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Refunds for Android Pony Creator app
2 min read
Hey guys, I just recently realized that the mechanism to request refunds for the Pony Creator through Google Play is still in place even though the app was taken down. So if you previously purchased it but can't install it anymore, feel free to request a refund and I'll process it as quickly as possible.
To request a refund:
1. Go to wallet.google.com.
2. Find and click on the Pony Creator purchase.
3. The purchase information will open up on the right side of the screen. Near the bottom should be a link that says "Contact GeneralZoi" or something like that.
4. Click that link to get taken to a contact page.
5. Under the "Choose request type" dropdown, select "I'd like to request a refund or return an item."
6. Click Send!
That's the easiest way for me to process the refunds, since once I get the request I just have to press a button to make it go through. Hopefully this will help anyone who got a new device and lost access to the game.
Also, the app is still available for Android on the Amazon app store at this link: www.amazon.com/GeneralZoi-Pony…. Honestly I kind of forgot about it because I've sold so few copies from Amazon. But if you still want it you can get it from there, or by opening the Amazon app on your device and searching for "Pony Creator" in Apps & Games. Note that you will need to purchase it again since it's a separate sale from the Google Play version. But if you've already bought it, just go through the refund process above and I'll refund your money so you're not paying for it twice.
I hope this helps some people who still want to use the app. Thanks for all your patience, and let me know if anything's not working or something above is wrong. Thanks!
To request a refund:
1. Go to wallet.google.com.
2. Find and click on the Pony Creator purchase.
3. The purchase information will open up on the right side of the screen. Near the bottom should be a link that says "Contact GeneralZoi" or something like that.
4. Click that link to get taken to a contact page.
5. Under the "Choose request type" dropdown, select "I'd like to request a refund or return an item."
6. Click Send!
That's the easiest way for me to process the refunds, since once I get the request I just have to press a button to make it go through. Hopefully this will help anyone who got a new device and lost access to the game.
Also, the app is still available for Android on the Amazon app store at this link: www.amazon.com/GeneralZoi-Pony…. Honestly I kind of forgot about it because I've sold so few copies from Amazon. But if you still want it you can get it from there, or by opening the Amazon app on your device and searching for "Pony Creator" in Apps & Games. Note that you will need to purchase it again since it's a separate sale from the Google Play version. But if you've already bought it, just go through the refund process above and I'll refund your money so you're not paying for it twice.
I hope this helps some people who still want to use the app. Thanks for all your patience, and let me know if anything's not working or something above is wrong. Thanks!
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Pony Creator Android Version
2 min read
ETA 7/19/2016: The Pony Creator is still available in the Amazon App Store here. See my latest journal entry for info about it and about getting a refund for the Google Play version of the game if you want one.
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As a number of you have noticed, the Pony Creator Android version was removed from the Google Play store. This was for violating their impersonation policy. As far as I can tell what this means is that nothing in the Pony Creator was a strict copyright violation, since it wasn't removed for a copyright violation, but because a lot of people kept associating it with the MLP show it was removed because it wasn't an official app. Unfortunately Google didn't tell me exactly what part of the app would have to be changed to make it compliant with their policies. Turns out developer are actually barred from asking for specific details of why apps are removed and what needs to be changed.
I may update the app and try to resubmit it, or I may not. I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point. Mostly because I found out piracy is a huge problem on Android as well as online, and from the investigations I've done I may have lost up to 80% of my sales to pirates. That kind of takes the wind out of a girl's sails.
Unfortunately what this means is that if you purchased the Android app and get a new device, you won't be able to reinstall it from the Google Play store. I'm pretty pissed about that too, but that's just how Google's policies work. It's not something I have any control over.
The online version will stay up for anyone who wants to use it, and the iOS version is still available. As for the rest, I'm going to have a long think about it, and we'll see. I'm feeling a bit beat down at the moment. It may be time to move on to something else.
---
As a number of you have noticed, the Pony Creator Android version was removed from the Google Play store. This was for violating their impersonation policy. As far as I can tell what this means is that nothing in the Pony Creator was a strict copyright violation, since it wasn't removed for a copyright violation, but because a lot of people kept associating it with the MLP show it was removed because it wasn't an official app. Unfortunately Google didn't tell me exactly what part of the app would have to be changed to make it compliant with their policies. Turns out developer are actually barred from asking for specific details of why apps are removed and what needs to be changed.
I may update the app and try to resubmit it, or I may not. I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point. Mostly because I found out piracy is a huge problem on Android as well as online, and from the investigations I've done I may have lost up to 80% of my sales to pirates. That kind of takes the wind out of a girl's sails.
Unfortunately what this means is that if you purchased the Android app and get a new device, you won't be able to reinstall it from the Google Play store. I'm pretty pissed about that too, but that's just how Google's policies work. It's not something I have any control over.
The online version will stay up for anyone who wants to use it, and the iOS version is still available. As for the rest, I'm going to have a long think about it, and we'll see. I'm feeling a bit beat down at the moment. It may be time to move on to something else.
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Pony Creator iOS app available!
2 min read
After entirely too many delays, the Pony Creator iOS app is available for purchase!
Get it here from the iTunes store!!!
(If you can't follow that link, it's easiest to find if you search for "pony creator" with the quotation marks. Without them it doesn't show up in the results yet. Or you can search for my full name to find my developer profile: Haley Reeve)
Like the Android version, it costs $0.99. The app currently has all the same content as v3 of the online game, but does not support fully customizable posing right now. However, I'm currently working with some artists to add new content like manes and accessories, plus new features like cutie marks and possibly having more than one pony on screen. All of these updates will be exclusive to the apps! If the app does well enough, I'll also do my best to add the customizable posing. (This is a difficult feature to implement on mobile devices, which is why I haven't been able to do it yet.)
In fact, the Android version recently got an update to allow the import and editing of custom cutie marks. I'm still working on the best way to incorporate this feature into the iOS version, but it will be available soon. Anything you can do to support me is greatly appreciated! Developing the app and hiring the artists costs money, so how much new content I can add will depend on how well the iOS version does.
Thank you all for your patience and your continued support.
ETA: If you do download the app and have any problems with it, feel free to contact me here! It's much easier to talk on dA than through the App Store reviews since we can do a proper back and forth.
Get it here from the iTunes store!!!
(If you can't follow that link, it's easiest to find if you search for "pony creator" with the quotation marks. Without them it doesn't show up in the results yet. Or you can search for my full name to find my developer profile: Haley Reeve)
Like the Android version, it costs $0.99. The app currently has all the same content as v3 of the online game, but does not support fully customizable posing right now. However, I'm currently working with some artists to add new content like manes and accessories, plus new features like cutie marks and possibly having more than one pony on screen. All of these updates will be exclusive to the apps! If the app does well enough, I'll also do my best to add the customizable posing. (This is a difficult feature to implement on mobile devices, which is why I haven't been able to do it yet.)
In fact, the Android version recently got an update to allow the import and editing of custom cutie marks. I'm still working on the best way to incorporate this feature into the iOS version, but it will be available soon. Anything you can do to support me is greatly appreciated! Developing the app and hiring the artists costs money, so how much new content I can add will depend on how well the iOS version does.
Thank you all for your patience and your continued support.
ETA: If you do download the app and have any problems with it, feel free to contact me here! It's much easier to talk on dA than through the App Store reviews since we can do a proper back and forth.
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PCv3
1 min read
Okay so I didn't intend for the Pony Creator to be down this long. I've been waiting on the dA staff to take care of some stuff on the back end, and they just aren't. So at this point I've given up waiting and I'll be reuploading v3 sometime this weekend. For those of you who have been patient and encouraging: You're awesome.
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Lots of thoughts (still about v3)
5 min read
So it's been a bit over a week since I took down v3. Here's how the experience has been from my perspective.
Me two weeks ago: "Man, I just learned about yet another person who stole the Pony Creator so they could slap a bunch of ads over it. I'm just so angry and frustrated. I worked hard on the game and made it available for free without ads online, but greedy assholes keep stealing it so they can make money off my hard work. This is making me feel super terrible, and I'm tired of feeling terrible every time I think about the Pony Creator. It was a good game, and I should feel proud of it. I'm going to try to do something about it! Yeah!"
Most of the internet: "Where's v3???? Just put it back up!! Who cares about thieves? You're being selfish! Get over yourself!"
Me now: "...Wow."
A very large reason why I just gave up on improving the Pony Creator is because I really do have an instinctive stress response when I so much as think about it these days. Between the semi-constant demands people put on me for new features even though I was working as hard as I could, the regular threat of theft, the small contingent of people who love to tell me to this day that I singlehanded ruined the fandom with the game, and my own personal frustration over certain problems I couldn't figure out, I just burnt out. And that really does suck more than I can say. Your personal reaction to an awesome thing you made, the thing you're single best known for, shouldn't be instinctive fear and cringing because of all the stress involved. I hated feeling like that. So I decided to take some steps to make myself feel more empowered. To try and make myself feel better.
And for about 48 hours, it worked great! Some sketchy sites who were hosting the game without my permission took it down. I started looking into how to make the game file more secure. I was even inspired for the first time in ages on how to improve the existing game. Make it less buggy and more efficient. Maybe while I was working on it I could try and figure out how to add a new feature or two people had been requesting for years. I booted up Flash and started working again. I had trouble falling asleep at night because my mind was racing with ideas I wanted to program.
Then the comments started rolling in more heavily. I do have some wonderful commenters who understood the situation and were very supportive. Y'all are great, and I do appreciate you. I really have gotten some very nice messages. But a lot were angry, and at least very vehement in their despair that the game was unavailable. I got called some names a couple times. (Only a couple. It definitely wasn't a widespread thing. But it still stings.) Honestly, even the many, many comments that were just, "Where's v3????" upset me, because what that kind of comment means is, "I totally want to take advantage of the work you put in for years on this game, but I won't give you a few seconds of my time to read the explanation you specifically wrote out." Most of these comments are on the journal entry itself. And then are a lot are just, "Put v3 back up!" which I guess means, "I did read your explanation, but I don't care. My right to play your game and give you nothing in return trumps whatever you think about your own game."
Guys. I'm a human being. And a really sad, worn out one at this point. If I make the game for the fans, and this is how most of the fans behave, then...well, I can definitely say I'm not inspired or excited anymore.
At this point I don't know what the future of the Pony Creator is. I'm sure I'll calm down with a little more time. After all, this kind of stuff is literally built into my subconscious reaction to the Pony Creator at this point. I was trying to deal with that, and ended up just bringing even more down on myself. I guess that's just the way it is.
I'm going to try to keep working on the game today. Maybe it'll make me feel better to accomplish something. I'm also working with some sites that had been hosting the game without my permission to host legitimate versions of the game with less ads, because ads are something I never intended my users to deal with. But I'm going to be working a bit more slowly than intended, and probably won't accomplish everything I thought I might do just a few days ago. Please, I'm just asking for a little time and patience.
Me two weeks ago: "Man, I just learned about yet another person who stole the Pony Creator so they could slap a bunch of ads over it. I'm just so angry and frustrated. I worked hard on the game and made it available for free without ads online, but greedy assholes keep stealing it so they can make money off my hard work. This is making me feel super terrible, and I'm tired of feeling terrible every time I think about the Pony Creator. It was a good game, and I should feel proud of it. I'm going to try to do something about it! Yeah!"
Most of the internet: "Where's v3???? Just put it back up!! Who cares about thieves? You're being selfish! Get over yourself!"
Me now: "...Wow."
A very large reason why I just gave up on improving the Pony Creator is because I really do have an instinctive stress response when I so much as think about it these days. Between the semi-constant demands people put on me for new features even though I was working as hard as I could, the regular threat of theft, the small contingent of people who love to tell me to this day that I singlehanded ruined the fandom with the game, and my own personal frustration over certain problems I couldn't figure out, I just burnt out. And that really does suck more than I can say. Your personal reaction to an awesome thing you made, the thing you're single best known for, shouldn't be instinctive fear and cringing because of all the stress involved. I hated feeling like that. So I decided to take some steps to make myself feel more empowered. To try and make myself feel better.
And for about 48 hours, it worked great! Some sketchy sites who were hosting the game without my permission took it down. I started looking into how to make the game file more secure. I was even inspired for the first time in ages on how to improve the existing game. Make it less buggy and more efficient. Maybe while I was working on it I could try and figure out how to add a new feature or two people had been requesting for years. I booted up Flash and started working again. I had trouble falling asleep at night because my mind was racing with ideas I wanted to program.
Then the comments started rolling in more heavily. I do have some wonderful commenters who understood the situation and were very supportive. Y'all are great, and I do appreciate you. I really have gotten some very nice messages. But a lot were angry, and at least very vehement in their despair that the game was unavailable. I got called some names a couple times. (Only a couple. It definitely wasn't a widespread thing. But it still stings.) Honestly, even the many, many comments that were just, "Where's v3????" upset me, because what that kind of comment means is, "I totally want to take advantage of the work you put in for years on this game, but I won't give you a few seconds of my time to read the explanation you specifically wrote out." Most of these comments are on the journal entry itself. And then are a lot are just, "Put v3 back up!" which I guess means, "I did read your explanation, but I don't care. My right to play your game and give you nothing in return trumps whatever you think about your own game."
Guys. I'm a human being. And a really sad, worn out one at this point. If I make the game for the fans, and this is how most of the fans behave, then...well, I can definitely say I'm not inspired or excited anymore.
At this point I don't know what the future of the Pony Creator is. I'm sure I'll calm down with a little more time. After all, this kind of stuff is literally built into my subconscious reaction to the Pony Creator at this point. I was trying to deal with that, and ended up just bringing even more down on myself. I guess that's just the way it is.
I'm going to try to keep working on the game today. Maybe it'll make me feel better to accomplish something. I'm also working with some sites that had been hosting the game without my permission to host legitimate versions of the game with less ads, because ads are something I never intended my users to deal with. But I'm going to be working a bit more slowly than intended, and probably won't accomplish everything I thought I might do just a few days ago. Please, I'm just asking for a little time and patience.
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