How a "virus" might work.

[Seth M. Drebitko]

Hi all I was just remembering this weird virus that I got which when I opened it sent itself to a bunch of my friends. Now the one that I got sent to me was not any thing that screwed up the computer it actually had a nice up lifting little message that would open your address book and send it to people.

I want to make the core book of my role play line free as an electronic version but sell hard/soft covers as well. Could I and how would I go about making it so that if someone downloads the book that it opens their address book and send sit to the people they know? The download would have a warning saying that it would do that and all so people could not freak I just figured it would be a mighty fast way to spread word.

[Bankuei]

Hi,

Aside from the possible legal issues, it'd probably get more people angry with you and your product than produce interest.  Consider how much people like receiving telemarketing calls, or spam.

A more worthwhile option would be to set up a form to where anyone who downloads the game has the option to have a copy sent to friends (with some clear identification of who was responsible, so said friends might actually look at it, and also not blame you).

Chris

[Walt Freitag]

Do not do this.

If your warning isn't absolutely clear -- to everyone who receives a copy by e-mail as well as the original downloaders -- then you're a criminal.

Even if the warning were clear... if I received an e-mail message that said "if you open the attached file, a copy of this message and the attachment will be sent to everyone in your address book" I'd report it to the virus/fraud/spam investigators at my ISP and the sender's ISP pronto.

Also, consider who's actually in people's address books. Let me think, would I want to announce to all my clients that I'd just downloaded a role playing game, and here's a copy for you? Hmmm... I think not. (And I'm a game designer. I imagine a realtor or a tech support provider would find the prospect even less appealing.)

The best result you could hope for would be to get no dowloads. There might be a few people out there willing to deliberately download a virus, but most of them don't currently have working computers.

- Walt

[Andrew Cooper]

Listen to Chris and Walt.

If I got such a thing from a download, I'd delete it from my harddrive and then warn everyone I knew not to go get it either.  As a developer, I hate viruses and despise spam.  

There aren't many things I say this about but I'll say it here.  This is a bad idea.  Avoid it.

[daMoose_Neo]

The "friendliest" way is through that opt-in, "If you know someone else who might be interested, send them a message here!", setup ala:
"Your friend, <insert name>, has just download this and thought you might enjoy it as well!
<brief pitch so they know what in the world this thing is>
If you would like to download this game, click <Here>!
If you would rather not hear from us again, click <Here> to remove yourself from our mailing list." (Then rig it so anytime someone sends a referal it checks that list).

Honestly, something along this line *could* be an excellent marketing tool. Myself, publishing card games that NEED a group of people interested to play, would find this invaluable (and may integrate it into some current offerings!).
Another way, and this *might* be considered cruel to others, is to offer folks some kind of on-site reward for getting friends interested. Twilight, for example, runs a couple online/offline programs for getting new players interested. One such option, then, would be to award a couple points from the program for getting their friends to download a demo game or such. Thus, existing players can get their pals interested and get a little something back.

[jdagna]

At best, what you're describing would still fit the definition of spam (unsolicited bulk e-mail).  At worst, it could be considered illegal or damaging.  

Consider this example: if somebody reads the RPG at work, and your "helpful" script overloads the mail server so that no one in the office can access their e-mail for a day (or more).  This isn't just a fictional example, it's taken from the school where my wife works.  The e-mail viruses you describe crash their servers every single time a new one comes along.  After all, every employee has every other employee in their address book, so the server goes into a frenzy sending copies back and forth until it crashes.  (As a side note: there is no end to the irony that this is the school Bill Gates and Paul Allen graduated from, which has computer technology funded by annual donations of tens of millions of dollars in grants and Microsoft products).

Besides possibly costing one of your fans a job, this kind of situation puts you at risk to be liable for damages caused by your program.  And I'm sure there are other laws against it, depending on which jurisdiction the program was used in.

If you really want to encourage "viral marketing" you have to give people a reason to want to spread the word about your game.  Perhaps you could have a download script that tracks who referred people to the download, and then give away prizes or just keep a top ten list of referrers.  

You have to make sure that any e-mails sent about your game are initiated by other people if you want to avoid being pursued as a spammer, which can have some serious repercussions even if you're too small to face legal charges.

[Seth M. Drebitko]

Hmm, all good points I like the idea of them having the option to send it to some people that they want to. Has any one done some thing along the lines that some of the flash game creators do and letting people send out copies to freinds they might thenk would like it.

[Malcolm Craig]

If people are enthusiastic about something, they will likely forwarded it on to similarly interested parties and/or tell other people about it. A simple caveat at the bottom of an email saying that people should feel free to distribute the item if they wish should suffice. The legal requirements surrounding emailing are manifold these days, so I'd always say it's bettter to err on the side of caution and simply email to people who have explicity expressed a wish to receive such material.

Cheers
Malcolm