09-27-2011, 04:56 PM | #151 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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The free book threads that Arcdata is still posting (and others are welcome to add) and the ones for other, bargain books (without affiliate links, for anyone that chooses to post) would still need to be maintained, I would imagine. And the free ones were the main ones that needed updates, from what I recall, so the same amount of work changing thread titles would be needed. Plus I imagine you now must read every post not in an affiliate thread to check that there are no affiliate links included, no? I am not posting to be argumentative, just truly curious if the reduced workload anticipated will be realized (or only realized by reducing bargain posts to only the affiliate threads)? Last edited by koland; 09-27-2011 at 05:00 PM. |
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09-27-2011, 05:03 PM | #152 | |
Wizzard
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Mind you, I'm glad they've put up further explanation for the motivations behind this move, although given how people generally react to changes on MR I see the cycle of complaints continuing as people continue to complain about the original complaints and then complain about the new complaints*. Anyway, if the mods think it'll make their unpaid job easier (or just cut down on one vector of frustration while possibly opening up another), they can change whatever they like with my approval, even if they decide to arbitrarily close access to the Deals forum in a rotating manner so that only posters with usernames starting D-G can see what's inside from 3-5 PM PST on every 2nd Wednesday and the rest of us A-C|H-Z peons will have to wait until teatime is over. Personally, if the affiliate links/not-links are going to cause such kerfuffle, I'm almost tempted to propose that the forum software be changed so that ALL attempted Amazon affiliate links no matter when or where will automatically be altered to provide a referrer-link for ?tag=mobileread-20 instead so that if anyone tries to sneak one in where they think the mods won't see, that 4 cents on the dollar goes directly to supporting MR instead. Non-affiliate links would still be left as-is. But that would make extra work for the developers. * Myself, I am already complaining about all the complaints and expect someone else to shortly complain about my complaint. |
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09-27-2011, 05:14 PM | #153 | |
Sith Wannabe
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09-27-2011, 05:18 PM | #154 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I'm really confused, first you say you liked looking in a single thread for the Kindle freebees...
We want a user to limit all their aff links to a single thread... but then you say that will cause you to look in multiple threads. Once again, single thread per book for a deal/free bee is still 100% fine, as long as there is no affiliate link. BOb |
09-27-2011, 05:19 PM | #155 |
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09-27-2011, 05:24 PM | #156 |
Wizard
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obviously we have no choice but to either try it or stop visiting the deals and freebies forum.
maybe after a week, mods could put up a poll and get an idea of the percentages of who prefers the old way vs the new. |
09-27-2011, 05:25 PM | #157 | |
Wizard
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So, when I clink on affiliate links for a free book as someone else mentioned, they earn a percentage of ZERO which is ZERO. But if I then purchase a cordless screwdriver for $180.00 they earn a percentage of that sale even though it was not a book! Interesting. If I don't 'log' off Amazon's site but close any Amazon tabs in my browser and come back later that hour, day, do they still earn commissions? ....... back to the generic concept and not to the quotee.... Well, I still prefer the original or older method. I could just log on, visit this subforum and go back to the last time I logged off here and start looking for freebies by looking at the date in the left column. Now, if Affiliate xyz posted on Sept 23, 2011, they have to add to that thread. When I come back in one, two or three days, or after a week of vacation, I have to wade through threads that still list "origin" date of Sept 23, 2011 even thought it is now December? Hmmmm. Well, as others have said, it is not my forum and it is YOUR rules. But.... |
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09-27-2011, 05:31 PM | #158 | |
lost in my e-reader...
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09-27-2011, 05:42 PM | #159 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
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With non-Amazon stores, the rules are more complicated (and you are less likely to impulse buy a new Kobo Reader, I suspect); some have cookies, I think, that last longer, others track only thru one sale, ebook or otherwise. You can use the "open first unread/new post" symbol at the start of the threads you subscribe to and only see the newest posts, so you don't have to wade thru everything (it's that tiny down arrow before the thread title). Won't help much if you haven't been around for a while, as the offerings change so fast - Exodus was free for about 5 minutes earlier today and has already dropped in price again, for example, and Rob Bell's book (posted yesterday) is already pulled from the Kindle store. Quote:
There is now one thread per person and it can contain books of all content formats. So, yes, the OP in this case has to visit more threads with the new system (presumably he, like many in the Kindle forum, simply ignored this entire forum, before). There are probably fewer threads now, but only for those that paid attention to all the threads in this forum, before. For those that want one particular format, EPUB or Kindle, there is now more to read thru, to find those (then, repeat in each thread). There is also off-topic chatter in the individual threads, which was very much discouraged in the Kindle and nook forum threads. Regardless, we will all try the new way (I caught one mispost I had yesterday, of a free book; I have gone back and removed all the aff tags from that post). |
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09-27-2011, 06:01 PM | #160 |
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I didn't realize this was a Moderator issue...if it makes the moderators' lives easier, I can support such a policy in principle because they do give an awful lot to make this a good community...but I have found links (affiliate or not) to be helpful in steering me to good books to read, so IMO, affiliate links do have value.
Smart affiliate posters would do something like "Affiliate -- (title)/subject -- Smashwords" or whatever to show subject and format. The problem with the new threads as I've seen then so far is that you have no idea if a thread is worth clicking or skipping over. I'm confused about the reporting issue mentioned earlier. Was this a case of affiliate-linkers were turning on (reporting) each other, "He/she poached/duplicated my link" and dragging the Mods into an argument? Kind of like cuttle-fish (Pirates of the Caribbean 3 reference ) Last edited by BillSmithBooks; 09-27-2011 at 06:05 PM. |
09-27-2011, 06:13 PM | #161 |
Sith Wannabe
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09-27-2011, 06:15 PM | #162 |
Sith Wannabe
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If you subscribe to the thread, it will show up in your list of subscriptions whenever Affiliate User X updates the thread, and you can click the little arrow to get to the first unread post. I've subscribed to koland's and arcadata's threads now.
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09-27-2011, 07:01 PM | #163 | |
Chasing Butterflies
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I suggested trying the "old way + disclaimer" because it seems that the "will we like it" variable depends on new behavior -- i.e., spam in the absence of moderation. We do not have that data on the new system. I do recognize, however, that everything is not all about me, and others may feel differently. I wholeheartedly support a poll-check to see how people feel in two weeks. |
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09-27-2011, 07:17 PM | #164 | ||
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Koland's post is perhaps a better explanation: Quote:
I used to be able to avoid this "Deals, Freebies and Resources" sub-forum all together before things were made more cumbersome. That's why it's hard for me to understand how it could result in fewer threads and posts. I'm used to the relying upon the single, well-managed monthly thread linked above for finding Kindle deals. Now the information is all scattered and duplicated. |
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09-27-2011, 07:54 PM | #165 | |
Wizard
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I understand and respect where the mods are coming from; I just think this all would've gone down better if they'd just come out and said what WTSharpe said here instead of "We have received a number of complaints about the fact that ...". I acknowledge that mods are users also, but I naturally (or maybe unnaturally ) assumed the complaints were from users who are not moderators. To be clear, this is not a complaint about your complaint (or whatever - I'm kinda confused at this point ). The mods have done what they think is best for their forum - my complaining or lack thereof won't change jack - now I simply have to do what I think is best for my user experience. |
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