Freemium

[Daddy]

see what happens when people don't recognize a troll thread?

I think it's quite a healthy discussion to be had - my personal opinion knowing SC pretty well is they are not concerned with ££ really they want to make a good game that people enjoy. The only thing you can buy with ££ is time really and that's ok for an old farmer like me.

Some of the other games out there with a freemium model are outrageous, without going into names of games they put the commercials before the game which is nuts IMO.

Yes you can spend lots of money with Clash and the race to the top on cups is a good way to burn big ££ if you chose to
No you don't have to spend much (or any) to have a great base and loads of fun - farming is the way.

[Coathanger]

I was speaking to someone the other day who said Supercell are like Drug Dealers. An interesting analogy but I guess there was something to it.

Essentially they give the "product" for free, a sample if you like, and things move along at a fantastic pace. You're completely new to the "product" and instantly hooked and can't get enough (having paid nothing).

The "product" is designed to keep you coming back frequently and tweaked to keep your interest. Ok, not as strong as the initial dose but still strong enough to keep you coming back. They then, as time goes by, stretch out the divide between getting pleasure for free and getting pleasure for money. (ie: buy more builders / build stronger armies / upgrade your troops / heroes etc).

The further you get in the game the further this is stretched. They are then hoping that enough people are hooked on the "product" and will keep coming back. By now you cannot play for free and are therefore forced to part with more and more cash.

He was also convinced that Supercell had more behavioural economics than developers and these peoples' job were to exploit the addictive physiological side of players.

His final line was "you never see a poor drug dealer".

The analogy might work if it did not ignore that you can play without monetary investment and money is only used to enhance that experience.

Also free samples are a common practice with any product to get people to try it to see if they like it, it is not exclusive to dealers. This belief arises from drug demonization, dealers will rarely part with their product for free in hopes of a return.

But yes CoC is designed to keep you playing for a long period of time, IMO that only influences one who commits to the game to want to spend some money to have a better experience, rather than one who is "hooked". There will always be people lacking self control making poor decisions with their money, shopaholics, ♥♥♥ addicts, gambling addicts etc. People who exhibit addictive behavior and poor decision making, utilizing your product or services does not equate to the product or service being designed to exploit this behavior.

I can promise you poor drug dealers exist, they are highly likely to end up poor as a result of their chosen illegal profession.

[Subaris]

And yet CoC is top grossing with millions of players daily.

Maybe the problem is you?

I'm not talking about how much money SC is making, how does that affect me? I'm talking about the quality and playability of games.

Guessing most of its players are kids, kids who'll grow up thinking £70 IAPs are acceptable and we'll see more and more games with them.

[Sandalhat]

I'm not talking about how much money SC is making, how does that affect me? I'm talking about the quality and playability of games.

Guessing most of its players are kids, kids who'll grow up thinking £70 IAPs are acceptable and we'll see more and more games with them.

Top grossing and millions of players mean that this game is popular, and very likely highly enjoyable for people who play it.

So, SC is doing a good job as far as creating a good game is concerned.

[JoshK]

Games like Dungeon Keeper and RCT4 have been completely ruined by freemium models. Theres making money and theres making games. I didn't say SC were in the wrong its the people buying gems for ridiculous prices encouraging IAPs. I've reached the point in CoC were there is nothing to do now but wait days and days for upgrades, can't really call this a game anymore.

I don't mind building upgrades, I just farm walls during the upgrading period of the other builders where i always leave one free to do walls which means I have "Something" to do. [hit 8million elixir and gold] :P Sure you might get hit hard in the first few days of the upgrading period but who knows, it will pay off later when they are completed

Maybe the exception is heroes, but considering how long I've been playing this game, I still am not tempted to buy gems ^^. Supercell pretty much makes $$ off impatient people. Like you as in the bolded statement... and the top players in the ranking, majority have spent at least 10000$++++ on maxing their base and god knows how much did they spent gemming time to raid troops to proceed up the ladder.

[Shredder2600]

First of all, they actually give a very large number of gems legitimately in-game.
Secondly, it is a sound business model, and CoC (unlike some freemium games) lets you access everything, and do well, without spending a cent.
Thirdly, having upgrade times actually keeps the game BALANCED.

And yes, it is all about the money. Because you need money in the world we live in.

If you think games should be 99cents for everything, you are welcome to play games that do that.

You can't exactly do well without spending a cent. There's only one player in the entire game who has completely maxed TH 10 without spending gems. It took him an entire year on TH 10 alone.

[Shredder2600]

'Freemium' does not equal 'Not For Profit'.

Super Cell is a capitalist company, and their objective is to make money. That is not greed; that is business.

Profit is not a sin, and gems are 100% optional to purchase.

Quit whining, or quit the game. I hear checkers is free...

Supercell seems to care about their game and not just money. As game developers, they ought to care more about the quality of their games. I'm sure they could make loads of money with a download fee, whether it would be $0.99 or $4.99, etc.

[OfficerBarbary]

Greedy? No, I've never spent a cent in this game and still have fun. They care for our customers.

You're the greedy one asking for all this stuff.

[Sandalhat]

You can't exactly do well without spending a cent. There's only one player in the entire game who has completely maxed TH 10 without spending gems. It took him an entire year on TH 10 alone.

Is maxing TH10 the only definition of doing well in the game?

I have plenty of friends who spend nothing on the game and are at various TH levels, till this day they still say that CoC is the best mobile game they ever played.

If you can only be happy by maxing TH10 (everything included), and are now not enjoying the game because you are not able to do so within your desired timeframe without spending money, then too bad for you.

It's a business model, works on some while failing on others. The way i see it, they can't please everyone. So this business model is resulting in 80-90% of players enjoying the game, while the rest are not happy for whatever reasons.

Sucks that you are one of those outying statistics.

[clashofclanspro]

Their business model is genius. I've never bought gems and never will, but I still thank gemmers any time I see them because think of this: If no one gemmed, there would be no CoC to fuel your addiction. SC has come up with a unique model which nets them tons of money to make the game more enjoyable for everyone. Upgrade times are part of the game, if you seriously can't take a break from the game for 1+ weeks for upgrades to finish, then you need to go to a counselor for a technology addiction. It is something called patience, and I can promise you that it will help you a ton in life, both in clash and the real world.