Chartboost And Other 3Rd Party Tools Support

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Ok, Here goes:

 

It’s been quite some time since project Gluon has been announced, and we don’t even have a time frame for it yet.

The list of 3rd party tools available for us developers is very poor. inneractive and inmobi is a f***ing joke!

We NEED these tools, specifically Chartboost, which has been mentioned by other developers countless times, and we need them YESTERDAY!

And for android as well! We’re sick of iOS getting features whole months before Android does.

In the mean-time I’ll be checking out Moai and other cross-platform tools.

I’ve been an advocate of Corona for a long time but the situation has been deteriorating for a while now.

#2

Not too familiar with the topic of monetization, so I will follow with interest.  Two naive questions: (1) can you not do that in Corona Enterprise and (2) does it not do the same thing as Lunar Ads or other affiliate networks that might have implementability in Corona?

#3

If you have not done so, go here:

 

http://feedback.coronalabs.com/forums/188732-corona-sdk-feature-requests-feedback/suggestions/3576533-chartboost-integration

 

and vote up Chartboost. 

#4

Hi @paskuniak,

I get that you’re frustrated, but a few points should be made.

 

  1. Gluon is getting closer, as you will see if you read the recent blog post (http://www.coronalabs.com/blog/2013/03/12/beta-testers-for-plugins-sxsw-new-forums/). This has been an intensely active and productive couple months, and a lot is being done behind the scenes to prepare for Gluon. I know you want it “yesterday” but please be realistic and understand this isn’t just a “quick fix” kind of procedure.

 

  1. If you read the daily build notes, you might notice that “Android” precedes upwards of half the list in most cases. So to say that Android isn’t getting due attention is both false and unfair. If you could witness the amount of effort that goes into Android development from the engineering team on a daily (and usually nightly basis too), you would be surprised and humbled. Android, love it or hate it, is a fairly fragmented OS that requires several times the amount of effort behind the scenes, this being largely the result of multiple “flavors” of it, and countless devices from countless companies running one of these flavors on proprietary hardware. You can claim that I’m just making excuses, but this is the reality of Android.

 

I am not dismissing your claims as “irrelevant”, I am merely pointing out some facts. You can accuse me of otherwise; that is your prerogative. I’ll leave it at that.

 

Brent

#5

Hi Brent,

Thanks for addressing the issue!

 

I’m glad to hear that progress is being made, though some sort of time estimation would be nice; doesn’t have to be accurate, just give us something.

 

Regarding the Android segmentation problem - I do appreciate everything you’re doing. I reckon there’s a more to be done when implementing things for Android then for iOS. That being said, leaving Android with no alternative to openFeint for so long, while iOS has game center, did not seem to bother the Corona team too much, as far as I could tell from my point of view.

 

If you’re aim is truly to give the impression that no platform precedes others, than releasing official versions of Corona (i.e. not the daily builds) with some features only available for some of the platforms is not a good practice, especially considering that it is ALWAYS the same platform that has the advantage. In my humble opinion, for example, implementing IAP for amazon and nook (as well as all other “gaps” between platforms) should take precedence over adding new features at all (again, in public releases).

 

@Rob - Thanks, I have already done that

 

@paolo - I have tried Lunar ads, I have more credits there than I could use… doesn’t affect my DLs at all.

#6

@paskuniak – Interesting to know.  I have decided not to implement ads (as a monetization strategy) because I do not have a download base (I am on my first game) and I was looking at how to get downloads instead.  I was considering at eiher promoting via ads (where? Web?  Apps?  Facebook?  I don’t really know and are expensive) or using affiliate networks.  It would be interesting to know which apps you have on Lunar.

 

From a general point of view, it sounds to me that Chartboost is only one case of a more general issue.  If, say, in a year’s time, some other popular monetization/traffic-acquisition service comes up, you need to be able to switch quickly (I can only immagine that all these services need a critical mass of users to deliver any result – and the crowd can be moody and the mobile space is quite vibrant with new entrants all the time).  That is what is needed really, especially considering that “traffic acquisition” is key for indies.  Would project Gluon enable some sort of quick response to an ever changing 3rd party SDK offering?

#7

Not too familiar with the topic of monetization, so I will follow with interest.  Two naive questions: (1) can you not do that in Corona Enterprise and (2) does it not do the same thing as Lunar Ads or other affiliate networks that might have implementability in Corona?

#8

If you have not done so, go here:

 

http://feedback.coronalabs.com/forums/188732-corona-sdk-feature-requests-feedback/suggestions/3576533-chartboost-integration

 

and vote up Chartboost. 

#9

Hi @paskuniak,

I get that you’re frustrated, but a few points should be made.

 

  1. Gluon is getting closer, as you will see if you read the recent blog post (http://www.coronalabs.com/blog/2013/03/12/beta-testers-for-plugins-sxsw-new-forums/). This has been an intensely active and productive couple months, and a lot is being done behind the scenes to prepare for Gluon. I know you want it “yesterday” but please be realistic and understand this isn’t just a “quick fix” kind of procedure.

 

  1. If you read the daily build notes, you might notice that “Android” precedes upwards of half the list in most cases. So to say that Android isn’t getting due attention is both false and unfair. If you could witness the amount of effort that goes into Android development from the engineering team on a daily (and usually nightly basis too), you would be surprised and humbled. Android, love it or hate it, is a fairly fragmented OS that requires several times the amount of effort behind the scenes, this being largely the result of multiple “flavors” of it, and countless devices from countless companies running one of these flavors on proprietary hardware. You can claim that I’m just making excuses, but this is the reality of Android.

 

I am not dismissing your claims as “irrelevant”, I am merely pointing out some facts. You can accuse me of otherwise; that is your prerogative. I’ll leave it at that.

 

Brent

#10

Hi Brent,

Thanks for addressing the issue!

 

I’m glad to hear that progress is being made, though some sort of time estimation would be nice; doesn’t have to be accurate, just give us something.

 

Regarding the Android segmentation problem - I do appreciate everything you’re doing. I reckon there’s a more to be done when implementing things for Android then for iOS. That being said, leaving Android with no alternative to openFeint for so long, while iOS has game center, did not seem to bother the Corona team too much, as far as I could tell from my point of view.

 

If you’re aim is truly to give the impression that no platform precedes others, than releasing official versions of Corona (i.e. not the daily builds) with some features only available for some of the platforms is not a good practice, especially considering that it is ALWAYS the same platform that has the advantage. In my humble opinion, for example, implementing IAP for amazon and nook (as well as all other “gaps” between platforms) should take precedence over adding new features at all (again, in public releases).

 

@Rob - Thanks, I have already done that

 

@paolo - I have tried Lunar ads, I have more credits there than I could use… doesn’t affect my DLs at all.

#11

@paskuniak – Interesting to know.  I have decided not to implement ads (as a monetization strategy) because I do not have a download base (I am on my first game) and I was looking at how to get downloads instead.  I was considering at eiher promoting via ads (where? Web?  Apps?  Facebook?  I don’t really know and are expensive) or using affiliate networks.  It would be interesting to know which apps you have on Lunar.

 

From a general point of view, it sounds to me that Chartboost is only one case of a more general issue.  If, say, in a year’s time, some other popular monetization/traffic-acquisition service comes up, you need to be able to switch quickly (I can only immagine that all these services need a critical mass of users to deliver any result – and the crowd can be moody and the mobile space is quite vibrant with new entrants all the time).  That is what is needed really, especially considering that “traffic acquisition” is key for indies.  Would project Gluon enable some sort of quick response to an ever changing 3rd party SDK offering?

#12

After a year and a few, and 3 published games, we are seriously concidering leaving Corona as our platform,

there is a bug,
on Inner-active full screen Ads, on the Android platform, that hasnt been solved since Aug-2012, there is no Chartboost support,

and the only walkaround is to become a “enterprise” account user,

i am very sorry Corona Team, but any other World-Class Multi-platform is already offering the native integration that you guys not only keep close, but also take the time not to update…

you had a product, now its seems you only have lag… (in the monetization section, other then that your platform is great)

#13

Corona… wth are you guys doing.   Daily builds are great but I’m tired of seeing bug fixes day in and day out on the daily build logs.   Where is chart boost, inapp for amazon…etc.  

Please I don’t want to hear about Enterprise edition.  As far as I know you guys shouldn’t have released that.  Your pro was your best version and then you suddenly introduced Enterprise… that’s just wrong.  

#14

Hey guys (including guy.zaiden and vopmms) - we hear you. We really do. We have posted about this many times and the story hasn’t changed.

In fact, I’ll be the first to say it: we have lagged in offering a good range of monetization options. It’s a fact and it’s not good. But let me be very clear: we are working on this very actively.

Now, you guys probably wish it could happen overnight (and I do too frankly). But that is just not possible. Enabling plugins for a platform that was not designed for it initially and that is in use by many thousands of developers is actually quite complicated. But we are getting closer. We have been putting the necessary pieces in place, and ramped up the engineering team in the last few months as necessary to do so. I think people sometimes forget that we are a small company. This is both good (our traction makes us appear large) and bad (people think we should be churning out features like a much larger company).

Our plan is to start rolling this out in the next few weeks, piece by piece. Again, I know you want it as of yesterday, but it’s just not possible. But I just want to make it clear that we realize this is an issue and we are not just burying our heads in the sand.

Finally, a lot of you guys like to give us a hard time about Corona Enterprise. Frankly, I don’t understand why. Some people in the forum (I won’t name names :slight_smile: have even gone out of their way to spread misinformation about the price. For indies the price is $999/yr. Yes, that is more than Pro, but it is not outrageous by any means. And it gives you complete flexibility, which many developers have already taken advantage of. 

And it just so happens that Corona Enterprise was the *first* step we had to take in the process of enabling plugins (Corona Enterprise users effectively make their own plugins) and was necessary for us to build out the functionality. The fact that we packaged it up and are now selling it to many developers that wanted that functionality is not a bad thing.

Anyway, I know this explanation won’t satisfy everyone. Rest assured, we are working on more monetization options for our developers. We realize it’s an issue.

David

#15

Thanks for your sincere reply.

#16

Let’s discuss the Corona Enterprise a bit more. Hope there will be no hard feelings by the Corona team.

I am sure many developers are interested in Corona Enterprise and are/were confused about the pricing.

If I got it right the price is $999 while the Pro is $349, so basically to get the Enterprise features (if you have the Pro license) you have to add $650.

Corona Enterprise added features above Pro are:

  1. native library access (by far the most interesting feature)

  2. teamwork tools

  3. build automating

Speaking as indy developer adding $650 for the native library access is just to much.

Lowering the price to something more acceptable (e.g. $200, so the complete Corona Enterprise would be $549) the whole Corona community would benefit.

First, I am sure much more developers would buy the Corona Enterprise so the Corona team would maybe even generate more income.

Second, there would be much more developers creating plug-ins which would lower their price, they would be faster out, developers could increase their income (many of them struggle to survive).

Would be great to hear more from other developers (especially indys) about this subject.

Regards,

Damir.

#17

Does it mean Chartboost is coming in a few weeks??

#18

@dev606 - First plugin support needs to roll out then someone (either corona, or chartboost them-self?) would need to make the plugin I believe. 

A lot of people are asking Corona to support chartboost, why not turn it around and also ask Chartboost to support Corona? We have a reply from Corona above (DavidRangel’s post) maybe make Chartboost aware of the demand too?

#19

I’m new to Corona and have been researching it. Came across this thread.
Does this mean that with the new Corona Starter and Pro versions, there
are NO ways to integrate mobile ad platforms such as Chartboost,
without buying an Enterprise license?

#20

oragedepluie4 - Pro will soon have access to plugins. Via plugins we plan on giving developers access to different functionality and third party services. That is coming.

Starter, for now, does not have access to plugins.