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How In-app Purchases Has Destroyed The Industry

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hamradio:
I don't like writing negative articles that don't include a solution to the problem, but in this case, there is no solution. The state of in-app purchases has now reached a level where we have completely lost it. Not only has the gaming industry shot itself in the foot, hacked off their other foot, and lost both its arms ... but it's still engaging in a strategy that will only damage it further.

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http://www.baekdal.com/opinion/how-inapp-purchases-has-destroyed-the-industry

from Baekdal

Renegade:
Only shaving the surface... It's much worse than that.

Deozaan:
I had just downloaded Dungeon Keeper to my tablet Saturday, played it a bit, and then a bit more Sunday. Having been a big fan of Dungeon Keeper 2 (I never played the original), I was so frustrated with the in-app purchases (IAP) that I left the game a one-star review and recommended people pick up the original games on GOG.com for a few bucks.

Almost immediately after I'd left my review, I saw a link to this article on Twitter. I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates this kind of IAP gouging with a passion.

Another great article on the subject (mentioned at the bottom of that one) is:

Optimizing Your Industry to the Point of Suicide

My new review for EA games and others that engage in these awful practices:

Free-to rate (1 star)
1 star: free
2 stars: $9.99
3 stars: $18.99 (most popular!)
4 stars: $27.99
5 stars: $34.99 (best deal!)

wraith808:
From the comments (and I totally endorse this comment)

To "fix" this problem, we need to make it acceptable to pay real-world prices for games so that developers don't feel the need to turn into greedy cretins.

We've entirely caused this by going "pfft! SEVEN QUID FOR AN IPHONE GAME?" and then rushing off to buy 99p games loaded with micro-transactions. And also "Oh this is a phone, I don't have time to sit for three hours playing games on it, I have five minutes at dinner... and now I will forget about your game and never ever play it again because I have 60 other cheap ones to go through"

And EA is bonkers... maybe they're trying to claw back money lost in SimCity ;-)

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And that's the problem- we've steered them in this direction.  Where people don't want to pay $5 or $10 for a decent program, but want everything for free.  First they subsidized with ads, and had a full version with no ads.  But that's not popular.  So now, its micro transactions.  And most companies just don't know how to do it.

The same thing for f2p games.

wraith808:
Another good comment:

"Basically the content industry has turned into the tobacco industry. A business that is causing harm to their customers, but it works because they are engaged in a pay-for-addiction strategy that forces people to stick with them.

There is nothing wrong with micro payments or in-app purchases if it is used to enhance the experience, but that's not what these CEOs are doing. They are using gamification to cheat you into becoming addicted to their product, then gradually lowering the experience to a point where you just cannot stand it anymore."

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