Have the Devs forgotten they have a steam version?

2

Comments

  • MPQ_Daywalker
    MPQ_Daywalker Posts: 384 Mover and Shaker
    As a mobile user, I have no vested interest in this, but it seems to me that if Steam does not allow ads, you could still implement a feature where VIP members playing on Steam would occasionally receive the SHIELD Intercept rewards. No ads need to be displayed, ever, it would just a benefit to VIP players on Steam.
  • MPQ_Daywalker
    MPQ_Daywalker Posts: 384 Mover and Shaker
    StarScream wrote:
    Pylgrim wrote:
    As far as I know, there's no way for a game in Steam to show ads. Seems like a technical hurdle to me as well.

    Ninjakiwi has ads in their games.
    This isn't true. Ninja Kiwi only has two games available through Steam, Bloons TD Battles and Bloons TD 5. Bloons TD Battles is free-to-play but has microtransactions if you want to purchase items. Bloons TD 5 is $10. Neither game has ads.

    Valve has stated in the past that Steam doesn't want to do ads in any of its games.
  • SnowcaTT
    SnowcaTT Posts: 3,486 Chairperson of the Boards
    Pylgrim wrote:
    ThatOneGuyjp189512 wrote:
    (The UI is like a million times better on PC which is why i chose it).

    It sounds to me as you are getting a benefit that we mobile players cannot possible get and as such, you made a compromise.

    EVERY TIME this argument comes up, I bring up the following:

    A nice looking UI is a fluff enhancement.

    GAME RESOURCES are not. Steam players are losing out on actual progression that other players are getting!

    I would take a worse looking UI for in-game resources every day of the week. But I started on Steam - and cannot make that trade.
  • broll
    broll Posts: 4,732 Chairperson of the Boards
    _Daywalker_ wrote:
    As a mobile user, I have no vested interest in this, but it seems to me that if Steam does not allow ads, you could still implement a feature where VIP members playing on Steam would occasionally receive the SHIELD Intercept rewards. No ads need to be displayed, ever, it would just a benefit to VIP players on Steam.

    This seems reasonable to me. It doesn't help non-VIP but it would at least be an effort to keep those on steam already using VIP from stopping that cash flow. If they don't do that then either, A. There's some non-obvious technical challenge preventing it or B. They are looking for an excuse to drop Steam support and scaring away what paying customers they have on that platform would be the best way to justify that.
  • StarScream
    StarScream Posts: 147 Tile Toppler
    _Daywalker_ wrote:
    StarScream wrote:
    Pylgrim wrote:
    As far as I know, there's no way for a game in Steam to show ads. Seems like a technical hurdle to me as well.

    Ninjakiwi has ads in their games.
    This isn't true. Ninja Kiwi only has two games available through Steam, Bloons TD Battles and Bloons TD 5. Bloons TD Battles is free-to-play but has microtransactions if you want to purchase items. Bloons TD 5 is $10. Neither game has ads.

    Valve has stated in the past that Steam doesn't want to do ads in any of its games.

    Does BMC advertise stuff in their game? Yes? Then it has ads. Don't pretend it does not.
  • broll
    broll Posts: 4,732 Chairperson of the Boards
    aesthetocyst wrote:
    _Daywalker_ wrote:
    Valve has stated in the past that Steam doesn't want to do ads in any of its games.

    That's about Steam's refusal to sell ads on the Steam interface itself, not about ads in games.

    It's more than that. It's also about not enabling the kind of APIs that mobile games use to pump ads into their game. Could the devs make ads for steam? Yes, but they would have to build a system for doing so from the ground up. That would be time consuming and expensive. For a player base of only 600ish players, even if all 600 were paying for VIP that's 6,000 a month / 78,000 a year, or the salary of one developer at best. I doubt that ROI would work out very well, especially when I'm sure steam VIP enrollment rate is no where near 100%.
  • jojeda654
    jojeda654 Posts: 1,162 Chairperson of the Boards
    aesthetocyst wrote:
    FB hasn't forgotten its PC roots ... or is at least desirous of that market:

    http://www.salon.com/2016/08/19/faceboo ... ves-steam/

    Whoa there! I was not ready for that body painting ad!
  • Mechahamster
    Mechahamster Posts: 237 Tile Toppler
    broll wrote:
    aesthetocyst wrote:
    _Daywalker_ wrote:
    Valve has stated in the past that Steam doesn't want to do ads in any of its games.

    That's about Steam's refusal to sell ads on the Steam interface itself, not about ads in games.

    It's more than that. It's also about not enabling the kind of APIs that mobile games use to pump ads into their game. Could the devs make ads for steam? Yes, but they would have to build a system for doing so from the ground up. That would be time consuming and expensive. For a player base of only 600ish players, even if all 600 were paying for VIP that's 6,000 a month / 78,000 a year, or the salary of one developer at best. I doubt that ROI would work out very well, especially when I'm sure steam VIP enrollment rate is no where near 100%.

    How much do you think game developers make? icon_lol.gif
  • zulux21
    zulux21 Posts: 249 Tile Toppler
    Jamie Madrox wrote:
    OP was correct in their post. Steam loses out on FB gifts and such because the Steam API doesn't allow it. Your only recourse is to ask CS if they'll transfer your steam game to a mobile device. It CAN be done, but they may or may not do it.
    that is basically my plan at this point. I am tired of missing out because I am playing on steam.

    I already sent CS an email to switch my account to IOS or android.
    I will likely continue sending them requests (once every 48 hours, I am not going to just spam them) until they either do it or ban me.

    either way my days playing on steam are numbered anymore. I already missed out on a million plus iso from not having facebook connect (1k per day for over 1k days played). I am not missing out on a ton more stuff -_-
  • Smudge
    Smudge Posts: 562 Critical Contributor
    Mechahamster wrote:
    broll wrote:
    aesthetocyst wrote:
    _Daywalker_ wrote:
    Valve has stated in the past that Steam doesn't want to do ads in any of its games.

    That's about Steam's refusal to sell ads on the Steam interface itself, not about ads in games.

    It's more than that. It's also about not enabling the kind of APIs that mobile games use to pump ads into their game. Could the devs make ads for steam? Yes, but they would have to build a system for doing so from the ground up. That would be time consuming and expensive. For a player base of only 600ish players, even if all 600 were paying for VIP that's 6,000 a month / 78,000 a year, or the salary of one developer at best. I doubt that ROI would work out very well, especially when I'm sure steam VIP enrollment rate is no where near 100%.

    How much do you think game developers make? icon_lol.gif
    Apparently a lot more than what you think they make? $72,000-$83,000 annually is average depending who you ask and the person's exact role...

    http://www.gameindustrycareerguide.com/ ... er-salary/

    http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/22/ ... opers-make

    http://kotaku.com/5233490/so-how-much-d ... opers-make

    On topic: I prefer the Steam platform myself, but I started and had almost a year and a half's worth of progress on my mobile by the time I started on Steam, so I decided the second account wasn't worth it. Not to mention that I don't have a laptop, so Steam isn't portable for me.

    That being said, I feel sorry for the changes that benefit people exclusively on mobile like this with no stretch to Steam. Granted, my single ad I've watched so far today has only granted me 10 HP icon_lol.gif ... it's still more than anyone on Steam has earned for the same reason. Seems silly.
  • zulux21
    zulux21 Posts: 249 Tile Toppler
    Smudge wrote:
    That being said, I feel sorry for the changes that benefit people exclusively on mobile like this with no stretch to Steam. Granted, my single ad I've watched so far today has only granted me 10 HP icon_lol.gif ... it's still more than anyone on Steam has earned for the same reason. Seems silly.
    yup... the thing is it adds up.
    I am past day 1000.

    that only 10hp, each day... for 1000 days (aka about 3 years from now) ends up being 10,000HP or 10 roster slots that steam users won't be able to have just because they play on steam.

    it's why steam users have missed out on so much iso from facebook connect. it adds up. If I had the iso from facebook connect I would have my last 6 3 stars champed as well as a 4 star champed and still have iso to spare :/
  • Mechahamster
    Mechahamster Posts: 237 Tile Toppler
    Smudge wrote:
    Apparently a lot more than what you think they make? $72,000-$83,000 annually is average depending who you ask and the person's exact role...

    http://www.gameindustrycareerguide.com/ ... er-salary/

    http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/22/ ... opers-make

    http://kotaku.com/5233490/so-how-much-d ... opers-make

    Well colour me surprised, there's apparently a lot more money in programming **** mobile games than I thought there was icon_e_surprised.gif
  • goalbound
    goalbound Posts: 10
    broll wrote:
    aesthetocyst wrote:
    _Daywalker_ wrote:
    Valve has stated in the past that Steam doesn't want to do ads in any of its games.

    That's about Steam's refusal to sell ads on the Steam interface itself, not about ads in games.

    It's more than that. It's also about not enabling the kind of APIs that mobile games use to pump ads into their game. Could the devs make ads for steam? Yes, but they would have to build a system for doing so from the ground up. That would be time consuming and expensive. For a player base of only 600ish players, even if all 600 were paying for VIP that's 6,000 a month / 78,000 a year, or the salary of one developer at best. I doubt that ROI would work out very well, especially when I'm sure steam VIP enrollment rate is no where near 100%.
    600 is the average number of players online at any given point. This is not the player base. The number of active users for the past 2 weeks is 10,000+

    https://steamdb.info/app/234330/graphs/
  • DrNitroman
    DrNitroman Posts: 966 Critical Contributor
    I have officially decided to join Aes in the Battlin' Bastards of Steam (BBS) organization
    Steam players unite! icon_razz.gif
  • broll
    broll Posts: 4,732 Chairperson of the Boards
    aesthetocyst wrote:
    broll wrote:
    It's more than that. It's also about not enabling the kind of APIs that mobile games use to pump ads into their game. Could the devs make ads for steam? Yes, but they would have to build a system for doing so from the ground up. That would be time consuming and expensive. For a player base of only 600ish players, even if all 600 were paying for VIP that's 6,000 a month / 78,000 a year, or the salary of one developer at best. I doubt that ROI would work out very well, especially when I'm sure steam VIP enrollment rate is no where near 100%.

    Sigh. No, broll, the article linked to was literally about Steam's refusal to sell ads on the Steam interface itself, not about ads in games. The article itself is not about wider issues, not about in-game ads at all icon_lol.gif

    "Valve has no plans to introduce advertisements for commercial products to the Steam PC storefront..."
    — http://www.gamespot.com/articles/heres- ... 0-6431454/

    (my emphasis added, the short article goes on about ads on platform storefronts, never mentions in-game ads or other kinds of in-game monetization)

    You're correct, I saw another more vague ad and never clicked your link. Do you know/can you prove it does have APIs for in-game advertising though? I looked for this and the only thing I could find is Gabe Newell talking about them trying it in Counter-Strike in 2007 and they would look into implementing it into more (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gabe- ... dvertising). I couldn't find anything saying it was ever implemented or that it's intentionally not implemented.
  • Smudge
    Smudge Posts: 562 Critical Contributor
    zulux21 wrote:
    Smudge wrote:
    That being said, I feel sorry for the changes that benefit people exclusively on mobile like this with no stretch to Steam. Granted, my single ad I've watched so far today has only granted me 10 HP icon_lol.gif ... it's still more than anyone on Steam has earned for the same reason. Seems silly.
    yup... the thing is it adds up.
    I am past day 1000.

    that only 10hp, each day... for 1000 days (aka about 3 years from now) ends up being 10,000HP or 10 roster slots that steam users won't be able to have just because they play on steam.

    it's why steam users have missed out on so much iso from facebook connect. it adds up. If I had the iso from facebook connect I would have my last 6 3 stars champed as well as a 4 star champed and still have iso to spare :/
    Sorry if I unintentionally diluted my point. I wasn't trying to say that 10 HP per day over the course of many, many days is a small sum, just make light of the fact that it was a single hit of a small sum and felt goofy at the time.

    My greater point is that I agree; Steam users by far get the short end of the stick. Repeating myself... I did say that while I only received 10 HP, it's still more than anyone on Steam received in the same time period for the same reason as me. The fact that I can earn that easy well of HP but a Steam user cannot seems silly; I did not mean that Steam users complaining about missing out on the same 10 HP is silly.
  • zulux21
    zulux21 Posts: 249 Tile Toppler
    Smudge wrote:
    Sorry if I unintentionally diluted my point. I wasn't trying to say that 10 HP per day over the course of many, many days is a small sum, just make light of the fact that it was a single hit of a small sum and felt goofy at the time.

    My greater point is that I agree; Steam users by far get the short end of the stick. Repeating myself... I did say that while I only received 10 HP, it's still more than anyone on Steam received in the same time period for the same reason as me. The fact that I can earn that easy well of HP but a Steam user cannot seems silly; I did not mean that Steam users complaining about missing out on the same 10 HP is silly.
    oh I didn't take your post that way at all.
    I just wanted to point out how it adds up and how much it sucks being a steam user with these bonuses.

    I would love to be getting extra HP just to randomly roll tokens.
    which since they give you EXP for levels could eventually make the difference whether I qualify for shield level 9 or not.
    then missing out would snowball even more :/
  • Warbringa
    Warbringa Posts: 1,299 Chairperson of the Boards
    Steam player here. It sucks to lose out on the bonus rewards but seeing my friend play the game on his phone, I felt bad for him at how terrible the game looked visually. I will take the PC UI any day of the week over the mobile version. In addition, this game is addictive enough, I don't need to be able to play it everywhere I take my phone. Plus my phone battery wouldn't be able to handle that amount play and I would always have to have it charging!

    Yeah, the 600 steam users is a misleading number as that is the peak number playing at that particular time, pretty sure there are way more steam players than 600. I remember seeing about a year ago approximately 10% of the player base is non-mobile based (Steam + console?) and the rest are mobile. A simple fix would be to offer Steam users a special purchase to make up for the lost "free" rewards. Increase revenue and placate Steam users - of course, it would need to be a reasonable offer which is where the disconnect usually comes into play.

    Recently just saw a stat that showed, at least on iphones, all of the heroic tokens packages are more popular buys than VIP which is more popular than all of the iso buys of course. $100 iso buy was of course, the last ranked buy as it should be.
  • cardoor
    cardoor Posts: 185 Tile Toppler
    I started a second account on mobile a week or so ago (normally play steam). Today in the space of 3 matches or 10 minutes or so I earned 1000 ISO, 1 recruit token and 10hp for watching 2 angry bird2 ads and one mechrobot or something ad. On a new account that is a huge daily advantage over someone starting on Steam (and it could have been more if I played longer).

    If we do not hear anything about plans to address this within the next week or so, I would join a spending boycott with anyone interested.
  • Pylgrim
    Pylgrim Posts: 2,328 Chairperson of the Boards
    aesthetocyst wrote:
    Pylgrim wrote:
    It sounds to me as you are getting a benefit that we mobile players cannot possible get and as such, you made a compromise.

    Yes, 3 years ago I stumbled across this game on steam. I for some reason took the time to research whether it had a mobile version as well, and also looked at my crystal ball to divine the future of the game on various platforms. Then and only then did I select which platform to play on.

    I trust mobile players did the same, and chose future functionality over superior interface.

    Dolt.

    Had I done this research I facetiously describe, I would have discovered that at the time accounts could be linked across platforms, and thus there was at the time no downside to choosing either way. Luckily, the crystal ball flashing angry red over in the corner would have warned me off ...

    Hahah, but I wasn't making a generalised statement about Steam players! OP literally said that he made that choice.

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