Chartboost not sending reward ads. How to inform the user?

Wonder MaruWonder Maru Member, PRO Posts: 98
edited February 2017 in Working with GS (Mac)

Hello,
a few people reported to me of a bug on the last game we released (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stc-square-triangle-circle-fast-paced-platformer/id1159566804 and I never step into this bug, I don't understand why.

Basically the game is a platformer, in every level, about half way to the end, there's a checkpoint. Once you reach the checkpoint, if you die after it, you get a pop-up asking you if you want to restart from the beginning or if you want to watch an ad an restart from the checkpoint.

I always get the ad and restart from the checkpoint after the ad ended, but some people told be they tap "YES" to get the video but no video shows up and they just restart from the beginning.

EDIT: I got in touch with Chartboost. the campaign is running ok, the problem seems to be the filling rate for some Countries that less or no advertisers target.
Is there a way to communicate the user that there are no ads available at that moment, and maybe invite them to buy an IAP instead? Otherwise it looks like a bug in the game and it's not. Is there a way for me to check if the adv network is not serving videos?

thanks!

Wonder Maru: casual games for casual people. www.wondermaru.com

Comments

  • Wonder MaruWonder Maru Member, PRO Posts: 98
    edited February 2017

    PS: if anyone could try the game, let me know their experience with the checkpoint ad reward (and anything else of course), that would be really amazing. Thanks in advance

    Wonder Maru: casual games for casual people. www.wondermaru.com

  • pHghostpHghost London, UKMember Posts: 2,342

    Ads working as expected here in the UK. A little annoying to get the after every single death, considering the ad is half a minute and you can die in a matter of seconds. Would tweak that, because otherwise players might not bother with the video, since restarting from the beginning can get them there faster, probably. An ad on the first death after the checkpoint and then every 4-5 deaths would be about the right mix, I'd say.

  • Wonder MaruWonder Maru Member, PRO Posts: 98

    @pHghost said:
    Ads working as expected here in the UK. A little annoying to get the after every single death, considering the ad is half a minute and you can die in a matter of seconds. Would tweak that, because otherwise players might not bother with the video, since restarting from the beginning can get them there faster, probably. An ad on the first death after the checkpoint and then every 4-5 deaths would be about the right mix, I'd say.

    Hey thanks for testing and for your suggestion. You made a good point. One option we were considering was to have 3 checkpoint "bonuses" if you watch an ad, so watch just once to restart from the checkpoint 3 times.

    Wonder Maru: casual games for casual people. www.wondermaru.com

  • Wonder MaruWonder Maru Member, PRO Posts: 98

    I got in touch with Chartboost. the campaign is running ok, the problem seems to be the filling rate for some Countries that less or no advertisers target.
    Is there a way to communicate the user that there are no ads available at that moment, and maybe invite them to buy an IAP instead? Otherwise it looks like a bug in the game and it's not. Is there a way for me to check if the adv network is not serving videos?

    thanks!

    Wonder Maru: casual games for casual people. www.wondermaru.com

  • DigiChainDigiChain Member, PRO Posts: 1,277

    Unfortunately there is no way to check if there is an ad available or not.
    My approach was to show a "we were unable to play your ad" popup after a certain amount of time if the ad hadn't delivered. It's not ideal but works ok.

  • Wonder MaruWonder Maru Member, PRO Posts: 98

    @DigiChain said:
    Unfortunately there is no way to check if there is an ad available or not.
    My approach was to show a "we were unable to play your ad" popup after a certain amount of time if the ad hadn't delivered. It's not ideal but works ok.

    I understand, thanks :(

    Wonder Maru: casual games for casual people. www.wondermaru.com

  • supafly129supafly129 Member Posts: 454

    In my game, in the reward ad pause scene, i have an image that will change to "No Video Available" after a few seconds, so that if the video doesnt load the player will get the message. Like @DigiChain said, it's not the best way but should still do the trick

  • Wonder MaruWonder Maru Member, PRO Posts: 98
    edited February 2017

    @supafly129 said:
    In my game, in the reward ad pause scene, i have an image that will change to "No Video Available" after a few seconds, so that if the video doesnt load the player will get the message. Like @DigiChain said, it's not the best way but should still do the trick

    thanks!
    That's a good solution, but doesn't work for me in this case as the reward ad is on a "reset scene". If the ad is watched the scene resets and the character starts from the checkpoint, otherwise it starts from the beginning. So if there's no ad served they just reset from the beginning, there's no waiting time :/

    Wonder Maru: casual games for casual people. www.wondermaru.com

  • DigiChainDigiChain Member, PRO Posts: 1,277

    @Wonder Maru
    I'd imagine it'd be fairly easy to rework it to use a pause scene instead - perhaps using a game attribute which is changed on the pause scene to indicate if the ad delivers or not, and then triggers your reset when the scene unpauses.
    I've used a pause scene for ads and done something similar. If you want to see how it works in my game I can send you a link.

  • Wonder MaruWonder Maru Member, PRO Posts: 98

    @DigiChain said:
    @Wonder Maru
    I'd imagine it'd be fairly easy to rework it to use a pause scene instead - perhaps using a game attribute which is changed on the pause scene to indicate if the ad delivers or not, and then triggers your reset when the scene unpauses.
    I've used a pause scene for ads and done something similar. If you want to see how it works in my game I can send you a link.

    yes please :) thanks!

    Wonder Maru: casual games for casual people. www.wondermaru.com

  • DigiChainDigiChain Member, PRO Posts: 1,277

    Ok - this game uses the pause scene for ads, and saves if the ad delivers or not to a game attribute.
    To get an ad click on the help '?' button whilst playing, if you disable your internet connection you can see how it handles no ad delivering. Like I said, it's not ideal but a way of doing things:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chopperkhan.testchamber&hl=en_GB

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