I got it today, and it's very good, but i have a major issue : the item management! Specifically 1) When in battle, it is frustrating to do a combo with an item that finally decides to appear, only to find out "inventory full" and the item to be lost forever. Please fix this somehow, create a storage extra items can go, or make the spellcombo with the item not able to be completed, or something similar to prevent the accidental loss of items. 2) Also in battle, i often tap the item of the inventory to see what they do, expecting to see their description. Red potion is self explanatory, but purge stones and other novelties that don't even mention the name, i need to tap to remember what they do, or what they are. But with this one tap, they get used. Make it so that the items need some sort of confirmation to get used or add a description menu, so we don't use our items just trying to see what they do. Other than that, great game, the art style is unique, but once you get used to , there is a story and deep spell battle/match 3/ rpg elements. Well deserving even for the initial price! Just please fix those 2 issues if possible.
So do we, as early adopters, at least get an apology for wasting money by supporting your game it's first week out?
Or you could : adopt a philosophical perspective and realize that you paid a premium but appropriate price for something that took months of work; also realize that whether the game went on sale this weekend or 2 months from now, someone would get the game for less money than early adopters; not expect an apology for a developer trying to break even/succeed in a marketplace dominated by free-to-play nonsense; accept an apology from me, rather than the developer, for the terrible thing that has befallen you.
My perspective is very much philosophical. We are arguing the same point, it seems. The market is indeed dominated by F2P nonsense, and when a Dev puts his app on sale (for 1/3 the price) only one week after release it makes the situation even worse. This makes the few of us who are still willing to pay $3 for a premium app on day one think twice next time, and instead download a free game and see what we get for our time with that software. I want the devs to turn a profit, believe me. However this sort of thing makes the softwares value less. When you look at the app history of an app from Borough, vlambeer, or Cavanaugh you generally see steady prices, and you believe the app is worth those prices. When you look at an app history that goes from $3 - $1 - free - $3 - $2 - free it makes the potential buyer wait for the next sale. This only worsens the app price's race to the bottom mentality. It's not that I feel like I paid too much for the game. I think the price was appropriate. It's that I very much despise this sort of mentality, where a Dev gives in a week later and decides to just attract the dollar bin bottom feeding iDwellers instead of actually trying to market their product and get a price that is appropriate.
Points taken. I guess I was just a bit aggravated by the blunt tone of your post. I understand and agree with your follow-up, to some degree. I guess I'm willing to give certain independent developers a pass when this type of thing happens. Bulk Paint seems to be one of the good guys. Let's squash this non-argument early and agree to (not exactly) disagree.
I understand I probably sounded aggressive, abrupt, or rude. That truly wasn't my intention. It's hard to decipher a persons tone from their text. And the last thing I wanted was an argument. I just hope I make the developers think about their decisions, more than anything. If this truly is the only way for them to turn a profit - I'm all for it. I just think it should be a last resort (well last before turning freemium) sort of thing.
There are no 5 glyph combo spells ATM - just the 4 glyph ABAB / BABA spells. Adding extra As or Bs will either make it a Null spell or cast the 2 glyph A or B spell depending on how you do it. Our plan is to have an area on the website which lists all of the spells and their effects. Also, the in-game spellbook could use a re-write with their extra effects included. But here you go: 5 Glyph spells - all 5 Glyph spells have AoE (Area of Effect) and damage all enemies at once. 6 Glyph spells - as well as summoning an elemental to take a few hits for you, they too have an AoE. Combo spells: Light / Air - Bless: Damage + Heal Light / Water - Regeneration: Regeneration Light / Metal - Lightning Spear: Blind Light / Earth - Harvest: Damage + Heal + AoE Light / Fire - Sunstrike: Burn + AoE Light / Primal - Wisp: Confuse Air / Water - Storm: Damage Air / Metal - Blade Rain: AoE Air / Dark - Crowstorm: Blind + AoE Air / Fire - Flare: Blind Air / Primal - Swooping Eagle: Damage Water / Metal - Rust: Defence Down Water / Dark - Poison: Poison Water / Earth - Mudslide: Snare + AoE Water / Primal - Slithery Eel: Constrict Metal / Dark - Backstab: Bleed Metal / Earth - Beartrap: Snare Metal / Fire - Brand: Burn Dark / Earth - Cave In: Snare Dark / Fire - Smoke: Blind + AoE Dark / Primal - Crawl: Defence Down Earth / Fire - Eruption: Burn Earth / Primal - Creeping Vines: Snare Fire / Primal - Hot Salamander: Burn + AoE
v1.03 addresses this. When your pack is full it will display the word 'Full' over the pack button. You can still select the loot glyphs with the same outcome - ie: it'll say your pack is full and you won't pick up the item - but this can still come in handy when trying to combo with 5 glyph spells. This is something we're looking at for a future update. Pretty much to make it the same as the shop - ie: tap once to get the description then a Use or Cancel button.
Bulk Paint, thank you for the reply. Yes, those 2 solutions are great, for the second i was thinking this myself: make it the same like buying from the shop. Also to LazerKat, as early adopter, feel proud that you do just that: support a dev you want, at the price their software deserves, and you play their app from the moment it is released instead of waiting. Finally, not everyone waiting for a sale is a "dollar bin bottom feeder idweller" , but a potentially new customer getting to know the developers through their app, at a "meeting" price. At least that's what i am, and what my business does : lower prices for new customers, to get to know us before they trust us with higher prices. Throwing insults doesn't make you look too good, imo.
What I mean by "bottom feeding dollar bin iDwellers" is the person who refuses to pay more than $0.99 for an app, and thinks all games, regardless of the level of design put into them, are over priced at $2 and up. Believe me, there's a lot of them. I like to give indie devs the benefit of the doubt, but when a Dev releases a game for $3 and lowers their price to $1 all in one week, I find it hard to believe they didn't have that planned from before release. They knew that there were many of us who would pay the $3 upon release. They'd take our money, and then get everyone else's a week later. I hope that wasn't the case here, but I know it is the case all too often. A much smarter marketing approach (and much more fair to everyone), is an introductory price of a dollar for a week and then a premium price of $3 a week later.
to be fair, only people that hang out on gaming sites would notice. most casual gamers who bought never realize when prices go up or down. I really prefer a dev to do a launch sale on day 1, then raising prices a day or two later though (holiday sales nonwithstanding). Encourage people to buy now and think later, not hold off now to get a better deal later.
agreed with both of you i also like rocketcat's system. buy the game once, get all the updates free while people pay more for each later update
You most certainly do - believe me when I say it was not our intention to do this. Not by a long chalk. There was no grand plan. No conspiracy. We simply ran out of options. As I'm sure you're all aware, the way the App Store works is that if you are not Featured, Top of the Charts or have a huge Marketing budget (or load your game out with 'bug your friends' call outs to Facebook), then you are nothing. We were fortunate to be featured in the US and UK stores and, whilst there, we were pulling in maybe 300 sales per day. Hardly stratospheric. We also had the good fortune to make it to the top of the Role Playing chart in the UK - for a few hours, but long enough for me to get a screenshot. Then, for whatever reason, our feature ended - after only 2 days. We promptly dropped out of the charts and the sales dried up. This was disastrous for us and we had to try something - the sale. The sale represents our Hail Mary pass - it's our last chance to get back in to the charts for one final hurrah. To date we have not recovered our costs and, if this doesn't turn around soon, we're done. No more updates. No more game. I'd be back to working on my CV and trying to find a proper job so that Leanne can look after the baby and I can provide enough nappies that we don't drown in poop. Did we 'give up'? Yes. We did. We had to. With a marketing budget of zero and minimal coverage (4 reviews - admittedly all positive), we rely almost exclusively on our App Store presence (not helped in anyway by our lack of screenshots), Chart position (taking a dive) and word of mouth (so please Tell Your Friends). The only thing that has been making any of this remotely bearable is the fact that, as evidenced by the reviews and the responses on this board, that people like the game. For that we are extremely grateful and very proud indeed. We really hope that, even if you did end up paying over the odds, you still feel you had value for money and hopefully this post will help you to see the reasoning behind it. As always, we'll be here and happy to answer any and of your questions if it's within our power to do so. In the meantime, Happy Questing. And please - Tell Your Friends.
you need a hug bro. Eli should post this on the front page to once again drive home the reality behind some of these 'evil dev decisions'. Best of luck man.
I hope you guys get all the attention you deserve especially since it seems that not many of the gamers necessarily player your original which was an awesome game and set the stage perfectly for this version! Clearly gamers use forums and get to interact with developers if/when they choose to engage with us the gamers your clients. Other more casual gamers definitely see what is hot or recommended and as you stated if you aren't their you probably don't get as many casual gamers which clearly is still the majority of iOS gamers today! Best wishes and thanks for being a pro-active and engaging developer.
Well I'm glad I paid the $3 then, instead of the $1. I'll gift it to a friend (or a forum regular who can't afford it) at the sale price too. If this was your last resort, then I understand and wish you luck. I've just seen so many devs with less than pure intentions, forgive my untrusting nature, but it really is warranted. You guys were only featured for two days? Weird. Then they featured that rpg puzzle category on the front page, and some how neither GC1 nor 2 made that list...but Godzilla smash did? That was brutal.
Bulk Paint, Thank you for your honesty and courage to address this contentious issue head-on. I am among the initial purchasers of the game (before the sale), and even in hindsight, feel strongly that I have paid (the higher price) justly for a high-quality game that fully deserves my money. The simple rule that I use (which I cited previously even on this board) is the latte/coffee rule. It is a variant of the trade-off method of determining value of something, a theory commonly used in business and medical economics (like calculation of cost-effectiveness). The method is straightforward: For the same amount of money that I don't hesitate to spend on 1 cup of coffee (say $2.49 US) or a latte (say $4.99 US), do I get the same or more enjoyment from a game I purchased for the same price? If so, then this game deserves my money, regardless whether or not subsequently there is a sale. The reason for the latter qualifier is also straightforward. There is "deemed" value for an early opportunity to play the game (it is not valueless). Some people don't care about early access; others do. Regardless, there is value needed to be considered. A incidental benefit of this early access is the opportunity to correspond (such as on this forum) with the game's creator directly. I, too, find this opportunity to be of value. It makes me enjoy the game much more if I know the developer cares directly about my playing of his/her game. It is another big reason why I am so willing to support Alex and his wife on this project. Different gamers hold different values to a game. Some who hold lower value will complain that they are overcharged. I am very comfortable with the value I placed on this amazing game. Whether or not there is a subsequent sale does not diminish this value (as explained, because early access is of value in itself). Lastly, I highly recommend that you all check out Alex's own personal blog and developer diary about this game: http://alextrowers.blogspot.ca/ The blog is a great read and shows just how big of a challenge an indie developer faces trying to create a game and try desperately to make a living doing what he/she loves.
I am really and honestly surprised, how people throw money at the F2P craps with timers and iaps and not give 1-3 euro for full, premium, quality games you can play when and where you wish. This is the puzzle rpg i was looking for. I admit i didn't buy it at first, because the art style made me hesitant. Trying it out at the sale price, i found it charming, and the depth behind the game is amazing. I somehow wish you could make it financially and release another game, then i would buy it with full confidence. Unfortunately, i think i am in the minority on the appstore, like LazerKat said... For what it's worth, i love this game, and will leave a 5 star review tomorrow morning in the greek appstore for whatever this counts.
Lazer Kat, or anyone else, do you know of any way to gift apps to people without collecting their email address first? I guess you used to be able to print a redeemable code, but sadly it seems like they removed that a while ago.
