

The case for an IAP off button in mobile games - waps
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/EthanLevy/20131217/207167/The_case_for_an_IAP_off_button_in_mobile_games.php
Android monetization expert finds in-app purchases inappropriate for his grandmother.
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po
If anyone wants to see a good example of why you can't just toggle off IAP you
should check out Jonathan Blow's talk about "Free to Play" games and how the
business model deeply corrupts the game through the metaphor of bad 70's TV
shows vs HBO:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFzf6yIfcc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFzf6yIfcc)

The solution isn't to toggle IAP off in the game, it's the ability to toggle
it off in the App Store. The difficulty is some IAP is legitimate and some is
not. For example, Carcassonne has an IAP to upgrade the game into a slightly
different game with additional tiles. It's only when the IAP is part of the
core game mechanic that is troubling. I think categorising them and relegating
them to a particular category like we do with FPS, RPG, RTS, etc.. would help.

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kaoD
Huh... what's an IAP? The article seems to take it for granted.

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mjcohen
I believe it is "In App Purchasing".

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mistermumble
Yes, I was mystified as well and had to Google it.

Not a commonly used acronym, at least in my circles.

I searched the article for a "first use" definition or expansion, to no avail.
I guess the readership knows it well.

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corysama
So, to be clear. He wants a game. A game that he knows is is fun and high
quality. A game that Nana will enjoy for hours, hopefully months. And he wants
it for free. Presumably with no ads. And, he already has exactly what he's
hoping for except for one detail: he also want to hide all opportunities to
give money to the creators of the game. But, without "breaking the fundamental
experience" of the game.

Sounds to me like what he actually wants is to do the footwork (research
effort) to find a high quality, pay-up-front game. And then pay for it, _up
front_ , so that Nana can enjoy the game without being confronted with iaps.

It is unfortunate that the vast majority of market apparently prefers instead
to wade through 9 f2p games until settling on 1 that they like enough to pay
into. That market environment makes it much harder to find a good game for
Nana that does not involve iaps. I wish him luck in his search for that game.

But, as for hiding iaps in f2p games... I don't see how that is tenable in any
way. Creating the game he wants requires a surprisingly large up-front and
ongoing investment on the part of the creators. A major, if not _the major_ ,
part of how the creators can expect to recoup their investment is in the
opportunity to pitch you on iaps. Disabling that pitch changes the business
model to "I'll pay them when I'm compelled by overwhelming
guilt/appreciation". That's an incredibly idealistic business model which even
the world-class awesomeness of Wikipedia has difficultly maintaining. Frankly,
I doubt that any of the games he enjoys would survive it.

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girvo
Thats... well, that's not what I got from it.

He paid for some of the IAPs in the game, but if those developers are
monetising it correctly there will be dozens of other ways to buy more IAPs

Do you have kids? I don't, but I'm very close to my 5 and 2 year old cousins.
My Aunty would love to be able to turn off IAP, temporarily, for a session so
the kids can play and not worry. You can do that sort of already, but the
buttons and UI being hidden would make it better.

Also, I've bought games, expensive ones, that have even more IAP in them that
I won't be purchasing. This is not just free games we are talking about.

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johnpmayer
There should be an organization that provides a seal of approval to apps,
something like IAP-free, marketed similar to gluten-free foods, et. al.

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endianswap
I may be misunderstanding the author's target for his rant, but why would
Google or Apple want to turn off in-app purchasing? They make an immense
amount of money off it, which has to outweigh any reason I can imagine for
turning it off, including this one. Similarly, why would the developer want to
hide their main source of revenue?

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joosters
Apple already offer the ability to turn off in-app purchasing. It's a global
setting (which can also be password protected if you're setting up the device
for your kids, say) and does the job well. It sounds exactly like what the
author needs.

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potatolicious
I don't think this is what the author was talking about. I think his complaint
is less about control over his spending, but about the intrusiveness and
confusion the constant up-selling causes.

He's not afraid of Nana spending a boatload on IAPs (though that has
happened...), he's frustrated that these games are bombarding Nana with bright
flashing buttons that have nothing to do with the core gameplay which he has
already bought (either upfront or via IAPs), and making it harder for her to
play the game.

This is basically the native app equivalent of complaining about intrusive
omnipresent banner ads, overlays, and interstitials. They're grossly damaging
to the user experience. It's the mobile gaming equivalent of "okay, I clicked
your ad and paid a subscription for your online magazine, can you stop
bombarding me with even more ads now?".

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interpol_p
But surely an "off" button for all those intrusive and omnipresent IAP buttons
is what he is looking for, then? And this is what is provided in the iOS
settings.

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pjc50
Does it actually turn off the IAP-promoting game mechanics? I think not - more
likely you just get bounced at the point you actually try to make the
purchase.

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interpol_p
That's true, it doesn't do that. However, a good developer can simply check
[SKPaymentQueue canMakePayments] and disable those IAP nagging screens (as
they are now ineffective). I am unsure if any actually do this.

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anon4
This sounds to me more like "old person cannot understand the visual design
language of user interface" than anything. Not that I'm pro-IAP, I just think
the author pushes a very good idea based on completely wrong reasoning.

