Absolutely, as contests are advertising. I've said on multiple occasions that TA has played a large role in my games' success. Contests are just a portion of that, but do play a big part in it. There are people who have bought the game, even after the codes ran out, as they have stated so in the threads. Whether delegating contests to a sub forum will reduce that success is yet to be seen.
I was actually a little bit annoyed when General Game Discussion got split off from the "main" board. I didn't like the idea of having to keep up with two separate boards. But now, it's like second nature. Hopefully, the right eyes will continue to watch the Promo Code board. And maybe the lure of promo codes will drive a larger and/or more diverse audience. For people like me, promo code contests do nothing. I'm not going to compete for a $1 game. I'm definitely an impulse shopper, but I am swayed - exponentially so - by information and opinions, not overexposure or the promise of free stuff.
I felt the same, and got used to it too. I'd be delighted if the promo code forum makes contests more effective. I'm not a promo code shopper either, so I understand where you're coming from.
With a contest your game is in the front page of TA. Seems a good advertising for a game. Perhaps people, who didn't look at the forum before, will see there are codes, so they'll come to the forum and perhaps buy the game. But I understand the problem too because with all promo codes threads in the same place, your thread won't be special... For readers, the new section is just perfect : I appreciate the fact that I could see the contests quickly and that I could find new releases without looking at the 3 last pages
I'd be happy if that turns out to be true. My guess is no, but it'd be cool if I were wrong. It may be too early to judge, but right now, there are 248 people viewing the main game forum, and only 14 in the promo code forum. As a dev, I'd take the 248 eyes over 14. Exactly. Is advertising really effective when it's completely surrounded by other advertising? But, since contests are unpaid advertising, TA has every right to move them to a single area, or remove them completely. I agree, for readers it's great. No argument there. I think I'm just trying to express that contests may become less effective for devs due to the change. If I'm wrong, fantastic!
From the perspective of tidying up the forum and allowing a place just for contests and promo codes that could potentially be made invisible to users who are not logged in, I think it's a good idea. On the other hand, I can also easily see the position of the developers who are running these things for the exposure and promotional value. A forum dedicated to contests and promo codes shifts the exposure to another area that is separate from the browsing of the average person who may either not be aware of this separate forum or might forget about it from time to time. I only just noticed this forum here today, even though it seems to have started yesterday and I've been here several times over the last couple of days. Personally I didn't mind the promo and contest threads in the main games forum. It wasn't like they were easy to miss, the developers got lots of exposure from the majority of the users who browse here, and while there were lots of "Cool" and "Grabbed this code" and "all gone" posts, often those posts would evolve into a series of impressions from users who got the codes, which would in turn become a discussion about what's good and what could use some attention in it. I'm sure it will get that in this separate forum too, I'm just concerned that it won't get the same sort of attention that these sort of threads did in the main games forum.
I think a better solution would be to have a new release forum for games that just came out. But make it so that there can be no replies, the same way the user review forum is. That way people can quickly find what game they're looking for without having to wade through a bunch of non-relevant drivel. Then once threads pop up in the general discussion forum, links can be added to the new release posts that point to where all the discussions are taking place. I like organization, but having to sift through multiple forums to read everything I want is just as tedious as having to go back a page or two to read about items that got bumped off of the first page. edit: Mindfield summed it up better than me
If I may chime in... I admit it, I like codes, really who doesn't. I love to try new games but I get more satisfaction helping in a games development. There aren't many of us who like codes, use codes AND leave reviews and provide feedback. Due to us taking enjoyment in an apps development and progression, I can imagine that we mostly like hanging out in the games section. With the new promo section there's a "possibility" of increasing the ratio of non interested code users using codes vs those of us that would actually serve a benefit and give something back.
Hey guys I am aware of the implications of moving the promo codes to their own section. I think LittleWhiteBearStudios brings up the developer's perspective, and here's how I view it all: I've long been reluctant to move promo codes out of the game release threads.... because they do offer a way for developers to promote their games and also get early feedback for users. (Though, if developers aren't getting the responses they want, they need to be more selective about who they give promo codes to. ) To those who are asking for Promo Code giveaways to be sequestered into a members-only section... I don't think you realize the motivation of the promo code giveaways. They are not to give promo codes to people, but to increase exposure and advertising to the games from the developers. If the promo code section becomes private, there will be less promo code giveaways. So that's not really something I really want to do either. All that said, even moving the promo code contests into their own section may decrease the number of giveaways -- and I'm OK with that. It's just gotten to the point where the contests are dominating the Game Release forum which is already very busy. If devs want to give out a handful of codes to prospective customers in the official game release threads to motivate some discussion, I don't think we'll get too bent out of shape... but the massive giveaway threads have gotten to be so frequent that something had to give. arn
There is just a problem for me about the Promo Codes Forum : his place. Promo Code on TA are only for games but the forum is under the Apps and not the games. I think it's why I missed it today (just saw it because, on Twitter, Qwiboo send a link to his new thread). Promo codes forum just under the release forum seems better for me (and I suppose, for the devs too) The Upcoming Games could be just under it and after, you'll find the General Discussion.
Hey Dave, that's not exactly what I meant. I mean, I could see something like that from AppShopper or even iTunes. I meant something more like what a developer's first post on a game release should be like. Introducing their game (and themselves if they're new to TA), screenshots, iTunes link, and YouTube video link. Arn, you summarized the situation perfectly. I guess what I don't see is an increase in massive contests threads. The only ones that come to mind as being massive are something like Firemint's thread, the Galactic Gunner thread, and of course the LWBS threads. But I don't really feel like they are taking over. What I see more often is that those threads turn into discussion threads that get bumped every now and then, but the title still has "contest" or "code giveaway" in it, long after the actual contest is over. Maybe after a contest is over, the thread can just be merged into the main thread on the game?
Both you and arn have a point. Here you won't get as much exposure, but having a million open contest threads in the game section doesn't really make it a game section.
I think that could've been solved by deleting them after a day, but I'm sure that would've involved some moderator upkeep. I'd have been happy to delete one of my contests after it was over.
Well, the good thing is that there's room for a little trial and error to see what works best for the site overall.
