It's been suggested oh, maybe once or twice... :) If I weren't so lazy I'd look for a few links and say "Haha! QED!" but I'm lazy, sorry. :)
But people don't read... :) And you definitely can't force people to read. :) As you mention, all you can do is force people to click on something, something they won't read. Every EULA ever written shows this... :)
I think it would be nice if people could take the time to learn the rules around here, but I also think the people who are interested will look for them without being prompted. I think the people who aren't interested will ignore them, no matter how you try to get their attention... :)
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There's a link to the FAQ on Every Single Page. Most people will never read it.
A popup isn't going to make those people finally start reading, all it will do is make them click the "make this crap go away" button. Click. Problem solved! :)
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Oh, I don't think it is stupid, I only think it would produce no noticeable result. :)
How many people make backups before they experience first-hand the benefits of not losing everything? :)
I think most people look for solutions after they have a problem... Someone isn't going to care about the Bundle Games list or the 15% of store value rule until they try to get $100 of CV from their $1 bundle leftovers. :)
I think a popup, a special registration screen, walls of text, buttons to click, etc. would just be a thing people click through to reach the free games. And when you answer their FAQ with "Why didn't you read the mandatory blabla screen when you registered?" they will say "TL;DR and why don't you answer my question?" :)
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You are kind of right. Current measurement shows 1 in 3.5 of forum lurkers reads GA descriptions. Still better then public where it is at 1:10.
However I think big red message to the like "follow these rules or be banned" would cut down on those threads
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you can't make it appear all the time. and even than, it won't help... people dont read
hell, i only read the FAQ after a month or so on the site. we are bombarbarded with that stuff all the time. and your average gamer don't care.
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I know it won't happen but I'll say what I've said before: We need a small quiz about the most important DOs and DON'Ts that users have to take before they can enter GAs or use other features of this site (not just for new users, everyone would have to take it once) The only problem is that would only leave a tiny fraction of the current userbase and since this site is financed over ads less users would take away from ad revenues.
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You're a better person that I am ;) I normally go for the stick instead of the carrot :D
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You are right that trying to cover all areas of SteamGifts would be too much reading for the initial quiz.
The quiz as I imagine it should only cover the most important things like:
- All wins have to be activated on your own Steam account
- Do not regift games you have won I know that's basicly explaining the same rule but in my opinion it's the most important
- Do not give away free games
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it won't help at all. people that doesn't bother to read the rules will just get annoyed and close all popups.
in any case, change the FAQ button color to something more noticeable until it's clicked (so only new users will see it).
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I think it might help even just a small percentage. Combine it with Mullins' suggestion and it might help a bit more.
If even a small amount of people read the FAQ because of it, that already is a good thing.
(though the popup would need to be a different form. such as having to go to the actual page and scroll through before being able to get past it. Or have a tldr-version of some of the most important parts)
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Hrm, I've suggested this before in another thread but didn't push the idea much.
I thought to myself -- "How many sites have I signed up for and just clicked through a bunch of crap to get to why I had signed up?" Honestly, I think it's a great idea, but have my doubts as to how effective it would be. "Free games, OHHH AHHH!" and I can see people just madly clicking to get past everything to get to the good stuff.
BUT -- one advantage to giving them that opportunity to read the FAQ is that there would then really be no excusing infractions of the rules, and users could be much more swiftly and harshly dealt with, giving the mods and support staff a little more clout (aka big stick). Make them tick off a couple of boxes under rules or guidelines once they hit that FAQ page and maybe type the email address to which they want their gifts sent, and they may tend to read a little more than otherwise.
I don't know -- I see no reason NOT to have something like this, and I'm sure there are even better ways of implementing it than I've suggested. Those ideas are just off the top of my head.
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It wasn't a topic. it was someone saying something about people not reading the FAQ and I replied is all. When I said I didn't push the idea I should have said "I didn't bother making a topic about it because I'm too lazy to reply to everyone." :P
Yeah my idea might be a a bit much, but even if they had to scroll down or something, they might accidentally read more -- and with something in place to encourage them to hit the FAQ page at least once (other than 100 of us telling them to after the fact), it might at the very least cut down on some of the repeat offenders on the site.
No idea why something like this hasn't been done already, unless CG just doesn't want to discourage people, which is completely understandable. It may just not fit in at all with his vision of what the site should be. shrug
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How about a carrot instead of a stick?
Yes, I know I'm a rabbit and not a very clever one at that, but I'm thinking something along the lines of a puzzle with answers found in the FAQ, which gets the new user some sort of accomplishment (i.e. a step towards a free game).
Entry to a newbies special giveaway would be one possible reward, but that would need some sort of co-operative sponsorship for newbie giveaways (perhaps a pledge by new gifters?).
What other kinds of carrots can you bright folks think of that might be doable? Please be constructive rather than tear holes in my admittedly shoogly thinking!
EDIT: I noticed Sundance85's quiz idea after I posted, but it is a stick quiz rather than a carrot quiz; the carrot quiz should be entirely optional.
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Sure, I don't have all the answers, by a long shot. Just doing some vague hand-wavery and seeing what other ideas pop!
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We're on the same page, I think (see my edit).
Several folks have replied pointing out that any intrusive mechanism will be ignored; I'm simply throwing in the idea of adding the possibility of getting something out of it, and the quiz/puzzle may or may not be the way to do it.
How about something that INCORPORATES Space Cat? A chance to see him in all his glory just by showing you've made an attempt to understand this site, with a caption explaining "watch for me when you win in the future" or something?
Ideas, not criticism, please!
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It's funny when I replied to Sighery anwer to my quiz suggestion I also immediatly went to the carrot & stick anology without reading your post first :D
By the way I like your idea to give people an incentive to take the quiz.
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I believe it was implemented when SGv2 was released. But I wasn't support until a couple of months later, so I don't have knowledge to give any kind of comparison. Also Support can't see user reports, so no idea if there are a lot of fake giveaway reports or not.
It's my personal opinion that popups are ignored most of the time, so I don't know how much use it will be. I guess maybe even a small reduction in spam threads will be nice?
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