Feedback Next steps with Mobile Video Ads

[Thunderdome]

A $600-$1200 phone...

Only a fool will spend that amount on a phone, hence why I don't buy any Apple product. My and my other half's phones and tablets are Samsung that I spend no more than 150 (on average) on.

I do play on the tablet when I cannot lug a laptop around (try doing that in the transport with the steering column pressing against it) on errands or job sites I go to when working. However, I prefer much the laptop or (when docked) a viewing size of a 65in HDTV in 4k resolution where I can play FoE and multitask with other things like using the forum on a different window (side by side).

You're lucky, FOE doesn't work on my phone, so I only play on my pc.

Heh, mate, I had remembered the days of Nokia. Those were the best phones. The one I had was the Nokia 6600. Dropped it while charging in 2005 so RIP.

Imho, if you're supporting FoE financially directly already, why should you be bothered by adds? As someone who likes to play in general f2p I think adds are fair but not when I've directly financially supported the game.

That's what I am saying. If we spend money on this game, we should not be invaded with such. I had bought premium versions of apps that once had ads in them after I deemed them worthy to be kept. Also, I wonder if Inno had updated their Google Store (or any other provider store) entries to disclose the app now contains ads; else, they are falsifying information (false advertisement) that could be in violation of said store's terms of service in providing a product or service.

All in all, folks, I hardly play on my phone; not only because it is small to see but because I use my phone to interface with the car for music and other things.

 

[mcbluefire]

Only a fool will spend that amount on a phone, hence why I don't buy any Apple product. My and my other half's phones and tablets are Samsung that I spend no more than 150 (on average) on.

I definitely raised me some fools. Dern kids thinking they need an overpriced phone every couple of years and they waste no time breaking them and paying to get them fixed as well. Yeah, they live their lives out of the dern things....but that's still no excuse. I get a new phone every few years and rarely does it break $400.

Back on topic completely agree that any monetary contribution to the game should make ads waived. It should NOT cost $1+ a day to not see ads as that is in no way commensurate (equivalent) to what they get in ad revenue for the views on each person. Simply inexcusable lack of "maths" capability somewhere in Inno.

 

[Thunderdome]

Dern kids thinking they need an overpriced phone every couple of years and they waste no time breaking them and paying to get them fixed as well.

Or, get the ones when they see the newest model out, they want it and will stop at nothing until it is in their hands!

I've broke a lot of 30-40 dollar phones in my line of work (structural cabling); worst one, it was falling from 20 feet above on a lift and hitting the floor below (luckily no one was below when it happened); shattered the screen beyond recognition. Now, I just either leave it in the car (if entering a construction site) or put it in the rig I have (for other site visits) for when I do go to a site.

Going back on topic, if something presents itself as an incentive to not get ads, I would take it. The spending for diamonds was that incentive. Now, that they are taking that away, I am just going to uninstall the app from my device as there is no point in playing on mobile. Inno maintains that the ads are purely optional, however, when I call them out by stating the obvious, they just cower away without much of a rebuttal.

 

[Emberguard]

What math are people doing? A $600-$1200 phone is in no way cheaper than a $300 chromebook even if it is put on a payment plan with their mobile provider.

If you already have the phone, or require it for your work anyway, then it’s cheaper than buying a new device. That goes in reverse too if you already had the computer

 

[beelzebob666]

a single 10% build time reduction is a joke... allow for multiple applications and/or increase the build time deduction

For it to find use, something like 25% would be sensible - so the building can be finished by watching 4 Ads - main problem with this is that it destabilizes the balance between browser and app users - but at least most browser users should have the option to switch to mobile for accelerating building if they wish so

I like the idea for double castle points, but I recon it will barely find use every 7 days, when the castle gives 100 points. I think, a better solution might be to activate a CP Boost by watching an add in the castle that runs for an hour or so and will boost all CP collections.

 

[beelzebob666]

Other ideas for ads:
- 30 sec rush - all timers (productions, tavern, aid, healing?) are reduced by 30 seconds - applicable up to 5 times per day
- heal all (I think that was in the original ad scheme a couple years ago) - but I think it will find barely any users, simply because most users want to fight quickly and cannot wait the minute for the ads to finish --> this might come in handy then
- collect all - alternative to the 5 diamonds
- Event pass unlock - one ad per day - unlocks, when at least X ads where watched - seems a bit cheap

 

[Thunderdome]

All in all, it should not have been an A/B test. It should have been a Beta server test where everyone is on equal ground. Else, only 25% of the beta players will only experience this.

Reason on the 25%
• Out of 100% of the beta community, only 50% will have this feature through an A/B test.
• Out of 50% of those that are in an A/B test, only 50% of those will not use the feature.
• The end result would be around 25% (can fluctuate between those who will use the feature versus those who will not).

Now, for the ideas on this new ad thing I would like to see happen...
• Tavern Hop: Similar to Neighborly Helpers, just being able to tavern visit all (when open) at once.
• A better construction boost than your 10%. This ain't Toddlerville. Many of us are advanced, so do away with the noobish values and stuff. 20-30% seems feasible if we are going to be put up with the ads, ESPECIALLY after knowing our spending won't matter if we don't purchase your overpriced gimmick.
• A nice recruitment boost. If you're going to have us help you make money through your ads, you may want to reward better.

And here I go, suggesting things that will soon be littered onto everyone's screen just like other games that I will, one day, suggest for a way to neatly put them into some kind of box so we can just click on them without the bouncy/swirly effects (those will know which game as Inno doesn't want me to advertise -- what a crock imho -- it).

 

[outoftheline]

So, I've spent a few hundred euros over the years.. and I am lucky I hardly play on mobile, because ads would really piss me off.
Just make the product a lot better or cheaper if you want more people buying it!

 

[DEADP00L]

At the beginning of Innogames, on Tribal wars, they had set up a Premium option which made it possible to manage faster without giving advantages to those who did not pay and the cost was $5 per month.
Many of us took this option.

Here it's the opposite, it's very expensive for no advantage, not even the limit of 1,000 FP which we must be very numerous to exceed daily.

Example: if FOE PLUS made it possible to have two typical troop compositions that would make it easier for us to change the wounded, without healing them and even with the arrival of the nerf, that would be more interesting.

Who needs the first 2 emissaries to see their bonus doubled? This is where I realize that not only are the designers disconnected from their game, but they also don't want to hear our suggestions.

 

[Okamiris]

@Juber
Put the timer back as before please:

Spoiler: Actually with the test

Spoiler: Current normal view

 

[Okamiris]

I know you don't care, but I uninstalled FoE beta app and disconnected my beta city.
Beta testing is just a big joke, so I really don't see the point of participating at this moment!
If one day the desire takes you to listen to your players again.....

 

[Thunderdome]

I leave for a job in Iowa and there are dumpster fires going about on Facebook as a result from these "forced" video ads. Nice going, Inno.

 

[teest-now]

I've posted a voting option on the forums . . . folks can vote up to let InnoGames know they would like Legacy Accounts (Accounts created prior to the introduction of mobile advertising) exempted from mobile ads on their devices . . . only new sign-ups should get the mobile advertising . . . here's the link . . . please go vote up to support InnoGames exempting Legacy Accounts from mobile advertising. . .

Voting Link - Vote Up to exempt Legacy Accounts from mobile ads

 

[Prom d Exolandia]

What does one have to do with the other. The ads are still optional in every part of the game.

Even if viewing is not compulsory, the entry points for viewing are very penalizing in terms of playing comfort.
Some examples :
- the tavern will always open on the advertising bonus as long as we haven't seen the ad
I don't want to see advertising I don't want to come across this default tab every time (1× per day would be enough)
- the advertising incidents only disappear if I watch the advertising, the other incidents are hidden under these advertising incidents. So I have to see advertising to collect my "normal" incidents
- the ad quest cannot be deleted without seeing the ad.
The quests tab, we are often on it, this screen wears out your eyes

Even if advertising is not mandatory, adding it to the game has really made the game less comfortable

 

[Hawkery]

I don't like the ads. They take way too long and totally not worth the reward.

Also there is no way to turn them off in the settings? That sucks. I'm very tempted to completely quit if there's no way to hide the ad's

 

[Iggy the Troll]

Inno badly missed on the price point for F+ and now they think that they can make up for the flop by getting diamond players to buy it. We won't. The only real thing of value on it is the bigger FP bar and now the ad free aspect. I would have expected the $29.99 to be the annual price and a monthly price of $3.99.

 

[planetofthehumans2]

I don't like the ads. They take way too long and totally not worth the reward.

Also there is no way to turn them off in the settings? That sucks. I'm very tempted to completely quit if there's no way to hide the ad's

Just dont use FOE on mobile LOL

 

[mcbluefire]

Sweet, in time FoE will be back to a primarily PC based playership! In my guild today (on live) folks are venting about the ads on mobile and the response is that the game is still good on PC.

 

[teest-now]

Attempted to put up a vote offering in the "Ideas" forum for "Legacy Accounts should be Exempted from Mobile Ads" . . . how does InnoGames expect to have any meaningful feedback if attempts to gauge broader opinion through Idea's voting is "Rejected."

Any way, I'm going to leave my feedback. This is solely for InnoGames to see my opinion and get my feedback.

Mobile ads are the worst idea ever. InnoGames is about to lose a large portion of its customer base if it continues to push ads on those who have played for months or years without ads.

Its one thing to put ads into new accounts signing up from now forward, but it is entirely another thing to impose mobile ads on legacy players whose signups and time investment in the game occurred prior to the roll outs of the mobile ads.

There is no question this is a company decision by InnoGames to increase its revenue, but there is also no question it will cause the collapse of the game through cruicial core Legacy player losses. Already approximately 3/4 of all server players on all worlds are inactive. This is the result of recent Management/Administrative attempts to change the game to increase revenues . . . it is failing - primarily due to the lack of central focus on player retention and improving in-game experience and enjoyment . . . a past president of the United States once said "its about the Economy st*pid" but here the economy is the social capital - the interactions of long term legacy players with both new and other long-term players who are here because of their friendships, not because they want to light up their mouse with a thousand clicks every hour or because they enjoy tapping a hole in their mobile device's screen protector.

The smartest move is to exempt legacy accounts (players who signed up prior to the introduction of mobile advertising) from seeing the ads. Basically these Legacy Accounts would continue on exactly as if mobile advertising did not exist.

The recent massive loss in value of Twitter and Facebook value drops should scare the heck out of InnoGames. Facebook has seen some unimaginable drops in its value for example losing a quarter Billion dollars in value in one day recently . . . the largest in stock market history. More over, "Meta," Facebooks attempt to evolve and increase revenue (similar to this InnoGames Mobile Ad misplaced plan), massively missed targets and gave a horrendous "troubling" forecast for the third quarter of 2022.

. . . this should be a wake up call for InnoGames Management and Exectives as well as MTG ("Mobile Telecom Group" InnoGames Parent Company).

I strongly urge a re-focusing onto customer retention. Moves like introduction of mobile ads will not only NOT result in increased revenues, but will result in loss of market share and customers . . . this is loss of reach for the company.

The simplest solution is to exempt Legacy Accounts (created prior to the introduction of mobile ads) from seeing the ads. Those players began playing the game without ads and invested their time in the game within that social-contract with InnoGames. . . but more importantly, these Legacy Accounts/Players have been building up InnoGames market share by engaging with other players socially online. There is real value in these Legacy players for InnoGames and imposing Mobile Ads on them and making them quit InnoGames offerings will cut the heart out of the engine that holds games like Forge of Empires together (Legacy players who are proven over time). Imposing advertising on these legacy players is a violation. These players have invested their time and energy in the game and they should have a strong position supported by InnoGames to continue on without the Mobile Ads.

While I understand InnoGames desire to increase revenues, it would be far better served by using the money it invested in developing the Mobile Ad system in an advertising campaign to attract more customers to the game as it did in 2011 and 2012. That is a far better advertising focus than imposing mobile ads on players that will cause people to leave the game.

The introduction of Mobile Ads is mistake identical to the mistakes Twitter has made and Facebook has made in attempting to develop "Meta" in the dark . . . a group of MBAs and Executives sitting around in a dark room with no windows patting each other on the back and saying yea yea yea like Beavis and Butthead heh heh heh heh . . ."that sound great" when in fact it could easily result in loss of customers/players and the collapse of the game entirely.

I've privately discussed with friends and other players what InnoGames could consider as an option going forward. Here is my feedback/suggestion:

1. Do not impose Mobile Ads on Legacy players . . . introduce them solely to new sign-ups who can make an informed decision about their investment of their time in the game.
2. Purchase Discord (or a like company) and integrate it into all InnoGames and other MTG platforms. MTG is big enough to purchase a company like Discord, and this would increase player engagement massively. There are ways to gain revenue within Discord that are far superior to Mobile Ads and could be held and provided independent of the hook of the games offered by InnoGames . . . essentially the games, like Forge of Empires will attract players and a Discord like Social platform would increase engagement and offer increasing revenue opportunities. To say the Message Center in Forge of Empires is substandard and poor quality is an understatement. Bringing in a true Social Interaction site like a Discord Company would transform InnoGames and other MTG gaming holdings into the powerhouse for gaming experiences well into the future.

The principle is that games like Forge of Empires always end up being social interaction experiences for people who originally sign up to just have some fun in a game. Like going camping, its not the campfire that people are going for, while that is fun and nice, but rather its the friends and family that make camping so popular. Targeting and purchasing a new holding like Discord to increase social engagement is the path forward. Forcing mobile ads on legacy players is like a park ranger coming along and telling a bunch of friends they can't have the campfire . . . where's the fun in that and some people just won't go camping there anymore.

 

[DEADP00L]

Don't you think that complaining without thinking leads to other negative developments?
Because you have a short memory!
A few months/years ago Innogmaes had proposed an amphitheater with pubs which did not interfere with the ways of playing, which were on a voluntary basis but despite everything you demanded the withdrawal of this building.
As a result, you now get ads everywhere!
WE are therefore all responsible for this development.
Instead of constantly complaining for nothing and especially without thinking about the consequences, we always get worse than talking calmly by bringing up precise information and not just your feelings!