I don't really have an issue with it. A few of my CJS games have over 50,000 installs and I have never had one complaint about the permissions. Maybe they just don't install it so they can't review?
I just installed my app and here are the permissions.
Read Phone Status and Identity
Approximate Location (this is for location based ads)
Modify or delete contents on your usb storage
Find accounts on the device (google play services)
Full Network access (ads)
View Network Connections
Prevent Tablet From Sleeping.
None of those seem over the top to me.
Your first point is exactly that, they WONT install it at all if they see ridiculous permissions.
These are what the permissions can do, not that you do it, but these permissions allow malicious apps to do funky stuff.
* Modify or delete contents on usb storage = full file access including root access. This is a dangerous permission and gets a warning from newer Android versions.
* Location = tracking, also a dangerous permission as malicious apps will know where you are. This permission alone means your app can never be set for "Everyone" and has to have at least "low maturity" flag. It's not suitable for kids if there are parents who use apps or google rating guidelines to block installs.
* Read phone status and ID = access to full history of web usage, calls, msg. Completely insane to have on games that have no right to go there.
* Find accounts = access to your contacts list.
Also, a Reddit thread on the AndroidGaming sub with that many upvotes I will take that very seriously. Generally a popular topic with agreement tend to have around 20-60 positive votes. This one has over 350, to put it in perspective.
I've seen apps with ridiculous permissions when its not required get accused of being an NSA backdoor... no quicker way to crash and burn with your app than have that associated with it.
My Intel XDK game has 1 permission, Network. It doesn't need Modify or delete contents permission, doesn't need Storage permission to read contents off the phone and usb. Webstorage saving DOES NOT need that permission to function.