[Audyssey] a discussion on freemium games
hi. Those of you who are Simpsons fans might already know the dead Homer society article (or rather novellaa), on the concept of Zombie simpsons, ie, why the Simpsons is no longer where it was and what it might be devolving into, (If you don't know it and are a simpsons fan i definitely suggest giving it a read, sinse at the same time it manages to be both highly readable and entertaining and extremely well researched). However, checking out that article again I notice that the webmaster has written a similarly in depth treatment of The Simpsons Tapped out game on Android which may be found here http://deadhomersociety.com/tapped-in/ I am %90 certain that this game is inaccessible, however Why have I posted this in General game discussion? Because the discussion of The Tapped out simpsons game goes into heavy detail on the concept of Freemium games, that is games that are essentially free to download and play but have a premium currency that is used to buy certain features or expantions in the game, especially I might add for these sorts of games that fall somewhere between resource management and a slot machine. I found the comparison of these to gambling and the idea that their ultimate aime is too get you into a state where you lose money quite worrying, however I have noticed such tendencies myself in games from the defunct Legend of Zork (cryticized as a payment system disguised as a game), to Epical gladiators, and possibly some of the Storm8 titles, games that exist more for the repetitive task than anything else. Of course, such a thing is a sliding scale, and a game like Puppet Nightmares or even a time management style game like Solara isn't guilty of all the same shabby tricks, for example spending of premium currency with no confirmation that Tapped out is guilty of, however I did find some cryticisms here quite fascinating for example the need to contribute four or five times the price f a standard mainstream game to unlock game features for essentially not much reward, indeed I have been investigating Lords and KNights for a db entry and I was interested to see how many of these cryticisms applies. As I said, from the article it is clear that Simpsons Tapped out is a relatively extreme example of this form of gambling disguised as a computer game,but it's probably worth thinking about some of these things next time you considder whether to buy that extra bag of gold and just what the game is actually giving you in return or what it is trying to do, and a bit of awareness of possible abuses of a given system never hurts, especially with how common this idea of freemium perchices is. Dark. Take them to the refirbished chamber that was once bad! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] a discussion on freemium games
Dice World, a game for iDevices does offer in-app purchases, but they are not necessary to play the game. I think this is a fair practice. --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! - Original Message - From: dark d...@xgam.org To: Gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2014 3:23 AM Subject: [Audyssey] a discussion on freemium games hi. Those of you who are Simpsons fans might already know the dead Homer society article (or rather novellaa), on the concept of Zombie simpsons, ie, why the Simpsons is no longer where it was and what it might be devolving into, (If you don't know it and are a simpsons fan i definitely suggest giving it a read, sinse at the same time it manages to be both highly readable and entertaining and extremely well researched). However, checking out that article again I notice that the webmaster has written a similarly in depth treatment of The Simpsons Tapped out game on Android which may be found here http://deadhomersociety.com/tapped-in/ I am %90 certain that this game is inaccessible, however Why have I posted this in General game discussion? Because the discussion of The Tapped out simpsons game goes into heavy detail on the concept of Freemium games, that is games that are essentially free to download and play but have a premium currency that is used to buy certain features or expantions in the game, especially I might add for these sorts of games that fall somewhere between resource management and a slot machine. I found the comparison of these to gambling and the idea that their ultimate aime is too get you into a state where you lose money quite worrying, however I have noticed such tendencies myself in games from the defunct Legend of Zork (cryticized as a payment system disguised as a game), to Epical gladiators, and possibly some of the Storm8 titles, games that exist more for the repetitive task than anything else. Of course, such a thing is a sliding scale, and a game like Puppet Nightmares or even a time management style game like Solara isn't guilty of all the same shabby tricks, for example spending of premium currency with no confirmation that Tapped out is guilty of, however I did find some cryticisms here quite fascinating for example the need to contribute four or five times the price f a standard mainstream game to unlock game features for essentially not much reward, indeed I have been investigating Lords and KNights for a db entry and I was interested to see how many of these cryticisms applies. As I said, from the article it is clear that Simpsons Tapped out is a relatively extreme example of this form of gambling disguised as a computer game,but it's probably worth thinking about some of these things next time you considder whether to buy that extra bag of gold and just what the game is actually giving you in return or what it is trying to do, and a bit of awareness of possible abuses of a given system never hurts, especially with how common this idea of freemium perchices is. Dark. Take them to the refirbished chamber that was once bad! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] a discussion on freemium games
Hi charlse. The point however of the article was that resource management games like the Simpsons Tapped in were using slot machine tricks in order to hook players into paying, for example increasing the amount of time needed to play the game by tapping round the screen without actually need to think, and also making the extra resource and needed buildings extremely expensive relative to similarly priced mainstream games and only affordable with the custom currency. It was actually making the point that none of this was needed! but all the factors were calculated enough to make people spend money like on a slot machine, rather than as inherent part of the game, indeed the conclusion of the article was that certain freemium practices weren't games any longer but were much closer to gamling. That is why the need to play idea doesn't quite cover things. All the best, Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] a discussion on freemium games
I think I see the point of the article. Customers should be told, right up front, what they are going to encounter. In a sense, the game companies are trying to get your money by having you play in such a way as to unknowingly give it to them, and are, to a point, ripping you off by not giving you much for your money even if you are aware of what you're spending. --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! - Original Message - From: dark d...@xgam.org To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2014 5:24 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] a discussion on freemium games Hi charlse. The point however of the article was that resource management games like the Simpsons Tapped in were using slot machine tricks in order to hook players into paying, for example increasing the amount of time needed to play the game by tapping round the screen without actually need to think, and also making the extra resource and needed buildings extremely expensive relative to similarly priced mainstream games and only affordable with the custom currency. It was actually making the point that none of this was needed! but all the factors were calculated enough to make people spend money like on a slot machine, rather than as inherent part of the game, indeed the conclusion of the article was that certain freemium practices weren't games any longer but were much closer to gamling. That is why the need to play idea doesn't quite cover things. All the best, Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] a discussion on freemium games
The other point of the article charlse that I found quite interesting, was the fact that a lot of those styles of games that have you check in occasionally, do a bit of mindless clicking for experience and go back are closer to the mechanical process of a slot machine, than a true resource management game where your actively thinking about the world and where to put things, that the game has gone more into generating cash by actively encouraging you to spend time through mindless clicking than to give you a serious challenge and entertinament. I've certainly seen my share of games that have nothing in gameplay but dayly clicks and yet have custom currencies and very expensive purchices that do not a lot but increase time. Of course this isn't to say all games are like That. Solara has it's share of tactics, as well as lots of fun stuff like described artwork, stories and dayly challenges that have nothing to do with making you pay for Esper, but as I said I've seen far too many games that don't have these factors. I've been recently trying out Lords and knights, and while it undoubtedly has a major element of resource management and pvp for those who are interested in such, it also does have some of the hallmarks of this style of play, for example going back every so often and needing just to click a few buttons to get your in game resources, as well as some pretty pointless uses for gold, though Lords and Knights is still very up front about when you are and aren't needing to use paid currency. Beware the greu1 Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
