Contests on LTT should partially be geared towards regulars.

[Guest]

LTT is a media company, that happens to have an excellent forum, not a web community that happens to have a youtube channel. Making "forum regular only" contests wouldn't make any more sense for them than a television station making a email newsletter only contest. Youtube is the LTT platform, it's their bread and butter and what pays the bills. All youtube viewers should have equal chance at winning contests for the channel regardless of forum participation.

 

I don't care about raffles but I would then wonder why raffles would have a LTT forum component to them. I've been baited into subbing to like hardware canucks before because of a raffle that I obviously didn't win. Posted on the raffle thread and left permanently. I hate that shit. If you're doing a raffle on youtube, do your raffle on youtube. Don't coerce people into polluting your forum with worthless empty shell accounts. It's a hassle and a waste of time for people who just want to join a raffle without making a billionth' account for a website they won't use. If people belong here they'll come when they're told about it, not when they get pushed here. And if they got pushed here, they'll probably post garbo anyway.

[Guest acdcman200]

i think everyone should be able to participate in the contests it helps the community grow. People come for the contests and then sometimes stay.

[TheSLSAMG]

Now that I am thinking about this again, let me add to this.

 

Okay, the old-timers getting pissed off that one-posters are winning contests with no reason (I was like this previously) are not looking into this.

 

To gear a contest towards regulars only has no incentive to Linus. He does this, as many have previously stated, to drive web traffic and boost user numbers. To leave out people who were to otherwise be one-posters is segregation, no different to society in the US in the early-mid 1900s. Everyone has the potential to be a bigger user here. I did it. I have seen many rise to the occasion.

 

Here's an issue. What would be the system of determining old-timers?

 

Post count - would not work. If you tried to do it this way, you get too many shit posters.

Join date - leaves out potential rising users, doesn't take the idea of contributors into consideration.

 

So how would one do it?

 

Many people before me have pointed out the reasons why something like this cannot work. More will do so after this. Some people here are being just plain jealous.

 

Nobody is being provoked. No one is taking prizes from anyone else. Not all of the one posters will stop at a single post. Some of these people will become big in terms of popularity, of post count. There are people I saw here 3 months ago and said "who are they", and they went on to become some of the most recognizable members here.

 

No matter how you do this, someone will be left out. And sometimes it is better just to not bother regulating it or it just becomes unfair.

[MattGameDev]

Honestly, as a "newcomer" to the fourms, i hate people just like you.

 

People like you set requirements in order to have the greatest chance of winning and push newer, fresher faces to the fourms away by bullying them into telling them they cannot particitpate in anything fun. Listen, i get that i don't have 4,000 posts on the fourms but the simple fact is, i don't want to create accounts for EVERY person i follow online, that's just stupid. Although i lack posts, i've been watching Linus since NCIX days on Youtube (around.. 2009-2010?) and yet nobody really cares about that fact. I don't even participate in giveaways on this site and i'm still blown away by your ignorant "i was here longer so i should win" ruling.

Concluding; You sir, are a giant douche and you are the reason why people never join new fourm sites.

[Misanthrope]

Spot on with exactly how I feel.

 

Do you know that there is 95,019 Total members on LTT ,out of those 95,019 members, only 12,800 members have 10 post and above, 31,579 members have 2-9 post and a whopping 50,640 members have 0-1 post. More then half of the forum members on LTT are not active.

 

This is interesting to see that

 

1) The contests are highly unsuccessful to drive people to the community. I'm assuming Linus knows this so this leads me to believe that

 

2) They do that mostly because youtube comments are all but unusable to control a fair contest and on the forums they can at least do some quick basic check on the IP

 

3) This might have a minute impact on the forums database size and performance, so yes because of it query results might be a few milliseconds slower, probably a lot less than anybody's ping to the forum anyway unless their database server runs on a Pentium III or something.

[Randomacts]

The best way to do it would be X amount of post (not a super high number.. and for sure under 100) as of a day or so before they announce the contest. 

 

You could also have it so they need to a least X age of account before the contest is announced. (A week or two would likely be fine) 

[Misanthrope]

The best way to do it would be X amount of post (not a super high number.. and for sure under 100) as of a day or so before they announce the contest. 

 

You could also have it so they need to a least X age of account before the contest is announced. (A week or two would likely be fine) 

 

Again that would hurt LMG rather than help them: Do you know how many subscribers per week they get? They would probably get a ton of (rightfully) pissed off people unsubscribed at the most crucial time of all which is when they just discovered LTT/Tech Quicke/Channel Super fun/WAN Show through twitch/whatever else and do more harm than good.

 

No matter which way you look at it, you're going to piss off somebody. Most regulars are very invested and wouldn't immediately leave, instead they would just post threads trying to voice their concerns and get a "veterans" contest, like this thread which is like what, 3rd or 4th since the last contest? I say the fact that we're discussing this and people feeling this is unfair more than calls their bluff.

[hammerslap1]

the problem with a plan like this would be that a fairly small company with what im guessing isnt a very large profit margin cant always just come up with a second prize of the same thing. often the givaways are for sample items he gets for reviews.... it would be rediculous to think he should be buying a second of said item in order to have 1 for both a regular and what ever other winner.

 

secondly, as a regular im sure you can agree that you didnt join this forum to win prizes you joined it to be part of a pretty awesome community. the whole prize givaway is just a fun and exciting side thing.

 

third there already is perks on this forum for people who want to contribute such as getting in on items he has for sale before any others can see them and also not having to view adds.

 

fourth. im sure many of the poster to this very thread can say that they probably only joined the forum because they saw a givaway, then they stayed to be a member of the community once they saw how great it really is. do you honestly think this forum would have even half the membership if it wasn't for things like givaways to drive new folks to the forum..... remember every time a surge of membership happens the forum becomes more marketable.... why would he negate that by telling some folks that all they can win is a t-shirt because they havnt commented 100 times before the start of the givaway.

[hammerslap1]

maybe when the prize does go to someone who has been around for a while and dropped 1k posts maybe the people putting the sweepstakes together would throw in an extra free shirt for the winner

[Tech_Dreamer]

Bottom line, there's no answer to this, the final call rests on Linus.  , i don't know about you , but i joined in here not to just get in on lucky draws or scavenge , it's a risk/sad truth i suppose, especially to those who are here from the early beginings who haven't had the advantage or extra priority in this case ,What i think is that if they are here , regardless of what they are in for ,they should be treated properly ,not by booting them out because they're a newbie when they've been promised something, ofcourse everone can see what's going on, but you know.. :rolleyes: .. what's the point in it?

[MatazaNZ]

I personally feel that anyone here has the right to win a contest. What I feel like should be a thing though, is prizes should be able to be won by people outside of the US and Canada. Most of the giveaways I have seen from here are only available to US and Canadian residents. It would be nice to be able to win some kick arse gear from here in New Zealand. Granted, I believe I know why they are only available to US/Canada. Shipping and taxes. Different countries have different product tax laws, even on gifts. But something to consider

[jmaster299]

All I know is if people keep up with this whining, all that will happen is Linus will say "fine, fuck all of you, no more contests". If the contests are the only reason why you are here, of if you feel like you deserve special treatment or consideration for the contests, maybe you don't need to be here.

[CookiezFort]

That is like saying somebody that just joined LTT forums (legit not second acc) would not have a chance

[Faaris86]

Remember guys.. drawing all this traffic to the forums is bound to CREATE regular users, not punish existing ones.

Or are you going to become en elitist circlejerk where you're not eligible for anything unless you have a top of the line rig, donate thousands of dollars, or blow slick? lol

[TheWall]

No, the point is to grow the forum, and besides what about the lurkers? I visit here fairly often but i don't always have something to contrubute to the conversation so i don't post too much

[EmotionalSloth]

Would encourage a lot more shitposting to reach 100 posts or whatever you consider a regular so that they can join the good giveaways.

I agree

[Wesley219]

What if they watch the videos, but just don't post on the forum!

[Rashy]

I agree, i mean they just post and if they win they'll never come back unless theres another giveaway. Why not a quiz or a minimum post, i totally understand that linus wants the community bigger but this...

[WinNut]

I agree, i mean they just post and if they win they'll never come back unless theres another giveaway. Why not a quiz or a minimum post, i totally understand that linus wants the community bigger but this...

Exactly. I have seen this in the short time that I have been on this forum, the winners go "FUCK YEAH I WON X PRODUCT" and never return until the next giveaway. I think that they should contribute to the forum instead of going only for giveaways. Some people in this world are greedy.

 

I hate people that just join for the giveaway. I feel it does not increase forum traffic.

[SageC]

I think there should be some sort of system in which two contests are hosted. One on Twitter and one on the forums, that way the forum regulars will enter the forum one and the non-forum people have a choice between the two. I don't think that will get rid of all the 1 post accounts but at least some..

[jmaster299]

The greediness and the whining about this is getting out of hand. Having 10,000 posts, or being on the forums for a year, does not make you any more entitled to win something than someone with 1 post or only 1 day on the forums. Contests are an extra that Linus goes out of his way to provide and costs money to provide. Even if the product is sponsored, Linus is typically the one footing the bill for shipping and import taxes. Even if all of that is covered, it's still costing him in terms of man hours to run the contest and make sure all the thousand different laws are followed.

[I liek toitles]

My argument on it (Yes im one of those people)

I've been a linus fan for a year or two now, but have just recently made an account on LTT. Even though I'm a fan, i don't have to express it by posting on some forum to show how dedicated I am; I simply watch his videos like the rest of you. I've never been a fan of forums, seldom do i post to any forum when that feature is available. i only post when I'm really in need of help or wanting to join in on a discussion. A lot of people don't feel like they have anything to talk or about, or in my case I think theres far better qualified people who's opinion means far more than mine. Myself and others prefer to lurk. I didn't initially make an account because I thought I wouldn't take the time to post anyways but i can assure you that we are fans as well.

But yeah there are people who only come here for giveaways, which is okay because thats how to bring new people to the forums. If i didnt make an account for a giveaway I wouldn't have went through the hassle to post this.

[fringie]

No support. 

[loccilucas]

I explained this: yes it's sort of sad for us regulars (a.k.a obsessive and nutty) here on the forums however they do this contest precisely to get more new people to watch in, follow the channels, social networks and join the forums. Think of it as a way to try to get more regulars on the forums. Yes even if out of those 300 new accounts only 10 become regular users here it was already sort of worth it for all involved (Linus, Tek Syndicate and their sponsors)

 

That being said, I wouldn't mind a bit of a "thanks for continued support" gesture like maybe some sort of badge for people on the forums after a certain amount of time and posts or a small token raffle like a few key chains or coffee mugs only for old timers. I don't expect them to do this but I wouldn't mind it, it would just be like a cool gesture but not something that I say we should expect, much less demand.

tbh Being given the title "Master" is kind of a badge to say you are a regular and ovbiouly contribute the forum.

[Misanthrope]

tbh Being given the title "Master" is kind of a badge to say you are a regular and ovbiouly contribute the forum.

 

I was thinking of a sort of small icon but yeah, that's true.