Some questions about Torches and Pitchforks
Okay, Solomon Lovers and Robot Wants Kitty lovers...
Hoggy 2 for Android should be out soon, at an unspecified date that I will not even hint at. After that I will be all-in on getting the whole Raptisoft backcatalog updated for iOS 11timeshardertodevelopfor and Android. So, I have a question to ask of you, the diligent fans that have stood by me through all the years:
Do you object if I put ads into these updated games?
Right now, my games are ALMOST ALL freeloaders. I still get large amounts of downloads, but actual sales are low these days (the games are ancient now). So, almost everyone is playing free. Example of how I would implement ads would go like this:
1. Download game
2. For first 2 hours of play, no ads
3. At that point, ads start sneaking in-- for instance, in Solomon, you might randomly see them if you level up. The chance of seeing an ad increases as time passes.
4. By the time you've played for, say, 10 hours (game will keep timer), ads would be appearing every level up, or every time you died in RwK
5. (Most important part) Any kind of purchase at all turns ads off permanently.
What do you think?
Hoggy 2 for Android should be out soon, at an unspecified date that I will not even hint at. After that I will be all-in on getting the whole Raptisoft backcatalog updated for iOS 11timeshardertodevelopfor and Android. So, I have a question to ask of you, the diligent fans that have stood by me through all the years:
Do you object if I put ads into these updated games?
Right now, my games are ALMOST ALL freeloaders. I still get large amounts of downloads, but actual sales are low these days (the games are ancient now). So, almost everyone is playing free. Example of how I would implement ads would go like this:
1. Download game
2. For first 2 hours of play, no ads
3. At that point, ads start sneaking in-- for instance, in Solomon, you might randomly see them if you level up. The chance of seeing an ad increases as time passes.
4. By the time you've played for, say, 10 hours (game will keep timer), ads would be appearing every level up, or every time you died in RwK
5. (Most important part) Any kind of purchase at all turns ads off permanently.
What do you think?
Comments
Solomon: Ads during level up may confuse or annoy people. At the very least maybe whenever you die, or return to town. Also perhaps as some games do, an option to watch a short ad for gold or exp.
All ads will simply be full screen interstitials. I'm not ready yet to start floating ads over the gameplay area... the market may have changed enough that I have to swallow my game developer pride and put in ads, but I'm not THAT far gone yet.
vvllaadd99:
Yes, I will most definitely put in "watch this ad to get some gold." ... and I'll make note of that for the HD game too, there's all kinds of cute little rewards I can offer there, like watch an ad to improve your dousing.
And I've taken note of the levelup issue. Perhaps instead I will just stick to between floors, death, and back to town (i.e. transitions). But my inclination is that anyone who's played a looooong time without buying anything (i.e. won the game a few times) starts to get nagged more often.
I will put messages to that effect tho, like "You've been playing for over five hours! Your ads will increase in frequency now! You can end this torture at any time by making any purchase at all, though!"
I do, because of
> I have to swallow my game developer pride
Please, try to find a solution you'll be proud of. I like the compromise of showing an ad after level-up, because it balances a positive impression with a most probably negative one.
PS: For Hoggy (1) on Android large amounts of downloads but low actual sales may be because it just don't start anymore ^^ I downloaded it myself a couple of times to test if I could get it running...
But, that just means I would pay the price for the full version and view the free version as kind of a demo. In that case, for just a demo, I suppose it's reasonable to have ads in some form, and unfortunately I don't a suggestion on how to keep ads effective while making them less intrusive. At least you plan to only add them at points where the game is halted, anyway, which is definitely a plus.
So, all in all, I guess it's still the best you can do to still make some money off the games, which is definitely reasonable. Also, keeping ads turned off until some time into the game is a really good idea, because I think otherwise it could well be mistaken for the kind of F2P garbage that's floating around everywhere and makes some players quit right after starting.