Referral Links

[djfizzle]

ive always wondered whats with OnRPG's collective hatred for referral links, they're litterally meant to be used in forums. Theres a difference between someone being like HEY I LIKE LEAGUES *referral link* and hey this games in beta its good you should try it *referral link*. Like honestly i think its a nice give take, and honestly if its that big a deal rather than raise hell in the thread, google it if you're that stubborn.

P.S. I've never even posted a referral link besides maybe my like 3rd post

In short: Whats so bad about referral links?

[supersonix9]

I'm totally wondering this as well. I think it's stupid how people get annoyed over referral links, unless there's something I don't know.

[Xenonight2]

Because what do you get when you click that referral link? Nothing. The person posting the referral link contributes nothing to the discussion by just posting a referral link.

Now, I'm OK with referral links being posted at the end of a long post detailing a game the Onrpg community probably hasn't heard about. I'll give those people both rep, and register for the referral link even if I don't plan on playing. They're actually contributing. A lot of the people who are posting referral links, though, aren't.

[Jin-Roh]

So in the words of Xeno, don't help anyone unless you have a really good reason to. Screw being nice.

[Klaime]

Nice guys finish last.

[Arri]

hey guys I'm trying to level up my signature doodle click my link pl0x.

----

99% of the time, it's spam, that's all.

[Ronin]

Theoretically there could be a referal section like the shameless promo, if posting in any other sections would trigger a delete and/or a warning or similar and not a simple move.

Referals are bad because they can and will be used by the ones starting their marketing effort to flood forums like this is one, until there is nothing left in it besides marketing spam.
"Post about how much you love Axxxxgames new expansion to Xyyyy and you get some random consumable CS item each time."
This will basically hijack the creditability any forum with a decent user base tries to build and fill it up 100% with something completely similar to a bought amazon product review. Soon after people will start to leave and move on. Very soon after They will try to build a new camp of real sharing of information that isnt "sponsored" and as soon as there are enough people going there its going to be the same history repeating itself.

If you want referals; Go on Facebook and hook up with one of that spamy link sharing, benefit scavanging spam campaigns there.
This is a forum. Advertising should follow a minimal standard of ethics.

@Xeno:
Even if they make an effort its still all bought effort.
The point of this campaigns is to blend in sponsored stuff with genuine contributions so that they will be passed of as such. People will even go out of their way to create all kinds of periphery discussion about any game just so that it will become more accepted to spam, because people are greedy for the benefits to reap. (no offense Op, mind you, im posting in the topic still)
Its not just unethical; when a competitor starts farming forums everyone will rather join with a similar campaing just to ruin the target-mediums (forums, blogs, youtube, facebook) credibility, over letting the other have it. All there will be left would be the burnt towering ruins of the hysteric spamfest created.

[marcipaans]

If a person posts original link first and referral as a little side note I don't mind and I don't even see the need to punish that poster. This excludes situations like "Check out this awesome new MOBA game called League of Legends!" and such. You get the drift?

But people who make topics just to beg for freebies through referrals do deserve what's coming.

[olaph]

Wouldn't be any issue if 98% of people who post referal links were anything more then spammers who made the forum look cheap and poorly managed.

So in the words of Xeno, don't help anyone unless you have a really good reason to. Screw being nice.

Are you on your rags or something?

[gratscorpio]

It's onrpg man you did you expect? Its 90% flaming and trolling and 5% decent conversation, no one knows where the last 5% went to but I'm sure we will find it sooner or later.


scorpio

[Xenonight2]

So in the words of Xeno, don't help anyone unless you have a really good reason to. Screw being nice.

@Xeno:
Even if they make an effort its still all bought effort.
The point of this campaigns is to blend in sponsored stuff with genuine contributions so that they will be passed of as such. People will even go out of their way to create all kinds of periphery discussion about any game just so that it will become more accepted to spam, because people are greedy for the benefits to reap. (no offense Op, mind you, im posting in the topic still)
Its not just unethical; when a competitor starts farming forums everyone will rather join with a similar campaing just to ruin the target-mediums (forums, blogs, youtube, facebook) credibility, over letting the other have it. All there will be left would be the burnt towering ruins of the hysteric spamfest created.

Here's why I don't think that will happen, Ronin: it takes too much effort on the company's part and on the part of the users trying to get referrals.

[Ronin]

How so?
Compared to plugging an add on the superbowl?

There is practically no cost involved.

Companies have in the past hired people to post faux reviews, financing departments in outsourced companies with dozens of employees paid full time.
Compare that to giving out some 5 crystals in some or another game.

No matter how small the exposure on this page is; It's part of a larger MMO-community "culture" that is definitely worth reaping.

By reaping I mean taking any piece of turf that gets you your exposure and dominating the news there. Dominating in a sense that you get about 2/3rds or more of the content on this outlets to represent your view. If an oponent show up; Torch the place with spam, rather than let him have it.

This is nothing I made up. Companies who make lawnmowers or dishwashers or fridges or vacuum cleaners do that. Aeria games did tons of it, just to get a grip on places that where lax on referals, in an environment
where those are rare and uncommon.

I am not sure if in the current state this place has enough impact anymore (that's too nicely put, I am sorry to say I am certain it doesn't), but at that time it did. Had it been referal tolerant, Aeria games would not have stopped their spam campaign until at least 2/3rds of all the user-content for a month on the entire page came from Aeria games spam.

The effort would have been a carriage full of some random costumes and their current community guys, who don't get paid for shit anyways as we all know, making a post about it up to a max of 3 times a month. So the effective cost is hiring one outside marketing agency to do the drafts for it - well, that's probably about the same cost as getting an add on some local news paper, something that every, no matter how run down, used car dealer manages to scratch together somewhere.

[tiger1526]

Personally as long as they post both links (and tell you which is a referral) i don't really care but almost all of the referrals i see are <10 posts registered within the past month, and then a lot of the times they try to make it look like its not a referral, if a more well known poster posted a referral i would use it and not care, some random who is just posting here to boost his refers for rewards on the other hand? no.