Should there be a "Senior Member Deal Post Forum?"

[SS4Brolly]

I've finally had it. I am sick and tired of all of the lurkers. There are 2437 users with less than 20 posts, 2367 with less than 10, 2267 with less than 5, and 1900 without even 1 post. I know this is a free site and all, but it pisses me off when some jackass 12 year old that has lurked here for months comes along and buys 20 copies of Rygar (Like today), the Rio MP3 Player, or Skies of Arcadia giving nobody else a chance to get in on the deal.

This has given me this idea. Im not saying that ALL deals be posted on there, just some of the hot $5 game ones that pop up every now and then. Make it secretly open up to members that have more than 40 or 50 posts or something.

And I know that many of the lurkers would disagree with this and just keep voting "No", so please post your oppinion in addition to voting.

[spidey]

So how do you stop spam? Everyone will just reply thx to every thread 40 times and they'll be good to go.

As for Skies, it was posted in another heavy traffic forum before this one.

The MP3 player deal would have never worked out.

I don't know about the Rygar deal (didn't check it out).

I agree that there should be a way to stop lurkers but there is not much you can do about it. For one thing, I don't think a post count limitation is a way to do it.

[SS4Brolly]

Well whats your suggestion though? I just found out about the $5 Robotech Special Edtion deal. Another thing that Im sure someone abused.

The MP3 player deal could of worked if whoever that posted it was the one that discovered it and only 5 or 6 people got in on it.

Even then, 1900 lurkers is just too much.

[spidey]

Unfortunately, I have no suggestions. It's not a simple thing to do. Maybe you could weed out the spam in your idea but even then, "thanks" posts would ruin it.

At least the board is not readable without registration.

I have to agree with you that 1900 active lurkers is pretty bad.

[Liu Bei]

We're all not posting machines like you.

Besides the only real heavy activity on the boards is the Post Your Own Deal board, and quite frankly what kind of reply do you expect most people to make to people posting deals for sites and stores?

[TJordan522]

Just because I don't post a lot doesn't mean in any way that I am the jerk who buys 20 copies of everything so you guys dont get any. I'm sure some of the "lurkers" are like that, but not a lot of them. I just don't have anything to say....I log on once a day, check for deals, and sometimes follow through and use them, never excessively or selfishly. Making deals like the $5 Robotech game exclusive to people who post a lot doesnt seem fair.

What is wrong with not posting a lot? If I had a deal I found, I would post it. Its not like I'm keeping deals for myself....
I think it would be a bad idea to do this.

Jordan

P.S. If you do follow through with this,at least this is another post on my way to making "the list"! :D

[Mulliga]

We'd get flooded with stupid posts.

If people want to lurk, there's no way to stop them. Personally, I think I've only contributed 1 or 2 deals, but I'd like to think I've been helping in other ways. And what if someone just looks at the posts and orders just a single 5 dollar Rygar? Is it up to us to deny that to him/her?

These deals have always been "first come, first served." I vote to keep it that way.

[BigDirty]

'Brol, I'm gonna have to disagree with you.

1> This would just bring up lots of "Fluff" posting, which would make it harder to share deals.

2> Sooner or later, and more likely sooner, the deals will spring up on other boards and newsgroups, and the same people will get their mass amounts of copies.

3> It'll keep new/low posting users from sharing their deals. If they share and are a low poster locked out of certain forums, what will they get out of it?


There's a few factors to look at, first being timing, if you're not at your machine and looking, the deal may pass you buy quick.

Two, supply. None of us knows EXACTLY how many units were sold at the price. Also no one knows EXACTLY who bought how many.

I could go on for quite a while, but I don't think the system is broke, and therefore isn't in need of a 'fix'. If you miss out on the deals because of school, work, prison, or other obligations, bellyaching and privitizing the board will do as much as if you send an email to EB saying "I missed out on your last sale because I was in school, work, prison, etc. Can you delay changing the prices until its convienent for me?"

[WhipSmartBanky]

I'm going to add my $0.02 here as well...

I've been here a lot longer than some of the "All-Stars" and "Regulars," but I'm still labeled a "Newbie." Post count means absolutely squat. I've contributed a couple of reviews and join in the conversation when I have something to say. Otherwise, I keep my mouth shut.

You're complaining about people being lurkers, but hell, I wish some people around here wouldn't post as much as they do. There are a few people around here who haven't been members for long, yet have huge post counts and are "All-Stars" because they endlessly yammer on about useless shit and butt heads with other users.

If that's the kind of forum you'd like more of, then I'm sad for you.

[SS4Brolly]

Guess my idea bombed. Hard.

I wasnt tryig to make a spam issue out of it. Even just a 5 post requirement would do something, but I guess it doesnt matter much. Im not saying people that post a lot should get special privledges, just the people that dont post at all shouldnt be depriving the rest of us that have been here for a while from getting a game. I just dislike how now I have to pay an extra $20 or $30 for Skies of Arcadia because some jerk bought 20. But I guess that can't be helped. I just dislike how 1900 members (Around 2/3rds) have contributed absolutly nothing to the comunity. Not even just in the deal forum, but even to the others. I would assume that 99% of them just go right to the deal forum and stay.

WhipSmartBanky - I know what your talking about. I just have a high count because I've been pretty much here for 10 or 15 minutes every day for the past half year.

[Liu Bei]

And what are you going to do about the frontpage? Most of the better deals are posted right on the site, where you don't even have to view the boards to even find out about it. Sure you might see it faster on the boards, but its usually not long until CheapyD post it on the homepage.

I'm sure the number of people just visiting the main page is a lot more than the 2000+ registered members on the board...

[PaP3rKuT]

I'm sure the number of people just visiting the main page is a lot more than the 2000+ registered members on the board...

i would have agree...it is hard to stop lurkers and if they dont see it on this site im sure they have or sites/board with teh same deals...so jus use the instant message notification when theres a new deal posted...or u can always check this site out more often...

[Staind204]

I know I'm new so naturally I would disagree, but you have to think its not just the newbies who buy everything. I just wish the sites would put a limit of 1 or 2 on the deals so everyone could benefit from the deals. I missed out on the $5 Rygar deal AGAIN :-(

[Scrubking]

Lurkers are a problem, but there isn't much that can be done about it cept periodiclly delete user accounts with low post numbers or deal contributions, and hopefully they will start contributing or leave. Mind you putting that into action is a lot harder than it sounds.

You're complaining about people being lurkers, but hell, I wish some people around here wouldn't post as much as they do. There are a few people around here who haven't been members for long, yet have huge post counts and are "All-Stars" because they endlessly yammer on about useless shit and butt heads with other users.

If that's the kind of forum you'd like more of, then I'm sad for you.

You do not dictate what is uselss or not so if you don't like a post don't read it and stop whining.

[SS4Brolly]

Dont worry too much Staind. Like I was saying before, there ARE other forums on the site. I personally have only contributed 3 or 4 deals, but I do read every post in the other forums. They do exist, Lurkers. You should look at them sometime.

[DisturbedZen]

I agree.. There'd be alot of spam.. Taking up the bandwidth and everything.. Plus.. Spam!

[Scrubking]

Cheapy could also implement a system that tracks your contributions and reward those with a lot of contributions with a special board just for them, but that would be hard to do as well.

For now all we can do is get lucky and be on as soon as a deal we want is posted or constantly be on the lookout for a good deal.

[WhipSmartBanky]

You do not dictate what is uselss or not so if you don't like a post don't read it and stop whining.

Excuse me, asshole? Guilty conscience?

[minx]

^the sudden vicious streak you're is screwing with my happy vibe

go eat a cookie or something...... there are certain advantages to not being able to talk with your mouth full you might appreciate later ;-)

[WhipSmartBanky]

^the sudden vicious streak you're is screwing with my happy vibe

go eat a cookie or something...... there are certain advantages to not being able to talk with your mouth full you might appreciate later ;-)

Heh, don't worry...little Scrubby thought he was gonna call me out over his own guilt. He apparently thinks I was referring to him and had a problem with it, so I responded in kind. Had he just ignored my post if he didn't like it, like he so kindly suggested I do, it wouldn't have been said.

Carry on :)

[Osh Kosh B'iotch]

It seems like there's been a unhealthy amount of anomosity on these forums lately. :roll:

[Scrubking]

You do not dictate what is uselss or not so if you don't like a post don't read it and stop whining.

Excuse me, asshole? Guilty conscience?

I'll care about what you say when you contribute some more to the site.

*swats whipsmartbanky away*

[WhipSmartBanky]

I'll care about what you say when you contribute some more to the site.

*swats whipsmartbanky away*

You obviously care enough to continue to reply. Oh, and kid, quit acting like you've got pull around here. You're nothing but a fart in the wind. You won't make me go away any more than I can make you be less of a dipshit.

[Scrubking]

I'll care about what you say when you contribute some more to the site.

*swats whipsmartbanky away*

You obviously care enough to continue to reply. Oh, and kid, quit acting like you've got pull around here. You're nothing but a fart in the wind. You won't make me go away any more than I can make you be less of a dipshit.

Go back to gamefaqs with the rest of your kind you are stinking up this place.

[WhipSmartBanky]

Go back to gamefaqs with the rest of your kind you are stinking up this place.

Again with the pull you think you have. I hope you understand you're the one who took issue with me first. I wasn't referring to you in my initial post, but you most certainly took it to heart. Why don't you take your own advice and let it go? Just looking to pad your post count? Bring it on...I got the time.

[minx]

http://www.mrsfields.com/images/product_images/image-med-476.jpg


I said eat the cookies damn it!

Notice these cookies have mouths on them

If you don't bite them first, they'll bite you -- I suggest that we eat quickly ;-)

[Scrubking]

Go back to gamefaqs with the rest of your kind you are stinking up this place.

Again with the pull you think you have. I hope you understand you're the one who took issue with me first. I wasn't referring to you in my initial post, but you most certainly took it to heart. Why don't you take your own advice and let it go? Just looking to pad your post count? Bring it on...I got the time.

Bring it on? No thanks I'm trying to quit for the site's sake. And if you think that guilty concsience crap is going to cover for your very explicit and detailed jab at, if not me then a category I am a part of (cause I am not afraid to admit that I have caused a lot of drama here lately), you are not as smart as your name implies.

[WhipSmartBanky]

Bring it on? No thanks I'm trying to quit for the site's sake. And if you think that guilty concsience crap is going to cover for your very explicit and detailed jab at, if not me then a category I am a part of (cause I am not afraid to admit that I have caused a lot of drama here lately), you are not as smart as your name implies.

Silly Scrubby...you're still going on about this? Ah well. You know, I don't understand why you want to be the subject of my post so bad. You are proving my point though. Repeatedly. Thanks! :)

[SS4Brolly]

http://www.mrsfields.com/images/product_images/image-med-476.jpg


I said eat the cookies damn it!

Notice these cookies have mouths on them

If you don't bite them first, they'll bite you -- I suggest that we eat quickly ;-)

Cookies are nice. Good Suggestion Minx.

[video_gamer324]

Going back to the original topic of this post, I love the idea but think it would be impossible to execute. To me, one post that contributes to the site (not clutters) should give you access to this "secret deal" board. Who's to determine if your post "contributes", though?

Also, the problem with information is that you can never really contain it. Tell 10 friends a secret and one doesn't keep it - what happens? Everyone knows, and your "secret" has completely lost its purpose. What would prevent a similar thing from happening here?

[BigDirty]

Also, the problem with information is that you can never really contain it. Tell 10 friends a secret and one doesn't keep it - what happens? Everyone knows, and your "secret" has completely lost its purpose. What would prevent a similar thing from happening here?

Was my point exactly.... and if the deals start to dry up here, well then everyone will pack up camp and go to where the deals flow unrestrictively.

Minx- Thanks for the cookie, it was smileriffic, now if you only had some with peace signs on them.....

WSB- there are 2 two users with all star rankings on this site, I'm keeping my mouth fairly shut about it, just next time when you're saying something general, don't direct it at 2 people.

[WhipSmartBanky]

WSB- there are 2 two users with all star rankings on this site, I'm keeping my mouth fairly shut about it, just next time when you're saying something general, don't direct it at 2 people.

I could say "semantics" as earlier in my initial post I referred to some of the "Regulars" as well as "All-Stars." However, I failed to do that in my example. Ah well.

[Anonymous]

I didn't read this whole string, just Brolly's first post. This site, and sites like it, wouldn't do nearly as well if it weren't for the casual users. 1900 "lurkers" who buy one game each through the site (along with all the hits they contribute) do more good than the 50 most active members. Also, you're assuming that people who post the most messages contribute more to the site than other people. I've hit this site at least once a day since I was turned on to it a few months ago.....look at it every day. Ive also bought like 15 things through cag's links. What harm does a guy like me (even though I only have 3 posts) do to this site? So go ahead and try to exclude everyone who doesn't post 10 times a day.....its sad that even on a fun videogame site like this you can't escape selfishness and petty politics from people like Brolly who need to feel important and throw their weight around.

[Anonymous]

Why must every public online forum degenerate into clannishness and elitism? People (lurkers and posters alike) come here for cheap ass game deals, not to post ten opninions a day. I click through the links, I refer friends to the site. This helps the site in a concrete way .

I fail to see the connection between frequency of posts and a contribution to the deal community. All this arguing does nothing to share good deals or put a little change in Cheapy's pockets.

There is also no demonstrable connection between post-frequency and deal-hogging. Would it make everyone feel better if all the copies of Rygar or SOA had been bought by an AllStar?

I'll say this, though: Provocative topics like this will certainly up the post counts (I think mine justwent up 50%). <Smile>

[famousmort]

Or it would have, had I been logged in. Sorry. :(

[darkshadows6000]

The senior discount wouldn't work since people would flood the forums with junk e-mail to meet the quota.

This site has grown quite a bit since I first joined. CheapyD has done quite a bit of work setting up the front page to allow the casual shopper to check out the bargains. (Certainly beats newsgroups.) When the site first started, finding a cheap deal to post was usually no more difficult than going to the first page of a gaming site and posting the $5 off coupon link here. Now, it's difficult to find the "great" deals out there before anyone else since there are alot of shopping sites out there.

Additionally, I amazed sometimes at how vigilent some of you are at data mining at these sites. Several sites that scan the inventories of games stores for price changes don't do nearly as well as some of the contributors here. (Keep up the good work.) :D

(By the way, what happened to bluetoast?)

[Mulliga]

A date-based system might work. Maybe there should be a vote for that?

[SS4Brolly]

If Im not mistaken, Bluetoast went to college. He's on every once in a while, but not all of the time.

famoutmort - I already said that I dont contribute a ton of deals to the site. All I was trying to say is that I dont particually care for people who join the site and just leech off of the general populace. Theres nothing wrong with not wanting to be very active, but 2/3 of all members not having a single post says something. Read my other posts.

[darkshadows6000]

Are you suggesting that certain people get preference based upon the last time they had a date?

:P

[Gaijin]

Maybe make it so that you need to post everytime you want to view some cheapass deals..? Put a temp cookie to delete itself at the end of the day. So that a temp cookie gets inserted again when you post. This might seem like a lot of work, but it'll reduce what you hate so much.

[SS4Brolly]

I believe that the overall concensus was No, so I dont think anything would work.

[dynamite99]

i didnt read all the posts but here is my idea. why dont we just banned or suspend the inactive ppl. maybe we can have a limit or something, like you'll be suspended for inactive for 7 days. apam messages will get delete, and double take out (if 2 spam, 4 get delete)
some ppl might not post alot but sometime will post a deal if they find one, but most ppl dont, and those should be punish :x
i know it's a free site and all and we should share the wealth, but it just not fair for ppl who take their time to finds deals and not get any in return

[bluetoast]

hehe, darkshadows, I'm still here. Yeah, since I'm at college, I haven't been able to post as much as I used to.

About this deal arguement:

I'm not sure about this, there are good arguements from both sides.

On the one hand, we have many people generating small profit, by buying through this site.

On the other hand we have the deal hunters and active posters.

I think everyone has an equal chance at getting the deals, but yes, I don't doubt that there are people that clean out the stock once a new deal is posted.

[CheapyD]

Guys, you all make good points, but I just don't think its feasible to restrict access to the site beyond registration. I understand your frustation at deals drying up and people "taking advantage" of the site, but in reality, there is not much I can do about that without having a negative side-effect on the site

What I can do is have some contests restricted to those who have a certain number of posts (which one of you recommended, I forget who).

I really appreciate that you guys care enough about CAG to give it so much thought and so much of your time.

[Demon-Xanth]

The MP3 player was either going to be a miracle or was dead long before I posted it. It was on both FatWallet and Anandtech's boards which have a much higher readership than these ones before it came here.

As far as a "senior member" type of forum, the only way that could work is with a human "invite" system where a user is checked out to see if thier posts are worthwhile. I may not post much, but I try to keep them relevant. I understand where you're coming from on this one though. I've tried to get in on a couple of deals recently and have been a day late.

I'm kind of split on this issue. I like the idea of it, but can't see it as feasable.

[SS4Brolly]

Cheapy's got it right though.

However, I did think of a possible solution. Who would be interested in some sort of AIM/MSN "club", where whenever a good deal pops up (Like a $5 Rygar), one can send messages to the others? The Usergroups option would be a great to do this. Just whenever see's something good, then can just send a quick AIM message to everyone on the group to let them know. As much as I try, I cant be on CAG all of the time.