I think mngmocko or whatever their name was concept is splendid! I wish i would be a dev thats come up with this idea! Have you any idea how much money this company is going to make of you guys!? Think of it. First they present their new awesome game and start a hype about it, building steam amongs the kids. They develop a really fun, polished, addictive game and release it to all you 14 year old kids out there - for free! But... Theres a catch! (of course). To be "competative" you must buy energy to your little warrior.. And now when they know that the hype is planted, the word goes around, classmates competing with each other, buddies play together and so on, mngimokko know that you guys are hooked. You are gonna pay whether you like it or not because all your irl-friends does it, and all your internetbuddies does it, and all the people you "hear about" does it... Its awesome! They actually have found a way to sell digital crack to kids. And get away with it! =) God i want in on this scam!
Scam?? Last time I checked it was still free to play I`ve been playing it for a couple of days now and seriously do not feel any need for energy packs. It`s a lot of fun even without the extra energy IMO. If I ever buy it then it`d be just to support ngmoco for this awesome game. Where is the scam in it? I`ve paid 10 bucks for iPhone games which I didnt even play/enjoy half as much as I already did with eliminate in two days. Still a scam?
I don't think that you understood what Hodapp was saying. Top grossing indicates that the game is pulling in a lot of money. Obviously a free game by itself cannot make it to this list due to the fact that there is no money coming in. However, Eliminate is in the top grossing, and therefore must be selling something. So the reason that Eliminate is in the top grossing is not because is is free, but because it is making a lot of money. It is making money, because they are selling energy packs! I'm assuming that you are saying that a free game will be downloaded more times than a paid game, and of course then you would be right. But Hodapp didn't say that; he said top GROSSING.
Yes so i've heard. That you can play for free i mean. But do you really think all the hardcoregamers will see it this way? I may be wrong here but i still think this company gonna make a ton of money on this concept in the long run. If their game is good enough and holds up of course. Of course people whine about this whole idea now becouse its a new unseen concept but just you wait. People are going to buy this, more or less, im sure of it. =)
i bought one $10 energy pack, because i feel that this game is worth $10. It is lasting me a while and allowing me to have access to more weapons and upgrades. But once it runs out, i feel that i will be content to wait 4 hours per energized game like everyone else
Sorry, my mistake there. The chart get pretty confusing now that you can have DLC in free apps. Eliminate isn't even on the 100 top grossing in my country (UK). It is only at 14th place on the top free also. But anway, I still maintain my arguement. The average Joe: - Downloads and plays eliminate. - Gets addicted and spends a bit of money. - Realises that he doesn't have any money left to buy any weed. - Sees gameloft's Nova has been released for perhaps £2.99 with free online multiplayer with maybe with RPG elements, no DLC, and more than 4 player death match. - Converts to Nova, then smokes some more weed with the money he saved. You know Gameloft and their sly ways. They love to ruin the fun for other developers - which is why I think that they will be the ones to piss on ngmoco's fire when Nova/MC: Sandstorm update gets released.
I disagree. People are not like that. If they see a Free, good game, and a ten dollar, good game, they are going to play the free game first, and maybe buy a pack or two, and then realize they are wasting money, when they could be buying a ten dollar game and playing forever. This game will remain fairly high in the appstore. Of course, it won't last forever up there, but a good while.
Ok. GO on... Ehh. What? I think if anyone`s on crack then it`d be you. Or you work for gameloft. I`d go for the former as that seems more possible. How the hell do you know how much will NOVA cost? Or if there`ll be any DLC or not? Seriously?
I don't. It was a SUGGESTION. Hence the words 'perhaps' an 'maybe'. I was simply showing a possible (and quite likely) possibility. Sorry If I didn't make that clear enough.
To answer the OP: no I have not, nor will I buy any energy packs. I think the pricing model is outrageously high. I think TouchPets is even worse. This game is more expensive to play than any PC game for a heavy player. I also just can't get into playing an fps on my phone. I mean the controls are probably as good as they can be, but it still drives me crazy trying to play one. The controls kill all of these games for me. This game may start grossing less once some of the parents out there get the credit card statements from their kids touch devices I actually hope the business model fails, as I don't want to have to pay a "subscription" for every game I own. If I want to pay every time I play I'll go to an arcade!
True that, lower the price it's killing me! cause it's the same with discount shops, people go buy discount, but they still spend the same money, or more even, because it's cheaper :S also with low fat products, sometimes people buy more low fat products, and it eventually turns out that they've eaten the same equal to buying non low fat product, get my drift?
Those of you defending ngmoco's pricing for power packs, how can you not see the big picture? no energy = no credits not earning credits = your not playing the game the way it was intended. you cannot upgrade weapons, armor, etc... You can play for free but not gain anything, sounds like fun
What? How am I earning credits every day without paying anything then? Your energy slowly recharges over time, you can advance your character without paying a cent, it will just take a while. Seriously people, I'm all for raging out against legit causes, but at least understand how the game works before getting angry about it.
There is no defense needed. MMOs/WoW games have proven people will pay to level up in games. If you don't want to pay then don't pay. Enough people will pay that it really doesn't matter to Ngmoco if you do or not.
Exactly. I suggest you guys listen to our latest podcast where we discuss DLC. The people who always complain the loudest about any kind of pricing along with the people who are complaining about there not being any kind of "all you can eat" price point are so far outside ngmoco's target customer base that it doesn't make much sense for them to make accommodations for those two play styles. Where ngmoco is going to make their money on Eliminate is casual gamers who download the game because they heard it was cool from a friend of theirs or saw it featured and/or on the top lists. It's free so they've got nothing to lose, but if they're in a situation where they're just on the cusp of leveling up or getting some awesome new weapon, they likely won't have a problem flipping out a buck or two to push them over the edge. I've already had a few non-gamer friends of mine email or IM me about this exact thing. And again, if this business model didn't work, Zynga wouldn't have made $200m this year.
So much bitching. I've bought $1 worth of energy, and I'm already a level 9 player with enough upgrades to destroy most people I play with. People are pretending like you absolutely must spend $30 to enjoy this game and it's just not true. When you reach a certain level and attain upgrades, they stay with you, regardless of your energy level, and you can play as much as you want. I feel like spending a total of $5 would be enough to create a pretty awesome character to play with. I'm glad they chose this model because it ensures there are always people to play with. The iPhone gaming community is pretty small, and if the game cost $10 out of the gate, fewer people would be playing. As it stands, I've seen the player levels peak around 3000 people, and bottom out around 100-200 players. If it wasn't a free app, I suspect the peak would be rarely break 500 players. And over time? That number would drop like a rock in a month. That said, I do think it would be beneficial for ngmoco to ensure the energy depletes more slowly. Losing four energy points every game, regardless of how long it lasts, is a bit excessive. Overall the game is insanely polished. The integration with Plus+ was handled extremely well. The menus and tutorials are cool and well designed. The upgrades seem extensive, but also well balanced. And I'm shocked there's so little lag while player over 3G.
