You say "it's just you on the internet" as though her being on the internet takes validity away from her opinion and review. If she were talking tough and threatening you with a beating or something this comment might make sense, but she's using the internet as a vehicle to share her honest opinions. Where did you want her to post her review, outer space? I find it ironic that you would imply that she is using the internet for some nefarious purpose when in fact you're the one using the internet for those purposes, being the developer of this game and posting from this account as a shill for your game and rather rude nay-sayer of those who criticize it. It's obvious from your embargo nonsense that you do not appreciate criticism of your game, but this just takes it to the next level. None of this shadiness reflects well on you at all.
Oh man. I so wanted this game to be good. That preview video hit me right in the feels. Then I come back to the mess that is this thread. Sorry dev. You talked yourself out of a sale.
That's odd. Your account, Schned's, and Lucid Dreams accounts were all created around the same time back in 2014. All have low post numbers and all have the same opinions? I'm SURE it's just a coincidence.
Here's the thing. Shaun just revealed that you pretended to be your own beta tester weeks before I was ever involved. I have no idea how far back this deception goes. You tried to build up fake hype, and then when the jig was up and everyone could see what your game was really like, you tried to sully my reputation to save your own. So excuse me if I don't accept your apology, especially when it mentions nothing about that. The embargo nonsense was bad, but the rest of it was a million times worse. Please stop trying to contact me personally, as I will not respond and I will not (knowingly) play any future games by you. I should also point out to anyone considering taking a code that the App Store will not let you review a game that you got through a code. And again, thank you to those who supported me through this whole ordeal, before it was clear what was really going on. It's nice to see that my efforts did not go unnoticed and that people are quick to back me up for giving my honest, detailed opinion about a game.
The fake hype seems supremely telling when the upcoming thread read like this was going to be the next Minigore people were so excited. ...Then it comes out without a peep aside from all this weird drama. I don't get it.
so true. appunwrapper did a great job on reviewing this game and i think the detail about the flaws he mentioned in this game was fair enough and i didnt read a single negative bash on his review. when the reviewer pointed out the bugs or flaws in the game it doesnt always mean that he/she hates the game(even though some of them are) but rather want the developers to notice and fix the problem or even developed a better version(ever heard about the appstore update, dev?). not trying to add fuel to the flames here, just sharing my thought. ps. i didnt buy this game and thanks to appunwrapper to toftt before me.
There are so many things wrong here. Anyone who has children will see this kind of behavior. Lies, cover ups and the eventual confession and "I didn't know any better" explanation when faced with evidence of their wrong doing. As a parent you learn to be suspicious of what your children say after they pull something like this but you still want to believe them out of love, so you give them the benefit of doubt. Seeing this behavior from someone trying to sell you something is down right unforgivable. It's a real shame these developers have behaved so poorly. Trying to trick people, by any means necessary, into buying a game they know isn't ready for prime time is a low blow. It will be hard if not impossible to trust them in the future.
I came in on the end of this but its an interesting story. I was not planning to buy the game in any case (the description of "the relationship between a boy and his mother" just turned me off) but I have to chime in here for Appunwrapper. I am a regular reader of her site and being a woman gamer, especially appreciate her participation in the gaming community. A reviewer of anything is not going to always like what they are reviewing. She really tried to like the game in her review, but just couldn't. OK, so she moved on to the next game. Granted, the app/gaming world is a very competitive, cutthroat community and it's very hard to find valid information and unbiased opinions, which is what I find here and on AU's site. This week's big find is going to be forgotten pretty quickly next Thursday. I think it is a reflection on our society today. You don't like something that someone says, you get hostile and blast someone all over the internet. I try my best to be discerning but its hard sometimes.
Appunwrapper, u r a star and no mistake, i'm more a reader than a writer, i glean a lot of insight from your reviews, i also love TA and all who sail in her. I honestly cannot believe what the dev tried pulling here at all? words fail me, can't remember ever seeing anything so underhanded, bravo Shaun for your excellent detecting, masterstroke if ever i saw one. thats one game off my wishlist.
I think this thread deserves a feature on the news page. I also think people that bought this should be eligible for a refund, based on the deceptive practices and unfinished product.
Unbelievable! Nice work appunwrapper and shaun. Make the thread a sticky for learning how it shouldn't be done.
As usual AppUnwrapper you did a great job trying to give the "game" a chance and sharing your thoughts. You've been nothing but fair & that's why I follow you. Some games are just not ready & that can & should be called out so the dev can make improvements. Now onto what this dev did....absolutely shameful. Young dev or not they know right from wrong & the deception is inexcusable.
I found this thread toward the end like a few people before but wasn't planning to post because I wasn't planning on buying the game. But I really do feel like I have to reiterate some of the things said and the support for AppUnwrapper through this whole mess. Since I've started working I haven't had time to sit down in front of my tv and play my Xbox or Wii as much anymore so iOS has become my predominant means of gaming. But one thing I have come to find is that it's hard to find anywhere where you can get a constant stream of info on new and upcoming games and reviews (until I found TouchArcade of course). Even before TA though I was following AppUnwrapper and RedRibbon mostly and just wanted to repeat what someone said earlier about you guys having more fans and followers than you probably realize. I'm not too big on posting in threads, forums, or YouTube videos but again o just wanted you to know that I have been a fan of yours for quite some time now. I found you before I was lucky enough to find TA so you were my main source of info on new games for iOS along with RR and quite honestly it was (and still is) enough. Touch Arcade is really the delicious, overindulgent frosting on the cake. Anyways keep doing what your doing and know that you have a lot of people, like me, who enjoy what you do and hope you never get too discouraged my episodes like this and and the negativity that comes with the Internet.
What amazes me is that the excuse for all this was they (the devs) are young and without experience. How old one must be to know not to lie?
I was going to buy the game, even if it was mediocre. However, this whole affair turned me off. Everybody might make a mistake, for sure, but was sad to see that.
I just noticed that the app description is also claiming: That struck me as quite a claim so I had a look. In fact it is listed at the top of their 50 Best iPhone games 2015 article as New This Week. However, so are 9 other titles released this week and the article clearly states: I'm not sure that "one of ten top-tier titles this week" quite equates to "One of the best iPhone games of 2015".
Guys, We've learned our lesson. We haven't gone to such a low point in our lives and we are not sure if we have the motivation to make any more games now. You win. We accepted our faults. We apologized and we apologize again. We made terrible mistakes. At least give us a chance? Don't buy any of our games in the future, if we make any, but at least give us time to rectify our mistakes? How long do we have to go before someone realizes that it's enough? Cmon guys, at least let us try? Let us do what we love, one more time?
