Board Thread:Game Discussion/@comment-26829117-20160522124555/@comment-27824793-20160523062507

RandyMc:

It's not an issue of right or wrong, or fair or unfair. It's a business decision for FM. Just as the decision to go with a "freemium" model was a business decision.

You need a certain amount of GC to make progress in RR3. FM feels that allowing a maximum of 20 ads per day per account is currently about the "right" level. That 20 is the level which FM thinks will keep people playing the game and watching ads. These people who watch the 20 ads per day have not yet made any IAP, so they only way to monetize them is with ads.

The minute you show the willingness to make an IAP, FM's view of you changes.

As a player, you might think, "Now that I have shown that I am willing to spend real money on IAP, FM should reward me!" The reality is, you have shown FM that they can make real money off you, so they separate you from the no-IAP people, and the decision to limit you to 5 ads per day is a business decision: they want to make their advertisers happy and generate views/clicks with all users, but they also want you to repeat the action you have made at least once before, to spend real money on additional IAP.

It's not a question of fairness, it's a question of FM trying to maximize their revenue, and by making an IAP, you put yourself in a different category from those who refuse to make IAP: you are now a proven revenue source through IAP, and keeping your daily ad level at 20 versus reducing it to 5, gives you less incentive to make further IAP(s).

This reality is why I don't make IAPs on any app I use. If an app requires IAP to do what I need it to do, or to progress, I delete it. I am fine paying up front for an app, I have bought lots of apps on the App Store, but I won't participate in the freemium/IAP model because I don't agree with it.

This is the same reason that FM stick with their model. If they thought they could make more money by charging 9.99 for the app, they would switch from the current model. Clearly, they think that they would lose too many users by charging 9.99, and the 1% of players who are addicted/foolish/crooked enough to spend tens or hundreds of dollars a month on IAP make them more revenue than the other way. If you look at the financial reports for other successful freemium games like Candy Crush, you see that it is a very small % of players who download the free app who spend lots of money monthly on IAP that generate almost all of the revenue. Most players never make an IAP.

The only way FM would make a change to this model is if so many players stopped playing that their revenue took a significant hit. It hasn't happened yet. I doubt complaining about the 20 vs. 5 ads per day issue will have any effect because most casual players don't even know about the issue, and would not care even if they did.

It sucks for those who have made IAP, but I doubt FM will change anything.