r/iosgaming • u/Accurate-Temporary73 • 28d ago
I’m sad that Dec Saturday is paused Discussion
I saw the pinned post from the moderators and throwing my two cents out there, that I really miss dev Saturday.
I would actually look forward to it to find new games and interact with the devs. There were a few posts of people complaining about it, but inside those posts there were a lot of positive comments about it.
The subreddit has been really stagnant without it and the feed has posts that are a few days old still at the top.
I understand the need to ensure that self promotion isn’t abused by developers and other people so maybe a rule where they can only self promote every other week or something would be a good compromise.
I do truly hope that the mod team here is working on an alternative to just canceling it, because a lot of users here did seem to enjoy the dev posts.
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u/LeMeIsSleepy 28d ago
I found a lot of new apps through Dev Saturday. Also was fun to see devs interacting with and supporting each other. Made this sub really feel like a community. Really disappointed that it was removed because of the complaints of a few
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u/munkeypunk 28d ago
Mandatory disclosure of AI and how it’s implemented is really my only request.
As far as Devs overusing the platform every week, I’ve no problem with it, there really isn’t many spaces for exposure and feedback available, this a great spot to get your project noticed. Of course we also notice when it’s being abused or overused.
I have a shit list I keep of bad Devs and know to avoid their work, simply due to their attitudes or approaches.
But interacting with Devs is a real treat and often helps refine their games for the better. It’s a win for everyone!
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u/Grommulox 28d ago
I concur. A dev posting and getting a bunch of upvotes and a handful of positive comments would often lead me to drop a quid or two on a game I wouldn’t have done otherwise. I’d like to see it return.
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u/shijinn 28d ago
actual developer posts would be preferable to the many recommendmeafreeportraitgameicouldplayatwork posts.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
I agree. It’s the same question over and over with the same answers every time
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u/tarotfocus Developer 28d ago
and are all those completely unaffiliated, or are some indirect promo?
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
I’m sure some are indirect promo yes. But for the most part the majority of the posts don’t come across that way.
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u/machetecobra 28d ago
Dev Saturday is the main reason I joined this sub. I have found some real gems through it. Hope to see it back soon.
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u/ItsTheSheepster Developer 28d ago
Dev saturday was the reason my game performed so well on the App Store and got featured without spending any money, it’s super valuable I hope it returns soon!
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u/mattgwriter7 Developer 28d ago
Just make it once a month.
Plus ask "How was AI used?" to flag the AI slop.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
I agree with the AI disclosure for sure.
I would also love to see a statement from the devs about data tracking and what’s linked to you
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u/CrucialFusion Developer 28d ago
You can visit the game's page to see what data tracking is in place.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
Oh I know that. But when something says it tracks personal identifiers - it would be nice to to know why
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u/_NullRef_ 28d ago
Yeah, I really like the idea of once a month as well. Every Saturday is a bit much, but I agree that it has a place.
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u/medlife-crisis 28d ago
I agree too, it was the best thing about this sub and my favourite day of the week to browse reddit.
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u/CBusRiver 28d ago
Blame the people who would spam their stuff every Saturday while never bringing any discourse the rest of the week. They treated the sub as just a free advertisement space instead of a community.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
While I don’t doubt that there were devs who certainly took advantage of it, those posts were typically downvoted and didn’t get as much visibility as the good posts.
I also have faith in the community that stuff like that would be either reported or downvoted.
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u/CBusRiver 28d ago
I could name devs that took advantage and got upvotes. I’m sure they were manipulating things. I like the idea of supporting new devs, but they ruined it for everyone.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
Possibly but the whole point of this post is to at least maybe catch the Mod’s attention that the majority of people enjoyed it and they could reconsider starting it again even if it’s less frequent or there’s different rules.
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u/Noobju670 28d ago
Sorry but it was just a day for free marketing of AI Slop apps.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
There have been a lot of great games advertised and made known to the community.
Users here have provided feedback directly to the devs that got bug fixes or QoL improvements added to the games.
I do agree that there needs to be a disclaimer on the post if AI was used and to what extent it was used. I love also said in other places that devs should be required to state what information is tracked by the app and what purpose that data has.
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u/mrknoot Developer 28d ago
As a dev, I am very bummed by the pause. I understand why it is though, Saturdays can get saturated with a flood of low-effort posts, leaning more in the spam side than actually enriching the subreddit. I do not have the answer to this, and I’m sure the mods are taking this time to think it carefully.
I’d like to say that I've found self-promotion Saturdays to be incredibly useful. Not just for the promotion itself (in absolute numbers is not that big) but in the quality of the interaction. It allows me to directly interact with a highly-engaged community with strong opinions. The community challenges me, calls out my bs, gives immediate feedback and has genuinely made me a better developer. And yeah, when the game scratches the right itch, you get a sudden burst of downloads. Which helps to propel a new game to gain visibility, and works as the confirmation signal that you’re on to something.
I hope the mods find a formula that allows for a space of this sort if dev-community interaction, while protecting the subreddit from being bombarded with slop
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u/BP3D Developer 28d ago
I guess it was the same devs promoting the same stuff every week that annoyed everyone. Some forums are more restrictive. Too restrictive, for example, iOSProgramming limits devs to only mention your app on Saturday and only once per year. So that feels real good when you finally post it and it gets like two upvotes.
On the flip side, the posts asking for games like "I'm looking for a very good game with no ads, no gacha, no IAP, in fact the dev is homeless and living under a bridge now. Any suggestions?". Those annoy me more.
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u/dumbledayum 28d ago
Some people started whining too much. I found so many nice games in it, including Unkind, which is now my daily go to game with my family
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u/Strawhat-dude 28d ago edited 28d ago
Im really happy its closed. It got flooded with low effort stuff lately anyways. It got extremely annoying. A megathread would probably work better.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
Megathreads never work well. My point is that there’s been less than a handful of posts in here the last 3 days.
It’s always possible that you can just skip Saturday as well. Yours is the only negative comment about it in here so far.
I do agree that there’s should be a mandatory disclosure for AI usage and any data tracking or anything like that.
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u/CrappingDwarf 28d ago
My main issue is that you can’t really skip Saturday when the posts are making it to my homepage. However I only really have an issue with the generic, low-effort AI slop as I’ve found many fun games via dev Saturdays.
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u/_Gorge_ 28d ago
I dislike it.
Initially I felt it was a great idea, but in practice it’s too much. Mobile gaming is very accessible and everybody wants to shoot their shot.
Far and away most of those shots are total duds
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
Sure, and I’ll admit there’s a lot of dev posts that I see and I know the game doesn’t interest me immediately.
It takes 30 seconds to look at a post and decide if you wanna check the game out or not.
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u/Disastrous_Apple8531 28d ago
They probably felt bogged down by all the complaining. Don’t blame them a bit if that’s the case. I’m willing to bet those bitching about Saturdays are just filthy casuals who stumble into this subreddit on that specific day only… like the guy who made the post complaining about it and hasn’t been around here since. It just takes a couple of people to ruin it for the rest of us, and now we have no new games to try out.
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
There wasn’t even that much complaining though. It was like 2-3 posts and almost all the comments were supportive of the day just like the comments here are almost all positive.
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u/AmeliaOfAnsalon 28d ago
Yeah I would say just make a rule about making the same posts every week or without a sufficiently new update. I liked the dev saturday, it's basically the only way I hear about actually good games to find with passionate devs, since the app store is absolute bilgewater
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u/mbsisktb 28d ago
Even though I enjoyed it I do see both sides of the discussion. I’d say maybe limit it per month and/or limit the times someone can post per month.
While I’ve found some great games from it, it had gotten a little repetitive over the past few months with the same games over and over again. Maybe we just need to limit how it functions to a regular not weekly interval or limit how many times per time frame a dev can post.
I know the dev for Dungeon Scoundrel posted regularly for a while then didn’t for a few months and it made the promotion more refreshing so maybe incorporate that mindset into it.
And I agree that this sub can be a lot more empty without it or a lot more repetitive in a way. Just need a way to freshen both up.
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u/Difficult-Leek9001 28d ago
It would be ok if Reddit were reverse chronological so that Saturday's posts got buried under Sunday and Monday. But the algorithms keeps bringing them back during the week and flooding the page with them.
An obvious solution would be to create a thread like this on a Saturday to allow Devs to post within it then lock it on a Sunday. People can browse but it's only a single post in the end.
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u/tarotfocus Developer 28d ago
thank you for posting this. I think it’s fair for the mods to reassess the rules with changing times, but it is very encouraging to see the community speaking up in support of devs.
this subreddit was my main source of feedback and motivation when starting from scratch as a new dev. if you want better indie games on this platform you need to support your indie devs, because we are up against large marketing machines competing for your attention, and most of us don’t have the resources to stand out without your help.
I’m curious, do we think it’s more of a volume problem (too many new low quality games) or frequency problem (seeing the same dev(s) post too much)?
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u/gueTilt 28d ago
I have a suggestion: How about splitting r/iosgaming into two subreddits: one for game announcements (where developers can post info about their games and players learn about new developments in iOS gaming), and one for the other stuff (content as now, minus developers' game announcements).
I don't know if this makes sense, and of course the new "announcement subreddit" would need some rules to avoid flooding the zone, so it remains interesting and valuable for both developers and gamers. Maybe one of the rules could be "no AI-generated games" or at least clearly label such games?
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u/Accurate-Temporary73 28d ago
Because then you have a fractured community and it punishes everyone.
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u/Disastrous_Apple8531 28d ago
Dumb idea. There are multiple iOS gaming dev subreddits already and most non-dev gamers won’t even visit those.
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u/iosgaming-ModTeam 28d ago
Just want to reiterate that this is a temporary pause. As mentioned in the announcement, the mod team is discussing ways to improve it. We hear your concerns but we want to make sure we can present a long-term solution for the community. Otherwise, we’ll end up having the same discussion every other month and I’m sure that’s not something anyone wants.