Thoughts on "invite people for prizes" studios?

TheToothlessWolf

If you still go on trending studios, you may notice “invite people for prizes” studios after scrolling down a bit. (I won't link any under the no-gossip rule.) Typically, the prizes are loves, favorites, and follows, with an occasional shoutout. Some of them have tiers that are fairly unreasonable for normal people, like inviting a thousand people.

These studios often have somewhat low rewards compared to how many people you have to invite. I'm probably not going to go through the tedious process of inviting one hundred people just to get two loves, a favorite, and a follow, thank you very much. It could be argued that using these things as currency goes against the spirit of Scratch, which is to earn them through learning new things, but then again f4f is allowed. It could also be argued that they just take up space on the servers, but so do add everything and let's get x curators studios.

A rare variant requires the invited people to follow higher-up managers and then get people they invite to follow them, which I've jokingly compared to pyramid schemes(not in an offensive way), but it's not really a valid comparison since you don't lose much by following a few people.

What do you think?

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AHAHA Finally 500 posts!

-Exphire-

I think that they often lie. One time I did one and the owner promised my 750 followers, but I only got 3. However, they exist, so I am fine with them as long as I am not being scammed by them.

THAT’S KINDA GAY (but so am I)
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mtech22

I don't like them and don't join them because they take up space and well i care about loves/faves/follows, this isn't earning them honestly. I joined one once and got n o t h i n g

Last edited by mtech22 (Sept. 28, 2020 19:41:47)

aII toasters toast toast, but what happens when there are no longer toasters being produced? will their technology simply become obsolete, with humans moving onto bigger, better things? will toast become a distant memory, written in textbooks of the future as foods us simpler generations ate? who's to say! society is constantly moving, changing, evolving, ideas being built upon, improved upon, theories being proven or disproven. are we but a blip on the timeline? sure, our names may not be remembered, but that's not the point. you can make a change. you can make a difference. you can make the world better, even if you don't know yet. and the first step is to go for it. even if you are afraid of failure. going back to the example of toasters, do you know off the top of your head who invented them? no? have you used one? probably. so, even if you don't remember my name, if I was able to help awnser your question, that is enough. if I was able to help you, even in the slightest way, this could push you to continue with scratch and not give up after the program crashes, and maybe one day learn other programming languages and change the world. everything is a cause and effect reaction, new inventions lead to the technology of the future, and even as the generations of the past are slowly forgotten, their influence lives on to this day, affecting how the world eventually turned out and how it will be for generations to come.

and, without toasters, we wouldn't have toast.

Bluebatstar

I don't like Add Everything studios, and I like these even less. I'm not going to wish bans on them though- They're just a nuisance in my opinion. As for the prizes, I agree with the fact that they go against the spirit of Scratch, but again, I don't wish bans on them.

In my opinion, these are just those things that newer, younger Scratchers do and have fun with (like F4F and AE studios) but stuff that a lot of other people look down on.

Last edited by Bluebatstar (Sept. 28, 2020 19:45:37)

puppycutest

I strongly dislike these studios. They usually don’t give you anything (scam) and if they do, it’s still a cheap way to get attention. I tried it once, just for fun, and I got 1 f o l l o w. But whatever make other people happy, I guess

Hi! My name’s Jojo! I would love if you could check out some of my newest projects!

I go by she/her, I’m a girl, I like pink and yellow, and I happen to be very good at debating. I’m a proud Aries.

xXRedTheCoderXx

This is me scrolling through every single manager of one of those studios… at 2 times speed…

These studios are honestly raids waiting to happen.

So yeah. Anyway, I think these studios don't have a point. From what I've seen, they do nothing good for the community. And people shouldn't give others the idea that loves, faves, and follows are important numbers, because, they're not. That's what causes fighting for fame.

Really, don't join these studios. And if you do, leave.

However, I am not sure if it is worth it to report studios that scam users by not giving them what was promised. It is against the 5th community guideline, after all.

Be honest.
Don’t try to impersonate other Scratchers, spread rumors, or otherwise try to trick the community.

But the thing is, it doesn't really cause any harm. So, I don't know whether studios that scam should be reported or not.

What does everyone else think about this?

mtech22

xXRedTheCoderXx wrote:
But the thing is, it doesn't really cause any harm. So, I don't know whether studios that scam should be reported or not. What does everyone else think about this?

I would report them but is there a way to prove they're a scam? You'd have to write a contact us ticket and that's more trouble than it's worth.

aII toasters toast toast, but what happens when there are no longer toasters being produced? will their technology simply become obsolete, with humans moving onto bigger, better things? will toast become a distant memory, written in textbooks of the future as foods us simpler generations ate? who's to say! society is constantly moving, changing, evolving, ideas being built upon, improved upon, theories being proven or disproven. are we but a blip on the timeline? sure, our names may not be remembered, but that's not the point. you can make a change. you can make a difference. you can make the world better, even if you don't know yet. and the first step is to go for it. even if you are afraid of failure. going back to the example of toasters, do you know off the top of your head who invented them? no? have you used one? probably. so, even if you don't remember my name, if I was able to help awnser your question, that is enough. if I was able to help you, even in the slightest way, this could push you to continue with scratch and not give up after the program crashes, and maybe one day learn other programming languages and change the world. everything is a cause and effect reaction, new inventions lead to the technology of the future, and even as the generations of the past are slowly forgotten, their influence lives on to this day, affecting how the world eventually turned out and how it will be for generations to come.

and, without toasters, we wouldn't have toast.

xXRedTheCoderXx

mtech22 wrote:
xXRedTheCoderXx wrote:
But the thing is, it doesn't really cause any harm. So, I don't know whether studios that scam should be reported or not. What does everyone else think about this?
I would report them but is there a way to prove they're a scam? You'd have to write a contact us ticket and that's more trouble than it's worth.

I agree. So looks like these studios are going to stick for a while.

Last edited by xXRedTheCoderXx (Sept. 28, 2020 21:40:50)

coralsong

I don't know if they can be removed, but I agree that they are annoying and most likely scams. Likes, favorites, and follows only mean something if you earn them.

spongebob and shrek are the only valid musicals change my mind

Paddle2See

If the prizes are Scratch social actions then it is going against this policy here:

It is not okay to use Scratch social actions such as likes, favorites, or follows as a form of payment. Scratch social actions should always be something that Scratchers give freely, not something they do because they are getting “paid” for it.

Please feel free to link them to this post or the policy.

Scratch Team Member, kayak and pickleball enthusiast, cat caregiver.

This is my forum signature! On a forum post, it is okay for Scratchers to advertise in their forum signature. The signature is the stuff that shows up below the horizontal line on the post. It will show up on every post I make.
(credit to Za-Chary)

;

cs4715962

I don't like those studios. Sometime they never give you the prizes! Also it's VERY annoying. And they give you loves and favs on projects that took a lot of work and don't even look at it.

I love: Star Wars, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland/Alice Through the Looking Glass, cats, Boba Fett, and A Seires of Unfortunate Events!!!
I hate: bullying, false reporting, hate, Obi-Wan and Han Solo, and huskies
I'm: female, weird, and VERY crazy

(and Boba Fett's biggest fan)

mtech22

Paddle2See wrote:
If the prizes are Scratch social actions then it is going against this policy here:

It is not okay to use Scratch social actions such as likes, favorites, or follows as a form of payment. Scratch social actions should always be something that Scratchers give freely, not something they do because they are getting “paid” for it.

Please feel free to link them to this post or the policy.

So contests that offer follows as prizes aren't allowed?

aII toasters toast toast, but what happens when there are no longer toasters being produced? will their technology simply become obsolete, with humans moving onto bigger, better things? will toast become a distant memory, written in textbooks of the future as foods us simpler generations ate? who's to say! society is constantly moving, changing, evolving, ideas being built upon, improved upon, theories being proven or disproven. are we but a blip on the timeline? sure, our names may not be remembered, but that's not the point. you can make a change. you can make a difference. you can make the world better, even if you don't know yet. and the first step is to go for it. even if you are afraid of failure. going back to the example of toasters, do you know off the top of your head who invented them? no? have you used one? probably. so, even if you don't remember my name, if I was able to help awnser your question, that is enough. if I was able to help you, even in the slightest way, this could push you to continue with scratch and not give up after the program crashes, and maybe one day learn other programming languages and change the world. everything is a cause and effect reaction, new inventions lead to the technology of the future, and even as the generations of the past are slowly forgotten, their influence lives on to this day, affecting how the world eventually turned out and how it will be for generations to come.

and, without toasters, we wouldn't have toast.

fdreerf

mtech22 wrote:
So contests that offer follows as prizes aren't allowed?

Follows, loves, favorites, any of that sort of thing.

Hyped for MS-DOS 11.0

Fun_Cupcake_i81

mtech22 wrote:
-snip-
So contests that offer follows as prizes aren't allowed?

I would argue no, since in most contests the judge chooses a winner based on their artwork, game, or whatever it's a contest for, and following someone means you like their work, and obviously, they picked a winner whose work they liked. (I wasn't really sure how to word that, so sorry if it seems confusing.)

EDIT: To be clear, I think they should be allowed.

Last edited by Fun_Cupcake_i81 (Sept. 29, 2020 00:09:41)

NullPointerException: myLife does not exist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi! I'm Fun Cupcake and I pop onto the forums every now and then to ask questions or try and help out.

My goal is to help people out and brighten their days!

Also, I do in fact have a voice-acted series. It's a fantasy story and I'd love it if you'd check it out!
You could also check out Sprinkle Town, a town game I created inspired by Stardew Valley! (It's still in very early development stages.)

mtech22

Fun_Cupcake_i81 wrote:
mtech22 wrote:
-snip-
So contests that offer follows as prizes aren't allowed?

I would argue no, since in most contests the judge chooses a winner based on their artwork, game, or whatever it's a contest for, and following someone means you like their work, and obviously, they picked a winner whose work they liked. (I wasn't really sure how to word that, so sorry if it seems confusing.)

EDIT: To be clear, I think they should be allowed.

That makes sense. But a raffle with a follow as a prize wouldn't be allowed I suppose.

aII toasters toast toast, but what happens when there are no longer toasters being produced? will their technology simply become obsolete, with humans moving onto bigger, better things? will toast become a distant memory, written in textbooks of the future as foods us simpler generations ate? who's to say! society is constantly moving, changing, evolving, ideas being built upon, improved upon, theories being proven or disproven. are we but a blip on the timeline? sure, our names may not be remembered, but that's not the point. you can make a change. you can make a difference. you can make the world better, even if you don't know yet. and the first step is to go for it. even if you are afraid of failure. going back to the example of toasters, do you know off the top of your head who invented them? no? have you used one? probably. so, even if you don't remember my name, if I was able to help awnser your question, that is enough. if I was able to help you, even in the slightest way, this could push you to continue with scratch and not give up after the program crashes, and maybe one day learn other programming languages and change the world. everything is a cause and effect reaction, new inventions lead to the technology of the future, and even as the generations of the past are slowly forgotten, their influence lives on to this day, affecting how the world eventually turned out and how it will be for generations to come.

and, without toasters, we wouldn't have toast.

fdreerf

Fun_Cupcake_i81 wrote:
mtech22 wrote:
-snip-
So contests that offer follows as prizes aren't allowed?

I would argue no, since in most contests the judge chooses a winner based on their artwork, game, or whatever it's a contest for, and following someone means you like their work, and obviously, they picked a winner whose work they liked. (I wasn't really sure how to word that, so sorry if it seems confusing.)

I still think Paddle's post implies that any social actions given as any sort of prize are not allowed.

Hyped for MS-DOS 11.0

Fun_Cupcake_i81

fdreerf wrote:
-snip-
I still think Paddle's post implies that any social actions given as any sort of prize are not allowed.

Well, I guess that puts me in a predicament… I mean, I'm following the people who won my contest, but I don't want to unfollow them, because I like their projects sooo…. It can't be a crime to stay following them, right?

Edit: Plus, it would be really unfair to promise them a follow and then unfollow them…

Last edited by Fun_Cupcake_i81 (Sept. 29, 2020 00:37:05)

NullPointerException: myLife does not exist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi! I'm Fun Cupcake and I pop onto the forums every now and then to ask questions or try and help out.

My goal is to help people out and brighten their days!

Also, I do in fact have a voice-acted series. It's a fantasy story and I'd love it if you'd check it out!
You could also check out Sprinkle Town, a town game I created inspired by Stardew Valley! (It's still in very early development stages.)

Wyan100

I think that a Follow as a PRIZE is fine, but Follows as CURRENCY is not. Now to figure out where exactly the line between them lies…

"But don't quote me on it!" - Wyan100, 2020

Fun_Cupcake_i81

Wyan100 wrote:
I think that a Follow as a PRIZE is fine, but Follows as CURRENCY is not. Now to figure out where exactly the line between them lies…

I definitely agree… also i disobeyed your signature >:)

NullPointerException: myLife does not exist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi! I'm Fun Cupcake and I pop onto the forums every now and then to ask questions or try and help out.

My goal is to help people out and brighten their days!

Also, I do in fact have a voice-acted series. It's a fantasy story and I'd love it if you'd check it out!
You could also check out Sprinkle Town, a town game I created inspired by Stardew Valley! (It's still in very early development stages.)

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