Because he really *likes* these bananas and eventually he wants more of them than he gets for free. hehe
Well... As we know "Eli" also enjoys getting his free bananas. But, he has a finite period of time per day that he can eat, meaning that he won't be able to get as many bananas as he likes during the day. So, he buys the banana boosters so that he gets more out of his bananas when he has time to eat them.
There was no doubt in my mind that the freemium model is profitable, which is exactly what scares the hell out of me! Zynga, Playfish and a whole lot more have gross unbelievable figures because of this model making them the ENVY of more conventional gaming companies. I am under the impression that Ngmoco come to the descision to RIP OFF this freemium model ( some call it innovate hahaha) and bring them over into the platform because they are ENVY of the $$$ that these social games had brought these companies. Now the problem lies if Ngmoco succeeds and in turn becames the ENVY of other good devs! It will ruin the platform for me!
The freemium model absolutely sucks. And i stopped playing Eliminate because i found myself spending an absorbitant amount of money on it and did not want to support this for fear of it becoming the norm. Eliminate is a fun game. Its awesome but i found i had spent over 100 dollars over several weeks playing it and had to stop. I would gladly have payed $50 for it if i could play it without haqving to re buy into it. i think its that good. The idea that u dont have to pay is ridiculous. Would you play a RPG if u had to pay to level up? or didnt pay and couldnt level up? How many people would be playing CAll of Duty 2 Online if they were given a free copy but had to buy energy every three matches for ridiculous prices or had to wait to play it again? It would cost them thousands. I know when i start playing multiplayer online i usually get into it and want to play all night. It wouldnt work on XBox and it sucks that its happening here.
But "Eli" is a hobo who never buys bananas anyways. Why would he pay for something he A) already has, B) will always have and C) wouldn't have paid for in the first place?
And the fact that Web Sites loose credibility cause they are bias to companies that support them financially is an unfortunate truth. Case in point is Gamespot which fired a reviewer from their site cause he gave Kane and Lynch an average score at best. The developers from this game had just paid Gamespot lots of money for advertising and the bad review killed game sales. It is why there was a mass quiting at that site and the guys started Giant Bomb and it is also why i take reviews on Gamespot with a fine grain of salt. So for Hodapp to say it doesnt happen at TA is something i just dont believe. Iam not that naive. Now a days games u dont see a review for a game that gets mediocre review scores until way after the game is released. On the console and PC gaming sites that is.
OK, after three months he breaks down and spends $1. Congratulations NGmoco, you've gained one dollar after three months! I personally haven't bought any energy packs and someone needs to create a poll to see who has.
Since I am following Arn's model, Eli DOES have money. Since not all of us are hobos and can afford to pay somewhat. He knows that he can have it forever and free, but he needs it NOW, and that is a price that he is willing to pay.
That controversy is Gamespot's watergate. I never took them seriously after that. I just hope TA does not follow the same route although the Admin obviously treats Ngmoco above all other iphone devs.
I will not deny that there may not be a bit of bias, but why does no one take the idea that this may be a group of honest people running a review site? As said before, they do give A LOT of coverage to ngmoco but don't they do the same with every other major company? Some may argue that every bit of ngmoco news is covered but that seems to be since ngmoco is simply willing to open up and give TA a sneak peak. Should TA decline this offer and not attempt to get a leg up on other review sites? The bottom line is that TA seems to have developed a relationship with ngmoco that gives us, the consumer, insight on upcoming titles. Why should we be complaining?
Amen Sarcastic GAmer. i reallt hope they dont go this route either. I dont even look at Gamespots reviews anymore. I only check their site for game videos and or new releases etc. and i feel i shouldnt even give them that much in the way of support.
The fact that on the We Rule thread Hodapp put a siren up asking everyone to cool it on the freemium and Ngmoco bashing says it all. He asked that this thread be for people who like the game and Ngmoco or smoething like that. Cmon Hodapp. Seriously???? A flashing siren? Whats the pricing of that game gonna be? Free for the app and 1.99 for each shovel and hole u dig?
This. There are uncountable BS happening on almost every Gameloft thread on top of the hundred of Gameloft suck thread that keeps on popping up but did we see the same 'devotion' from Hodapp and co.? Seriously what's up with ngmoco?
SG. if u want more proof. Read further on the We Rule thread. Hodapp responds to all the poeple complaining about all the ads claiming they are not intrusive AT ALL. No, ads are GREAT !! Please give me ads in all my games. Cmon Hodapp.
I think they had a small part in it - But the game came out at a time when all the other games out there basically sucked.
What's with all the conspiracy theorists rearing their ugly heads all of a sudden? In all seriousness guys, please exercise a bit of common sense. Is it Gameloft that is trying to push an entirely new and very controversial pricing model? Oh, they're not? Everyone saw how out of hand it got with the Eliminate and TouchPets threads, and so Eli/Hodapp is simply trying to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a bit of order. Many people are still nursing bruises over arguments in those threads from both sides of the fence. Wouldn't that best be kept to another thread, so as not to fill the release thread with pages upon pages of to-ing and fro-ing? And for those of you who claim TA is backing some sort of ngmoco AppStore coup-- get a grip please. For one, it only takes a little bit of searching to find threads where TA admins and reviewers were themselves on differing sides of the fence with the freemium model debate. Heck, I started up a few threads myself championing a few things I didn't like and wanted changed. And secondly, the freemium model itself means ngmoco doesn't need third party websites or advertising to back it up. Gamers can decide for themselves by simply playing the game-- it's free, right? Why the heck should they waste money on ads when they know any free game worth its weight in salt ends up circulating in massive numbers. Let's all wake up a bit and stop posting nonsense.
Additionally, has anyone thought that the admins may enjoy the ngmoco games much more than Gameloft clones therefore there are already reading those threads out of enjoyment, and do not read the Gameloft since they don't enjoy them? Just a thought...
Hodapp. Answer me something. And please be truthful. I dont see TA on the list of sites belonging to O.A.T.S. Which pledges that your reviews and opinions are not biased or swayed by any advertising moneys from developers. Touchgen and STP are all members. Are u guys members? If so thats great. If not How come? seems like this would put the whole debate to rest.
On the topic of clones isnt We rule an inferior clone of Farmville, touchpets an inferior clone of Pet society, even Eliminate is just a generic FPS based on the quake engine. Even the Social networking model is cloned. I laugh at fanboys claiming Ngmoco is the innovator of the Appstore when all their games are unoriginal and save for the rolando series ( which also takes inspiration from LOco Roco) , average at best! Well what's next ngmoco? Cafe world?
