Is it shady to use a giveaway to draw peoples attention to a project, outwith the steamgifts world?
so you won't like our Thank You Giveaway Thread for Sector Six ? :( makes me sad bro
edit: next thread - using discussions as advertising xD
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Ah no, see that's different. That's relevant to the Steamgifts audience. We're all here because we like games, so posting links to games or gaming studios is taken as a good thing.
Developers giving away games as a means of viral or hype production is a great thing and I love it.
But what I mean is, when folk are here to try and win games, does it feel icky to try and pimp photography, or music you've made, or a facebook page for your auntie who makes birthday cakes.
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so basically every gleam.io thread right now?
like random instagram page
like random facebook page
etc...
yeah i try to avoid these and keep it steamgifts only :)
well yeah i understand the point of gaming vs non gaming stuff - i think stuff available on steam can be advertised on "steam"gifts then :D
BUT ... users do this gleam.io stuff and thats why they keep popping up - if people wouldnt sell 20 likes for a free steam key there wouldnt be that many gleam.io "giveaways"
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Just for the record, I'd check out that Facebook page with birthday cakes :D
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You should edit that into the OP, in my opinion, as it really helps clarify your actual point. :)
Honestly, I think for the people who bother reading giveaway descriptions at all, it's an easy enough set of reactions:
- Mmm, not interesting, passing over this and moving on..
- Cool, something to distract myself with and maybe find something I like!
- Well, I don't really care, but I'll take a look out of respect to the GA creator
I can't really see too many of the people who'd bother giving your description consideration in the first place, having an outright negative reaction to the promotion.
Besides, we're used to 'Brought to you by X' giveaways.
Sure, it's not necessarily gaming related, but we're all pretty diverse geeks here.
Where would we even draw that line?
Movies, comics, etc often directly tie into a giveaway. Okay, so those have to be allowed, right?
How about photography? Well, that could be, say, superhero photomanipulations, right?
So that has to be fine, if movies and comics and whatnot are..
Well, then why would non-superhero photography not be okay? Because of the subject matter?
But what if it was flower photos, tied to a farming game?
Fact is, everything ties to something, and there's a broad range of tastes here on the site.
Being introduced to new things is usually a great thing- so long as it's done respectfully and professionally. In the end, anyone that complains seems unlikely to have a real basis for it, and would just be complaining for the sake of complaining.
Of course, the site prohibits you from using advertisement as a filter to enter giveaways, and we'd all frown on that regardless- but, as I said, as long as it's professional and respectful, there's nothing to complain about. :)
(In fact, even gleam.io didn't really get negative responses when it started being used. It's only the recent 'disrespectful' spam entry requirement/no freedom of entry choices that really got under people's skins.
(I forget if we're allowed to use gleam.io for SG giveaways, though- I recall it was a bit of a grey area. I'd assume not, but best to avoid it either way. :P) )
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I think as long it doesn't contain any ref links you should be fine with it.
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You're a hero and you are doing good work. Expect the sainthood letter from the pope in the mail any day now.
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If you're not forcing people to like your page or visit your page as an entry requirement I don't think there's any issue.
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You forget something, the 90% of these advertising GAs, with AAA games, are deleted Few hours before the end...
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I'm fairly new here, so I haven't seen or even considered that. That's shady as fuck for sure.
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You're allowed to promote your website, blog, game, YT channel in the description section of your giveaways, as long as you do not use the methods prohibited by our terms of service (referral links, for example) and do not ask users to perform actions beneficial for you in order for their entry to be considered valid - you're not allowed to ask for subscriptions, likes, upvotes or donations.
You're not allowed to advertise in the forums.
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So, can't someone create a GA that's limited to his channel's subscribers ? Isn't it like a Steam group GA ?
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either group giveaway or invite only works
those have slightly different rules than public giveaways - you cant limit public giveaways at all - thats why they are called "public"
some special rules still have to be approved by staff
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Wait, i'm confused.
So it's ok to limit your GA's to subscribers or people who like your facebook page if it's an invite only GA ?
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yes. e.g just share the invite only link on your facebook page visible for subscribers only (is this possible? - im not on fb)
you can then just hope people dont share the link though but its okay to have a rule about not sharing links.
the problem with facebook is you dont know if the winner is actually a subscriber - but chances are really good because it should be the only place where the link was shared
so that would be fine - correct me if im wrong
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You can make a group on Steam, and then make a giveaway for that group. But you cannot add something like "You will only be able to win this giveaway if you subscribe to my channel" in the description of your giveaway or "Increase your winning chances by liking my Facebook page".
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What about giving the link to the invite-only giveaway only to subscribers ? I don't mean to be tiring, I'm just making sure I understand correctly the limits of the GA's
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Invite only = give link only to those you want. the reason you're giving the link to them is entirely irrelevant.
Group only = EVERYONE in the group must be allowed to enter and win, regardless of whether they subscribe/like, etc.
Public = Absolutely no special rules. Everyone who can enter it naturally on the site can enter and win. You have 0 say in who can join/win besides level restrictions.
Of course, all winners are subject to site rules.
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So if a GA creator says you MUST register to a website in order to get the key, does that fall under prohibited or allowed?
Edit: In the description of the GA I mean.
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I'm not a member of that group so I can't see those giveaways but I reckon that it's not allowed on SG. Indeed wait for a mod to reply or just file a report and you'll notice soon enough if it's allowed or not.
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I'm not sure if this is considered calling out since I'm asking. But I'll delete my comment above to be on the safe side.
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They don't ask you to register in order to be eligible to enter the GA. They just say that the price is in the form of a voucher for a webstore where you must register to claim the prize. Don't see much wrong with that.
I can find 2 related items in the rules:
"You cannot ask users to perform any special action in order for their entry to be considered valid, such as liking a Facebook page, or following a Twitter account."
Which they DON'T! Apart from joining their steam group.
"All giveaways should be for Steam redeemable gifts or Steam redeemable keys."
That's the tricky part. It's not directly a key. You get a voucher which can be redeemed at a site in order to get a steam key.
"Beta keys, guest passes, coupons, and free games should not be given away."
Could have to do with this (coupon), but it think that mostly refers to discount coupons.
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Redeeming a voucher at a third-party site in order to get the Steam key would fall under "perform any special action." If someone wins your giveaway, you are to supply them with the game you promised. There should be no other steps involved.
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Then yes, there are some GA's that violate the terms.
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I don't mind these "hey, check out my youtube videos", "hey, check out my art", "hey, check out my greenlight project" and similar. I actually often do check them out. As long as they are there more as "if you want to".
...when it's asking for votes in a competition, likes on a facebook page or something similar, suddenly it's not the same thing. If you just link to your page saying that we can check it if we want to, it's up to us to decide to leave a like or not, you haven't specifically asked us to.
...once there was someone who asked people to vote for his entry in a contest, and the giveaway was a public GTA V giveaway (almost 11 000 entries). When the giveaway ended it was marked as "not received" by the winner, and the same giveaway creator already had one other "not received". Big surprise... free votes :(
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I just checked the support ticket, it was closed 2 days ago, and the user has now a permanent suspension!
...although the giveaway and ticket were both from December :D Support has a lot on its plate...
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If the person doesn't delete the giveaway, I don't see anything wrong with it in the slightest. What's the ethical issue? You're giving away a free product, the least you can ask is for someone to check out your page in return.
Doesn't mean someone will, but if they actively complain about it, they are entitled little shits. No one deserves to win these games, and if the creator wants to do whatever they want as long as it is in the rules, it should be completely kosher.
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At my work, the boss showed up one day with a tshirt branded with the company logo on it and handed it to me. Free tshirt? FUCK YEAH! I wore it straight away, and it was comfy and warm and everything was good.
A week later, the boss comments that since I'm so taken with the shirt, that maybe he should implement a uniform policy. Shirt off, back of the cupboard.
For some reason, the difference between "here's a free tshirt" and "WEAR THIS TSHIRT" was a huge gulf, and one that kicked in my rarely used rebellion gland.
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"Don't leave thanks in the comments, but come link my page instead!"
I think it'd be a smidge crass
"WEAR THIS TSHIRT"
As you noted yourself, if you keep it light hearted and optional, while most favorably, in a humorous tone you'll get what you're looking for and no need to feel weird about it ... the advertisement industry does it all the time and way more "twisted".
"if you feel like it check out me fancy pics on XY, give it a thumbs up while you're at it, that would help me out greatly"
^ this sounds pretty good to me
What also helps doing so constantly ... until it gets something like a signature or people are telling
you to fork off, which is where you change your approach and continue with a different line another time.
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are you complaining about "advertising" in giveaways, by advertising your business in a forum topic instead?
http://giphy.com/gifs/obama-mic-drop-out-3o7qDSOvfaCO9b3MlO
anyway i see nothing wrong with it, if the giveaway is legit and what you are advertising is legit too ofc.
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Not complaining, not in the slightest. I'm just stuck in work ( my "real" work, not my bit-of-fun life that I actually enjoy photography thing ) and I'm just musing and up for a discussion.
Or pictures of tapirs.
Preferably the babies.
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When a debate about auto-entering comes up, the issue of people not reading the giveaway descriptions is one of the strongest arguments. And about that all I can say that I have read about ten meaningful ones so far, the rest were either just some random (funny) thing or shameless self-promotion. Sometimes really shameless, as in actual marketing levels of ethics-be-damned self-advertising.
So I now don't use auto-enter any more and trained my brain to skip the description field.
Unless it is a small group-only giveaway. Those can be used as sort of mini.conversations. But then again, if you are putting up a giveaway for a small band of people, you are less likely to promote something there instead of the group forum/chat. :)
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Of the giveaways that I've done, I've tried to be conversational, bordering on funny, even for the level zero, open to all ones.
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Personally, I like it. If you link to something you've done, I learn more about you, and you're now more than just a face in the crowd.
A user posted the other day about his Android game, and to me that was fine. Put that on a giveaway, I'm perfectly fine with that too. Make it a generous giveaway and I'll even be predisposed to thinking good things about you.
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it's perfectly fine, unless you require people to do something to consider their entries valid.
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Ultimately it won't matter as the majority won't read it anyway.
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That's true. I saw one giveaway with all caps DON'T COMMENT WITH THANKS! IT CLOGS MY NOTIFICATIONS AND I DON'T CARE or something like that.
About 20 posts all just saying "thanks for the giveaway!" lol
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As long as You can ignore it, why not? It may help to make site or anything more popular :)
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So actually, you think any kind of advertising is shit? Because there's no difference to renting billboard space so it annoys people on a commute. Nobody actively consumes advertising, the very concept is piggybacking.
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I've advertised stuff before. A former friend has a youtube show I pimped a bit when I created giveaways.
Don't think anyone actually cared, though.
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I don't mind "ads" in the description, especially if they're short and sweet like just the one link clearly marked for what it is. So, for example "hi guys, come check my new music channel" or "no thanks please, rather browse my photos". The choice is ultimately the visitor's and you don't take much their time.
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You could. Some may click on it, some may not. It's entirely your choice what you put in the description - be creative.
Perhaps you could show some of the pictures you took, might be an incentive for those who happen to take a liking to it.
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Oooh, can you embed pictures? Can you do the attach image thing like you can do on the forums here? Because that's something I'd not thought of and is quite interesting!
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Yes, you can. :) Check comment formating if you don't know all of it yet, it's very helpful.
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I didn't see many tapirs in this topic yet so maybe you can get your fix from these?
They are as ugly as they are cute ;)
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They are as ugly as they are cute ;)
The most accurate description
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I don't see the problem , its not like you are forcing them to do this and that .
In fact , i am doing the same with my giveaways and its rare that someone would check the links and I'm fine with it .
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As others have said, I don't think it's a problem. I wouldn't word it the way you did up there though. Probably something more like "If you have time, please check out my ..." or "It'd really help me out if you would take a moment to have a look at my ... " etc.
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Well there are gleam.io giveaways that actually force you to like their page, join their group, follow them and other stuff and I think that's kinda morallywrong, but when you create a giveaway and write down about your business/website in the description or put a ref link there, it's like handing out flyers only with a little something inside them: most people ignore the text anyway so there isn't any trouble for anyone. I mean it's free stuff that guy is giving away and if he wants to do a little advertisement without forcing me to do anything or bothering me, I wouldn't mind.
Btw aren't you kinda advertising yourself? :-"
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Generally, people don't mind too much until something is forced upon them. Then they get upset.
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I've seen these sort of things a few times, so I assume it's totes kosher with the rules, but I'm thinking more from an ethical standpoint:
Is it frowned upon, by the general users here, to have in the giveaway description a link to some project you've done, just because you're proud of it, and want the increased traffic?
Like, I personally, I dabble in photography. Google my name (ideally all one word, no spaces, otherwise Google decides you actually meant Kit Walker, with one T and brings you back AHS stuff ), you'll find me all over the internet, posting photos I've taken and what have you. And being that I on occasion get paid for taking photos, I've got a "business" Facebook page, that in theory I'd want more people to visit and like. Not just for potential jobs and income, but also for a little ego boost, y'know.
But what if I created a giveaway, and linked to my facebook page, and was all "Don't leave thanks in the comments, but come link my page instead!"
Personally, I think it'd be a smidge crass...a bit blunt. But possibly I'm just too old and reserved for such shameless self promotion. Thoughts? Discussions? Pictures of tapirs?
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