1 star reviews getting me down

General (non-technical) Marketing and Monetization
#1

So I released my Christmas Crazy Eights game, and it’s doing fairly well, I guess. Except out of 4 reviews, I have 2 one star reviews from people who obviously didn’t read the description. There’s no way I can find to respond to those comments either.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/christmas-crazy-eights/id477264229

The latest one star review isn’t showing up yet on the website, but shows up in the app store. It says almost the exact same as the other one star review. They complain that the “game never starts”. At first, I thought maybe they meant there was a technical problem, but I’ve tested the game on an iPod Touch 2g, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 1, and it works great. Then I saw in the latest review to “go get Phase 10 instead” (which is a standalone game).

I don’t think they’re understanding that Christmas Crazy Eights is not a standalone game, even though I’ve had this at the very top of the description since Day 1:

*** Please note that this is a virtual add-on for the *real life* classic card matching game of Crazy Eights and requires a standard deck of 52 playing cards. ***

I even have a screenshot that shows how to setup the game. I wish I could attach this video to show what it’s like to actually play the game, but I can’t figure out how to add it now:
http://youtu.be/8FLduY9YPLg

What really rankles me about this is that they’re giving it a bad review when they didn’t even understand what this app is all about. I was afraid that would happen because it is definitely a bit different, but I thought I did a decent job of explaining it. I don’t know what else I can do.

Any suggestions? Maybe drink more to ease the pain? :slight_smile:

Thanks,
Dave Haynes
http://www.downcastsystems.com [import]uid: 80784 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 317760[/import]

#2

Step 1) Try to ignore people stupid enough to buy something without knowing what it is.

Step 2) Drink.

Step 3) ???

Step 4) Profit!

Peach :wink:

PS - App failing to run may have been a JB device. I had an issue with that in the past, the guy emailed me about it, although it has only happened the once. [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67724[/import]

#3

PS - App failing to run may have been a JB device.

Any specific reason why JB devices would fail to run corona apps? [import]uid: 49447 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67731[/import]

#4

I see what the issue is, and I’m interested how this works out for you, as I have an idea for something similar, mixing physical stuff with an app, in my case the players will need to actually go to a website and print out some cards. I’m in 2 minds whether to go ahead with it as it might be a bit too radical an idea.

I would just put a big bold screen at startup saying something along the lines of “To play this game first go and get a real deck of cards, click here to continue when you’ve got one!”

I really hope this works out for you, it’s really is an intersteing idea. [import]uid: 36590 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67739[/import]

#5

@Producerism - I don’t know specifically why, the fact he was running some horribly, horribly out of date iOS probably didn’t help. It was a one off for me anyway, no other reports of apps not starting.

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67754[/import]

#6

It really seems like a completely new genre. I had to put it *somewhere*, so I put in the Card Games category, but it’s not really a card game. It’s an add-on to a card game. I didn’t want to put “Add-On” in the title of the app because I was afraid folks wouldn’t download it thinking it was an add-on to some other “Christmas Crazy Eights” app that they don’t have.

It’s a tricky situation.

@cbartlett, you mean a screen like this? :wink:
http://screencast.com/t/EGAXvTzSY

That’s in the “How to Play” section already, but now I’m thinking I probably should have forced the “How to Play” to show up on first run of the app. I guess I just assumed people would understand what it was before they downloaded it!

I think there’s a lot of room for these kinds of apps. I’ve not seen any other apps that work as a virtual game piece like this, but maybe that’s because people don’t understand them and they get bad reviews? I would like to create add-ons for board games too. Candyland with Zombies, perhaps? :wink:

Dave [import]uid: 80784 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67780[/import]

#7

There are times that I wish the iTunes App store had some type of return policy that was reasonable for both customers and developers.

Something like, you have a 2 hour window after you purchase an app to ask for a refund. [import]uid: 67839 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67806[/import]

#8

Dave that’s just how the cookie crumbles. Your game will never appeal to everyone, and people WILL rate your game poorly. I used to worry about my ratings a ton when I first started out, to compensate, I would download my games on friends phones and rate them 5 stars. Eventually, I stopped doing that and noticed that I was receiving more 5 stars than I was 1 stars :slight_smile: Basically right now, my game is at a 3.5 star rating which is actually quite good! Just be glad that some people do appreciate your game :slight_smile: and maybe you should consider making your game free for a weekend to increase downloads and ratings :slight_smile:

Regards,
Jordan Schuetz
Ninja Pig Studios [import]uid: 29181 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67831[/import]

#9

You do! I’ve asked for a refund and got it. [import]uid: 10389 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67834[/import]

#10

You can get refunds as WauloK said - they just really bury the option :wink:

Peach [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67864[/import]

#11

If you get a refund on an app, can you continue to use the app? [import]uid: 67839 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67896[/import]

#12

That’s a good question; I believe you could, although that would amount to piracy.

(I’m not certain of the above, just thinking logistically about how Apple would prevent a person playing an app they had refunded if it were already on their phone and the refund is done via your computer.)

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67901[/import]

#13

This is one area where the Android Market really shines. You can download any app, and get a refund within 15 minutes - upon which it uninstalls the app.

That’s great for eliminating any 1-star reviews because an app “won’t open” or similar issues. And since it automatically uninstalls the app, they don’t get to keep the app AND get a refund. It also makes it so they can’t rate your app either.

Very simple process. iOS is a lot more cumbersome. [import]uid: 49447 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 67931[/import]

#14

dave, for your game it’s a problem of communication.
You just put screenshots of the game, when you should place photos of an iPad with a game of cards going on, and text that explain it’s an augmented reality game.
That’s the graphic design job :slight_smile: [import]uid: 44010 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 68320[/import]

#15

Well, I tried to convey that with the “Setup” screenshot, but I think you’re probably right, so I just added a picture of people playing the game. (Android Market has a video.)

I’ve had a lot of problems getting a good photo (my girls don’t want to cooperate), but I have some time this next week, so I’m going to try to get a higher quality photo then. [import]uid: 80784 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 68391[/import]

#16

better, but post it as the first pic, and a top down view with only hands, cards and device. [import]uid: 44010 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 68392[/import]

#17

That’s exactly the kind of photo I’m hoping to get. :slight_smile: [import]uid: 80784 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 68394[/import]

#18

I had a similar problem with my games. All of my early games were exclusively 2-player games, which was always pointed out right in the first sentences of the description, but judging by ratings and comments I believe many people still expected differently. What did I change? I ended up writing the two player bit right in the title of the game – e.g. I named one of my games “Siege Towers For Two”, another, “Fobbles For Two”. I’m actually kind of happy about the change :slight_smile:

Another note: as usability thinker Joel Spolsky put it, “People Don’t Read”. You could additionally try to get your point across right in the first screenshot, i.e. by showing a photo with the iPhone/ iPad device, and next to it all the things actually needed! For my 2-player games, my first screenshot is always a photo showing two people hovering over the iPad, emphasizing the two-player mode.

Good luck with those ratings! And by the way, it’s really bad sometimes that developers don’t have any way of replying to reviews. I mean, I understand it’s probably sometimes also good – as a commenter, I want to be safe from being attacked by a games company, or getting into forth-and-back arguments with their PR department! They have, after all, the chance to change their description to point out certain solutions. Still, can be frustrating as developer. [import]uid: 10284 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 73730[/import]

#19

Dave,

The average gamer never clicks on the “how to” links on the main menu. You really need to incorporate it into the game, maybe show it the first time its run or something. There’s a lotta games out there that put in fail-safes by thinking like the gamers. I would just copy their formula. [import]uid: 31262 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 73759[/import]

#20

Imagine if we had listened to all the naysayers when we were going around trying to raise funds for ansca?

Ignore them 1 stars.

Like Jordan says, you will never please everyone all the time. It is a fact.

Just keep plowing ahead. If we had listened, you wouldn’t be where you are today.

C. [import]uid: 24 topic_id: 17760 reply_id: 73787[/import]