Again. There are far more non/casual gamers than real/hardcore gamers. Think about it this way: there are far, far more folks that have played checkers, chess, or solitaire than say.... Quake, Half-Life, or Final Fantasy. Heh, I'm not sure I buy that. The general population of non/casual-gamers are getting smarter. There is and has always been an uproar over the freemium model. Slowly some of these casual-gamers will evolve their tastes and want more - and there will be companies and games to give them that. I agree. Real gamers have always been a minority from day one and continue to be so. When non-gamers decided to give gaming a try, it created casual gamers. There are far more of these type of folks. And so more money to be made from this larger population. I only use the term real gamer, to denote the original use of gamer - since now we have several types of "gamer" out there including casual.
Triggering a random battle is grinding BTW, which further proves my point. You like to have your cake and eat it too, to each his own, as for me, I won't trim the fat.... As a footnote, success is also subjective, square continues to port their ff games to mobile, why? Because they aren't popular? They were wildly popular for their time, and SUCESSFUL. I doubt today's generation could beat them, because they took too long to do, and no way to "trim the fat" Your argument is also another reason why mobile gaming isn't taken seriously by a lot of media outlets, to them, mobile gaming is a fad, and a sit down and play for 15 minutes. That's not my opinion, that straight from game informer and pc world magazines
FOR THEIR TIME is the key word here. And yes, some people who grew up with these games will buy them for nostalgia purposes. The work involved is like porting an emulator over, low development cost (let's say you put in a million dollars for a team of 6 for a year), still profitable to a degree (it will probably make a few million dollars over 3-5 years), why not? It is called milking the dead corpse. It doesn't mean it is competitive in 2015. The "mainstream" media outlets will fade away just like the mainstream gaming companies. Look at where Capcom, Konami, Squaresoft are today? All three have made some of the greatest games ever, all three are non-factors today. Mobile (and freemium for that matter) will eventually push console gaming into a niche segment because the world is run by $$$. Why would a truly talented developer make a console game when you can make a mobile game for much more $$$ potential? Why would someone play in minor league if they can play in major league? How many NEW 100 million dollars and up franchises were introduced last a few years in console world compared to mobile franchises? When the current COD/GTA series run out of steam (like Blizzard games already did), freemium will rule the gaming world forever and paid games will be little more than niche markets. You already see this on PC, it is exactly what fueled PC's comeback to take the revenue lead over consoles.
God. Now you're just gloating that Freemium is pushing the better quality games out of existence. I really don't know what to say on this topic anymore.
Blizzard had 12 million subs, hardly fading away. I can't refute your statement because I don't know the numbers, but console gaming just released next gen consoles, I don't see them becoming obsolete soon. You are beginning to reach now once your validity is questioned. Unless mobile can produce products that hardcore gamers consider gaming, it will not be taken seriously by the gaming world... Outside of users of mobile gaming devices, droid, ios etc, mobile needs a product that will make non mobile gamers run to the store and purchase a device to play it on. If Nintendo, released a zelda or Mario exclusive to ios or android, you would have people beating down the walls at Apple to get their hands on the game (if they didn't have the device required to run it ) There is no current game on either market that makes people say, I gotta have that game, and that's why pc/console gaming belittle mobile gaming and make CoC and candy crush look like quick fix games. That's what mobile is considered, and you actually think that will overtake console and pc gaming?
http://fortune.com/2015/01/15/mobile-console-game-revenues-2015/ The mobile world does not need to gain acceptance of PC and console "hardcore" players. It will simply leech the talented developers from them and kill off the smaller developers, before severely weakening the bigger ones. Talents will always follow money. There is only 24 hours in the day, the usage pattern is already changing, smartphone already reduced the number of hours people spend in front of their TVs and computers. I have seen countless people giving up their console/PC gaming because of time constraints for mobile games, never the other way around! Once you are used to instant gratification, you just don't have the patience anymore to deal with the fat of console games. Nintendo itself is one foot in the grave posting record losses quarter after quarter. Their Mario & Zelda games will not do much better than Square ports on mobile devices unless they are completely reworked for 2015 freemium formula. You think they are actually good because you grew up with them. Kids growing up today are playing on iPad's, not Nintendo consoles and Mario/Zelda mean nothing to them compared to COC. To them COC is the must have title, not the other way around.
Again, you are comparing profit to quality. it is not the same thing. A stick and a 2x4 are both wood, but are they the same? Original statement you made, free games are better games than premium, money wise, CoC makes and made more than a premium game, but that doesn't make it a better game. Btw, your own link disputes your statement that mobile will make pc/consoles fade away. It even has a header stating as such. Stick to your gem buying, insta end game content games, and I'll be over here chugging my way through old games, grinding with a smile, because I don't need instant gratification.
Last year, McDonald's posted earnings of 7.2 billion according to Bloomberg, Outback Steakhouse posted 918 million. So it's clear to me, McDonald's makes a better quality product.... It only makes sense, McDs made more money so it is the best....right?
I knew this thread would go deep into dirt. Good thing i only posted once or maybe twice and decided to grab a popcorn instead. Thread became one person's word as law and the others as opinion. LOL
While I don't disagree with the intention behind this argument, having been to several Outback Steakhouses in my lifetime, I'd say McDonalds produces an objectively better and more consistent product. (Or maybe Outback Steakhouses are just absolutely atrocious in the Chicago area.)
Eh, single-player games generally have more depth and variety, because only certain few mechanics lend themselves to competitive multi-player. And most freemium titles are paper-thin skinboxes. Not all - Clash of Clans actually has a somewhat decent gameplay (which is likely why it blew up in popularity as it did when it did), as do some others, but even so the first couple of weeks are the most fun, because FTP restrictions aren't so tedious yet. All the rest is just an attempt to recapture that first "honey-moon" experience. Also, nearly all freemium games need on-line, which may be an inconvenience. And that reason is the general mismanagement, which severely curtailed their new output even before mobile even became a factor. Also, a cursory glance at US top-grossing charts don't show any freemium SE games, so it seems that their idiocy continues on mobile . Oh, I know, there is supposed to be some stuff out in Japan, but there is no way to tell if it is decent or not. Well, sandbox games are currently enjoying unprecedented popularity, so I dare say that your tastes are far from universal. Also, some people do prefer a story to propel their gameplay. Doesn't need to be CGI extravaganza, of course. I am not seeing it, re: quality. Updates or not, it is still the same old game and adheres to the same old formula. I have played CoC for a couple of months, have gotten bored and deleted it. I have tried a lot of freemium games and only a few of them have kept my attention for more than a few minutes. Granted, other people get more attached, but then again, remember Zynga. Also, like with MMOs and stuff, people are likely get seriously invested into one game only and once they burn out on it, they may leave for good. Anyway, I don't want to play one game forever, give me variety! I also enjoy mechanics that don't lend themselves to (competitive) multi-player.
Fair enough, just fill in a different steakhouse or non fast food establishment that you do enjoy, McDs prob posted higher numbers than them also
If McD's catered to both the poorest AND the richest customers at same time, and used richest customer's money to create a better product for everyone, yes it would be the best. There is nothing "cheap" about mobile freemium games. They have bigger budgets, higher production value than mobile "premium" games. Freemium is closer to many expensive restaurants (Jean George in New York for example). You can go there and enjoy their cheap lunch prix-fixe menu, or spend 10x the money for the full dinner. Do you complain about people spending more money will have a better time? No, you appreciate the fact that there is a cheap option and know it is because of the high spenders you get to eat in such a top class restaurant for so little, and (for the most part) have access to similar menu items.
This analogy works, but you must bring it full-circle. Just as he claims that profit = quality, you claim quality = enjoyment, which is definitely not the case. Following your analogy, I am aware that McDonalds food is made of junk, but I still enjoy it a lot (the one time a year I eat at McDonalds). But I am pretty sure you know/heard of people who are just obsessed with junk food. Of course another question pops up, whether they are obsessed with it because of the enjoyment they get out of it or addiction or perhaps a habit... Anyway, my point is: Income =/= Quality Quality =/= Enjoyment So please stop replying to the OP, let him enjoy the game for whatever reason. We dismissed his remarks about F2P games being best on page one and he clearly won't grasp the concept that profit of the game does not equal the quality of it. I am not saying he is a troll, but please stop feeding him.
Lol, and it's your belief that CoC caters to the richest and poorest? Or the people who throw money at a game that is not tangible? If CoC, closed shop today, people who have poured tons of money into that game would have NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT. Perhaps the gamecenter achievements would still show up, but that's it. They may put"some" of the money into the game, but people that do not spend, won't get the benefit of said content updates. Back to my original point, profit doesn't equal quality, and I will stand by that statement. I'll take a steak over a Big Mac any day of the week, unless I'm in a hurry and don't have time to sit down and eat the steak... Oh wait, isn't that what CoC is??? A fix for gamers that don't have time to sit and eat their steak? I guess so... Analogy complete, thanks for playing
Again, content != quality. It is within reach of any sized dev to produce quality. There's new perfectly realized amazing game concepts appearing all the time on the market. It's just that they provide a shorter experience and are not acquiring a top spot in the rankings. As you stated many many times, you like to be wrapped in a game that last forever (a mmo or a good freemium game) and you like having a quick way to push a button and get your reward. That's a perfectly valid statement and there's many players like you who like the standard freemium model, but that's a personal taste and it represents a tiny fraction of what games can be.
It's fine, I was setting up my point and be helped fulfill that, I can now go back to lurking in the shadows of the forum.
