Starting out it's tough. The guns are weak and reloads are slow. Tried Survival mode and couldn't get past Wave 3. Fortunately I can watch ads to earn kash to buy upgrades. Sarcastic yay. Went back and played the story mode. Bit easier for starters but the full screen video ads don't exactly help with the immersion. This really is freemium overkill. Off to the bin it goes.
What a nice way to thank their customers who already paid for this game. So kind of them to now force us to watch ads. Question: does anyone know if the in app purchase levels are free as well? Cuz that'd at least be something. But I'm guessing they're not only free, but also chock full of ads. Oh well, guess I just won't upgrade. It's not like they're ever going to add more levels or improve the gameplay at this point.
Beyond the in-your-face ads, I find the game itself is pretty cool. Controls are decent, graphics are good, pretty satisfying blowing off zombie heads, arms etc. if anything, I think the game is slightly difficult, so far.
If it's really freemium now, well, that's BS. It's a nice on-rails shooter, probably the best on iOS.
Is there really no comeback legally if you paid for a product that was ad-free and 'premium' that changes in this way? I'm not that bothered it's a shame and I don't like it but it's really a shit happens kind of scenario on the store nowadays but I'm just genuinely intrigued to know?? (I'm sure this question and answer has been raised before on other threads somewhere.....)
Not that I know of, which is a shame. If there was, developers would think twice before pulling this. But we don't really own the digital things we buy anymore, so no consumer rights for us. Yay future. I see an interesting conflict here. They say digital piracy is stealing, equivalent to actually taking a physical thing from someone, and they are more than willing to jail or sue anyone that gets caught doing that as if actual property is involved, but they're perfectly fine with a developer updating a paid app, loading it down with iAds and IAP, and making it free for any future customer to have. They don't see how that's like breaking into their paying customers' houses, taking the product they paid for, let's pretend it's a physical book, and swapping it with one that's missing the last five or six chapters, including a note on the last page that says, "If you would like to read the rest of this book, it will cost you an extra $1.99 per chapter," and gluing an ad onto every page that's left in the book. If you would like your book back to the way it was before they snuck into your house, you better grab it from the trash where their partner in crime, Apple, dumped it before it gets emptied and is gone for good. Some things I wish Apple would do: - Allow you to download prior versions of the apps you've paid for, unless it was "free" when you bought it. - Tag an app that has updated to never update so it disappears from your update queue. - And in iTunes, allow you to filter all of your apps to show a list of only what is installed on your selected device. I know I can do that last one directly on my iPad in Usage, but whenever I delete an app through Usage, and then sync in iTunes, it reinstalls the apps I deleted. It pretty damned annoying. I removed it for a reason, you moronic software.
I don't think there is and there probably shouldn't be. When you pay for an app, you're paying for that version of the app. No one is forcing you to update. Users just assume that they get updates for free. It's like if you buy a shirt from a store and they change the material slightly, you don't get a new shirt. It's morally wrong what they're doing but it's not illegal.
Great post! I would also love to see those features implemented. I'm always suspicious of those "minor bug fixes" updates, as many developers use that lame excuse to introduce ads in apps. About the last one, I use the manual sync option for apps on iTunes, so I can choose which apps are installed on each device.
Thanks. I also swiched to manual sync on all of my devices back when I was still on iOS 6, but it hasn't fixed the problem. If I delete apps from Usage, or delete their icons from the visual side of the iTunes App window, they just get reinstalled when I hit sync. The only thing that seems to work is turning them off from the list side, or holding on the icons on the iPad until they wiggle, and deleting them from there.
Yes, and no. By not allowing you to tag an app as one you don't want to update, Apple is somewhat forcing you by cluttering up your update queue. The more apps you have, the bigger this problem is. I have six apps currently on my iPad that I will not update because the devs have crippled them. I have over 200 in my iTunes. I don't even look at those anymore because it's so out of hand. I just focus on what's on my devices. If they change the shirt on their racks, that's up to them. If they change the shirt on your back, it's a problem. "I don't like plaid, I don't look good in it, and I didn't pay for plaid. You changed my shirt, that I bought, to plaid, and stuck sponsor logos all over it, want to charge me every time I wear it, and are giving it away to anyone that wants it now. I want my money back." If this happened in meat space, it wouldn't be tolerated. It shouldn't be tolerated here. The fact that it's morally wrong, as you pointed out, is a sign to me that it should be illegal. It was morally wrong to kidnap people from their home country and make them work in cotton fields for their entire lives. Eventually it became illegal. Not that I'm equating devs changing their business model with slavery, just that morally wrong is morally wrong (assuming everyone starts with the same base of morals). It's all down to taking a stand. I, for one, stop buying anything from any dev who does this. The problem is, I'm content to do it quietly. Maybe we need to really start making some noise.
I agree with you up to a point, but also with a lot of what Collin says. Your right when you say that nobody is forcing you to update but a lot of 'casual' apple users would click the update button without thinking twice - and certainly without thinking that a game they paid full price for would fundamentally change. I think the right to restore the version of the app you originally paid for and/or one to remove an app from the update list is an excellent idea.
Has anybody managed to get a refund? I updated this game on my phone accidentally while updating 3-4 other apps and now I'm stuck with this piece of garbage "update" and people like "blahdo" aren't exactly helping anyone with their inane comments. We're constantly encouraged by everyone from Apple, Microsoft, Adobe to all the games companies, services like Steam etc to keep our software updated, but apparently when it comes to AppStore games developers like Sega can play a switcheroo and replace your app with adware instead. I've had like 3 or 4 apps "updated" like this in the last couple of weeks, my !StartSpanish app got replaced a few days ago by one of these "updates" with a completely different app that I need to pay a monthly subscription to use! And developers wonder why piracy on mobile platforms is so rampant, I'm never buying anything from developers that do this ever again
