MLP Gameloft Game tips and problems

Phekzhen said:
Fluttershy is bits, about 45k. Not sure about Rarity, though.

They should make the fancy ones that people don't need for gems/real money. Derpy, Celestia, Cadence/Shining, etc. But if you're supposed to get someone to complete the game, making you pay money for it is pretty low.

ETA: The thing about this model of free social gaming is that paying should only be for hardcore players who want to power level or get something special that you don't need, but makes your game look nicer. What Gameloft is doing here doesn't feel right.
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Umm... because that's how social gaming works? How do you think that they're going to make money? You either need advertising, or you need people to pay for "special" stuff in the game. Or the Zynga model that forces you to have to add a ton of friends; who in turn may buy stuff/click on advertising.

It's just basic business, sorry to say.
 
momo_no_hime said:
Umm... because that's how social gaming works? How do you think that they're going to make money? You either need advertising, or you need people to pay for "special" stuff in the game. Or the Zynga model that forces you to have to add a ton of friends; who in turn may buy stuff/click on advertising.

It's just basic business, sorry to say.
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Which is pretty smart, because once you're hooked on a game.....you want the pricey stuff.
 
Pinkie said:
Which is pretty smart, because once you're hooked on a game.....you want the pricey stuff.
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Not necessarily. Game's been out for a week, and how many of us are "hooked" enough to spend money on this?

These companies also don't make their profits off of people spending only $5 once or twice. They make their profits off of the heavy users who spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on these games.

The game sort of shoves the YOU NEED TO PAY in your face, which is only going to turn people away. And this game is for children, remember. Are they going to want to keep playing if their parents won't buy them the gems they need to continue playing?
 
Phekzhen said:
Not necessarily. Game's been out for a week, and how many of us are "hooked" enough to spend money on this?

These companies also don't make their profits off of people spending only $5 once or twice. They make their profits off of the heavy users who spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on these games.

The game sort of shoves the YOU NEED TO PAY in your face, which is only going to turn people away. And this game is for children, remember. Are they going to want to keep playing if their parents won't buy them the gems they need to continue playing?
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I'm not sure, I just know that I have spent my share on virtual stuff for my favorite games. Never that much, but the occasional tip- $5-$10, I'll spend on pointless things like some pretty makeup or some apps or virtual stuff. Things I don't need, but they're fun. The game is still playable without the gems, so I'd say kids would keep playing regardless.
 
To be honest, as an adult player, I'm not only surprised at how hard this game is but also how expensive everything in the game is.

My two points kind of go hand in hand - simply put, the fact that every new addition to the game costs an extraordinary amount of money is unbelievable. Mr. Carrot Cake for 4500 bits? I cringe at what the rest of the mane six are going to cost. -_- Also (and yes, I realize there's an equation out there to getting the most bits out of your shops), getting bits is time consuming and frustrating, ESPECIALLY when you're just starting out. So far I only have six ponies, and five shops - I could put three ponies in the highest paying shop, but it would also take me days to build up enough bits to get the big stuff done. So I put one pony in every shop, and yes, it's less payout, but it's more instant gratification, since I don't have a lot of time to play.

Kids have the attention spans of caterpillars, you really think they're going to wait around for their highest paying store to deliver the payout? Nope. They want the satisfaction of completing something, and if it means a faster payout, they'll do it.

Because Gameloft has done this with other games I play with them, they will probably have a sale on bits/gems/etc. to entice people into buying them. So don't run for your credit card just yet - wait for the sale.

What really annoys me above all on these Gameloft games (not limited to Ponies) is the whole "get free stuff" option. You only have to sell your soul to get the free stuff. "Complete a quick action"? How about "Fork over your credit card, we'll get you one way or another!"

I haven't gotten to this point in the pony game, but again, in another GL game I've played, the ONLY way to advance will be to buy an item. I fully expect to run into the same issue with this game, because I assume that's how they operate across the board. I got turned off on the idea, but, with the sale on bits, it should bring the pain down a bit.

I would also like to note this (and I don't know if it's a bug or not): Don't touch the elements once you push back the darkness on them. I made the mistake of touching one and started losing the hot air balloon gems I'd gathered. I don't know where they go, I just know that I lose them. -_-
 
darcerin said:
I would also like to note this (and I don't know if it's a bug or not): Don't touch the elements once you push back the darkness on them. I made the mistake of touching one and started losing the hot air balloon gems I'd gathered. I don't know where they go, I just know that I lose them. -_-
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That's supposed to happen, actually. You "feed" them to the element and it gives you bits. Sometimes you put a few in and get nothing, but eventually you'll put in one and get 7 or eight bits. It's how I got a lot of my bits, actually.
 
Just unlocked my favorite pony, Rainbow Dash. Guess what? You need to spend $40 for her :/ I can buy a better game for that much.

It's business, I know but downloadable content on Xbox live and EVEN SONY (who overprices almost everything game-related) does not cost this much. You can get maps, whole levels, costumes for characters and new missions for real games (not casual games like this) for far less than what this game is charging. Business or not, these prices are ridiculous :/ I expected them to charge but not hundreds of dollars to unlock main characters...
 
It's interesting to me because The Simpsons also recently put out a social game, called Tapped Out. If anything is sort of comparable, it's that. The Simpsons have been around nearly was long as MLP, and, let's be honest, probably have a wider fan base. The Simpsons game also requires you to unlock various characters, but you don't have to pay extra money. Most buildings you buy come with a character (you start out with just Homer and Lisa). You buy buildings with money you earn from income tax on buildings and tasks that you give your characters. You can speed things up with donuts, you can purchase them but also randomly (but rarely) earn them leveling up... The opposite is true of this FiM game, you pay to do activities, which is so stupid, and there's nothing you can really do to earn money at the rate they want you to spend it. My town is like 50% 16000 coin rocks now.

Actually I think I am going to put all of this in my App Store rating.
 
I'm going to write to the devs and let them know about this. I discussed this with other devs that I know, and they gave some pretty interesting feedback on all this.
 
Dang, $40?? As in $40 of real money? My jaw is on the floor somewhere.
 
I've already expressed my distaste of their gem and quest system through the app review. At level 43 I've nothing to really show for it other than rocks, fluttershy, and a royal guard. Still stuck on the scootaloo and decorations quests but now I've also been told to buy rarity's sister who costs too many gems as it is..I've got bits to probably buy most of the land but what would be the point if I can't put anything there..rocks would just grow. I've never been so disappointed in a game.. :(
 
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Inuranchan said:
Just unlocked my favorite pony, Rainbow Dash. Guess what? You need to spend $40 for her :/ I can buy a better game for that much.

It's business, I know but downloadable content on Xbox live and EVEN SONY (who overprices almost everything game-related) does not cost this much. You can get maps, whole levels, costumes for characters and new missions for real games (not casual games like this) for far less than what this game is charging. Business or not, these prices are ridiculous :/ I expected them to charge but not hundreds of dollars to unlock main characters...
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But remember, for Xbox and Sony, you've already paid $60 for the game to start with. Downloadable content is just added on top of a price that you already paid.

I'm not saying that the prices are not insane. ($40 for ONE pony?) People need to keep in mind though that this is a FREE game. Like I said before, the developers have to make their money somewhere. Personally, I would have rather just spent $4 or so buying the game initially (if it meant less "paid" items), rather than having it be free.
 
Did anyone else have this issue? I completed the Applejack quest, and Spike said after it "Look, who's that on the horizon?" And no Applejack. Do I have to buy her in the Pony store or should I wait and see if another quest comes up?
 
darcerin said:
Did anyone else have this issue? I completed the Applejack quest, and Spike said after it "Look, who's that on the horizon?" And no Applejack. Do I have to buy her in the Pony store or should I wait and see if another quest comes up?
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You still have to buy her. There's always 2 or 3 "strings" of quests for you to do. You probably have a Twilight, Spike and Pinkie Pie string of quests to go through. Once you complete all of those quests, then you'll have to buy AJ.

Of course, you can buy her early if you want, so when the AJ quest comes up, as soon as you close the scroll it tells you that you completed it.
 
momo_no_hime said:
But remember, for Xbox and Sony, you've already paid $60 for the game to start with. Downloadable content is just added on top of a price that you already paid.

I'm not saying that the prices are not insane. ($40 for ONE pony?) People need to keep in mind though that this is a FREE game. Like I said before, the developers have to make their money somewhere. Personally, I would have rather just spent $4 or so buying the game initially (if it meant less "paid" items), rather than having it be free.
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I do understand perfectly what you are implying. It is a free game, and they do have to make money somewhere. However, even with the price of $60 for an xbox/sony game you'll usually pay maybe..$10-$20 on top of that for all DLC. This app charges $40 for dash, $10 for rarity, and $70 for celestia. Altogether that's the price of two platform video games..for 3 pixelated ponies...and thats not counting the guard that costs $60 nor the rest of ponies. I shudder to see Shining Armor's and Princess Cadance's prices...
I also would have rather paid the normal price of an app for this game as well if that meant they would charge less but with these prices I don't really believe it would be much less. :/ These prices are more along the nature of being ridiculously greedy rather than covering their costs with a little extra. That's just my opinion. I see exactly where you're coming from though.

P.S. has everyone heard of the internet trick? I just discovered it today. Not sure if it works on all versions of the game but for the ipod if you close the app so that it restarts (i.e. the gameloft icon comes on and it loads up) and turn off your wifi some of the prices of items, shops, and ponies will not cost gems or hearts but money instead. It's pretty cool.
 
I really wanted to play this game but my phone doesn't allow me :(

I have an LG (Life's Good! ;) ) with android. Guess the game is no LG matherial..
 
If you put your phone into airplane mode or are disconnected from wifi, things won't cost gems or hearts, and balloon pop ponies (which can only be unlocked from the gem-only pop) are available for coin purchase.

If you have the game on Android installed on an SD card, you can hack the data and tweak the values, so you don't have to buy gems with real money or get hearts without having friends.

The thing about console/PC games costing $60ish dollars is because it takes years and millions to make these games. DLC is non-essential content to add to the experience. A bonus mission that adds an hour of play time. A few new maps for multiplayer. Things that you don't need. The MLP game, though, did not take years to make or millions to produce. Statues in your town should be optional, decorative items, but the game forces you to buy them to play the game. It's set up that you have to pay real money to play.

CNET did an excellent article on this, and I wrote about this on my blog as well, and Gameloft has yet to come out and speak on why they made such a greedy game.
 
Not to mention console games have an extensive list of people working on them. App games are usually in teams of 6-15 depending on the complexity of an app. Considering this game engine is old, the team probably consisted of 10 or less.
I liked the article by CNET btw.

MORE GEM NEWS: Seems gameloft is having a sale on the two most pricey gem options, both 50% off for the next 4 days. I'm pretty sure it's not worth purchasing but I figured I would mention it. I wish they had put all the other options on sale as well..
 
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For some odd reason, all my data got lost. I was so mad, removed the game. *sigh* Don't regret it though. I'll just wait, I'm sure there will be other games at some point in life. :)
 
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