I wanted to comment on the person who said that Rio or The Rx should require a minimum number of posts, like 20 or 30 but that thread was locked. Hopefully this one will just discuss the topic and stay because I think it's important.
I think Rio's contests are excellent. Whether or not they are good for Rio I'm not sure, but I hope so. I'd like to see their generosity rewarded with lots of new players.
When I saw many people signing up and putting in picks it concerned me. Some people obviously are trying to sign up and get multiple entries. I thought a post minimum made sense for this, but there's a big drawback to a post minimum...
the drawback is it hampers the very thing that Rio wants to do... get the word out. I've posted about the contests on other sites (I run a message board myself and have posted it there). By getting the word out on other forums it gets new people to find The Rx and also learn about Rio. I've told people they should come here and participate.
If you make it a minimum number of posts that would prevent all these new people from coming and that's the whole point of the contest.
The IP address can be tracked and certainly that helps, but there are problems with that. AOL users share IP addresses for one thing. Also, a savvy computer user will know how to use proxy IPs to have multiple IP addresses.
I don't know how to handle the situation because I think a minimum post requirement would hurt the value to Rio of offering the contest. It's a difficult problem.
My suggestion is to do the best possible at tracking the IP addresses for new users, and also if a new user wins they have to answer some basic questions. Maybe have a referral from a longtime poster here. Maybe ask them where they heard about the contest. Of course, my solution brings along its own problems as well. There are a lot of flaws in any plan.
Whatever it is, I hope that people respect the spirit of the promos and only sign up once and pass along the word to others. I wish the Rx and Rio great success with these.
David
I think Rio's contests are excellent. Whether or not they are good for Rio I'm not sure, but I hope so. I'd like to see their generosity rewarded with lots of new players.
When I saw many people signing up and putting in picks it concerned me. Some people obviously are trying to sign up and get multiple entries. I thought a post minimum made sense for this, but there's a big drawback to a post minimum...
the drawback is it hampers the very thing that Rio wants to do... get the word out. I've posted about the contests on other sites (I run a message board myself and have posted it there). By getting the word out on other forums it gets new people to find The Rx and also learn about Rio. I've told people they should come here and participate.
If you make it a minimum number of posts that would prevent all these new people from coming and that's the whole point of the contest.
The IP address can be tracked and certainly that helps, but there are problems with that. AOL users share IP addresses for one thing. Also, a savvy computer user will know how to use proxy IPs to have multiple IP addresses.
I don't know how to handle the situation because I think a minimum post requirement would hurt the value to Rio of offering the contest. It's a difficult problem.
My suggestion is to do the best possible at tracking the IP addresses for new users, and also if a new user wins they have to answer some basic questions. Maybe have a referral from a longtime poster here. Maybe ask them where they heard about the contest. Of course, my solution brings along its own problems as well. There are a lot of flaws in any plan.
Whatever it is, I hope that people respect the spirit of the promos and only sign up once and pass along the word to others. I wish the Rx and Rio great success with these.
David
