11 February, 2009
Opportunity discarded
Following a link at User Friendly, I discovered a Flash-based online game. I knew no more about it than that: a popular website had instilled a vague curiosity and directed me to a lesser-known site which could then grab and develop my mild interest. A powerful opportunity.
Instead, I discovered that many of the game's menu items were disabled:
If you block the ads, the game will run in crippled mode. Please support us developers!
Absolutely not. I regard these things as a loss-leader: an opportunity for developers to gain exposure which might lead to commercial work, or to draw people into a commercial game via a free sample. If a developer tries to set preconditions for even a casual glance at his/her work, I'll simply leave: his/her loss.
I'm the potential customer: I get to set the preconditions, not the person seeking income from me/my actions. I will not pay for online content, and I will not view adverts on the web. If a developer can't find a monetisation model that accommodates those non-negotiable limitations, that's not my problem.
Posted by Ministry at 13:38
| 180 words
