It's good that you're listening to us at least. But, the point you make about Orions being too hard core is wrong. Assassins Creed and F.A.S.T. are also considered "hard core" titles and they're doing very well. In fact, a lack of competition on this platform I feel is making you guys complacent. Since when has a lack of competition been a reason for not improving a game! Releasing expansions would definitely make people want to play this game again (lots of people have moved on and this genre is left for dead because nothing new is being added.) But, inclusion of multiplayer would definitely add something extra, and many more gamers would pay to buy this game. With more people buying the game, the more people they will hopefully recommend it to. You shouldn't see it as a lack of competition making it not worth updating, rather as a chance to completely dominate the genre and take all the proceeds. Strongholds is getting more interest as of late, and I feel it is a vastly inferior game to Orions. Show that you care, and more gamers will latch on to a company. ngmoco have done a fabulous job of keeping things up to date and freshening things up. Loads of people now know about the company, up and coming games and most importantly, they TRUST them. I recommend you do the same so that future MoreGames games are eagerly anticipated and have loyal customers.
I couldn't agree with this more and most of you know my standpoint against this company in regards to this game. This basically seems like it has been an abandoned title. A dead giveaway of this was the iTunes icon that still had the word 'new' on the picture 8 months later until a fellow forum member made mention of it to jaguard. They don't even mention this game in their other games' descriptions (iDracula and Knights Onrush), even thought in KO, it says something like "From the makers of iDracula". Nobody would even know that the same people made Orions. I won't start ranting here because I can name a few names that will start posting facepalm pictures and take shots at me personally, but there are threads on this game already that go over the empty promises that were made to the loyal fans of Orions, not only in the way of expansions, but in regards to bug fixes.
Just letting you know that I have been awaiting an update for the expanisons. This is still the best card game available in the app store.
Okay, I bought Knights Onrush and iDracula to support you guys. But Orion is hands down by far your best title. Please add multiplayer to it. You'll get a ton more sales if you do. And you'll get a ton of attention too. I promise. We the fans will personally see to it that every iPhone owner that play Magic will buy your game so that we can have a vibrant online community.
I actually agree with you, Vyper. I just wanted a screen flip option. Never happened. And you make a good point about the cross promotion of the title, or lack thereof. You'd figure they'd use iDracula to promote this one, but never really happened. Though in that case the dev isn't at fault, but the "publisher". As far as this game being too "hard core"...um...no. If Zenonia is doing good, I don't see why this one couldn't. If Underworlds did pretty okay, no reason why this one couldn't. All it needed was the right promotion...and some updates. Multiplayer would be great. Trading between user devices. A friggin' screen flip option (and iDracula needs this too...so do a lot of Chillingo published games, tbqh).
Agreed, as it stands, nobody is going to see Orions unless they hear about it from someone or happen to search for card games, in which case they'd probably just dismiss it as some demon-related action game and not even care to look at it. When a game is updated, it appears on the "What's New" list on the AppStore. From there, if enough people buy it, it'll show up on the top 100, giving it even more publicity. Just like Spiffy said, it's not a matter of it being too hardcore, it's a matter of it not having enough publicity and the fact that it's not a game people randomly stumble upon because it's hidden in the depths of some 40k other apps. The only people who will find it are those who actively search for it or belong to a forum like this (which is a tiny %).
First, thank you for replying! It is nice to see a developer who cares about the opinions of the players You can take my opinions with a grain of salt, but I've bought every one of your iPhone games at full price, and rate all 3 among my top 10 iPhone games of all time. So it saddens me to see that my favorite of the three is also the least successful. From what I've seen, the problem seems to be the terrible the promotion Orions received. It launched overpriced and has gone ages without a major feature update or anything like that. You probably feel that you lost your chance to really make Orions a hit, since it didn't really get that initial sales bump to propel it into the public eye. In reality, I think that what you need to do is launch a sequel called "Orions 2" or something like with online multiplayer (preferably through Plus+ and not that openfeint garbage), deck editing, and some new cards, then sell it for 2 dollars (or less). Fans of the first game would probably be glad to pay a couple of bucks for those features, and the bump in publicity caused by the new release may very well propel it into the top sales for a long enough period of time to become a serious hit. DLC, achievements, and multiplayer challenges would keep people coming back, and potentially keep Orions 2 a hit for a long time. The problem isn't a lack of interest among players, it is a lack of knowledge about the game and a lack of willingness to spend 5 dollars on something people know nothing about. The publisher poorly marketed and priced the first game - that is the only real problem here. There are plenty of CCG fans who also own iphones. The fact that Orions didn't sell well shouldn't be blamed on the players. I think that as a publisher, Chillingo is overrated. They basically blew the Knights Onrush launch, and only were able to salvage the sales of that game by "borrowing" an idea from the guys who made Peggle. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with iDracula by raising the price, then only realized their mistake after sales tanked, and still haven't managed to recover. So yeah, I don't think you should blame the players for the fact that Orions didn't sell. It was an outstanding game with a wider potential audience than you might think.
oh yeah i totally want an orions 2 game! and price it at like 1.99 or something with multiplayer and more cards
Very disconcerting. Wow. I'm as appreciative as everyone else that the Dev supposedly responded, but that just does not make any sense. Magic The Gathering is Huge. And Orions has a foothold and customer base. If you study the demographics of iPhone apps, adjust the price, and charge for in app purchases of expansions, with no overhead and the engine/system/app ALREADY made, I mean, what the heck is "hardcore?" You want to make bikini and fart apps or something? This is a sign that some dev out there should just take the reigns if companies and developers like this charge a premium, and don't upkeep their app as even the smallest devs do like "Eat, Bunny, Eat" by god. Edit: Hey, and don't forget, Orions was launched quite early. There's been a lot more units sold of iTouch and iPhone since ANY update, so most gamers don't even realize what's out there, buried under the heap. Now you have active forums and sites like this. Finally, I'm personally interested in expansions, tho I know many want os3 abilities of course. There's plenty of API's to make implementing those a cakewalk for ANY developer/project. I feel selling in app expansions would be a boon just with your core audience, as evidenced by the latest demographic reports on app sales vs usages. imo
It's a fantastic FANTASTIC game actually. But one with a developer who seems to have no clue how good their game is or how big of a hit their game could be if they just bothered to listen to their fans and released an update with multiplayer support, and the ability to buy more cards/sets.
Just registered so I can post in this thread. I bought Orions when it was first reviewed here on TouchArcade and I still play the game regularly. I just play the Duels, but the gameplay and strategy is deep and varied enough that I still sometimes still play til the battery is dead. IMO online multiplayer Dueling is the way to go. A simple, straightforward and seamless online experience like Slugger would be awesome. Quick duels with rankings, rooms/channels with different experience levels, card upgrades, etc. all would make people come back over and over again. You could even release it as a new game - Orions: Arena/Battlegrounds, etc. - and I would snap it up right away. Thanks again for a great game.
I am on the fence too but that bug post and something about a sale I saw a month ago makes me wait. Is the game playable?
While I do hope they do more with this, the games folk offer up as proof against his statement of folk not wanting "hardcore" games seems to be missing the point. Assassin's Creed, for example, might be difficult but that doesn't mean it's complex. Do you practically have to read a manual to figure how to even get started? I want complex strategic games but, sadly, as it stands if you want to make money with the iphone it's all about fluffy $1 games like Scoops and Flight Control. If Jaguard does finally come through on this us folk wanting more hardcore strategy games will have to go all out with a big fanatical grass roots promotion of the game making sure EVERY iphone related site/magazine does a big review on it!
I registered just to reply to this thread as well. As someone with tons of apps and a serious MTG player (in person and online) as well, this is one app that I've been watching for a while. I'd highly recommend they come out with a light version. That would allow people like me who are interested to make sure it is something we'd like for free, before dropping $5. Or, if that is too difficult, just drop the price even as a weekend sale. Something to give it some attention.
Yeah, I got 385 now geesh! This is a must have app due to it being the only one of its kind presently. Even tho I mastered it (I don't bother with the campaign, just the duels), I intentionally play it weekly here and there just to send an active notice and hoping the dev will support it. Again, they haven't, at all. But it works, is fun, and you WILL get your money's worth out of it. Promise.
Welcome LordFoul! Don't bother waiting for a "lite" version. As AppShopper.com shows this apps activity, it was last updated Dec 20! Same day as a price rise. Still worth the money, since there are no other apps for us at this time like a CTCG Dec 20 Version 1.1 Dec 20 $1.99 -> $4.99 Dec 10 New App: $1.99, v1.0 As far as HARDCORE goes... could someone here define that for me?? Its being thrown around by the dev and us members without being defined. Does it me "niche"? With a small, avid, yet non-consequential customer base? I'd really like to know.
They said they had plans to release expansions LAST YEAR yet they keep developing other games. We're never going to see an update at this rate.
I just emailed the developer requesting that they release an update with online multiplayer, and the expansions/cards that came out on the PPC version of Orions. I mean these guys made Knights Onrush and iDracula, it's not as if they're unfamiliar with how iPhone works You guys should too, here's their email (you can copy paste it into the address bar. info@pocketmoregames.com, support@pocketmoregames.com, business@pocketmoregames.com, jaguard@pocketmoregames.com, art@pocketmoregames.com, natalia@pocketmoregames.com