# Rewarded Ads (A Break Down for the 4.9 Update)
**URL:** https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644
**Category:** Official News
**Created:** [April 7, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644 "2020-04-07T23:57:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@locoblutaxt](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/locoblutaxt)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 11:59am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/41 "2020-04-08T11:59:33Z")
> [@ny4s](#):
>
> imho, this game don’t need ads – it needs better marketing.
imho the game doesn’t need better marketing, it needs Devs that love their game and not making the game more and more of a pain playing it from patch to patch.
I don’t care about the Ads if I’m not forced to see them. I just don’t have a reason to watch them.
To support the Devs? LOL
With every patch they’re taking not giving. If this changes sometime then I begin considering it. If I’m still playing this game at this day.
---
### Author:  [@en9nhcet](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/en9nhcet)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 12:20pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/42 "2020-04-08T12:20:46Z")
only 4 ads a day? id easily watch an entire hour of ads straight a day if worth it,but if ever attached at end of a battle and have to watch to play another battle id quit the game tbh…battles already take too long to get to the next one!
---
### Author:  [@Lorien1973](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Lorien1973)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 12:32pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/43 "2020-04-08T12:32:20Z")
Cable TV was once ad free…now, hardly anyone remembers this. Amazon Prime used to be ad free too.
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### Author:  [@EraserParticles](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/EraserParticles)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/44 "2020-04-08T13:19:58Z")
As a vip 10, I’m more than happy supporting the company by watching optional ads here or there at my leisure and discretion as these ones will be. However, if at any point a single unwanted banner, autoplay video, or otherwise intrusive ad shows up you’ll have lost me and my support indefinitely. That’s when I uninstall the game and warn all away. We deal with so much targeted advertisement as well as intrusive and manipulating product placement, and the last thing I want is for my leisure activities to include forced ads as well. That’s why I don’t have cable, stopped going on facebook, and stopped watching sports. If I could stop flying on major airliners, pumping gas, or any of the other ways ads have shoehorned themselves into my space you’d better believe I’d do that as well.
---
### Author:  [@Samyaza](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Samyaza)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/45 "2020-04-08T13:41:42Z")
Support the idea. A few ads at free will are more than tolerable if it helps the game going.
And some sort of relief that we finally can have some sort of official news on what’s been planned.
Hoping that won’t be changed [after beta ofc] in the start screen “we’re setting things ready ,meanwhile watch this”
---
### Author:  [@HounganAtLarge](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/HounganAtLarge)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/46 "2020-04-08T14:09:05Z")
> [@Megaqwerty](#):
>
> A lot of games have paid options to remove ads. Would five bucks be too much to support the devs and get rid of them?
I see a game that shoves ads in my face and asks for money to remove them, I NEVER play it again.
---
### Author:  [@Fleg](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Fleg)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/47 "2020-04-08T14:09:52Z")
So this is how they increase profit for this year over last year. What about next year when profits have to be greater than this year? Get ready for forced ads everyone.
---
### Author:  [@igniteice](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/igniteice)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/48 "2020-04-08T14:10:55Z")
Thank god for Steam. FYI, I provided a TON of feedback on the “shop” and money system in GoW. Maybe the devs should read it if Gems of War is really on a sinking ship… I’m not an expert, but I am a player who has spent a good amount of money in the game and would like to spend more, but I went from spending $30 a month to maybe $5 if there is a really good flash offer.
> [@Complete Shop and Money-Spending Revamp. Rethink your marketing!](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/complete-shop-and-money-spending-revamp-rethink-your-marketing/62181):
>
> I’m going to attempt to put my Bachelor of Business Administration degree to use here and offer some feedback in the form of a complete overhaul of Gems of War shop. I have a feeling no one who can actually do anything about this will read it, but I’m going to put it all out there anyway. Maybe some of it will trickle up. Goals When players spend money, they should always feel like they are receiving a valuable reward in exchange. Players should never feel confused by the in-game shop or over…
---
### Author:  [@Arelana](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Arelana)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/49 "2020-04-08T16:20:12Z")
> [@Stix](#):
>
> no constant large or animated icon in your screen
I’m calling it now - there will be an animated icon, even if it’s a small one like the animated Gem that appears on the Shop button during bonus buy events (that the devs cutely think qualify as “sales”).
> [@HounganAtLarge](#):
>
> this is a simple transaction: Watch the ads, get some small rewards.
Yes, but…
> [@Saltypatra](#):
>
> As your level increases, your rewards will increase too.
If the addition of “optional” ads **ever** causes other sources of resource gain to be nerfed, then the ads stop being “optional” to keep up.
The same way that spending to T6-T7 was “optional” for guilds who wanted to finish CoC.
---
### Author:  [@anon43026234](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/anon43026234)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/50 "2020-04-08T16:20:12Z")
Poor video gaming industry! This 1st and only FTP game I will ever play is definately an interesting case of study. When the bottom seem reached, a new method appear to dig even deeper. Im really curious to witness the next step after that.
Well to begin with, mobile shouldnt even have any games available…they re meant for calling and receiving call and thats it, so I guess its only a half surprise to see something that grotesque on this “platform”.
What a tragic path over the decades this video gaming industry is taking. They are slowly heading to their doom without even realizing it…
---
### Author:  [@akots](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/akots)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/51 "2020-04-08T17:11:12Z")
> [@anon43026234](#):
>
> Well to begin with, mobile shouldnt even have any games available…they re meant for calling and receiving call and thats it, so I guess its only a half surprise to see something that grotesque on this “platform”.
I think we live in a separate universe from you. 😉 Sorry, being a bit sarcastic. FYI, modern phones have super-computing power and better graphics support than 10-year-old PCs. Meaning your premises are flawed.
---
### Author:  [@awryan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/awryan)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/52 "2020-04-08T17:46:41Z")
> [@akots](#):
>
> I think we live in a separate universe from you. 😉 Sorry, being a bit sarcastic. FYI, modern phones have super-computing power and better graphics support than 10-year-old PCs. Meaning your premises are flawed.
Phones still call? 😉
My Samsung Note 10+ 5G is way more powerful than any computer that I had as a kid.
Shit, probably more powerful than my last laptop that I bought 8 years ago. (It crashed so I bought a Chromebook.)
---
### Author:  [@awryan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/awryan)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/53 "2020-04-08T17:48:53Z")
Don’t like ads? Play on PC.
Don’t care either way? Play anywhere.
Prefer ads in a game instead of no game at all? Play on mobile.
Plenty of choices here.
---
### Author:  [@Mithran](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Mithran)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/54 "2020-04-08T18:28:35Z")
The optimist in me wants to think this will help cut down on intentionally caustic design practices designed with the _intent_ of driving monetiziation (rather making a good system you can monetize _without_ intentionally breaking a piece of it). The realist in me know this is highly unlikely.
I’d also say if the rewards are limited to what _is thought to be_ **half** of what can be earned in 30 seconds in PvP at a given level, it is very unlikely I’d choose to watch a 30 second ad _for the rewards_ when I could just hop in PvP for 30 seconds and earn twice as much, especially if this is tuned to the “average player”. But also I’m way more interested in what this hypothetical metric for “about 30 seconds worth of PvP” is than I am in this system whatsoever. Whether this estimate is low, high, or spot on, it would help contextualize a _lot_ about other economy “adjustments”.
For the best chance of this working, I’d suggest allowing a number of ads to be run back to back over a longer time period rather than the once every 8 hours. I’d also suggest reconsidering the stance that time used elsewhere in the game in general generates _more_ resources than watching the ads, partially because whatever metric you use for “30 seconds worth of rewards” is going to be dramatically flawed in some way or another, especially basing it off account level, and partially because even if this is _exactly_ true for the person in question, its not a very strong incentive to say “watching this ad will give you rewards about _half_ as if you had just played one of the least rewarding aspects of game”. _Double_ would probably the the way to go here. In other words, if it remains 3 ads per day, and you can always get them back to back, and you give _exactly_ out “3 minutes worth” of resources for 1min30 time investment, this still isn’t anywhere _close_ to “forcing” the ads on people, but it would make them a bit more attractive, especially to the resource poor and _especially_ for those that underperform at whatever metric you consider “1 minute and 30 seconds worth” of rewards to be. Basically, a 30 second ad watch available 3 times per day would have to give out “several minutes worth” of rewards each time to produce any kind of _actual_ advantage, but (a properly estimated) “1 minute worth” would be enough to entice a small portion as being “worth the time I spent”. Spend 30 seconds in an ad to get (possibly less than) 15 seconds of PvP rewards doesn’t even qualify as “worth the time I spent”, and the people that click the button out of pure altruism to “put a penny in the tip jar” are going to get tired of it eventually and either resume supporting through other means or not at all at all.
Quick math on that… if an ad gave (a _perfectly_ estimated) “1 minute worth” of resources for 30 seconds of ad watch time, at 3 per day, at the end of a year, said player would have earned “18.25 hours worth” of resources for watching “9.125 hours worth” of ad watching. Sounds like a lot, right? Nope. Completely discounting low hanging fruit rewards for high value resources (_good_ ABs, guild tasks, delves, certain events, etc), which actually make up the _huge_ majority of significant or salient rewards, a player that played for an hour on average daily (and _most_ people on the forums probably play more), the person that watched **over nine hours** worth of ads over the course of that year has earned about 2.5% more (a large majority of which is lower value, easy to obtain, infinitely available) resources above the baseline. They would have probably felt that it was worth their time in the moment but didn’t gain any significant advantage - thats the point. By contrast, under the proposed “half of what you’d earn in 30 seconds of PvP for 30 seconds ad watching”, they’d suffer a _loss_ of about 1.25% of those resources, but feel like they were losing a lot more. And they’d still have watched over 9 hours of ads by the end of the year. Yeah, if it were _double_ instead of _half_, a player can log in and _only_ watch the ads, and have “twice as much” as the player who logged in for literally less than two minutes worth of PvP per day, but who really wins there? Certainly not either of the hypothetical players. And not likely the people getting paid, either, because _no rational person would actually do this_.
At the same time, I’d also caution against offering too many of these in any given time period, and I’d move away from the “per x hours” metric and to a “per day” restriction. Three, or even five per day to get a slight leg up on being compensated _fairly_ for the _time_ spent as a win/win transaction for willing participants… as a game that seems designed at its core around roughly one hour average interactions, spending a couple minutes of that on ads, voluntarily, isn’t too bad, something I could easily see myself doing if I was on the right platform, especially as a new player. “Once per x hour”, especially if you get it down to “once per hour” would be a draconian extension to the tribute system that people _would_ be conditioned to do, but it _would_ likely increase burnout for relatively little extra return as is not recommended.
For those that have concerns about _this_ system becoming “mandatory ad watches”, everything about how this was presented, even with my proposed changes to have them hand out _4x more_, says otherwise. Truthfully, in order to turn this thing into a “much watch ad”, having a three-ad-per-day limit, it would have to have something akin to a static 5+ gem-per-30-second-watch (this being approximately 10 times what you can earn in any infinitely available mode, ie., treasure hunt) to even begin to tip the scales or accompanied by a hike in “must buy” gem purchases (ie., stuff that gets more expensive if you miss it, like weapon tiers) on the other side. So yeah, if my time is worth ten times as much in an ad as in game _and_ in rewards premium currency, _and_ I need more of said currency on average per week to hit a _baseline_, thats obviously bad. Otherwise, it would be hard to pin an economy nerf on this… uh… “extra” source"resources that include “rarely gems” but are mostly easily farmable because you are, even under my proposed _double_ PvP rate rewards, being _slightly_ more time-resource efficient in the long run watching the ads over gameplay… and having them be roughly _half_ PvP rewards for the same amount of time means you are _less_ time resource efficient watching the ads than you would be playing the game… as in, watching ads purposely disadvantages you (a small amount) in addition to the inconvenience of watching the ad in the first place which just makes it wholly unattractive. If they ran a _ton_ of ads, this could pile up, but this would be a lose/lose by fatiguing willing participants while also likely lowering your CPM.
But circling back to my original point, yeah, I _hope_ this additional revenue means less obnoxious and heavy handed attempts to direct players toward monetization, but readily realize that this very likely will not be the case. But also nothing said here is going to stop it completely, and once implemented, they have very little reason to pull it, either, so long as it continues to generate _any_ revenue. So might as well wish this the best chance of actually working with the least amount of fallout.
tl;dr:
Do:
- consolidate daily ad offerings into x per day rather than 1 every x hours
- up to ~5 ads per day is tolerable, more is pushing it
- have them in an out of the way location that isn’t dominant on the screen (lowest priority in the flash offers chain, no fullscreen popup?)
- when giving common, farmable resources, you need to give **more** than you can get in the same amount of time as the baseline for infinitely repeatable mode, not less, for this to be an _attractive_ short term (but not _impactful_ long term) use of a player’s time (~2x, not half)
- display the proposed reward for watching an ad _before_ watching it, not after (it is essentially a micro transaction for time instead of money, not a “surprise mechanic”)
**Do _not_** :
- put ads in any area where they have to be clicked through or have them use eye-catches or other obnoxious features
- have more than 5 ads a day, or anything close to attempt to use this as another activity hook akin to tributes by offering them every x time period
- give rare resources (gems) in such quantities that make the ads “required to keep up” or that they would have any lasting impact on the game economy (doesn’t look like this is even close to the intent here, but people are concerned, so I put it here to be sure we are all on the same page)
- give _random_ rewards after the fact for ad-watching and/or have the rewards hidden until after it has been watched
- have ads longer than ~30 seconds, especially without warning (mentioning this because I’ve seen opt-in ads for games that were literally over 5 minutes long)
- ever **ever** prove any of the people arguing “slippery slope” correct in the long run
- have this be the main feature of the 4.9 update
---
### Author:  [@Arelana](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Arelana)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/55 "2020-04-08T19:09:06Z")
> [@Mithran](#):
>
> Do:
>
> - consolidate daily ad offerings into x per day rather than 1 every x hours
Unfortunately I don’t see this happening. The push is metrics and “encouraging” people to log in for multiple play sessions is a habit-forming practice to drive _engagement_. The every 8 hours thing is also silly because it means if you want to get a healthy amount of sleep at night (i.e. 8 hours) you really only get two chances a day **IF** the timer refreshes when an ad is viewed (i.e. how the Tribute timer works) vs based on a set schedule (i.e. daily reset, daily reset + 8 hours, daily reset + 16 hours)…so, depending on how this is deployed, it could be actively encouraging unhealthy practices.
> [@Mithran](#):
>
> Do:
>
> - display the proposed reward for watching an ad _before_ watching it, not after (it is essentially a micro transaction for time instead of money, not a “surprise mechanic”)
This would be nice, but if the same people who designed CoC design this, count on it being random.
> [@Mithran](#):
>
> **Do _not_** :
>
> - put ads in any area where they have to be clicked through or have them use eye-catches or other obnoxious features
I’m already expecting an equivalent to the blinking Gem icon during a “sale”. This is a direct revenue stream for them, I consider it common sense to believe they’re going to drive traffic to it. I’m just hoping that a small, animated icon is the extent of the _marketing_ they use and that it doesn’t find its way into the existing swarm of Flash Offers and pop-ups. (Seriously, if there were a reasonably-priced microtransaction option to disable pop-ups on my account, I’d probably buy it. I’ve paid $2-5 in other games to do exactly that…but knowing these devs/publisher, it’d be some kind of $50 “special” that is marketed as being 70% off.)
---
### Author:  [@Hoop](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Hoop)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/56 "2020-04-08T19:24:46Z")
Hopefully neither, and they use the extra money for higher quality updates.
---
### Author:  [@Shifty](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Shifty)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/57 "2020-04-08T19:39:16Z")
@Saltypatra I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit disappointed by this. Not only have the most recent additions to this game (epic tasks and new guild event) been a complete let down by the majority community, now the next big update you have for us is ads so you guys can make money?
I don’t know what your situation is and I REALLY hope this will help you guys get the money you need, that way your team can focus on making actual good content that doesn’t rob it’s players of their hard earned currencies. I know running a business isn’t free, so I sincerely mean that.
---
### Author:  [@junette](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/junette)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/58 "2020-04-08T19:49:49Z")
Thank you for making it optional. The no ads completely were nice while they lasted. Devs got to eat too 😁
---
### Author:  [@igniteice](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/igniteice)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/59 "2020-04-08T19:52:58Z")
> [@junette](#):
>
> Devs got to eat too
Maybe they should quit trying to sell stupid bundles for $50 and $100 and troop upgrades for $30… Jesus christ, a 5 year old could tell this is a bad model.
---
### Author:  [@Mithran](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Mithran)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/rewarded-ads-a-break-down-for-the-4-9-update/62644/60 "2020-04-08T19:55:22Z")
> [@Arelana](#):
>
> Unfortunately I don’t see this happening. The push is metrics and “encouraging” people to log in for multiple play sessions is a habit-forming practice to drive _engagement_ . The every 8 hours thing is also silly because it means if you want to get a healthy amount of sleep at night (i.e. 8 hours) you really only get two chances a day **IF** the timer refreshes when an ad is viewed (i.e. how the Tribute timer works) vs based on a set schedule (i.e. daily reset, daily reset + 8 hours, daily reset + 16 hours)…so, depending on how this is deployed, it could be actively encouraging unhealthy practices.
Under the proposed system (you will get about _half_ what you earn in PvP in 30 seconds by watching a 30 second ad), this isn’t really helping anyone. In fact, limiting or preventing ads that give farmable resources but slower than you can get them in a mode you can enter for free at any time in _no way_ hurts anyone but the people making cash monies off it. Moving them closer together and allowing more of them would _condition_ people to watch them more, but treating the chance to watch an ad like a golden ticket makes no sense.
This is the part I don’t get, like at all. If the ads offer premium currency every time, all the time, then yes, obviously, they’d want to limit it and maybe even use it as an activity hook to make the behavior compulsory and do all the horrible things people think this is going to lead to. But theres no reason to hide something away and severely limit that gives you lower rewards than _playing the game_ with only a _small chance_ of premium currency (likely in very small quantities, if I had to guess, likely ~3 gems at 10%). Thus, the 8 hour refresh timetable makes little sense for this. The entire takeway from the initial post is repeatedly highlighting how watching the ads definitely isn’t worth your time because the lowest baseline infinitely repeatable gameplay is twice as efficient. So if they spit out anything _close_ to significant, that nullifies the main message of the original post here and recontextulizies it not to “being transparent” to something else compeltely… but if they don’t, then they aren’t attractive to watch in the first place to any given average player. “Please click on ads to support us” rarely works when there is such a weak incentive on the other side, at least not long term, probably less so than putting up an _actual literal tip jar/donate button_ where the player would get _nothing_ in return. How is this supposed to work, again?
> [@Arelana](#):
>
> I’m already expecting an equivalent to the blinking Gem icon during a “sale”. This is a direct revenue stream for them, I consider it common sense to believe they’re going to drive traffic to it.
The blinking would be _constant_ if this were the case, only going away if you watch the ad. They did already say it would be at the world map and not a pop up, but that doesn’t _exclude_ blinking, but this is very much in contrast with the spirit of the original post. Flash offers are also monetized and do _not_ blink, which is something along the lines of what I’d expect. But yeah, obnoxious blinking that won’t go away until you click and watch the ads when they _know_ they aren’t going to be worth their time to do so… annoy them into submission. If they do it, they do it, but it would garner far more respect being _wholly_ up front instead of actively trying to hide the _least_ liked part of something until the last second, which would, again, recontextualize the whole original post from “being transparent and up front” to something else entirely. I know the track record for this isn’t great, but cautious optimism. But also apprehensive because the proposed plan makes no sense, so that probably means there is _something_ that hasn’t been revealed yet.
Most of this is why I’m stating this ahead of time, so it is clear where I (and likely many of us) stand on the issue on what is annoying, “forced”, and what will _incentivize_ clicks without alienating anyone. The best chance of this working long term is for it to be a win/win for both sides(with at least _part_ of the playerbase _wanting_ to watch the ads for their _personal_ benefit), not something that feels like has to be just _endured_ or _tolerated_, because this _is_ happening.
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