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A less sleazy way to do this is to offer players something ("unlock the secret panda level") in return for giving you a five star review. You can't verify that

by joeld42 14y ago

A less sleazy way to do this is to offer players something ("unlock the secret panda level") in return for giving you a five star review. You can't verify that they actually do, but if you give them the item and then send them to the app store, some of them will. Then, set this up as a timed promotion along with a push notification so you can get a bunch of players to hopefully respond at the same day. It's not as effective as buying rank, but it's less sleazy, and it can have some effect.

UberMouse 14y ago
I would assume that's against the iOS store TOS, you can ask them for a review but you can't ask for a five star review.
- iso-8859-1 14y ago
  Maybe subliminal messaging then? Why would people give anything but a good review if they are already investing time in getting the item?
  - Cthulhu_ 14y ago
    > Maybe subliminal messaging then? Ask for a review after the user gets 5 stars in a level? :p
- joeld42 14y ago
  Maybe, but there's plenty of apps that flat out ask for that. Here's a particularly shameless example: http://imgur.com/8UGRals http://imgur.com/8UGRals But yeah, you'd probably get better results if you're like "hey, here's this free thing, want it?" (tap YES) "Here you go!" ... "Please go rate us thanks it really helps" because of people's sense of reciprocity. In any case, my point is to use your fans and your customers to boost your rank, rather than shady services and botnets.
derefr 14y ago
Another strategy--and I'm not sure about the morality of this, except it's less evil than the above--is to pop up a "please rate!" dialog right after doing something nice for the player. For example, have a random time-based trigger that will unlock a DLC item in the middle of regular play. Tell them they got it, make it shine and sparkle, and then--maybe not right away, but after a minute or so, after they've gotten back to the game and might be playing around with their new toy--ask them for a rating. Another way to put it is: if Nintendo, as some unknown up-and-comer, had released SMB3 on the App Store, a ratings dialogue would almost certainly appear approximately two minutes into the Kuribo-shoe level.

by joeld42 14y ago

UberMouse 14y ago

I would assume that's against the iOS store TOS, you can ask them for a review but you can't ask for a five star review.

iso-8859-1 14y ago
Maybe subliminal messaging then? Why would people give anything but a good review if they are already investing time in getting the item?
- Cthulhu_ 14y ago
  > Maybe subliminal messaging then? Ask for a review after the user gets 5 stars in a level? :p
joeld42 14y ago
Maybe, but there's plenty of apps that flat out ask for that. Here's a particularly shameless example: http://imgur.com/8UGRals http://imgur.com/8UGRals But yeah, you'd probably get better results if you're like "hey, here's this free thing, want it?" (tap YES) "Here you go!" ... "Please go rate us thanks it really helps" because of people's sense of reciprocity. In any case, my point is to use your fans and your customers to boost your rank, rather than shady services and botnets.

derefr 14y ago

Another strategy--and I'm not sure about the morality of this, except it's less evil than the above--is to pop up a "please rate!" dialog right after doing something nice for the player. For example, have a random time-based trigger that will unlock a DLC item in the middle of regular play. Tell them they got it, make it shine and sparkle, and then--maybe not right away, but after a minute or so, after they've gotten back to the game and might be playing around with their new toy--ask them for a rating. Another way to put it is: if Nintendo, as some unknown up-and-comer, had released SMB3 on the App Store, a ratings dialogue would almost certainly appear approximately two minutes into the Kuribo-shoe level.