EDIT
So apparently, my account is somehow special and was given autoplay for free, while people with older/younger accounts did not receive autoplay. Weird. Leaving my rant below for posterity. I don’t know why or how I have autoplay. The only thing I could think of is if there was a refer a friend program and I joined on a link from the guy who told me to join, but I can’t remember if that was the case.
Okay, what gives here? I recently got my friend to start playing the game, and I’m teaching her how to unlock more gear and power up her characters. She’s autoplaying the campaign, and I explain about the gauntlet and how to get cash to spend on abilities and powering up.
Except she can’t autoplay Gauntlet. Or raids. Or PVP.
So I’m trying to bring in another player, who, even if she doesn’t spend money, will watch advertisements, and tell friends, and generate revenue for the game. And now, the game that I told her about, that has an autoplay feature so that she can focus on other things while still keeping relevant in the game, doesn’t have an autoplay feature for her.
People don’t have positive outlooks on mobile games because of these sorts of predatory behaviors. And after seeing this, I’m certain she’s going to drop the game. Hell, I would too if someone tried to bring me into a game, and got a core mechanic to the game simply because their account was older, while I was expected to spend money before being able to access a core mechanic that other players got for free.
Tell you what. Why don’t you take away autoplay from all VIP-0 accounts? See how many you get to stick around. See if your game holds on to anyone but the whales over a period of two years. You won’t get my ad revenue anymore, sure I’m not the only one.
Otherwise? I’m happy with the game. I’m enjoying it. I will continue to watch ads and play. The updates are keeping me happy as an older player. But this is really, REALLY disappointing to see if you want to attract and retain new players. You have potential to be a great game that lasts for a long time, and really stand out in comparison to the absolute garbage that other companies shovel onto App Stores… But you can’t let short-sighted profits overshadow what’s best for your game, your community, and your wallets in the long run.
Free players may not give you any direct currency. But they still spread word of the game and get others to play. In my place of work, Deisal10183 got myself and Killerxknightx1 involved, and we branched out and got most of the workplace to play. As it currently stands, I am the ONLY person in my workplace on Hero Hunters that is below VIP-2. These other players have not only been spending money, but watching ads to generate you revenue there as well. If the game hadn’t retained me, you’d have lost out on basically everyone in my workplace besides Deisal10183 and Killerxknightx1.
Just don’t let corporate greed try to put a price tag on base functions for your game. This needs to be changed back, or you’re not going to bring in and retain new players. You aren’t going to create new whales by hiding core mechanics behind paywalls, you’re just going to keep your game from reaching the ears of whales because none of their free-playing friends will tell them about it to get them off whatever game they’re currently whaling on.
Boss out. I’ve got Gauntlet to auto-play.
