I checked out Triple Town, curious what sort of game someone looking for both strong ties with players and recurring revenue would produce. What I found was a game with a single $4 purchase that unlocked everything. That definitely suits me as a player, but I don't see how it constitutes recurring revenue. It looks and feels like an option to just buy the game. If it turns out not to be, I'll feel betrayed.
Am I misunderstanding the model here? Is the 'recurring' aspect supposed to be from players as a group--a certain percent converting on a monthly basis, without publicity events? Is what clearly looks like a 'purchase game' to me not intended as such? Will I sit down to play some evening only to find a warped experience that's grindy and lame without an infusion of coins? Or is all this talk of free to play really about fully functional trials--asking me for $4 after I'm sure I like the game rather than $1 on a hope? (Something which seems sensible, but I don't see how it would help with a boom/bust cycle.)
Yep, it's for unlimited/unrestricted play ... so in this case it's a trial. But a community has in fact grown around this game, and in the future they could enhance it for additional IAP funds, sort of like the dagobah IAP in angry birds starwars. I don't know if they're actually planning to do this particular thing, but he even says that he wants his games to be ongoing services that evolve and improve over time.
Am I misunderstanding the model here? Is the 'recurring' aspect supposed to be from players as a group--a certain percent converting on a monthly basis, without publicity events? Is what clearly looks like a 'purchase game' to me not intended as such? Will I sit down to play some evening only to find a warped experience that's grindy and lame without an infusion of coins? Or is all this talk of free to play really about fully functional trials--asking me for $4 after I'm sure I like the game rather than $1 on a hope? (Something which seems sensible, but I don't see how it would help with a boom/bust cycle.)