Clarification on the Spigo Super Jackpot removal.

In the wee hours of yesterday morning I got to talk with Rasmus Nielsen (head of the North American Spigo site) on Facebook chat. So here’s what I got wrong about the SJP removal. ^_^

The fluctuations in the Super Jackpot prize pot wasn’t because they had all prize funds in one lump, which is a relief. It happened because of currency fluctuations. See, the Super Jackpot was shared across all of the Spigo sites, which I already knew. But I didn’t realize that the currency is based on the Danish krone (DKK.) Whenever the pot suddenly dropped by a few hundred bucks, that was the effect of the exchange rate between the DKK and the USD jumping around. o_O Dang!

Also, they have contacted the winner and they’ll be promoting that for a while. (A recent news post shows a clip of them driving to contact the winner.) I’m glad they didn’t have trouble finding the winner. ^_^

Aaaaaaaaaand I got a longer explanation about the reason for removal. It seems that the tantalizing SJP prize attracted people who wanted to win money, but weren’t as interested in the community. That’s what they meant by, “we do not think it corresponds to the friendly atmosphere of a casual games community like Spigo.” They want the player focus to be on community and have prizes be secondary.

To which I must say… Well that’s what usually happens! On sites that have prizes it’s very common for people to join because they want to win something. It’s a great hook! But once they settle into the games and meet other players, that’s when the community aspect kicks in. Until people start talking to each other, “community” is just a vague concept.

They still plan on keeping the cash Jackpots for the individual games though. (Whew!!) Just no more Super Jackpot. :(

 

What are your thoughts? Anything spark your brain since the last post? ^_^

Spigo removes the Super Jackpot game.

First the good news. A few days ago someone finally won the Spigo Super Jackpot! This sucker had grown to over $58,000(USD)! Wooohoooo!!!!

Sadly, the winner wasn’t me. But you probably figured that out already. ^_^

Now, the bad news. Spigo announced in their news section that they are removing the game for good. (Bolded section for emphasis.)

. . .  we decided to remove the Super Jackpot (thus the Super Jackpot game) from Spigo because we do not think it corresponds to the friendly atmosphere of a casual games community like Spigo. It has been on our minds for a long time and with the resent draw we think the right time has come for this change. However, we are already working on new, exciting things you can use your Spigos for.

Yeah. That smells like BS. How exactly is a free cash prize detrimental to the atmosphere? You could only enter by buying tickets for the random draw OR by using 3 tickets each day to “spin” the slot machine. But for the most part, the Super Jackpot just sort of stayed in the background as a tantalizing prize.

Of course, it was also an incredibly unique prize and a fantastic lead to pull in new players. I know it definitely kept me coming back every day so I could take my daily shots at the prize! (Can you tell that I think removing it is a mistake?)

I don’t buy that they’re removing the game to improve the atmosphere. In fact, here’s why I think they REALLY decided to close the Super Jackpot.

 

They’re having difficulty reaching the winner.

When I first found Spigo almost a year ago, the jackpot was around $40k. This means that most likely the pot had to be growing for a couple of years. That is a LOT of time for people to buy tickets! Many people play a site for a little while and then move on, so it’s quite possible that the person with the winning ticket stopped playing Spigo ages ago. (Yet another reason to check your gaming email(s) frequently!)

Right now it says on the Spigo.com homepage that the winner will be announced soon, and it’s already been a few days. I know there are a lot of steps involved in verifying the win, contacting the winner, and getting all of the appropriate forms completed, so that might explain the delay.

But even if they aren’t having any trouble at all finding the winner, they might not have the same great luck the next time. Though personally I’d rather they just programmed the draw to function in a shorter time frame instead of ditch the game altogether.

 

The prize money is out of whack now.

The amount of $$$ in the Super Jackpot constantly fluctuated, usually by only a few hundred dollars. That seems a weird thing for a progressive jackpot to do, dontcha think? My best guess is that the Super Jackpot contained all of the funds for all of the prizes on Spigo, and dropped down whenever a cash prize was paid out.

If that’s the case and they didn’t have any prize money stashed elsewhere, then they don’t have any funds leftover for any new cash prizes. Eek!! That could turn into quite a scramble!

Still, there’s no reason why the Super Jackpot couldn’t be a separate game. The pot wouldn’t grow as large or as quickly as it used to, but even a jackpot with a couple thousand bucks is quite impressive!

Again, the funding theory is all a guess based on the fact that the Super Jackpot money would go up and down. Please don’t take my theory as the truth!

 

A Pacifier?

To soothe the angry masses they’re promising “new, exciting things” to spend our Spigos on. While I’m thrilled that they’ve opened the Spigo store to free players too, the shipping costs on all of the prizes are a huge turn off. The very first item listed is a Spigo cap that I could buy with 50,000 Spigos, but it costs $10.00 to ship! Want six casino chips with the Spigo logo? That’ll be 10,000 Spigos and $10.00 in shipping. Ugh. >_<

The funny thing is that if they just had a regular item store I’d think it was all pretty cool. But it’s the whole, “Trade in your Spigos for free items! Now pay a lot of money for shipping” bit that really ticks me off.

I would love it if you could trade Spigos in for Gold membership. Even if it’s 1,000,000 Spigos, having that as an option would be absolutely fabulous. ^_^ I suspect that they might add virtual prizes to the Spigo shop, but I doubt it will be a membership. Most likely it would be items for the new avatars, or other profile benefits.

 

Bleh. I’m miffed about the Super Jackpot going away, but I’m vaguely hopeful to see what happens to the Spigo shop. If they keep the crushing shipping prices then that won’t help a bit, but we’ll see.

What do you think of the Super Jackpot going bye-bye?

Press Release: GSN Digital Awards $60 Million in Prizes Annually Across PopCap Games' Titles

Bejeweled® 2, Zuma™ and Chuzzle™ Available Exclusively on GSN.com
for Cash Prizes

WALTHAM, MA – February 10, 2011 – GSN Digital, the interactive division of GSN (Game Show Network), today announced that its cash game adaptations of popular casual gaming hits from PopCap Games, including Bejeweled 2, Zuma and Chuzzle, have awarded GSN players $60 million in prizes across millions of game plays in 2010.  PopCap fans who want to get in on the fun can head to GSN.com to join in tournaments for real cash prizes.

At GSN Digital, we strive to be the platform where users can play the titles they know and love.  Bejeweled 2, Zuma and Chuzzle are three great titles that are extremely popular among our players, and we’re thrilled to provide social competition where players can win real cash prizes. – Peter Blacklow, EVP, GSN Digital

Players can experience the thrill of winning and play their favorite games, including these popular PopCap titles:

• One of the Web’s most popular puzzle games, Bejeweled 2 is part of the Bejeweled series, which has sold more than 50 million copies since it launched in 2000, generating more than $300 million in sales.
• Zuma, launched in 2003, is a fast-paced puzzle game that has sold more than 20 million units since its launch.
• One of the most fun and exciting games on the Web, Chuzzle received a four out of five game review score from PC Mag.com.

GSN Digital also offers cash prize competitions in these popular PopCap titles:  Bejeweled Twist™, Bookworm™, Dynomite!™, Mystery P.I.™ and Plants vs. Zombies™.

Dear Gamers: It’s not all about you.

Before I leap into this one, I should probably explain what Winster is. ^_^

Winster is a game site that encourages players to work together to earn points through various games. The points can then be turned in for monetary prizes. Free players have to watch commercials and get only 200 spins a day. Paying members have no commercials interruptions and get between 300-800 spins a day, depending on the membership level. Got it?

For more details you can read a review of Winster on Free2WinGames.com. (Link opens in a new window.)

Now, several months ago Winster had to make a pretty drastic change to their bonus point system. (Often called "Cherries.”) They had to change it because players had figured out a loophole that turned the bonus game into an ever-winning slot machine. It majorly unbalanced the game!

Keep in mind that game sites with prizes have to maintain a delicate balance between the income generated by players and the amount of prizes they can award. Every gamer wants to win back more than what they put in. However, if every player wins more than they contribute, the site will collapse.

That’s a worst case scenario, mind you. In reality, even a minority of players can disrupt the balance! And when that happens, well.. No game company wants to piss off their players, but if the choice is between pissing off players or going bankrupt, there’s really no choice at all.

So! Winster braced for impact and announced that in order to rebalance the site, Cherries had to get a severe cut in points. Unsurprisingly, the feedback on the Winster Facebook discussions page wasn’t exactly positive. Many of the comments have valid points regarding problems on the site, but the key thing to remember is that Winster wouldn’t have knowingly enraged their customers without a damn good reason. In this case, income!

Here’s a little perspective for you: I read a comment by one outraged Cherries player who said that zie used to earn a $20 gift card on Winster every week.

Let’s do a little math. Winster offers tiered membership, and the top level costs $10 a month. Additionally, players at the top tier can purchase more spins, which at the most is another $40 a month. That means that this player contributed somewhere between $10-$50 a month and earned $80 in return.

That’s fantastic for the player! Not so great for Winster. To balance this one player out, they had to earn $30-$70 every month from other players, and that’s just to break even! That doesn’t even cover wages for the employees or the cost to keep servers up and running.

At first the dedicated Cherries players were a small group, and Winster actually could balance their earnings by using non-Cherries players to fill the gap. But as the number of Cherries players grew, it became an impossible task. I have no idea how long it took Winster to see the storm brewing, but from an outsider’s perspective… I think they could have moved on it quicker. Definitely before it became an integral part of the game for so many players! It went on for so long that people would put “Cherries” in their screen name so they could find other Cherries players!

What’s the lesson learned here? Well, for gamers, take it as a reminder that the games you play are supported by companies that must turn a profit in order to keep going. For casual game sites I’d say the lesson is, “Don’t ignore small problems!” They have a tendency to spiral out of control.

That’s my take on the situation. Do you see it differently? Do you have any suggestions on how Winster could have avoided the fiasco in the first place?