Partnered: JACT Offers Rewards for Members (US only right now)

Inde

Site Contributor

Join Date: Dec 2004

We are excited to announce that MMOGuru has teamed up with JACT Media to help support the site. We've been testing out JACT's service and we want to let everyone know about it, so you can support our supporters.

You get what are deemed "BUX" for playing your favorite MMO’s. All you have to do is request an invite code on their site and then download the client. It's very small, and has no spyware or viruses and no in-game ads; it just checks to see if you're playing a game and, if you are, it dispenses BUX for every minute you play that you can redeem on their site for rewards.

Here's the blurb from their community manager:

Quote:
Originally Posted by juno_ilix
JACT is a beta service for PC gamers who want to get something extra out of their time spent gaming. As a JACT gamer, when you play Guild Wars (or any of our 300+ supported PC games) you will accumulate JACT BUX that you can spend in the JACT Mall on games, music, media, and more (including cheap prizes for those who can’t wait to get their first reward). JACT was created by gamers, for gamers, so we designed JACT around what we’d want: no annoying pop-up ads interrupting your game, no monthly fee to join. We're sponsored by vendors who want you (the gamer) to see their products while you browse our mall.

Currently, JACT is still in beta (and only in the US ONLY for now), but we’re adding new features all the time, like competition mode on our CS:S game server for bonus BUX, and rewards for referring friends.

Play GW with Purpose…Get JACT.

juno_ilix
JACT Community Mgr
Proud sponsor of MMO Guru
www.jact.com
If you'd like more information you can also check out Ten Ton Hammer's Interview with the companies president Jimmy Yang that can answer more questions:

Exclusive Interview with JACT President Jimmy Yang

Lyynyyrd

Lyynyyrd

Banned

Join Date: Jun 2008

Aussie Trolling Crew - Spah!

Remember, JACT can currently only ship to the continental US, Hawaii and Alaska.

mrmango

mrmango

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2006

Southern California

Charter Vanguard [CV]

Me/Rt

Hmm, I'll look into their program. cool

Nick Of Troy

Nick Of Troy

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2008

New Zealand.

Human Alliance [HA]

D/E

Remember, JACT can currently only ship to the continental US, Hawaii and Alaska.

Any plans to expand as far as Australia anytime soon?

Unreal Havoc

Guest

Join Date: Dec 2007

Quote:
Currently, JACT is still in beta (and only in the US ONLY for now
I stopped reading there.

jonnieboi05

jonnieboi05

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Mableton, Georgia

Guild Ancestors Reunited [?????????]

ok so long story short you get RL prizes for every minute you are playing a game?



~LeNa~

Sjeng

Sjeng

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2005

in my GH

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Unreal Havoc View Post
Currently, JACT is still in beta (and only in the US ONLY for now )
I stopped reading there.
yup... me too. EU not included = not interested.

Darcy

Darcy

Never Too Old

Join Date: Jul 2006

Rhode Island where there are no GW contests

Order of First

W/R

The jact.com links are not working for me.

RTSFirebat

RTSFirebat

The Humanoid Typhoon

Join Date: May 2005

UK

Servants of Fortuna [SoF]

R/

Can someone edit to title to say US only... title of the thread misleading.

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by RTSFirebat View Post
Can someone edit to title to say US only... title of the thread misleading.
Yes please...and frankly just cruel telling a whole lot of people on the forum what they're not allowed to have.

Inde

Site Contributor

Join Date: Dec 2004

All right, I have indeed edited the title to say US only. Sorry! You know I try very hard to keep things international here but this is a beta hence the "invite only" language you'll receive when trying to sign up and currently only in the US. And apparently their site is down right now... maybe you all overloaded it.

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

So basically you'll fire up JACT, log-in to GuildWars and let yourself be AFK overnight....I don't get it.

Edit:Okay, nevermind... you have to be active for JACT to recognize your gaming

Quote:
user input to the computer is used to calculate if you are "Active" in your game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

However, as of now JACT only sends the prizes to the US. Other countries should be able to gather BUX nonetheless. Just pray your country will included after the beta is successfully closed.

Aye, confirmation is in this thread over at JACT.com.

Quote:
WHAT WE CAN PROMISE, is that any points you earn now, will he honored and would be available DAY 1 when we do expand.
Guess I'll be signing up after all.

Targren

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2007

Primeval Warlords[wuw]

R/

Hrm... What is their business model... Seems a little too good to be true.

DarkNecrid

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2006

You should also mention that it's not just MMO's contrary to your OP, Inde, but many computer games (FPS, Racing, etc.)

But yes, JACT rules. I use it.

Quote:
Hrm... What is their business model... Seems a little too good to be true.
They explain it on the site, but basically, advertiser's pay them money, and when you go to their site and use their service, you give said advertiser's viewership. The advertiser's give JACT money on the off chance that the consumers using JACT will give the advertiser's back more by seeing their ads. It's a relatively basic and simple system that works.

Snow Bunny

Snow Bunny

Alcoholic From Yale

Join Date: Jul 2007

Strong Foreign Policy [sFp]

Nice selection of games that are supported.

I'm very curious as to how they raise revenue with this.

DarkNecrid

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snow Bunny View Post
Nice selection of games that are supported.

I'm very curious as to how they raise revenue with this.
Quote:
They explain it on the site, but basically, advertiser's pay them money, and when you go to their site and use their service, you give said advertiser's viewership. The advertiser's give JACT money on the off chance that the consumers using JACT will give the advertiser's back more by seeing their ads. It's a relatively basic and simple system that works.
This is actually rather profitable over a long amount of time. It isn't profitable for them in the short run per se, but the actual system itself is rather easy to maintain by a very few amount of people (compared to most stuff that uses this system), so it doesn't need to be especially profitable. It's a good thing that benefits the gamers & advertiser's more so than them actually!


Highly recommend this to anyone who plays even 1 of the games it supports btw. You gain those BUX faster than you know it, and maybe you could save them all up and buy Diablo Thr-Guild Wars 2 when it comes out (for free!)

juno_ilix

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2008

Thanks for the review DarkNecrid! Glad to see there are some JACT users already signed up.

I'm juno_ilix, the Community Manager at JACT. If you have any more questions, you can PM me or email me (community at jact.com).

Here are some quick links:
Official International Gamer Policy (FAQ)
About Us

Essentially, DarkNecrid's right about our business model. We sell traditional ads on our website, and we also sell slots in the JACT Mall. When vendors buy a slot, they can offer their products in the JACT Mall and every JACT gamer who browses through might see it (photo, description, etc). So it's even more effective than traditional advertising.

Also, we may aggregate gameplay data for the industry in report form (example: 5% of people who play GW bought WoW: Wrath of the Lich King raffle tickets). Lots of companies are interested in that kind of aggregated data.

The long of the short is that gamers can get a lot out of it.

-juno_ilix
JACT Community Mgr

RTSFirebat

RTSFirebat

The Humanoid Typhoon

Join Date: May 2005

UK

Servants of Fortuna [SoF]

R/

Hopefully this will become available in other areas soon, seems a shame for it to US base only. But at least Inde has edited the title of the thread now.

Squiffy

Squiffy

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Sep 2006

E/

So, people in the EU can use it and still gain these points but not gain prizes atm? Slightly confused.

juno_ilix

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2008

Well... unfortunately no. The prior quote from our forums is out of date. We cannot support any users from the EU because of certain EU business regulations. Our plans are to eventually expand, but at the moment we are US-only.

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by juno_ilix View Post
Well... unfortunately no. The prior quote from our forums is out of date. We cannot support any users from the EU because of certain EU business regulations. Our plans are to eventually expand, but at the moment we are US-only.
Aw.....my bad

RTSFirebat

RTSFirebat

The Humanoid Typhoon

Join Date: May 2005

UK

Servants of Fortuna [SoF]

R/

So there is basically no plans to expand it to anywhere else anytime soon? Shame.

BuyMoore

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2007

So how long does it take to earn a BUX? Anyone try this yet?

Darcy

Darcy

Never Too Old

Join Date: Jul 2006

Rhode Island where there are no GW contests

Order of First

W/R

Well, site went active again and I signed up. Turned it on and played Sins between dropping and picking up people. It logged 4 for about 1 hour play.

Done with running around, so I logged into GW and started vanquishing Talus Chute. I noticed that the meter wasn't changing, it still said 4. I check the Eamonn program and it said Offline. I told it to check the points, it said it couldn't connect to the server. I relogged into Eamonn and got same problem.

When I checked the tech forum on Jact.com, it seems this is a common problem that they have decided is caused by inactivity disconnect of your network card. This makes it a player problem and not their server problem.

But I have never had an inactivity disconnect on my network before. I use a Gigabyte USB network connector and have a wireless network. I have never had any program disconnect because it was running in the background.

Guess I won't be earning any BUCs afterall. Very disappointing.

---------------
My account is now functional. I even received two emails - one explaining the problem and one saying it was fixed. Good support.

Phaern Majes

Phaern Majes

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2005

Anywhere but up

The Panserbjorne [ROAR]

R/Mo

Eh what happened to me is it froze at 12 after an hour of play. I played for another half hour then went afk for a smoke. When I came back it had jumped up to 65'ish. I'm not sure how often it updates and what not, but I found that if it quits updating just go to a town and sit afk for 2-3 minutes and it forces the update.

Not sure thats just how it worked for me, though sometimes it would give me 2-4 points at 5-10 minute intervals too. Weird system but hey getting free stuff for playing a game I was going to play anyways is cool. But man some of those items are loads of points!! (understandably)

DarkNecrid

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phaern Majes View Post
Eh what happened to me is it froze at 12 after an hour of play. I played for another half hour then went afk for a smoke. When I came back it had jumped up to 65'ish. I'm not sure how often it updates and what not, but I found that if it quits updating just go to a town and sit afk for 2-3 minutes and it forces the update.

Not sure thats just how it worked for me, though sometimes it would give me 2-4 points at 5-10 minute intervals too. Weird system but hey getting free stuff for playing a game I was going to play anyways is cool. But man some of those items are loads of points!! (understandably)
You can tell it how much to update in your Preferences.

Also it awards bux as far as I can tell based on the game and a bunch of other facts. I get more BUX in WoW than I do in a lot of other games.

PyrAnkh

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2006

Lowbird Academy [LoW]

W/

needs more euro love

Valcion

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2007

A/

Gonna have to check it out more after class today, but what's the BUX/minute ratio here? I did a quick calculation assuming 1 bux/minute, and even my total GW hours across all characters don't come 1/3 close to some of the prizes.

juno_ilix

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2008

IMPORTANT MESSAGE: JACT experienced a (very untimely) server outtage, which affected some people's ability to use Eamonn in the past 48 hours or so...

However, it is fixed now! So if you had some issues at the outset, give it another shot. Hopefully we didn't get off on the wrong foot with everyone. o_o

Anyway, as for the BUX accrual, there's lots of discussion about this on the JACT forums, but we consider the actual rate proprietary and don't officially publish it. I will say that the idea behind JACT is similar to that of a frequent flier rewards program: the rewards add up somewhat slowly, but it's an added incentive to the time you already spend playing GW (or other pc games). There are some less expensive prize drawings available in the Mall to help you maximize your BUX if you'd rather not save up for months. More ways to save

Valcion

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2007

A/

hmmm...all I have to say is, if you want any of the items in there, it'd be far more convenient and efficient to just get a random job, even if it's minimum wage (you can play GW for 400 hours, or CS for 80 hours since it's doing that 5x BUX thing right now, or get a job for 8 hours, your call).

This is one of those things that you should download since you're already playing the game and there's nothing to lose, but there's nothing to really gain either (prize drawings are 100ish point, but your chances of winning are about 0 so don't count on it) unless you're one of those Chinese/Vietnamese gold ricers that play 24/7.

So yeah, it IS too good to be true, since you really can't use it for anything.

Just my $0.02

Inde

Site Contributor

Join Date: Dec 2004

You know, gaming can't really be used for anything either. Yet we throw hours and hours away grinding and playing them. This serves as a possible "perk" for doing nothing other then downloading a bit of software, not to mention that most of us do all ready have jobs. Talking in IRC we have a few guru members who were all ready signed up for the program. One I was talking to had racked up 5.7k in BUX after only 1.5 months. Not a terribly big amount but really enough to participate in the things that JACT has to offer and shop in the Mall they have. Imagine a year of gameplay, being able to go back and actually DO SOMETHING with all that gameplay by getting yourself a DVD (shipping is free, truly no cost). It's silly, but it's free! I haven't even used the system yet myself but I do plan on it because if I can rack up some points in the background by doing nothing more then what I'm all ready doing... can't be such a bad thing.

Darcy

Darcy

Never Too Old

Join Date: Jul 2006

Rhode Island where there are no GW contests

Order of First

W/R

I agree with Inde, no brown-nosing intended. It's nice to see the numbers go up on the meter, while I do my usual. Now I'm getting paid for playing games.

Some of my older games are on the list. I might reinstall them. Jact BUCS give me a reason to replay. Just think of the hours spent on Morrowind (which I never finished).

Valcion

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2007

A/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Inde View Post
You know, gaming can't really be used for anything either. Yet we throw hours and hours away grinding and playing them. This serves as a possible "perk" for doing nothing other then downloading a bit of software, not to mention that most of us do all ready have jobs. Talking in IRC we have a few guru members who were all ready signed up for the program. One I was talking to had racked up 5.7k in BUX after only 1.5 months. Not a terribly big amount but really enough to participate in the things that JACT has to offer and shop in the Mall they have. Imagine a year of gameplay, being able to go back and actually DO SOMETHING with all that gameplay by getting yourself a DVD (shipping is free, truly no cost). It's silly, but it's free! I haven't even used the system yet myself but I do plan on it because if I can rack up some points in the background by doing nothing more then what I'm all ready doing... can't be such a bad thing.
don't get me wrong, I think it's fine to dl and use it and I would encourage anyone to do it(I have it running whenever I play GW or War3, on the other hand, I'm surprised SC isn't supported) since it's potentially free stuff.

what I was trying to say is people should treat this like a bonus that you'll receive after 1 or 2 years, and not use this as a means to get stuff, because there are much better ways out there for that. Don't let this affect how you play your game.

just a warning out there considering the mass droves of people that title grinded for HoM just so they can carry over some minor things to GW2, which IMO is just plain wrong.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darcy View Post
I agree with Inde, no brown-nosing intended. It's nice to see the numbers go up on the meter, while I do my usual. Now I'm getting paid for playing games

Some of my older games are on the list. I might reinstall them. Jact BUCS give me a reason to replay. Just think of the hours spent on Morrowind (which I never finished).
you're not getting paid to play games by using this program(i don't know about you, but I wouldn't call $0.000001 per hour as "getting paid"). Playing games is fine, but playing games to watch the BUX number go up isn't. But you know, w/e float your boat

Targren

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2007

Primeval Warlords[wuw]

R/

Anyone else have it hard-lock the entire system when running GW?

Senrath

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Halfway between here and there

Advanced Technology [CCCP]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Targren View Post
Anyone else have it hard-lock the entire system when running GW?
Nope. Hasn't given me any problems yet.

Smurf Minions

Smurf Minions

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Somewhere you can't see

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

N/

Hope it will come soon to the EU, looks like it is really worthy to try

Alleji

Alleji

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Targren View Post
Hrm... What is their business model...
That's what I'm wondering.

Also, what happens if I run GW, Starcraft, Age of Empires, and whatever other games I can find that are supported at the same time + a bot that presses spacebar?

Senrath

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Halfway between here and there

Advanced Technology [CCCP]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alleji View Post
That's what I'm wondering.

Also, what happens if I run GW, Starcraft, Age of Empires, and whatever other games I can find that are supported at the same time + a bot that presses spacebar?
As far as I know, the software can only register a single game at a time. Also, they have some form of antibot measures. Dunno what they are, though.

juno_ilix

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2008

We do take appropriate measures to prevent gamers from cheating the system (search google and I'm sure you'll find some talk of it). Eamonn does actually detect multiple games at a time, (Tools - > Display Detected Games ); however, you can only earn BUX for one of them at a time.

As for the BUX accrual rate, due to our recent server problems the rate you noted late last week may not be representative of the regular accrual rate... it's higher than "$0.000001 per hour." But that said, it isn't meant to reward you with a free item every week.... we would go out of business. Think of it this way - you don't book twice as many flights so you can earn a free flight faster with airline miles. Or this way - you don't rack up tons of debt so you can get that extra 5% cashback on your credit card. However, if you're taking flights anyway, or using your credit card for groceries anyway, might as well be earning frequent flier miles or 5% cash back. JACT is just like that, for gamers.

I think I posted about our business model on page 1, but you can always go to JACT: About Us as a quick reference.

-juno_ilix
JACT Community Mgr

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

What about support for countries that aren't in the EU and aren't US? Or is this another one of those times where Australians will not exist? All I've seen is talk about adding support for the EU. There's a lot of countries out there that are neither US OR EU.