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VUSO Sweepstake Winners

• overtheedge 5,885 Posts

  Sun, Aug 3 2014 4:11 PM

  broadway43:

  I read these forums from time to time not daily simply because of the negativity and piss poor attitudes (excuse my choice of words). Reading the winners of the sweepstakes i find that some are complaining of a the major prize winner, it really frustrates me to no end how people are. Just say thanks to the winners and go on. Yes, we all have paid money ONLY if we CHOOSE to do so. WGT does not force us to purchase anything plain and simple. What did they charge us to sign up???? NOTHING, $000.00....NOTHING. 

  LETS ONCE FOR GOODNESS SAKE SAY "THANKS WGT FOR ALLOWING US TO PLAY WITH PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FREE OF CHARGE!!

  People if you have a fatal illness then you might or have something to complain about but like myself i've found that the ones that do make the best of it for they know life will be short....BE HAPPY AND THANKFUL PLEASE.....:)

  Thanks again WGT and continue the good work...

  Hey broadway joe. You are sooooo far off base with your reply to this current topic that you make absolutely NO SENSE. NONE. First, understand the topic BEFORE you jump in guns loaded screaming about being grateful for our HEALTH. Please man. Stay focused and stay on TOPIC.

  We're discussing the format and protocol of a WGT - RANDOM DRAW. NOT playing with people from all over the world, or being ALLOWED to play the game free of charge which in all actuality , the game is NOT free consider the amount of money we all spend for clubs, gb's and what ever else suits our fancies. 

  So again - please,,,stay focused and ON TOPIC.

• broadway43 9 Posts

  Sun, Aug 3 2014 6:28 PM

  Hey edge.....I was commenting on this topic....vast majority of comments were people disgruntled because they did not win....it is a drawing , random drawing....and as I stated we make the choice to spend money on this site....and YES it is free to play. so let us make a comment positive if we like too...Actually the TOPIC  announcing the winners of the drawing....that is the topic.

   

  so please read the subject of the TOPIC so all can stay focused....\

  enjoy your free game

   

• overtheedge 5,885 Posts

  Mon, Aug 4 2014 2:54 AM

  overtheedge:

  WGTdbloshoe:

  selections are picked.

  There it is! THIS ^ is what I'm referring too. HOW? How are the names "picked / selected"? Sort of a two handed statement,,lol "selections are picked". 

  In the future I would suggest, and again this is just a suggestion, not to use the words "picked or selected" if you are claiming you do a  "random draw".

  Getting back on topic, again, HOW is the name of the player drawn? Just a fair and up front question. This is all I'm inquiring. 

  Just 1 more fair and straight forward question; don't you think it would be fair to say that WGT's Random Draw eligibility requirements should be reviewed considering these kind of outcomes? What I mean by outcome is,,,,,,,,ahh, I wont get back into all that. I am sure you get my point.

  Thanks for your time and consideration. edge

  Getting back on track - Quote,  ?

  btw broadway, no one here in this topic is "disgruntled" because they didn't win a trip. The focus is and has been aimed at WGT the 'Random Draw format" attached with eligibility requirements and suggested changes or re-formatting to the RD protocol. ALL fair, honest and straight forward inquiries that btw by law we are entitled too.

• mantis0014 8,946 Posts

  Mon, Aug 4 2014 3:34 AM

  DodgyPutter:

  pierolitfiba:

  Sorry Wgt, I kind of agree with this too, they do make a good point...

  Which good point, not believing random draw really is random or wanting the draw in their favour and not random?

  As I understand everyone who played in that tournament was entered in a random draw.  

  Presumably the prize was to encourage people to play in this tournament, from WGT or USPGA I'm not really sure who sponsored it.  Are you suggesting that If I played another tournament (or ready-go or whatever), with another sponsor and/or advert's , this should give me a better chance of winning this prize?

  Perhaps an entry for each completed round in the relevant tournament would be fair.    

   

  This was the point I was referring to

   

  overtheedge:

  We have players in the community that feed this game fist full of money, play EVERY DAY for years, has supported the WGT program, been outstanding members in the community, been through the good and the bad with WGT and then a player with a total # of 80,,,,,,,80 ranked rounds since 2011 who has never played not 1, NOT 1 MP game, who has ZERO friends and who may possibly never log back into the community ever again, wins a trip of this caliber.

   

  I'm not angry or disgruntled, it's great for the people who do win anything big,  playing this game,  but this type of thing that Edge referred to happens too many times.

  I'm not sure how the Random Draw gets done, whether a Puter does it or all the names get placed in a hat and then hand picked,  but sometimes it just looks a bit suspect.

   

• MainzMan 9,591 Posts

  Mon, Aug 4 2014 5:40 AM

  Broadway, I agree with what you're saying but in this case I think you're on the wrong track.

  What OTE and others are unhappy about is the lack of transparency when it comes to who wins the prize in a random draw.   It seems that these big prizes very often go to people who signed up years ago, haven't played for ages and suddenly turn up in time to enter a big tournament and win the random draw for a major value prize.  OTE isn't unhappy because he didn't win, the issue is someone who isn't actually an active player winning and the use of the work pick when it comes to who that winner is.  This word does suggest the winner is chosen, rather than being drawn at random.  It depends on your interpretation of the word pick of course but it isn't a word that I would use in this scenario.  It does seem to imply that there are X number of names in the running and someone at WGT looks over them and chooses who wins.  I'm not saying this is the case but the wording certainly leaves this option open.

  Where I'm 100% with you is on the number of people who come here purely to moan about how dreadful the game is and let everyone know how much they hate it.   These are the people who need to get things into perspective and see than not scoring well in an online golf game isn't really the end of the world.

  I realise this has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, apologies if I derailed it further.

• overtheedge 5,885 Posts

  Mon, Aug 4 2014 6:27 AM

  A HUGE TY to both mantis and Mainz for your input on my "RD Contest" confusion, so to speak and for fully understanding the point I am driving home, or at least trying to drive home.

  As for being happy and congratulatory for a fellow WGT community member to win a prize, gift card, trip, credits, or whatever else may be awarded  I'll be the first to acknowledge and congratulate this fellow member. BUT again, there is a very, VERY "gray" area with WGT's RD contest / tournaments. We are all aware of it but most choose not to inquire or should I say care how WGT ultimately "randomly" draws or is it picks a winners name. 

  More than anything - and I think most veteran members will agree, the WGT Random Draw eligibility requirement NEEDS TO BE revised.

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Mon, Aug 4 2014 2:25 PM

  overtheedge:

  With all due respect WGT - THIS IS WRONG. I totally agree with DAZZA.

  WGT needs to change the so called "Random Draw eligibility" policy. We have players in the community that feed this game fist full of money, play EVERY DAY for years, has supported the WGT program, been outstanding members in the community, been through the good and the bad with WGT and then a player with a total # of 80,,,,,,,80 ranked rounds since 2011 who has never played not 1, NOT 1 MP game, who has ZERO friends and who may possibly never log back into the community ever again, wins a trip of this caliber. COME OOOONNN WGT!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

  Some observations after reading this entire thread

  I can see why some say the RD results are suspect.  However, I think we who meet OTE's criteria above are underestimating the sheer numbers of "those guys" who are in the middle tiers, are occasional players, and who don't spend fist fulls of money. The odds favor them in a random drawing.

  For kicks and giggles I threw the number of TLs (1161) into a Normal Distribution of 7 tiers, TL to Am. (I left out Hacks since most are dormant accts and the time spent as a Hack is very very short).  TLs in the Normal Distribution would be 0.6% of the total.  The total players would then be roughly 200,000.   Total of Masters, TourPros, and Pros would be 133,000 or about 69%. 

  I know these numbers are not accurate so don't start raping me on the methodology OK?  But I doubt they are an order of magnitude off.  This was for kicks and giggles remember.

  There were 5 random drawing winners announced in the OP.  Did anyone else notice the one winner who is a Legend, been here since 2011, and has 2350 RRs?

  Restricting the prize eligibility further would reduce the number of entries which in turn reduces the number of rounds played, balls used, and ad revenue received thus hurting WGT's bottom line.  Its not going to happen.

  And lastly, imagine the protests in the forum from those excluded!

   

   

• overtheedge 5,885 Posts

  Tue, Aug 5 2014 3:14 PM

  andyson:

  Restricting the prize eligibility further would reduce the number of entries which in turn reduces the number of rounds played, balls used, and ad revenue received thus hurting WGT's bottom line.  Its not going to happen.

  I agree to a point Andy and TY for the approx. stats which btw I'm sure are near spot on. TX again man. What I agree with is what I highlighted, WGT's "bottom line". ANYTHING that would negatively affect that bottom line (Random Draw eligibility for example) will not happen, NOR SHOULD IT. It (WGT) is a business. They are in the business of making money, just as ANY OTHER business. BUT - lets be FAIR and ABOVE BOARD. THIS IS MY POINT. 

  What I (we) are asking for and I speak on behalf of MANY veteran community members, is transparency. WE as community members who compete in these RD tournaments are ENTITLED to know HOW they "DRAW" the name / names of the winners. AGAIN, this is a fair and above board request.

  Now let me add -  a "typical" WGT response to this inquiry is - NOTHING. Silence, no reply, no response is sooooooo typical of WGT. So what that tells us all is THEY (WGT) DO NOT HAVE  FAIR REPLY, so they (WGT) cannot answer this inquiry in a honest and above board manner - PERIOD. 

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Sat, Aug 9 2014 4:55 AM

  Hey, how about this? Every time a player complete a qualifying round, he or she receives one chance at the sweepstakes prize. If you complete multiple qualifying rounds (= you are a more active player), you receive multiple chances to win. Kinda like a raffle where you can "buy" extra tickets by playing more qualifying rounds. The number of chances could be capped at, say, 20, to avoid any moral hazard or encouraging folks to "buy" the prize as such with insane numbers of qualifying rounds.