FreeMe guy flooding the forum with junk?

Mstevens113 · 2018-08-06T06:35:14.000Z

Without people like FreeMe a huge percentage of BLF members wouldn’t even be here!

jon_slider · 2018-08-06T06:44:12.000Z

Im going to try and entertain you all for a moment, let see if this helps bring back a group hug atmosphere…

At first I was bugged by all the reviews, then I thought, hey, those guys are getting free lights, I wanna be like them! They’re like, yeah, but, we work for hours on our reviews, its not really free, we earn it.

So, I though it over, and asked for some free lights, and at first nobody wanted to give me any… after a while I started getting offers to buy lights, review them on Amazon, and then get a refund… I said no to those

then a brand whose lights I want asked me to do a review, and glory daze! I thought I had reached nirvana, and bam, here come the free lights I had been dreaming of, when suddenly…. bom pom pom pom…guess what? All the guys that were reviewers before me, hate me now.

And, you guessed it, you can probably already see where this is going….

all the people I used to talk to online, think I sold out to become a marketing shill… Kind of like when my hero Julio Montalban, the most famous Don Juan of the present day, comes out on an ad for Grecian Formula Number 9. It just sort of ruins the dream and pops the bubble.

Sometimes when that happens, I get soap in my eyes and it stings for a bit, but, no biggie, I got some lights to play with… wanna hear about them?

I know a guy that can get you a good deal on one or two, want me to hook you up?:-)

Right now we have a really good deal on a High CRI Aspheric… it will blow your mind man, its got that 9080 LED, you know, the Holy Grail Nichia… yeah man… gotta get sum.

Its a good deal, dont worry, Ive got your back, its only X.99, youre saving like, big time man, buy it now! Yeah, no PWM or nothing, this is the real deal man, its got throw, and you can shoot it with a bullet if you want… lol

sorry fell out of character chair there

I need to adjust my meditation
back atcha
later

toddcshoe · 2018-08-06T06:43:18.000Z

FreeMe, Fin, Max, and a few others help make this hobby BUDGET LIGHT friendly. Plus, they get to make a few bucks as well.

pinkpanda3310 · 2018-08-06T08:22:24.000Z

Gee this Finnno is a pretty good troll. Sparked it then blew on the flame for a few posts then sat back and laughed :cowboy_hat_face:

travis · 2018-08-06T08:27:20.000Z

I too love FreeMe’ deals BUT I do think he should keep them to one thread……

teacher · 2018-08-06T09:14:08.000Z

To each his own, but ’to me’ putting everything into one thread is nothing but confusing.

Things are not broken…. let’s quit trying to fix them.

DavidEF · 2018-08-06T11:52:16.000Z

ChibiM:

Anyone interested in a piece of BLF history and a more complete view on affiliate threads here on BLF? Where they came from? How they helped people? And where it all went wrong?

I will open a new thread for civilized discussions… I know this thread is mostly about throwing stones at Freeme, and I wasn’t going after him/her at all., but there is no real ‘discussion’ on the topic of the problem

I already tried a thread for “civilized discussion” about Affiliate links a while back. It quickly degenerated into the same as this thread. The difference is I am neutral about Affiliate links and tried to start that way, but the thread hit the wrong people the wrong way. Apparently, those who aren’t neutral about Affiliate links can’t imagine anyone else being neutral about them. If you don’t hate them, you must be a shill… or something.

I think it’s ironic that now the tide seems to have turned a bit. The “most vocal” seem to be the ones who don’t mind the front page being full of group buys and special deals. As it has been said before, it wouldn’t be that way if there wasn’t sufficient interest from the members. Freeme didn’t make it that way. Neither did M4DM4X or any other individuals. The membership as a group keeps it that way.

It has also been said before, though not in this thread, that if you want to “change” the appearance of the front page, make an interesting post that gets frequently bumped by members’ interest. Mod or build a cool light. Talk about coffee. Lots of members here like coffee. Make a positive difference by adding positive content. That is your one and only recourse if you don’t like what you see. Well, that’s not entirely true. You could also stay here and complain. But that doesn’t really do anything about the “situation”. It just gets people up in arms.

Jack_Kellar · 2018-08-06T12:43:24.000Z

Why does this thread even exist? OP is obviously baiting.

djozz · 2018-08-06T12:45:32.000Z

The group of people that is creating BLF has grown and changed character over the last few years, and so BLF changed as well. When BLF was small, it attracted less interest from sellers and the members tolerated posts with affiliate links less than now. Being the budget light forum we did already appreciate information on good deals
Now we are much larger and a somewhat different group, and although a bigger part of BLF has a commercial character, I think BLF has not become less interesting, in fact IMO more interesting stuff than ever before is going on now.

CM2010 · 2018-08-06T13:46:08.000Z

Freeme is here to help all us people having a go at him need to get a life.

pinkpanda3310 · 2018-08-06T14:23:56.000Z

DavidEF:

It has also been said before, though not in this thread, that if you want to “change” the appearance of the front page, make an interesting post that gets frequently bumped by members’ interest. Mod or build a cool light.

That’s the best thing I’ve read in this thread. Good one David :+1:

jon_slider · 2018-08-06T17:42:14.000Z

I like knowing where to look for deals
I appreciate the help from the affiliate marketers
and Ive figured out how not to see their ads unless I want to

now can somebody please explain my problem to me:

I had a dream my perfect flashlight was just around the corner. Now I have half a dozen lights (plus the ones in extra cookie tins I bought) crowding my keyboard.

And Im still nowhere near my dream light… what happened? Also, I ate the cookies, and now, well, you know,…

Im fat, from buying flashllights…
this is depressing

I think I need a shot of Freeme…

Retail Therapy Rocks!

Lightbringer · 2018-08-06T18:25:09.000Z

toddcshoe:

Caleb:

If I create 10 new threads today and no one responds/replies, then these ten threads will quickly be forgotten.

…

FreeMe and others DO post quite a bit… and in my opinion they keep getting bumped back to the top of the Recent Posts because many forum members find these threads useful, interesting, informative, and relevant.

Thanks for reading.

Nice job my friend. Well done. Thumbs up to you. I would post a meme if I knew what that was.

bansuri · 2018-08-06T19:42:40.000Z

All is not facebook and twitter with their curated views. Occasionally we have to see things we don’t like or agree with and just get over it.

wstrachan · 2018-08-06T19:48:28.000Z

I have placed several orders through Freeme, Fin and Pete’s links posted here on our forum. They have saved me a lot of $$ over the last 2 years. I don’t mind their posts so keep them coming.

neBstress · 2018-08-06T20:03:04.000Z

bansuri:

………………………… Occasionally we have to see things we don’t like or agree with and just get over it.

Yep, every time I get out of the shower and see my reflection in the mirror :disappointed:

contactcr · 2018-08-07T00:22:20.000Z

DavidEF:

…
It has also been said before, though not in this thread, that if you want to “change” the appearance of the front page, make an interesting post that gets frequently bumped by members’ interest. Mod or build a cool light. Talk about coffee. Lots of members here like coffee. Make a positive difference by adding positive content. That is your one and only recourse if you don’t like what you see. Well, that’s not entirely true. You could also stay here and complain. But that doesn’t really do anything about the “situation”. It just gets people up in arms.

I’m pretty neutral as well and basically only post about modding. The only modding thread that can keep up with groups buys is “What did you mod today?” because it’s all contained to one thread and even then it’s like 50% CRX 30% Dale and 20% people like me that screw things up trying to be like the first two.

It’s unfair to think group by threads and others that only require a post of “IN” - no useful content (I think we all can agree on this) can be kept at bay. I actually appreciate recent attempts to use google forms and maybe this is a consolation for everyone. Post in the GB thread with a real question. If you just are showing interest with one single word, use the form and no need to post.

Looks guys I made a real suggestion with my supporting information and no name calling (well I did call out CRX and Dale, they are big boys though)

nqcken · 2018-08-07T00:42:14.000Z

very effective troll! ++1 to all noted.

shirnask · 2018-08-07T00:52:37.000Z

Google forms is very recent, but I think it will likely be used more and more, but up until now posting “interested” has most often been the only way of joining a group buy, so with a little time that issue, will for a large part, disappear. - Does anyone really want the projects where lights are designed by BLF members and purchased by them to disappear? You would certainly have to include them “as part of the problem” because they tend to be some of the very largest threads.

contactcr · 2018-08-07T01:06:00.000Z

BLF threads would not disappear because they are singular threads with a lot of creator and community content within. Google forms is new to the forum but the concept of group buys is not new in general.

Even some of these group buys never materialize and I think is nothing more than a manufacturer gauging market interest for free. We are the kickstarter of flashlights. Lots of models to learn from. Banggood and others are surely capable to replicate something less intrusive but why would they? If I make something for sale I would want my thread hyped up dozens of times per day/week too. The size of the thread per say is less an issue than threads being perpetually at the top just for transactional purposes. (which is not really the purpose of any forum)