Cloud pricing scheme - Is it generous enough?

General (non-technical) Testing Forum for Moderators / Admins
#1

Hey folks.

I’m having a little trouble seeing that the price plan is exonomical enough for us developers. I would like Ansca to do some number crunching on an example game match to demonstrate how fast API calls can be used up. Here’s my try at it using chess as an example. Keep in mind,  chess will use up relatively few API calls compared to non-board game type strategy games. Im thinking the following per game:

  • 60 API calls - 40 moves on average per game. This must be multiplied by say 3 since the move has to be sent to the server for legal confirmation, and then out to both players. Divide this by 2 players = 120/2=60

  • 20 API calls - behind the scenes setup and shutdown of game

  • 10 API calls - user setup choices

  • probably lots of other things I just havent thought of.

Thats 90 calls/game per player. If the game is at all interesting for the player so that he/she plays it more than once, then say the player plays it roughly 30 times. 30*90 = 2700 API calls

So - the first tier has a limit at 500,000 calls before you have to start paying. Which means you have ca 500,000 / 2,700 = 200 active players before you the developer have to start pitching in. Then its about 0.09 USD per 1000 API calls which converts to roughly 0.01 USD per game. PER GAME. Is this affordable considering most games sell for a dollar and you get only a portion of that? This means you will actively be trying to find ways to cut down the API calls if it is at all possible. What if you are doing something more API intensive than chess?

Can anyone provide any insight to make this plan seem more economical? I want it to be. Corona Cloud is what I’ve been waiting for. Perhaps I have misunderstood. If so, enlighten me please. :slight_smile:

#2

I have been cracking those numbers as well. I guess after analytics for cloud is up we can get a better view of how many calls the app is making. I have estimated that my app will be around 130 API calls and 62 push notifications per game. But it all depends on what calls are counted for and if I can trim it down anything. But since my game has around 58-60 moves per game its not that much one can do.

it will be interesting to see how this works out, because as you say there is a cost issue here. If you get alot of active players who keeps playing for a long time and no new players… you could end up loosing money. Guess some options would be to rely on ads or consumable IAP. But until I see how this tests out I will wait and see :slight_smile:

My main issue is that if it should be like now with the studio plan, is that 15.000.000 API calls vs 3.000.000 Push notifications leaves me wanting around 4.000.000 push notifications before I have used up all my API calls… that means another 200$ in monthly costs before I start paying for the API calls. If it would all be one pool it would have been better :) 

But again, not gonna do any conclusions before this has been tested and verified. Then I will crunch those numbers and see :slight_smile:

#3

You can always just build your own service and host it on your own server…

#4

JonPM: yep, that is an option. It also has a cost perspective though, as well as a added time perspective. It would come down to how popular your app gets and how often its used or how active your users are. There are also other serveices and options that all come with their upsides and downsides all depending on your resources, time, money and knowledge.

Think what it comes down to for alot of people is how to not spend more money then they are making. So you need to figure out how much it will cost you having something running, and then try and find a way to cover that cost.

#5

Yes, ads will probably be able to offset the costs enough so that you dont get into trouble. But you still want to make some money for your efforts.

It’s nice to see that Ansca is starting to fill the gaps with more functionality such as that which cloud offers. We’ll see if they got it right in due time.

#6

I have been cracking those numbers as well. I guess after analytics for cloud is up we can get a better view of how many calls the app is making. I have estimated that my app will be around 130 API calls and 62 push notifications per game. But it all depends on what calls are counted for and if I can trim it down anything. But since my game has around 58-60 moves per game its not that much one can do.

it will be interesting to see how this works out, because as you say there is a cost issue here. If you get alot of active players who keeps playing for a long time and no new players… you could end up loosing money. Guess some options would be to rely on ads or consumable IAP. But until I see how this tests out I will wait and see :slight_smile:

My main issue is that if it should be like now with the studio plan, is that 15.000.000 API calls vs 3.000.000 Push notifications leaves me wanting around 4.000.000 push notifications before I have used up all my API calls… that means another 200$ in monthly costs before I start paying for the API calls. If it would all be one pool it would have been better :) 

But again, not gonna do any conclusions before this has been tested and verified. Then I will crunch those numbers and see :slight_smile:

#7

You can always just build your own service and host it on your own server…

#8

JonPM: yep, that is an option. It also has a cost perspective though, as well as a added time perspective. It would come down to how popular your app gets and how often its used or how active your users are. There are also other serveices and options that all come with their upsides and downsides all depending on your resources, time, money and knowledge.

Think what it comes down to for alot of people is how to not spend more money then they are making. So you need to figure out how much it will cost you having something running, and then try and find a way to cover that cost.

#9

Yes, ads will probably be able to offset the costs enough so that you dont get into trouble. But you still want to make some money for your efforts.

It’s nice to see that Ansca is starting to fill the gaps with more functionality such as that which cloud offers. We’ll see if they got it right in due time.