

In-app rewards gaming network (Startup Weekend product - need feedback) - HectorRamos
http://www.gameboost.me/

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patio11
I am confused by the choice to feature the number of devs you had and the
abbreviated schedule as opposed to a vision for how you're going to make app
developers more money.

Aren't the key details something along the lines of "You implement an in-game
currency, we give you a widget which lets users select from various offers to
earn currency by taking actions which have high CPA affiliate payouts, we
insulate you from the metric truckload of customer support requests this will
generate, and you get paid on a fairly regular schedule"? Or maybe two steps
beyond this, "Yeah we know you've heard this before but a) we have higher
quality offers, b) we police the feed religiously to ensure your users don't
get scammed, c) our CS is really top-notch to get users instant credit for
things even when the actual CPA is delayed by days, and d) we're experts at
dealing with the pathologies of poor people and promise to keep you far, far
away from the seedy underbelly of our business."

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powertower
1\. Get an idea.

2\. Do zero work on it.

3\. Set up a landing page.

4\. Submit link to HN.

5\. Gauge the response.

This new trend really pisses me off...

If someone puts the work into it I have no problem with it, but I know that
there is a 99% chance that this thing has no substance.

Note: to offset the rant, I'm upvoting your submit.

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untog
Welcome to the Startup Weekend effect.

Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of the events, and have had good
experiences at some I've attended. But there is often a huge inequality
between the number of devs and the number of business guys- if you're not
careful you end up in a group full of business, but with little ability to
execute over the space of a weekend.

So you end up with a weekend spent arguing over a domain name, setting up a
LaunchRock page and sending out Google Spreadsheet surveys.

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twog
Im at startup weekend puerto rico right now (Im one of the judges) so its cool
to see this on HN. Overall, I have been insanely impressed with whats
happening in the startup community here. I have been to a number of these
events in the US, but I think this one might take the cake in terms of
quality.

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carlostg
Good idea, if game users don't see ads and I can monetize, I want to know more
about it.

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andypants
The site says it's bringing back the 'arcade model', so I'm guessing the way
they'll monetize users is... to make them pay for your game??

At the same time, their video looks like it's the same premium currency model
as every other game microtransaction service out there.

It would really help if they could show something more, or at least write more
about their service.

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thedufer
I would look into this if there was any info about how its going to work, but
that is the least helpful landing page I've ever seen. Not even worth giving
away my email address.

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elfaraon
Sound Very Interesting, i want more info..

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jblow
My feedback is, please stop doing junk like this and go pursue some idea that
has some kind of social value.

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Mz
I'm curious what you think _has some kind of social value_. Would you mind
expounding on that?

Thanks.

~~~
jblow
It's like pornography...

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Mz
I'm sorry. It's a sincere question and I simply don't understand. Does
pornography also lack social value in your eyes?

~~~
jblow
I guess there is a max reply depth? So I am replying here...

I am a game developer, actually, and I believe games can have great social
value. So I support you in pursuing your idea.

"Rewards" systems like the one described here, though, are not about giving
anything to the audience. They are purely about taking money away from people,
and doing it as manipulatively and sneakily as possible. I believe the net
social value for things like this is deeply negative.

~~~
Mz
There's not a max reply length. The reply button takes a bit of time to show
up sometimes. I'm not clear on how long that is supposed to be or what factors
influence it. When I first joined, I did the exact same thing as you are doing
here: Replied higher up in the thread on occasions when I couldn't find the
"reply" link/button/option.

Thanks so much for taking me seriously. Sometimes people think I'm just being
snarky. What do you think _does_ work for trying to monetize a game? I'm not
sure there will ever be any money in my plans to make a game (in part because
the target audience has no money, only debts from large medical expenses), but
my sons also want to make games. Somewhere in there, someone needs to make
actual money. Any thoughts?

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startupcto
Kudos for working on Gameboost over Startup Weekend but the ideas is not new.
Google in-app game rewards and you'll find out
[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&biw...](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&biw=320&bih=356&q=in-
app+game+rewards&oq=in-&aq=0p&aqi=s2g3&aql=1&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=3862l7920l0l10119l5l5l0l1l1l0l444l1237l3-1.2l3l0&mvs=0)

