shareware practices

[mick]

I like your game. You've done well.

I will not purchase it, or recommend it.

Your game opens my browser when it's closed. Without my permission. A nag screen is more acceptable. Hijacking my browser is unacceptable.

[Scott Lembcke]

Well, we won't delete a critical post simply because it's critical.

We thought that we being fairly nice about it originally. The "nag" screen at startup didn't force you to wait 10 seconds or something silly like that, and the only gameplay limitation was what was thought to be a rather generous score limit. We were greeted with fairly high download rates, favorable reviews, emails from fans saying that they liked the game, and a registration rate an order of magnitude lower than we expected. (Ambrosia tells a similar story http://www.ambrosiasw.com/forums/index. ... 6&t=34016#)

As ScribBall is still really our first game, and we are new to the whole shareware scene, we are still trying to figure out what works. We saw that other popular companies have done similar things. We thought maybe this would be a nice way to have a dynamic splash screen that we could update with new games and other news. If people find intrusive, we'll look into something else in the future.

We are trying to encourage sales and not scare away potential customers.

[I'd buy]

I'd buy, but 15 is far too much based on the demo. I'd pay $2-3 without too much problem, but $15? No way. You should offer a range of similar games for 2-4 each (say 6), or the pack of them for $15-20. I mean, it kills time, and you've done a good job with it. But it's not an exciting game, really. Minesweeper is more exciting.

Keep up the good work, but don't expect to sell many of these for $15. You say it's the cost of a movie, but that is a terrible comparison and in fact is probably a comparison that is working against you. Anyone who plays your game and then thinks, "gee, should I pay 15 for this or go to a movie?" is going to compare what he is getting for $15 and definitely go to the movie.

This is a game one can live without. Now, if it was the price of a hot-dog...

[I agree]

A good example is iDrops-which is more addictive than your game.
http://www.idropsgame.com
And it's only 99¢

[Way to much, guys!]

You guys are really going to have to bring down your prices. $15? The app store is going to be full of 99¢ games by Christmas. You don't stand much of a chance unless you, too, sell for 99¢!

[AndyKorth]

We're glad to hear your thoughts, although having the same person make essentially the same post under three names is less appreciated. The forum does record what IP you post from you know.

So there are a few points I'd like to make. First of all, the market for software for mobile devices is very different than the desktop software business. It's very common to find games like the one you like for very low prices or even for free. For example, if you like iDrops, I'd recommend the excellent reMovem, which seems to be basically the same, by Matthew Martel http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=286128390&mt=8 (link to app store). When we do make an iPod Touch / iPhone version of ScribBall, I assure you, it will be priced competitively for that market.

The desktop market rarely sees software in the same range as embedded devices. Although I'm not saying we'll never drop prices, compare the cost of Scribball to games by Freeverse or Ambrosia (like Big Bang Brain Games for $30). Or even compare that to another small Mac game developer, Red Marble Games. They sell their software for $20 and up (http://www.redmarblegames.com/buildalot.html).

Of course, not everyone will like our games the most, and that's okay. Variety is great. If you like other games, please play those. Different people will be looking for different kinds of games; our goal is to provide high quality games that our target audience will love. Just be sure to stop by and check out what we have.

-Andy

[I can never remember my user name]

OK, thanks, I will play other games!
Really, I'm just pretty bored.

[judy]

I really like it. I like that it's better to go slow and let things happen than to jump in and zip around pounding things fast.
I agree that $15 is steep. I'm still on the free version. I'd like to give you guys my support...but more like $3.
THanks! Any other games out there like it?
JO

[AndyKorth]

Since there's still interest in this thread, I figured I'd post an update.

Because of customer feedback, we've stopped opening browser windows when the unregistered version is closed. We hope that addresses your concerns.