The neverending story - Do you have time to waste (and to laugh)?

Every day a new doubt borns.

Mine seems to be the Penelope's story!

Premise: my app will be similar (same type) to Zynga Poker, an online multiplayer board game.
It is very likely that I would have saved time and mental energy by using Google Play Services.

Example of current doubts and of "do and undo".

User Login.
I have devoted little time to it, considering it an insignificant detail. "Give me a username and a password"; that's all.

Then, I thought I'd allow a user to use more than one nickname. So, I made sure that the user could create many usernames (without relationship between them).

Then, I thought (I'm not so sure that I'm really thinking ) that a hacker could try to "impersonate" other users. So, at Login, the user will ask for a username, a password and a nickname (hackers can know only the nickname, not the username).

Then, I thought (I don't know if I think too little or too much , but I write too much, this is sure ):
I want to use in-app billing and Interstitials. If a user can create many nicknames, probably he will see many more Interstitials; on the other hand, he will have less need to buy items.

If you have not put me in the "ignore", after this long rant (you are lucky because English is not my mother language! ), what do you think about this last question?

End (for the moment )


P.S.
All this just for the "log in" and then to get poor downloads, like most apps, and daily few cents earnings!

LucaMs said:

in-app billing and Interstitials

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Why?? As a user, I hate apps with ads+purchases. Either you implement one or the other.

Regarding your question, why go beyond the regular username/password combo? It should be enough, no?

wonder said:

Why?? As a user, I hate apps with ads+purchases. Either you implement one or the other.

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1) because I don't know which of two allows higher gain.
2) because I know the difficulty of developing and you, user, must suffer

wonder said:

Regarding your question, why go beyond the regular username/password combo? It should be enough, no?

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https://www.b4x.com/android/forum/threads/user-identification-and-then.62367/
(especially post #13)

Thank you for you answer, @wonder

I think username and password is enough but you also need to give the possibility to play as a guest (without to create username and password)

On such games most people like just to make few quick games and continue their work. So the login should be an option and to motivate people to login you can give them free chips and also make it possible to change avatar only for logged in users...

Inapp or interstitial?? I say both.

+ option to remove ads (in app purchase)
And buy drinks, chips,...

Good luck

ilan said:

you also need to give the possibility to play as a guest

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I forgot the option "guess", damn; now I have to "study" this too

ilan said:

I think username and password is enough

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This could not be enough, as I wrote here.

A hacker could find the routine (app) in which the server sends the authorization. If he tries to access with a user name he knows (user name of another player) and finds that routine, he could play as other users (sorry, my bad English).

If users play with nick, but they access passing user name and pw, the hacker doesn't know the player's user name.


The question is: should I allow a user to create more than one nick name?
I mean: will I earn more or less allowing this?
Each new user OR nick will receive X (fake) dollars, but I hope that if he loses everything he will buy more (fake) dollars. If an user can create many nicks, every time one of them will have lost everything he creates new nick!

On the other hand, with many nicks, many Interstitials.

Just yesterday I read that a player of Zynga Poker has bought (fake) $108 millions spending REAL 61€ (with so many stupid people I could become rich ).

ilan said:

Good luck

Click to expand...

Thank you, Ilan

Maybe I should consider that to play Zynga Poker is mandatory access through a Facebook account (I'm almost certain).

They may assume that few people have more Facebook accounts.

Well, what do you think? I always have too many doubts (very bad flaw).

I dont think you need many nicks

If a user has spent all his chips then after x hours when he come back he gets free chips.

Like this all poker games works.

Your sql db will become very big if every user can create endless number of users. He also could create 10 users and open a table where he log in with all his users and lose all 9 users free money to the 1 main user and like this earn millions for free

Username + nickname + password is also ok. But need to make sure that every user must have a different nickname!

ilan said:

He also could create 10 users and open a table where he log in with all his users and lose all 9 users free money to the 1 main user and like this earn millions for free

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Unfortunately I did not understand this sentence.

However, if I want to prevent a user to create many nicknames, I must also prevent him to create many user names (this is more or less the same thing).
To do this, I have to associate a user name to a device. Apart from the fact that this thing is not easy, having many users (or many nicknames) you can earn more via Interstitials.
Can you earn more from many Interstitials or from purchasing of fake dollars?

I think that few people buys fake dollars but also that Interstitials are paid very little.

I don't understand how more nicks = more interstitials? Are you assuming people will change nicks in order to continue playing? I don't think this is a good user experience. If I were a user of this app I would want only 1 account. First focus on IAP's. You will not make money on ads until you have a very large user base.

Also, login should be: email/password (hidden), & nick (public).

JonPM said:

I don't understand how more nicks = more interstitials? Are you assuming people will change nicks in order to continue playing? I don't think this is a good user experience. If I were a user of this app I would want only 1 account.

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Yes, but:
if you get $ 10,000 as a new player, then you can double the capital (winning) and then you lose everything ($ 20,000), the following days you can get a random number between 50 and 200 dollars and you know that creating a new user (or a new nickname) you get again $ 10,000? What would you do?

JonPM said:

Also, login should be: email/password (hidden), & nick (public).

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An EMail can be usuful:
1) to associate it to a nick
2) to communicate with the user

but:
a) many people do not want provide it (as @ilan wrotes, many people would prefer to play as guess!)
b) it can be a temporary email (for example Ten Minute Mail)

LucaMs said:

I always have too many doubts (very bad flaw).

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Thank you

LucaMs said:

and you know that creating a new user (or a new nickname) you get again $ 10,000? What would you do?

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if this will be a poker game then i would create 50 new nicknames and get 10k for each that means 500k and i will transfer from 49 nicknames to 1 main nickname all the money and like this i will have 1 nickname with 500k. so you can FORGET ABOUT IN APP CHIP SALE!

i think give the user new 10k after x time like after 24h is better then let him create 50 nicknames...
you can put a timer. come back in 10h and get again 10k...

you can ask for a mail but dont make it a must only if user want to register he need to use his mail and to motivate him give him for a registration 100k or free drinks for 1 week (i mean virtual drinks )

Yes, I agree that you should also have a guest login as well. I was suggesting for personal account to use the email/pw/nick combo (in addition to FB/Google signin).

People will always try to circumvent your game to gain more chips. You should develop a model that appeals to the masses, and not focus on trying to prevent inconsequential chip losses.

[I hope that this thread can be useful for many game developers.]

ilan said:

if this will be a poker game then i would create 50 new nicknames and get 10k for each that means 500k and i will transfer from 49 nicknames to 1 main nickname all the money and like this i will have 1 nickname with 500k. so you can FORGET ABOUT IN APP CHIP SALE!

Click to expand...

Yes and for this reason I would like to find a way to prevent a single person can play against itself. I could check the IP, but this would prevent two honest players to play from the same local network.
Even a person with two different user names could play against itself at the same table.

JonPM said:

Yes, I agree that you should also have a guest login as well.

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A guest can play risking everything, so if he loses, comes with a new guest. This is a disadvantage for other users... and for my economy

JonPM said:

I was suggesting for personal account to use the email/pw/nick combo (in addition to FB/Google signin).

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This would be absolutely right but along with the guest option, to leave some freedom to the player (such as the freedom that I thought I give it to him through the creation of many nicks). But ... see previous comment.


As you can see, many opinions, many options, hard decision (and we are talking only of users and login!).


Maybe my experience with Zynga Poker can help (you, not me, I'm still undecided )

I played that game; access uniquely through a FB account. I created 5/6 FB accounts to play.
Then I continued to play using only one of them. Starting from $ 10,000 (I think) I reached 144 million. I never bought fake dollars.
How much earned Zynga from my play? Only from advertising (Interstitial, in our case).

Are you sure about what you would do? If yes, please, list "the steps"

Thank you.

LucaMs said:

I would like to find a way to prevent a single person can play against itself

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if you give the option to play as a guest you must find a solution to prevent user to get free chip as a non welcome guest
maybe phone imei nr

limit the accounts (nicknames...) to every phone imei like this 1 phone gets 1 user 1 nickname

LucaMs said:

How much earned Zynga from my play? Only from advertising (Interstitial, in our case).

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dont think to much about ads, in app purchase... just make a game that you would love to play and success will knock on your door. (or on mine.. who knows)

there is no 100% way to success if there where who would use another way

when i make games (apps) i always think what game would i like to play and not what makes the most money because there is no answer on that question.
make what you enjoy and if you wont success at least you enjoyed making that game

ilan said:

if you give the option to play as a guest you must find a solution to prevent user to get free chip as a non welcome guest
maybe phone imei nr

limit the accounts (nicknames...) to every phone imei like this 1 phone gets 1 user 1 nickname

Click to expand...

A thread was opened for this and an ideal solution was not found, I think.

ilan said:

dont think to much about ads, in app purchase.

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But, as I wrote, from me Zynga got $0 (and I think from 99.9% of members, the same)

ilan said:

when i make games (apps) i always think what game would i like to play and not what makes the most money because there is no answer on that question.
make what you enjoy and if you wont success at least you enjoyed making that game

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I can only hope to earn in this way.

The decision to develop a game that like ourselves can be good; anyway, you need to understand how to get money, not only many downloads.