Whats with the rant on these guys on the app store about PINBALL ARCADE

[Advalle]

I checked out the reviews on the app store about this app and a few of them complain a little bit too much. I dont know, sure there are problems here and there but to be honest there is no game i have ever enjoyed so much in my life and it is not that expensive. I will buy anything from TPA from now on. Comment if you appreciate what these guys do.

 

[Heretic]

Tbh farsight hasnt created the matrix so its false advertising....they arent real enough, why i cant i print if a fully working 3d model?

Cheap skates

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

If I had to guess, many of them are complaining that they have to pay (an average of) 10 quarters for unlimited play of a table that used to cost 2 or 3 quarters per game.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Yes, it's nice that apps are so dirt cheap these days, but unfortunately it's created a ton of spoiled crybabies.

 

[esp2000]

There are some people who will complain about anything and are never happy.

 

[BonzoGonzo]

yep

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

When its free dont complain but when you pay to play get a gaming device! Or your the only one to be mad at. I pay same price as apps but get better controls, graphics and sound. Go back to farmville.

 

[iCub]

The 99c /69p/ 89e iTunes ecosystem has totally distorted public perception of game value across the board imo. It is slowly eroding our hobby as prices fall but people's expectations rise in line with technological advances.

More and more developers are forced into F2P models in order to get people through the door. This is being exploited by businesses that develop shiny but empty tat, designed to gouge money from the player. Meanwhile quality games that ask a few $/£/E up front are sinking in the mire, getting totally overlooked or dismissed as expensive.

I personally hope people wake up and the whole house of cards comes crashing down so the ecosystem can undergo a reset of perceptions.

Excuse my rant... I just don't like what is happening to a hobby I have had for over 30 years. Developers going bust all over the place, identikit conveyor belt FPS filling shelves, F2P being hailed as the solution to everything.

Maybe I am just OLD.

 

[Sinistar]

The 99c /69p/ 89e iTunes ecosystem has totally distorted public perception of game value across the board imo. It is slowly eroding our hobby as prices fall but people's expectations rise in line with technological advances.

More and more developers are forced into F2P models in order to get people through the door. This is being exploited by businesses that develop shiny but empty tat, designed to gouge money from the player. Meanwhile quality games that ask a few $/£/E up front are sinking in the mire, getting totally overlooked or dismissed as expensive.

I personally hope people wake up and the whole house of cards comes crashing down so the ecosystem can undergo a reset of perceptions.

Excuse my rant... I just don't like what is happening to a hobby I have had for over 30 years. Developers going bust all over the place, identikit conveyor belt FPS filling shelves, F2P being hailed as the solution to everything.

Maybe I am just OLD.

Oh I completly agree. These phone babies get cheap games and handy platform to enjoy them on, and are never happy . The industry now sees the folly of going full bore into phone games. They now have lowered the prices so low, that normal games wont sell in big quantities. Suddenly $5 for DLC is a expense they call "expensive" really $5?? Where were these outraged fans when activision raised Call of Duty PC to $59.99 and made Billions of dollars ? Do you know why I hate that game ? Because after it broke all those records , nearly all PC games charge $59.99 , last year Activision decided to basically charge money for patches and minor services most games gave out for free. The result? now EA is doing it with Battlefield 3. I choose my battles and outrage for the things that are patently over-priced , these folks seem to do it , without hesitation on everything . Like some consumers , they think if they make a big stink they will get something cheaper or for nothing.

 

[brakel]

Oh I completly agree. These phone babies get cheap games and handy platform to enjoy them on, and are never happy . The industry now sees the folly of going full bore into phone games. They now have lowered the prices so low, that normal games wont sell in big quantities. Suddenly $5 for DLC is a expense they call "expensive" really $5?? Where were these outraged fans when activision raised Call of Duty PC to $59.99 and made Billions of dollars ? Do you know why I hate that game ? Because after it broke all those records , nearly all PC games charge $59.99 , last year Activision decided to basically charge money for patches and minor services most games gave out for free. The result? now EA is doing it with Battlefield 3. I choose my battles and outrage for the things that are patently over-priced , these folks seem to do it , without hesitation on everything . Like some consumers , they think if they make a big stink they will get something cheaper or for nothing.

Those problems come down to the pressure for companies (especially publicly traded companies) to show profit growth every year. When you're in a mature or over saturated market, the only way to do that is to charge more for less product or fewer services.

 

[hi-ban]

The Android market has also many "it is very expensive" complaints.
They pay more than $300 for a phone/tablet and they complain because they have to pay about $2 for a TPA table?

They are clearly crying without reason.

I even read once a guy who said that TPA was so expensive that it was cheaper to buy a real pinball machine. lol

 

[Worf]

It's the nature of the beast.

And face it - pinball has exactly the same problem - the machines were costing more and more $$$, but players were refusing to spend more than 50 cents per play for decades. Some have tried $1, but they weren't very successful. And arcade operators were seeing increasingly larger revenues from arcade machines over pinball (which demanded a certain level of maintenance - $$$).

Anyhow, for mobile, 99 cents is the spot. It was hoped that tablets would establish a $1.99/2.99 for the "premium" tablet appearance, but that disintegrated fairly quickly. Even 99 cents is considered "a lot" and lot of people do hesitate and pause at spending a measly 99 cents on an app.

Likewise, I think the PC/Mac versions are probably "too cheap" - for a game of similar quality, you'd probably pay around $15-20 or so, rather than the $10 TPA actually costs. On console, $10 is about right, and the DLC is probably a bit cheap. It's all about expectations. PC and Mac games are $20 and up, so expectations are the games should retail for that price. Mobile has a huge expectation of free or 99 cents. Expected prices for markets vary - and you also have to realize that other pinball games sell for less than TPA as well. Remember, most of the people who play TPA probably don't even realize that pinball was once a real thing nor set foot in a quarter-eating arcade.

Also realize that at the end of the day, if you bought everything TPA had, you'd spend $30+. For a mobile app, that's considered extremely expensive. Heck, even Square Enix got flack for selling one of their top games for $16 - "great game, don't like the price" and "really, wait for a sale". Even by fans of the game considered it pricey.

 

[Jeff Strong]

I know it's easy to think of this as one game, but in real life, each pinball machine is it's own separate game. So to have all these pins for $30 is a straight up bargain.

 

[Worf]

Yes, but you also have to consider the market - the mobile market just does not want to support games that cost much more than 99 cents - to do so requires that your game be held to some very high standards.

The other thing is, well, TPA doesn't get you far before you start hitting the "PAY UP NOW" point. For someone who's invested 99 cents (not a lot of money to be sure but mobile users consider it a lot) to barely be in 5 minutes before they hit the need to spend money tends to rankle them.

It's all about the market - just like pinball started dying out because machines costed more $$$ but operators couldn't price their games higher than 50 cents, the mobile market for apps has gotten used to spending only 99 cents and getting some very high quality games out of it. There's a lot of crap too, so those people often end up very tight-fisted. And yes, arcades have games that often cost $1 per play - like the more expensive arcade machines (DDR and the like) but they give unique experiences, plus those machines are far cheaper to maintain than pins.

The vast majority of people playing TPA will probably never have seen these machines in real life, or been to an arcade since the 80s (if they're that old) so you have to see it from their perspective as well. And yes, people hate being shoved a big fat "PAY ME NOW" banner when they play anything other than TOTAN. And yes, it's annoying when you pay for something only to realize you need to pay more for it within the first minute.

Perhaps if Farsight had the time, they could redo the menu system - state "Fully functional tables", "Table of the month - full unlimited demo", then the rest would be demos - but instead of just being to the first high score, given them say, 30 minutes of play beyond per table. At least make it clear (without those ugly "OWNED" and "BUY NOW" tags) what people are getting and give them a good opportunity to get some play in. 30 minutes should get about 5 games or so in which ought to be enough to hook them to the point of buying.

I'm not discounting that TPA is good. But these people are evaluating on a different set of criteria than we pinball players - they're comparing TPA to the other flood of games out there they can buy and play, so maybe we shouldn't scare them off so quickly. And yes, those we scare off leave those kinds of messages. Because the problem is, it really appears that TPA demands money the instant you load it, which isn't true but for someone whose giving it 10 minutes, it's definitely what it appears to be.

 

[Kolchak357]

I'm guilty of this too. I really hate apps loaded with in-app purchases. Especially if they don't tell you up front. The problem is, there are so many good apps that are free or $.99. It breeds a culture where $2.99 seems outrageous. So the Pinball Arcades's pricing might turn off the casual mobile device user. I grew up playing pinball and would gladly play twice the price they are charging.

 

[karl]

I urge anyone who buy tables on IOS to leave a good review. Angry about micro brain statements? The best cure is to turn it around. There is probably a lot of people who only buy apps with glowing reviews, you will drown out the bad ones if there there is enough positivity and that means more sales. I was baffled to find so many bad reviews like" I love the game but it is to expensive= 1 star". (I believe you can review every new build they put out) At least rate it with 5 stars.

 

[Worf]

I urge anyone who buy tables on IOS to leave a good review. Angry about micro brain statements? The best cure is to turn it around. There is probably a lot of people who only buy apps with glowing reviews, you will drown out the bad ones if there there is enough positivity and that means more sales. I was baffled to find so many bad reviews like" I love the game but it is to expensive= 1 star". (I believe you can review every new build they put out) At least rate it with 5 stars.

EXACTLY. I call thread winner.

I already left good reviews on TPA there, downmodded the lame ones (like "doesn't work"), and gave it five stars.

And give it a GOOD REVIEW. Be honest - admit that all up it'll cost you a good $50 or so in the end, but explain why it's worth it. These people haven't gone into an arcade for decades, and probably haven't seen a modern pin, or played 'em.

 

[River Monster]

This seems to be a circle jerk thread bashing anyone who criticizes Pinball Arcade. It's not constructive in the least. An example of a constructive thread would be to see which criticisms are valid and could be addressed by easy fixes in the app, or even just by suggestions from knowledgable community members.

Denying the many and often game breaking bugs and problems (ask iPhone 5 owners) simply perpetuates the problem and a victim mentality for FarSight. But if the only goal of the thread is just to rant and rave about negative reviews--please carry on.

P.S. Without a doubt a bunch of the App Store reviews are just written by jerks being asshats. But if its news that most people are jerks and say terrible things with a mask of anonymity, then I for one welcome you to the real world.

 

[Bonzo]

P.S. Without a doubt a bunch of the App Store reviews are just written by jerks being asshats. But if its news that most people are jerks and say terrible things with a mask of anonymity, then I for one welcome you to the real world.

Guess most of us are old enough to have found out that most people are jackasses. Nonetheless it's necessary to let off some steam every now and then. And that's what this thread is about. There are countless other threads on this forum dealing with bugs, DLC delays etc.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

This seems to be a [censored] thread bashing anyone who criticizes Pinball Arcade.

Your argument may have had more force had your sixth and seventh words not insulted everyone here.

At any rate, no one here is denying bugs - there are bug reports scattered all over this forum, including a few bug compilations started by one of FarSight's developers - and we're well aware that the Internet is populated mostly with jerks and idiots. That's one of the reasons this forum was created in the first place, as a refuge from all the noise on FarSight's Facebook page. If you are not willing to respect our desire for civil discussion, please leave us in peace.