What is Fair and What is Rude on Prize Promotions?

What is Fair?

I've got a gift tosser in the store, that I would like to leave out all the time, but every time I do that, one or two people, plant themselves there for 8 to 10 hours a stretch, which seems unfair, considering what the intent of the tool is. And I'm so tired of having to scrap every tool I've tried. This one almost works.

I'm using it to reward group members who stop in and visit or shop. Not using it for "camping." It tosses at random, so a group member stopping in briefly has a shot at receiving a gift. And that way - it doesn't annoy a non-group member who might be visiting for the first time, and does not like stuff being tossed to them. However, if there is someone camped out for 8 to 10 hours - it certainly reduces the odds of a group member who is in for a brief visit, of being rewarded.

I'm not sure what is "Fair." If you're going to toss out gifts....not really fair to say that you can only stay for X amount of time, and if I put a sign up - about length of stay periods - - that might make someone visiting or shopping (who couldn't care less about receiving a gift)... a bit conscientious about how much time they spend in the store - and don't want to do that! And it's kind of like saying..."hey, here's a gift, but only take it under MY terms."

Would you be offended if I sent you a note, and said...."Hey SuzeeQ....thank you so much for spending 10 hours in the store last night......but could you please keep your visits to a one hour time frame?" Kind of Rude? And if I sent a general suggestion in the group notices.....well, everyone in group that has been in the store lately....knows who the campers are, and it would seem like singling them out, and embarrassing them. Kind of rude, too? Or are "they" being the Rude ones? Would most people understand that a 10 hour stay is a wee bit excessive? Or not?

Maybe it would make for less potential drama if your prize giver quietly keeps a history, and throttles how many gifts can go to the same avatar? It doesn't need to remember forever and ever, just enough to keep things fair for shorter term visitors.

Setting it so one avatar can win once in a certain period is reasonable.

If it's something custom you put together simply keep track of who's in the store and how long they've been there and exempt anyone who's been there for more than X minutes or who has visited more than Y times in the past Z hours.

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Personally I by far prefer stores who reward actual customers rather than windowshoppers. Either keep a running total of how much someone has bought or set an amount in your mind where if someone exceeds it they get a free gift when you get around to noticing it (or people who may not spend a lot each time but do keep coming again and again).

It's not prone to gaming or abuse and it targets people who actually spend L$ at your store.

Speaking as an occasional shopper, I tend to avoid stores that clobber me with a bunch of do's and don't's right off the bat, even if they don't apply to me. It's just offputting for my personality. I question authority. Quickest way to get rid of me is to go all authoritative on me.

I feel that true shoppers understand the intent behind the gift givers, and would consider someone hanging around for hours a bit sad. They wouldn't blame the store. Just my gut feeling on it. I know it's frustrating.



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Well, it's not custom....I can't script. I suppose I could contact the creator, and ask them if they could add a feature to restrict the number of times. I'm testing it out with an alt, and she's received 3 of the gifts, out of 4 times, with someone else who was standing there all morning. And a third person came in, and she received next gift tossed out.... so something in the script may be leveling out some "fairness."

But if only one person is in the store by themselves for an hour....I do want them to receive all 4 gifts that would be tossed to them during that time frame....so concerned that a number limit would void this out. I'll have to ask the creator.

Thank you for the suggestions.

I've been doing that too, Kitty - but as your transactions grow, the amount of time to do this is almost time prohibitive, and was trying to automate it a bit. Although, there is nothing more valuable then sending the gift personally.

I don't like rules either. I definitely don't like them tossed to me, before I walk in the door. Don't like much of anything tossed, before entering the door.

Perhaps a different system like lucky chairs or midnight mania boards would work better.

I had considered those, Milla....but no one was using the Lucky Chairs. With this tool, you can wander all over the store, without having to worry about jumping to the chair, and you really don't have to pay attention to anything. Plus, it will hold 100 items, so you don't have to keep changing out the chairs.

If I understand the Midnight Mania boards....that draws a ton of people in a crowd all at once?

1) If you're giving transferable items you're probably feeding someone's resale shop.

2) If it gives prizes after a random time it sounds like you want to encourage people to linger, which is a traffic gimmick. It sounds like the campers are doing just what you're encouraging them to do. If what you really want is to reward people for stopping by and looking, reward them after a set, short time, like 3 minutes. Three minutes after you see them, if they're still around, reward them. And do it just once per person, and do it for every person.

3) If you want to encourage people to shop, put a prize giver in each department. People could get multiple prizes visiting different departments, but not by standing still in one.

4) I like the idea of rewarding people who actually buy something. Give something to everyone in your transaction history.

Anya, on #1....I had mentioned in LittleMe's thread on Yard Sales....that I don't care if someone is using it for this. If they stick the item on their land to sell....fine....they are giving me free display space for my products. Kind of like having free mall space (just can't make a direct sale)....but it's free advertising. If they want to pay tier fee to display my stuff, and if they want to pay for classified ads to get them there......cool.

#2 - #3 - The intent is for them to linger....but to linger and notice things....got a lot of stuff packed into nooks and crannies. The intent was also as a reward. But my intent was not to encourage camping. I've got two other kinds of boxes set out, that toss a gift to everyone visiting (whether they are in group or not), just once....but these can be annoying to most people....even if it is a decent gift. You have to stop in the middle of your wandering around, and read the blue pop-up boxes. That drives most people insane. I've got maybe 10 different departments - they would definitely get annoyed.

#4) - That worked up until the last few months, when the transaction list got longer, and the time constraints kicked in. Also - some times I sent the gift to someone who had only been in the store once, and they did not have a clue what was being sent and why - if they were not online, at the time. So they discarded it, and might have been annoyed, too, from someone sending them something out of the blue....a few days after their visit.

I went into detail above (not to nit-pick suggestions - appreciate them).... but because I think that there is a market for someone to develop some scripted reward/prize/gift gadgets.....that take into account all of the above and more.....if one were to work constantly testing and tweaking the gadgets, and keeping feedback open from the people who use them every day. It's in the little details. Some important details that make most of the current gadgets limiting and often ineffective. (hint, hint)

MM boards work by setting a number of "hits" the board gets before midnight. If enough people hit the board to surpass that number before midnight, every one who hit the board recieves the gift. To hit the board you only need to touch it once, and never look back. You don't have to be in the store to recieve the gift. You can set the number to whatever you like to you can make it relatively easy to guarantee a win at midnight. Sometimes people will call in people right before midnight if a board is close to maxing out to make it go over, but that is the only crowd it might draw at once. You can also set them to group only I believe.

Beautiful sin has a prize 'pyramid.'

A person with the right letter for a name - like a lucky chair- hits it, it activates. A second person (or the same depending on luck) raises the prize teir within x minutes. It has multiple teirs and if 3 are active- its supposed to award all 3 teirs to those people. The catch? You have to be in the sim when it goes off.

I often find myself out shopping and then RL calls and I step away and the next thing I know I've been afk at that store for more than an hour. Or as I come back to the computer I spend a lot of time catching up on some IMs before noticing that I've been in that one store for a very long time. These scenerios actually happen to me a lot. If I received such a message because of it, I would likely note that store on my "do not shop at" list.

I was quite shocked the first time, out of the blue, I received 2 gowns as a thank you for my many trips and expenditures in a store. There are a few designers like this and I probably do patronize them more just for the random show of appreciation.

I'd guess that most people who use these gift givers are giving away copy/no-transfer stuff. For that kind of merchandise, there's no incentive to hang around collecting multiple copies of the same gift: once you've got all the gifts, you're done.

No idea, however, whether those permissions would be viable for the kinds of gifts being given here.

These always seemed more like camping devices anytime I have seen them. The total time it took to cause it to award prizes seemed like some of the longer settings on Lucky Chairs. If I have to stay in the sim for an hour to get a prize, I won't do it. I know many people that only get an hour for SL each day. Long time frames on Lucky Chairs/Boards can drive me nuts too, but at least if I am lucky enough to see my letter, I get the prize right away.

It can be automated.

Why does it matter if those people standing for hours get more freebies? Think of the traffic they are giving in return.

Unless the items are transferable, I can't think how it matters.

Thank you for the information, Kenbro and Nicole.

I know the midnight mania boards are useful to some people, and I haven't tried one yet. It requires some effort from the "visitor"....and in this case, I just wanted to keep it simple....and really like the way the gift tosser just tosses it out.....no effort required. Just a treat, while they are visiting.



I love it when people spend an hour. I'm assuming they stopped to send some IMs, and that's totally cool. Was focusing on 10 hours.
But I stopped in a store a few months ago. It was a store that some might feel was a "competitor"....(I don't).....was decorating a house.....and I had to stop to return some customer calls, and didn't move around in the store much. Probably there for an hour. And I had not got to the point of clicking and purchasing, just yet.....but was headed that direction. Owner IM'd me, and very subtly suggested in a very roundabout way, without using these words.....that I was copying stuff. Needless to say....I did not make it to the point of purchase. Now I'm scared to shop for furniture, and take longer than 15 minutes. Also afraid "not" to buy something, if they see my name on a visitor list.....so I go so far as to use an alt to shop, now. So I'm very sensitive to this, and don't want to piss off a visitor like that. Thanks...you confirmed that I should not approach a visitor period. Just not worth having a misunderstanding over.

How? Do you have a script for that?

You'd have to write one, or have someone write one for you. You'd copy-n-paste part of your transaction history (downloaded as CSV) into a notecard and the script would send a gift to everyone. Someone has probably already done this, but I don't know of one.

Are you tied up?

Qie and Melita -

Yes, the items are transferable. I think that someone is making a mistake, by not giving transfer on gift items. If those are passed about, it's free advertising. If they are placed in a yard sale or resale store, it's free advertising. If they pass to an alt...it sits out in a home somewhere.....free advertising. Even the same with clothing. Every time someone walks about with your item on.....free advertising.

This gadget is stuffed with 100 different items. I stuffed some complete room settings in there, as a bonus. And I don't care what they do with the stuff. They can do the above all day long. But when I sat there with my alt, yesterday.....there was a camper, and me, and while there, 6 other people with a group tag on, stopped in to visit and/or shop.....probably knowing that they might snag some goodies while they were there....otherwise, they probably wouldn't have the tag on.

I did determine, that it seems that the script acknowledges a new name, and tosses to newest person, first. (not 100 percent sure on this). So that's a good thing. And that was the concern on fairness....that if a camper is hogging the resource....someone in for a 20 minute visit, would miss out. Plus....I don't want it to appear that I've got 10 hour campers.

Conclusion is (and I had this hunch).....that if you are going to toss stuff out....All is Fair. You better get controls in place on your own end, if it bothers you. If you're going to set out a device that encourages a 20 minute stay....it will be milked for 10 hours.