Still waiting...

[zarkwizard]

Just wanted to let you all know we are still waiting on review. We are as anxious as everyone else. I'm clicking the refresh button at Apple 50 times a day.

As soon as we get through the process we will let you all know. We knew things might be a little slower since GDC is this week, and the fact that we are a little different.

We'll keep you all posted.

[ColfaxJones]

Isn't Tuesday a big release day usually? not sure if it's the same for apple store or not, just being optimistic.

[lordxorn]

I thought it was Thursday, because that is when the featured page gets updated.

However, I don't think Apple has a set release day because new apps go into the store every day. Which implies to me that they simply get released when Apple is done reviewing the apps.

New apps generally appear late at night with the next day's time stamp, so check around 10pm PST.

[catswift]

Average Apple Review Times (http://reviewtimes.shinydevelopment.com/)

[zarkwizard]

Average Apple Review Times (http://reviewtimes.shinydevelopment.com/)

We are aware of that.. :) We have had some stuff happen, but we aren't at liberty to say anything... As soon as we are allowed to officially say something we will.

[AntiHaze]

We are aware of that.. :) We have had some stuff happen, but we aren't at liberty to say anything... As soon as we are allowed to officially say something we will.

Whaaa? What does that mean? Good? Bad? lol

[VaporKnight]

We'll take that as confirmation that you guys will be on stage with Tim Cook tomorrow for the iPad 3 announcement. ;)

[Leedot]

Ok, just to keep everyone in the loop we had to resubmit the binary due to some technicalities with how the submission of the subscription portion of the game are handled. Anyhow, it's not a huge deal but having to resubmit the binary does put us back to end of the que so I wouldn't expect to see Empire out until next week. We know everyone is very anxious to get their hands on the game but it's just how this process works. I know we'll certainly be resting easier once the game has gone live as well.

[AntiHaze]

Ah well. I have Mass Effect 3 to keep me busy until then :)

[lordxorn]

Sorry to hear, good luck on the next review. =)

Thanks for the update~!

[zarkwizard]

Still waiting.. :)

[AntiHaze]

So when was the game resubmitted?

[zarkwizard]

So when was the game resubmitted?

Monday (March 4th)

[sandy02]

Hey guys, I participated in the first beta of the game and i stopped for a long while and decided to check back up on the game today and i was super surprised to see it was resubmitted on the 4th....wow....so is it out yet i checked the app store and i didnt see it...i looked up online and found average app review time is 6 days and its been 7 sense march 4th so i was just wondering hows it going. I will be one of your first costumers and gladly await playing with everyone in the first game.

[lordxorn]

Hey guys, I participated in the first beta of the game and i stopped for a long while and decided to check back up on the game today and i was super surprised to see it was resubmitted on the 4th....wow....so is it out yet i checked the app store and i didnt see it...i looked up online and found average app review time is 6 days and its been 7 sense march 4th so i was just wondering hows it going. I will be one of your first costumers and gladly await playing with everyone in the first game.

While true it was released on the 4th, and the average wait time is 6 days, Apple sent it back to Zarksoft for a tweak. So unfortunately it had to back to the review que, which means mid week to late week we may possibly see the release. Keep in mind Apple may kick it back again.

[Lou dog]

I read an article about empire of the eclipse in late February and was immediately interested. Since then I have been impatiently waiting for the release of the game. I hope to see it soon.

P.s.
Will the game run off a 3G network, or will I need to be connected to wifi like most other mmo's?

[Cheerio]

it worked off of 3g during beta and barely used any data. I don't see why it would be any different for the actual game

[VaporKnight]

Yep, and from the sounds of it we will be waiting a while longer.

I'm guessing Lee's post on twitter means it was rejected again for using Apple's subscription service which isn't (yet?) intended for games.


-VK

[avalon12]

Yep, and from the sounds of it we will be waiting a while longer.

I'm guessing Lee's post on twitter means it was rejected again for using Apple's subscription service which isn't (yet?) intended for games.


-VK

Its been big in the news that a game from Big Fish Games has been taken off the app store for using subscription service.
Maybe in app purchase can be used instead? Buying "game play hours" instead of tokens

[zarkwizard]

Its been big in the news that a game from Big Fish Games has been taken off the app store for using subscription service.
Maybe in app purchase can be used instead? Buying "game play hours" instead of tokens

We saw that. They were using a single subscription for all their games. It was an interesting read. For those that might be interested: http://www.gamezebo.com/news/2011/12/05/story-behind-big-fish-games-subscription-ios-app-wasnt

As for 3G, we play fine over 3G. We spent a lot of time trying to design a MMO engine that could play at decent speeds over 3G, and even EDGE. I have played the game over both quite a bit, and the latency is minimal. We also focused on small data packets, trying to keep the traffic low for the game so we wouldn't saturate your data plan if you play over Cell networks.

[lordxorn]

It does seem rather amazing to me that they have no one in Apple in charge of games, which the app store has just recently reached 25 billion downloads. Of course I don't know how many are game, but I am assuming the large majority are going to be games.

The fix to Apple that would please everyone, would be to handle subscriptions the same as in app purchases. I am assuming they charge a percentage of those purchases, so why not treat subscriptions the same?

Sometimes large companies really surprise me, coming from a business major, that they treat games like a hobby and not the multi billion dollar industry it is.

[zarkwizard]

The fix to Apple that would please everyone, would be to handle subscriptions the same as in app purchases. I am assuming they charge a percentage of those purchases, so why not treat subscriptions the same?

Actually in the case of a subscription Apple still takes a cut of 30% off every monthly transaction.

[lordxorn]

Actually in the case of a subscription Apple still takes a cut of 30% off every monthly transaction.

Then why are they worried about your game cutting into their profits?

[ChickenHawk07]

Then why are they worried about your game cutting into their profits?

I don't believe that is the case. From my understanding they said Apple stated they don't allow anything other than periodicals to have recurring monthly subscriptions. However, Pandora Radio has recurring monthly subscriptions and I don't think they fall into the category of "periodicals". So, who knows.

[Supamand]

Hmm interesting fact about Pandora! I've been using it for over 5 years now and it had the paid option way before the app came out. But wile you are using an app, you have an option to log in into your paid account or listen to it for free.
The tricky thing is, Pandora app is just a portal or a link so to say to their already existing services (which could be accessed thru a webpage).
Satellite radio has the same option, Sirius has an app which allows you to listen to the radio by using your existing account.

If the argument is to be presented, I'd say the one app that should be targeted is AT&T GPS app. They have a subscription built in, even under the description of the app it tells you that you will be charged monthly fee from the point you install their application.

[Supamand]

(just checked the app store and AT&T GPS app is still around and they charge you 9.99 a month).

My thought on the issue is if you don't want to rebuild the game completely do that players but an ingame subscription (such as done in Chaos and Order), and apple does not allow you to use subscription thru the app store; simply set up a use login on your webpage for paid members.
I think that's been a way all p2p MMO's been done before app world...
You register on a webpage, pay on the webpage, and play the game via game client (which in this case would be an app).
Let me know what ya think about my crazy ideas :D

[AntiHaze]

You register on a webpage, pay on the webpage, and play the game via game client (which in this case would be an app).

This would be a quick solution to the problem, but you have to think about someone who is browsing the App Store, sees this game and downloads it, and then is prompted to visit an external site to pay... someone. Sounds sketchy, right? That would most likely lead to bad reviews, accusations of a scam, etc. I'm willing to bet most people wouldn't even go to the website.

IMO, the best bet is to be UP FRONT in the app description that there will be IAP's of $1.99 for a month of play so that people who are checking it out aren't misled into thinking it's just another free game. This will lead to a star rating on the App Store that is more reflective of the opinions of people who are actually playing, and all of us here will be giving it 5 stars, I'm sure.

Of course, I don't know which way would bring more attention to the app: having more downloads or having a higher rating.

[zarkwizard]

Actually according to the rules, we are not allowed to even reference an outside subscription service in the application. We aren't allowed to even direct you to anywhere to sign up. ie - NetFlix as an app. Download that and you will see that all we could do is present the user with the log on screen.

That is one of the reasons we had to go with the method we are working on. Pretty much for the reasons AntiHaze listed. It's in the app, we are upfront about it, and there is no confusion as to how it works. We want to be fair, and forward with people. We are trying to make things as easy for the user as we possibly can. We are getting pretty close to having all the new code working the way we want it to. We'll post some screen shots of it all in the next little bit so you can see it. LeeDot made some changes to the FB site, and added the iTunes store screen shots for the game there if you haven't seen them: https://www.facebook.com/ZarkSoft