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Why announce a referral program you're not actually ready to use?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I try hard not to complain, but I'll admit I'm angry over this one.

A referral program was announced. It had some cool stuff in it. I mentioned it in my twitter feed (where I talk entirely too much about Star Trek Online). One of my followers chimed in that he'd love to play the game -- in large part because of my tweets.

He's gone ahead and grabbed the game itself from Steam, but agreed to hold off so I could send him the referral e-mail so he could make an account tagging me as his referrer....

...and now, two days later, he's sitting on a game he's bought waiting for me to be able to 'refer' him in a way the game will acknowledge.

I know, I know. I clearly jumped the gun and so did he. Still, I'm not comfortable having him wait to play the game he dropped coin on so I can get a shiny thing, and as there's no way for me to get credit for recruiting him after the fact (as confirmed elsewhere), I'm in the position where I've recruited someone for the game and can't possibly get referral credit for it.

Why even bring up a referral program before you were ready for people to start referring? Why tell us what bonuses we could get without even putting a potential start date on this? I know for a fact some people have handed out Buddy Codes to their friends (or even the trial accounts from the CE) after the program was announced thinking this would count towards their referrals, only to find out that it won't.

Is it so hard to just... I don't know... not tell us about the Referral Program until you were ready for us to talk to our friends about Star Trek Online?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Why announce the player council before the details were ready? For that matter, why launch the game before it was ready? Cryptic has a reputation for jumping the gun, so this is just another example. Hopefully they'll get a clue, because every time they do it they always get a negative response.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    You announce things early so that all the hot-air on the fourm can get blown over before the program arrives. :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    These aren't the important issues you're looking for. Move along, move along.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Cosmic_One wrote: »
    You announce things early so that all the hot-air on the fourm can get blown over before the program arrives. :)

    The problem is -- this is a program entirely designed to get people excited and talking about the game to their friends, so that their friends will play it.

    It worked. I got excited. Someone caught that enthusiasm. He's now ready to play the game and even bought a copy so he can do so.

    Only not only can't I refer him, I don't know when I'll be able to do so. And because I actually like this person, I'm not going to have him sit around waiting to play a game he paid for so I can get a holographic tribble.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Because for months there was constant anger on these forums that they spring things on people with no advance notice. So, they listened to the forums, and started giving advance notice.

    I predicted at the time that there would be anger on the forums from people who don't like advance notice. I even predicted that some of the people originally calling for it would join those threads (hi, Nagus!).

    Thanks for contributing to the vast body of "syberghost was right" on these forums.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    The idea of a referral program itself is great. But I don't know anyone where I live to convince them to play Star Trek Online. I guess that means I won't be able to reap the benefits of the said program.:(
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    The problem is -- this is a program entirely designed to get people excited and talking about the game to their friends, so that their friends will play it.

    It worked. I got excited. Someone caught that enthusiasm. He's now ready to play the game and even bought a copy so he can do so.

    Only not only can't I refer him, I don't know when I'll be able to do so. And because I actually like this person, I'm not going to have him sit around waiting to play a game he paid for so I can get a holographic tribble.
    I understand your problem, but for everyone like you there's one having an opposite problem and needs more time to get players. No matter what you do you can't please everyone.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    syberghost wrote: »
    Because for months there was constant anger on these forums that they spring things on people with no advance notice. So, they listened to the forums, and started giving advance notice.

    So give us advance notice of the "We will be launching a refer-a-friend program around {DATE}. It's going to have some special bonuses for people who recruit their friends into trying Star Trek Online!"

    Don't put up a detailed "how-to" page that even has a freaking "check the status of your recruitment" link at the bottom, with the only indication that the program isn't actually in force yet being a '(coming soon)' note at the end of a paragraph that opens with "click Start to get started."

    There's a qualitative difference between 'springing' a program on people and making it seem like your referral program is a go when it's not.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Cosmic_One wrote: »
    I understand your problem, but for everyone like you there's one having an opposite problem and needs more time to get players. No matter what you do you can't please everyone.

    As far as I know, there's no time limit on the referral program. In fact, it would be dumb to put a time limit on the program.

    So people should have as much time as they need to recruit people.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    syberghost wrote: »
    I even predicted that some of the people originally calling for it would join those threads (hi, Nagus!).

    I hope you have a link to where I said Cryptic should announce their plans before their ready, otherwise you are just lying.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    ...I don't know when I'll be able to do so...

    Hey Borysthenis!

    I too was curious - so I went and asked!

    Word is - the code for entering the info onto the website goes live Friday (tomorrow) morning sometime after 10am (Pacific)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    The problem is -- this is a program entirely designed to get people excited and talking about the game to their friends, so that their friends will play it.

    It worked. I got excited. Someone caught that enthusiasm. He's now ready to play the game and even bought a copy so he can do so.

    Only not only can't I refer him, I don't know when I'll be able to do so. And because I actually like this person, I'm not going to have him sit around waiting to play a game he paid for so I can get a holographic tribble.

    If you had read the fine print, you did it wrong anyways.

    You can only get credit for referrals in the referral program by using the Referral Program Technology they are designing for this.

    So even if they had released it already ... you and your friend did it wrong and you would not have been credited for it.

    So chalk it up to a lesson learned.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    superchum wrote: »
    If you had read the fine print, you did it wrong anyways.

    You can only get credit for referrals in the referral program by using the Referral Program Technology they are designing for this.

    So even if they had released it already ... you and your friend did it wrong and you would not have been credited for it.

    So chalk it up to a lesson learned.

    That part we didn't get wrong. He hadn't yet created his Cryptic account. Thus, he would have created his Cryptic account via the link in the e-mail sent by their Referral technology, then launched the game, and only then put in his purchase code. Thus, we would have properly completed steps 1 and 2. Then, if he actually liked the game enough to subscribe, step 3 would come in time.

    Only there's just so long he wanted to wait for Step 1 to be completable, which is entirely fair.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    dstahl wrote: »
    Hey Borysthenis!

    I too was curious - so I went and asked!

    Word is - the code for entering the info onto the website goes live Friday (tomorrow) morning sometime after 10am (Pacific)

    Thanks for that, dstahl. You're a solid fellow.

    It's (to my knowledge) still too late in this case. But hey, if I happen to have someone else who wants to try the game, with luck I can get a tribble out of it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    I hope you have a link to where I said Cryptic should announce their plans before their ready, otherwise you are just lying.

    Nice straw man, since you know darn well I didn't say that. Keep on thinking people have forgotten your old whines.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    syberghost wrote: »
    Nice straw man, since you know darn well I didn't say that. Keep on thinking people have forgotten your old whines.

    Hey, feel free to provide whatever links you can find that support your comments in this thread ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Hey, feel free to provide whatever links you can find that support your comments in this thread ;)

    I think this link supports my comments in this thread!
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