hmm, yeah so people who originally bought the game would have to pay another $6 to unlock the full game again... nice....that's literally the worst thing you can do, and akin to scamming people. [to be fair that's not what the dev over here is doing, i'm just talking about your scenario] look i have no problem with a dev setting his game freemium, the dev has to make money somehow, and if the game didn't do well, then fair enough. why can't they just leave the original game up, without ads, for $5 or whatever and leave the freemium as well? Oh heck, pull the original game entirely, the people who purchased can still download and play the un-freemium-fied without restrictions. [granted no updates though]
i've mentioned this before on another thread, but i think this is a trend that's only going to get worse for ios gamers.
Let's say I bought a bike, and rode it for six months, then came home one afternoon to find the bike chained to a tree with a bike store employee standing beside it. The employee tells me the store is upset because they didn't make enough money off the sale of the bike to me, so I have a choice: I can ride it without the front tire for free, or I can pay them more money to unlock it, plus buy a horn and a set of lights and some sidesaddle bags and a basket for the front. Not only would I be hopping mad, but it would be illegal for them to do this. I'm really surprised that Apple allows complete game switch-outs like this because it's a highly dubious practice at best. People who paid for the product are no longer getting what they paid for; it's as simple as that. It would be easy to leave the current game as it is and release the "new, improved" version as a freemium. People who bought the current version still fully own what they originally paid for and can play it as is. If they want the improvements/upgrades/updates/fixes, etc., they can switch to the freemium version.
I like the analogy. I agree with this. It isn't a cool thing to do, by switching payment methods. As far as upgrades, fixes, go that should automatically be free to the people that have purchased this game. The devs should make a seperate freemium app with their IAP system,and for people who have bought this game, include free updates but if they plan on adding extra content, put in a dlc? Even though I would not really care for it, at least it's better than paying IAP's.
Maybe 'selfish idiots' was the wrong term - my fault as I originally thought this was a complaining fest about games being released for free + a one off payment which confuses me to this day, but my point still stands. When the game developer is quite possibly struggling to make enough money to make ends meet, they will try things like this to try and get said money. And I'm sure from what the devs have said, that people who bought it before will either keep their full game experience or can simply choose not to update.
Hey guys I have a problem, so I wanted to make a cake and started making the dough with eggs,flour and that sort of stuff, I rolled out the dough but now I don't know what to do, I mean I want to make a cake and not cookies, is there like a cake form that you fill in with the cake dough? Thanks in advance
So they're basically doing what Halfbrick did with Jetpack Joyride? I haven't played this game in months but it's a shame to see this stuff happen. Both Temple Run and Jetpack Joyride benefited greatly from this move and I hope the same fortune for these guys as this really was an enjoyable game.
It is as if Nintendo said: hey, the 3DS didn't sell well at 250€. Let's sell it at 169€ and set current owners an IAP of 169€ in their FW update to continue using their 3DS they already owned. If they don't buy the IAP of 169€, we'll brick their 3DS. No need for the owners to try and hack it, we'll brick it for them... unless the IAP (ransom?) is bought. This is pathetic. I bought the game full price the first day. Now I have to buy it again via IAP to play it again? Forget it. Another dev going into my blacklist, with Gameloft & Bravo Games for doing the exact same rubbish...
Neither Jetpack Joyride nor Temple Run changed anything when they went free. Both had consumable IAPs from the beginning. This has consumable IAPs but I don't know if the change to freemium will leave the game as is or if it will change the systems to accommodate for being free.
That's a terrible analogy. Wait until we see what they change before spouting rubbish. As someone has said, it may be similar to Jetpack Joyride where the IAP are not actually required.
Another scumbag developer strikes again? I'll probably choose not to update the game. All the promises of new content, monsters, areas etc will not be enough to make me get the version filled with ads. Will probably steer clear of their games from now on as wel. They can choose to make their game freemium and we too can choose to not support their games anymore.
For me it's clear what's coming (taken from TA): "the existing Dark Meadow will have its price dropped to free, with IAP taking the place of the previous $5.99 price tag." Did you buy the game full price? I did, and I don't like paying twice for things. This has already happened with Touch Racing Nitro (Bravo Games), as well as Hero of Sparta 2 (GL, even though they regretted doing so and went back to premium), and I think this is going to be the same. I don't know of any game which went to better by changing from premium to free-to-play + IAP. I still keep my analogy and won't buy anything from this dev again. Period.
Temple Run and Jetpack Joyride come to mind, and one could even argue for Zombie Gunship. But yes, I get your point, the devs made a dumb move(as of now)+selfish move. And the update didnt even hit yet!
Temple run and JJ didn't get ads, and they weren't priced premium. Call me a selfish idiot all you want, I won't support developers who charge and then throw ads into their game down the road...
I guess nobody actually goes and complains about these things. When you buy an app, your contract is with Apple. Posting on a forum will not help your cause; you need to take it up with Apple.
I think the reason they are just making the paid version free is because people will jump on to download it in a rush when they see a $5.99 app is free (à la Wind-up Knight) without knowing its permanently free, While most will ignore the game fearing a gimped version when it's released as a separate free app, so my understanding is most developers do this because of brand awareness.
Brand awareness? Their doing this too make a lot of money. There's nothing wrong with trying to make money, unless it comes to the expense of your paying customers.
