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Flappy Bird by the Numbers

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Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#141

Post by chc »

kristiandupont wrote: post #122
kamaal wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point is we first need to define happiness, no? There are a lot of people who are confused between things like sadness, disappointment, inconvenience, hopelessness and many such negative emotions. The problem is we bundle them all en masse in to this category called 'happiness' or its opposite. To be happy is a overloaded term used to define many emotions. Rich people suffer from the same negative emotions…

Wealth removes a number of problems yes, but there are plenty of problems left to deal with. Even with medical bills "taken care of", health issues don't just disappear. Making love work is just as hard for wealthy people as for anybody else. And some wealthy people feel trapped by their wealth and the responsibility that comes with it. I had a conversation with a guy who had been "told" by his mother that it was tim…

That fellow's problem is being under his mother's thumb. It sucks for poor people too. But at least if he decided to quit, he wouldn't have to wonder how he'd eat. So from this we can conclude that making yourself a slave to another person leads to unhappiness, but being rich is very good for your freedom as an employee.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#142

Post by hnguyen »

kayoone wrote: post #121
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"…

I think what alot of people keep missing is that Vietnam has communism rooted deep in its culture. I would think that accumulating massive personal wealth like the Flappy Bird guy did can cause some problems with the government and the general population when the media portrays something in the way they did with Flappy Birds. It might just have been very unsettling for the guy.

Not really. Vietnam has changed quite a lot since the war and the 90s. Someone with a net worth of 1 or 2 millions USD is not considered to be "massive" rich.

So far, the only official comment from the government is that he should pay income tax (which is reasonable I think). It is also stated that he will get a favored tax rate, since the government wants to encourage developers like him and IT sector in general. Note that income tax was introduced quite recently in Vietnam (a few years ago I think) and the tax rate is pretty low, compare to other countries.

Generally speaking people and the media have a positive opinion about Dong. Some even say Vietnam is proud of him, he inspires young Vietnamese developers (communism, remember?), etc. Of course, there are haters, just like anywhere else.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#143

Post by quasarj »

Interesting article.. but I'd be careful about scraping anything from iTunes. This could easily be classified as wire fraud in the US (and there is already precedent with someone being convicted).

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#144

Post by binxbolling »

hnguyen wrote: post #139
john2x wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The minute he exposed how much money he was making, he made himself a huge target in Vietnam. Making that much money is dangerous in SEA if you don't have any connections.

He may be a target, but I don't think everyone would chase him for money. Someone who has a net worth of 1 or 2 millions USD is not so rare in Vietnam.

A tiny bit of Googling, not to mention common sense, reveals your second sentence to be patently untrue.

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#145

Post by f137 »

ricardobeat wrote: post #101
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?

your link is broken

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#146

Post by hnguyen »

binxbolling wrote: post #144
hnguyen wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He may be a target, but I don't think everyone would chase him for money. Someone who has a net worth of 1 or 2 millions USD is not so rare in Vietnam.

A tiny bit of Googling, not to mention common sense, reveals your second sentence to be patently untrue.

Since when a "tiny bit of Googling", not to mention the query is (supposedly) in English, is a reliable source? Hopefully you obtained enough data (preferably in Vietnamese) about distribution of wealth, net worth and sources of income (which people normally don't want to (and sometimes can't) disclose), etc.

I'm not saying that my sentence is absolutely correct. It's my personal experience, based on what I know and observe everyday. I just don't buy your "tiny bit of Googling".

And please, don't rely on common sense. Things that are so called "common sense" are often agreed within a community and not universally correct, regarding to other communities.

That's said, what I was trying to tell is that earning lots of money doesn't automatically make you a huge target. Yes, Vietnam is a poor/developing country. But it's actually quite safe and peaceful, as long as you use "common sense" (our common sense, if that matters). Money is not everything people care about. And for people that really want your money, at least they don't have gun :) (no offense).

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#147

Post by binxbolling »

hnguyen wrote: post #146
binxbolling wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A tiny bit of Googling, not to mention common sense, reveals your second sentence to be patently untrue.

Since when a "tiny bit of Googling", not to mention the query is (supposedly) in English, is a reliable source? Hopefully you obtained enough data (preferably in Vietnamese) about distribution of wealth, net worth and sources of income (which people normally don't want to (and sometimes can't) disclose), etc. I'm not saying that my sentence is absolutely correct. It's my personal experience, based on what I know and…

Feel free to offer real numbers in response then. I could not find any source that listed the number of USD millionaires in Vietnam to be out of the hundreds... when you're talking hundreds out of a population nearing 90 million, then yes, millionaires are rare.

(Should also clarify that my "common sense" is also based on, like you, personal experience. I would just rather rely on actual research, which, again, seems to flatly contradict your claims.)

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#148

Post by hnguyen »

binxbolling wrote: post #147
hnguyen wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when a "tiny bit of Googling", not to mention the query is (supposedly) in English, is a reliable source? Hopefully you obtained enough data (preferably in Vietnamese) about distribution of wealth, net worth and sources of income (which people normally don't want to (and sometimes can't) disclose), etc. I'm not saying that my sentence is absolutely correct. It's my personal experience, based on what I know and…

Feel free to offer real numbers in response then. I could not find any source that listed the number of USD millionaires in Vietnam to be out of the hundreds... when you're talking hundreds out of a population nearing 90 million, then yes, millionaires are rare. (Should also clarify that my "common sense" is also based on, like you, personal experience. I would just rather rely on actual research, which, again, seems…

We can easily find the number of millionaires to be few hundreds. But it's probably only based on stock assets. There are hidden millionaires who own other types of assets, like real estate, gold, jewelry, foreign currencies (not legal anymore) or even cash. Some assets are not in name of the real owners but their relatives. Some people are rich thanks to corruption (which is sadly quite high). And all those people won't disclose their net worth. Thus, it's almost impossible to have an exact number of millionaires (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/special-reports/2712/real-v...)

So yes, I don't have a reliable source either. Though I believe that there are no less than thousands or even tens of thousands. Buy it or not, your choice :)

Just a random story: three years ago, a 66 years old lady owned around 50 millions USD in various types of assets. The thing is no one, including her adopted daughter, knew that before her sudden death. Would her name be mentioned in the list of millionaires? I don't think so.

http://kinhdoanh.vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/vi-mo/khoi-tai-san-ng...

http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20120607/rac-roi-quanh-kho...

Re: Flappy Bird by the Numbers

#149

Post by wushupork »

furyg3 wrote: post #124
jamesaguilar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say, given what money can do for you in this world -- how much easier it can make your life, the doors it can open -- that it is at the very least surprising that anyone would turn down this kind of success. In fact, I'll bet you'd have trouble finding one person out of a hundred who would not be willing to suffer pretty significant pain for two weeks if it meant they'd make $50,000 a day. Given that people a…

I don't know what his background is, what his family is like, or what it's like to win the app lottery in Vietnam. I could imagine scenarios where acquiring that kind of money could destroy your personal relationships, and make you a target of unwanted attention from governments, mafias, or weirdos.

This is especially true in a third world country with perhaps a modest level of corruption. Everyone will want a piece of you whether or not you wanted it. Personal safety and the safety of your family all of a sudden become a major concern.
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