How to earn points in Points4Prizes

Hello! As I’m sure you guessed by the title, in this post we’ll go over how you can earn points for P4P. If you have any questions at all, please ask! (If you want to sign up first, you can do so here. That page has the rules and a link to the sign up form.)

Please keep in mind that it’s very likely that things will change over time. I want this to be fun and exciting for you! However, I also have to find a balance between players earning prizes and how many prizes I can give out. I know you’d be thrilled to earn a $20 prize every week! Unfortunately, I can’t do that. That reality would kill me FAST. o_O

So! We’re going to start slowly and work up from there. ^_^

Each Monday I’ll update the points and post them for you to see. The chart includes your Disqus username and how many points you’ve earned. This is the points tracker.

 

Terms

• P4P = Points4Prizes
• Week = A scoring week starts Monday 12:01 AM EST and ends Saturday 11:59 PM EST. This effectively means that Sunday is a “dead” day without any bonuses. Comments left on Sunday will be counted on the *next* Sunday.
• Tag = Identification. Free2WinGames posts are all tagged with different categories. Tweets and Facebook posts can be tagged as well. (More details are in the comments.)
• Zie & hir = These are gender neutral pronouns. Zie replaces he/she, and hir replaces him/her. I know it’s uncommon to see these words, but I like the idea. Using them is my teaspoon for equality. ^_^

 

How to Earn Points

Ahh, points. Lovely lovely points! There are a total of seven different ways to earn points, and I’m open to further suggestions!

 

Keep in mind that the point values might increase later. Clicking an option will jump you directly to the expanded explanation. ^_^

 

Option	Earn	Limit	Requires
Comment	10 pts	None	Disqus
Double Feature EXTREME!!	20 pts	None	Disqus
Best Comment	100 pts	1 win per person per week	Disqus
Best Tip	100 pts	1 win per person per week	Disqus
Weekly Challenge	250 pts	None	BugleGames, Candystand, GSN Oodles, IWON, KadoKado, Slingo, Spigo, a LOT of games!
Lucky Linkster Bonus	25 pts	250 pts/week	Facebook or Twitter
Recruit a Friend	25-150 pts	None	Friends!
Gift of Hope	3,000 pts (Not a typo!)	3,000 pts/month	$10 donation to GlobalGiving.org

Now, here are the longer explanations. *Offers a pillow and coffee.*

 

Comments: The Basics

All comments are counted through Disqus because it means that you’re unique! No one can pretend to be you by creating fake accounts. If you haven’t made an account yet, here’s a guide on how to do that. It’s easy. ^_^

Any comments you made prior to joining Disqus will not be counted. It may seem unfair, but it’s the only way I can be 100% sure that the comments are coming from one person.

There are a few guidelines for commenting. I’m truly thankful for every person who stops by and says “Great guide!” but that sort of comment won’t spark a conversation. We want conversation!

To encourage more thought provoking comments, each person can get credit for only five “short” comments each week. Any other short comments beyond that will still be up on the site, but you won’t get points for them.

I hope this leaves some wiggle room for the shyer readers. ^_^ I still love you!! *Hugs*

Since I’m the one who will sort through the comments, it’s my call on whether a comment is “short” or not. I do my best to be fair, but if you disagree with my verdict, please contact me! We’ll work something out.

If you’re the first commenter on a post and you’re not sure what to say, here are a few ideas.

1. In almost every post I end on a question or two. See what you can come up with as an answer.
2. If you haven’t tried the game at all, take a few minutes and try it out! You might have some questions afterwards.
3. Are you confused or stuck on a game? Share your problem and be as detailed as you can, so other readers can chime in with tips.
4. Have you figured out a neat trick? Share!
5. Have you played a similar game? What’s it like? How is it different? (And please, what is it called? ^_^)

If other people have left comments, read them and share your own thoughts! But remember, even if you strongly disagree with another commenter, it’s never okay to insult them!

 

Comments: Bonus Features!

Each week there’s a new Double Feature EXTREME!! category. (DFE for short.) Any post on Free2WinGames that’s tagged with that category gives 2x points for each comment! (Example: If Gamesville was the DFE, all comments on posts about Gamesville would receive 20 points.) The posts can be old or new, it doesn’t matter! But the bonus will last only for one week.

For the sake of fairness, completely off topic comments will count as “normal” comments and receive 10 points each. So don’t settle into a lengthy discussion about horses and think you have me outwitted. ^_^

Each week I’ll also pick a Best Tip and/or Best Comment to feature. The number of winners might flex from week to week. If no one leaves any tips, then I can’t exactly pick a Best Tip! On the other hand, if I can’t choose between several awesome comments, then we might have multiple winners for Best Comment!

 

Weekly Game Challenge

At the start of each week I’ll announce a new game that’s the weekly challenge. Depending on the where the game is hosted, you’ll either have one week to be the best Points4Prizes player, or one week to be the best Points4Prizes player on their high scores for the entire site. *^_^*

Option #2 is going to be a lot tougher, and I may boost the points for that one. We’ll see how it goes!

The cutoff time for weekly challenges is always Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. Don’t wait until the last minute!

 

Lucky Linkster Bonus

As you may recall, in earlier brain-storming sessions I’d planned to award points for people plugging links to Free2WinGames on sites like Digg, Stumble, and Reddit.

Well, then I looked into it and discovered that those sites have rules that say you can’t offer people benefits for plugging your links. Whoops!

Here’s what we’re going to do instead. ^_^ Each Sunday I’ll go through a series of steps.

1. Randomly pick either Facebook or Twitter.
2. Look at the Points4Prizes players who registered their names for that app and randomly pick one of them.
3. Check hir account. If zie shared a Free2WinGames link during the past week, zie gets points! Specifically, zie will get 25 points for each link shared that week, topping out at a max of 250 points!

If that person didn’t share any links, I’ll keep picking random names until I find someone who did. If no one did then I’ll give myself 10,000 points as a consolation prize. ^_~ (TOTALLY KIDDING!!)

 

IMPORTANT!!!

 

Twitter Users: Include #F2WG in any shared links.

Facebook Users: Tag each link by typing @Free2WinGames before you share it.

I can quickly search for links if you do this. Otherwise I’ll have to search one message at a time, and I can’t promise that I’ll catch everything.

Of course, if you’re picked and I see you shared a link but didn’t tag it, I’ll still count it. I’m not a jerk. ^_^ But it’s in your own best interest to take a few seconds and tag it!

 

Recruit a Friend

In order for Free2WinGames to grow, we need more readers. You can help us grow AND get rewarded for it! Here’s how to get credit for bringing a friend.

1. Ask your friend to make a Disqus account. If zie already has one then zie can use it.
2. Each Sunday I’ll post a new Open Discussion topic where anyone can discuss anything! Your friend needs to post there and say that you referred hir.
3. To be doubly sure that you get credit, please reply to your friend’s comment to let me know that yes indeed, you referred hir. ^_^
4. If your friend makes 10 NON-SPAM comments (from their Disqus account) within a month, you’ll get the full 150 points. If zie makes a comment or two and then leaves, you’ll get 25 points.

I know 25 points isn’t a lot, but it gives you room to invite another person who might enjoy Free2WinGames more. As much as I love this site, I know that it isn’t for everyone!

 

Gift of Hope

This one has nothing to do with games. ^_^ Each month I’ll highlight a different project from GlobalGiving.org. It’s an amazing site that has over 1,000 pre-screened grassroots projects from around the world!

Anywho, if you’d like to donate to the featured project, send me a GlobalGiving e-giftcard and I’ll award you 3,000 points for your generosity! (And then I’ll use the giftcard toward the project.) This is the email address you should send it to.

Why send GlobalGiving e-giftcard instead of donating directly? Three reasons!

1. GlobalGiving e-giftcards can only be used on GlobalGiving projects. I can’t run off with the giftcards and buy whatever I want. ^_^
2. An e-giftcard gives me solid proof that you donated! Screenshots can be a pain to take, and worse, they’re easily manipulated. This is the simplest solution.
3. If something dire happens to me before I can use the card, GlobalGiving will wait a year, and then use the funds wherever they need it most.

The minimum you can give is $10, but you’re welcome to give more than that! Alas, you’ll still only receive 3,000 P4P points in return. I want to reward you for helping someone else, but I also don’t want it to seem like you’re buying points. (It isn’t fair to people who can only earn points the “regular” way.) This is the best balance that I could come up with!

IMPORTANT: You aren’t required to enter your own email address when you send a GlobalGiving e-giftcard, so if you don’t include your name, I won’t know the card is from you!!

To fix this, write your Disqus name (or your email address) in the “From” section.

They say it’s optional, but it’s mandatory if you want your 3,000 points!!

If you pull a Mira and remember to add your name after you already sent the darn thing, don’t panic. ^_^ Send me an email right away and I’ll credit you with the points.

Once I use the card I’ll send a confirmation email to the address you registered with. That shouldn’t take more than a day. If you haven’t heard from me in a few days, PLEASE send me an email! I want to be sure that you get credit for your donation!

Click the following link to read more information about GlobalGiving and Free2WinGames. (Link opens in a new window.) At the end of the post you’ll find a project that’s currently on GlobalGiving.org. Keep in mind that the post was written in March 2011. Hopefully they’ve reached their goal by the time you read this! ^_^

 

That’s it! Please leave a comment if you have any questions! If you just want to sign up, you can do so here. That’ll take you to the Points4Prizes rules, and you can find the sign up link near the bottom. When you sign up you agree to obey those rules, so please take a few moments to read them!

 

Updated 3/23/2011 to add the Gift of Hope.

Updated 2/28/2011 to adjust points. Regular comments are now worth 10 points instead of 5. DFE comments are now worth 20 points instead of 10. Winning the weekly challenge is worth 250 points instead of 100. And the point cap on comments has been removed for now. ^_^