Giveaways, help us define and make this section for the community

Lukahn, it is refreshing to finally meet someone on these forums that can debate and argue a point without resorting to the typical "ur post is garbage and ur a retarded moron!!!!!!" responses that most of the arguments on here spiral down to.

Ok, I've finished my giveaway. It wasn't big, just 4 items. I'm not very rich yet by any standards and I must say it was fun to do. However, i definitely see the problems involved with this giveaway. I clearly stated in my thread that i was holding a contest between 8-8:30pm EST and giving the items to the winners of the contest, yet I had folks PM'ing me all night long begging for more items or for me to come to them and give them the item I promised. That's not the way it worked.

Inde/Dral, you'll need to establish some rules for how the giveaways should be held. Personally, I dislike giving stuff to the first person to ask for it here. I went thru several ideas for my giveaway before deciding on a contest. Yet a contest isn't truly a giveaway, it's a competition and some contests will involve more work than others. Is this considered appropiate for this forum? I hope so, but it's your call.

Another thought I had was a "trade up" giveaway. Again, this would not be a true giveaway, but still a means to get better gear to players. For example I'd offer perhaps 2 gold bows, a gold sword and a gold staff in the giveaway. In order to claim the weapon you must trade in a junky weapon of the same type. So to claim a bow, you'd have to trade me a bow. I expect I'd receive junky white starter weapons which I'd turn into gold weapons for the receiver. But again, this isn't a true giveaway and may not be allowed in this forum.

How about a sub-forum for contest style giveaways? And reserve the main section for true giveaways. Just an idea to think about as this place develops.

Sigh, dup post.


But since this is here, I'll use it to add on another idea.....

Taking off on Lukahn's suggestion, how about a "giveaway services" sub-forum. Here givers can post offers of free services. For example I could offer my level 20 warrior to help out with any Tyrian mission to the first 3 posters. Or someone could offer an hour's help tutoring a PvP newbie. ("free golf lessons from a pro" style gift) It may not be a viable idea for the forum, perhaps best just done ingame. What do others think?

As some of you seem to be afraid items that were given to be used are going to be sold by the person who received it, why mention the skin?

I bet that in my give away had I just said 15/stance bow req 9 I wouldn't have had as many request for the bow than I got now by mentioning it's a platinum bow.

I think that your "fre golf lessons from a pro" style gift is an awesome idea. I myself am a newcomer to guild wars and here to guru. I can't begin to explain how hard it was for me to get started. I would ask for help and would get replies like, "stupid noob!", or "lol" in response to my questions. I don't want to make it sound all bad though, because I did get help from other players and it made A WORLD of difference to me. I think it's an awesome idea, and when I levl up, I will be sure to help whenever I can.

I concur, I would love to see this kind of service. Most free services are in the Services section but the free ones get lost in with the ones you have to pay for. I've been thinking of beginning to offer chest run services myself to try to go for my Treasure Hunter track but I am afraid the service would get lost in the din of the other pay services listed. Having a free area to put these would help, I think.

I realize people can ask questions on the forums here already, but it's not the same as having an in game "guide" who can answer questions in real time right away.

Thanks for the kind words Raven, I liked how you did your contest even if I was dumb and couldn't figure out how to get my PvE character to the PvP areas.

One thought I had based on Raven's giveaway was to make those who want items collect random drops or something. In other words, become a "real" collector, like the NPC collectors: "I'll trade you this gold weapon for 2 leather belts, 2 grawl necklaces, and a scorched seed." Those who are looking for a quick sale may not necessarily want to go through the trouble of collecting this stuff.

Maybe some of these ideas are getting beyond the scope of the giveaway section though?

Ultimately I think it is important to keep in mind that most items in this section are likely not the ones that are uber-popular and in the highest demand. They are certainly valuable and get the job done, but of course I think it is unrealistic to expect that those giving items away would not sell super high value items.

Based on that, the question whether somebody that gets an item is better off or not is a secondary one, the item may be great and have an excellent use, but it may be lacking a few points to perfection that would give the items trading value in the first place.

I will think a bit more about my experience with my giveaway and post any conclusions I might have. My whisper channel looking like local chat in Lion's Arch US 1 comes to mind.

PS: Free services has been added. Also, please note that all users are able to close their own giveaway threads when they are done. That way, they don't get replies for a giveaway from the last millennium.

Just my thoughts based on what I've seen.

Things the original poster should include:
Distribution method. First come first served, random, however it's being done.
Contacting method. Say if you want to be whispered in-game, if responses must be posted in the thread, whatever.
Item Information. I've seen a lot of OP's posting only pics of their giveaway inventory, which is pretty and all, but it doesn't really say what the items are. This is especially bothersome for newer players who aren't familiar with an item just from an inventory icon, not to mention mods that look all the same. Include a list of what you're giving out.
Number of requested items allowed per person.
Upkeep of what's been taken. Updated at LEAST daily, editing the original post so people don't have to hunt through the whole thread. Most people do this already, but some don't; just thought I'd mention it.

Random Thoughs:
--I would also recommend waiting at least 24 hours before giving out the items, in order to limit the chance of thread-sitting vultures swooping in as soon as it's been posted.
--Disallow posters with accounts under a month or so, to help weed out the losers creating multiple accounts to snag items.
--There's no way to definitely ensure that items go to people who won't turn around and re-sell them. It's unfortunate, but that's the nature of the beast; there are gonna be d-bags who manage to slip through. Also, not all high-level characters sell them off - I like to outfit my heroes with good weapons, and if I can get them for free from a giveaway, so much the better.