Has anyone ever considered that both Freemium and Premium can exist together, because there is a market for both types of games? There is also no competition between both types, because the user bases are very different, in general. I love - when I have a free evening without anything to do - to play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, mostly I go on 5-6 hunts. Takes 3 hours. Or GTA - Chinatown. Or Ace Attorney. Over the day, this wouldn't be possible to manage. I actually have Monster Strike, Gems Of War and Heroes Charge (ok, and just installed Seabeard) on my iPhone and really enjoy the 15-minute-bursts of play time they give me. When I am on the train, or at lunch break or what ever else short break is available. These games are a nice change to all that premium stuff I own and keep me totally occupied over the day. And the best: I haven't to spend a dime on them and still progress. I can't start MH in the train, no chance. Or playing an RPG for a bit is also not the best option. As soon as I go deeper into it, I have to stop. Yeah, I spent my first two years of iPhone gaming hating Freemium, just because it was easy to blame. Because I did not understand the purpose of its existence. But I changed my mind. Today I am glad that both types exist. I still (strongly) dislike the cash grabbing mechanics (pay walls) of some Freemium games, but meanwhile, there are lots you can enjoy for a very very long time without spending a single buck. And the other "greedy" games? I simply dismiss and delete them. So people should dismiss their current "Premium is useless shit"- or "Freemium is trash and should die"-attitude. There will be both types of games, because there is a market for both types, at least in the next 10-15 years. The last 5 years had Premium as well as Freemium games and I don't think this is going to change soon. The discussion in this thread is very interesting, but some points of view are very narrow-minded, on both sides. It's like listening to debates of the leaders of two opposing religions. It would be better to live and let live.
I agree, dont get me wrong i prefer premium but i can live with both easily. Just like you i play a freemium game a lot - Star Wars Commander, i play it every few hours as i have to wait for timers etc. I have 100's of premium games i can just play instantly and then later in the evening come back to SW Commander etc As you say i also hated freemium but i've come to 'terms' with it and i'm not instantly going to dismiss every free game there is. Some freemium games (Dungeon Quest) are superb, that game i actually bought an IAP to thank the dev as it was soooo not in your face about IAP's etc. Other games such as Dungeon Hunter 4 or Candy Crush i'll simply ignore though But a great post, the people dismissing ALL freemium as the same crap are just as bad as the 'premium games are rubbish' narrow minded view as well Yeah i prefer premium but i've found a few good freemium games. Both can 'co-exist' and with SO many games to play anyway i'm good
Alfred Hitchcock said if it were up to him he'd sit cinemagoers in a special seat which fed them the emotional reactions of watching a movie, without actually needing the movie itself. In a way, I think this is what a lot of these Freemium games are. They seem to be giving their audience the feel of a game, the addictive beats of the gameplay experience, whilst rapidly stripping away the actual gameplay until there's practically nothing left. Those frogger-like runners and racers, those time management games and builders, those endless match 3 variations...there's precious little there, but what is there is tailor-made to tap into your addictive tendencies, like cigarettes, or heroin. And they're just as rewarding as those two..
I can give you instantly at least the name of a dozen Freemium games which have tons of gameplay - actually more then some Premium titles have. And lots more if you wait a while. Premium on iOs changed in the last years, and Freemium did the same.
I have 20 f2p games on my ipad and i play 8 of them daily.. I'm a big supporter of good f2p games.. but i also love premium games Both can exist.
Top 52 app publishers of 2014 by grossing, and it was a freemium party: http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-52-2014/ The market is getting very stable, the top 5 publishers of 2013, 4 of them finished as top 5 in 2014. So much for freemium being a fad and it is going away!
Still don't know who you really are, pulling facts and charts from outsource support of freemuim, but this discussion is done. It seems your goal was to change our opinions but this ultimately failed. People from before have already agreed with some of your points and protect you from all the anti Freemuimists or whatever you call them, but everything else is really just worship. (I.E. Your opinion on Clash of Clans) Please, just drop this, as it's going nowhere fast and is a outlet of anger and flaming from other users.#
