The best freemium mobile games are simply better than best paid mobile games

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by hitmantb, Feb 6, 2015.

  1. I'm still holding out hope for a Sacred Odyssey sequel that's IAP-free, but any time I mentioned it to GL, I got no response, so I don't think there's much hope. I assume even if they do make one, it will be IAP-laden.

    (I was one of the few folks who played the free trial and threw my $7 at the game to continue playing. The rest of the world threw a hissy fit over the IAP to unlock the full game. I don't understand the world.)
     
  2. XperimentalZ

    XperimentalZ Well-Known Member
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    #42 XperimentalZ, Feb 6, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2015
    As others have stated before, obviously the quality of a game as to be distinguished from its monetization model and from the revenues it generates. Amazing concepts adapted to the freemium model are bound to generate more money for simple reasons.

    Fremium games get around 50-100 more downloads than if they're paid (so their acquisition cost is most lower). If you manage to pump your average revenue per user to a few dollars, you already have an insane income potential.

    And like Eli was saying, if you manage to have an average income per user higher than your acquisition cost, sky is the limit. You can just acquire the whole planet and keep making money out of it.

    Once you have the right horse (because there's tons of freemium failures too) you end up investing so much time in it. Every detail has to be A/B tested and tweaked and optimized for revenue. Every cent gained per user is another step toward profit.

    Not only that, but since the typical model is a skinner box with an infinite playing loop, you almost need a mmo-like amount of content in the game, which necessitate tremendous investment at the start.

    So of course top freemium games are great. Those we hear about started with an amazing concept and got so much development time invested in them.

    Without discussing the dark side of freemium (monetization aimed at children or people having pathological gambling problems, because many models are much more acceptable) the biggest trouble is that most successful freemium games will require the 'typical' freemium model and put heavy restriction on the design of the game.

    For all significantly different games potentially created, the typical freemium model would cover what, 0.1% of them? It would be infinitely sad if everything was ruled by the typical freemium model.

    Freemium is here to stay for obvious reasons, but premium too because you can't stop the creative process and something has to cover that 99.9% (I'm saying premium but it could be atypical freemium too, with less restrictive design requirements).

    Oh, and money isn't necessarily the first objective for a developer. Even if it is, I'd be very curious to hear about a small indie team pulling a 'clash-of-clans' because they'd usually need a massive amount funds injected first.
     
  3. Capricornman

    Capricornman Well-Known Member

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    Yes I originally paid for this game so ya it kind of stinks. But it's not the first time this has happened! When I played Axe in Face today there were no add banners at all. And when I was confronted with watch this video to continue it just made my enthusiasm vanish. Yes pay to win is popular because they understand marketing and human nature. Many will pay anything to win even if it's just virtual and not real or of any real importance
     
  4. Kenan2000

    Kenan2000 Well-Known Member

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    You are right,we cannot do anything about this.For each their own,today we have some japanese free2p mmorpg and tomorrow we will have mission Europa 2 or barren roads.

    There are no bad things without good things.
     
  5. sinagog

    sinagog Well-Known Member

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    Oh wow, this game is delightful. Am I a plumber? And look how high I can jump. Oh, I guess I should collect those coins. Cool. What's that? I have to wait five minutes before I come out of that green tunnel. Hmmph. Fine, fine. I can listen to that delightful music while I'm waiting. Was that five minutes? Great. Now, if I only collect five thousand more of those coins, I'll get a chance of winning a free life on a slot machine. Oh woah...that flower lets me shoot fireballs. Die, turtle thing, die! Wait, what?! I only get five shots but I can buy 100 more fireballs for $2.99. I suppose it's worth it. I'll never get past that big lizard guy without them. Alright! Wahoo! I did it. I got past him. I beat the first world! I wonder if those mushrooms will give me some kind of reward for my hard work. "Thank you, Mario, but our Princess is in another castle. To play the next level, please spend 30, 000 coins or wait forty-eight hours for the timer to reset. Alternatively, you can buy our beginner coin pack for $9.99." Screw this game...
     
  6. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
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    This is what a lot of people miss when getting all down in the dumps about the rise of freemium. The proliferation of the iOS platform is insane. Apple recently announced they've shipped one billion iOS devices. Distilling that further, say you've got a niche game that only appeals to 1% of that, that's ten million potential devices out there- A number which is actually reasonably competitive compared to the number of current-generation consoles that have been shipped. (Looks like Xbox, PS4, and Wii U are all hovering at around 10m units shipped plus or minus per latest stats.) Of course figuring out how to reach those 10m devices, well, that's another problem.

    What's neat is there's just nothing like the App Store anywhere else, so it's real difficult to make comparisons that make sense.
     
  7. Capricornman

    Capricornman Well-Known Member

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    Lol this is so true
    Just because we like games we are asked to toss our wallets into one large washing machine but beware of the rinsing cycle.
    But it does have a happy ending...everyone comes out squeaky clean
     
  8. #48 AppUnwrapper, Feb 6, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2015
    I'm less bothered by games like Candy Crush or CoC, because those devs never made any games I liked in the first place.

    What really gets me down in the dumps is seeing developers who *used* to make quality premium games that I thoroughly enjoyed, take the plunge into Freemium junk. *That* is where I doubt the room for both kinds of games.

    It's the "oh man, this game could have been really great, if not for the IAP" that really gets to me. I wrote my only review ever (I think) for a Freemium game, exactly for this reason: http://www.appunwrapper.com/2015/01/24/gemcrafter-puzzle-journey-review/

    If your favorite 5-star restaurant decided to start selling McDonald's-quality food instead, wouldn't you be upset?
     
  9. aconfusedkender

    aconfusedkender Well-Known Member

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    #49 aconfusedkender, Feb 6, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2015
     
  10. september

    september Well-Known Member

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    I'm surprised this made front page, really it's each to their own and nothing's going to change that for an individual. You can't convince a person that they should be enjoying something that doesn't deliver the experience they're after no matter the game or sales model. It's like saying premanufactured pop music is the best because it sells well, a majority of buying public love it but there's also a large pool of people who will have their own diverging ideas on what they consider to be the best. It's not a story told by statistics, everybody is different and with their own tastes and expectations.
     
  11. Jake7905

    Jake7905 Well-Known Member

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    Based on the post that started this thread I've come to a decision. I'm selling all of my Blu Ray's and going back to DVD's. DVD's outsell Blu Rays by a wide margin, and are easily the most popular format. DVD's are also much cheaper then Blu Ray's. Therefor DVD is superior to Blu Ray.
     
  12. Montanx

    Montanx Well-Known Member

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    #52 Montanx, Feb 6, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2015
    Yes your correct...the state of mobile gaming is sad. Funny I remember I played CoC way back before it became as popular. It was pretty fun but then I quit when things took too long.

    the title of this thread is misleading. It should be...The best freemium mobile games simply make more money than best paid mobile games. Wich is obvious and everyone knows this already.

    In no way shape or form are they better. Clash of clans is not better than Badland, sorry.
     
  13. sivad

    sivad Well-Known Member

    Mar 28, 2013
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    I can't get on board with saying the best FREEMIUM games are better than the best premium, however, they are more successful and supported much longer. My standpoint from an older generation is, I could care less about achievements, leaderboards and pvp or an mmo experience. I play for content, that's the reason I game, I enjoy the game.

    I have played tons of free and paid ios games, and I have paid for some free games before, not to advance a timer or to get a gold boost or to increase my VIP status, but to reward a good dev. I have never done any events, because those are a money pit.

    In my opinion, the best game released this year so far has been Radiation Island, a premium game. Sadly, this game will not stay up on the charts and eventually will fall to the wayside like all other premium ios games.

    The only way that I see premium games to ever succeed as much as FREEMIUM on iOS is for Apple to allow subscription based games. A monthly fee would keep money in the devs pocket, but it won't work because I have seen people on this forum say, this game isn't worth 1.99 and ask for a refund....I'm not rich, but I lose that much change in the couch weekly... And people complain about it.... The same people will turn around and comment on games like heroes charge or clash of clans and drop money for gems in small portions to give them a chance at a premium spin or to refill their stamina...

    This has led to my frustration with iOS gaming and led me to believe I will never be able to enjoy it as much as I do pc gaming.

    Then again, j think games like CoC target audience isn't me, I think it's aimed much younger.

    My original point before the soapbox appeared, I feel like FREEMIUM games can be graphically great, and usually are supported much longer, but quality wise, premium can be just as good. I would have paid 10 without even getting imps about radiation island, because I love the genre of game, on the other side, I won't even download a game from EA, Dena, gamevil, or com2us, because I know the style of game it is. Gameloft is my exception to those devs because IMO they make the best mobile games until the paywall hits.
     
  14. Capricornman

    Capricornman Well-Known Member

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    Francis on YouTube is really mad about the Super Bowl ads this year. The game ads were all for mobile games. If game of war and clash of clans can afford to pay a top model and a widely respected actor to sell their games then we are in it deep. Francis warns in his video and pleads to the viewer don't spend money on mobile games! Don't spend money on mobile games! Don't spend money on mobile games
     
  15. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

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    #55 Primoz, Feb 6, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2015
    Thank god someone has some sense in this thread.

    On another note, calling something "best" is very subjective in this case, so I am having no problem when someone calls a game "the best game" based on how they felt while playing it. I am, however, having a big problem when someone calls it that based on how much money it makes. This notion is just ridiculous, not as ridiculous as OP's other points he makes though.
     
  16. speedyph

    speedyph 🌊🌊🌊🏃🏃😂😂😂⚡️⚡️⚡️

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    yea clash is amazing
     
  17. ZeroOmegaZX

    ZeroOmegaZX Active Member

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    As a 33 year old gamer I have to agree with everything you said here.

    I think free to play is aimed at a much younger audience who doesn't have the attention span of a newt and have been trained to go from one thing to another in a matter of minutes because they don't have or want to spend time on anything. I see it with my own Son sadly. Maybe its because when we were young there werent TONS of games to play let alone free games. We picked out few premium priced titles and actually PLAYED the mother grabbing shark out of them. Its why classics like Mario Metroid Zelda and Megaman are still looked upon with such praise. Can you imagine paying to remove timers for continuing in Mario? or paying for Rupies in Zelda? Mobile gaming and now AAA gaming is going this route. league of legends is one of the only WELL DONE free to plays I have seen and I actually support. Being able to get the entire game minus cosmetics is something I think works well. Also there are no ads!
     
  18. sivad

    sivad Well-Known Member

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    Ansolutely, LoL is a great game and I played it as well, buying characters isn't pay to win, it's more of a payment because I wanted to. Same thing in vain glory, I love moba and play it on PC and ios. I am also a casual wow player, down from addictive state from 10 years ago.

    On the topic of LoL, this is the way free to play should be, timers in game are not fun in my eyes. If there are ways to buy boosts in gold, that doesn't bother me as much as timers or stamina, if someone wants to pay to get ahead faster, so be it, but make it possible to get the same items without having to boost.
     
  19. EvanJO14

    EvanJO14 New Member

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    Basically your last 5 paragraphs are your opinions of the games you play. Those do not mean very much to me. Why? Because you are one person. If you had taken the reviews of one hundred different people then they would mean something to me. Let me give you an example......
    Let's say I'm a dictator. I have absolute power. Europe irritates me. I nuke it. However, I have nuked Europe based on my opinions about Europe. Now let's say I am the president of America. Europe irritates me. In this case I have to ask congress to nuke it. They unanimously vote no.

    This is like your situation. You have absolute power over what you say in your posts. Now tell me how many people did you ask that money=better game. Let me guess? None! If you ask us which game is better most of us would totally pick GTA V over COC. Why? Because it provides more in depth gameplay, more things to do, and missions to accomplish. All of this with out a crap-ton of timers and iaps. And it is my opinion (I said my opinion) that GTA V is a better game based on the facts above. That's all I have to say.
     
  20. curtisrshideler

    curtisrshideler Well-Known Member
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    Calling free-2-play games the "best" is like saying the highest grossing films of all time are the "best." But what percentage of those films actually go on to win Academy Awards?
     

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