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Post by LordofSyn on Nov 16, 2011 18:08:29 GMT -5
Not too personal of a question at all. Sales of Star Traders RPG and our other games are down between 60 and 70% over the past 3 months. A lot of it has to do with our position in Google Rankings. There is a stastically signifigant correlation between the Google ranking position and sales. Another issue we face is that our "applications" and "related" games lists more and more often include other games or our own free games. It might shock you to realize how many people download and play free without realizing / understanding that an Elite version exists. Andrew and I hope that we are in slump due to some Google ranking changes and that updates and text adjustments on our end might turn things around. If the trend continues then I'm not sure what we'll do. In that case, constantly updating it would not really do much to sales. Marketing, or finding some way to get around the rankings to get your games noticed, might be a lot more viable option. As for gravling's input, maybe you could allow combats to be turned off in ST as a truly "trading only" variant? We're always behind you, in any case. Agreed. I think variants enough like that could make a difference, but is it possible to parse? I hate voting sites, and I don't really ever see ads, so my question is do you allow more ads on free?? What else can you leave out of any of the Elite full form games to make more free players reach for their wallets/purses? All without sacrificing any integrity... |
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Post by Cory Trese on Nov 16, 2011 19:10:42 GMT -5
Updates create downloads because they cause the game to be included in New Game lists, to be listed as more recently updated and to appear higher in some results.
It is optimal to provide an updated version of your game every 5-8 days (according to our testing and in-depth discussions with other developers.) We try to provide meaningful updates on a regular basis to both earn additional reviews.
Often people go to the Application page in Market for an update and may leave a review or update a review. The number of updates, installs, reviews and many other factors combine to generate a ranking in Google's results for the Android Market, web page and even the search results in Google mobile.
I am not saying that we have done an optimal job of finishing CK on schedule. Part of the issue is that Andrew and I work best when we are working on what we want to work on.
I spent a lot of time building the CK game engine. I mean like every-day-after-work and all-weekend-all-night type time. I really enjoyed building the system -- much of which you still cannot set in the published game -- but I started to run out of energy.
Star Traders, other projects, TA all help recharge my batteries for the next big push on CK. In the mean time we are trying to protect the ST download rate, update schedule and ranking. It's a lot of stuff to juggle and Google is swift to punish you if you fail.
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blackgauntlet
Templar
[ Star Traders 2 & Heroes of Steel Supporter ]
Jack in... Jack off!
Posts: 1,841
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Post by blackgauntlet on Nov 16, 2011 19:39:03 GMT -5
I knew that stinky green Shrek-lookalike alien robot was up to no good. Heck, ALL aliens are up to no good.
In any case, Android Market is one of the platform, but I believe LoS was referring to some other less labor-intensive way to put the name of your games out to the public.
As for the updates, of course, we (the existing players) are grateful for the awesome things each time we got one, but you must know that there will be an inevitable saturation point, where most Space-Opera lovers would already have an Elite version of ST by now. Later sales would be coming from new Android smart-phone users/converts which isn't much.
New games, on the other hand, capture a lot more initial sales, don't they? So, perhaps you could work less hard on ST (if it is taking a toll to meet the weekly updating deadline ) and release an update that addresses more pressing bug issues with 1 or 2 new ships (and keep the rest for the next updates).
That said, TA would definitely earn more than CK, in my opinion. It's very goal-oriented and new players would have no doubt on what they should do (killing aliens) to win. ;D
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Post by LordofSyn on Nov 16, 2011 20:21:40 GMT -5
Allow me another way to say this then too. Why don't you put together a small team for ST. All they do is bug hunt, and help as much with the release of the new update, handle all other business just for ST alone.
I assume ( don't even start ) that I already know the answer.
As for the switch hit, aka, flipping a switch to turn combat off in ST to appeal to a broader audience, if it can be that simple, why not?! I can see both sides and understand each independently.
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blackgauntlet
Templar
[ Star Traders 2 & Heroes of Steel Supporter ]
Jack in... Jack off!
Posts: 1,841
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Post by blackgauntlet on Nov 17, 2011 1:56:09 GMT -5
Right now, Cory's small team consists of his brothers (who will chip in their efforts when they aren't working at their day job), himself and his 2 sock puppets. Oh, and us, the play-testers who paid him for the job. ;D
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Post by grävling on Nov 17, 2011 6:04:54 GMT -5
How hard would it be to internationalise the games, and let people play in their own languages? You'd need a translator per language, of course, but aside from that would it be difficult?
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Slide87
Templar
[ * ]
A.S. Roma Lover
Posts: 1,275
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Post by Slide87 on Nov 17, 2011 6:14:14 GMT -5
grävling yes it would be a great improvement...i dont talk about mine or your language,but btw country languages where's the game doesn't sell...there's a project 'bout ST International(i translated some strings in IT) but there'd need a real translator,really,in a couple of days u should have a translated game(with a serious work application,obviously)...many people doesnt play with ST or CK 'bout language,especially ST...i think ^^
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