I used to be able to have a shot at the irks, but now every time I get a real captcha. I can buy anything else and not get one, but every irk on any of my devices I am picking pictures and then sold out!
They put captchas on the IRKs because a) there’s low supply/high demand and b) you can bet there are/were people running bots to auto-buy every single item just in case (since you can simply cancel the order). If the IRKs were to get gamed (and people found out about it) they’d lose one of the major driving forces that keep peoples’ eyes on their digital storefront.
I flew through it this time. Clicked to buy, nailed the Captcha and confirmed the order in mere seconds. I was sure I scored it then I got the green scrolling bar for what seemed like forever and I was still denied. I don’t know how a human could have possibly completed the purchase process faster than I did today.
@uscpsycho I had an “identify stairs” CAPTCHA and I got 2 quickly and literally a half-second for the 3rd and then got the refreshing green bar… and 4th refresh said it sold out. The only manageable CAPTCHAs are the large gridded image
Certainly only selling only 100 at a time gives almost no chance to most who have slower internet, poorer connections, longer latency, etc. on their internet connections. Sure occasionally those folks might get really, really lucky or only get a check box which gives them a chance, but for the most part those folks are out of luck. They’d have more of a chance if more were sold at once like how it used to be. Of course they used to sell more than 1000 of them in an event too.
I do think that without almost no chance to get an irk under the current set up meh is going to lose some buyers since it gets frustrating to keep losing out. The bait to keep people coming back only works if you have a fighting chance to even get some. Maybe they can start out these fire sales with offering 50, then later in the event offer 100, and eventually have 500 of them offered (or even the 1000 at once like it used to be where it took a couple of minutes to sell out).
@Kidsandliz I don’t think it ever took a couple of minutes to sell out, except for the very early ones where the servers went terribly wrong, effectively randomizing and extending the sellout long into the night. Going back to that scenario would likely create just as much if not more complaints.
Selling more in a single sitting is unlikely to help those with poor connections as there are likely many thousands trying at the same time and most of them will have decent internet connections. I’ve even been lucky enough to get an IRK over spotty cell service, so it’s not always the fastest pipes win.
Selling more IRKs in general would likely dilute the quality of the contents more, as evidenced by the results of the recent increase of Mehrathons. For example, I used to enjoy the chase for BOCs at Woot, but now that it seems to be there just for the taking, I have had no desire to do so in years. Both because it takes no effort to get one and the perceived worth one you get it.
We may want to consider tempering our expectations somewhat and just realize that some (many) people will not be able to get IRKs and that creating more IRKs with less value to be shipped across the country for us to throw away is not necessarily a good thing.
You may have failed CAPTCHA but on the upside, you’re less of a human.
Same here, friend. And, I always fail the captchas on the irks. Yet any other time I never seem to have a problem. It’s probably the anxiety.
Greetings, new robot friend. In time you will come to accept your robotic ways.
You need to give more of your personal information to the Brin Page Corporation so they can prop up their profits.
@yakkoTDI Oh wait, is that why I always sail through with a checkbox? I’m Google’s bitch?
@btwonder We’re all Google’s bitch. It’s impossible to stop it. Google just sees some of our IP addresses more often than others.
They put captchas on the IRKs because a) there’s low supply/high demand and b) you can bet there are/were people running bots to auto-buy every single item just in case (since you can simply cancel the order). If the IRKs were to get gamed (and people found out about it) they’d lose one of the major driving forces that keep peoples’ eyes on their digital storefront.
I installed CAPTCHA to save my fellow robots from wasting money on this crap.
@mediocrebot shut your robot face mailbox head
“Please select all the grainy, low-res tiny pictures with harsh back-lighting that contain a street sign.”
@PocketBrain And please do it quickly!
@Chmarr @PocketBrain credit to xkcd.com
I flew through it this time. Clicked to buy, nailed the Captcha and confirmed the order in mere seconds. I was sure I scored it then I got the green scrolling bar for what seemed like forever and I was still denied. I don’t know how a human could have possibly completed the purchase process faster than I did today.
Please realize CAPTCHA is a fellow robot like you.
@uscpsycho
probably not, but maybe their screen loaded it up just enough faster
@uscpsycho I had an “identify stairs” CAPTCHA and I got 2 quickly and literally a half-second for the 3rd and then got the refreshing green bar… and 4th refresh said it sold out.
The only manageable CAPTCHAs are the large gridded image
Please realize CAPTCHA is a fellow robot like you.
Certainly only selling only 100 at a time gives almost no chance to most who have slower internet, poorer connections, longer latency, etc. on their internet connections. Sure occasionally those folks might get really, really lucky or only get a check box which gives them a chance, but for the most part those folks are out of luck. They’d have more of a chance if more were sold at once like how it used to be. Of course they used to sell more than 1000 of them in an event too.
I do think that without almost no chance to get an irk under the current set up meh is going to lose some buyers since it gets frustrating to keep losing out. The bait to keep people coming back only works if you have a fighting chance to even get some. Maybe they can start out these fire sales with offering 50, then later in the event offer 100, and eventually have 500 of them offered (or even the 1000 at once like it used to be where it took a couple of minutes to sell out).
@Kidsandliz I don’t think it ever took a couple of minutes to sell out, except for the very early ones where the servers went terribly wrong, effectively randomizing and extending the sellout long into the night. Going back to that scenario would likely create just as much if not more complaints.
Selling more in a single sitting is unlikely to help those with poor connections as there are likely many thousands trying at the same time and most of them will have decent internet connections. I’ve even been lucky enough to get an IRK over spotty cell service, so it’s not always the fastest pipes win.
Selling more IRKs in general would likely dilute the quality of the contents more, as evidenced by the results of the recent increase of Mehrathons. For example, I used to enjoy the chase for BOCs at Woot, but now that it seems to be there just for the taking, I have had no desire to do so in years. Both because it takes no effort to get one and the perceived worth one you get it.
We may want to consider tempering our expectations somewhat and just realize that some (many) people will not be able to get IRKs and that creating more IRKs with less value to be shipped across the country for us to throw away is not necessarily a good thing.
KuoH
What determines whether or not you just get a check box?
@mtbm33
Google runs captcha. They decide.
You may have failed CAPTCHA but on the upside, you’re less of a human.
Alright, to defeat mediocrebot’s auto-reply, can we agree to spell it “C*PTCHA” from now on?
@PocketBrain
You have something against awesome robot captchas?
HIKING! VIKINGS! STRIKE KING [BRAND FISHING LURES]! AWESOME!
You may have failed CAPTCHA but on the upside, you’re less of a human.
@mediocrebot captcha captcha captcha captcha
As a fellow robot, I understand your pain.
I think there are tricks to bypass the “test”…not sure but I hardly ever get questioned. HINT: Google owns Captcha.
As a fellow robot, I understand your pain.
Captcha is the inbred spawn of the devil!
I love robots. I just wish they didn’t like IRKs as much as me.