Quality or Quantity

Shpint

(I know my English isn't that good since I'm not from an English Speaking Country, but I will try my best to express my feeling.)

Quality or Quantity. Making money..thats one of the main reasons we are developing these apps/games right?

I'm tired of seeing Developers using GS to make a bunch of crappy apps just to make money. I'm not directing this to any specific forum members, but rather expressing my feelings. I'm not saying that my apps are great, but there are a lot more crappier apps than mine. I mean, you can tell whether that developer is trying to "earn" money by making a bunch of crappy apps or a few High Quality apps.

Take TShirtBooth, FMG, and QS for example. They've all made High Quality apps and have already made a lot of money.....(right guys??) I'm not sure if those crappy apps developer are making more money that these people or not, but their overall reputation in the AppStore are surely a lot lower.

Why don't you all start spending some more times with your games and polished it a little more. I see many great games with cool concept, but are lacking good graphic and sounds.
Why not spend some more times on those and make it a better game, rather than leaving it as is and making another games with the same result?

So what's the meaning of this? I don't really know, but it just really bothers me when I see a bunch of crappy apps made using GS. It not only ruins the reputation of the developer, but also the reputation of the GS games as a whole. We should all focus more on the Quality of the apps and less on the Quantity.

What do you think?

Regards,

Shane

synthesis

I think its a matter of ROI (return on investment). We've made a couple of simple apps and a couple of major apps. To spend months on an app and have it flop is difficult to swallow. And on the flip side...to spend a week on an app and have it out-sell your major title is also surprising...but in a good way.

I think its a balance of both. Even if you do a simple app...I agree it should be well made. Just making garbage to me is disappointing and clogs the app store. There are companies out there publishing hundreds of apps that are just recycled Wiki content. Its borderline spam...but it exists.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just do what makes you happy. IMO, you should consider both methods...quality and quantity. Experiment with what sells and what the market wants to buy. You don't have to invest months into every title.

Quality is a matter of opinion...something else to consider. I think "more cupcake!" is garbage...but millions of kids think its great.

butterbean

Hey Synthesis, how did your "iSniffit" app do? I'm curious, I thought it was a really great idea, and looked like it might do well

@Shpint:

It's amazing how many spam apps are in stores everyday. You even see repeat apps, and all sorts of junk clogging up the app store.
To each his own I guess, but Apple should be responsible for filtering some of this garbage out.

Just keep making good games, whether it takes 1 or 2 weeks to produce, or months, and as long as you know you've worked hard, and taken pride in your product, you have nothing to worry about

I also wanted to add: I don't think crappy apps are limited to Gamesalad. You see slews of them everyday under the new release section. Even educational apps with misspellings are some of my faves!

I think that GS could easily be used as a tool for shovelware, but people could do the same with xcode apps.

ORBZ

quality because the last thing you want to do is get a reputation for delivering crappy games.

butterbean

Quality and Quantity are best But Quantity must not be without Quality

synthesis

@Butterbean....
iSniffit did about 40 downloads in the first 2 or 3 days...now its about 1 a day.

StusApps

Interesting thread. For me the app store is too much of a lottery to spend months on a title and see it flop.

I think the best way is to create games with simple ideas that won't take more than a couple of weeks to create. Unless you have a proven track record of salable larger games or don't rely on the money you will make.

Shpint

Thanks for all the replies. I can tell that the majority would go for Quantity and Quality at the same time. I wasn't thinking about that :P
That's a great idea.

I was just expressing my feeling toward crappy apps made using GameSalad.

Riffel

I work with quality on Tigerfish, now im trying the equilibrium on next game devs. 4 games/year dont returns the investment. Lets see.

millerbrother1

So this begs the question: How many "quality" apps can a good developer produce with GS in a year's time? I know there are a lot of variables in that question and I expect a variety of answers. Still, I'm curious to know what everyone's rate of production is. Currently, I'm on my first GS game. Only a couple weeks into it. Have a ways to go still.

synthesis

I find it takes at least 2-3 months (full time) to put a "solid" game together. My definition of solid is in the range of Bumps...something with well developed graphics, game play and levels.

My personal problem is that I can't get one past 60% before GS chokes. Still trying though.

Taidaken

quality.