Please, stop the ads for paying players.

[Suzy.Bae]

It is. I already explained why.



This is not a false statement. Neither mine

Me: The idea to actually disable/not watch ads but get the values by paying is self-centered, and is very subjective to the point of reason why no such game does that.

Mine is also not a false statement. If it is flawed, then do a research on games/companies that do that. But there's none. So there's no argument that what's currently up is what is should be. Good to go. I'm out of this.

[AimEoN]

I buy gems and also watch ads to get more gems, didn't have any problem with that =)

[Narcostic]

It's not.

It is. I already explained why.

it basically defeats the purpose/essence of why Ads, 30-day gem packs, and gem in bulk even existed in the first place.

This is not a false statement. Neither mine

[Suzy.Bae]

I completely disagree with this since the game already has micro-transactions and gems has 2 different ways to obtain through them. (30 day pack and in-bulk) A third way to obtain gems via micro transaction would not make the game P2W. Not even close.

My point is that that OP's suggestion is not "completely unnecessary" or "dumb". Is it a favorible practice for the company? We don't know about that. That's up to them. But it's beneficial to both company and the players.

It's not. Cause it basically defeats the purpose/essence of why Ads, 30-day gem packs, and gem in bulk even existed in the first place.

This is comparable to a teacher giving you assignments (for students to catch up), and you can pay your teacher so that you don't do assignments but still get good grades. There's the remedial class (30-day pack), and parent-teacher agreement to help the student more than just a remedial, more like a compromise/once-off chance to let the student either progress/graduate (gem in bulk). Might not be a good comparison but I just feel like comparing it. ROFL

[Narcostic]

It would look like it's better for the company to listen to such suggestions but it will even push this game to the P2W everyone doesn't want it to be.

I completely disagree with this since the game already has micro-transactions and gems has 2 different ways to obtain through them. (30 day pack and in-bulk) A third way to obtain gems via micro transaction would not make the game P2W. Not even close.

My point is that that OP's suggestion is not "completely unnecessary" or "dumb". Is it a favorible practice for the company? We don't know about that. That's up to them. But it's beneficial to both company and the players.

[Suzy.Bae]

The idea to actually disable/not watch ads but get the values by paying is self-centered, and is very subjective to the point of reason why no such game does that.

Ads are something players can use to get gems regardless if they're willing to pay or not and they have the option to disable it as well if they don't want it.

It would look like it's better for the company to listen to such suggestions but it will even push this game to the P2W everyone doesn't want it to be.

How about everyone thinks of buying the 30-day packs because they love this game, want it to grow, and think that the money 'DONATED' is worth the experience/enjoyment you're having while playing the game? That's the least we can do. I personally did this multiple times and still did this recently (cause I initially planned to grind EXP outside of ANB, since I don't play as much as others). Sadly, the delay in releasing the beta updates made to Android available back to PC and iOs is holding me down.

[Narcostic]

Completely unnecessary. It's already on sale in the gem store. And you don't have to even play long enough to get that many boxes, or click on the elusive little things.

You're missing the point. My examples require you to still play the game as you normally would and keep clicking the boxes. This means you have to keep playing the game regularly which creates another bound between the player and the game to get what you paid for. Making the customers play for the longest time = profit. You always want loyal players.

Think about it, you're buying in-game currency in another way, not as in bulk, not by watching ads, but by having the option to skip the ads and save time.
As the company, you still get money as they watched those ads, probably even more because you would sell this option by adding small extra profit to it.

There are people who won't buy the gems in bulk because they can't afford it or they think it's not worth it for the value. And there are people who won't watch those ads because they don't want to. Yes, no one likes ads but some people HATE ads which means you won't be able to sell those ads to those people and make profit from them. The ways I talked about in the eariler post would bring you more profit. Why? You will make more costumers pay to you who hates ads and won't buy gems in bulk but willing to play the game and still hunt those ad boxes. Plus, as a company, you have the oportunity to sell ads in BULK to those people who HATES them and won't watch them or watch very small marigin of them.

There are even more benefits to this which I won't list them all right now.
Think about the big picture.

the request boils down to: wants to not watch ads, wants gems, willing to pay for them. All those things are already possible with the current packs.

This doesn't make it "completely unnecessary". Options are always good, brings more profit.

The fact that they come all at once instead of 5 gems at a time, over hundreds of separate boxes, is irrelevant.

What? I never said make it all come at once. Read both of my previous instances in the previous post again.

Gems are gems, doesn't matter if they came from an ad box or from the gem store.

I'm lost.

[tshell]

I think the OP suggests something like this, but he never came up with the actual example.

His suggestion is that MF should add to the store something like this;
"*Pay 10$ monthly - Get the ability to skip the ads that come out of the ad boxes and instantly get the rewards instead* ***Only available for 200 ad boxes a month for 1 account*"(to prevent exploits)
(Numbers to be decided by the company of course)

Never seen something like this in any game so far but there is this solution for the discussion going on between some people.
Even though this is possible, it's very unusual. Who knows maybe game companies will come up with something similar in the future so that everyone has more options.

Edit: Now that I think more about it, I've seen 1 mobile game in the past, don't remember its name, but it had some in game currency like gems. These special gems were sold in the store and they had only 1 purpose. Whenever you see an ad, you have the option to use this special in game currency to skip the ad and get the rewards instantly.
This can easily be another option to my first example.

Completely unnecessary. It's already on sale in the gem store. And you don't have to even play long enough to get that many boxes, or click on the elusive little things.

If the ads provided something unique that is only gotten by watching them, then he would have a point. But as has been stated, the request boils down to: wants to not watch ads, wants gems, willing to pay for them. All those things are already possible with the current packs. The fact that they come all at once instead of 5 gems at a time, over hundreds of separate boxes, is irrelevant. Gems are gems, doesn't matter if they came from an ad box or from the gem store.

Let's say that after the crafting system is revamped, and then maybe there's some crafting pieces in the boxes instead of gems. Then he would have an excellent point, and I would switch from saying this is just dumb, to saying it is an excellent idea, since I assume those pieces won't be on sale directly. But currently it's an absolutely unnecessary request, since money will already buy gems and give you the opportunity to not have to watch ads.

[Narcostic]

I think the OP suggests something like this, but he never came up with the actual example.

His suggestion is that MF should add to the store something like this;
"*Pay 10$ monthly - Get the ability to skip the ads that come out of the ad boxes and instantly get the rewards instead* ***Only available for 200 ad boxes a month for 1 account*"(to prevent exploits)
(Numbers to be decided by the company of course)

Never seen something like this in any game so far but there is this solution for the discussion going on between some people.
Even though this is possible, it's very unusual. Who knows maybe game companies will come up with something similar in the future so that everyone has more options.

Edit: Now that I think more about it, I've seen 1 mobile game in the past, don't remember its name, but it had some in game currency like gems. These special gems were sold in the store and they had only 1 purpose. Whenever you see an ad, you have the option to use this special in game currency to skip the ad and get the rewards instantly.
This can easily be another option to my first example.

[Travis | Support Mgr.]

I'm 100% certain someone DID change something.

I'm 100% certain no one changed anything and I'm the one here with access to the logs.

[Chosen]

I just thought it would be a better idea to skip the middle man.

I didn't want to spend any more time stating obvious things that you seem to keep missing, but here we go:

Your suggestion is built around the premise that you don't like ads; I'm gonna go out on a limb here and claim that I know a certain fact about all Eternium players... *drum-roll*: "No one likes ads".
But (and that's a big "but", I cannot lie): some people don't like paying cash, more than they don't like ads. So, by making that wild assumption that "it's better to skip the middle man" and pay $$ to get gems instead of just watching ads, you're invalidating a whole bunch of people who can only afford the currency of "time" to get gems.

Time has a different value for different people. In fact, time can have a different value for the same person. The 30 seconds to watch an ad is worth a lot more when it's during my 10 minute break from work, than when I am waiting for an hour in the doctor's office. A night shift security guard who watches every single ad during their endless 8-hour shift, may watch 0 ads during an event when he/she wants to maximise their XP farming. A 2-hour commute on the bus, Vs a 10 minute break in the wc. So many examples.

In an ideal world, nobody would have to watch ads and if the MF team can be convinced to shift the costs elsewhere to allow people to get e.g. 5 gems on every TL run, everybody would be happy.
But as it stands, watching ads is the only free way to get gems for the people who can't or won't pay $$. Which means that any suggestion that involves replacing one currency (time) with another one (cash), represents a lot less Eternium players than you assume when you say "it will be better like that".

[Suzy.Bae]

Oh my gosh! This thread has gotten so long for such a starter..

TL;DR - You want gems, buy the 30-day gem pack.

Want more? Purchase more or buy them directly.

You don't? Play hard.

You want the best of both worlds? No you can't get that. (Not in any online game that I played on).

There's no argument here. Probably this is just a senseless suggestion as far as I've read from start to finish (or at least when I got tired).

One last say. Ads are for non-payers. Period. If you're willing to spend/donate, then purchase a pack or gems directly. The argument is invalid.

And oh? Before I forget, I think these guys are bargaining for some cheaper way to get gems. Not happening under a good quality control's watch.

[Buppy]

I like the cost of gems at the moment. Or, what they were, until whatever changed an hour ago changed. I'm happy to spend 30 seconds of my time to earn 5 gems. I just thought it would be a better idea to skip the middle man. However, all you lot that AREN'T accountants and AREN'T marketing specialists have jumped in.

There isn't - or, probably more correctly, there wasn't. If there was, it was more than 50. I've had 12 ads today (I've been keeping track), but the last one I had was over an hour ago.

Anyway. I'm not going to bother with this thread any more. Obviously SOMEONE has reacted to it, because the ads have vanished. I just hope you guys at MF can realize that 2 * $n is more than $n...

Yeah, one of those guys. Think you're special. Well color me an optimist but I'll go ahead and try again, and I'll try to make it a bit simpler.

First, there's enough anecdotal evidence around the forums of exactly the type of behavior you're describing to conclude that there is some type of limit. Maybe not a hard set specific limit per account, but there is something that causes the ad well to run dry on occasion. Reports are that using a VPN app can boost the ads back up. I would love it if the devs would disable ads for your account, but I doubt you'd rate that much attention.

Now, on to the meat. To keep it simple I'll stick to your either/or suggestion. You want gems. You can get them by watching ads. You don't like ads. You want to not watch ads. You're willing to pay some amount of money to not watch ads while still getting the gems. With me so far?

You think you can equate the price you should pay for "ad-free gems" to the revenue earned when you watch ads. That's where the trouble starts. That would be true if ads were the only way to get gems, but you can already purchase them. As far as I know there's no limit on purchases. You're just suggesting a slightly different, and far cheaper, method of buying.

But remember, you're not special. Other players also like gems, and don't like ads, and are willing to spend money. Some willing to spend more than you.

Let's say you can get 1000 ads per month. 5000 gems. You wanted to pay $2 to get those gems without watching the ads, reasoning that it's double what the ad revenue would be. But the equation doesn't end there. Remember those other people? Some of them want 5000 ad-free gems and are currently spending $40 for them. Some might spend $20 for 2600, or $20 every three months, or splurge on the $100 pack when they get their Christmas bonus, some who are both spending money and watching ads, or anything in between.

Provide a way to get 5000 gems for $2, or even $10, without the hassle of watching ads, and some of those sales will go away. Lost ad revenue is only part of what you need to account for. I don't know if the current pricing structure is optimal or not. Maybe a cheaper option would increase volume enough to be worthwhile. But the point is it's not as simple an equation as you think.

[tshell]

Just to settle the dust a bit and validate a few points, the DP team hopes to prove this exact point eventually. They don't like ads in their game, but MF does. DP needs to prove to MF that the game can make the same (or more) revenue without ads before they will be removed.

I like the way it is now. No one is forced to watch an ad they don't want to watch. It sucks when you're playing a game, then you have to stop and wait for an ad to play, with the only player reward for watching that ad being that you get to resume playing after.

Opt-in ads are just fine. If I know I'll get something I want (gems in this case), then I'll be willing to watch an ad every now and then. But it's up to me, so if my dog needs to go out, I can click an ad box and let it play, and everyone gets what they want. Gems for me, ad revenue for the devs, and a "view" for the ad maker.

It's great for those who can't pay for gems, there is an option to get them other than $$. And you can make a little money off them too, when otherwise they'd be no revenue at all.

[xrobau]

No one have changed anything, as mentioned in my first reply, there is an element of randomness to the number of ads you get while playing - based on my experience over the 8 months so far.

I'm 100% certain someone DID change something. I wasn't keeping track of the contents of the boxes earlier, because they were 99% ads. Since a couple of hours ago, I've had almost zero boxes drop.

Well - at 12:20pm (local AU time) three boxes (all containing Zynga Poker ads, unusually - this is the first time I've seen them) dropped within 90 seconds of each other. That took my count to 15 for the day.

Since then, no ads, and I think only 2 boxes (both with just coins). It's now 1:28pm, and I played for 10 mins or so, around 1:20, to see if it was going to start up again on the hour, but still no boxes

As far as I can tell, the special box itself is part of the monster's drop table, so it must drop first

The change from 'one box being dropped every 90 seconds of play time for the past 3 weeks, continuously' to '3 boxes being dropped over a 3 hour period' can not be hand-waved away as a statistical anomaly, unfortunately. It's pretty obvious that someone's tweaked the knobs at admob (or whichever ad provider these guys are using).