2 replies to this topic

[detportal]

INDEPENDANT REVIEW OF DDBOARD

Having seen two new members post two almost identical topics http://www.trap17.com/forums/index.php?sho...c=44225&hl= i thought I should have a look at the service, as I was sceptical about it after those posts.

I joined under the username detportal (yes, i am still there, you can do a member's search) and started using the service.

First of all, their forum is powered by vBulletin, despite the fact that many members have asked for IPB. They use a very flashy skin.

Now, most people who join these forums will do so for free domains. So I thought I should investigate this.

They have a system known as ddPoints - which you can use for various things, such as trading for domain names and playing arcade games on their site.

Here's how this system works:

Quote

ddPoints Per Thread View: 0.1
ddPoints Per Thread: 15.0
ddPoints Per Reply: 5.0

In other words, a 500 word essay and a post consisting merely of "fdsddasf" will earn you the same number of ddPoints.

Speaking of spamming, there is not much in the forum regulations against it. There are no penalties for copying and pasting articles (DUH! considering they don't really care about integrity, as long as there are posts!).

For spamming, you are given 5 warning points, which are completely different from ddPoints, and you will be banned automatically once you accumulate 20. Also, each warning points have a minimum of 2 monts expiration.They also issue warning points for much more trivial things like posting in the wrong forum.

Essentially, you can spam 3 times in 2 months without anything done against you.
Conclusion from these findings: if you are there to GENUINELY contribute or receive help, you would be FAR better off on trap17 forums or astahost forums, even though they are not dedicated to domain names.

Which brings me to another topic: even though they say they are an independant forum for domain discussion, they have other stuff on their forums too, including reviews of web hosts.

Oh, and perhpas you should have a look at the pricelist for domain name registration.

Quote

Price List for Registrations and Renewals (per year):

* .com: 2,000 ddPoints
* .net: 2,000 ddPoints
* .org: 2,000 ddPoints
* .name: 2,000 ddPoints
* .biz: 1,750 ddPoints
* .us: 1,750 ddPoints
* .info: 1,000 ddPoints (1st Year of New Registration)
* .info: 1,750 ddPoints (Additional Registration Years and Renewals)
* .tv: 8,000 ddPoints
* .cc: 4,000 ddPoints


Price List for .uk Registrations and Renewals (only available with 2-Year Length):

* .co.uk: 4,000 ddPoints
* .me.uk: 4,000 ddPoints
* .org.uk: 4,000 ddPoints

meaning you need to post 400 replies for a .com domain for one year.

Renewals at high speed require you to have a paypal account. You pay first, then the admins will refund that amount back. paypal fees are your own responsibility.

If you want a 100% free renewal, you will need to wait about 60-90 days.

I don't like the sound of their admins either. their main administrator has 208,305.7 ddPoints, equalling 41661 replies. highly unlikely, considering that his stats show he has only made 512 posts altogether. assuming all of them are new threads which earn you 15 ddPoints each, he would have needed to be the sole winner of 83.5940417 weekly lotteries on DDBoard, or beaten 401.2514 high scores on the arcade games in ADDITION to his 512 posts.At the moment, he does not hold ANY records for high scores on ANY of their games. Corruption...don't we just LOVE it?

As mentioned earlier, they also have lotteries, a bank (yes, you can steal ddPoints from other members, legally), and arcade games, for those who wisely realised that they will need to be a real geek to garner enough ddPoints to get a domain.

So in conclusion, if you have a mild temperament, don't mind silver/orange colour schemes, are willing to post 400 replies and/or gamble, trust virtually anything, and want a free domain at any cost other than money, you should really try DDBoard. At the moment, there is still something within me that tells me not to trust them. AAH yes, in registering for a free domain, you must PM the administrator your street address! And I registered with them using a disposable email account, so I'm really not sure whether DDBoard sells your details as well. And something tells me I'll get banned from them for posting this review.

Notice from saint-michael:

Thank you with this review, helped clean the forums up by merging the topics together and the link you have in your post is the current, so you might need to edit your posts just a bit.

[ddboard]

Hello!

This is the admin from DDBoard and I wanted to comment on your review. First of all, thank you for taking the time to review our forum. Overall, I think your review is fair and objective.

Some comments I would like to make:

- No, you will not be banned.

- Yes we use vBulletin. Some members have requested IBP, but it comes down to personal preference. If we went with IBP, some members would request vBulletin. Our team is most experienced with vBulletin and we are satisfied with its feature set. However, if we feel at any point that IBP is clearly offering better features, we may consider switching.

- You are correct that the quality and length of posts does not influence the number of ddPoints a user receives. Since it is an automated system, assessing the quality is not possible, and giving points by length would only encourage copying and pasting. Our moderator team is very active though in ensuring that the posts meet our quality requirements. Regarding quality, I tend to agree that other boards may offer higher quality of posts since we have a lot of members who participate because they want a free domain. These members are usually younger people who may not be able to afford a domain themselves. On the other hand, there is a strong sense of community on the board.

- As far as earning points, please also remember that there are many other methods of receiving points: Lottery, Referrals, Incentives, Thread Viewing, etc. We have many members you have redeemed domains. You can use your own member and once you reach 1,000 ddPoints, you can request a .info domain. You will see that you actually receive it. No scam!

- Domain renewals do not take 60 to 90 days. When using the push back and forth method we just encourage people to do it 60 to 90 days before expiration so we do not get last minute requests and the domains expire while being pushed between the users.

- Myself as the admin focus on running the board from a marketing and technology perspective. My moderator staff participates in posting. I have a lot of ddPoints for testing purposes, but I cannot do anything with the ddPoints. When someone requests a domain with ddPoints we pay for the domain ourselves, so whether I have 1 ddPoint or 4 Million ddPoints, it does not make a difference - they do not have a value for myself. But you have a good point, I may reduce my number of ddPoints to something more reasonable so that users do not get confused. You can also see that the admin does not appear in the list of richest users, because I really do not participate in the program.

- The reason we require a full address when registering a domain is that we will use the information as the registrant details. Per ICANN regulations, the information must be accurate, so we cannot use dummy information. The information remains private and we never give it to anybody. In the end, that would be a privacy violation, unethical, and probably illegal.

Thanks again for your review and good luck with your forum.

Karl
DDBoard Admin

[iGuest]

System Used On DDboard is Not TrustworthyIndependant Review Of Ddboard

I had used ddboard for a while also. Le me just say that I do not sgree with their system of asking for your personal details and getting the domain themselves before pushing it to you. In this day and age it should not be that way, no admin should know my name, where I live, pnone number etc.

There are other boards offering similar services, that allow you to register your domain yourself, using your points earned on the forum. There is no reason why a big forum like ddboard cannot have its own registrar and implement a system like that so that members can have a little privacy. This is a huge failure on their part.

-reply by sapphire