Signing in with Facebook

Facebook integration is both horrendous and intrusive. Game Center is the way to go. I do t want my non-gaming friends to know that I just scored another trophy in 'Fightback'.

 

I must be one if the few people on the planet without a FB account, and have no desire to get one either.

If developers start developing games where a FB account/ login is required to play, it would be a terrible idea, and I hope any such trend can be nipped in the bud.

I don't even use GC, just preferring to play games for the enjoyment of playing.

 

Same here ! I admit i did join facebook but i've got about 12 people on it mostly who are family, i dont add someone i said hello to once on a forum etc or 'fake' friends.

Agree about GC, i dont get the love for that, i dont need game centre points just to boost my ego or anything ! Just enjoy games

 

I personally won't connect any game to Facebook it except very occasionally for games where I can play directly against friends.

Most of my Facebook friends and family aren't into iOS gaming so I've no interest in spamming them.

I also don't like giving away access to my personal information - that's why I have a GC account just for games. I've no idea if if you're going to abuse my info or make some mistake which means my info is compromised. By all means make Facebook connection an option for those who want it, or add a Like/Share button, but don't require Facebook for something which you could do without it like leaderboards.

 

I'm the same, I simply want to play a game for fun and enjoyment, I will never make a faecesbook account and even if a game I badly wanted enforced it, I would simply delete the game.

 

I join the party of Facebook integration haters. I despise Facebook and everything it stands for. I tolerate games with a non intrusive FB button in settings and am ok with games rewarding extra coins etc for using it. What instantly makes me delete a game is games with FB buttons all over the place , games asking me after every score if I want to share , games that can not be finished without FB. Even high profile companies with games in the 2 or 3 dollar + range resort to FB spamming. I love drayman fiesta run until they decided in the Xmas update that they had to place FB buttons every and even purposely placing them in positions you will press them even if you do not want to . I will never buy a ubisoft title again ! Gave them a 1* rating in the AppStore and warn everybody about their vile tricks.

Who are you as dev that you can decide for me that I have to use FB and make free advertisement for you. At least give me a reasonable choice ! And for the fact that FB is needed to get known : answer this question : does flappy bird have FB integration ? Pff I am done ranting .. In a few years FB is dead anyway

 

Yeah, I hate how some games seem to spam away at notifications and facebook stuff. Really is annoying.

 

Well said

 

I find this thread interesting and being a developer and gamer I can understand the issues with Facebook.

#1 as a gamer: I never sign in with Facebook. It annoys me. But some people actually like the social aspect of things and are hooked to Facebook so just cause it isn't for me doesn't mean there isn't a desire for it.

#2 as a developer : Having the option to promote a game on Facebook is a very smart business decision. But like anything from In App Purchases to Facebook or whatever else you're trying to push: if you do it too much it becomes annoying and you ruin the game experience and piss off your audience.

I think the best way to go about it is to keep it completely optional. For instance, in our upcoming game Running Quest, I do have facebook integration but it's not necessary and will not ask the user to post anything, nor ever try and auto-submit something. There is a "share" button on the game over screen and unless you want to invite some friends to play the game you'll never see anything else. All of the achievements are through Game Center and are auto submitted just like high scores for the leaderboards. I feel if you never push something on someone, but still let them know it's there: no harm done.

I think we need to improve the way we try and gain a buck as developers, and listen to gamers. I can only begin to tell you how much better mobile games will become as soon as people start listening to gamers and thinking like gamers. Not every developer is trying to become the next King or Electronic Arts. Some of us just want to make good games, and do it for a living. BUT, It's tough nowadays and if we as developers did not need tools such as In App Purchases and Facebook or in-App Ads then we probably wouldn't use them. But it's hard to defy what makes you money in such a saturated and competitive market. Facebook is just a simple part of this. But again, it's all how you use it. Don't hate on it if it's in a game. Hate on it if it ruins the game. There is a difference. Just my opinion

 

Make it a setting in the options menu. Hide it. If people WANT to do it, they'll seek it out. If they don't, you're irritating them.

 

Like I've said before I understand dev's need to promote but enforcing or continual nags to sign-in/up or a facebook button that's deviously placed where it gets constant hits is an automatic delete of the game for me. I've put up with optional facebook offers before only because they weren't obtrusive and was a quiet option. I'd be willing to purchase a game if facebook sign-in/up were optional as others have already posted and not as an in your face demand. It would be a happy medium between devs and gamers who would rather not want facebook integration but still would purchase the game but without the promoting and others who prefer one.

 

Well said Coldar. I Agree

 

Hey we are just saying what we think about Facebook integration.

Why do you have something to say against our personal opinion?

 

Nobody cares about any stupid game achievement or Anything like that. Linking to F-book is one thing but making you send out posts through it is a big No.

 

If your game is good, it'll get exposure. Rather than trying to tackle social media, it would make more sense to connect with people like Sanuku who provide gameplay videos, and communities such as Toucharcade. And I don't mean buying favor, you can't review a bad game into a good one, no matter how many $10 iTunes card promotions some of the devs try to pull on this board, a lot of those titles are not worth my time.

Take for example a game that just came out, Only One - probably a model approach to mobile gaming: free download that is adfree social media free, great gameplay, great music made by a 1 man dev team who is highly involved on this board. I did not hesitate to throw down $2 in IAP even though I could've enjoyed the game for free. So how did I and others here discover it? There was no risk involved in trying it out, and it kicks ass so we told each other, plain and simple.

I wish more devs would put more focus on making their game great, and less on where to place the Facebook buttons.

 

I read this thread in the hopes that someone would offer some useful advice to us indie devs, but just ranting about how much you hate FB, and that the devs are making you do free advertising isn't helpful to us.
If you guys will stop and remember the days when a mobile game cost a ton more money, for a lot less of a game ($9.95 - $59.95) rather than the $.99 or FREE of today, then having the dev ask that maybe you help spread the word shouldn't seem like that much of a burden.
Now I agree, I hate the spam of it, and hate when it's required. But that's why this thread was started, to try to find a less painful way to integrate social sharing. To help market the game.

As non developers, you may not be aware of this, but the sad sad truth of the mobile app market is very difficult for indie devs. The marketing is the most difficult aspect of it.

The truth, if we're talking about marketing and advertisements, is that for a $.99 app, the dev only gets $.69 BTW, but if he does a banner add campaign, a paid app has only about a half a percent conversion rate. That means for everyone who clicks the add, and goes to the app page, only 1 out of 200 buy the app. Now when the click on that add costs the dev anywhere from $.03 - $.10, that ends up costing the dev between $6-$20 to make $.69. Not very good for the dev.

Large publishers can get past this, because they actually make games at a significant loss, either in hopes of gaining popularity so future games make a profit, or by making money somehow on the back end, or with those devilish in-game currency systems that end up costing the user tons more than if they'd bought the game out right. Any way they do it, their methods are far beyond the reach of any indie devs. So, their tactic is to throw a ton of money at it to get a small movement and somehow transfer that into a larger movement using their kung-fu secret moves.

Which leaves us Indie Devs trying alternative marketing techniques like social marketing.
I get that your the user and would like it free or close to free and social media free, etc. But somehow someone has to get paid enough to keep going. Otherwise, all the GOOD devs drop out (you'll always have someone throwing crap out there) and you'll be left with the handful of big companies and tons of crap. When that happens, the big companies will have a monopoly on quality, and it won't go so well for the consumer.

Being found in a market with millions of competitors is grueling and pretty much impossible. But it doesn't stop us from trying. So, just try to remember that when offering suggestions. I'm sorry to rant a bit on this. It's just that, I do truly see both sides of the coin, I'm a user too. But the sad truth is most users don't see both sides. They're used to getting everything for nothing, and complain when someone wants to get paid.