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Post by Overpromise on Sept 7, 2016 1:33:29 GMT
Just noticed the developer is listed as Kongregate. Industry camouflage fail. nice try though  ehh, that's really just the App Store, nothing sneaky. It doesn't display the developer – it only shows the publisher. Remember that Godus was published by DeNA. Interesting. on the Godus store page it lists DeNA as the "seller" no mention of a developer or publisher. On the trail page, it lists the Developer as Kongregate, no mention of a seller or publisher. maybe that's what threw me off. You're probably right, but considering it's running its test release on the Philippines iTunes store and there's no real mention of 22cans on the page, it leads me to believe they were attempting to run as stealth as possible as long as possible. got a little chuckle out of the reviews on the page so far. Same old 22cans. |
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Post by greay on Sept 7, 2016 1:51:22 GMT
they are mentioned – The Trail is © 2016 22cans. That said, while it's definitely not a secret plot on their end, I would not be the least bit surprised if they view their name being buried as a blessing. And for people curious about the monetization, we have these top 2 in-app purchases: - Starter Pack 1.99 USD
- 70 Favors 4.99 USD
It's not really clear from the store page whether the monetization is fair or bordering on extortion. No word on what the upper bounds is, either (I'm sure there's a $99 pack in there, somewhere). And if there's any cosmetic purchases, no one's bought them yet. |
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Post by Overpromise on Sept 7, 2016 2:06:06 GMT
no biggie, but this is what I'm, seeing in iTunes  |
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Post by Overpromise on Sept 7, 2016 2:09:33 GMT
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Post by Crumpy Six on Sept 7, 2016 7:20:39 GMT
they are mentioned – The Trail is © 2016 22cans. That said, while it's definitely not a secret plot on their end, I would not be the least bit surprised if they view their name being buried as a blessing. And for people curious about the monetization, we have these top 2 in-app purchases: - Starter Pack 1.99 USD
- 70 Favors 4.99 USD
It's not really clear from the store page whether the monetization is fair or bordering on extortion. No word on what the upper bounds is, either (I'm sure there's a $99 pack in there, somewhere). And if there's any cosmetic purchases, no one's bought them yet. One possibility: "starter pack" is a set of basic, permanent items that are more-or-less essential to play the game, so it's effectively a two dollar app. You get to play the first few sections as a demo, then if you like it you can pay to unlock the main game. I wouldn't mind this kind of mechanic. I pay for games all the time. But then I wouldn't expect to spend more money later in the game, and the pack of 70 "favors" suggests this might be the case. Edit: you can see some brief player reviews of the game here: itunes.apple.com/ph/app/the-trail-a-frontier-journey/id1147002179?mt=8Of the three visible right now, two are 4-star and one is 5. The 4-stars complain of a glitch where their furniture disappears (apparently you end up settling and building a house). 5-star adds this: "Earning of chits is hard tho cause the ticket is so expensive. :/ ". Not sure what this refers to. |
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Post by Overpromise on Sept 7, 2016 7:25:35 GMT
they are mentioned – The Trail is © 2016 22cans. That said, while it's definitely not a secret plot on their end, I would not be the least bit surprised if they view their name being buried as a blessing. And for people curious about the monetization, we have these top 2 in-app purchases: - Starter Pack 1.99 USD
- 70 Favors 4.99 USD
It's not really clear from the store page whether the monetization is fair or bordering on extortion. No word on what the upper bounds is, either (I'm sure there's a $99 pack in there, somewhere). And if there's any cosmetic purchases, no one's bought them yet. One possibility: "starter pack" is a set of basic, permanent items that are more-or-less essential to play the game, so it's effectively a two dollar app. You get to play the first few sections as a demo, then if you like it you can pay to unlock the main game. I wouldn't mind this kind of mechanic. I pay for games all the time. But then I wouldn't expect to spend more money later in the game, and the pack of 70 "favors" suggests this might be the case. I agree entirely. However, we already have a pretty good idea what Simon considers a "good value" for content. Maybe he learned something from the last attempt? |
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Post by greay on Sept 7, 2016 7:59:19 GMT
no biggie, but this is what I'm, seeing in iTunes Yeah, it only shows those 2 purchases – but the store won't show all possible purchases, just the "top" ones. So nobody (or not enough) people have bought the higher packs, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. One possibility: "starter pack" is a set of basic, permanent items that are more-or-less essential to play the game, so it's effectively a two dollar app. You get to play the first few sections as a demo, then if you like it you can pay to unlock the main game. I wouldn't mind this kind of mechanic. I pay for games all the time. But then I wouldn't expect to spend more money later in the game, and the pack of 70 "favors" suggests this might be the case. That's possible, but I'd wager that the "starter pack" is just a discounted (maybe one-time-only) pack of whatever the premium currency is (signs point to "favors") |
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Post by militairensneuvelen on Sept 7, 2016 8:00:58 GMT
 They will be folding. Soonus. |
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Post by Spiderweb on Sept 7, 2016 14:06:49 GMT
Personally I'm reluctant to say this but I do hope it is a huge success (nobody really wins if the studio closes or goes bankrupt - unless of course you want to see that happen) and 22cans then puts some revenue back into finishing Godus (yes believe or not I'd still like to see that).
Let me add I have no intentions of buying it as it is not my cup of tea in the slightest.
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Post by Deth on Sept 7, 2016 14:46:17 GMT
ehh, that's really just the App Store, nothing sneaky. It doesn't display the developer – it only shows the publisher. Remember that Godus was published by DeNA. Interesting. on the Godus store page it lists DeNA as the "seller" no mention of a developer or publisher. On the trail page, it lists the Developer as Kongregate, no mention of a seller or publisher. maybe that's what threw me off. You're probably right, but considering it's running its test release on the Philippines iTunes store and there's no real mention of 22cans on the page, it leads me to believe they were attempting to run as stealth as possible as long as possible. got a little chuckle out of the reviews on the page so far. Same old 22cans. I think they are side stepping the 22Cans name. Looking at developers.kongregate.com/docs/why-kong/welcome they seem to call them selves Kongregate Developers. So maybe is you develop a game under their umbrella you can call the game developed by Kongregate? But looking on Kongregate all the games say buy someone beside Kongregate. OK Looking at Spellstone on Kongregate is by the creators but on Itones it is by Kongregate. So 22cans is side stepping it by going through Kongregate getting them to publish it to Itunes for them. |
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Post by greay on Sept 7, 2016 19:34:14 GMT
Interesting. on the Godus store page it lists DeNA as the "seller" no mention of a developer or publisher. On the trail page, it lists the Developer as Kongregate, no mention of a seller or publisher. maybe that's what threw me off. You're probably right, but considering it's running its test release on the Philippines iTunes store and there's no real mention of 22cans on the page, it leads me to believe they were attempting to run as stealth as possible as long as possible. got a little chuckle out of the reviews on the page so far. Same old 22cans. I think they are side stepping the 22Cans name. Looking at developers.kongregate.com/docs/why-kong/welcome they seem to call them selves Kongregate Developers. So maybe is you develop a game under their umbrella you can call the game developed by Kongregate? But looking on Kongregate all the games say buy someone beside Kongregate. OK Looking at Spellstone on Kongregate is by the creators but on Itones it is by Kongregate. So 22cans is side stepping it by going through Kongregate getting them to publish it to Itunes for them. If Kongregate publishes the game (on the iTunes Store), the developer is listed as Kongregate. That's all it is. The real question is why they went with a different publisher this time around... |
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Post by Crumpy Six on Sept 8, 2016 9:21:13 GMT
I feel I've learned a lot about journalism from the Godus/22Cans saga. I keep a keen eye out for any articles about 22Cans and their shenanigans, and it's always the same: one person gets the scoop. A couple of others pick it up and run with it, doing some decent investigation and analysis. And dozens of other lazy hacks just repeat what everyone else is saying with minimal research or fact-checking. The quality articles rapidly get buried in a pile of low-effort, low-content cannibalistic rubbish.
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Post by Crumpy Six on Sept 10, 2016 10:04:07 GMT
The iTunes preview page now reveals the following top 4 in-app purchases:
Starter Pack USD 1.99
70 Favours USD 4.99
10 Favours USD 0.99
300 Favours USD 19.99
A pretty typical pricing structure for in-game currency. There are now 24 ratings with an average of 3 stars. Players are apparently experiencing recurring glitches with crafted items disappearing, but other than that the reviews are positive and describe the game as "addictive" (which is of course exactly how these games are designed).
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Post by Crumpy Six on Sept 22, 2016 9:26:02 GMT
Version history on iTunes shows 22Cans are applying regular updates and maintenance to The Trail, as you would expect from a game in soft release. They also directly address their players in the updates ("Hello Travelers!") so at least this is one group of customers whose existence they are prepared to acknowledge. The reviewers continue to complain about bugs, but in general the game is receiving positive ratings and praise.
I don't know how long these things normally take, but might we expect a wider release by Christmas? I'm assuming they'll need some kind of strategy for handling Godus PR when they do that. Releasing the Trail in full will mean having to engage with the media and it's inevitable they'll be asked about Godus and Bryan.
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Sept 22, 2016 9:37:40 GMT
Maybe once the trail is fully released they'll start working on godus again.
/straightface
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Aug 21, 2024 19:32:37 GMT
Aug 21, 2024 19:32:37 GMT
