This is very rare, and wasn't a decision that was that happy with. We will not have a situation like this again, where a game goes free just after a few days. Just won't happen. EVER. AGAIN.
Well I suppose that's good to know, I've enjoyed nearly all of the cresent moon games in the past and while they have gone free for a promotion or whatever it's usually long after release. Seems a shame that this has done so badly at launch as it was a really good game.
Cool, thanks for the info. The graphics are pretty amazing in this one. Normally don't like jumping from planet to planet games, but this one is really fun.
Well they did just make a game I paid for free three days after release...but that isn't "screwing over" anyone. Multiplayer - its local multiplayer, two ppl, same device.
Thanks. What I meant was...I've bought tons of apps which have gone free, AND been nerfed/ads added/iaps added which were not expansions/etc. I bought this day one as well. With all the crap I've dealt with, I'm more than happy with my purchase-and I trust Crescent Moon will not skew the in-game market.
its going to have to be adjusted, there is just no way around it. the game as a free app is selling worse than I've ever seen of any of my apps. I think most of this will be resolved by making the shop more obvious, which we are doing, but there will have to be some price changes as well. (nothing insanely drastic)
It's perfectly reasonable for the early adopters to be unhappy about the way things turned out, I pretty much agree with what lazer kat and oooomonkeysaid, and it's not so much about the money. It's the fact that the dynamics game are gonna change as a result of going fee, and for me I've not been playing so much as I know I don't need to work to earn my last few unlockables as the coins will do it for me. I've recommended the game to my friends and I know that four if them have got the game free, they never ever buy iaps but would have happily paid the 69p price had it not dropped between me recommending it and them downloading it. I'll not be going criminal to get free games in future though.
There is great irony in this. Perhaps a genuine marketing strategy should've been more of a priority, up front? 1/2 This seeming rush to judgement (OMG, we're being pirated, quick! FREE!! OMG, no! Wait! We're not making money!! We didn't think that through! Quick! [insert another strategy quickly here]) doesn't leave a good impression. FWIW, I, too, was an early adopter, spurred by Doomfan's tweets, only to find the game amazingly sexist in its approach (a definite turn-off), but tempered by good graphics and moderately fun game play. I switched to playing it with the sound off. When you announced the in-game store changeup, I just deleted it. Too many changes in too short of a time. I feel like I'm a beta tester, not a paying customer. Yes, it's only 99 cents, but there are plenty of other solid, stable 99 cent games that could've had your spot.
I bought the game right away and love the game. As a developer it is really hard to figure out how to make any money now days and there is a reasonable panic that comes when the realization creeps in that not only are you not making money but you just lost a ton of money because the downloads did not meet your expectations. I think people tend to forget this is a business and a developer does what they think is best to remain in business. In doing that there is the risk that the developer will offend some people and those people have the right to complain and not buy future games from that developer. I do cringe when people act as if they were ripped off or deliberately mislead because that is not the case here, seriously just look who published the game. I see this as a developer that put a lot of time and love into what I think is an amazing game only to be met with with disappointing numbers and is trying to make this work.
This game has been called many things: 1) A fraud 2) Sexist 3) Hard Which it may or may not be - but the game is fun. The fact that my wife likes it better than me is proof. (she rarely likes anything that I publish) Sorry you didn't enjoy it - and of course, the price issue. We have to move on.
One does not preclude the other. A game can be both fun AND hard, or fun AND a fraud, or fun AND sexist, or any combination therein. I play plenty of physical board games that are both fun and sexist. I roll my eyes then rib my fellow gamers that my female avatar will likely best them in battle because she has more "weapons" at her disposal, including a couple that could poke their eyes out if they get too close. We even have "house rules" for that! I never said I didn't like the game, what I said was I don't appreciate being having my purchase turned into a beta test. There is a difference. Make the changes you think need to be made to the game, then let it be. Let it ride on its merits. It'll either sell or it won't. You can't force me to open up my wallet, but you can place me in a position to think so poorly of the experience as to walk away. Hopefully the developer will make some changes that will hook and entice people instead. Nah, that just means you've discovered her taste is different than yours. I dislike plenty of the well-reviewed, metacritic-established "good" games that my husband prefers, and I like many equally well-reviewed, critically acclaimed games that he does not. Doesn't mean the games I like are fun and his are not, or that my games are more fun than his, it simply means our tastes differ. What you tend to forget is that this is a business and in your panic to make money you sometimes can make a decision that sends customers fleeing to the doors rather than to the cash register. It's a risk any business takes over any product they hope to sell. There's no guarantee you'll make money, and no one owes you a living even if you produce The Best Thing EVAR. I'm not going to buy something because I feel sorry for you. I'm going to buy it because I want what you're selling, because it fills a "need" for me, and because it's of a quality that gets my notice. Anyway, I'm not angry, I'm not asking for a refund, I don't feel ripped-off (just mildly abused, being subjected to "testor" conditions for a game I assumed was finished) I'm just disappointed and in this case I'm walking away from the game because of the decisions made by the developer. I realize s/he's doing this because s/he thinks it's what needs to be done to remain in business, and I wish her/him luck, but I choose not to be her/his customer or game player any longer. As you say, it's a risk and price of doing business.
dclose, It's too bad Josh completely misread your reply to his quote as some kind of attack rather than seeing the well written logical summation of why the game is failing to make money. Reading your posts has been refreshing. Thank you for taking the time to write all that as it saved me from writing something similar. I'm usually not good at simplifying my own point of view, but I think this is one of those rare occasions where I can. It all comes down to Trust being lost between customers and a business. Bait and Switch, no matter how sorry or necessary the dev feels about the decision, is a quick way to erode a customer base and destroy a business. ... As for the game, I gave it a download after it went free. I wasn't going to buy it at launch due to freemium looking IAP. Unfortunately my 4S has some hardware issue (ram or processor, I don't know) so it crashes at startup. Kind of sad all around because the feedback early on coupled with my enjoyment of Mr.Ninja (by Ponos, without any IAP) made this seem like potential fun. Oh well, moving on.
