8 ms·

It's a significantly better game than the festering, cancerous legion of predatory money extracting non-games that have turned the iOS and Android app stores in

grbalaffa 13y ago
Your amazingly succinct description of all that is wrong with today's mobile app stores is bordering on poetry. Nicely put.
jquery 13y ago
It's not fair to lump all App-Store freemium games together. Nor do I appreciate your characterization of enjoying a videogame as "addiction". Some are money-grabbing cesspits, but others are well-designed freemium games. Clash of Clans comes to mind as an exceptionally well-designed freemium game. I've spent money on it yes, but for the amount of enjoyment I've received, and the camaraderie (someone in my clan bought me Reddit gold), Supercell has earned their money.
- shrughes 13y ago
  So, you are saying what exactly? That there are good games in the App Store? That's not a proposition anybody disputes.
  - jquery 13y ago
    I'm actually saying that the "predatory money extracting non-games" aren't necessarily that. I get a strong whiff of "get off my lawn" vibes from the people who hate that business model for gaming. I'd prefer a more nuanced discussion that didn't dismiss all such games out-of-hand. For a forum that loves (LOVES) freemium startup models, it sure hates on the freemium model applied to video games.
- jpatokal 13y ago
  It's not quite that clear-cut even for CoC though: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5825158 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5825158
  - jquery 13y ago
    I'm not sure what you mean. The post you linked to is pure flame-bait that furthers little meaningful discussion. There is room in the App Store for both "time vs. money"-type freemium games and everyone-pays-up-front games. Sure, some people will burn out on freemium games, but I myself have burned out (a bit) on "pay up front" games (I've spent hundreds, if not thousands on Steam on games I have never played...) At least with freemium games I only have to open my wallet after I've decided I really like it.
    - moron4hire 13y ago
      Why in the hell have you spent "hundreds, if not thousands" of dollars on games you have never played?
      - zwily 13y ago
        Steam Sales make people do crazy things...
jmduke 13y ago
It's a significantly better game than the festering, cancerous legion of predatory money extracting non-games that have turned the iOS and Android app stores into cesspits of addiction and credit card fraud. Okay, I get that you don't like freemium, but those games are still more fun than Desert Bus.
- potatolicious 13y ago
  To be fair to Desert Bus, it's bad on purpose.
raverbashing 13y ago
"And for only 10 credits you can make the bus go faster"

grbalaffa 13y ago

Your amazingly succinct description of all that is wrong with today's mobile app stores is bordering on poetry. Nicely put.

jquery 13y ago

It's not fair to lump all App-Store freemium games together. Nor do I appreciate your characterization of enjoying a videogame as "addiction". Some are money-grabbing cesspits, but others are well-designed freemium games. Clash of Clans comes to mind as an exceptionally well-designed freemium game. I've spent money on it yes, but for the amount of enjoyment I've received, and the camaraderie (someone in my clan bought me Reddit gold), Supercell has earned their money.

shrughes 13y ago
So, you are saying what exactly? That there are good games in the App Store? That's not a proposition anybody disputes.
- jquery 13y ago
  I'm actually saying that the "predatory money extracting non-games" aren't necessarily that. I get a strong whiff of "get off my lawn" vibes from the people who hate that business model for gaming. I'd prefer a more nuanced discussion that didn't dismiss all such games out-of-hand. For a forum that loves (LOVES) freemium startup models, it sure hates on the freemium model applied to video games.
jpatokal 13y ago
It's not quite that clear-cut even for CoC though: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5825158 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5825158
- jquery 13y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean. The post you linked to is pure flame-bait that furthers little meaningful discussion. There is room in the App Store for both "time vs. money"-type freemium games and everyone-pays-up-front games. Sure, some people will burn out on freemium games, but I myself have burned out (a bit) on "pay up front" games (I've spent hundreds, if not thousands on Steam on games I have never played...) At least with freemium games I only have to open my wallet after I've decided I really like it.
  - moron4hire 13y ago
    Why in the hell have you spent "hundreds, if not thousands" of dollars on games you have never played?
    - zwily 13y ago
      Steam Sales make people do crazy things...

jmduke 13y ago

It's a significantly better game than the festering, cancerous legion of predatory money extracting non-games that have turned the iOS and Android app stores into cesspits of addiction and credit card fraud. Okay, I get that you don't like freemium, but those games are still more fun than Desert Bus.

potatolicious 13y ago
To be fair to Desert Bus, it's bad on purpose.

raverbashing 13y ago

"And for only 10 credits you can make the bus go faster"