hydrophilic attack
Member
Some people will be annoyed if I say that all F2P mobile games are suck so I'll just go ahead and say that >99% of all F2P mobile games suck
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F2P Mobile games are poison.
- Thread starter Z3M0G
- Start date
Daily tasks with slot machine style rewards, aka "repetition of tasks with variable reinforcement". It's literally a science.
Fantasy War Tactics is reasonably fun but the way they constantly try to establish and exploit gambling addiction is nuts. It would need to be illegal for any devs to stop doing it though - it works.
Fantasy War Tactics is reasonably fun but the way they constantly try to establish and exploit gambling addiction is nuts. It would need to be illegal for any devs to stop doing it though - it works.
Ludger Kresnik
Member
I agree. I'm currently addicted to Idolm@ster Starlight Stage and it's the cause of my slow, agonising death. I hope I can one day find the strength to delete it.
astroturfing
Member
yeah fuck all that shit, never touching any mobile game ever.
except WordFeud. all day every day.
except WordFeud. all day every day.
More_Badass
Member
I don't play games for short stretches, and I don't like games dictating how long I can play.
SoulUnison
Banned
I "play" Record Keeper, Mobius, and Unchained X, but it's more to the point where I log in for 30 seconds in the morning to grab the daily items and then I'm done.
midasmulligan
Member
You're absolutely right. No matter how many times I think (tell myself) is going to be different, they all end up in the same place. It's all just lipstick on a pigs. I get that it's the model, but the model sucks.
You are drawing a line too, by suggesting that game design that discourages people from playing the way they want to is fine. To look at it from the other direction, I'm sure that most of the rpgs I play aren't designed to be played in the short chunks I assign to them on my commute, but I'm not actively penalised and discouraged from using sleep modes and not playing in two-hour+ evening sessions instead.
I appreciate that these games need to find a way to make people pay at some point, but I just find stamina bars a particularly annoying way of doing so.
Is it bad that I'm using this thread as a means of finding recommendations for F2P phone games?
Been playing Dragonball Z: Dokkan for about a year now and thoroughly enjoy it. The money I've put into it is less about addiction and more about me going "I've dumped more hours into this than I have any AAA game this past year. Have some money!" Granted, I would prefer to pay $60 for an offline version of the game with no microtransactions.
I just appreciate the nearly non-existant story on mobile games and quick gameplay. There's a great focus on pickup-and-play, especially with it being on a device that's on me nearly all day. RPG elements add some depth and yeah, the repetition and awards is addicting and makes it fun.
I recently rented Puzzle & Dragons for the 3DS - I figured I would enjoy a version of the game where there's no need to buy anything else. Yet the cutscenes and fact it was on another device made me instead download the game for my phone. ¯\_(ツ
_/¯
Been playing Dragonball Z: Dokkan for about a year now and thoroughly enjoy it. The money I've put into it is less about addiction and more about me going "I've dumped more hours into this than I have any AAA game this past year. Have some money!" Granted, I would prefer to pay $60 for an offline version of the game with no microtransactions.
I just appreciate the nearly non-existant story on mobile games and quick gameplay. There's a great focus on pickup-and-play, especially with it being on a device that's on me nearly all day. RPG elements add some depth and yeah, the repetition and awards is addicting and makes it fun.
I recently rented Puzzle & Dragons for the 3DS - I figured I would enjoy a version of the game where there's no need to buy anything else. Yet the cutscenes and fact it was on another device made me instead download the game for my phone. ¯\_(ツ
_/¯
Compsiox
Banned
Pokemon Go is literally the only free mobile game that ever did anything for me.
I feel Pokemon Go's success is more attributed to it being an AR game, rather than a mobile game. Granted, obviously mobile is the medium that makes the most sense for it.
It's not that complicated really. Make player happy -> introduce obstacle/wall -> player pays -> make player happy -> introduce obstacle/wall and so on. Some people are just really into this loop.
Xamtheking
Member
Recommendation: Marvel Puzzle Quest
Reasons: There is no energy system, only health (if you have characters which can heal, who are not difficult to get, you can play for an infinite amount at once), it is very easy to get the Premium currency if you give a damn (especially with the new System that separates Whales and other high-level players from newer players), they don't try to shove microtransactions down your throat, and the progression is healthy enough so that you don't have to spend money to get the best characters
Reasons: There is no energy system, only health (if you have characters which can heal, who are not difficult to get, you can play for an infinite amount at once), it is very easy to get the Premium currency if you give a damn (especially with the new System that separates Whales and other high-level players from newer players), they don't try to shove microtransactions down your throat, and the progression is healthy enough so that you don't have to spend money to get the best characters
Devilgunman
Member
More like Gasha games are the worst. I usually have fun with them for like 10 hours or so before moving on.
My best friend from high school ended up deep in the throes of addiction to various substances. Crack, heroin, meth, you name it. He's in and out of rehab and I stay in touch out of hope that it helps.
These games work by preying on addicts like him and thise with similar addictive personalities. Even if you only play a little a day, you're able to play because others have a problem. The model is immoral.
He once spent over $5000 on some shitty online arena battling game. They gave him VIP treatment and he ate it up. He has apparently done something similar with other games.
He has been fighting (substance) relapsing lately and he told me he was playing some freemium game. I bought him a PS4 the next day, because this dude can't keep the car he needs to get to work full of gas, but he will use any credit he has left on those shitty games.
I'm not sure it was the right call because he might sell the system for other fixes, but it seems to be working for now and keeping him out of the mobile games.
So, yeah, fuck skinnerware.
These games work by preying on addicts like him and thise with similar addictive personalities. Even if you only play a little a day, you're able to play because others have a problem. The model is immoral.
He once spent over $5000 on some shitty online arena battling game. They gave him VIP treatment and he ate it up. He has apparently done something similar with other games.
He has been fighting (substance) relapsing lately and he told me he was playing some freemium game. I bought him a PS4 the next day, because this dude can't keep the car he needs to get to work full of gas, but he will use any credit he has left on those shitty games.
I'm not sure it was the right call because he might sell the system for other fixes, but it seems to be working for now and keeping him out of the mobile games.
So, yeah, fuck skinnerware.
Blood Diamonds
Banned
The thing about me and F2P mobile games is that I'll get hooked for 3-4 days and then completely forget about them when I miss one day. This happens every single time I've tried gacha f2p games.
outunderthestars
Banned
I've pretty much stopped playing mobile games all together. They just all seem to be micro transaction filled, shallow experiences.
The better question then is, why if the ideal experience is to play in short bursts you give people the option to skip it with real money? Why give your paying customers the option to have a worse experience by paying more money? Is it because as a developer then you are more interested in the notion of getting paid and paid and paid more than in making sure your best customers are getting the best experience? It's scummy either way.
The design is a constraint. If it weren't they wouldn't give you an option to pay to work around it.
Oh, I feel you OP. I recently deleted Love Live from my phone and I can't explain how absolutely liberating it feels to just stop, not checking for daily bonuses or events. When it started disrupting my day it was rationalized away as 'it's only 10 minutes a burst, so what?' but it was the expectation of playing everywhere and anywhere that was the problem.
The only good thing about me is, I don't care about events or leaderboards, I'm in these games just to collect. So I drop in and out whenever these days and spin the gacha wheel when I want, so relaxing
The only good thing about me is, I don't care about events or leaderboards, I'm in these games just to collect. So I drop in and out whenever these days and spin the gacha wheel when I want, so relaxing
HerbertBirdsfoot
Member
I absolutely play Hearthstone sometimes because I have quests to knock out, and I'm trained to want to get those done. There's an addictive element there for sure. I can feel it.
But sometimes my dailies are done and I just keep playing. Not for rewards, but because I'm enjoying playing and feeling competitive, etc.
The funny thing about HS is it has the addictive qualities of a shitty F2P game, but it's also just a fun game. If they charged $40 for the base game and $20 for expansions a few times a year I'd be in for that, too. And gladly. That just isn't what it is.
But sometimes my dailies are done and I just keep playing. Not for rewards, but because I'm enjoying playing and feeling competitive, etc.
The funny thing about HS is it has the addictive qualities of a shitty F2P game, but it's also just a fun game. If they charged $40 for the base game and $20 for expansions a few times a year I'd be in for that, too. And gladly. That just isn't what it is.
Puzzle and Dragons isn't too bad. They are generous with free currency and items. Daily log in takes 40 seconds. Good monster drop rates are pretty generous if you pull during the biweekly "Godfest" events.
I drift in and out of actually playing, but I have been playing the game for nearly 4 years. Everything else lasts a few months or weeks.
I drift in and out of actually playing, but I have been playing the game for nearly 4 years. Everything else lasts a few months or weeks.
joecanada
Member
even games like the Simpsons Tapped Out look good on the surface but then you realize they are all just a huge scam. the goal isn't for you to enjoy the game and it's entertainment, the goal is to suck you into buying things and pretty much that's it.
Simpsons I really enjoyed the lore they took real time to craft the characters and all their little nuances and jobs..........
play for 5 minutes, hit a paywall. Like you could literally just sit there and do nothing for hours because the game won't let you.
I'd rather pay an actual price for a game.
Simpsons I really enjoyed the lore they took real time to craft the characters and all their little nuances and jobs..........
play for 5 minutes, hit a paywall. Like you could literally just sit there and do nothing for hours because the game won't let you.
I'd rather pay an actual price for a game.
There probably already are in a lot of places, but the public messaging on taking action is tough and resources for online enforcement are scarce (especially when the offender is in another jurisdictions).
"We are taking an enforcement blitz on mobile games that are taking advantage of vulnerable citizens by selling them crates of loot with a low chance of being epic at a high cost of $1.99." No politician will want to find themselves saying that. The gambling link may be their best bet.
Raging Spaniard
If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
Ive worked in the F2P market for years and its as bad as everyone thinks it is.
Many games are designed via Excel spreadsheets. Every element is calculated on how much money we can get out of it and "the pinch" is focused on the 2% of players that pay the biggest amount of money, the whales.
To put it bluntly, F2P is made for 2% of the audience. Basically none of you are supposed to like it.
Many games are designed via Excel spreadsheets. Every element is calculated on how much money we can get out of it and "the pinch" is focused on the 2% of players that pay the biggest amount of money, the whales.
To put it bluntly, F2P is made for 2% of the audience. Basically none of you are supposed to like it.
Please explain. Where is there value in spending money on something that's already free? Not only that, why spend money on a cheap low budget game a college student can make using game maker studio? Why not play the game and win the legit way? Little items and cheap unlocks do nothing to make a game playing experience better. In no way does Kim Kardashion need to be any richer.
At least you are getting a decent rhythm game with it, unlike some other examples. I deleted it after a few months(? - I actually don't remember) because I felt there were too many events and that I preferred to play outside them - but they were too tempting..
yep just play NBA 2k17.