Promo Section

Discussion in 'Site Feedback and News' started by bit_Jon, Mar 25, 2009.

  1. bit_Jon

    bit_Jon Well-Known Member

    Feb 18, 2009
    193
    0
    0
    Artist/Markerting
    Chicago IL
    Looked to see if this has been brought up didn't see anything...

    I think it would be cool to have section dedicated to developer promotions. This way they don't get buried under all the other posts and everyone has a chance to see them. Then Dev's wont feel the need to Bump theirs to the front page to try and get more views. So what do you think?
     
  2. superbad

    superbad Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
    2,117
    9
    0
    CEO. Reviewer. Beta Tester.
    You need to stalk me?
    No, no and no.

    The forums exist primarily for discussion, methinks.

    If we create a separate promo forum, that lessens the chances of honest reviewers to get a code because guests and freeloaders will hog the hell out of it.

    Developers are getting smarter these days and not putting PROMO CODE GIVEAWAY on their thread titles. Promo code calls are hidden in their posts only for those who at least like to read.
     
  3. bit_Jon

    bit_Jon Well-Known Member

    Feb 18, 2009
    193
    0
    0
    Artist/Markerting
    Chicago IL
    that's fair... I guess I was thinking of the promos where you actually have to do something to get the code or whatever they are giving away. Not the ones that just post codes in the topic. I don't relay consider that a promotion, not to much "marketing" going on (not that there is anything wrong with it:) ).
     
  4. snow_mani

    snow_mani Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2008
    1,186
    18
    0
    Melbourne, Australia
    I think a seperate promo code forum is a good idea and would be something that these forums would benefit from.

    To be honest it's a struggle to follow a lot of threads in these forums at the moment. I come here to learn about games, not about promo codes and promo code competitions. Every second post these days seems to be about promo codes. I'm finding more and more that learning about the actual gameplay and a games strengths and weaknesses is a struggle. I'm having to spend a lot of time reading through posts about promo codes in the search for actual information about a game and how it plays.

    I also tend to ignore many of the reviews given by promo code recipients. I think a lot of people give a more positive and less harsh review when they have received a promo code. I know that this is not everyone who receives a promo code. But I find I trust reviews by users here less and less these days because of this.
     
  5. Big Albie

    Big Albie Well-Known Member

    Feb 12, 2009
    5,305
    67
    0
    Casual gamer/marketing dude
    San Francisco, California
    Don't be too harsh on the reviews here on the forum. I do agree that promo codes can intentionally or unintentionally impact comments here, but for me, I try to take everything into consideration. For me, I tend to provide pretty honest impressions regardless of whether I received a promo code. People just need to remember TA is resource among many. On that note, a promo section could work, but as with anything, it needs to moderated to prevent it from getting out of hand. People tend to take without thinking so you want to make sure the devs actually get something out of it.
     
  6. Coldar

    Coldar Well-Known Member

    Dec 26, 2008
    2,458
    5
    38
    Upstate NY/USA
    Say it the way you play it!


    Just to restore a little of faith in us here a TA you can check out the review done on the word game Wrangle! here in this thread. The dev gave me a free promo code. There's a few of us left who will say it like it is.

    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=7952
     
  7. SuperPaperSam

    SuperPaperSam Well-Known Member

    Mar 1, 2009
    204
    1
    0
    ya then people would just hold reload down and not participate in the forums. Not saying that i wouldnt :D
     
  8. bit_Jon

    bit_Jon Well-Known Member

    Feb 18, 2009
    193
    0
    0
    Artist/Markerting
    Chicago IL
    I think having a rule that Promo Code giveaways, that are just lists of promo codes, are not allowed. This section should be for those Promotions that require people to take some action to receive the code. The Lists of codes don't need to have any exposure time because all the codes are gone within a few minutes. The others do need the exposure to be of any good effect for the Dev.
     
  9. don_k

    don_k Well-Known Member

    Oct 9, 2008
    4,404
    3
    0
    This Promo section should only be accessible by users with 100+ posts. That way all those lurkers won't keep stealing the codes.

    What do you think?
     
  10. gscal

    gscal Well-Known Member

    Feb 24, 2009
    1,679
    7
    0
    SF Bay Area
    It's a start...
     
  11. don_k

    don_k Well-Known Member

    Oct 9, 2008
    4,404
    3
    0
    The only problem is we must only tell them 'sorry, you can't view this page' or something like that, and definitely not 'sorry, you must have over 100 posts to view this page' or they'd start spamming.
     
  12. gscal

    gscal Well-Known Member

    Feb 24, 2009
    1,679
    7
    0
    SF Bay Area
    Yeah, but what if it said "You must be a Senior Member"? Or would that probably get them to spam too?
     
  13. soup

    soup Well-Known Member

    Feb 5, 2009
    2,513
    0
    36
    just say not available with no extra information

    and people when they got over a 100 posts could receive a pm saying they can now view that part
     
  14. Yep agree with you there snow_mani. Back in the good old days before 2009 you could give some credence to most reviews on forum about a paticular game. Now it's just a battle trying to see through the lines. The clear water has become murkier with the promos. Pretty easy to spot though a glowing review with a promo though. However, having said that still many of those at least get me to check it out more but if one person comes back and said I just blew $5 then that raises my eyebrows and doubts begin to sink it. Usually lite versions solve many (not all) of these problems.
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Well-Known Member

    Mar 16, 2009
    81
    0
    0
    #15 Christopher, Mar 31, 2009
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2009
    I am against a promotional forum. Some people only come here for the codes and giving them their own little island will only decrease activity in the rest of the forums, where they will stop bothering to look. Also, restricting accessibility to such a forum by post count is a horrible idea because keeping the post number secret will never work and making it public will increase spam posts as has been mentioned. Also, remember promotional codes are from the developer to promote their application, not necessarily to promote Touch Arcade. Considerably restricting access to promotional codes = considerably less promotion for developers. Considerably less promotion = less incentive for developers to offer promotional codes. Fewer promotional codes = less traffic to TA. I am starting a new thread with a better idea. I will update this post with a link when I do.

    Update: Thread: [Promotional Codes: Members Only]
     
  16. coconutbowling

    coconutbowling Well-Known Member

    Dec 8, 2008
    3,208
    58
    38
    Student
    Pennsylvania
    I say no to promotional fourms. Regarding the 100+ posts though, how about you must be a member for x amount of days before viewing. That will stop spamming. I'm still against the section though.

    Regarding promo code reviews, I have to agree with most of you guys. It's hard to give bad feedback on a developer who gave you a game for free. I do the best of my abilities to give an honest review. Still, I tell some devs that "hey, your game is not fun, polished, etc..."

    To be honest, if I was a developer, I would not give out promo codes. Many people will not buy the game because they know they might win it on the next giveaway. Answer to everything = lite version
     

Share This Page