Potential new sponsor, G2A - Yay or nay?

[Norman_the_Owl]

You're looking at it from a customer perspective. LMG is a business, it needs to be looked at from a business perspective. If Microsoft decided to become a sponsor of LTT and they see LTT is supporting a company that has a shady operation, they will immediately stop sponsoring.

...But G2a isn't shady. They buy keys, and sell keys. They keys that G2a buys have always been legit, haven't they?

[d3sl91]

Do you have a source that tied G2A as a company to illegal/stolen keys? (not a seller on their marketplace, the company itself) Not trying to say that you're not correct, I just want to make sure I get the facts straight.

That's EXACTLY the issue here. If you do your research and use the service properly, by all accounts that I've found, you'll probably be fine as a consumer. If you buy the Shield product you will be fine, but that's another discussion entirely... The issue is that public opinion is so negative, and this negativity is being perpetuated by a lot of public figures in the industry, whether about G2A directly or about grey market services in general (and I'm not trying to say that those figures are wrong or bad for doing so - it's their opinion, based on their experience, and I can certainly justify some of their arguments). It just seems like becoming associated with them provides an opportunity for a lot of bad press.

 

I have purchased several times from G2A with no issues. I've had more issues buying from "legit resellers" than I have had from G2A. 

 

Personally, I understand the concept of a Marketplace versus a Reseller and understand the risks associated with it. G2A, form all I have read, usually fixes the issue if your key has problems - that's something many other marketplaces will not do. I also have yet to see anything shady about them, and any evidence to back it up, despite the common belief that they are bad. Again, its a marketplace, and any online marketplace has it's risks and "grey areas", and i understand that. Same for Amazon, Ebay, Even Newegg now.

 

But I realize I am not the majority. I believe, that MOST people, even LTT regulars, will not understand Marketplace vs reseller, and will have a fit because "they were told by XXX youtuber that G2A sells illegal software". And therefore, will have a major issue with LTT partnering with G2A in some form whether they have a reason to or not. 

 

My opinion: Let this poll go for a bit, and see what the final results are. If satisfactory, then partner with G2A in a limited fashion, if possible. Start off small, with website ads and links in video descriptions. Maybe only on-air about it during twitch streams versus official videos. Give the social media population some time to vent their concerns, and if people freak out, then you can move on to another partner. Or, start bigger ads and more prevalent partnership.

I have not worked with partners before, and can see how this could just not work, but, It's an idea. 

[NumLock21]

...But G2a isn't shady. They buy keys, and sell keys. They keys that G2a buys have always been legit, haven't they?

where do they get the keys and how come they can get it for so cheap? Anyway why is some site like G2A popped up when the boss is on vacation?

[Norman_the_Owl]

where do they get the keys and how come they can get it for so cheap? Anyway why is some site like G2A popped up when the boss is on vacation?

They get the keys usually on steam sales or in humble bundles and stuff (or sometimes they're donated) and then sit on them until the price on them has gone up enough until they can make a profit. 

 

And in the OP he says they've been in talks for a lil while

[flibberdipper]

Please @nicklmg, don't. They are pretty damn sketch in my eyes.

[nicklmg]

You're looking at it from a customer perspective. LMG is a business, it needs to be looked at from a business perspective. If Microsoft decided to become a sponsor of LTT and they see LTT is supporting a company that has a shady operation, they will immediately stop sponsoring.

No... The reason we are here, asking the community, rather than talking to our other sponsors about this is that the community has a say in determining who should have a presence on the show, not other companies that sponsor the show.

 

-snip-

With the results of this poll as they are so far, there's pretty much no chance we would be moving forward with a deal with them - not for the foreseeable future, at least. With over half of the respondents against the idea, it would be pretty ignorant of us to move forward with a deal like this.

 

Anyway why is some site like G2A popped up when the boss is on vacation?

What does Linus being on vacation have to do with anything?... We've been evaluating the platform for a few weeks now - he's knows full well that I have been in talks with them.

[Paranoid Kami]

I'm glad that you're not giving them a sponsor spot. They seem incredibly shady and I've had a few people have problems with them in some GW2 forums that I've been in.

 

http://xkcd.com/1499/

[Imabigmac]

I have used them a few times, but unfortunately the very first time was not so good.

 

The long and the short of it, they gave me regional key which downloaded a foreign language version of the game and I could not change it to English. I specifically selected the "GOBAL" version and I even bought G2A shield. When I contacted support they were no help (they didn't understand the problem yet I explained it multiple times) and eventually stopped responding and ignored me all together despite me doing what they asked. Now I had already downloaded the game and activated the key but how in the world was I suppose know it wasn't a Gobal or US/CA key without downloading given that the receipt said "Gobal" key? I eventually gave up and bought a new CD key through them and this time I activated it on another account and it worked. 

 

The support I talk about is their email support, I found out that their live chat is just about useless when you a issue that extends beyond payment or FAQ. 

 

Now that is just one bad experience with them, I have many better ones with them since then. However I am now concerned over buying certain keys from them given the previous issues related to stolen keys, etc. I will continue to use them to get older games for cheap but I will be more hesitant on the AAA new titles. 

 

I guess you could say I weary of their business practices and support but it's not like they are dead set on destroying the earth, so they can't be all that bad. And I would have no objections to them sponsoring LTT and I may even buy more through them if there was an affiliate code or something like that (but no AAA's for me). I voted no in the poll but upon reconsideration I will change that to a "YES" but I can totally see why others may not think the the opposite. 

[NoMooreMercy]

I say go for it, I've been buying keys from them for years and I wouldn't mind seeing them sponsoring the show.

[DeadCat]

Total Biscuit made a video explaining their business model, needless to say it is very shady. 

 

Content Patch #191: "Nintendo's affiliate program, fraudulent FarCry 4 keys from Origin revoked - Jan. 30th, 2015" is the name of that video.

[juretrn]

Selling Microsoft Dreamspark codes is not something I would approve of.

[Poohy14]

You should have them as a sponsor for money making purposes but I wont ever use that site, got a different site to use.

[XYrZbest]

I've used them many times, they have good prices. Never had a problem getting what I paid for. They recommend you pay for "insurance" so you are guaranteed you will get the game, but I have never needed it, I think this should be included for using there service, but I think that they do this because they are not the ones who deliver the game, other members do. I know there has been some news going around that they might have been using hacked keys, but this is not G2As fault it is the members who sold these keys fault. G2A is more of a platform for people to buy and sell games than a store, bad things like this aren't necessarily their fault, but I do think that they should do a better job of making sure people aren't using hacked keys. Regardless their prices are fantastic, I think they would be a good sponser

[RazorStorm]

I love G2A great company, give them the sponsor spot

[shady-elite]

Ive used them multiple times, and never had a problem, G2A SHIELD is a brilliant concept, and i personally dont mind waiting 15 or so minutes to share my screen to verify the key works. (Considering how much you save)

Customer service has been excellent both times ive had to deal with them directly, Enabling G2A Shield and checking the sellers credibility i dont see how people have negative opinions about them.

 

Definite "yay" from me.

[NumLock21]

They get the keys usually on steam sales or in humble bundles and stuff (or sometimes they're donated) and then sit on them until the price on them has gone up enough until they can make a profit. 

 

And in the OP he says they've been in talks for a lil while

Right here no matter where you go all new game sell at a price of $59.99. Price of games do not go up, they drop after some time.

 

No... The reason we are here, asking the community, rather than talking to our other sponsors about this is that the community has a say in determining who should have a presence on the show, not other companies that sponsor the show.

 

With the results of this poll as they are so far, there's pretty much no chance we would be moving forward with a deal with them - not for the foreseeable future, at least. With over half of the respondents against the idea, it would be pretty ignorant of us to move forward with a deal like this.

 

What does Linus being on vacation have to do with anything?... We've been evaluating the platform for a few weeks now - he's knows full well that I have been in talks with them.

What does your current sponsors has anything to do with the decisions that you make? You guys make the decision and then your current sponsors will decided on whether they want to continue to sponsor or not. Yes Linus on vacation has nothing to do with this, and I've read in the topic starter post that it's been discussed for quite some time. But who makes the final decision that gives the go ahead? Is the final decision just based on the number of votes in this topic, the person who's in charge of handling sponsors, or Linus's decision? If the majority of the votes said yes, then will you guys go ahead and have G2A as a sponsor? Never used their site and never will, went to it to check out what they have. They have Win8.1 Enterprise for around $100 bucks. Enterprise can't be bought as a standalone product in retail channels or e-tailers. and it does not offer standalone license. To obtain the license, customer has to go through Microsoft's volume license site and buy directly from MS.

[Nowak]

Ehhh, I've heard too many shady things about them to want them to be a sponsor. I'll vouch for something like GOG.com instead, as suggested earlier in the thread.

[iamd0ge]

I've used them about 10 times, and never had a problem with them. as long i buy keys directly from them, i believe im fine 

[Feeron]

Just my opinion, but I think it would be GREAT to have one of their reps come in for a quick chat on the WAN show, and if they are genuine they would be able to explain a lot of questions given to them and hopefully uncover all the mystery about their business. I understand that some people may not like watching someone from G2A being in the WAN show but I really think it'll be both beneficial to us as the audience members and LTT/other future people who might be offered to sponsor them. Hope you're still reading the posts. 

[nicklmg]

What does your current sponsors has anything to do with the decisions that you make? You guys make the decision and then your current sponsors will decided on whether they want to continue to sponsor or not. Yes Linus on vacation has nothing to do with this, and I've read in the topic starter post that it's been discussed for quite some time. But who makes the final decision that gives the go ahead? Is the final decision just based on the number of votes in this topic, the person who's in charge of handling sponsors, or Linus's decision? If the majority of the votes said yes, then will you guys go ahead and have G2A as a sponsor? Never used their site and never will, went to it to check out what they have. They have Win8.1 Enterprise for around $100 bucks. Enterprise can't be bought as a standalone product in retail channels or e-tailers. and it does not offer standalone license. To obtain the license, customer has to go through Microsoft's volume license site and buy directly from MS.

You seemed to think that our sponsors have some influence on who we do and do not partner with. I was simply letting you know that that is not the case. The person who is in charge of handling sponsors (aka me) makes decisions regarding sponsorships based on a number of factors, one of them being community opinion. Does that mean if the poll was 51-49 in favor, we would be going ahead? No, but the poll gives me a good idea of the general opinion of the community, and is an important factor in the decision making process.

 

Just my opinion, but I think it would be GREAT to have one of their reps come in for a quick chat on the WAN show, and if they are genuine they would be able to explain a lot of questions given to them and hopefully uncover all the mystery about their business. I understand that some people may not like watching someone from G2A being in the WAN show but I really think it'll be both beneficial to us as the audience members and LTT/other future people who might be offered to sponsor them. Hope you're still reading the posts. 

You're definitely correct in saying that it would be very useful in providing insight for the community, but based on this thread alone, the amount of backlash we would see from even having someone from the company on a show would be huge. I think in this situation the bad press outweighs the potential positives by far. Thanks for your feedback though.

[Albatross]

Yes, a sponsor for LTT would be great! I've used G2A and G2Play, only ever had one problem that Origin quickly fixed. Nothing shady about the site at all. Some sellers, maybe, but not the site. Just like you wouldn't blame Amazon for one its sellers ripping you off.

[Infernal Burrito]

Many sources claim that they should not be supported.

[jerryeight]

Solid no.

[eldergeek]

I like G2A, and I find them more reputable than other grey market sites - besides, it's not like anything they're doing is actually illegal. I say go for it; I buy so much through them, that you'd probably get a few hundred in kickbacks from me alone.

[worldwin]

I say no. If another key incident were to occur it could negatively affect LMG reputation. As always trust takes a long time to build and can be lost in seconds. I do not think they are worth the risk.