Last week we left off with getting beaten with branches in a 150 degree sauna in Belarus by our development team.

The next story of our adventures in team building center around the Resistor Productions CTO named Marc. Marc is a good friend with the CEO of Resistor, Tobias, and Tobias knew that Marc had never been overseas. With the anxiety of Marc’s first time overseas, along with the weird feeling of visiting a former soviet state, Tobias went to great lengths to take advantage of Marc’s awkward feelings.

Ahead of the trip Tobias called the owners of Apalon and planned a prank that is so epic in proportion that it rivals anything you have ever seen on the show “Punk’d”.

On the second night in Belarus, Tobias left early to go to dinner with some of the employees of the development firm. Marc was left alone with one of the owners late at night in the offices. It was then that a ‘KGB agent’ showed up, accompanied by an armed guard with an AK-47.

They approached Marc and asked him for his passport. They told him he was wanted for questioning under suspicion of espionage. Marc was completely freaked out. The agents barely spoke English, one had an AK-47 and they kept his passport. They were yelling at him in Russian and trying to get him to sign a confession that was written in Russian, so Marc had no idea what it said!.

When Marc refused to sign the confession, they handcuffed him and put a black bag over his head. They lead him outside and threw him in the backseat of an SUV. They drove around for about an hour and yelled at him to shut up anytime he asked any questions.

Marc was silent and shaking.

After about an hour of driving around, they pulled up to a security gate and showed their badges. The guard let them through. All Marc could think is that he wanted to see his wife, and that he thought he was going to be tortured in some crazy interrogation.

As the car made its way down into a parking lot, there were a group of men yelling outside the car. They parked the car and took the bag off of Marc’s head, and standing in front of him was Tobias, half drunk, with an evil smile on his face.

It’s probably not appropriate to write what Marc said to him in this blog, but there was a very colorful exchange. After Marc released some tension, he shared the laugh with Tobias and the developers.

Marc said he completely believed it was real, and wondered if he would die. It was the most epic prank he ever experienced and will remember it to the end of his days.

Tobias Batton,
CEO Resistor Productions LLC

As you know Disciple is a browser based - no client download game that is heavily focused on PvP, level progression and rankings. The actual Production time for this game was about 20 months, from concept to release. This is part one of a series of posts about the different aspects of making a browser game. I thought it would be fun to start with some of the more entertaining aspects of game development.

When we started the design process, the majority of what we were doing was fleshing out the actual game concept on paper. This was everything from gameplay, to story and lore, to art style, and even basic combat formulas.

As our concept became defined, we needed to choose developers to implement our ideas from paper to code. There was a lot of discussion on whether or not we would hire our own developers or hire a professional 3rd party developer. Rather than train our own development team, we thought it would make sense to hire a 3rd party with experience and give them direction, rather than creating our own crew from the ground up.

After a little looking around, we discovered a company called Apalon based in Europe. They were both affordable and qualified to handle our project, and had done work for several large companies in the past such as Fisher Price. We knew from the start that there would be a few issues managing a project in Europe, one of which would be team building and general excitement and moral.

We had to keep the development team excited about the project, and we had to make them feel like we were all part of the same team, even if we were an ocean apart. So during the process of development, the management of Resistor took several trips overseas to manage the development and build relationships.

Apalon is based in a country called “Belarus” which is part of the former USSR and one country east of Poland. These countries have become a hotbed for technology, even Google has set up a huge development office in this area.

On our first trip there we did not really know what to expect, but upon arrival the similarities to the USA are truly uncanny. On nearly every corner of the downtown area you see McDonalds and TGI Fridays, as well as other familiar sites.

As soon as we arrived in the office, we were hard at work, but we also knew we had to find ways to become fast friends with our new partners, so that they could feel as though they were a part of our team, and our friends. I asked them to give us a taste of traditional Belarussian culture.

The first night they took me to a Belarussian Sauna. Its very hot. Like 30 seconds now get me the hell out of here right now hot! I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was quite an experience.

I have been in a Sauna in the USA maybe once or twice in my life. The Russian Sauna is much hotter. After 30 seconds the only thing you are thinking is that you want to get the hell out before you pass out from the heat. You touch your hair and it feels like its about to light on fire. The gentlemen I was there with were pouring beer on the coals and laughing.

Peter, the VP of their company, wanted to leave too, but we were trying to be tough and hang in there. Next thing I know, one of the guys walks in with some tree branches and points for me to lay down. My response was:

“what the hell???”

Matvey, the Operations Manager explains that he will hit the branches against my back, and this is tradition in Belarus. All I could think was that I wanted to get our of there right away. Matvey told me I was a Sauna virgin and they were going to “pop my cherry”. Not wanting to look like a wimp, I reluctantly agreed.

Getting hit with the branches didn’t hurt . . . . When i tried to get up, they pushed me back down. It was similar to a college hazing. After 2 minutes or so, I thought I would die, so I insisted on leaving and they let me go. In all it was a great experience, everyone got their turns with the hot room, I was able to take joy in watching them suffer too.

This was just the first night. In my next post we will cover a staged arrest of our CTO by the “KGB” as well as drinking contests and more! Here is a preview video for what we will cover in the next post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRDqtz6NLHc

Tobias Batton,
CEO Resistor Productions LLC

I might publish the feedback on other iPhone app marketing methods in future if I see an interest among readership.

An iPhone app start ranking in category as long as it has enough daily downloads. Once the app is ranking in specific category or in overall rank (wow you lucky!) you start getting natural AppStore downloads. If the app is good - downloads will increase and thus the rankings will increase as well.

The topic I cover in this post is getting initial downloads needed for the app to start actually ranking in the relevant category of AppStore. If you don’t follow at least one of those steps below (the more the better for sure) your app will end up nowhere in AppStore and be lost among 45.000 apps available.

1. Change the release date of the app as soon as it’s approved for sale!

By default, your app is released with the date of submission. Change that to the date of approve (during 24 hours since approval). The date will be changed and the app will pup up in Recently Released list of Desktop and Mobile AppStore 2-4 hours after that. Presence on the list gives immediate downloads! As long as you go down the list number of downloads decrease. Once the app is on the page 3-4 the number of downloads from it are minimal. The only way to get back on top of that list is to submit an update to the app (can be very minor) and do the same change of date again.

2. Have a marketing strategy behind the app or hire a PR company

You need to get immediate downloads in order for the app to show app in TOP100 of category - remember?

Here is the overview of marketing methods that are generally used for the promotion of iPhone apps in order to get that initial traffic.

Important
1. iPhone app review sites (there are about ~300 of those with ~10 big ones)
2. Mainstream and tech, mobile review media
3. Social media (digg, bookmarking, commenting, twittering)
4. Press Release distribution sites
5. AppStore optimization strategy
Optional (extra cost incurred)
6. Facebook ads
7. Google Adwords ads
8. Admob ads
9. Banners on iPhone review sites
10. Other custom and sometime guerrilla marketing methods

Applications published on Ovi have the potential to reach 50 MLN of devices right now and 300 MLN of devices by 2012 according to Nokia. This is why you might want to become the publisher ASAP. It looks like there is only 536 applications on AppStore and some of the phone models have a few apps only. This might be a gold rush for early publishers.

Nokia believes that Ovi Store is the best opportunity for Flash developers to reach Nokia users globally, targeting 50 million users at launch in May and up to 300 million by 2012.

Revenue split between publisher and Nokia? Home page says 70% of revenue goes to developer but digging further in terms you find out that it’s true as long as user pays by credit card, once it’s operator billing you end up with 50% extracted for tax and operator fees and the resulting amount is multiplied by 0.7 which leaves the publisher with much lower payout.

Credit Card Transactions
Developer will receive 70% of end user price, less applicable taxes, returns, refunds, and bad debt.

Example Calculation
Purchase Price: 5€
Tax Deduction: 5€ - 10% tax = 4,50€
Publisher Revenue: 4,50€ x 70% = 3,15€*

Operating Billing Transactions
Developer will receive 70% of end user price, less applicable taxes, returns, refunds, bad debt, and operator billing charges ranging from 40% - 50%.

Example Calculation
Purchase Price: 5€
Tax Deduction: 5€ - 10% tax = 4,50€
Operator Billing Deduction: 4,50€ - 40% = 2,70€
Publisher Revenue: 2,70€ x 70% = 1,89€*

Technologies/programming languages supported?

Symbian Applications, Java Applications, Web RunTime (WRT) Widgets, Flash Lite Appications

Useful process start-up links:

Ovi Developer Discussion Forums

Documents: Publisher Guide, Billing Matrix, Supported Device List as well as FAQ section

Developer Wiki

Actual Ovi Store where you can browse published apps.

Signing application issue explained

Good luck with development and see your content on Ovi soon!

P.S. We were lucky to register www.ovidevelopment.com and www.oviappreviews.com domain names a while ago, if you have a partnership or purchase offers for those please feel free to email to peter (at) moveyourweb.net

Apalon, our game development and animation arm is definitely having a busy week launching several projects at a time. There were more then 100 online news and review publications about those projects during this week so I’m going to list major news here:

It started on Monday with the release of Drunk Sniper iPhone Application which was released last weekend and immediately started generating buzz online:

http://www.venturebeat.com/2009/05/11/drunk-sniper-an-unofficial-sequel-to-those-iphone-beer-apps/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/may/13/ifart-iphone-applications-apps-apple

http://www.digg.com/apple/iPhone_App_Turns_iPhone_into_a_Penis

http://www.appleiphoneapps.com/2009/05/drunk-sniper-realistic-beer-relieving-experience-on-your-iphone/

http://www.iphonesavior.com/2009/05/drunk-sniper-the-ultimate-iphone-pissing-game.html

Tuesday - browser based animated MMORPG Disciple released together with Resistor Productions LLC and MMORPG.COM. Disciple had 12.000 preregistered users and during 4 days it raised to 15.000+ :

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/12/disciple-is-a-real-time-player-to-player-fantasy-battlefield-for-adults/

http://www.venturebeat.com/2009/05/12/resistor-productions-launches-a-bloody-browser-based-game-for-adults/

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/405/feature/3030

http://www.digg.com/playable_web_games/New_MMO_lets_gamers_hack_people_s_heads_off

Wednesday - Sparta - iPhone Game developed for Pockey Monkey Games is released and becomes popular the same day. I see it in TOP50 Games USA and TOP100 overall while writing this post.

Looks like half of Apalon folks was working day and night this week - me for sure. Luckily the weekend is here and we can take some rest now.

We have 5-8 apps in production simultaneously at the same time now which means that we deliver multiple applications in a month. Now what we experienced during the delivery is that several of our customers didn’t have iPhone developer accounts needed to publish the app or actually they started applying for it but it was not not yet ready. That puts the success of any application at risk, because the number of apps on AppStore is skyrocketing and chances high that competitor will release the same app tomorrow. So get iPhone developer account early if you still don’t have it!

The registration process consists of multiple steps and takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months of time. If you are in USA and quick in furnishing Apple with the data required you might get it during 2-3 weeks time. Here is the brief guideline on what to expect from the registration process:

1. Apply for iPhone Developer program
2. Fax business documents that Apple requests after review of initial application (Apple will email the reqs)
3. Agree to iPhone Developer Program License Agreement (Apple will email the link)
4. Pay the membership fee. If you are not in the list of supported countries email to devenroll@apple.com and ask to provide IDP Billing Form for manual CC processing
5. Receive the account activation code from Apple and apply it
6. Login into iTunes connect and fill in ‘Free Apps’ Contract, ‘Paid Apps’ Contract, Wire Details for payment, Japanese sales agreement and ‘Available on AppStore’ artwork license agreement as well as W8-BEN form for foreign developers .
7. Mail ‘Paid Apps’ contract, ‘artwork license’ agreement, ‘Japanese sales’ agreement to Apple and wait till they review those and fully activate your account.

Frequently Asked Questions:

- How can I speed up the process?
Reply: If at a certain point you don’t hear from apple for more then a week - start calling them +14089744897 or emailing to devenroll@apple.com. They are overwhelmed with the applications so couple of reminders will not harm

- Shall I receive EIN if I’m a foreign developer?
Reply: Up to you. We’ve been talking to Apple billing department numerous times and they confirmed that providing 000000000 (9 zeros) instead of EIN/TIN is an allowable option. They report AppStore payments to be commission as opposed to royalty so there is no withholding of tax or reporting on form 1042 at year end. There is a big confusion caused by the list of countries that have double treaty but this is valid for iTunes and not AppStore since AppStore sales are put in a different fashion. So you just pay taxes at your country not USA.

Some foreign developers prefer to obtain EIN/TIN (afterall it’s a 10 minute call to IRS 1-(215) 516-6999. Make sure you filled SS-4 to dictate it to a representative).

- Can I pay by wire transfer for iPhone Developer admission fee?
Reply: Not any more

- Are the payments from sales coming in multiple currencies?
Reply: Yes. Make sure that your bank account is capable of receiving multiple currencies and converting those.

- I’m an indie developer and don’t have fax to send documents to Apple. Any online solutions?
Reply: PamFax on Skype - reliable and dirt cheap

- How do I pay for iPhone Developer Program if my country is not in the list?
Email to devenroll@apple.com (make sure you include identification code) and request iDP BILLING: Credit Card Processing Form. You will need to feel it with CC details and fax over to Apple

- If I have further questions on getting registered - will you assist me?
Reply: If you are our customer - email to your Project Manager ASAP! If you are a random visitor to the web site - try posting your question in comments to this blog entry.

Developers has already started it, but it’s still hard to find the best sample. Folks from WebDesignerDepot has come up with the collection of 40 best-looking iPhone Application Websites up to date.

Also I would be interested to hear other developer’s thoughts on traffic that AppStore is bringing to the web site and other useful stats on the subject.

We also love innocent jokes, for example….

The first person who was played up is COO Matvey. Currently he is selling his car, here is his advertisement on a website:

Pay attention to the price at the right top! Today another advertisement of his car appeared on this website:

Once again, look at the price. That’s it! People interested in the offer assaulted Matvey and an hour later he was already showing the car to potential buyers:

On the whole, there were plenty of people willing to buy the car at 30% discount.

…A joyful atmosphere was not only outside the office. At the time one could see on the table of Manager Dima:

By the way, Dima wasn’t at a loss (between ourselves, he hardly ever feels abashed :))

VPM Peter was walking around the office and treated everyone to incredibly delicious cereals with strawberry filling!

And of course, there were lots of desirous! ! Credulous HR Inna, for example!!!!

And a candy hound CEO Dmitry!

Not everyone found Whiskas tasty!!!

This is how it looked like:

The secret is simple: the boxes’ exchange!

There were plenty of other tiny pranks… But it’s undoubtedly good that no one got hurt and each got lots of pleasant emotions and a portion of joy!

Wish you all the same! Laugh more often!!

Customer Rating are introduced. Instead of posting a review a customer can leave a rating in the special menu which is quick and easy and see how much reviews are already left.

Customer Reviews are broken down into ‘current’ version and all versions of the app. Review date and version number shown with particular reviews. Apps that are submitted as 1.0 versions have limited functionality and users generate a lot of feedback (not always positive). Based on how well developer reacts by releasing updates users tend to improve there ratings. New review system is encouraging developers to come up with better products and is generally more fair to developers.

Thanks Apple for making steps towards organizing 27,000 apps on AppStore better. Kill the “rate when you delete” issue next Await for official news.

Update: AppStore mobile version is being updated as well. I dropped on time while all Reviews were turned off.