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Rewarded By @Raptr
Here’s an interesting development: Raptr, the gamer’s IM and statistics collector for the games you play, wants you to have stuff for doing stuff that you’re already doing.
Apparently, if you meet certain criteria, you can “unlock” rewards. I earned a 35% discount on select Logitech peripherals myself, and I am also eligible for 60% off Logitech Modern Warfare 3 branded items because I’m ranked “Dedicated” in select Call of Duty games for Xbox, PS3, or PC. I have no idea how; I haven’t played a CoD game since the first. To earn these rewards, you need to jump through some hoops by achieving certain ranks in certain games or certain segments of games with Raptr’s new “e-peen” system (my term, not theirs, FYI).
I don’t visit the Raptr site very often. I have a carefully cultivated cadre of compatriots upon whom I rely for my gaming news and opinions, and I find that often times stepping outside that circle and into the noise of the Greater Internet usually leads to eye-rolling, frustration, and then anger. I also find Raptr’s stats a bit too dense to parse at times (I wanted to see the top 10 most popular Xbox games, for example, and couldn’t find them in an easy-to-read format). I also kind of thumbed my nose at Raptr’s ranking system which puts you into buckets based on the amount of time you spend playing a specific title, and which lets you know who you’re ranked higher than amongst the people on your friends list. I guess that’s fine for people who like to busybody themselves in their hobby, but that’s not the point here.
With these rewards, I think Raptr has made me care about where I sit, at least in terms of how much time I put into a game. I’m not going to dedicate my limited time to playing games I don’t like just in order to get a specific rank in order to earn a specific reward, but if I’m close to being eligible for something I might be interested in at the time, I might put more effort into it, assuming I was going to do it anyway. But even that half-hearted claim is an endorsement of what Raptr is doing with this rewards thing. I was using Raptr anyway, and this kind of just tethers me to their system with a bit of a stronger thread.
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#2 written by Chris Smith 1 year ago
That was certainly my feeling as well, but I think using people’s “rank” to reward them with swag is a step above just personal edification. I like free or discounted stuff, especially if it’s for doing what I was going to do anyway, and this will certainly make me check out their site more…but just for this. I still don’t care about their Reddit Redux or how I stack up compared to other people.
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Honestly I use Raptr for one reason and only one reason, it plays extremely well with games and lets me see important messages, like say from my wife when I am knee deep in a game with my noise cancelling headphones on >.> I will say I was a bit surprised when I saw a discount email arrive, saying I had “earned” a discount.
Honestly I have a sneaking suspicion that this is just directed marketing, and it really means they are marketing our data to game and in this case peripheral companies. 35% discount on a mouse I would never likely use, isn’t much incentive for me personally. However if they were to create some kind of a points system that let me cash in for discounts on products of my choosing, that might get me to jump through a few hoops. Then again honestly…. if I needed or wanted something, I am likely to have already purchased it from amazon heh.
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#4 written by Chris Smith 1 year ago
A points system would be cool, but I think that adding more partners is going to need incentive for those partners, which means that they need some guarantee that they have a shot at getting something out of it. Had I not already HAD a shit-ton of Logitech products (keyboard, mouse, speed-pad, headset, and speakers, actually), I WOULD have used that 35% off code. With points, though, no one provider would be sure that anyone would look at them.
I got the Ghost Recon beta code for my Xbox activity, which DID interest me. I like the idea of getting into a beta using this system. I think that works well (although it reinforces the “advertisement” over “beta” mentality).
And you’re in their ecosystem anyway. If you opt to ignore the rewards aspect, they’re still going to sell your info to third parties. You might as well consider what they are trying to give back, I guess.
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Levelcapped.com is a blog devoted primarily to the Massive Multiplayer Online gaming genre, although there's a lot of other game types covered as well.
I use Raptr too, but I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention to anything else they have. E-Peen is probably a good word. I don’t really care what rank people have – I’ve only got so many hours in the day as it is, so once I’m done, that’s it.