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Flappy Bird by the Numbers

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Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#101

Post by ricardobeat »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #16

I find the endless accusations of a bot network quite tiring. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. Either way there is zero evidence to support such a claim. My favorite part of this whole saga is from the polygon article. Nguyen via Twitter: "Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace." Polygon: "We've reached out to Nguyen for comment and will update accordi…

The article presents some (non-conclusive) evidence of a sudden, steady influx of reviews, and more is coming up: https://sensortower.com/flappy-bird-scripted-reviews-analysi....

What kind of game developer doesn't want it's creations to succeed?

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#102

Post by fhd2 »

I don't hate the guy, but what does get me is that some unethical paid download service and a whole lot of luck seemed to be the deciding factors for success, certainly not the game's quality. I wonder if it's gonna get better or worse in the near term. Pretty discouraging if you make games.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#103

Post by fhd2 »

jordsmi wrote: post #98
Mikeb85 wrote: post #25

I get it. Here you have a developer who just wanted to make games, and maybe a bit of money. He creates a hit, by accident, with a game that has addicting gameplay (and it is, I personally love it). Then everyone in the media calls his game crap and accuses him of cheating the system (without producing any proof). I'd quit too.

I don't see the point in quitting. I'd rather just not read twitter for a few weeks(can't be that hard) and rake in the cash.

Maybe he doesn't care about money first and foremost? If nothing else, this move demonstrates it.

Granted, he probably made about a million by now, which will presumably last quite long where he lives. Still, he could have just kept it online and would probably never have to worry about money again.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#104

Post by fhd2 »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #76

I think people are unwilling to accept luck as an explanation. This might especially be true for the HN audience, because so many of us work so hard hoping to have a success like this.

Well, at least in the (indie) gaming industry, it seems to be generally admitted. It's called "app store lottery" for a reason. And there's certainly not much survivorship bias going on.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#105

Post by Joeri »

kamaal wrote: post #80
blackhole wrote: post #4

What disturbs me most about this is the complete lack of empathy people have for the guy. Just look at the comments on the link explaining that Flappy Bird was removed from the app store. Our culture is so completely and utterly obsessed with money that everyone says he's an idiot for taking down an app without realizing the chaos one goes through in a situation like that. They hurl insults like "weak" and "fragile"…

Your post was brilliant but you ruined it with this.. >>only to be puzzled when having a large number in their bank account fails to actually solve any of their problems. I'm not sure what kind of utterly broken philosophy propagates this idea. Do people actually believe that some one starving, unable to afford any kind of medical care, who doesn't have a proper home, clothes or anything for that matter is far more h…

People have a sort of natural baseline level of happiness, different for each person. When bad or good things happen you move the needle a bit, but when you get into a steady state it moves right back to your baseline. Unless you live in a situation of genuine poverty it's highly unlikely that having more money will make you happier. I know all sorts of income classes and i don't know of a difference in self-perceived happiness among those classes. You can mock rich people for the silly worries they have (like how best to invest their money) but that doesn't mean those worries aren't just as real to them.

(Incidentally, the book The Happiness Hypothesis covers this subject as well as how to actually become happier.)

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#106

Post by fhd2 »

ja27 wrote: post #85

So removing the app from the store doesn't turn off the ad revenue unless he kills his ad account. Removing it could be kind of a shrewd way to boost downloads one last time before people move on.

Even then, I'm pretty sure his revenues from this will be insignificant in a short time. This certainly seems like it lives from new users trying it and accidentally touching ads. The few power users that will still be around one day after it's taken off the stores probably won't matter revenue-wise.

And I can imagine that he'd lose all his money if he killed the account.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#107

Post by pikachu_is_cool »

egypturnash wrote: post #91
kamaal wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your post was brilliant but you ruined it with this.. >>only to be puzzled when having a large number in their bank account fails to actually solve any of their problems. I'm not sure what kind of utterly broken philosophy propagates this idea. Do people actually believe that some one starving, unable to afford any kind of medical care, who doesn't have a proper home, clothes or anything for that matter is far more h…

Yeah seriously. My grandma died and left me enough money to not have to work for like ten years, even without investing it. I live relatively simply to try and stretch it out, but god damn if it hasn't removed a ton of stress from my life and made me a lot happier. I've got the freedom to spend my days writing and drawing a comic about a lesbian robot with reality problems instead of scrambling for crappy web dev wor…

I think the difference is that nobody know you're rich. Everyone knows Nguyen is rich.

Lots of fake people out there.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#109

Post by brador »

uptown wrote: post #50
ricardobeat wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The possible subtext is that he is shutting it down in fear of bad repercussion - like being exposed for gaming the app store rankings - or to simply avoid such accusations.

That's my guess. For all, for the sake of argument, let's say this developer did hire somebody to pump up his numbers. They could even be extorting him to pay them more in exchange for their silence. It reminds me of the movie 'Office Space' ... where they rig their software to shave fractional-pennies off of each transaction for an eventual payday, only to have their plan work too well too quickly.

Could be covering his ass on a cease and desist, making it seem like his decision.

Most people who get one don't know if they can talk about it publicly or not and just want it to go away.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#110

Post by bertil »

blackhole wrote: post #4

What disturbs me most about this is the complete lack of empathy people have for the guy. Just look at the comments on the link explaining that Flappy Bird was removed from the app store. Our culture is so completely and utterly obsessed with money that everyone says he's an idiot for taking down an app without realizing the chaos one goes through in a situation like that. They hurl insults like "weak" and "fragile"…

Thank you so much for saying that.

Of course, many of the fans of Y Combinator know that changing the world is more important, but those who have time to comment here and seem focus on extracting rent rather than creating value needed to read this.

But, more importantly (and I might show how old I am by saying this) I didn't feel like this since ’94 and Kurt Cobain’s death: same accusations of being a manipulative mastermind playing hard to get, lacking talent, copying, and the same glaringly obvious suicide warnings: “I want peace”? Really? Do you need anything clearer? An Instagram of the guy with a shotgun in his mouth, asking ‘Like if you think I should pull the trigger, comment otherwise’?

If it happens, there will be so much hand-washing here…

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