To say the Valentine hunt season is in full swing would be an understatement. That picture just shows a bare sampling of stuff that I picked up from ONE hunt.
What I'm about to say is probably going to label me as ungrateful or whatever, but I really think it needs to be said. So just keep in mind it's my own personal opinion and don't go crazy.
First, before I say anything else, I want to thank the creators who give out gifts. You are utterly and completely appreciated. You make Second Life a better place to be. I know many designers and I see the work they put into making brand new gifts for every hunt or for their groups. I see how they light up when someone says thank you or when their gifts are blogged or worn out. I adore you all and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
However...
These hunts are getting out of CONTROL. There are the people on the sidelines bitching about how gifts and freebies hurt the SL economy. Well, I don't think that's necessarily true as I've found many designers that I just love now and spend gobs of money in their stores just because they had a fabulous gift.
But you guys have GOT to stop throwing so many huge huge hunts together so close together!
There's only so many hours in a day, right? And only so much time any of us have to be in SL, correct? These hunts start becoming ALL we do for the couple of weeks or so that they're on. And then? We spend the rest of the time sorting what we got in the hunts, which usually takes us up to the NEXT big gridwide hunt!
Go to almost any woman in SL and ask her about the Ghost hunt. Ask her about POE. I almost guarantee they will tell you they either
a) Haven't finished sorting those gifts
or
b) Threw away a lot of things because they weren't their style/weren't good quality/they simply got tired of sorting and threw it away just to be done with it.
Is that really what these hunts are about? Just grabbing something to throw it away without looking? If there was a landfill in SL, it would be full of unopened hunt gifts.
For those who think gifts and freebies hurt the SL economy - well no, they don't always. BUT, when do we have time to look at your stores when we're so busy going to 400 stores in 2 weeks? With SL lag, crashing, and blingy crazy people running around with 10,000 prims and 7000 scripts... Yeah, most of us are grabbing and running.
And for Phil's sake, quit being mad that people share cheat sheets. Unless you just want 40 people standing in your store screaming that they can't find the item and IMing you about it. But seriously...what's it hurting YOU if someone shows someone else where the gift is? If it's good quality, you may have made a customer for life who will come back and shop. If you throw a hissy fit, move your gift, and generally act like a complete ass, I guarantee that you will lose customers. It's for fun, ok? It's not hurting you if someone gets help when they're trying to get through 300 stores.
My suggestion would be to please please please scale back on the hunts. If you want to put together a gridwide hunt, limit it to 50 stores, or 100 stores. And make the application process better! Put together a committee and check out the gift that the store wants to give. If it sucks [and c'mon...you know if something is bad quality in SL if you have done even a little shopping] then they don't make it in. Also, space out the hunts. If it's gridwide, make a month. If it's just in ONE store with 12 gifts, then yeah, it can be just a week so everyone can get it.
Will I continue to be sucked into doing hunts? Yeah. Most of my friends enjoy the hunts [some of them are outright refusing to do them now, though, because of all of the mess] and it's fun when we get together afterwards to try to sort through everything. But something really needs to be done to keep them more fun and less of a hassle.
Just my opinion, anyway.
[Yeah, just another excuse to show off where I sit when I blog lately. LOL]
11 comments:
the least they could do is screen out the shops who are giving away or selling ripped items. yanno?
Meh Ali just do what I do, don't do it :p
I don't mean to complain about the freebies, but what's the point of putting out crappy freebies (hoping to attract new customers) when no one will ever go to that store again?
The inventory is out of control, and this will never get old. Resist, I must!
I'm all for freebies b/c yeah I don't spend rl money-but I was very mad to see that Maria Bonita (a store where I would buy clothes with the little money I earn) have the same dress that was in POE.
WTF is that???? Not going back there. I was all excited for it b/c I loved the POE dress.
Designers have said repeatedly that freebies tend not to drive up sales so much as they drive up traffic. The designers need to get a grip and stop caring if people help each other. It's the spirit of the hunt.
I'm sorry, but I don't quite see the problem there. You can always skip a hunt, can't you?
Amen...
I'm a little frazzled by all the hunts. But I can't stop myself from doing them because I've learned about some awesome stores in the process and some of the gifts are soooo fantastic! (addicted much?)
I wish they did screen when they sign designers up, because I hate the fact I spend hours hunting (to not say days), and in the end I probably keep less than half of what I pick up as well- not to mention never get to look around the store because there's stil 1,978 stores left to visit- which is such a shame, because some places have really drawn me in and I always say "i'll come back later"- and generally forget :( (damn you memory!).
I think in the end it defeats the purpose.. not to be an ingrate, I'm just as glad that they continue to do give gifts to the public, and I've loved meeting the designers that I've gotten to meet and personally thank.
But really.. less is more :)
Great post Alicia and I agree. I didn't finish any of the hunts because there just to much and so little time. If I see it on a blog and like it I will go get it but I think I'm done otherwise.
I did both Valentine hunts. I am about 3/4 of the way through sorting the gifts and have only kept about 2% of them, if that. Ali is right - I do not look around your store during a hunt. I do not have time to in a grid wide hunt. If I see the hunt item before your merchandise even rezzes, well so be it. I don't keep the landmarks either. I do hunts for the fun of it and for the few gems I find. If a store owner gets pissy that people share hints and gift locations, I make certain not to return...ever. In the end, hunts are a TERRIBLE way to "market" a store.
i LOVE hunting. i LOVE free gifts. i also, for personal reasons, don't spend RL money in SL, so hunts are where i discover designers and stores, and where i spend my money when i earn it in SL. i am very grateful for all the hard work that goes into gifts and putting together hunts.
and i have to say that oftentimes, the creator who puts out a freebie doesn't always think it's crappy. it may be their best work, the best they can do, so i try to go easy on my criticism of it, and don't do it publicly.
i also agree that oftentimes creators just throw old gifts or their first work in the gift that may be crappy, deliberately but sometimes i worry about the feelings of creators who hear that their work is crap when they thought otherwise.
i also agree that 200+ for a hunt is outrageous and unmanageable for many, like me, who don't spend more than a few hours a week in SL if that.
THERE. my two cents. :)
Amen on the cheat sheet thing. I got screamed at in all caps by some chick when I gave another hunter a SLURL from a cheat sheet because she was stuck.
Store owners: accept the fact that we're going to make "help sheets" or don't participate.
And these chronological hunts that jump from place to place based on the next landmark in each gift -- I don't like them. In fact, it's one reason why we make cheat sheets. We can't move forward unless we find each gift.
I like Vain hunts because they release the list of participating stores. That way you can hop around if you get stuck at one place.
@ Aisuru - oooh! Who was giving away something ripped?? Speaking of, I got a "love shack" from a hunt the other day that looked a lot like yours.
And yeah, Heidi, I've given up on a couple of massive hunts in disgust. They're fun for a while, but more than 200 items is overwhelming and gets old after about the first 75.
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