Modern Games - How can anyone truly enjoy them

Started by Matty, June 11, 2018, 07:47:01

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Matty

I'm mainly focusing on mobile games since that's what I know.

Typically if I look for a strategy game download the following scenarios exist:

1. Game looks beautiful in screenshots but demands ridiculous permissions like my sms history.  No install.

2. Game is full of chinglish advertising on the screenshots with busty anime girls and lots of stuff about upgrading your heroes for pvp.  Sorry no install.

3. Game is a clash of clans clone even down to the visuals of the promotional material so no download either-already played clash of clans.

4.  Game has more 1 star reviews than 4 star but about 15x as many 5 star reviews-fake fake fake...i tell you to frak off.

5. A game that looks reasonable gets downloaded.

Playing game:

1. This is your first mission 'here is the knight facing off against 1 low level enemy.  Click attack! Well done, you win here's a treasure chest with your first magic item'. Oh you've unlocked the archer. Use him with no option to do anything else in your next battle.

2. Fight a few more tutorial battles with a drip feed of new units but still no real choices.

3. Oh you played a real battle.  Use gems to heal those units that were always going to die.  Good thing we gave you several hundred for free to use on battles that you're scripted to win 50 50.

4. Oh now after an hour of play your gems have run out but you can buy more with real money or forget about playing.


Typically I Uninstall very early on.....but they all go this way.

It's not a real game in my book. 

Derron

You forgot that you can get gems for free:
- clicking on "like us on facebook"
- clicking on youtube links
- ...
- ...
- waiting a longer time until you get your daily "free gems"

Paying nothing for a game than with your time is more than legal. If the advertising for "buy new gems" isn't that much "promoted" in the game I think this is a good way to monetarize your game. Also it should be possible to earn gems by doing repetitive tasks ("farming") or progressing in the game with your own skills ...
Nonetheless you always will have some kind of "luck" in a game. And if that luck isn't crippled ("if rand(100) < 50 - (amountOfGems*2) then GainGem()") it does well to a game - as this adds a bit of "I feel lucky"-feeling.


Mobile games need to look:
- visually attractive to have a chances at the masses
- "known" (so people have assumptions of how it plays compared to famous titles)

If you make your "looks unique" thing you need social media buzz which we most often do not get. You will find fans liking this "individual style" and so on. These games could sell at a fixed price later on (no "free to play / iap" thing).

Aside of that you still need the luck to get "seen" - which is the hardest part of all.


bye
Ron

ENAY

Rule of thumb. Except for the awesome Clash Royale. (VS Plants VS Zombies)
Mobile gaming is utter shite.

Holzchopf

#3
Quote from: ENAY on June 12, 2018, 02:12:06Mobile gaming is utter shite.

This might be the reason why
1) I almost never play games on my mobile
2) I wanted to start to make mobile games (either they turn out as the rest of the mass or they provide an island of un-shite-ness, and my plan is to put work into them as I was aiming for the first but hope it turns out to be the latter)


Can't add anything to what Ron said. Except maybe
- the best feature so far in the game has now moved to the "pro version that only costs $4.99"


ENAY

Mobile phones have two massive issues

- Touch screen

It's not good for almost any game, it sucks. Also even on Clash Royale, sometimes the screen will be a bit dirty and a tiny bit of dust will register a touch. It's going to be a problem with gaming on smart phones, FOREVER

- Network connection

Almost all games on mobile have shitty microtransactions and therefore need an Internet connection, this wastes battery and uses up bandwidth. And so even on Clash Royale, suddenly there will be seconds of no signal, enough time to screw up your ranking battle. Even a game like Clash Royale, I'd prefer it to be on Vita and offline.