Regarding the latest changes to non-pro functionality
Following the latest changes non-pro users no longer has access to the full catalog of maps. This change was triggered by a need to bring the costs of GeoGuessr down to allow GeoGuessr to continue operating. At the moment there are great differences in quality between the new free version and the old/pro, but this is just the first step. We are currently working on adding more content to the free version to give the best experience possible!
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If you didn't see yet, a thread was made on Reddit linking to a comment explaining the idea (someone on Twitter initially found the idea by looking at a website using users API keys to function).
Although this solution would be logically possible (but probably not practical except for power users) this would unfortunately violate Google's terms and conditions for maps.
Does this mean that with the Pro subscription, the game works with Google instead of Mappify?
Yes, the pro version uses Google Streetview just like before. We noticed that this information wasn't entirely clear and are working on clarifying this on the site.
Regards,
@Nate C
not able to load maps in non -pro account.
Devs, you should really say why you need to lower the costs on the announcements. People can't know everything and this message clearly doesn't tell that Google increased the prices so much and why all Google related content is now behind pro account...
Also don't forget about your Twitter account. I myself don't like Twitter much but it's a good way to target a large audience.
I really like the idea of a Netflix-style family account that I saw on reddit.
This would be great for me and my friends, as we play almost daily competitions consisting of three rounds of World with a set time limit.
We tried today, but in the current state of both the locations and the map it is impossible.
Getting a group discount for up to 5 or 6 people could convince all of us and I am sure many others to go Pro.
We've now launched a new feature that allows non-pro users to play one free game per day. Please note that this functionality is still a test and we might tweak or change this in the upcoming weeks!
If I ever get a stable income I might afford a few bucks a month in the meanwhile it's a pass on the "pro" version for me.
I wish the game the best outcome, cheers
This is what convinced me to buy pro.
It allows me to play with friends without convincing every single one to get a subscription.
buh-bye
You might want to give a bit more details of why you had to change on the front page because a casual user is just going to think you are trying to force people into paying.
P.S. - I'll be getting a Pro account.
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/features/google-maps-apis-new-pricing-impact-1907242
the devs have no choice really, this is not their fault, and many smaller companies out there are in the same boat of being utterly off guard and screwed by this move.
ADS WHERE ENOTHEH
I totally agree with Mapper, I really think you should seriously let people know exactly what the issue is and why you have to start charging money for people to play the game (cause let's be honest, the free version is barely playable at this point).
Right now, I can't find that info anywhere stated officially by you. It should be front and center on the main Geoguessr page for free users The explanation given there "we need to keep costs down" isn't very convincing.
I personally have gotten so much out of this game that it would be insulting not to finally go pro after so many years and I will (after I get my paycheck lol). But for newer users the current state might be very discouraging. I get that you are in a near impossible situation but I do think this could have been handled better.
I hope everything works out for Geoguessr and that this isn't the beginning of the end.
From a business perspective I understand the need to improvise and adapt, but I feel this is a horrible solution.
First of all, one (1) game is to few, some suggested 5 some 3. I don't know what the "sweet" spot would be but a single one would pretty much kill any chance that I (or my friends) would play the game in the future.
Secondly I feel it's an issue, the first map I got was unable to move at all, which means my one game a day is bugged and unable to be played. Swell, that might be a temporary issue, it might just be a bad seed... but it is only an issue for me as my (only game today) is now ruined.
I plead to you, reconsider as it's a horrible change from my perspective.
I am truly upset I loved playing this with friends and now we can't
Some people don't have credit cards and can't go pro
If the zoom feature has been permanently disabled can you please tell me why.
Thank you in advance,
I recommend these payment gateways -
BitPay
CoinGate
BTCPay
Thanks.
The developers are going through a though time. Let's not make it thougher for them.
if you didnt read the article, the cost per request that google is charging the devs could be 14x as much as it was, more ads may not be able to cover that at all.
the devs have also said they are feeling out the situation with free game limits. you have to understand that when your hit with a bomb like this, you have to take action fast, 1 game a day does suck, but if it buys them enough time to save the whole project it is worth it, rather then burning through all their funds and closing doors.
Sorry to hear that, we're using a third party payment provider (stripe) I think they cover most types of credit cards, what do you have?
best,
I would recommend trying to keep it all Google maps, or a gif/video showing what you get with the pro version. I will probably get the pro version, but it is only because I have played this before and know that it is a good game at its height.
Hope this turns out okay. Ask geowizard to tell YouTube about this scandal.
I can't and won't pay for a service that I can get for free else where. We all have google maps and streetview as it is. And there are PLENTY of free games out there. Sorry to be pedantic but I was so irritated to see images that are just juvinile. Won't be playing again pro or otherwise.
Dude you missed the whole point.
Just focus on finishing grade 5 and don't worry about what the adults do ok?
It's 0.007 USD per map load and 0.014 USD per panorama. That results in 0.028 USD per round, so almost 15 cents per game!
If you play each day one game it costs them 4.47USD per month. Making the limit higher to like 3 or 5 games a month will drastically increase their costs.
It's completely logical and understandable the game is largely behind a paywall now and I wouldn't be surprised if the pro version sees a price bump soon.
So please stop complaining.
[1] https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/usage-and-billing
Base on certain messages I don't believe they understand what Google API is,
I'm a little surprised there hasn't been any moderation TBH ☹️
But I'm not going to pay a monthly subscription - doesn't matter how low it is.
How about providing a "game pass" option, where people can pay for X, Y or Z number of games at once and let them play at their own rate? I'd gladly slap down $5 for a 100 games.
Money grabbing assholes.
Buh-bye.
I have a suggestion: bring back the unlimited playing and triple, even quadruple the amount of ads. I don't care about ads. What you have done was a horrible decision and I hope you don't hear the last of it. Thanks for ruining the best computer game ever made.
I know this is coming off as rude. But I have to commend and appreciate your work in making this game a reality. The last few years were great and I enjoyed it. I hope you understand my frustration.....I don't have a paypal account (nor will I get one) and you just took away the only game I play.
Your idea could maybe work if they went the shady way, like porn websites do: display non recommended ads, popups, stuff that give malwares. I doubt you want that. Teachers were already complaining about lingerie ads and similar, devs had to remove those categories and my guess is that this already lowered the revenues.
You could ask for donations regularly (as Wiki does) or just include more ads. But no, you are forcing your users into a paid membership - won't work. There's not even a package for a small group of like 5 users. And also - WTF: The group package for 15 people is more expensive as if 15 single persons would go pro because groups can't pay annual; makes no sense at all.
You destroyed the the game, you will loose tones of players that can't afford topay monthly to look at google street. At least you could count the number of games per week or months and let people play more during weekends instead of one party per day, which is ridiculous.
Sad to say goodbye to one of the best and most enjoyable free entertainments offered by the internet...
It could be more accessible with alternative pro plans (subscriptions are not the best for everyone), like game packages you can buy to play a specific amount of games when you want. I still wonder if watching ads to unlock few games could work, similar to ads on Utip that gives 5 cents to someone you want to support.
Anyways you people will have to understand that nothing is free on internet. You pay Google with your personal data for example. Or by watching ads. Etc. Never free. Free is a false concept.
I'll chip in for pro.
I don't know what the actual numbers are, but I think it's a very conservative estimate to believe there are going to be roughly 100 people playing at any given time if it was for free. If it takes an average time of 30 minutes to finish a round, that means those 100 people would cost them $30 per hour. That's $720.00 a day. That's $21,600.00 a month.
They used to pay for you to play, back when the costs were less than 1/10th what they are now. They were okay paying that, but when it costs them ten times as much it's not unreasonable or greedy to have to change something financially on their end.
How about you offer to donate the 20k each month to keep the game free for everyone? In sure someone as generous and thoughtful as you would be more than willing.
Sorry Matilda but you wasted your time writing this wall of text to the wrong people. You want to complain to Google which is responsible to this because they multiplied the prices by 14 lately (actually don't try, Google won't listen you, they don'y care). You can forget free Geoguessr forever (or until another business can show up big enough to make concurrency to Streetview but this will probably never happen I'm afraid).
Same for letting users input their own API key to take the costs on their end and use the free usage (which would be way enough for a regular GeoGuessr player). It works, but Google isn't ok with that. GeoGuessr has too much traffic and Google would cut the API access quickly, killing the game dead instantly.
Remember that you can play challenge links for free, even if you used the free daily game. The daily challenge is also free. Just remember to use your free game first on the map of your choice, then use daily challenge or challenge links you can find in map activities (on individual map pages) for more games.
Also since you've got a pro account, you can create challenge links and send them to your friends so they can play for free.
Probably we have to thank people on this forum for pointing out this back door. I know one more way still to play for free, but now I know for sure that I have to keep it secret if I want to keep it alive.
I wish the best for you guys, and I'm sorry you had to do this.
Either way, it's dead. There's no way you're gonna get people paying for it to cover costs.
Best thing you could do is have words with Google and consider discussions about turning it into an actual game you can play via apps and in steam for example. I'd happily pay something like 15$ for a lifetime access to the game, but certainly not subscribing to something which I play on whim.
Not being transparent about the pricing is also a big no-no. As far as I can see, you need an account to even see the price; I tried to create one, but hours later I'm still waiting for the email to arrive. It does not matter anymore as I have no more interest. But since I already wasted an hour and a half of my life on this game, I thought I give my feedback. If this is because of the Google maps Price hike... Sorry Google killed your game.
I'll no longer be playing this seeing how trash it's become.
Note: you can still play challenges for free. Try this one for example: https://geoguessr.com/challenge/qPJeXGzjFutijcdZ (I didn't check the locations, but you'll see the difference with Mapillary). Daily challenge is also free.
And to the other guy complaining, it still is fun, it just costs, because Google costs... Sadly that's what it has come to, you people have to stop blaiming Geoguessr for this, because there's actually nothing they can do about it 😀
Your new free version is also terrible, you are looking for the wrong solutions. Looks like you just want money from players. Else you could have implemented the API key silently, I'm pretty sure it's not at all against their terms and conditions, if you do some intelligent changes. I hope google just steals your concept and this shitty business goes bankrupt.
I don't know what do you mean by "implementing the API key silently " but if you think about the idea of letting users providing their own key then it's illegal yes, and Google will quickly detect multiple key usage from one website. This is a good way to kill the website.
Google doesn't need to buy Geoguessr neither make a clone. They already own it. Indirectly, with API prices 14x more expensive. They get money without having to make efforts creating a game.
1 map per day isn't enough to really hook someone, especially a new player. And it isn't satisfying for a casual player that only plays once every few days or weeks.
N maps per day runs the risk of not being scalable if a lot of people play N games every day.
Instead, start each free account with N tokens. Each map played uses a token. The tokens respawn at 1 per day (to a max of N tokens). This way players can play a more rewarding session of a few games as long as it is only once every few days. Or they could play a free game per day as they do now. They are in control of the session length vs. frequency tradeoff.
N=5? Or 10? Or 7, so they can play a decent session once a week?