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- Joined
- 27 Apr 2004
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- 2,377
OK so this could be described as self promotion, but I have no financial interest in it.... so I'm hoping this is allowed and I'm sorry if it's not Also, I recognise that I already posted at https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18695533 a couple of months ago, but after the overwhelming lack of any response there I suddenly thought the other day that perhaps GD would have been a better place after all. And it's closer to Christmas now, which certainly for me is the (only) time of year I would otherwise be likely to play Monopoly
Anyway... last Christmas I was playing the "Here & Now: The World Edition" of Monopoly. It's the one that includes the "electronic deal-making unit". I found myself thinking that it could be improved if there was an Android app that let each player have direct control of money on their phone. The banker would stop being overworked and distracted, and everyone could see their balance at a glance (and the history of payments!). It would just be more fun!
I did a search to see if anything like that existed but found nothing. There were quite a few "Monopoly payment systems" but they were all for use on a single phone. None would allow each player to control money on their own phone.
Coincidentally, at this time (about a year ago) I had just given my notice in to work, and was forming plans for a break before finding another job. So, I thought I might have a go at building it myself.
I went ahead and did that and I finally published it a few months ago. It's available (free and ad-free) on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dhpcs.liquidity. You can also just go to http://liquidityapp.com which will redirect you to the Google Play listing
My interest in posting about it here now is twofold. I was hoping that after being published for over two months it would have had more than the ~70 downloads it has had as I write this. Either the idea is just not that good and I've been fooling myself, or I've not made a big enough effort to promote it. The biggest problem is the catch 22 of rankings on Google Play. Apps don't get ranked well (regardless of keywords) unless they've been downloaded a LOT. But how will people discover it if it's not ranked well, and so how will it get downloaded enough to get a good rank? My understanding is that some developers game the system by buying bulk bogus installs from networks of people who are conned/incentivised into doing so, but that is absolutely not something I would do. Aside from it being cheating, I'm not in this for money, so it just wouldn't make sense anyway.
So my questions to anyone who is willing to help (and thank you for reading this far!) are:
1. Is the idea just not that great, or is the problem just inadequate promotion?
2. If you genuinely like the sound of it I'd be delighted if you download it, give it a go, and perhaps even report back with feedback.
(I'm *not* looking for/asking for downloads from anyone who *knows* they won't use it but means well for me and intended to game the system on my behalf )
Thanks in advance! My interest here is just in trying to help people discover it. I'd get satisfaction from knowing something I've built was actually being used by people.
Anyway... last Christmas I was playing the "Here & Now: The World Edition" of Monopoly. It's the one that includes the "electronic deal-making unit". I found myself thinking that it could be improved if there was an Android app that let each player have direct control of money on their phone. The banker would stop being overworked and distracted, and everyone could see their balance at a glance (and the history of payments!). It would just be more fun!
I did a search to see if anything like that existed but found nothing. There were quite a few "Monopoly payment systems" but they were all for use on a single phone. None would allow each player to control money on their own phone.
Coincidentally, at this time (about a year ago) I had just given my notice in to work, and was forming plans for a break before finding another job. So, I thought I might have a go at building it myself.
I went ahead and did that and I finally published it a few months ago. It's available (free and ad-free) on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dhpcs.liquidity. You can also just go to http://liquidityapp.com which will redirect you to the Google Play listing
My interest in posting about it here now is twofold. I was hoping that after being published for over two months it would have had more than the ~70 downloads it has had as I write this. Either the idea is just not that good and I've been fooling myself, or I've not made a big enough effort to promote it. The biggest problem is the catch 22 of rankings on Google Play. Apps don't get ranked well (regardless of keywords) unless they've been downloaded a LOT. But how will people discover it if it's not ranked well, and so how will it get downloaded enough to get a good rank? My understanding is that some developers game the system by buying bulk bogus installs from networks of people who are conned/incentivised into doing so, but that is absolutely not something I would do. Aside from it being cheating, I'm not in this for money, so it just wouldn't make sense anyway.
So my questions to anyone who is willing to help (and thank you for reading this far!) are:
1. Is the idea just not that great, or is the problem just inadequate promotion?
2. If you genuinely like the sound of it I'd be delighted if you download it, give it a go, and perhaps even report back with feedback.
(I'm *not* looking for/asking for downloads from anyone who *knows* they won't use it but means well for me and intended to game the system on my behalf )
Thanks in advance! My interest here is just in trying to help people discover it. I'd get satisfaction from knowing something I've built was actually being used by people.