Is this our future?

[J. Baker]

Ok, so let's create an app that easily lets inexperienced users to create apps and sell them. Sounds like a good idea? NO WAIT!!!

Just read the topic from this developer who created their own game and uploaded it to iTunes before testing...
http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=31216

[netmaestro]

VC++: $700.
PureBasic: $100.
Creating an app and then asking your customers where to find it and how to run it? Priceless.
Coding real-world solutions costs. For everything else there's MasterTard

[J. Baker]

LOL!

[J. Baker]

And not only what I posted above but... I purchased a game on the Mac App Store a while back. The game was pretty cool but I couldn't get past level 5 because the game kept locking up. I figured out the game was made with GameMaker. So I contacted the author and did get a response but nothing on when it would be fixed. So time passed and I was hoping there would be a fix. But that never happened. Then the author released a new game. I wasn't to happy about that.

So I guess you have to watch what you purchase anymore. Inexperienced people are looking to cash in on their creations but have no idea how to fix an issue when it occurs. And I know these kind of apps have always been around. Most of us including myself have used them. But I don't think an app should be sold unless you are able to edit the code and fix the issue.

Anyway, if you ever wondered if you could throw your money away to an inexperienced author, yeah there's an app for that.

[Ramihyn_]

Hehe, but you can get screwed over by commercial companies with big names pretty much the same.

Releasing a software with a new feature in version 9. Making big marketing fuss about it, so you decide to buy it. Ok the feature doesnt work at all, but hey - there got to be a fix .. right ... erm ... right?

Ok so the fixes never really made it work, but great news - Version 10 was released which advertises the same new feature as "enhanced" and even better now. So yeah you still have fate and buy it but hmm ... you cant expect it to work with the first version. So yeah ... waiting for a patch ... sure, hi hello little patch how are you? oh you dont feel too good ... well me neigther by now... i guess we wait for the next patch then?

Oh good news - a new major release is sold again. Major releases are sold each 9 months now, so you begin to wonder if you should skip every second major version because honestly the timespan to use this application becomes small. Well the first release obviously doesnt work well but ... you know the procedure ... waiting for the patch ... The company switched to using release years instead of version numbers by now and version 2010 boasts that this new feature (the one why you bought version 9 initially), is finally working now! ... yeah... well ... after the first patch it actually shows the first signs of being implemented instead of pure hoax, still too limited to be of any real use after patch 2 ...

Good news - version 2011 just got released and ONCE again this "new feature" is used to advertise it. First version is (as usual) too buggy to be used on real data (real data is the one you invest a lot of time, work and money in, but obviously to that company it means something you can just re-download somewhere), but we all know by now that this company always releases new major versions which are too buggy to be used with any valuable data. Patch 1 fixes many things and when you backread their "fixes" during all the versions back to 9 now, it is like a list of admissions that their previously advertised "great new feature" never really worked or was tested much...

There is _NO_ effective fraud protection for software buyers. All current laws (in europe/germany) are currently complete vaporware IMHO.

[Kuron]

And not only what I posted above but... I purchased a game on the Mac App Store a while back. The game was pretty cool but I couldn't get past level 5 because the game kept locking up. I figured out the game was made with GameMaker. So I contacted the author and did get a response but nothing on when it would be fixed. So time passed and I was hoping there would be a fix. But that never happened. Then the author released a new game. I wasn't to happy about that.

So I guess you have to watch what you purchase anymore. Inexperienced people are looking to cash in on their creations but have no idea how to fix an issue when it occurs. And I know these kind of apps have always been around. Most of us including myself have used them. But I don't think an app should be sold unless you are able to edit the code and fix the issue.

Anyway, if you ever wondered if you could throw your money away to an inexperienced author, yeah there's an app for that.

This is why I got rid of my Nintendo DS. I got tired of the AAA developers being contractually obligated to release a game whether it worked properly or not. After two buggy games that could not be played to completion, I gave up on the major consoles for good. Sadly, this is no different with the majority of AAA titles being released for the PC.

Now I use homebrew consoles (HYDRA, Meggy Jr, RGB, Fuzebox, etc.) and write my own games. For PC, I generally only buy indie developed games as indie developers tend to take more pride in their work and will try and fix any bugs that are found.

The Mac version of GameMaker is a completely different strain from the main version of GameMaker and the Mac version is not very stable by comparison. Still, with so many game development products not being available for the Mac, I can't blame the people for trying to use it. They just need to get the GameMaker people to work on improving the Mac version and bringing it up to the standards of the Windows version. Of course GameMaker switched hands a few years back and Mark doesn't have as much control as before and the product has suffered, IMHO.