Do Not Beg/Ask for Promo Codes

Discussion in 'Site Feedback and News' started by arn, Dec 14, 2008.

  1. arn

    arn Administrator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    Apr 19, 2008
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    Begging / asking for promo codes to developers unsolicited will result in permanent bans.

    This includes private messaging developers asking for promo codes unless it was offered by the developers.

    If developers are getting these PMs, please report it to me.

    arn
     
  2. dannys95

    dannys95 Well-Known Member

    Sep 29, 2008
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    Earth
    Nice one arn!! Will that take effect as of now or like since before this?
     
  3. Rocketman919

    Rocketman919 Well-Known Member

    Aug 8, 2008
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    Cali-forn-i-a
    I agree. There are all these new members joining and ruining the forums. Thank you for stepping in and putting a stop to this. It's crazy that a dev post a video of their game and the first 20 responses are from junior members hoping to score a free game. Let me ask you this. Is it possible for you to create a senior member forum for people who have been here for over a month and have over 200 posts? I as well as many other members would love that, it would be a place for all of us experienced members to talk about whatever.
     
  4. McChikun

    McChikun Well-Known Member

    Oct 26, 2008
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    Hooray! An end to begging!
     
  5. Renare

    Renare Well-Known Member

    Oct 22, 2008
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    Tech Support
    Wilmore, KY
    I think having limited access when you are brand new may not be a bad idea.. However, 200 posts (or really any post count) is unnecessary IMO. I have been a member of the site for a while now, and I don't post nearly as often as I just search around. I think that would be unfair to those like me who are active, just not posting in every thread. I believe having to be a member for a certain time period would be more effective (not sure how all that works). This way we know the members are here for the long term. Otherwise you will get people posting a lot more spam to get to that higher post count... Quality posts, not quantity :)
     
  6. mavis

    mavis Well-Known Member

    Sweet. Keep the boards free of nonsense like that, please. :)
     
  7. Nice one Arn. Sometimes I think these promo codes were a bad idea. But then again, that probably just because I can't use 'em, being in the UK and all ;)
     
  8. organerito

    organerito Well-Known Member

    Nov 24, 2008
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    Well done!

    We don't want to annoy too much the developers.
     
  9. snow_mani

    snow_mani Well-Known Member

    Oct 20, 2008
    1,186
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    Melbourne, Australia
    Excellent!

    It's a good rule and I am glad it is being implemented. Thumbs up!
     
  10. 1337brian

    1337brian Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2008
    3,358
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    In My Head
    Thank you arn

    One word... Awesome!!!
     
  11. brewstermax

    brewstermax Well-Known Member

    Agreed. I would need to wait for another day if it took affect today, but still, I agree completely to giving Seniors with a certain number of posts a special forum url
     
  12. Thorero

    Thorero Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2008
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    Graphic Designer, 3D Modeller, Web Design
    Portugal
    I know I'm still a junior member, but I lurk around these forums quite a lot. I wholly support the move to stop the beggars. I also would support the move to create a seperate section for more senior members.
     
  13. There has been a new thread started on this subject here.
     
  14. le'deuche123

    le'deuche123 Well-Known Member

    Feb 5, 2009
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    I've noticed the worst offenders have yet to post on this....but they know who they are!!
     
  15. larrybeo

    larrybeo Active Member

    Oct 28, 2008
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    Forgive me if I misread your post Renare, but to me it almost sounds if you are entitled to asking these devs for promo codes. That makes no sense. Arn is trying to give the devs some participation on his site by allowing them to post this kind of stuff. Being able to "talk" with a developer is such a privelidge! Abusing it by asking for promo codes is going to devalue toucharcade.com and needs to stop! It's going to scare the devs away, and honestly, it's a waste of everyone's time. If I were a dev and you asked me for an unsolicited promo code, I would find a way to *raise* the price - just for you! HaHa. Then again, I don't make iPhone games LOL
     
  16. RedStaR

    RedStaR Well-Known Member

    Jan 7, 2009
    465
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    ARN:

    While I agree with the new policy, a question I have to is that I do reviews for a reputable site and test for may devs.

    So if I happen to PM a dev inquiring or informing them that I'd like to or will be doing a piece on their game with a hands on review. If I include the phrase

    "any promotional content such as vid, specific screen shots, pre release versions and or promotional versions are greatly appreciated."

    Is that considered unsolicited asking or begging?

    I really like the networking capabilities of this site and don't want to step on anyone toes or get banned for honest "networking". most of it is common sense and I am always tactful when inquiring about such possible promo content be it codes or just a vid. I just want to clear the air. So any furthur input on my question would be great.
    Thanks Arn
    Q
     
  17. arn

    arn Administrator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    Apr 19, 2008
    2,445
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    The ultimate reason for the rule is we want this to be a place developers feel comfortable visiting and participating in.

    While this "no begging" rule generally includes both forum threads and private messages, we obviously don't police everyone's private messages. For private messages, I'm sure most developer just ignore requests they don't want to fulfill, but if we get complaints about a particular user, we'll take action.

    arn
     
  18. PointOfLight

    PointOfLight Well-Known Member

    Dec 29, 2008
    4,219
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    Programmer
    Indiana, USA
    I completely agree with this, and I could understand the frustrations of getting a ton of unsolicited "gimmies", but I would be highly suspect of a developer that felt uncomfortable getting a request from a legitimate reviewer asking for a promotional code. Since I've started reviewing I've written almost 180 reviews, and if I would have had to pay for every one of those games I'd probably have been kicked out of the house by now. The way I look at it, if a developer gives me a promotional code and I write them a good review (not saying the two are synonymous, mind you), then they've basically "paid" somewhere between 99 cents and 20 bucks for some good advertising because they didn't get my sale. Last I checked, that's an incredible deal. On the other hand, if the review is bad, they've merely lost the ability to go out to McDonald's once during the week. And to be honest I really try hard to pick games that I think I'll like so I don't have to write a bad review.

    Now I'm not saying that I'm going to go around your policy and start PM'ing every developer asking for codes, because I like this site and don't want to get banned. However, a site like this should be as much for the patrons as the developers, and while this policy certainly will solve some issues, it could also unfairly dampen the experience for others.
     
  19. arn

    arn Administrator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    Apr 19, 2008
    2,445
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    Yeah, but who's to say who a legitimate reviewer is? Anyone with an iTunes account seems to call themselves a reviewer.

    I guess the bottom line is I don't think any developers are going to complain about getting contacted by a legitimate reviewer, so I don't think this will stifle the community. Just don't annoy the devs. :)

    arn
     
  20. PointOfLight

    PointOfLight Well-Known Member

    Dec 29, 2008
    4,219
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    Programmer
    Indiana, USA
    That's right, and that's exactly why I don't leave reviews in the App Store for the most part (unless a dev asks me too). Too much garbage to be useful, and their 'rating' system is a joke. And trust me, if I annoy the devs it's not going to be because I'm asking for promo codes :p

    Just to be perfectly clear to everyone, I am on your side about not annoying the devs. So please, no hate-PMs from anyone :D
     

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