Becoming a Social Butterfly - Guide to Referring
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Thread created on 00:01:36 - 08/05/20 (6 years ago)|Last replied 23:16:23 - 08/01/26 (6 months ago)Becoming a Social Butterfly
A Guide and Overview of Referring Players to Torn.
The complimentary month of Donator Status and a smooth 250 Points to use at your leisure. Two special Subscriber-level items. Unwanted players filling up your Friends list and multi accusations are of course worth those juicy, ever-elusive Honor Bars.
Yes, I'm here to discuss the "Recruit a Citizen" referral feature of Torn. Pull out your wallets, folks, 'cause we're about to buy us some friends.
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First things first, if you haven’t checked it out before, I suggest reading the information about the referral program here: www.torn.com/recruitacitizen I’ll be focusing on ideas to more easily recruit on a larger scale.
Recruiting Methods
A lengthy list of various ideas of how you could refer other players to the game. Be creative and develop your own, too!
Real Friends :)
My first suggested method of recruiting is to just invite your real-life friends. Now, I know that the idea of “real friends” might be an unobtainable fantasy formosta few of you, which is why I'm getting this out of the way first. And sure, this may be an obvious one, but it’s worth mentioning! Real friends are generally going to be more trustworthy than online randoms and it’s always nice to put a human face to the username.
Social Media
Using your own social media pages to promote your referral link works wonders if you have a decent following, but this may require you to create a more direct connection between your Torn-self and actual self… a connection most of us probably wouldn’t want to be made. I know I don’t want my extended family browsing the content I post here, but hey, maybe you don’t mind your mom and your mom’s mom seeing all of your troll posts, creepy stalking, requests for feet pics, or whatever you’re into and up to on Torn.
Forums
Jump on the likes of Reddit, game-related Discord channels, Twitch, your own blog, YouTube, or any external forums area to spread your Torn invitations. Keep in mind that some of these locations may have rules regarding sharing referral links; please be sure to respect these! (You’ll notice I’ve felt obliged to have many similar disclaimers throughout this guide. If you get in trouble, I claim plausible deniability!)
The referral page here on Torn gives a variety of forum badges and signatures that can be used to enhance your advertising in these locations. Create a throwaway account and get to posting!
Shown: My personal favorite of the provided signature images, found in the same Recruit Citizens tab. The rest look equally wonderful!
Other Games
Beer_ [2510950] messaged me shortly after this guide was posted and mentioned that they recruit from other games. This is a wonderful idea! If you're already in another game, the audience there will obviously be gamers and could quite possibly be interested in joining a new game. Games similar to Torn (text-based multiplayer games) are more likely to yield better results. Please respect any rules the game may have about advertising, though. Thanks for pointing out this wonderful method, Beer_!
Google Ads (ads.google.com)
Calling all blue-named players! The idea for this guide came after I began playing around with using Google Adsense for a variety of referral links I had lying around. Don’t be fooled: this method involves real money in exchange for in-game rewards.
It’s been suggested that using Google Ads to refer players to Torn might fall under RMT as it involves real money in exchange for in-game rewards. However, this isn't an exchange between players and is using a function provided by the game in its intended way to gain benefits from referring others. This method of referring has been signed off as acceptable by the Community Manager.
I’m hoping someone quickly saw this and had a small heart attack, thinking Torn had started implementing advertising into forum pages.
Google Adsense allows for the targeting of users based on their search terms and history, directing your advertisements to those who are more likely to be interested in what you’re offering, which in this case, is your Torn referral link. This could be a whole guide on its own, but I’ll lay out the steps of how to get your own Google Ads campaign up & running:
- Create an account and sign in to ads.google.com.
- Click the large “Create New Campaign” window.
- When asked “What’s your main advertising goal?,” select “Get more website sales or signups.”
- Click “New Business.”
- Enter the Business Name of “Torn City” and Business Website as your referral link.
- The next section will ask “Where are your customers?” Choose the option that says, “Set up specific areas.” You can then type in locations, as broad or as narrow as you’d like, such as “The United States” or “New York.”
- Keep in mind that Torn is primary directed at an English-speaking audience. I’ve personally targeted the United States, Canada, the UK, and a handful of other countries in Europe. Most countries around the world have English present as a majority language, but in order to maximize advertising efforts, I personally restrict my targeting to the listed locations. - The following screen asks for products and services related to your campaign, starting with a “keyword theme.” With my keyword theme of “online browser games,” I chose an assortment of the auto-generated recommendations, everything from “MMORPG Online Game” to “Browser Online Games” to “Grand Theft Auto V” (‘cause why not?).
- You’ll later be able to view a list of all search terms where your advertisement was shown and/or clicked on. These products/services types help target these searches. - Next up, you’ll have to turn on some creativity! Or just copy me; either option works as you’ll need to write 3 Headlines and two Descriptions for your advertisement. Here’s what mine ended up looking like:
- Headline 1: Torn City
- Headline 2: Text-Based Crimes Mmorpg
- (There are often restrictions preventing the use of all-capitalized words, so I chose “Mmorpg” over “MMORPG.”) - Headline 3: Play on PC or Mobile
- (Accessibility on multiple devices is always a plus!) - Description 1: Welcome to Torn City, where every player is offered the chance to be truly unique.
- (Personally, that’s my favorite aspect of Torn!) - Description 2: Find your own niche in a player-driven economy with a focus on crimes, drugs, and more.
- (There’s no particular “focus” on anything, with access to so many different activities in the game, but I felt it sounded attractive.) - On this same screen, at the bottom, again enter your referral link to direct clicks on your advertisement to your referral page.
- Failure to properly paste your referral link will simply direct players to Torn as a whole, which is great for Torn, but not so much for you.
9. Google Adsense has this amazing capability to charge you for what you use. You’re able to pause a campaign at any time and you’ll either be charged at the end of the month or once your monthly maximum is hit.
10. This final page will allow you to review everything you’ve entered and set a campaign name, if desired. Make sure everything’s good to go and hit “Next.”
11. Enter payment information. There will be the option to select an “Account Type.” By default, this will be set to “Business.” This needs to be set to “Individual.”- You can find many useful promo codes for Google Ads online! The one I used matched any amount I spent in the first month, up to $150. Extremely helpful as I got twice what I paid for!
- In order to cancel your campaign, simply click the “Pause” button from the campaign overview page (where it will say either “Pending” or “Active”).
In regards to images and logos for your campaign, I personally used Torn’s logo (again, with permission) and scraped together my own advertisement in a postcard-like style in GIMP 2 (a free, open-source photoshop alternative):
I recycled many of the aspects found in the provided advertisements in the Recruit a Citizen tab, along with images not bound by licenses or available for commercial use. There are many websites offering free stock images out there. Please make sure any assets you use are permitted to be edited and used commercially by their owners.
I visited Torn’s homepage (seen before logging in) for some ideas to create a smoother transition between clicking on the advertisement and what would be seen on the landing page, copying aspects such as the pop-up messages of random players completing various accomplishments ingame that I thought might help draw potential consumers in. My goal was for the image to catch the eye, then for the information listed below (as seen above) to hook anyone interested.
I assure you that any assets used in the above “postcard” were done so with pre-written consent from their owners. I grant full permission to anyone reading this guide to use the image I’ve created above to advertise Torn.
The minimum size for images in Google Ads is 600 x 314 pixels and the recommended size is 1200 x 628 pixels; the recommended size will make everything look much crisper! Images are vital to attracting clicks. I tested for 2 different weeks (separated by a month) without images and found that I received less than a third of the clicks I gained with my image attached. This could potentially open up an interesting new opportunity for graphic designers here in Torn.
I believe this wraps up the Google Ads section! Phew. This is almost as long as a classic Bapki-length forum post. Oh, wait.
Slap-up some Stickers!
I had some blank, white Avery labels laying around (as you do) and decided to paste some QR codes on them with a few graphics as mini Torn advertisements. I used a free QR-code generator, Avery’s online free templates, Photoshop, and a public library to print these off. The total price was an easy $10, a couple of hours of my time, and having to put up with the college kid next to me in the library who kept sneaking puffs from his vape pen out of his backpack, hoping no one would notice despite the kiwi-mint-strawberry cloud circling his head.
My school has dedicated an entire wall with the intended use to be an area for people to slap up stickers. Most feature designs and tags, but the QR codes there certainly receive some traffic! These labels could work great on water bottles, laptops, or car bumpers, too. What I’m trying to get at here is that I don’t (can’t) condone graffiti, and slapping up stickers on the stop sign across the overpass next to my house is apparently “vandalism of government property” or whatever. So, ah, don’t get in trouble. Stick to what you own (pun intended).
Statistics, Profitability, and Reflections
This part can be a bit long, but I’d suggest it’s worth the read if you’re serious about referrals. I’ll look back on my personal experience, break down the overall profitability, and give some advice on player retention.
Using Google Ads has, so far, been my primary method of advertising my referral link. All other methods are noticeably less financially expensive, but much more time-consuming. If you have the time, go for the other methods! I’ll be focusing primarily on Google Ads for the remainder of this section, but there’s still a lot of useful suggestions and profitability notes.
I spent a total of $54.03 in my first month using Google Ads (plus that additional matched amount from a promo code mentioned above, giving a whole second month of advertising for free!) and I suspect that almost all of my referrals came from this location. I had roughly 32,000 “Impressions” (times people saw my advertisement) and almost 10,000 clicks (times people actually clicked on the ad) across these two months. That means around 1 in 3 people who saw the ad clicked on it!
I received a total of 73 referred players across all methods used. Yes, that’s a low portion of those 10k that clicked, but quite impressive! This graph depicts the levels of the players I managed to refer:
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A Quick Note on Player Retention:
Notice that almost half of the players didn’t get past level 1. These are going to be the players that see the game and instantly go, “Nope. Not for me.”They’re hard to catch and draw in, especially since I’ve often found there’s a slight delay in the time it took to get a notification that I’ve successfully referred someone: By the time the event came, even if clicked on immediately, the “Last Action” of many level 1 referred players would have already been a few minutes past and they’ve since logged out, never to return.
If a player can manage to even get to level 2 on their own, swoop in and offer assistance. There is a tutorial of sorts in Torn, in the form of George’s New Player Missions. While most of this is rather straightforward, you can help guide a prospective referral by using the Wiki’s page on these missions. Additionally, here’s Kayla’s New Player Guide and, if you haven’t had enough reading yet, you may find Bapki’s Guide to Helping Others useful for assisting your new referrals.
Also, you’re in the clear to give financial assistance to players you refer: Some starting equipment, cash, and a property can help ensure they stick around and will be worth it if they get all the way to level 10.
By the time they’ve completed George’s New Player Missions, they should be approaching level 3. This is a key time to help them! One of the questions I’m frequently asked as a staff member is, “I finished George’s Missions. What next?” I personally have two pre-written messages that I often use when answering this common inquiry:
- “You're really free to do as you please. More missions will be unlocked on a daily basis once you reach level 5. Until then, feel free to explore what Torn has to offer, from the forums and chats to the Casino and City destinations. There's a lot more to unlock and learn along the way as you continue to level up, too.”
- “There's a ton to explore, do, and unlock in Torn. More missions will be unlocked daily at level 5 and continuing to level up will open access to more casino features, racing, joining/owning your own faction and company, trading on the stock market, traveling the world, and much more. For now, feel free to chat with others and make some friends -- perhaps check out the extensive forums while you’re at it!”
Sadly, I failed to take advantage of my own suggestions here, but I’ll put it as I was trying to see what an absolute-minimum-effort attempt at recruiting might look like. I chatted with only a few of my referrals, but I would note that every player I managed to hook into a conversation made it to level 10. Don’t make the mistakes I did; entertain your new friends and really welcome them into the game!
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Now, that above graph may not look all that bad (or perhaps it does), but let’s look at a breakdown of which of those actually managed to reach level 10 (the required level for a referred player to grant rewards):
With this view, only 11% of players I referred actually granted any rewards!
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Focusing solely on Google Ads, was $50 (and the matched $50) worth it? Considering the little amount of time theoretically needed to be put into this method, I’d say it was ultimately profitable. I’ll break down why I think this by comparing the benefits of a Subscription and the benefits of rewards earned from valid referrals, so I’ll first review what we get from each of these:
- Firstly, the similarities shared between Subscriber Status and referring a player (therefore gaining Donator Status) include an increase of the energy bar’s maximum amount to 150 from the default 100, an energy renewal rate of 5 energy every 10 minutes instead of 5 energy every 15 minutes, access to a Donator-exclusive Forums page, a personal Notebook to keep and store any sort of information you may wish to have on-hand later (I personally keep all of my blackmail and naughty pics here, just in case Hoy starts acting up again), the ability to send messages and make forum posts quicker, and an Advanced Search function (which is incredibly useful for recruiting players into factions/companies). There are 5 Medals for having either Donator or Subscriber Status, earned at 30 total days of these Statuses, 100 days, 250 days, 500 days, and 1,000 days. I wish your wallet good luck on those last ones.
- A Subscription is likely the closest thing to compare referral rewards to. Subscribing in Torn costs just $4.85/month and will give you 31 days of Subscriber Status, 75 points each month, entry into a daily points drawing (potentially winning hundreds of points in a day), two “Subscriber items” at the beginning of each calendar month (including exclusive Holiday items), along with several other shared benefits with referral rewards.
- As mentioned at the beginning of this thread, a referred player who reaches level 10 will grant 31 days of Donator Status, 250 points, and two “Special Items,” which appear to be the same sorts of items you receive as a Subscriber each month. There are additionally honor bars associated with referring players, which I’ll discuss in a different section below.
Update: Apparently, you'll receive another set of these rewards for every 10 levels your referral hits. I've updated the post below with some pics showing the rewards received for my referrals hitting level 20!
Now that we’ve covered what each offers, it gets a bit tricky when trying to compare these. I’ll attempt to do so in a couple of ways.
Looking at the total profit for a given month, where I would normally receive 75 points as a Subscriber, I instead earned an average of 1,000 points for a single month (4 referrals giving 250 points each). If we take the current Points Market price of $48,200/point, we’d earn $3,615,000 in as a Subscriber and $48,200,000 through referrals; a difference of $44,585,000.
Perhaps this isn’t totally accurate, though, because there’s always that chance that you could hit the daily points lottery and win several hundred points as a Subscriber; a feature missing from referral rewards!
Don’t worry, though, as referral-rewards-earned Donator days will be attached to the end of any active Subscription, meaning you can safely stay Subscribed and accumulate months upon months of Donator Status in case you ever decide to cancel your Subscription!
I’d say it’s ultimately worth it! You still gain those 2 Special Items, but instead of having to wait an entire month, you gain them immediately, potentially seeing many items come in in a single month. Just think, I received more items in 2 months of referring players than I would’ve in half a year of Subscribing.
Supporting the game’s development is important to me and this is most commonly done through purchases in the Donator House. I personally view this as another way of supporting the game: By referring more players and helping them feel welcome in Torn, you’re bringing in more potential citizens who may be interested in Donator/Subscriber Status in the future!
Honor Bars
The real unique benefit of referring others! Don't worry, we're almost done.
There are 4 wonderful honor bars associated with referring players, 3 of which are easier to achieve for referring 1, 2, and 3 players that reach level 10 and one of which presents somewhat more of a challenge.
In addition to(unlocked after 1 referred player reaches level 10),
(2 referrals reach level 10), and
(3 referrals reach level 10), the fourth honor bar related to referrals is
and requires one of your referrals refer 5 other players to the game.
My suggestion would simply be to give your referrals this guide after they’ve settled into the game a bit! Don’t throw it at them immediately, though; many might not even realize they signed up using your link. I’m personally giving this guide to players who managed to get to level 10; you’re of course free to do as you please.
An Important Note Regarding Restarting
Don't get in trouble. Please read.
Using a referral when restarting is not allowed. Asking or paying another current player to restart on your referral link will result in warnings and removal of the referral from staff members.
To explain this, say you join Torn for the first time and use someone's referral code. Once you hit level 10, they get the rewards. Many players hit level 10 in one day; imagine the chaos if the level 10 player could simply restart and sign up again on the first player's referral code, simply repeating the process over-and-over.
I don’t want anyone reading this to get in trouble (well, maybe a couple of you), so please don’t request others restart using your referral link!
Wrapping this Up
Finally... I'll just lie to myself and pretend at least one person actually read this.
Thank you all for taking the time to read through this! I hope some of these methods work for you and I wish you the best of luck recruiting citizens to Torn. If you come across any methods yourself, feel free to share them below to help out your fellow players!
With love,
~BapkiLast edited by Bapki on 03:08:45 - 20/07/20 (6 years ago) -
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Posted on 00:02:02 - 08/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkReserved for some screenshots of my referrals! Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see here.
Update July 19, 2020
Of all of my referrals, 10 still actively play the game and have been online in the last few days:
Also, see those ones that reached level 20? I didn't originally know this, but you'll receive referral rewards for every 10 levels your referral hits!
That's pretty awesome!
In case you're interested, here's how many days of Donatorship I have remaining:
Last edited by Bapki on 03:05:16 - 20/07/20 (6 years ago) -
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Posted on 00:04:06 - 08/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkLast edited by Overseer on 02:22:40 - 09/05/20 (6 years ago)
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Posted on 00:25:51 - 08/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post link"signed off as acceptable by the Community Manager"
Angry Td3h noises -
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Posted on 00:49:06 - 08/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkSuperb! I want those merits, I am going to re-read this tomorrow!
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Posted on 00:57:14 - 08/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkAnother great guide by Bapki :D
R+┻┳|
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Posted on 02:06:00 - 08/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkSuch a comprehensive guide!
R+++! -
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Posted on 18:40:34 - 09/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkSee I sent my link to my sister and she joined up...only she didn't use the link because it looked shady
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Posted on 09:10:47 - 10/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkMore great guides spent my evening reading them and others as a little refresh.
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Posted on 12:41:36 - 15/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkmight try thisLast edited by ShoesForCats on 12:42:28 - 15/05/20 (6 years ago)
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Posted on 15:28:10 - 15/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linklel that QR code link actually lead somewhere.
Nice guide though, I like the idea of putting up QR codes in places, because I'd never want to actually associate myself with this game to real people unless they asked first. My friend group is small enough as it is. -
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Posted on 07:34:20 - 16/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkMm, I was wondering how long it'd take for someone to check the QR code out ;) Best of luck with your referrals!
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Posted on 15:38:16 - 31/05/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkPlease note that in the European Union, Google Ads can only be used for business purposes.
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Posted on 06:22:33 - 01/06/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkWow; I'll consider posting QR codes on my campus. Maybe.
I've recruited a lot of players from another game forum, but since I'm not active there anymore, I'm going to have to find another source of referrals.
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Posted on 15:27:27 - 18/07/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linklol i never get stuff that good.
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Posted on 03:07:56 - 20/07/20 (6 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkSomething key that I had previously missed, but that is totally awesome, is that you actually get rewards for every 10 levels your referral hits; not just when they reach level 10, but also levels 20, 30, and so on!Last edited by Bapki on 03:13:39 - 20/07/20 (6 years ago)
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Posted on 21:16:14 - 22/07/20 (5 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post link@bapki, ive always wondered, i see people getting FHG, etc, and super good reward items and my rewards have all been trash. Does the value of the items increase when they get to the higher of the multiples of 10's?
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Posted on 01:33:10 - 23/07/20 (5 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linkIt seems rather random and doesn't seem to increase in value as they get to higher levels, but I don't have enough data to really make a solid statement, yet. My understanding is that they're the same potential items you can receive as Subscriber Rewards, not including Books.
I've personally enjoyed several higher-end rewards, including an EDVD, a couple of FHCs, various supply packs, and a Horse's Head. On the lower end, the majority of the rewards are Crime Enhancers, and I've also had LBCs and Lottery Vouchers.Last edited by Bapki on 01:33:55 - 23/07/20 (5 years ago) -
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Posted on 03:17:21 - 23/07/20 (5 years ago)Post link copied to clipboard Copy post linki see, thank you Bapki! very helpful ;)
ps: kinda sad i cant get books lol :( -
![Bapki [2253001]](/images/honors/219/h.png)
![Overseer [2143302]](/images/honors/620/h.png)
![THEFERRETT [2352197]](/images/honors/156/h.png)
![Beer_ [2510950]](/images/honors/414/h.png)
![Madmiketyson [979994]](/images/honors/210/h.png)
![insipid [2374063]](/images/honors/838/h.png)
![Aleks-ODBird [2259658]](/images/honors/611/h.png)
![LordDankenstien [2502839]](/images/honors/443/h.png)
![ShoesForCats [2108324]](/images/honors/213/h.png)
![Borneo [2017371]](/images/honors/1005/h.png)
![ArttiIsGod [1954421]](/images/honors/223/h.png)
![Ptilopsis [2001645]](/images/honors/309/h.png)
