You do own this "restaurant", you just want it to run in a way it's not supposed to. Freemium goes with grinding, that or timers. Or both, which is actually more and more popular now. As for the question, the answer has been made apparent from the beginning: Punch Quest started out very generous in term of pricing and the devs ended up with a product downloaded tons of times yet barely capable of generating incomes for its creators. They did try the 99 price tag, but it didn't help (frankly I doubt it would help even if they have chosen it from the beginning. Most people expect a runner to be free, even successful games like JJ eventually turned freemium. Nowadays 99 titles go free every week, it's like the majority has accepted to put up with such practice). Does the random Super (the floating yin yang) now automatically turn into whatever Super you are activating to lengthen it? Have gotten it twice and my Shudokin and Drillin Punch remained both times. Or I just got lucky?
Like I said, this argument is about freemium in general, not a particular trait of Punch Quest, so if you insist on this point make a thread in the General Game Discussion forum, I guarantee you'll find more people to rant to and to rant with (though I wouldn't mind dragging this along, it keeps PQ on the first page ). And if you want an answer anyway, I say it depends on the game in question and the gamer's tolerance. PQ is a skill game, it doesn't allow any shortcuts to a high score (you take Pitfall for example, as long as you have tokens, you can continue after death as many times as you want, technically you won't have to stop if you have money to spend). The upgrades are treated as unlockables, and some of them will even make the game harder. The belts and ultra hats are expensive, but with punchos from Gnomey deifying it's eventually possible to obtain them all - provided you don't mind grinding because you find the game fun (I'm close to lv500 in JJ, and I don't feel like I'm grinding whatsoever even though I'm running out of things to buy, it's the same with PQ).
If Punch Quest was generating nuclear power or something and not just a game to play for fun, I'd be a lot more concerned about if it was optimal or not.
That won't work. The usual practice is the other way around, and even that is a hit or miss, you do know this right? Btw aren't you having a groovy time laying waste upon every freemium thread you feel like containing "the dead horse"? What happened? I don't remember you being so irritated before. As for the last time you quoted me, you totally omitted the important "depends on the game in question" part and subsequently my following reasoning - something of bad taste, I call - so naaahh haven't gotcha
I also said I wouldn't mind dragging the dead horse along as this discussion would help my shameless attempt to bump PQ thread in a legit way (￣▽￣) Your point is taken and I won't try to refute it, because now I see that our view is different. Particularly in this regards: Apparently your grief is due to your desire of a nonexistent version of a game. In my opinion we shouldn't judge something based on what it could have been or how it could have appealed it us, but as it is. Now this wouldn't be the case in bait-n-switch bullcrap (don't even try to remember an example) or going freemium (elaborating this would probably unnecessarily lengthen my post, but this is not always a negative change - bad to customers who previously bought the game in some cases, but the freemiumized version does not equel the worse version; JJ, Solomon series or recently Bejeweled for instance). But when I approach a free2play game, I bear in mind what to expect from such pricing model and see if works for me. Generally I don't seperate pricing model merits from the game's whole merits. If the gameplay is enough fun to justify (I don't even think "justify" is a good word for what I mean, but bah) the grind, I won't ditch it right away. Of course there are certain things I'm critical of like timers or dual currency, but basically I try to adapt myself to the game to see if it's made for me, not the other way around - expect the game to "adapt" to my liking, to be made for me. That way, I move on easily if it's not my cup of tea. Long short story, I say in this present we should view pricing model as part of a game, something fundamental, not tacked on. Games like Punch Quest starts off with a freemium direction in mind, they are oriented around that concept. If you can't tolerate the freeemium trifles in them, it's not different from having a hard time with the control scheme, or finding the storyline tedious. It just doesn't work for you, simple as that. Here's a down2earth illustration: you hit the downtown and meet a girl. She looks swell, talks smart and all but she's a goth. If that were me, my thought'd be like: "you're cool, just not my girlfriend materials", not something along the line of: "for Pete's sake, why couldn't you get rid of that fugly getup? I could have fallen for you in a heartbeat if not for that emo fashion sense %#|^<%^<" (no offense to goth girls, I like them)
If you already have low expectation, you shouldn't hope for it to be anything more than what it is eh? btw the 47 Ronin Clashmob in Infinity Blade 3 is successful! Guess how the Samurai Brute is gonna vent his frustration after losing his Katana?
Dead Meadow took the firstie. And isn't unlockable premium content kind of everywhere now? Also a type of "Premium Unlock", arguably more flexible. I kind of have mixed feelings about this. Of course I love the idea, but it won't fix everything. Once you downloaded a freemium title, that thought will still cling to you and even after buying the Premium "licence", some people would still feel that the game is stingy and might even accuse the dev of scamming. And then the everyday "you can finish this game without IAP" debate ensues. But meh, them haters gonna hate
There you go again. You said you'd approach a freemium game with supposedly lower expectation, yet you still try to reject the presence of subsequent features and want a "premium" feel from it. The only option to avoid freemium is to avoid downloading free games. You play a free game yet still want to deny its nature, no can't do pal :/ Really, I find consumables in PQ to be VERY mild. They aren't the kind of "Insert TOKEN to CONTINUE?" You have sweat up a 60-hit combo to get a second chance (admittedly you need to buy upgrades for such things, but they're permanent and reasonably priced). Still, I can totally use some reward punchos like how JJ gives players a thousand coins or two after they complete a rank.
Better luck buying well-received games with straightforward price tags from prestigious devs and publishers then? The chance a dev would switch from freemium to premium is not very high. Though I too wholeheartedly encourage such move, I don't usually force my thinking on anyone. But I do see that you find your actions very much well justified, so I can only offer my own view ^^
That's strange, SS' posts got wiped. The guy was a bit aggressive but he was well-meant. Guess the mods don't want IAP talk. Btw got the Cthulhu idol
Are you guys still working on Mage Dungeon? I remember asking if Mage Gauntlet was gonna be optimized for iPhone 5, but was told it would remove compatibility for older devices. So a sequel, Mage Dungeon was in the works. Any update? It would be an instabuy for me #
http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=118413 That's what you're looking for. After a few name changes. The sequel/spinoff of Mage Gauntlet.
