Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   SeniorCitizen
   Member

   Daily, when I put my computer on, I go directly to Giveaway of the Day. I am extremely appreciative of the free software, and especially appreciative of the time and energies the persons who maintain this website put in. It must be an exhaustive chore. We are ALL quite fortunate for this website.

   And after seeing what's available for the day, I read the comments. And today I realized something. I did an analysis of the comments and maybe someone can explain something to me.

   Concerning YES's and NO's, along with # of comments:
   Right now for today's free software I see 48 YES's and 412 NO's with total of 72 comments. Does this mean that all of these 72 folks clicked here and there and everywhere to "make or break" the free software? I realize a person can click YES or NO a few times (or more), but it seems to me like this is "tipping the scales" if only a handful of folks are doing this.

   Then there were 331 YES's and 704 NO's, with total of 118 comments for another program. If ONLY 118 people commented how/why were there a total of 1035 thumbs UP and thumbs DOWN?

   Of the last ten (10) giveaways, 8 were mostly rejected by folks and only two (2) got a thumbs UP -- Partition Recovery (446 YES with 403 NO, 111 comments) and Edraw Max (917 YES with 412 NO, 72 comments).

   Most certainly for me, the comments help me to decide if I'd like to download the software or not. But if people are 'tipping the scales' for one reason or another then I'd have to say the comments should not hold all the weight for me I've given them.

   I don't know ... I just find it sort of improper to "look a gift horse in the mouth" like so many posters do. Unless, of course, the person DID try the software.

   And before anyone jumps on my back, I am not a computer whiz. I write letters on my computer, read the daily newspaper, and play FreeCell, Magic Lines and Tetris. Hey, I still use Quicken DOS but can't print anything with my HP laser! Just wanted to add my 2 cents to this forum because Giveaway of the Day is a daily thing for me ... and I appreciate this website immensely.

   A Senior Citizen from upstate New Yawk

   Posted 16 years ago #
2. 

   copmom
   Member

   Hello SeniorCitizen, great nickname, and I'm originally from NY too, as well as being a Senior Citizen .. thanks for posting. You have a valid point in all of your observations, and this has been brought up before about whether the ratings are fair! I think the best bet is just read the actual comments posted (bypass the groaners and moaners), and see what you can derive from those. If the program sounds like it might be of use to you, personally, then download it. If it turns out it's not what you want, you can always uninstall it.

   As for not being a computer whiz.. you can really learn a lot from these forums, as I have! It's never too late to learn.. I'm not only a senior citizen, I'm a granny as well as a great-granny .. but I know a lot more than my kids do about computers!!

   Posted 16 years ago #
3. 

   HOSS
   Member

   Hello SeniorCitizen - To answer another part of your question; why is there a difference between the number of votes and the number of comments?

   People can vote without leaving a comment. Anyone that visits can vote and anyone that is registered can comment but not everyone does. My concern would be that people that didn't even download the software can vote and that just makes it a popularity contest not a true indication of how well the software is liked by the users.

   Very often we see comments like "I all ready have software that does the same thing". If those people vote "thumbs down", that doesn't say anything about the software offered, just that that person doesn't want/need it.

   I would like to see a better voting system such as; only those that download should be able to vote or having to indicate if you did or did not actually download it before you are allowed to vote. (OK.. off my soapbox now.)

   I how this helps answer your questions.

   c[_] HOSS

   PS. I'm not a Senior yet but, I am a Grandpa.

   Posted 16 years ago #
4. 

   BuBBy
   Teh adnim

   Also - people can comment without being registered. Being registered just saves having to enter a name and email manually for each comment (ie. convenience).

   In terms of voting - I believe only the first click on Yes or No is actually recorded - subsequent clicks are ignored. (ie. one vote per person).

   The relevance of yes vs. no votes is open for interpretation. Personally I neither vote or pay any attention. I prefer to go off the program description - the developers website - and third party reviews.

   With the comments there are a few peoples comments I will search out - many of the others aren't worth paying much attention to (I suspect some people just get excited being able to 'have their say' and see their name on a website. In most cases they haven't yet installed the software or used it for less than 10 minutes). Usually I trust my own judgement more than going off the comments.

   Posted 16 years ago #
5. 

   SeniorCitizen
   Member

   BuBBy -- Since I'm already logged on and was able to find my post here, I will respond to you. I agree -- from now on I will trust my own judgment and probably disregard the YES's and NO's.

   I had just found a full Review on this forum for today's game, ShellBlast. Whiterabbit's discussion blew my sox off! What a thoughtful, helpful poster, especially that the review he/she made was in-depth and intelligent. In the future I will search for Whiterabbit's write-ups.

   With today's giveaway, I (again) found it amazin tht there were 37 YES's and 42 NO's ... but there wasn't even one comment. I'm glad I played around and found Whiterabbit's review on the forums.

   Everyday SHOULD be a learning experience!

   Senior citizen from New Yawk

   Posted 16 years ago #
6. 

   Whiterabbit-uk
   Games Guru

   Thanks for your kind comment SeriorCitizen. I have a lot of time to spare, and because I love arcade games and really appreciate the service that the game giveaway team are doing, I try to write an impartial review of most games. Sometimes they are a little verbose, but I do try to include as much information as possible, so that community members can make a more informed choice. Though the best way is to actually try a game for yourself.

   Some of the games can be quite large as far as arcade games go; though when comparing them to DVD based games like Battlefield 2; a game that’ takes up over 100Gb of disc space when many of the modifications and extra content that’s available for the game are installed (I have over 200Gb of files for that game alone, all of which has been available free), arcade games are very small – anyway, I started the reviews initially for two reasons:

   • Mainly for those who were on dial up, because they were downloading games that took all day but they then discovered were not what they wanted or thought the game was going to be like.

   • Because there were too many community members posting negative comments when it was obvious that they had either not bothered to even install the game, or were making comments based on only a few minutes play.

   I’ve been writing reviews since around March 2006, though they do vary in quality depending upon how much time I spend on playing and then writing them up. I’ve often fallen asleep writing reviews recently, because the administrators give me the heads up on what’s going to be available the night before so that I can post the reviews early.

   Posted 16 years ago #

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