Mesadon, don't worry, I'm enjoying the game, but I feel I owe Tempest a reply.
Thanks for the reply to my earlier post, Tempest, and like I said, I don't mind people expressing their opinions, especially when they picked up a code that was no longer valid when purchasing. That is frustrating for sure, I hope that was clear. And I have no idea what you mean by 'insults or anything', I didn't see customer feedback containing insults? Indeed my quick example of 'while stocks last' was not the best, maybe I should have compared it to the type of discount where only the first X nr. of customers get a certain discount, they still do that in some shops these days? Anyway, that would be a better example I guess.
To explain, by 'complaints' I mean general negative response that has a specific point, a fairly neutral term I think, but not every complaint is equally legitimate I think. I adressed your point (and that of FJeff) of finding an invalid code as being frustrating, so that would indicate that I would consider your complaint to have a legitimate basis
. The other complaints I just don't understand, and I'm not
that stupid
.
I don't mind them posting about it, it's their call, I just don't understand it. It's the same thing with the recent announcement of the MegaPack discount for existing DLC owners, and the occasional beta-tester who would like a free game because he made two posts about it during the beta-test. So I guess I'm just a little puzzled why every time some sort of promotion is discussed this sort of feedback is so frequently encountered. It must be because of the nature of the internet, I guess?
But I agree with your comments about how to improve such promotions:
As I suggested in an earlier post today, I would have appreciated some way of knowing that the eggs were all done on some kind of "egg tracker" on the top page of the site. But there's no need to throw out promotions and sales altogether just because one aspect of this one didn't work to complete customer satisfaction. My hope was that feedback offered here be taken objectively and constructively, so that you all can make adjustments to your promotional tools or tactics.
I may have other some suggestions to help smooth such operations next time? Due to the different time zones the customers live in, a little advance warning would go a long ways, and I noticed the mail from Slitherine came a couple of hours later than the forum announcement; I already had completed my transaction hours before the discount mail came in. So perhaps mail an anouncement 12-24 hours in advance, keep it simple like: 'For Easter, Slitherine has a few little surprises in store! More details will be announced around X time/date(GMT), be quick if you're interested as they will be gone soon.' Or whatever. And although I cannot tell for sure if the discount codes were shared between friends when someone found one (I could have done so easily), maybe all codes should be unique to keep it fair?
There should be a way to claim a prize and use it before the expiry date. Anyways, this is my thoughts on the matter. I do appreciate the 10% discount. At least there was no pressure in deciding what to spend it on.....