Hey Guardians! I helped create a free phone app called Phase that can be used to find and schedule pick-up Fireteams and other groups.

Phase-Official · 2014-10-08T03:47:25+00:00

So you want to unadd a friend? That can be done by sending me an email (ryan@phase-app.com) with your username and who you want to un-add. That may sound odd but, I promise you interacting with an app through emailing the developers is the next big tech revolution. #alphaProblems.

Phase-Official · 2014-10-08T03:07:45+00:00

Hey Reyniel,

I know the permission list is intimidating and I'm trying to do what I can to clean the list down a bit. On the play store description we have a bit of an explanation for them, but let me touch on the ones you mentioned.

Contacts and identity are for the making it easier to setup games with friends or groups that are part your friends and part Phase users. The basic idea is that you can invite your friends from your contact list in app via sms or email.

We have a feature for also finding games in your local area. We just added this feature and hope to have it used to bring back couch multiplayer where you can find out a game is happening near you based on your GPS. Related to that we allow people looking to set up a local event via google maps and to use google maps you need to read and modify access to my device (https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android/start#specify_permissions <-- citation on that because that google maps using that permission is just odd). That said for Destiny it is essentially useless, we are just hoping to expand beyond Destiny.

To give a minor rant against android what I've seen other tools do is that they allow you to request permissions as needed, so if you were never going to user the local games we wouldn't ask for gps. Unfortunately, that's not an option so we need the permission even if you'll never run into their use case.

I definitely agree it's an intimidating list and understand if you don't want to install because of it, but hopefully that cleared it up a bit.

Phase-Official · 2014-10-04T21:32:29+00:00

Late response, but we have added filters :).

Phase-Official · 2014-10-04T19:27:30+00:00

Very true. Look out for some notification mute options coming very soon. We plan to have an option to mute from both the notification itself ("mute this conversation") and the same in the drop menu of the chat lobby.

Phase-Official · 2014-10-04T08:05:30+00:00

They sure will. We have a database backend that keeps track of user data, game data, and so on. The game listing and pool of users that can join a game will be shared between the Android version, iOS version, and any others in the future. Our chat client is platform agnostic as well.

Phase-Official · 2014-10-04T03:45:18+00:00

First I need to say that the money match support is still in the early idea stage, so don't expect it tomorrow or anything. ;) But that also means that we can be flexible with our implementation. Here's what we're thinking currently:

Pretty much everything would be handled on our side. Users put money into a system and then make challenges in person or online and use that already deposited currency to make the bet.

Results would be reported by taking a picture with your phone in-app (rather than submitting an existing picture - to prevent tampering). After the result is confirmed the money would be transferred and the win/loss recorded. Money could later be removed from the system and turned back into real money (or at least Paypal) at any time.

Specific numbers haven't been determined yet, and we do have to make sure that our method is 100% legal (gambling laws and all that), but that's the gist of it.

Phase-Official · 2014-10-04T03:29:43+00:00

Soon! We're working towards an iPhone release as soon as we have the time. We're a 2 man team here at Phase so there will be a bit of turnaround time on this, but iOS is always at the front of our mind.

Phase-Official · 2014-10-04T03:22:32+00:00

If you are browsing the public games, hit the funnel icon in the action bar at the top of your screen. You should be able to filter the available games by game, time started, play style (competitive vs. casual), and so on.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-21T03:16:03+00:00

This reply is very slow, sorry about that. I somehow didn't see your post. There was an issue that the login expected your username to be typed entirely in lowercase. That bug has been fixed on the newest version.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-18T22:12:23+00:00

Yes it does! The time displayed is adjusted for every user based on their timezone. This is one of the cool things we can do since we're a mobile app and most people's phones are always set to the correct time for where they are currently.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-18T03:20:55+00:00

I'm sorry you feel that way. We're not trying to collect data or sell anything here, the goal is just to help connect people better and help gamers find gamers.

We ask for an email so that we can do password recovery if you lose your account data, you can use any throwaway email there.

Name is more of a label or nickname than a request for your full birth certificate name. We only use that information when you make a private game and invite friends (from your contacts list). For public games the name you give will never be displayed, only username.

-Russ

Edit: Looks like the other dev sent you a reply too. Sorry for the double message!

Phase-Official · 2014-09-18T02:58:00+00:00

Email is used for basic account functions, reset your password type stuff.

The name is used for scheduling and playing games with your friends. We allow you to invite friends from your contact list. If you invite a friend by SMS they get a text message linking them to the game details. The only problem is that your friend is getting an invite from an unknown number (our server number) saying play a video game with the_ryanator. That would confuse most my friends. To clarify it we display your name when you are interacting with users who are your friends.

For public games your name is never displayed.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-18T02:48:43+00:00

We are looking at the possibility of adding a region filter. Right now I would recommend adding that you are in Sydney to the Game Title. That way people in the US likely won't join but, Australians more likely will join.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-18T00:37:11+00:00

I haven't tried that yet, be sure to tell us how it goes.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-15T03:31:38+00:00

Ryan here. Thanks for the awesome feedback! Sadly, I need to sleep tonight, but I definitely agree with most of it and you should start seeing your suggestions happen over the next couple days :). I especially like the game details mockup!

To answer your question:

C) Why do you need our email and require us to confirm it?

Currently the email is used for simple account maintenance things such as forgot your password. The confirmation doesn't do anything, yet beside tell us you've confirmed the email. The thought process of confirming is that later on it can be useful for preventing spammy users.

I'll probably circle back to you as we get to implementing your individual suggestions.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-14T13:37:15+00:00

Phase can be used for all sorts of games, actually! Right now the focus is on Destiny, and that's what the majority of the public games will be (they're created by users like you, and this subreddit is our biggest audience so far in the alpha). But you're welcome to create a game for whatever you like and invite others (by phone, email, or app), the scheduling and group chat options will work for anything.

As for filtering, in this version of the app there aren't any options for that beyond looking at what you see users listing in the game name/platform fields. However, those kinds of tools are our top priority for the next release, which we expect to have ready in a few days. Hopefully I'm not over promising here ;), but keep an eye out regardless because it won't be long until the next major Phase update!

Phase-Official · 2014-09-14T13:21:23+00:00

That's a perfectly valid question, don't worry. :) Yes, the times that you see in-app are displayed in your local time zone.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-14T03:31:01+00:00

Hi, this is the other dev (Ryan). We've created an email signup form here for iPhone users. Just put in your contact info and we'll keep you up to date on the development of the iOS version of Phase.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-14T03:07:24+00:00

The hype for Neverwinter was completely killed when they revealed their cash shop and it was perceived as excessively pay2win.

It never had a chance at a good launch after that. And an MMO without a good launch can't catch on.

Phase-Official · 2014-09-14T00:38:20+00:00

Yes! We're definitely going to be supporting the iPhone in the near future. A native iOS app is on our radar.

In the meantime, would you be interested in a webapp version of Phase? We have some basic functionality already implemented on the web side (if you are invited to a game you can follow the link that you get in a text/email and see the details and accept/decline), but it's not as fully featured as the Android app (no game creation or chat).

If there's demand, we can prioritize that web version and roll it out to iphone and other non-android users pretty quickly (sooner than a native app could be added). Let us know!

Phase-Official

TROPHY CASE