In-app rewards gaming network (Startup Weekend product - need feedback)
gameboost.me
gameboost.me
Aren't the key details something along the lines of "You implement an in-game currency, we give you a widget which lets users select from various offers to earn currency by taking actions which have high CPA affiliate payouts, we insulate you from the metric truckload of customer support requests this will generate, and you get paid on a fairly regular schedule"? Or maybe two steps beyond this, "Yeah we know you've heard this before but a) we have higher quality offers, b) we police the feed religiously to ensure your users don't get scammed, c) our CS is really top-notch to get users instant credit for things even when the actual CPA is delayed by days, and d) we're experts at dealing with the pathologies of poor people and promise to keep you far, far away from the seedy underbelly of our business."
2. Do zero work on it.
3. Set up a landing page.
4. Submit link to HN.
5. Gauge the response.
This new trend really pisses me off...
If someone puts the work into it I have no problem with it, but I know that there is a 99% chance that this thing has no substance.
Note: to offset the rant, I'm upvoting your submit.
Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of the events, and have had good experiences at some I've attended. But there is often a huge inequality between the number of devs and the number of business guys- if you're not careful you end up in a group full of business, but with little ability to execute over the space of a weekend.
So you end up with a weekend spent arguing over a domain name, setting up a LaunchRock page and sending out Google Spreadsheet surveys.
At the same time, their video looks like it's the same premium currency model as every other game microtransaction service out there.
It would really help if they could show something more, or at least write more about their service.
Thanks.
For reference: I kind of have hopes of eventually doing a simulation (aka "game") to try to teach other people how I got well when doctors say it cannot be done. So I don't agree when people dismiss games and related topics as having no social value. I'm sincerely trying to understand your perspective.
Thanks so much for indulging me. :-)
I am a game developer, actually, and I believe games can have great social value. So I support you in pursuing your idea.
"Rewards" systems like the one described here, though, are not about giving anything to the audience. They are purely about taking money away from people, and doing it as manipulatively and sneakily as possible. I believe the net social value for things like this is deeply negative.
Thanks so much for taking me seriously. Sometimes people think I'm just being snarky. What do you think does work for trying to monetize a game? I'm not sure there will ever be any money in my plans to make a game (in part because the target audience has no money, only debts from large medical expenses), but my sons also want to make games. Somewhere in there, someone needs to make actual money. Any thoughts?