Win for reviewing...

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by Mene, Aug 8, 2013.

  1. Mene

    Mene <b>ACCOUNT CLOSED</b>: <em>Officially</em> Quit iO

    Mar 18, 2012
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    Am I the only person who finds the whole 'Win xx for reviewing our game' practice very very dodgy?

    I think regardless of if the dev say 'any review can win, good or bad' most if not all people will assume a glowing 5 star review has far more chance of winning the prize than a 2-3 star 'average' review?

    This does annoy me, I personally thing its a bad way to get players as all these 'fake' reviews will tend to influence potential buyers in future.

    I think its a very bad practice. By all means run a competition but 'win ££ for reviewing' is a bad idea.
     
  2. klink

    klink 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Jul 22, 2013
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    #2 klink, Aug 21, 2013
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2013
    I understand your criticism but I look as these contest as developers trying to get more exposure for their creations. I think we can all agree the App store review system is totally broken on many different levels. That's why we come here to get honest feedback from people we know and trust. I personally provide honest feedback in my reviews. Even if people do inflate their reviews the majority of the apps are free so no harm done if people download and try them.
     
  3. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    (Moved this to general)

    I totally agree. In the old days people offered promo codes, problem was people with promo codes cant leave reviews anymore.

    So now its 'try and win $10 by giving our game a 5 star rating....' which is terrible in my view.

    One reason i dont bother with App store reviews is you can often spot many fake reviews, or ones which may look legit might have been 'bought' or 'bribed' such as these competitions.

    To me its no better than shill posting where a dev creates another account to write in his own thread how great his game is.

    Instead a user here in the 'hope' to win $10 or so raves on about a free app which makes a rattling noise for a baby (okay made up example), but theres been cases where theres an app aimed for kids yet all these teenagers seem to rave on about how great it is with their review ?!?

    I think the people who take part in these competitions are just as bad as shill posters myself. Just sell out for money.

    If i create an app which is just a black square, doesnt do anything, just a black square. If i set up a competition to win a $10 gift voucher if you 'review my app' i'll suddenly get 5 star reviews from people.

    Theres many accounts here who solely enter these competitions and nothing else.
     
  4. saansilt

    saansilt 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Mar 23, 2013
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    I've participated in one, but left honesr feedback and not a fivestar: "Awesome game bro, bye"
    Review.
     
  5. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2012
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    I disagree with the OP and even more with psj####.

    I don't think the devs do this for a five star reviews. They are doing it completely for exposure. I mean... Developer spends 10$ and 300 (or more) people see this thread. You can even force them to like your FB page or Tweet about it and stuff like that, which serves as even more exposure. I think that those 10$ couldn't be spent better from a developers view.

    I never take part in those competitions, because they are completely luck based. I rather join contests. Speaking of those... I once won 150$ on a game contest. Happiest day of my life.
     
  6. VaroFN

    VaroFN Well-Known Member

    Sep 28, 2011
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    For GE I always give fair reviews. No way that spot the differences with dogs game would get 5, 4, 3 or even 2 stars, yet it had 4,5 stars in iTunes. BS.
     
  7. undeadcow

    undeadcow Well-Known Member

    Dec 4, 2010
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    No prizes for you people...
     
  8. klink

    klink 👮 Spam Police 🚓

    Jul 22, 2013
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    I meant to say in my original post that I think it's definitely unethical to give out rewards for posting positive reviews. One contest said it would reward the most interesting review. I also thought that was cutting the line a little too close.

    Like I said I think the review system is completely broken. Look at the reviews for Ticket to Ride which I think is one of the best IOS games on the market. The first reviews that are listed are negative because they didn't like the Halloween theme. That theme has been gone for at least 9 months.
     
  9. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Fair enough, but its obvious what they're doing in my view. Ask for reviews for their game and they choose a winner, sorry but they'll never choose a 1/5 star review as the 'winner' will they. Theres lots of accounts here of people who JUST enter promo code contests, of course they'll write glowing 5 star reviews hoping that they'll win.

    They want fake reviews, i'm sure most people after the competition get rid of 'Pet names for your dog' or 'Top baby meals' app seconds later.
     
  10. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2012
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    If it was only for reviews, the dev could make easily 50 accounts per day. He could make the reviews look completely legit. He also wouldn't have to spent 10+$ and he would eliminate the risk of getting low ratings from the contestants. If he's too lazy, he could pay a fake review service and those 10$ would pay off more.

    But, whom the devs chooses for the winner is a different topic. The easiest way to see this is to check each review thread's winner and check the review he left in the AppStore. I'm not bored enough to do this atm though.
     
  11. Greyskull

    Greyskull Well-Known Member

    Dec 13, 2009
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    True. That's why I love GE. 2 games I reviewed for them got 1 star AND my description warned of copy write infringement (one this Monday iirc). I've never been pressured to give good reviews on GE.
     

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