Giveaways? [Opinion]

[deleted]

[Edit: I did not expect so many responses. I appreciate all the contributions to this post and I will take them to heart.]

Let me begin by saying that I do not expect anything to come of this. I only want to state an opinion about this site.

Giveaways! We see them all the time. Items, villagers, services, whatever. Some people on this site are benevolent souls who are willing to give things away for free. There is nothing wrong with this.

My problem is when the “giveaway” has conditions and OP throws “first come, first serve” out the window.

I especially can’t stand an ambiguous villager giveaway where the OP says, “Tell me why you want this villager.” and the replies are either borderline ad misericordiam fallacies or just general emotional appeals. Then again, how else does one respond to that? This is all a video game. We have no real reason to want certain villagers other than liking them or thinking that they’re cute/aesthetically pleasing. There’s no serious way to say, “I am somehow more credible and more deserving of this villager than everyone else.” It can be nice to hear people’s stories and experiences, but isn’t that what the ACNH general discussion forum is for? These things should not be a factor in giveaways, sales, or trades.

I know that it’s the OP’s property and they should be able to do whatever they want with it. This is just my opinion. I think that there should be a line. I feel that giveaways should be “first come, first serve.” and if you want to establish conditions, host an auction. Then again, there are many problems with those...

 

[Flyffel]

I don't really understand your problem. I don't see at all why giveaways should be first come, first serve.

 

[*The Oakboro Mayor*]

I think choosing gives everyone a chance to participate, not just the people who happen apon a thread for @first come, first serve”. Just my opinion, and you are allowed to have yours.

 

[Arithmophobia17]

i personally feel that "first come, first serve" is kind of less fair than using a random number generator. like two people both REALLY want Marshal, for example. one person is from North America, and is awake at the time that the giveaway is posted. another person is from Japan, and is asleep. the other person doesn't deserve a chance at Marshal because it's first come first serve? of course, that's just an example and an opinion, but a lot of people on the forums seem to be from North America or similar timezones, and having giveaways last longer and using a random number generator gives more people a fair chance. however, i don't like when people ask for why a person wants a villager and chooses the person based on the story - that just encourages people to make up sob stories as to why they deserve a virtual animal in a video game. I do understand first come first serve giveaways when the person needs the item or villager gone soon and such, but i still like knowing that i have a chance instead of not having any chance because i posted a few seconds late.

 

[Faux]

I am also here to agree that first come, first serve does not seem fair to me. I don't enjoy it when giving away or trying to receive.
When I ask people to tell me why they want a villager, I ask not because I will be choosing the most moving story, but because I want to read what makes others happy, why it makes them happy, and to just feel nice about that until I use a random number picker to pick someone from the mass of people who had responded.

By doing the giveaway of a popular or hard - to - find villager or something, you are bringing happiness.
By asking people to tell you happy memories of that villager, or just general happy thoughts of them, you get to share in the happiness yourself.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[celesludenberg]

I honestly disagree, I feel as though using RNG to choose when multiple people are interested is the most fair option here. That way everyone who waits an item/villager has a good shot at getting it. I also think that maybe the reason why they ask people to say why they want a certain villager, even if they are going to choose by RNG, is just to keep replies interesting to read. Just my thoughts though and we can all agree to disagree.

 

[Red Cat]

A giveaway is a giveaway as long as you aren't asking for anything in return for what you're giving away. It doesn't matter how you decide to distribute the items, bells, or villagers to people. I don't have a problem with doing raffles. Asking people to tell a story or why they want something is okay too, but I feel like that can introduce some bias or favoritism into the giveaway which is why I'm less of a fan of that.

 

[Antonio]

There should be a giveaway and freebie option because giveaway can mean contest or freebie.

That's what I was thinking earlier, Is that what you mean?

 

[seliph]

"first come first serve" is a condition though... RNG isn't.

 

[cloudmask]

i respectfully disagree, i think it's nice of the person doing the giveaway to give as many people as possible a chance to enter. if i were ever giving away a popular villager i would definitely take as many entries as possible and then pull a username with RNG...everyone has a fair shot that way.

 

[deleted]

There should be a giveaway and freebie option because giveaway can mean contest or freebie.

That's what I was thinking earlier, Is that what you mean?

Yeah, maybe separating the different types would work!

 

[Stil]

I believe in first come, first served.
Whoever got to the post first should should win it fair and square. They were in the right place at the right time.

Imagine you stumble across a giveaway for your #1 dreamy and you have an open spot. You have nothing to offer but you are the first person to post and you couldn't be happier. Then, here comes sad-boi Joe with a big sob story on why he wants the villager more than you do and maybe he has some bells to throw in. And, lets say he is the one that is picked to receive the villager.
Do they deserve the villager more than you do?
Could they be lying?
Is that actually fair?

And yeah, as it is completely up to OP who actually receives the villager, its kind of a bad move to wait to see how they can profit the most from the situation. At that point, just make an auction.

A giveaway is a giveaway unless stated otherwise.
It shouldnt be "oh I'm gonna pick this person over that person because ___________".

(this is all assuming the post didn't have rules that stated something otherwise)

 

[deleted]

I don't really understand your problem. I don't see at all why giveaways should be first come, first serve.

I think choosing gives everyone a chance to participate, not just the people who happen apon a thread for @first come, first serve”. Just my opinion, and you are allowed to have yours.

i personally feel that "first come, first serve" is kind of less fair than using a random number generator. like two people both REALLY want Marshal, for example. one person is from North America, and is awake at the time that the giveaway is posted. another person is from Japan, and is asleep. the other person doesn't deserve a chance at Marshal because it's first come first serve? of course, that's just an example and an opinion, but a lot of people on the forums seem to be from North America or similar timezones, and having giveaways last longer and using a random number generator gives more people a fair chance. however, i don't like when people ask for why a person wants a villager and chooses the person based on the story - that just encourages people to make up sob stories as to why they deserve a virtual animal in a video game. I do understand first come first serve giveaways when the person needs the item or villager gone soon and such, but i still like knowing that i have a chance instead of not having any chance because i posted a few seconds late.

I am also here to agree that first come, first serve does not seem fair to me. I don't enjoy it when giving away or trying to receive.
When I ask people to tell me why they want a villager, I ask not because I will be choosing the most moving story, but because I want to read what makes others happy, why it makes them happy, and to just feel nice about that until I use a random number picker to pick someone from the mass of people who had responded.

By doing the giveaway of a popular or hard - to - find villager or something, you are bringing happiness.
By asking people to tell you happy memories of that villager, or just general happy thoughts of them, you get to share in the happiness yourself.

Nothing wrong with that.

I honestly disagree, I feel as though using RNG to choose when multiple people are interested is the most fair option here. That way everyone who waits an item/villager has a good shot at getting it. I also think that maybe the reason why they ask people to say why they want a certain villager, even if they are going to choose by RNG, is just to keep replies interesting to read. Just my thoughts though and we can all agree to disagree.

"first come first serve" is a condition though... RNG isn't.

i respectfully disagree, i think it's nice of the person doing the giveaway to give as many people as possible a chance to enter. if i were ever giving away a popular villager i would definitely take as many entries as possible and then pull a username with RNG...everyone has a fair shot that way.

I appreciate all your contributions to my post! To me, “first come first serve” is not a condition and simply how giveaways work IRL. It’s similiar to a “while supplies last” policy. This way there is no room for bias. However, I know that time zone differences are annoying and random selection would be fair in that context.

But @Antonio ‘s reply made me think after I left this post and went to shower.

Here’s my shower thought: different labels for different kinds of giveaways. Each one is valid but since many people have a different defintion of “giveaway“ the labels would help clarify what OP means.

[Raffle] - There will be set timeframe for replies and once that’s over, one reply will be randomly selected.

[Contest] - Maybe OP wants people to complete a certain task or tell a story? I once saw a giveaway where OP gave Raymond to whoever drew the best picture of her character.

[Giveaway] - First come, first serve with no exceptions or other rules

Feel free to add something!

 

[seliph]

raffle generally implies a gamble though, the tag is usually used when entries come at a cost.

"and simply how giveaways work IRL" i think that might just be your own personal experience 'cause i very rarely see this. letting RNG decide on a winner has less bias than fcfs which relies on timezone, internet speed, typing speed, and pure luck as to when and where you happen to be on the forum.

anyway the giveaway tag is fine how it is, there's many kinds of giveaways and the tag shouldn't really be reduced to one type. the only tweak that may be useful imo is the addition of contest tag.

 

[cinnamonzz]

.

 

[Believe]

Your suggestions feel like a lot of adjustments needed adding even more confusion and clutter to something that I feel isn't a longstanding problem to begin with. I understand people might take advantage of non-first come first serve threads with sob stories, but at the end of the day it is the person who is giving away their item/villager that gets to decide the method of distribution and who gets it whether that be for the longest post / RNG / etc.

Also, I feel your definition of a giveaway is extremely corporate / company biased. Companies use "while supplies last" as a loose marketing term to generate demand and additional business. What we have are individual people who are giving away something they could otherwise be selling for little to no gain. They shouldn't be compared 1 to 1.

 

[Miharu]

I personally believe a giveaway is a giveaway as long as the OP isn't asking for anything in return. There are many kinds of giveaways and the majority I have seen, hosted, or participated in are based on RNG. I feel RNG is a lot more fair compared to first come first served as it gives many other people a fairer chance to win, especially if you consider time zones. I don't see how rng is unfair or sadistic when the winner is based on luck and not chosen by the OP themselves.

 

[EquinoxIsland]

Maybe it's because I'm used to other gaming sites, but I've always understood giveaways to be anything that's technically free, even if they'd like you to include some info or a blurb about why you want, because you don't give anything other than a moment of time to answer, and they gain nothing unless someone chooses to leave a tip. I see nothing wrong with the conditional, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Dormire]

I agree with everyone so far. I'm from Southeast Asia, one of the minorities in most SNS/forum sites like TBT or Reddit. Most giveaway hosts are from US/EU/AUS origin that it makes it hard to enter giveaways had it been FCFS. Also, you have no idea how people camp giveaway posts. I even experience it on art comissions (camping).

People with fast internet also are at an advantage.

RNG is more fair than FCFS. Also same people can take advantage of it, hogging some giveaways. I haven't experienced it here yet but Reddit, definitely.

 

[Red Cat]

Like others have said, "first come first serve" isn't the most "fair" way to give something away, it's just the most convenient way for the person doing the giveaway if the goal is to unload something as fast as possible. If I'm doing a giveaway for a low-demand item or villager, I'll do first come first serve because I don't want to keep someone waiting when they may be the only person that wants it. But if I'm doing a giveaway for high-demand items or villagers, then selecting the "winner" in another way makes things more interesting and gives more people a chance to participate. Ultimately, it's up to the person doing the giveaway to decide how to distribute the goods, but if I were feeling nice enough to give away something super valuable, I'd want to make it more of an event than just give something to the person who posts 10 seconds later.