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Forums → News and Feedback → Question to those who think about quitting AG just because of the ads

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dorukayhan
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dorukayhan
1,318 posts
Bard

this is a screenshot of all 5 ads a non-afg+ user can see at once(note that i zoomed out):

http://i.imgur.com/2ciwf3L.jpg?1

what could possibly go wrong? is it the ad #5 that brings up looping ads with sounds?

  • 18 Replies
Jigabachi
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Jigabachi
3 posts
Peasant

I won't abandon AG because of the ads, but I'll turn on adblock again.
The ads with sound and video are annoying and intrusive enough, but what annoys me most are those 2min ads I have to watch before I can play a game.

That would be no problem if AG would offer quality content, in that case I would happily endure those ads. But as long as idlegames and crappy p2w MMOs dominate while there are only a few borderline good and enjoyable games per year, I won't put up with those ads and simply block them.
I know that this isn't really AG's fault, but... eh. I don't really care. Those ads are annoying.

Jigabachi
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Jigabachi
3 posts
Peasant

Then why should AG care about banning people who admit they're using these addblockers? The website's only losing money because of you all, it's only sensible to get rid of the people that are litterally chipping through the bones of the site just because it's annoying to sit still for 3 minutes when you can easily refresh and get a 30 sec. long add instead.

I never blocked the ads on AG and I know that the revenue from the ads is keeping the whole thing alive. And AG isn't the only site/portal where I allow ads, even if I find most of them annoying and also don't like that "businessmodel" in general.
However, I have no scruples with blocking the ads on certain sites when they get too annoying and intrusive - especially if the quality of the content provided isn't good enough to put up with the annoying the ads.

Banning people who block the ads? Well. Go for it. Sounds like a very sensible idea.

If the admins are that desperate, why not offering more creative possibilities to make people watch ads?
"Klick this button to watch this add while your game loads!"
"Watch this ad and earn one of those currency things!"
"Watch one short ad per day and earn one magic flowerpot per week. Trade 10 magic flowerpots for a unique companion thingy."

TatsuyaHiroki
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TatsuyaHiroki
1 posts
Nomad

thats really odd, since ive yet to see the internet collapse because omgah, adblockers

Listen, I dont mind ads on a general level, however there is a certain limit after which I will turn on adblocker and i dont really care whether site admins like it or not. And no, I dont see much justification to get bombarded with advertising left and right.

If I have to watch a freakin ad video every time just for the sake of playing a freakin flash game then I will (and actually did) bring my business elsewhere.

I understand that may people wont agree with me that one nor do I expect anyone to, however I wanted to present my personal point of view about that one. I have zero qualms with them wanting to recup the server/etc costs, I have problems with how they are literally making the "experience" unbearable for non armorgames + members (and lets not get into the whole "oh but the membership isnt all that expensive/etc debate because for me its more about the principle rather than anything else).

Jigabachi
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Jigabachi
3 posts
Peasant

Again, if you don't like the content here, you're only one in like hundreds of thousands of users who do.

I said that the quality of games provided isn't good enough to put up with the annoying ads.
Armorgames is still one of the best gameportals I know - but they all suffer from the same lack of good games right now. The good devs seem to have switched for android games...

2. Nah, let's just let the website eventually die instead, that's a wonderful idea!

If a website like this solely relies on ads and spams them wherever and whenever possible, well... bad idea.

They're not, but they might as well be if people keep going with these addblocker shenanigans.

Yes, adblocker users are bad people. Like parasites. I bet they also eat children.
No, seriously... why the hell do you defend ads like that? o.O
Ads are the bane of our entire culture, you get bombarded with that crap wherever you are.
And as I already tried to tell you multiple times: I don't bother if they place an add here and there and I'd be willing to even klick some of that crap if I get a tiny something in return. But if it gets too annoying I'll block it. Simples. If you like adspam, I'll happily register your emailadress for some advert spam.

FishPreferred
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FishPreferred
3,171 posts
Duke

"Klick this button to watch this add while your game loads!"
The idea is to increase the number of views. Doing this would make them virtually nonexistent.

"Watch this ad and earn one of those currency things!"
This could potentially work, if a currency thing were incorporated ... as well as, you know, something it can be used for ... and if there were a definitive way of ensuring that only people who view them receive it.

"Watch one short ad per day and earn one magic flowerpot per week. Trade 10 magic flowerpots for a unique companion thingy."
You know AG isn't an MMO, right?

Armorgames is still one of the best gameportals I know - but they all suffer from the same lack of good games right now. The good devs seem to have switched for android games...
And if AG could still afford to offer them top-dollar, this wouldn't be a problem.
Bonus points if you can guess why they can't.

If a website like this solely relies on ads and spams them wherever and whenever possible, well... bad idea.
It's also a bad idea to eat rancid uncooked meat, but that won't matter when your survival depends on it.

No, seriously... why the hell do you defend ads like that? o.O
He doesn't. Just how hard is this to understand? AG pays developers for the games it hosts. AG pays for the bandwidth accessed by its entire userbase. AG pays its staff members to handle the programming, customer service, and all that stuff. Advertising companies pay AG based upon the type of space provided for their ads and the number of times a page displaying them is loaded. AFG members pay AG based upon the estimated ad revenue generated by one user's activity.
Now where do you fit in? You access the site's servers, increasing the bandwidth load (at AG's expense). You play the games, thus taking advantage of the products (hosted at AG's expense). In exchange for this service, you pay AG a whopping $0.00 US! I know; shocking.
The only thing that makes your presense anything but a detriment to AG is that you generate ad revenue for them; use adblocks to take that away and they're worse off than they would be without you. That's parasitism. Feel free to look it up if you don't believe me.
RodkiBlesea
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RodkiBlesea
1 posts
Shepherd

I'm forced to turn on adblock otherwise my browser slows to a crawl and/or stops functioning completely.

scole86
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scole86
6 posts
Chancellor

It's not the ads that I mind, it's the fact that I'm forced to turn on my adblocker to make the games on this site playable that bothers me. I actually count 6 constant ads per page when the blocker is off, 2 above, 2 below, 1 to each side, plus the 1 ad before the game loads. That's simply too many ads for a single page, and given that my only options are to use a free adblocker to make the games playable, or pay money to make a 'free' game on a 'free' website playable, I'm going to use the adblocker. If it were toned down to the point where the games were playable with the ads still running, I'd gladly turn my adblocker off.

FishPreferred
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FishPreferred
3,171 posts
Duke

I'm forced to turn on adblock otherwise my browser slows to a crawl and/or stops functioning completely.
It's not the ads that I mind, it's the fact that I'm forced to turn on my adblocker to make the games on this site playable that bothers me.
A feeble excuse. If your browser can't handle six ads and one flash game at the same time, the fault lies with the browser. If your CPU can't keep up, your computer is garbage.

If it were toned down to the point where the games were playable with the ads still running, I'd gladly turn my adblocker off.
And if you got a secure high-speed wireless network for free, I'm sure you wouldn't hijack your neighbour's network either. That still isn't an acceptible reason to do it.
scole86
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scole86
6 posts
Chancellor

Lovely way of making assumptions about my current situation without actually addressing the issue. Not sure if that makes you a troll or just a jerk, but anyhow, I assure you my computer is more than adequate for much more complex games, such as Skyrim, and my high speed connection doesn't have trouble with anything else, such as downloading various OS systems for me to play with in a VM. Since the problem only happens here, then I must conclude that the problem, and it doesn't matter how acceptable my solution is to you as long as it is still allowed within the TOS. The ads on this site are a problem to many people here, and the people in charge need to do something about it.

TiSe88
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TiSe88
432 posts
King

@FishPreferred I concluded from your statement: "Buy a new computer to play free games on a free website." Best solution ever... not.
Unfortunately for this site and its financing, I have to agree with @scole86 100%. But it's not necessarily the user's or the site's problem. Afaik Flash only uses 1 cpu core. So you're ultra-modern 16-core cpu has no use to this problem. Flash is and always will be a poor application...

FishPreferred
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FishPreferred
3,171 posts
Duke

Lovely way of making assumptions about my current situation without actually addressing the issue.
Evidently the art of analogy is lost upon you.

I assure you my computer is more than adequate for much more complex games, such as Skyrim, and my high speed connection doesn't have trouble with anything else, such as downloading various OS systems for me to play with in a VM.
In which case, the only logical conclusion is that your browser is struggling with one or more scripts that the vast majority of players, ad-viewing or otherwise, do not encounter and/or have no trouble with. Therefore, as stated earlier, your browser is at fault.

The ads on this site are a problem to many people here, and the people in charge need to do something about it.
Now there's an idea. So, what exactly do you propose they should do to rectify the situation without driving themselves into bankruptcy?
TiSe88
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TiSe88
432 posts
King

vast majority of players, ad-viewing or otherwise, do not encounter and/or have no trouble with

So you conducted a survey or how do you know that?
scole86
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scole86
6 posts
Chancellor

He doesn't, he's just making assumptions. The same way he thought that his initial comments about my system somehow constituted an analogy when the tone of said comments was clearly more derisive than comparative/informative. The issue comes up on my secondary and tertiary browsers in addition to my primary one, so I do not believe that the issue is tied to my browser. Since 'browser issue' is no longer applicable, and the other possible causes that are on my end have already been eliminated, I can safely say that the problem isn't my particular computer.

As for my idea... operating under the assumption that ad revenue is the only revenue available, I would propose lowering the ads per page from 6 to 4 constant ads. The ad as the game is loading is still okay, as long as the game continues to load behind the ad. Make the ads lighter weight by insisting that they be visual only, and to prevent accidentally leaving a page prematurely, add a simple script to ask if a person is sure they want to leave.

FishPreferred
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FishPreferred
3,171 posts
Duke

He doesn't, he's just making assumptions.
Itself an assumption, immediately followed by another assumption.

Since 'browser issue' is no longer applicable, and the other possible causes that are on my end have already been eliminated, [...]
Nice try, but you've completely neglected the very real possibility that the lag is being caused by an unrelated application that is either common to or independent of your browsers. If AG's ads were the actual cause, we should expect every user who views them to experience the same difficulty, which obviously is not the case.

As for my idea... operating under the assumption that ad revenue is the only revenue available, I would propose lowering the ads per page from 6 to 4 constant ads. The ad as the game is loading is still okay, as long as the game continues to load behind the ad. Make the ads lighter weight by insisting that they be visual only, [...]
All of which would significantly reduce AG's ad revenue.

[...] and to prevent accidentally leaving a page prematurely, add a simple script to ask if a person is sure they want to leave.
Now, that would probably work.
scole86
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scole86
6 posts
Chancellor

Hate to break another of your assumptions, but I do know what runs on my computer. I'm a computer tech IRL, and I happen to use my own computers for getting a feel for how certain tools run. I notice you didn't answer the earlier noted assumption of yours regarding how general users are affected by the ads... tells me you just made up that answer. I'm guessing most people don't even bother with the forums, but I could be wrong. Kinda hard to prove a negative, though. Also, you complain about my offered solution, but don't make a counter-proposal, so I'm really just thinking you're only here to see if you can rile anyone up. If so, please feel free to leave this conversation. I am genuinely concerned about what's going on with the ads on this site and want to find a solution that does not bankrupt AG by putting too few ads or making too many people want to keep their ad-blockers on, while still keeping the games enjoyable for all concerned. I doubt anyone finds the status quo to be acceptable, so something needs to change. Either help find a solution or go away.

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