The Refer-a-Friend Program

[ShardTosk]

Well, at least I have a large nest egg of CCs built up...

 

If it requires me to play any kind of PVP or group content, I'll never see any of those free CC

 

Honestly GSs just seems like another misguided attempt to get people to play content they don't want to play

Well here's more cc for your nest egg, it's been a long time and I should be subbed for quite a while, if I have to click on somebody before the 27th it may as well be somebody I agree with.

If you wanna click me back on the link I just stuck in my own signature that would be great but no pressure.

[Sareeph]

Well here's more cc for your nest egg, it's been a long time and I should be subbed for quite a while, if I have to click on somebody before the 27th it may as well be somebody I agree with.

If you wanna click me back on the link I just stuck in my own signature that would be great but no pressure.

 

And this right here is why it is being taken away. The page where you get your link states it is specifically for people who never had a sub or those whose sub has lapsed for at least 90 days.

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 25, 2021 by DarkTergon

[casirabit]

And this right here is why it is being taken away. The page where you get your link states it is specifically for people who never had a sub or those whose sub has lapsed for at least 90 days.

 

Actually I doubt it is the problem on the forums than how people are doing it on the game. The forums are probably not even a drop in the bucket compared to the "spamming" online about the refer friend. I have a feeling that is why it is being taken away as people have been complaining that someone claim if they clicked on their link they would give them xxx credits and they never recieved them.

[Toraak]

Actually I doubt it is the problem on the forums than how people are doing it on the game. The forums are probably not even a drop in the bucket compared to the "spamming" online about the refer friend. I have a feeling that is why it is being taken away as people have been complaining that someone claim if they clicked on their link they would give them xxx credits and they never recieved them.

 

I suspect this does have a lot to do with it, not to mention getting rid of the Referral spam we see in chat offering credits to click on that persons link.

[FlameYOL]

I suspect this does have a lot to do with it, not to mention getting rid of the Referral spam we see in chat offering credits to click on that persons link.

There has been an increase in those lately and I don't believe it to be a coincidence, the scammers are desperate to secure referrals before the gates are rightfully closed.

[FlameYOL]

Actually I doubt it is the problem on the forums than how people are doing it on the game. The forums are probably not even a drop in the bucket compared to the "spamming" online about the refer friend. I have a feeling that is why it is being taken away as people have been complaining that someone claim if they clicked on their link they would give them xxx credits and they never recieved them.

 

The forums are the place I least see that manner of thing happening, sure there is someone here and there violating the guidelines but compared to places like fleet chat... yeah, I wouldn't even say a drop in the bucket comparatively, more like an atom within that bucket:D

[Sareeph]

Actually I doubt it is the problem on the forums than how people are doing it on the game. The forums are probably not even a drop in the bucket compared to the "spamming" online about the refer friend. I have a feeling that is why it is being taken away as people have been complaining that someone claim if they clicked on their link they would give them xxx credits and they never recieved them.

 

That was my point. People knowingly misusing the program. The fact that someone posted intent in the very thread designed to tell us it was being taken away because the program wasn't being used as intended proves the point. I see many every day spamming on fleet asking for current subs. Some claim that it hurts no one. Now we see that people who legitimately attained real referrals and brought new players in to the game, are losing something because others misused the program.

 

But what do we know, we're just some crazy people sitting in a corner wearing tin foil hats, who've been right about a lot of the changes, and how they would adversely affect the game, a few of the regulars, who unfortunately are no longer regulars....

 

I do not believe you are correct. As seen by the post from Keith, the program was not being utilized as intended. So many were not using it to increase our numbers and thereby our potential for enjoyment of the game but rather cheating the reason behind the program for self enrichment. Granted he does not spell it out specifically but many of us who have played for years can read between the lines.

 

What is the Refer-a-Friend program? The program is meant to incentivize sharing your link with friends, encouraging them to join you in our galaxy far, far away, and granting meaningful rewards to both of you. This helps you (and the community) by increasing the number of players to play with, and it also introduces people who’ve never played SWTOR to one of the biggest Star Wars experiences in an online game.

 

Why are we closing the program down? Those who have been playing our game for years and have used the program understand that right now, RAF is not quite meeting that goal.

Thank you all for your understanding.

 

--Keith--

 

[ShardTosk]

maybe limiting it to only subs, just incase people make multiple accounts to get cc's

Afaik that's exactly what they are doing. No cc for f2pers.

 

As seen by the post from Keith, the program was not being utilized as intended. So many were not using it to increase our numbers of paying subscribers and thereby make EA money but rather cheating the reason behind the program for making EA money. Granted he does not spell it out specifically but many of us with any sense can read between the lines.

Fixed it for you.

Edited April 22, 2021 by ShardTosk

[Sareeph]

Fixed it for you.

 

Please do not put something I did not say, up on the boards as a quote with my name on it. You have something you wish to say, then say it without trying to pass it off as a quote from someone else.

[Gamemaron]

I suspect this does have a lot to do with it, not to mention getting rid of the Referral spam we see in chat offering credits to click on that persons link.

 

Right now, on Tulak Hord, there are two players (one of each faction) who have been spamming their links in the chats on several planets again and again and again since the weekend, and offering 30. bzw. 65.Mio for new Subscribers to klick on their links. Do they mention that they are getting Cartell Coins out of this? Of course not.

 

I even saw someone posting his ref-link in the lfg-channel (the custom endgame-channel on Tulak)

 

The reaction of the rest of the players on these planets? Extremely annoyed, extremely pissed, and super grateful that this sh*t will finally (finally!) stop with 6.3

 

And this, the scenario described above is one of the reasons they are taking the ref-links out and most people (well, except for those scamming the others) are just “Thanks! Good riddance!”.

 

Nobody can tell us that THIS was how the program was meant to be used

[DarkTergon]

Removed as my contributions appears to be unwanted Edited April 25, 2021 by DarkTergon

[ShardTosk]

Please do not put something I did not say, up on the boards as a quote with my name on it. You have something you wish to say, then say it without trying to pass it off as a quote from someone else.

I congratulate you on what must be your first week on the internet. This is the first time you've seen FTFY?

 

Right now, on Tulak Hord, there are two players (one of each faction) who have been spamming their links in the chats on several planets again and again and again since the weekend, and offering 30. bzw. 65.Mio for new Subscribers to klick on their links. Do they mention that they are getting Cartell Coins out of this? Of course not.

They're paying you not trying to get you to click for free so there's no trick and the 65m guy is paying very well.

 

Im kinda new here but all i know is its hard to get cartel coins. In my country,cartel coins are too costly

They're too costly in every country. The price of items vs the price of cartel coins is pretty screwy. Most things should be like 500cc based on how much they charge for coins.

[Sareeph]

I congratulate you on what must be your first week on the internet. This is the first time you've seen FTFY?

 

No it is not. I have also seen others mistakenly get the notion that what was placed in the quote did in fact come from the one quoted and have never liked that approach. Quote someone true and their message is clear. Respond to their quote and your message is true.

[Tofu_Shark]

Right now, on Tulak Hord, there are two players (one of each faction) who have been spamming their links in the chats on several planets again and again and again since the weekend, and offering 30. bzw. 65.Mio for new Subscribers to klick on their links. Do they mention that they are getting Cartell Coins out of this? Of course not.

 

I even saw someone posting his ref-link in the lfg-channel (the custom endgame-channel on Tulak)

 

The reaction of the rest of the players on these planets? Extremely annoyed, extremely pissed, and super grateful that this sh*t will finally (finally!) stop with 6.3

 

And this, the scenario described above is one of the reasons they are taking the ref-links out and most people (well, except for those scamming the others) are just “Thanks! Good riddance!”.

 

Nobody can tell us that THIS was how the program was meant to be used

I've never seen any referrer be honest about what they get in return. It's not in their interest. And even after being warned, a lot of players don't care, because they're new and don't know the value of CC. It's guaranteed to start a fight in Gen chat though.

 

 

First of all, the people who abuse this system are a very small percentile, just like the small percentile that abused the crafting system, or pvp system, etc, etc, etc. But BW do what they always do, they smash.

And despite what YOU assume, not everyone who supported the system was a scammer, and not everyone who is sad to see it go were abusing it.

 

The system as it first started was great, you got your mount, and the droids. Yes, it could have been better, and they could have improved it. But this is BW thinking : Hammer instead of feather.

 

They added the cartel coins to increase their profits, without even thinking about the consequences , they didn't care about the issues it would cause in game, just like a lot of the things they've done recently, they see dollar signs, and are blind to everything else.

 

What they should have done was improve the rewards, with non commercial, or credit increasing measures, such as more unique items, decos, pets (not recoloured) , etc.

 

 

The ONLY reason they are pulling it, is too many people got FREE cc's, and they want them buying them instead. It had nothing to do with the game, players, economy, etc, it was all about forcing people to spend more in game.

There's no need to be hostile. BioWare has had plenty of time and evidence from reports and chat logs to go after referral spammers and scammers, if they ever did punish them, they were quiet about it. It must've been bad enough that they determined it was better to just halt the whole program. I agree though, they didn't think it through enough when they added CC to the rewards without abuse protections.

[ShardTosk]

I've never seen any referrer be honest about what they get in return. It's not in their interest. And even after being warned, a lot of players don't care, because they're new and don't know the value of CC. It's guaranteed to start a fight in Gen chat though.

Again, no, if they're paying you they don't need to inform you about the cc. They are paying you credits for that cc. Hell, even if you're new why do you think they're paying you to click this link if they don't get anything?

[Spikanor]

There's plenty of reasons to be hostile, it's because of hyperbole like that that has caused many nerfs, F*** ups, etc.

PvP, crafting, this, the list goes on, a small group of people abuse the system, and BW smash it, instead of fixing the actual issue. They've never gone after the spammers, or the cheats, this whole cancelation thing isn't about the referral program, or the spammers. If they had wanted to stop that, they could have easily, after all it's subbed accounts that benefit, and they can be punished easily. It's not like credit farmers that uses throwaway accounts.

This is ALL about the free CC's, they realised people were getting too many, and that, and ONLY that is the reason they've cancelled it. Any other reason is smoke and mirrors, and if people choose to believe in that, that's their choice.

 

 

*Just to note, I've spoke out about the referral system in the past, and have said on multiple occasions, they should never have started the CC giveaways, it should have always been mounts, pets, etc. And evolved from there.

 

i agree 100% with you on the part that some people that abuse something like the conquest is it not that there go after then no its that there going to nerf it for all off us will there is a small group abuse the system in the wrong way.

 

and if you read Keith post also good on the end more there are telling this more:

Lastly, there are no immediate plans to replace the RAF program. We want to really take the time to assess what the old system did right, did wrong, and what will make the most sense to achieve the goals of a RAF program in today’s game.

i think we all know that what did wrong is something a lot off people have told all that its to full off problems there never have fix like:

 

1: why can sub players use the RAF program will only players that have use the last RAF link after 90 day's or there need to wait 90 day's after there sub end to use the link again thats a problem there not has been fix and easy can done.

 

2: there are no general rule's for it like: not promote the RAF link on the forum under the signature or not promote the RAF link in the game.

 

3: its against the rules to sell you RAF link in the game for credits to other players.

 

thats 3 problems so far all what there did wrong with it and not have done.

but what are there doing again like always when a small group off people abuse a system there destory it so that we all going to pay for it in the hard way by nerf it so hard or remove it only that a small group abuse it.

[Tofu_Shark]

There's plenty of reasons to be hostile, it's because of hyperbole like that that has caused many nerfs, F*** ups, etc.

PvP, crafting, this, the list goes on, a small group of people abuse the system, and BW smash it, instead of fixing the actual issue. They've never gone after the spammers, or the cheats, this whole cancelation thing isn't about the referral program, or the spammers. If they had wanted to stop that, they could have easily, after all it's subbed accounts that benefit, and they can be punished easily. It's not like credit farmers that uses throwaway accounts.

This is ALL about the free CC's, they realised people were getting too many, and that, and ONLY that is the reason they've cancelled it. Any other reason is smoke and mirrors, and if people choose to believe in that, that's their choice.

 

 

*Just to note, I've spoke out about the referral system in the past, and have said on multiple occasions, they should never have started the CC giveaways, it should have always been mounts, pets, etc. And evolved from there.

Guess what? That happens in real life too: A few bad people ruin it for everyone. I welcome the end of the Referral Program. At least they came to their senses and are finally doing something about it. In this case, it's important to stop the bleeding. It's not the best solution but appropriate, given the circumstances. Too many are abusing it and have an obscene amount of Cartel Coins because they figured out how to game the system. That needs to stop immediately. The fact it took is more evidence of how understaffed the SWTOR team is.

 

Tough.

 

Again, no, if they're paying you they don't need to inform you about the cc. They are paying you credits for that cc. Hell, even if you're new why do you think they're paying you to click this link if they don't get anything?

Just because you can do something or don't have to do something doesn't make it right. And then you even have the audacity to sell your referral in your signature.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Tofu_Shark

[Tofu_Shark]

I cannot blame them from a business point-of-view for their reaction. And I have no sympathy for the people whining about the termination of the program.

 

You can't shame me. I'm not paying anyone for a referral, and at least I link to all the information about the program. Nearly everyone just puts their referral link in their signature, that's deceptive.

[MadDutchman]

Too many are abusing it and have an obscene amount of Cartel Coins .

 

Why is this a problem for you? other than envy?

 

More CC in circulation means lower inflation (despite the nonsense claims to the opposite floating around).

 

I can understand why people would be annoyed about referral spam, but ending the program clearly has very different motives (considering the reliably structured nature of referral links and the fact only subs can benefit from them, stopping referral spam on its own would be quite simple. But that's not what they did)

[Pricia]

Why is this a problem for you? other than envy?

 

More CC in circulation means lower inflation (despite the nonsense claims to the opposite floating around).

 

I can understand why people would be annoyed about referral spam, but ending the program clearly has very different motives (considering the reliably structured nature of referral links and the fact only subs can benefit from them, stopping referral spam on its own would be quite simple. But that's not what they did)

 

Yep. Everything's going to be way more expensive now that people can't just buy 10 hypercrates a week and put them on the GTN.

[ceryxp]

I don't disagree with the ref program, personally I think it is a great asset, the problem is, once they introduced cc's, it was the spark that started the fire. I mourn the death of the ref program, not because I'll no longer receive cc's, but because people will no longer have a reason to bring others in. Which is why I have said all the time, we need more incentives. not cc's

 

Agreed. I would have been fine with them just cutting out the free CC's for the referrer and keeping the rest. The program, as it is now, is far more beneficial to the referrer than to the referred, which just created another one of those "rewards at the top" situations that promoted poor behavior.

 

Galactic Seasons affords, perhaps, the perfect replacement for the free CC's. Award referrers GS tokens for their referrals (a single token when someone uses the link and subs, not a token each month). Since everything on the GS vendors are cosmetic and bound that would succinctly eliminate any incentive to abuse the system as there would be no way to gain from it.

Edited April 23, 2021 by ceryxp

[TrixxieTriss]

Yep. Everything's going to be way more expensive now that people can't just buy 10 hypercrates a week and put them on the GTN.

 

It will end up increasing inflation across the whole GTN. I’ve already jacked up my crafting prices and so have many others who understand how this will affect the economy.

Edited April 23, 2021 by TrixxieTriss

[ShardTosk]

The program, as it is now, is far more beneficial to the referrer than to the referred.

Very debatable since the referees are paid, but even so if referring doesn't pay well there isn't much reason to refer. I'm certainly not bothering posting my link in chat and dealing with the ire for 1000 cred and a pat on the head. You're cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[ceryxp]

Very debatable since the referees are paid, but even so if referring doesn't pay well there isn't much reason to refer. I'm certainly not bothering posting my link in chat and dealing with the ire for 1000 cred and a pat on the head. You're cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

Firstly, that payment is only a benefit if it actually happens, and as we have seen scamming on that front has been rampant. Further, if actually delivered, that payment does not compare to the benefit that the referrer receives. Second, that was never the purpose of the program. It was intended to give new players a jumpstart when starting out and give preferred players a way to jump back into the game.

 

If the rewards to the referrer had always and only been cosmetic are you saying that you would not have bothered with giving out referrals? If so then that says more about you than me. On more than one occasion I have explained to people how to get the most from the program, and I did so without any expectation of gain on my part. I would have done so even if the rewards for the referrer stopped after the mount and mini-pets, were purely cosmetic, or even just a pat on the head.

 

Frankly, although I am disappointed at the loss of the bundles and the premium time, if ending the program puts an end to the chat spam from the people fishing for clicks then so be it.

Edited April 24, 2021 by ceryxp