Yes, we made a decision (reluctantly) to add a 15 second delay with a low cost offer to remove it for $5.
However, the game is still fully functional and totally playable. Absolutely no difference in gameplay. And it is totally free of any cost to the user.
The 15 second delay is no biggy either. We were considering making it 30-45 seconds but it just didn't feel right. So we kept it low in consideration of the user.
Considering the actual price of $10.95, we thought a 55% discount was a fair offer.
We were forced to do this because we discovered that 99 percent of people downloading the game were not even reading our messages. They just downloaded the game.
Originally, we were hoping that at least a few considerate people would click on some links in our follow-up emails or something just to show good will on their part. Not necessarily buy, just visit product pages.
That way, the user gets a cool free game and we get the advertising benefits. You know, like TV. But that just didn't happen.
Hardly fair considering that MoonBase Defender took 100's of man-hours to make. Wouldn't you say?
If anyone can suggest a practical way that we can get something back for our hard work (not necessarily money), we'll consider removing the nag screen.
Sorry to disappoint anyone, but how can our company survive if we never get anything back for our efforts?
We're just interersted in a system that's fair to everyone.
--Steve
BTW, if you spend the $5, upgrades are free for life.
Let me just chime in and note that I recently got your e-newsletter for the first time after downloading the moonbase defender game. Lots of great links to reduced price and freebies/trials. Very informative.
Doug
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Check your junk mail folder. If you don't find the email there, PM me and I'll take care of it.
For everyone else, because of server traffic the automated system can take up to 4 hours to respond to your subscription. Most people will get it within 10 to 15 minutes but you should be patient if you don't get it right away.
If you don't get the download link within 4 hours, PM me or use the customer feedback form at http://MoonBaseDefender.com
I tried again this morning and still haven't received any response. There are 2 locations to enter the name and email, one at the link provided and one on Yahoo from the link provided. I've been using the Yahoo one because it says it's the only way to get the game for free. I'm going to try the first link and if it doesn't work then I'll PM you.
Update: Tried the 1st link and got an email within 5 minutes. You must not be getting sign-up info from the Yahoo link.
I can see marathon332's point about recovering development costs but also have to agree with AtTheCross, I don't expect to see a nag screen for a "free" program. Does the $10.95 version have a 15 second nag screen asking for $10.95? Without getting into your business model, I'm assuming you get revenue from people clicking on links in your newsletters. It doesn't surprise me that you will have trouble getting people to read your newsletter. With the volume of mail a lot of us receive, getting visibility to your newsletter will be difficult. I would suggest a little more full disclosure and note the nag screen in your advertising. That way people won't be upset with a nag screen on a free game. One other comment on the game, with 100's of hours of design, is there a settings screen where the player can change some of the settings (like sound levels)?
Thanks for your comments and glad to see you got your game.
About Nag Screens And The Word "Free":
I have dozens of "Free" programs with nag screens that I use all the time. Free means "No Money"... nothing more. The authors advertised them as "Free" -- NOT "Freeware". Just as we are doing. A few of them I bought and removed the nag screens which supports the authors.
Unless it's being advertised as freeware or GPL, (which MoonBase Defender is not), it's not misleading in any way. Sorry if some people see it that way.
BTW, how is a nag screen hurting anyone? You paid nothing and can play all you want. In that sense it is "Full Version". Out of consideration for users we didn't want to stray too much from the original idea. That's why we went that route and didn't create it as "trial-ware" or "cripple-ware".
It's us that are out the time and the money. Not the user.
Remember that "Free to you" does not mean "Free to me".
While we don't expect people to buy anything necessarily, we do expect them to show a little consideration for our efforts. That just wasn't happening in this case.
So the nag screen is a way to get a free plug to support us. Seemed fair to us. Don't you think?
About Our Company and What We're Trying To Do:
One of our goals as a company is to lower the overall cost of software for mobile users.
Giving away really good free games and software periodically is a way of acheiving that goal.
We can do even more of that once people subscribe to our newsletter.
Members of the newsletter get greatly reduced prices and free stuff that they can't get anywhere else.
If somebody does eventually buy something they feel they really want or need and they buy it through us, we get a small referral fee that doesn't cost the user anything extra. That way, we can continue to provide more discounts and free stuff and our costs for doing the work are offset.
We're not a big company (3 people) and we do have other paid work, so we won't starve. But we're not wealthy by any means.
Being mobile users oursleves, we're very into developing and using cool stuff for Pocket PC's, SmartPhones and laptops. So we're in a unique position to offer people some interesting stuff.
Having said all that, we'll be discussing the matter again and we may end up removing the nag screen from MoonBase Defender.
But only if we get enough requests through these forums or in emails...
Sorry for the long-winded response but I want people to get the right idea about who we are and what we're trying to do for them.
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