570 réponses à ce sujet

[Mad Method]

Hello,

As it turns out, I've started a trend of people putting their Bioware Bazaar links as images into their posts. The idea was just to make the process more convenient - for the exchangers and Bioware both. Stanley Woo decided that this was a little too much like cheating (I suppose it's the principle that counts, even though here on the Bioware forums we all know of the products already, link or no link.) and closed down the exchange threads that were initially made for this. Still, there are now a lot of people going around with the image tag trick put inside their signatures here on the Bioware forums. This makes the situation a little strange since the circumstances naturally favor people who do this, but with those threads closed down, the practice is a little more dubious. The end result is that people who want to play it safe are left behind.

This begs the question: Is it okay (so it's fair game for all of us) or will there be measures taken to prevent and possibly even rollback this sort of point bumping? What exactly is Bioware's stance on using image tags to increase your points?

Thank you,
Mad Method

PS: While we're on the subject of starting trends to get more out of Bioware...  Did you guys mind when I started the trend of digging through the Character Creator files for spoilers before the game was out?

EDIT: Stanley Woo has given his response here and based on that I've decided to add signature links too. If you're going to use signature links though, please be respectful of the forum's mores and don't spam.

PPS: Reading the rest of the thread might be worthwhile. There's some good discussion here.

EDIT #2: Okay, according to Chris Priestly here anyone who uses the trick will lose their points. Nevermind then.

Modifié par Mad Method, 02 avril 2010 - 01:19 .

[XX55XX]

Edit.

Modifié par XX55XX, 01 avril 2010 - 06:30 .

[chiliztri]

This is why I have stopped clicking links and pictures in the forum entirely. I'll gladly click if you ask me, but trying to trick me into clicking just pisses me off.

[Randomactss]

No please do it legit like everyone else [image link removed]

Modifié par Stanley Woo, 01 avril 2010 - 04:22 .

[Twitchmonkey]

I thought you were talking about something like my monkey down there, but yeah, what this thread was talking about sounds a lot like an exploit. The monkey makes it clear what he wants.

[Mad Method]

I'm not too fond of the trend of putting it inside your signature myself. The exchange thread is a rather voluntary deal. The idea is that if you're visiting the thread you're probably participating in this sort of thing, so this just makes it more convenient. Putting it in your signature is more like duping bystanders into increasing your score, even though they might not like it or want to.

Chiliztri, clicking isn't necessary. The moment you see one of those boxes with a URL inside them like http://social.bioware.com/brc/6140 or a broken image icon your browser has already tried to read the image at the URL and "clicked" it, so to speak.

Randomactss... Honestly.

Modifié par Mad Method, 31 mars 2010 - 01:05 .

[thewrm]

I don't feel it's right to use the broken link trick or any other underhanded tactic to get clicks that's why I moved mine to my sig plus I got tired of putting it in time after time and I'm one of the people who didn't hide what it is by putting down something to dupe people into clicking on it this way anyone that sees it in my sig knows what it is and can click on it if they wish.

[TrueWindoze]

how would you do the url in image tags?

[Momochi1824]

Nothing like a little deceit to get the tension to rise

[DeviantJoker]

No reply, eh? I see a good many folks doing this.. so I'm wondering it's legitimacy or not?

[kappus117]

Do I think Bioware endorses this method of acquiring URL referrals? Probably not, but they can't really do anything about it, aside from their own forums.

[Twitchmonkey]

S. Woo didn't seem like he was too fond of it. Plus it's lame. I wouldn't do it.

[cynicalsaint1]

The trick is simply enclosing your link in [img] tags and putting it in your sig, its not tricking you into clicking anything, because you don't click anything for it to work. And honestly I think its a better option than spamming your link around the web trying to get people to click it.



Its not really unfair because anyone can do it, and if everyone did it'd clean up a lot of the problem that we're having with people trying to trick you into clicking their link, or spamming their link at the end of every post, or needing link exchange threads.



No need to beg for clicks, no need to play silly popularity contest games, or worry about having to compete with people who happen to have popular blogs or something, just contribute to the forums and get points when someone reads your post.



That sounds a lot better in my mind, to be honest. Just my opinion though.

[Twitchmonkey]

The issue is that it is no longer an elective thing. People can't choose to click your link or not, and that's part of the fun.

[kappus117]

cynicalsaint1 wrote...

The trick is simply enclosing your link in [img] tags and putting it in your sig, its not tricking you into clicking anything, because you don't click anything for it to work. And honestly I think its a better option than spamming your link around the web trying to get people to click it.

Its not really unfair because anyone can do it, and if everyone did it'd clean up a lot of the problem that we're having with people trying to trick you into clicking their link, or spamming their link at the end of every post, or needing link exchange threads.

No need to beg for clicks, no need to play silly popularity contest games, or worry about having to compete with people who happen to have popular blogs or something, just contribute to the forums and get points when someone reads your post.

That sounds a lot better in my mind, to be honest. Just my opinion though.

I think many of the people complaining are upset because they are already quite far behind in links because they were unaware of this method.

[cynicalsaint1]

kappus117 wrote...

I think many of the people complaining are upset because they are already quite far behind in links because they were unaware of this method.

Honestly the link clicking thing is a bad idea in general in my opinion. It'd be cool if they could come up with some sort of method of earning tokens that focused on community participation or something, but I'm not sure how they'd do that.

And really if we could just convert the normal link exchange threads into using this method it would make life a lot easier, I mean I like licking the links to give people a boost, but man is it a pain opening and closing all those tabs - it'd be nice to open the thread and know everyone got their click, and that I didn't accidently skip someone.

*Shrugs* I dunno though.
I just want to make sure both sides of the argument are heard and considered before they come to a conclusion.

[Twitchmonkey]

cynicalsaint1 wrote...

I like licking the links to give people a boost

You're a sick man.

Anyway, using Firefox with the Multi Links add-on and then right-clicking the active tab and clicking close other tabs, clicking takes no time at all.

[cynicalsaint1]

Twitchmonkey wrote...

cynicalsaint1 wrote...

I like licking the links to give people a boost

You're a sick man.

Anyway, using Firefox with the Multi Links add-on and then right-clicking the active tab and clicking close other tabs, clicking takes no time at all.

Ahhh ... the advantages of a touch screen.

Seriously though, the problem is that there's always going to be clever ways to rack up clicks, I mean the people in the link exchange still have no room to compete with anyone that has a major place to get clicks outside of the forums. This method is relatively innocuous, easy for anyone to do, and encourages forum participation, and at least in my mind it beats link spamming and trying to **** out your link to people outside the forums who aren't participating in this.

So in my mind, at least, the plusses outweigh the minuses.

[Twitchmonkey]

cynicalsaint1 wrote...

Ahhh ... the advantages of a touch screen.

Seriously though, the problem is that there's always going to be clever ways to rack up clicks, I mean the people in the link exchange still have no room to compete with anyone that has a major place to get clicks outside of the forums. This method is relatively innocuous, easy for anyone to do, and encourages forum participation, and at least in my mind it beats link spamming and trying to **** out your link to people outside the forums who aren't participating in this.

So in my mind, at least, the plusses outweigh the minuses.

If we're going to go that route though, we might as well not have referral links at all, as it takes away that whole aspect of trying to get people to click your link, which is pretty much all we're doing. If we're going to go that route, we might as well just forget about the event until the auction starts.

[cynicalsaint1]

Twitchmonkey wrote...

If we're going to go that route though, we might as well not have referral links at all, as it takes away that whole aspect of trying to get people to click your link, which is pretty much all we're doing. If we're going to go that route, we might as well just forget about the event until the auction starts.

I honestly think that's a problem inherent in this whole referral link scheme. I mean assuming the link exchanges work as intended, and everyone who posts clicks everyone else's link daily, doesn't that bring us back to the same place?

[Mad Method]

That would actually be a good idea, twitchmonkey. The referrer system encourages unpleasantness and underhandedness to deceive people into clicking your link. A lot of websites get harassed by spammers trying to increase their point count here on Bioware. Outwar had a system like this too back in the day (I have no idea what they do now) and people hated them for it. In the end, there's not much positive that this system contributes.

Cynicalsaint's stance that this trick helps simplify things is a very valid point. However, the point that "it's not really unfair because anyone can do it" is a problem point. Stanley Woo has disapproved of the practice, but people are still going around doing it and benefiting from it. People trying to toe the line won't do this and are more easily left behind, while the others rack up points.

Modifié par Mad Method, 31 mars 2010 - 03:43 .

[Twitchmonkey]

cynicalsaint1 wrote...

I honestly think that's a problem inherent in this whole referral link scheme. I mean assuming the link exchanges work as intended, and everyone who posts clicks everyone else's link daily, doesn't that bring us back to the same place?

Theoretically, but in practice there is an advantage to spreading your link around. It might only make a ten point difference per day, but it at least rewards some activity.

Mad Method: I'm not sure it will really cut down on spamming other forums as the person is still going to have to make a thread and try to get people to it, regardless of whether they're depending on clicks or not. Otherwise your points are fair, I just took some issue with that.

Modifié par Twitchmonkey, 31 mars 2010 - 03:46 .

[Mad Method]

What I was endorsing was getting rid of the referrer system altogether, though the image trick is a step up from having to link spam and hope for clicks. The image trick avoids the burden to try to coax someone into clicking your link and being outright obnoxious, but now you see a lot of people making vapid posts so that whoever reads the thread will bump their point count.

Modifié par Mad Method, 31 mars 2010 - 03:49 .