UK advertising standards on EA's Dungeon keeper

I think if it ever got down to it a judge would see right through that sort of thing and not appreciate the attempt to circumvent legislation at all.

for the light reading types.

www.kotaku.co.uk/2014/07/02/advertising-standards-agency-agree-dungeon-keeper-ios-rip 
 

"The ASA noted that the game software was available to download for free, and that it was possible to play the game without spending money. However, we understood that several mechanisms within the game took a significant amount of time to be completed, and that these would only be speeded up by using the premium Gem currency.

We consequently considered it likely that many players would regard the gameplay experience as unexpectedly curtailed and as a result would need to spend Gems in order to achieve the form of gameplay anticipated.

Because the game had the potential to restrict gameplay beyond that which would be expected by consumers and the ad did not make this aspect of the role of in-app purchasing clear, we concluded that it was misleading."

I'm glad they are forcing companies to be more honest about their models as well. I think the wording in their finding was perfect, and really illustrates just how much some of these studios are dishonestly pushing their snake oil.


Can you imagine inviting your friends over for a weekly game of "free to play" cards, only to stop 10 minutes in and demand they pony up £59.99 or they would be dismissed from the game until the next weekend? That's about how honest a multiplayer F2P model is. There's no way to remain competitive unless you're paying like the rest of the whales. Pay to Win in sheep's clothing.

Advertising a "free to drink" pint of ale that just packs in the crowd at the Pub? Only to tell them "Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot to mention after your first swig you'll have to shell out £9.99 or sadly you'll have to come back tomorrow for the rest." That's how "Pay to Play" models strike me. They cheapen the experience with silly timers that any analyst will tell you has very real psychological power to force compulsive behaviors. Throw an hour timer into any game and the excitement I once had for the game goes as flat as the ale.

Sitting at my favorite Cafe when the waitress suggests I might be interested in an "invest to drink" cup of tea. It's free up front but if I want to exceed one sip a minute, that'll cost me. I'm sure I'll be able to find plenty of things to do between sips if I don't want to "invest" in draining my cup while i snap picutes to share with all my freinds to show how cultured and "invested" I am. *wink wink. I don't have much to say on the "Invest to Play" model, since it hasn't been invented yet (haha), but I'm sure we'll all have a laugh when it's shallow underside shows itself.

Heyooo, want a sweeeeeet "free to download" version of Adobe Photoshop? Here ya go buddie. Ohhh, you wanted to be able do something with it? That's another story. Here's an ala carte menu of delicious unlockables. My favorite is the "Open File" feature... just £19.99! If you want the "Save File" feature, you can buy the two in a pack for £49.98! Ala Carte "freemium" models are the worst, especially if they aren't clear up front. Get halfway through the game and find out you just hit a £39.99 paywall? Tough. Wankers...

Of course all analogies become flawed at some point... but these were fun to write.

As some have stated before. There are F2P models out there that only sell cosmetics that don't affect game mechanics or competitive play. I don't have a problem with that, at all.

That's a fair point. They really do need to think of some kind of spin to make this thing solvent without alienating a huge chunk of their fan base. Hopefully Peter pulls a rabbit (or an oak tree) out of his hat and stuns us all.

The problem with a fast-forward is that the model they're designing won't work with it.  PM doesn't want a "replay" of the game.  His plans are for there to be one single progression through the timeline and he's stated he's not sure people will "ever" reach the modern era.  The timeline is never something we're going to cap out.  It's clear from the timers that they're going to use long waits to prevent dedicated hard core players from doing so. 

My problem is that they don't seem to have studied long term play expectations.  There needs to be something to do over a long stretch if it's going to work.  The Voyages aren't enough of a time sink.  Commandments aren't going to be a time sink.  Hubworld "might" be a bit of a time sink but it's still vaporware at this point so there's no point in crediting it with anything yet.  At this point, the only thing to do that takes up any amount of time is sculpting and PM hates that we're doing so much of it. 

The biggest question about what Godus is has to do with activities.  What does 22Cans expect a player to be doing if they play Godus regularly for 6 months?  At this point, it's watch timers and minimize the game.  When we hit the pc focus, I don't see that to change and it's the biggest issue with it.  A person may be technically in a football game if they've been benched the whole time, but it's not the same as actually being on the field and part of the action.  Godus is all bench sitting.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in those financial/analytic meetings. 

I think that's where quite a bit of anxiety for us backers lies. They've given us a few fluffy reassurances that they will deliver "the game Peter intended" on PC, but then again they've repeatedly alluded to kickstarter/early access giving them an air tight legal mulligan if they don't, which, why on earth would you ever ever bring that up if you wanted to instill confidence in your backers.. ugh. 

I can imagine. Your battle doesn't seem to be a pleasant one to fight, at all. I appreciate your feedback to our concerns, though, even if they aren't quite as specific and thorough as we wish they were (I know you can't spill all the beans).

They may not have a choice, and they'd be extremely justified.  If the mobile version is a financial success, it'd be silly not to focus on that.

The perception of this game on PC is, fair to say, bad.  Bad press, bad community interaction, the 'reviews' page on steam is a horror show, bad on a lot of levels we can go on about (or let Splitterwind go on about it ).  I can't imagine it's selling all that well.  At least on Steam, currently, it sits at number 66 on the early access best-seller list, which I cannot fathom translates into robust sales figures.  It's been ranked down in the 40s to 50s for a few months, now.  That's just considering early access titles, specifically.

George is right when he states that the only thing that will change the perception of this game is content deliverables (or however he phrased it).  Since he joined their staff, communication has improved immensely.  That hasn't really improved perception of the game, however -  going by steam charts numbers, the game has lost a little over 100 players on average since he joined, which is huge considering it's currently averaging 219 players a day.  That's crazy low.