From 6pm (NZ time) join us in our chat page to listen to the NZTechPodcast live recording.

Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.
Please read this before posting in this sub-forum.


Forums › App Marketplace › [iOS] Real Racing 3 Now Available In NZ App Store


49 posts

Geek
Topic # 114285 14-Feb-2013 16:40 Send private message

I note with interest that Real Racing 3 has been released to the NZ App store.

It's a "free" game although the prices for in-app purchases made me gulp when I saw them...

$24.99 for a "Racing Spec Collector"
$6.49 for a "Blue Card"
$13.99 for an "All Classes Pack"
$64.99 for a "Gold Card"
$13.99 for a "Race Car Booster Pack"
$64.99 for a "Heap Of Gold"
$24.99 for a "Stack Of Gold"

What do people think of this new pricing model?

I am downloading and installing the game as I type so will be interested to see the interaction and lure of these in-app purchases pan out!

Create new topic
4244 posts

Uber Geek
  Reply # 762487 14-Feb-2013 16:52 Send private message

Inapp purchases is the way that developers will make money, as it is so easy to make an in app purchase. Yet people expect the basic shell of an app to be free of a couple of bucks. If that same app above was say $40 for all those things above included, I would doubt many people would buy it, yet people may spend over $100 on in app purchases when they get addictive to it. It is an addiction thing. It is common with addictive things, to give away the first bit for free, to get people hooked. Personally I don't make in app purhcases and have it disabled, as I am not a fan of it. Many parents will tell you about their inapp purchase bills from giving their kids access to their ipads.



49 posts

Geek
  Reply # 762531 14-Feb-2013 17:45 Send private message

Having now spent a while playing through the first few challenges I can now report as follows:

The money, or R$, is needed to carry out repairs to your vehicle and purchase new vehicles and upgrades for your fleet.

The gold appears to be earned for "leveling up". As you play and place in races you gain "fame" and when that fame bar is full you, as a driver, increase in level and thereby earn gold. I imagine you earn gold in other ways too.

Incidentally some of the higher end cars are purchased with gold rather than money.

Additionally gold can be used to short-cut repairs.

As you race your car degrades. Tyre wear etc. And if you crash or drive carelessly then you see things like body damage etc and various engine components being damaged. These need repair. After each race you have the option to repair your car which costs money and, critically, TIME! I had a bad race where I crashed lots and therefore repairs were going to take 8 mins - or I could repair instantly for the cost of three gold.

It does seem to me that you could "grind" your way through the game playing to earn money and gold working your way through the classes without using the app-purchases to remove some of that grind. The purchases allow you to upgrade your vehicles compared to other racers in the class thereby giving you a better chance of gaining a better place.

The opponents are real people and as you race you see their game-centre icon over their car.

Considering the game is free to install and play I would certainly hope that no-one is put off by the in-app purchase system.

Kinda neat too that our App store has it before the US and they are envious of us for once!

789 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber
  Reply # 763071 15-Feb-2013 14:03 Send private message

I've been a big fan of the two previous versions of this game, but to be honest I would've rather it was $15.00 to purchase and no in app purchases.

Really does put me off a lot of apps.




Handsome Dan Has Spoken.



49 posts

Geek
  Reply # 763111 15-Feb-2013 14:49 Send private message

Having now spent a number of hours "grinding" I am rather saddened to report that it is extremely difficult to progress through the game without caving into the temptation of the in-app purchases.

The main reason is not the cost of in-game currency but the time it takes to carry out repairs.

As previously mentioned your cars engine and running gear degrade with normal use in a race, and more so if you corner harshly or come off the track or hit other cars etc. These all need repairs which cost not only money but time.

Spending in-game money is fine - you can make that at a suitable rate. To "repair now" and not wait you spend gold coins which appear to be very few and far between in terms of game progression.

Repairs are not carried out in parallel either - you have to queue them up. To repair my rather damaged car it was going to take 14 hours. Sure enough today they were repaired when I came home from work. However after an hour of play this arvo I need to carry out more repairs and that will now take 6 hours.

Sure you can buy a fleet of cars so that you have spares to race when others are being repairs but this just seems designed to make you "need" things at an even faster rate.

Yesterday, about 5 or 6 hours of gameplay ago, it did seem like "grinding" would be an option but I am now down on my money and down on my gold and it appears that realistically to actually get enjoyment from the game your wallet needs to be opening. Even if only to buy gold to remove the wait time required for repairs.

Definitely aimed at those who hold the purse stings on their Apple account!

I will try and resist the temptation but this may mean that the game is only played an hour to two hours a day with lengthy overnight repairs needed...

Create new topic



Twitter »
Follow us to receive Twitter updates when new discussions are posted in our forums:



Follow us to receive Twitter updates when news items and blogs are posted in our frontpage:



Follow us to receive Twitter updates when new jobs are posted to our jobs board:



Follow us to receive Twitter updates when tech item prices are listed in our price comparison site:




News »
University of Auckland partners with Google to train digital professionals
Posted 20-May-2013 17:16

Philips introduces its series of smart LED bulb in New Zealand
Posted 20-May-2013 11:05

Android and iOS combine for 92.3% of all smartphone OS shipment in the first 2013 quarter
Posted 17-May-2013 08:38

Apple’s App Store marks 50 billionth download
Posted 17-May-2013 08:25

Gen-i divests Davanti Consulting through management buyout
Posted 16-May-2013 14:02

Huawei G510 bring big-screen mobile entertainment for Android users
Posted 16-May-2013 11:49


Trending now »
Hot discussions in our forums right now:

$200 Smart Phone!? Ideas..
Created by antaeusa, last reply by Hammerer on 20-May-2013 23:48 (19 replies)
Pages... 2

A new project coming to Geekzone
Created by freitasm, last reply by hamish225 on 20-May-2013 23:08 (211 replies)
Pages... 13 14 15

HTC One (2013) owners' discussion
Created by Dingbatt, last reply by bradstewart on 20-May-2013 22:40 (1471 replies)
Pages... 97 98 99

Vodafone Naked Broadband Speeds (Auckland CBD)
Created by wscalioni, last reply by grkiwi on 20-May-2013 21:13 (14 replies)

Sitting on a boring conference call
Created by SaltyNZ, last reply by SepticSceptic on 17-May-2013 16:52 (14 replies)

A reason not to shop at dick smith
Created by dsnz1, last reply by eXDee on 20-May-2013 20:41 (86 replies)
Pages... 4 5 6

Porting landline number away from Telecom
Created by dasimpsonsrule, last reply by coffeebaron on 20-May-2013 19:41 (12 replies)

Samsung Galaxy SIII Discussion and Owners Thread
Created by networkn, last reply by jeffnz on 20-May-2013 17:54 (5527 replies)
Pages... 367 368 369


Geekzone Jobs »
Most recent NZ jobs in technology:

Proven Automation Test Analyst
Posted 20-May-2013 22:27

Artistic UI Developer
Posted 20-May-2013 22:27

Commercial Automation Tester
Posted 20-May-2013 22:27

Skilled Java Developer
Posted 20-May-2013 22:27

Dedicated Java Developer/ Technical lead
Posted 20-May-2013 22:27

Artistic PHP Developer
Posted 20-May-2013 22:27

Excellent UI/UX Developer
Posted 20-May-2013 22:27


Geekzone Live »
Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.

Updates »
Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.

Alternatively, you can receive a daily email with Geekzone updates.