Storm8 Games

[igloo9201]

Does anyone play these games? If so, post you storm8 IDs on here. We all need neighbors!

[Lythiaren]

Storm8 doesn't actually develop any of the titles you've mentioned. They just run the network. If you're looking at Storm8 exclusively you're looking at stuff like Pets Live. What you're thinking of is actually TeamLava. >_>

 

That said, games (currently) on my phone that are on the Storm8 network in order of how much I play them: Castle Story, Bakery Story, Restaurant Story, Tower of Saviors, Dragon Story (fun fact: I know one of the artists they contracted for some designs), and a handful that I only open to collect daily things and which I will probably just delete soon.

[igloo9201]

I named it that because I mostly wanted people to use this to find neighbors. I have Pet Shop Story, Zoo Story, and Zoo Story 2.

[Ninetails]

Still can't believe they just randomly closed nightclub story. T_T I've uninstalled all of team lava's games now. It just shows that they really don't care about how much time (and money) people have spent on their games, so I'm not going to waste my time on them anymore.

 

I used to have Bakery Story, Restaurant Story, Zoo Story, Zoo Story 2, City Story 2, Nightclub Story, and Vampires Live. I had great neighbors on all of these games.

[igloo9201]

That's pretty awful to close a game that a bunch of kids have dumped their money into.

[KoalaNoob]

I hate all their games. At first, I liked them. But you can only get so far without the special currency, which must be bought.

Also, every. Single. One. Of. Their. Games. are. Exactly. The. Same.

 

They're just trying to get money out of a supposedly free game.

[Lythiaren]

But you can only get so far without the special currency, which must be bought.

My level 99 Restaurant and Bakery Story games say otherwise.

[KoalaNoob]

My level 99 Restaurant and Bakery Story games say otherwise.

Yes, I know you can get max level without the special currency, and they occasionally (extremely rarely) give free handouts of the special currency, but it's not much, and there are things that must be bought with the special currency.

[Lythiaren]

Yes, I know you can get max level without the special currency, and they occasionally (extremely rarely) give free handouts of the special currency, but it's not much, and there are things that must be bought with the special currency.

Then spend less time looking at the premium decorations and more time looking at the perfectly presentable free ones?

Edited October 16, 2013 by Lythiaren

[KoalaNoob]

I don't look at the decorations at all. I only used practical things when I had the games.

I'm just saying that it's a money-making scheme.

[Lythiaren]

In other news, water is wet. Of course it's a money-making scheme, TL needs to fund its game development. That's why they had to cut support for 7 games at the end of August, because they couldn't keep up with the costs of developing all of these titles at once. Or would you rather have ads?

 

You said you can only get "so far". Level 99 is the farthest you can get. How far is so far to you? The only things you'd be paying real money for are gem items which you can just not use, or skipping wait times for something that you can easily just wait for. You don't need that forever oven, trust me. I have 18 easy ovens on each game and I didn't spend a dime on parts. Sure I burn food sometimes (read: all the time) but it's really not a big deal. I'm so far ahead in Bakery that I've literally run out of new foods to skill up.

 

That aside, just download the promo game(s) du jour and do those subquests if you really, really want gems. They give 15 gems per quest, sometimes 30 depending on what game you're getting the gems on.

Edited October 16, 2013 by Lythiaren

[KoalaNoob]

Sorry. >.< I'm bad with wording.

By "money making scheme", I meant that almost all of ER games are the same, with just different things you're doing. They're still the same thing, though.

 

I'm not just talking about levels. I'm saying most things past basic gameplay and decoration cost gems. (not everything)

 

Personally, I respect them for no ads. But cutting the games that kids have spent money on... That didn't earn them any favors. Also, when you say you could just wait, I understand that, but the game was meant for younger kids, and they usually aren't very patient.

 

 

[Lythiaren]

Do share your advanced gameplay beyond making things and decorating.

 

Because that's literally the entire game. The whole point is to make things and decorate.

 

I like how you commend them for not using ads for revenue and then turn right around and rag on them for using the only other option available to them to function as a developer short of charging people for their games. It's like you expect their salaries to come out of thin air.

 

These aren't hobby developers we're talking about, this is a game developer that needs money to pay staff salaries so they can live, pay commission for artists for graphic assets, pay rent on their office so they have a place to work, pay for their web services and maintenance so their games even function properly, etc. That money comes primarily from selling premium currency. If you're going to praise a developer for not putting ads on their games while complaining about paid perks, and conflate their freemium-model games (eg. Farm, Restaurant, Home Design, etc) with their pay-to-win games (Bubble Mania, Candy Blast, etc), I don't know what to tell you except that you are wrong.

 

You cannot ever develop and maintain as many games as they do for as long as they have for absolutely free. They need money to exist. The free portion of the game is there to make the games enjoyable in the hopes that someone out there eventually does pay money for the gems for the shinier things, because they rely on that to exist. They cut Nightclub, Treasure, City, Empire, Monster, Zoo, and Hidden Objects because their returns weren't high enough; if they'd kept them too much longer and the activity on those games continued to decline, they would've just gone under and then there would be no games under their banner. Instead they chose to cut those games and re-allocate those resources elsewhere so at least there would be games to play and earn them money. They were sorry they had to shut those down. For each retiring game that you played, they offered you $5 worth of paid currency in a different game even if you never bought anything on the retiring ones. I redeemed gems for five of those retired games myself.

Edited October 16, 2013 by Lythiaren

[KoalaNoob]

I mean getting better decorations, better creating devices, etc.

 

So? They can do that for one of their games. Or maybe even two or three. But not every single game you produce. Use some creativity, and make different games. If a person doesn't like one of your games, they won't like any.

 

I mean I like that they didn't use ads for such a long time, but using ads would be better than closing a game that people have put money into. I know a person who's spent over fifty dollars on gems. Over fifty dollars, down the drain.

 

They relocated themselves by doing what? Remaking the same games by putting a new layer of paint on it?

[Lythiaren]

So "beyond basic gameplay and decorations" = more basic gameplay and other decorations? If that's advanced gameplay, I'm the hardest of hardcore gamers.

 

I fail to see how Bakery, Home Design, and Castle are all "exactly the same thing". Even the basic currency is earned in a different way in each. Throw in all the other games TL has done: Slots, Candy Blast, Bubble Blast, etc.

 

All exactly the same, you say?

 

Are you actually suggesting that they only use paid currency in one single game? Is that legit what you're suggesting here? Do you have any idea how bad that idea is?

Edited October 16, 2013 by Lythiaren

[KoalaNoob]

No. Not "more". "Better". Not "better gameplay. Better equipment.

 

Not the same, no. But TL's "main" series, the story games, are essentially "recolours" of each other. And no, I don't mean paid currency in only one game. I mean a different game in every game.

[Lythiaren]

Better equipment as in faster/doesn't expire your products just makes gameplay even more basic. That's not advanced gameplay at all. It only cuts out a mechanic. That's like if I went into the WoW forums and said that LFR (the stripped-down version of a raid that's designed for randomly-assembled groups) was better gameplay than heroic raiding (extra mechanics and phases with smaller margin for error, ie. hard mode).

 

... And I gave you three examples FROM the Story series that are all different.

 

Bakery and Restaurant are basically the same game except that Bakery doesn't get random glitches that devour literally all your food (whether you have 100 pizzas or 100,000...) in five minutes. Not arguing that. Semi-passive currency generation, money comes in as long as you keep making things to sell. Constant maintenance required to keep cooked food from spoiling (minus "forever" equipment) and to keep some on the counters to sell, because your approval rating goes down when you can't serve people.

 

Home Design Story: Nothing is generated if you don't initiate it first. No money, furniture, anything. Zero maintenance required beyond collecting money. The couch you bought does not disappear if you put your game down for an hour.

 

Castle Story: Mostly-passive currency generation, you get money as long as you make your character knock on the door. Also zero maintenance required but most items must be earned beyond simply buying and waiting for delivery (eg. crafting). Expansions require additional work to use it (clearing trees/rocks).

 

Dragon Story: Mostly-passive currency generation. Zero maintenance required, but high upkeep (because dragons eat so much food WHYYYY). Expansion also requires additional work to use.

 

And to top it off, each of the four items above have distinct art styles (NB: I'm counting bakery and restaurant together as one thing because those two actually are functionally the same). Tell me again how they're all recolours!

Edited October 16, 2013 by Lythiaren

[KoalaNoob]

It makes it easier for impatient people, though. Or people that don't have enough time.

 

Okay, I have to admit that it was the glitch in restraint story that made me think it was limited... I had the glitch spring on me about twenty times.

 

But the basic idea is the same. Create, expand, decorate.

 

I think the reason some people play the TL games is the art. All the styles are captivating, at least in my opinion. They make pretty good games, I just personally don't like them.

[Lythiaren]

...

 

By that logic Minecraft is the same game. Create, expand, decorate.

 

=_=

[KoalaNoob]

Minecraft doesn't have currency, and it's much less limited. Also, if you're playing different modes, you're doing offering things, like slaughtering people...

 

But don't go by my word. I don't play minecraft.

[Lythiaren]

I do play Minecraft and it's exactly what you do. You create things, you expand your territory, and you decorate it to your tastes. Fighting creepers is optional. Your currency is emeralds that you have to either mine out of the ground in a specific region of the world, or obtain by selling things to NPCs.

 

But my point is that you can't just say that "create, expand, decorate" and use that as a basis to say that all TL Story games are the same. If you go far enough down that line of thinking, then literally every game is the same. Play game, be entertained.

 

If you want to see games that are all the same, look at the games done by Storm8 itself. Those are actual reskins of each other down to the error messages.

[KoalaNoob]

Yeah. Storm8 is the worst, in my opinion. Nimblebit is my favourite.

 

That's the main game. The "extras" as one could call them, are an over abundance. TL usually doesn't have any big extras.