Watched it the other week. Excellent episode that highlights many major issues I have with in app purchases. I have never bought a single IAP and will never do. I personally think it is a horrible practice that should be stamped upon as soon as possible. I'd rather pay upfront for a full app.
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South Park attacks/mocks "Freemium" app model
- Thread starter simonmet
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I fully support the "free app with ads" and "same app, but pay to remove ads". Either way, the developers get money for their time.
However, games that are "free now, pay forever" or "pay2win" suck.
I think the very first game I ever saw pay2win was Farmville with their FV dollars or whatever. My already poor mother in law was completely obsessed and had dozens of Facebook accounts all farming at once. As soon as she would get her gov't check, she would blow the whole thing on FV dollars to buy the best decorations or crops.
Currently, my daughter is playing My Little Pony which is identical to Farmville, except with the cast of MLP. The worst part is that the vast majority of desirable pony characters (from the show) can only be bought with gems... which can only be bought with, you guessed it, real life dollars. When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, the only thing she wants are those pay2win pony characters.
However, games that are "free now, pay forever" or "pay2win" suck.
I think the very first game I ever saw pay2win was Farmville with their FV dollars or whatever. My already poor mother in law was completely obsessed and had dozens of Facebook accounts all farming at once. As soon as she would get her gov't check, she would blow the whole thing on FV dollars to buy the best decorations or crops.
Currently, my daughter is playing My Little Pony which is identical to Farmville, except with the cast of MLP. The worst part is that the vast majority of desirable pony characters (from the show) can only be bought with gems... which can only be bought with, you guessed it, real life dollars. When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, the only thing she wants are those pay2win pony characters.
I absolutely despise the freemium model as well.
Look at my icon! I'm one of the bronies (adult fans of the show), I have money, and yet I refuse to play that stupid game because of the IAP nonsense. Screw that noise.
An ideal way to do things would be to have a game run as a demo, then you make ONE (singular, 1, uno) IAP to unlock the full game. Then you're DONE paying, and can enjoy the game fully, forever. I'd be down with that.
Look at my icon! I'm one of the bronies (adult fans of the show), I have money, and yet I refuse to play that stupid game because of the IAP nonsense. Screw that noise.
An ideal way to do things would be to have a game run as a demo, then you make ONE (singular, 1, uno) IAP to unlock the full game. Then you're DONE paying, and can enjoy the game fully, forever. I'd be down with that.
Currently, my daughter is playing My Little Pony which is identical to Farmville, except with the cast of MLP. The worst part is that the vast majority of desirable pony characters (from the show) can only be bought with gems... which can only be bought with, you guessed it, real life dollars. When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, the only thing she wants are those pay2win pony characters.
So you probably understand my pain when she asks for Princess Celestia .. 405 gems
That's about 20 dollars for one, digital pony. Even better, the game doesn't back itself up in the cloud in any way shape or form... so lets say I buy her something that's 20 dollars and she throws the iPad in the sink. That's it. Game is gone WITH all of your purchases.
So you probably understand my pain when she asks for Princess Celestia .. 405 gems
20 bucks? Geez! A Skylanders or Disney Infinity character doesn't cost that much, and you get an actual figurine with those!
And the episode has it right: the psychology of a freemium game is very similar to a slot machine.
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I fully support the "free app with ads" and "same app, but pay to remove ads". Either way, the developers get money for their time.
However, games that are "free now, pay forever" or "pay2win" suck.
I think the very first game I ever saw pay2win was Farmville with their FV dollars or whatever. My already poor mother in law was completely obsessed and had dozens of Facebook accounts all farming at once. As soon as she would get her gov't check, she would blow the whole thing on FV dollars to buy the best decorations or crops.
Currently, my daughter is playing My Little Pony which is identical to Farmville, except with the cast of MLP. The worst part is that the vast majority of desirable pony characters (from the show) can only be bought with gems... which can only be bought with, you guessed it, real life dollars. When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, the only thing she wants are those pay2win pony characters.
That's a very sad story about your mother-in-law. Thanks for sharing. Perhaps you can watch the South Park episode with your daughter?
Do people differentiate Freemium and In App Purchase, or is it all the same to you guys?
I don't mind some games like Dead Trigger 2, NFS Most Wanted, or even Minion Rush. They have a great amount of game play and enjoyment without the need to purchase any In App Purchases.
But most games get uninstalled in a matter of minutes, hours, or days, when it becomes nearly impossible to play without paying any real money.
I don't mind some games like Dead Trigger 2, NFS Most Wanted, or even Minion Rush. They have a great amount of game play and enjoyment without the need to purchase any In App Purchases.
But most games get uninstalled in a matter of minutes, hours, or days, when it becomes nearly impossible to play without paying any real money.
Apple is potentially doing something about this (in a weird way): https://www.macrumors.com/2014/11/19/apple-replaces-free-button-with-get/
Apple n Google etc should make carrying them in their stores conditional on them having a maximum fully unlocked price of no more than the average console game.
Soon as someone pays that (either in one go or cumulatively) that should be it.
Soon as someone pays that (either in one go or cumulatively) that should be it.
Thanks for the support. I asked my wife if her mother still plays FV and it looks like her new digital obsession is Candy Crush ... (what else?).
As for the daughter, we've decided to set a strict limit of 1 hour on the iPad, educational apps only (hooked on phonics, etc), and we are currently "taking a break" from all things pony. We are spending the free time drawing, painting, playing, etc.
Might want to also add the episode of "humancentipad" for more fun being poked at Apple.
Nothing beats Cock Magic. Randy is far and away the greatest character this season.
That has nothing to do with this thread, just wanted to make sure SP fans watch last night's episode.
That has nothing to do with this thread, just wanted to make sure SP fans watch last night's episode.
Interesting issue, I used to be a big fan of the Microsoft flight simulator series. The game would come with a fleet of aircraft and almost every officialy registered airports/airfield in the world. A few of these airports, and some cities were detailed, most were pretty generic, same thing with the default aircraft and their panels. The sim was always geared for 3rd party aircraft (including panels) and scenery. There was a huge community of freeware - ranging from crap to superb - and payware, again ranging from tosh to "my god I'm flying." No one complained though there was a bit of a rivalry between freeware and payware given that some of the former exceeded quality of much of the latter.
Now applying this model to apps, something like say the excellent Star Walk or Solar Walk have in-app purchases for high resolution planet surfaces, satellites etc. Paying to remove ads is also ok, what is new especially in games is the addition of in-game currency (consumables) either to speed up levelling for impatient people or in the worst case to be able to go any further. This is what has caused the most harm, to the point that even justified additions, like new levels for the excellent game Monument Valley, are met with complaints and one star reviews.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/16/the-lesson-of-monument-valley/
Now applying this model to apps, something like say the excellent Star Walk or Solar Walk have in-app purchases for high resolution planet surfaces, satellites etc. Paying to remove ads is also ok, what is new especially in games is the addition of in-game currency (consumables) either to speed up levelling for impatient people or in the worst case to be able to go any further. This is what has caused the most harm, to the point that even justified additions, like new levels for the excellent game Monument Valley, are met with complaints and one star reviews.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/16/the-lesson-of-monument-valley/
I'm not sure what all the hate is coming from.
1) You download it for free.
2) You evaluate it without any paid add ons. If you find it's worthless without paying money, delete it. No money lost.
3) The fact that most of the games in the top 20 are freemium game, indicates it's a popular sales model.
The difference here is, had the app not been free up-front, those people were most likely not going to give the app a try. Only once they became hooked did they feel the need to spend money in-game.
actually it's like that in reallity - not a lot of people spend money on freemium games, but those who do often spend extraordinary sums on them and thus finance all freeloaders. in it's "best" form, freemium gaming is about exploiting a few addicts to make all others happy - i it's worst form it's constant begging for money.
at first i played some freemium games with the intent to spend no money and thus voting with my wallet not to produce anymore of that crap (and to make potential financial losses for the developer bigger). but this won't work - the only thing you could do is to avoid these games and give them bad ratings.
so true
at first i played some freemium games with the intent to spend no money and thus voting with my wallet not to produce anymore of that crap (and to make potential financial losses for the developer bigger). but this won't work - the only thing you could do is to avoid these games and give them bad ratings.
so true