Avadon - Released on iPad

Looks like Avadon has been released on the iPad, for $9.99. The price might cause some controversy among PC/Mac users, which Jeff Vogel has addressed on the Spiderweb forums:

The iPad version is cheaper for a number of reasons.

1. It has fewer features, due to the limitations of the device. Most notably, it is stuck at a low (1024x768) resolution and there are no keyboard shortcuts.
2. Since it is being sold by Apple, it is subject to the rules of their system. Most notably, there is DRM, and we can't give refunds through iTunes.
3. There is no ability to modify the game.
4. There is no demo.
5. The iPad version will always come out several months after the Mac/PC version.

Ever with the lower price, it is still one of the most expensive games for the iPad by a fair margin. We are charging pretty much the highest price for the game we reasonably can, in part to keep from annoying other users.

We're sorry if anyone is angering by this. If you think about it, I think you'll see that the pricing is fair considering all the factors and that, more importantly, there really isn't much we can do about it and function as a business.

Finally, I think that asking for a refund for a game that you purchased, played, and enjoyed and obtained at a fair price (and yes, $25 is a fair price for PC/Mac Avadon) is, well, it's pretty shady at best. We will honor the commitments we made, but I like to think that our fans, annoyed or not, would not take advantage of a small indie developer in such a way.

- Jeff Vogel

More information.

No android version ?

I was curious what price point he would pick. 9.99 is probably sensible given his philosophy on price. You just can't ask much more on the iStore atm, I'm afaid. The highest I have seen for an iPhone game was 11Chf, which is maybe slightly more, but these are AAA games. I am curious how his game will fare on the iPad.

Hmm, I might pick this up. The collector in me has a hard time acting on this, even though I will probably end up not playing it much at all. It is kind of unique in the App Store right now, though.

EDIT: Bought on impulse. *groan* I'll post some impressions once I've played some of it, but it seems a solid port from what I've read on TouchArcade.

Originally Posted by you
No android version ?

Isn't this always the case? Android seems to always get ignored no matter how many users and devices there are with it out there.

Originally Posted by Motoki
Isn't this always the case? Android seems to always get ignored no matter how many users and devices there are with it out there.

There is a reason - Android isn't making folks money. There have been loads of studies, tons of articles - it isn't political, just money.

I have been beta testing this … and after some tweaks he made (and he and I butted heads a bit on it), this is my favorite version. Too bad that Apple's release schedule is so screwy, I had planned a 'Day One' review … oh well, I'll have it this week.

If people are really asking for refunds because of this they're the biggest wankers of all time.

Great news! Was just looking for a new iPad game!

That's just load of crap. These "lacking features" do not justify 60% price drop. One more Jobs' bitch, making him money.

Yes, it's certainly reasonable to say "fuck you" to your Mac/PC customers, so you can expect a maximum return for yourself.

Oh, shut up. It's just the reality of the App Store. It really is kind of crazy, the way the average price point has evolved. But make this any more expensive and you *will* see sales drop to absolute near zero. In that case, he wouldn't even be able to justify developing this for iPad in the first place, outside of charity.

It's not his fault, but then again: why is this a fuck you, anyway? You paid for the PC/Mac version, you were happy with it. Suddenly that's changed because there is a cheaper version? Are you jealous of iPad users, or something? *shrugs*

Oh god, is this gonna be the next iteration of console vs. PC wars? Please don't.

I don't play or pay for subpar mainstream indie games.

The price of the App store is not the point, it's the price of the PC version - which was already quite high.

That's my opinion, though.

If you think it's ok to charge 25$ for the PC version and shortly after charge 10$ for the iPad version - that's your business.

Then again, you accept everything from everyone - don't you?

Do you consider it a 'fuck you' when a game you paid $50 on release gets discounted to $5 on Steam? I'm sorry, but the people getting angry about this are just being whiny entitled little brats.

Yeah, let's just leave it.

I don't like his pricing policy - that's all there is to it.

Originally Posted by Badesumofu
Do you consider it a 'fuck you' when a game you paid $50 on release gets discounted to $5 on Steam? I'm sorry, but the people getting angry about this are just being whiny entitled little brats.

If the developer set the price, and he made Steam exclusively MUCH cheaper - then I'd consider it a "fuck you".

Since I don't give a shit about the game, it can hardly be about entitlement, can it.

Wow … what a bunch of whiny, entitled spoiled rotten brats. I would expect a bit more intelligence and maturity here, but then again, I suppose not based on so much in recent years. It is why I don't come here much anymore … and this was a great reminder of that.

Then again, with this crew there was *NO WAY* that Vogel could win.

Look - 99% of you are blindly anti-Apple frothing zealots, so there is nothing to see for you, so just piss off and let those with an actual interest in discussing things have an area to do so without the the mindless trolls cluttering up any thread having to do with something on an Apple product for once.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
he wouldn't even be able to justify developing this for iPad in the first place, outside of charity.

By lowering the price, he is donating money to Apple. Making their platform more interesting by offering full product for 60% off the price. Average price is low? Yes, all those developers are donating money to apple, at their own loss.
And it does not anger me, when product with the same features is offered to someone else at lowered price, while using ridiculous reasoning - I just won't accept the 'full' price in the future, without gaining anything for paying more.

Originally Posted by txa1265
Wow … what a bunch of whiny, entitled spoiled rotten brats. I would expect a bit more intelligence and maturity here, but then again, I suppose not based on so much in recent years. It is why I don't come here much anymore … and this was a great reminder of that.

Then again, with this crew there was *NO WAY* that Vogel could win.

Look - 99% of you are blindly anti-Apple frothing zealots, so there is nothing to see for you, so just piss off and let those with an actual interest in discussing things have an area to do so without the the mindless trolls cluttering up any thread having to do with something on an Apple product for once.

Yeah, your post just screams "open mind" doesn't it.

You made up your mind long before anyone posted anything.

Why don't you think about why you have such a strong reaction to people having a problem with this pricing model?

I own an iPod and I've bought many games for it. It has nothing to do with this thing here.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Then again, you accept everything from everyone - don't you?

You are very close to testing the limit of that.

Look, apart from the fact that I find it funny that you bitch about the pricepoint of games you proclaim not to be interested in - he has explained his price policy very clearly in several blog posts, and articles. You can of course not like it, but he has been very open and transparent about his reasons, and he has again been very transparent here. For anyone who knows anything about the iStore its very clear that a pricepoint much higher than $10 is absolutely unrealistic. The ONLY thing that sells at higher pricepoints that I know off are GPS navigation Apps.

In truth this is about you not liking these mobile platforms because it might pull people away from your preferred platform, isn't it?