I hope you don't think I meant to rip into you personally. Pricing issues is a volatile topic in the forums which I can understand. I just think there's a time and place for that kind of discussion.
But it was perfectly OK for you to express your opinion of the pricing. Now it's my turn. I think the current price of 2.99 is commensurate with the level of polish and content in this game. It was my belief from day 1 that this game would have to drop in price once the initial enthusiasm wore off. To those who feel they got burned by the price drop: Sharing in the excitement of playing a new game with a new paradigm and discussing it with other enthusiasts, and helping to shape the future of the game is worth a couple of bucks, isn't it? Because anybody who buys it now won't get that experience.
Ah, here we go It came from the Death Rally thread. Price went down when the devs said it would go up = forum fury.
Got 'em coach. No one is telling you kids to buy games as soon as they come out. It's always been your choice. I instabuy every single title I'm interested in, and in the two years that I've been here, I really don't recall posting once with a complaint about prices/sales.
Wow, there are 4 pages of removed posts... maybe the mods removed all the pricing spewage. I agree with Big Albie on the pricing issue. Devs have every right to do what they feel necessary to keep their business alive. The dev makes the decisions on the development and sale of the game. The player makes the decision on whether or not to buy. Pure and simple. Anyway, anyone else seeing that after the update, all challenges are for the All Nitro? I've played around 5 races and have yet to see any other challenge show up.
You just had to add that, didn't you? This will get moved and I'm not gonna say anything further on the matter, but... The player makes the decision on whether or not to buy? Really? I'm guessing you didn't know the game came out a "launch price" of $4.99. We all "made the decision" to buy the game at that price, expecting it to go up. It went down instead. Had the devs not advertised that "launch price" and then subsequently lowered the price, I would keep my mouth shut...but you have to be delusional if you don't have a problem with that. Alright, I'm done.
I sitting here reading posts from little girls complaining about losing their 3 precious dollars. Oh boo hoo. How will you ever buy that candy bar now? Get the hell over it! Its 3 freakin bucks. No one told you to buy it, it was your own decision. Whine all you want, you're not gonna get anything out of it. I assume you guys don't own consoles because your eyes would melt from that $60 pricetag wouldn't it? Seriously guys. You act like those were the 3 most important dollars of your life. Get over it already. Life happens. Deal with it!
I can understand that some people may have felt forced to buy the game early as the price was destined to go up, but at the same time the logical thinker in you must have known that all games go on sale eventually. It doesn't matter if it's due to go up to $6, $60, $600... if it's on the App Store, it'll probably see either a super cheap sale or even a free period promotion. And that's what I did. I saw the cost was an introductory price, but I also knew that it didn't count as a sale, and the game would evidently be having one in the future.
Hey, we've all seen games going FREE one or two days after launch, so what's the complaining all about? You all know about the instability of the AppStore prices. You all know about the 99% chance that a game goes eventually on sale for 0.99$. You all know about the developers need for maximum visibility in the AppStore. Don't dare telling me that you are all totally ignorant when it comes to the AppStore pricing rules. The most of you complainers know exactly what I am talking about. Still you're getting p!ssed. But you can't have everything. On one side, there's you greed for new games and to hit the buy-button as fast as possible (so you can talk with the big guys about the brand new game on TA), on the other side you're cheapskate as hell and collapse as soon as the 0.99$ price tag hits. Geez, you're so predictable. You know these rules. You all make your own moves. Don't friggin' complain.
Please read my post, too. I was also talking about the maximum visibility devs need in the AppStore to have success. Death Rally isn't the casual gamers first choice like Angry Birds or Doodle Jump or Tiny Wings and will sell in millions in 5 days. Now, let's have a look at Death Rally's AppStore statistics: Best Chart Rankings* #2 in Racing Games (iPhone) on Apr 5, 2011 #1 in Racing Games (iPad) on Apr 6, 2011 #9 in Action Games (iPhone) on Apr 2, 2011 #1 in Action Games (iPad) on Apr 2, 2011 #23 in Top Games (iPhone) on Apr 2, 2011 #4 in Top Games (iPad) on Apr 4, 2011 #34 in Top Apps (iPhone) on Apr 1, 2011 #9 in Top Apps (iPad) on Apr 4, 2011 And now the AppShopper statistics: App Activity Apr 09 '11 €3.99 -> €2.39 Apr 09 '11 Version 1.1 Mar 30 '11 New App: €3.99, v1.0 See? And - did you understand? Or do I have to explain further about the sudden price drop of Death Rally? There is one absolute good reason for another price drop. It can't be more obvious as in the example of Death Rally. And now you dare to run around complaining, pissed about the developers who needed to take action to save their product? Wow, you're really a nice and supporting customer and fan.
And you were wrong. Too bad. That happens a lot when people "expect" things. And it doesn't change the fundamental truth that, yes, all App Store purchases, without exception, are 100-percent the buyer's decision. Despite your protests to the contrary, it could hardly be otherwise. You pays your money; you takes your chances. Caveat emptor, bro. TANSTAAFL.
@ REDRIBBON I see your post count , around 600 posts. Now if you were a newbie , we would understand your complaint. But you been here long enough to know not to take the developers promise of the price staying the same or going up. What we are saying is havent you learn this lesson already? Its happenned like 50-60 times since you signed on to toucharcade , its nothing new.
Hold up a few. Let's try to put this into perspective. Having bought so many games, if I freaked out every time the price dropped subsequent to my purchase, I would have gone mad a long time ago. It's the nature of the app store and it is a good thing! If you have patience, you will reap the benefits. Now to your point. I was unaware of the dev mentioning that Death Rally was being launched at a 15% discount and then lowered the price. I don't know why they'd do this,and it does make you raise your eyebrow. I only see a couple options: (1) they weren't attaining the sales they had projected with a $4.99 price point and dropped the price, or (2) the more nefarious option - they wanted to get as many sales at the higher price point before they dropped it. Option #1 is the more reasonable choice and what I believe, while option #2 certainly could happen, but this is a credible dev. They clearly made a mistake by mentioning the discount. If I were you, I'd either accept that with the dev's unique ability to change prices in the app store at any time, this is going to happen and you will win and lose some. For example, a while back I was going to buy Crimson Gem Saga for $10 but my touch battery died. The next day it was $5-6! I lucked out. Or, if this is a principle issue, don't buy games from the dev or write an e-mail to them asking them why. You might get an apology and explanation and then can move on. Just because the one dollar in question is negligible doesn't mean you have to shrug and blindly accept it. You have a point, if a dev claims "buy this now before the price goes up!" and then lowers the price, an explanation would at least be nice.
You win some and lose some here on the AppStore. The developers of Death Rally did have a reason to put the game on sale, and they don't need to offer an explanation. They're not just going to let their game drop off the charts. They knew putting the game on sale would increase the visibility of the game and allow it to shoot back up. Their plan worked. So why are customers wrong in complaining here? 1. This happens nearly every week. 2. It was your expectation. Developers don't have to keep any kind of promises. They do what will help them the most. Yes, that's fair. These guys are people too with the same needs. 3. This is $2 that we're talking about here..If I bought Halo Reach the first COD: BO for $50 the first week, I'd probably be pissed if the game dropped down to $30 the next week, instead of going up to $60 as stated. But..that's really not the case here.
It's just good business - if you make a claim that the dev made, you should stick to it, or not make claims at all. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt though. They overestimated their sales at the $5 price point and had to adjust accordingly. A lot of people have been beneficiaries of this decision. Hell, maybe the dev even acknowledged this issue and apologized in the thread?
Look anyone who has been here at least 2 months knows not to trust developers when it comes to price. Not that its right but that just the way it is.
Don't get me wrong as this looks 'Pretty good' tbh but I know if I buy this it will be half this price in a week or two as it will not shift many copies at this price. Otherwise if there had been a special 24 hour early bird price I would have been on it. More dev's need to take that early-special approach to satisfy those already interested in the game. Heck even Capcom are doing it with Mercenaries...and they'll have my money come midnight for that.
