please don't trample the grass too much, that's my lunch!

Appreciate that - thank you!

I think you're just very enthusiastic, rather than being 'associated with the dev', like quite a few people in this thread! Which is absolutely awesome - thank you!

The cheque's in the post btw


Blimey! Unscramble all that if you can!

QS =D

 

Congrats on your App of the Week nod…you are in good company.

 

Alright QS you got me, for your relentless support on this thread and clear appreciation for games 'back in the day' take my money.

My first gaming beast was a ZX81 (with RAM pack and custom made wooden frame to stop it wobbling), 3D Monster Maze anyone?

 

Why thank you - I'm honestly still in a bit of shock. My behaviour's been a bit manic since I found out. It's all a bit too much for a little sheepy! (but a very welcome bit too much all the same!)

The only relentless support I see is from the people here - every one has been so very kind and generous. It makes this sheepy a bit misty eyed when I think about it all!

And I have a feeling you'll like this game, sir! It's a nostalgia bomb of nuclear proportions - there's even a ZX81 in there somewhere just for you!*

*blocky t-rex roar*

Thanks all!

QS =D

*ok, so maybe not *just* for you - but you get the idea - you'll be smiling lots I hope!

 

This is the first time I tried one of the Air Supply games and so far, I love every bit of it. It's just an all around fun game. Not too easy, but not too hard, there's all kinds of unlockables, and I'm really digging the art style. I'm surprised I didn't jump on the bandwagon sooner.

(Heads off to the AppStore to buy the other 2 games.)

 

I love all three. My personal favorite AS entry thus far is Infinite ( that's a little like saying my favorite Lamborghini is the Aventador, they're all great but it's my fav ). Anyway, I've been waiting to just completely immerse myself in SOS until the update is live...oh, rambling, sorry.

Yep, you'll love the series and welcome sir, to the flock

 

All three are VERY worthy, I just have spent numerous h..o..u..r..s zoning out with Infinite. Like I said though, as soon as the SOS update hits I have similar plans for it.