The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Discuss or comment on anything relating to D.C.Thomson's second longest running comic. The home of Dennis the Menace. Has been running since 1938.

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Digifiend
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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Digifiend »

Roger's Dad now looks like Roger's big brother! They must've aged him down by 10 or even 20 years. He actually looks a bit like Ivy's Dad, but with Roger's hairstyle. Without the moustache, he looks much more modern (most men are either clean shaven, stubbly, or have a full beard nowadays). His mum's hair is typical of the generic adult females Barrie draws, but is also more up to date (of course, previously, Barrie had stuck to Bob's basic designs, and those date from the 80s). However, she always looked like a 30-something, so she hasn't been aged down as much as Dad, just modernised. I wonder if Dave, Dodge Cat and Cruncher will reappear? Dave and DC both weren't in the reprints due to being before they were introduced.

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Lew Stringer »

AndyB wrote:Beano is definitely real Dennis and Gnasher, including a Brighty Gnasher's Bite
I asked Steve about that. It's not by him and he's never drawn the strip. It looks like Barrie Appleby's work to me.
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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Phoenix »

When I joined this forum in March 2008, Steve Bright was a relatively active and informative participant. I'm sure he hasn't posted for more than two years, though. Is he just too busy or has he moved on?

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by AndyB »

Steve's a busy man! It looked like half Barrie, half Steve - more like Steve's Gnasher, and more like Steve's colouring, but Barrie's wink on Gnasher, and Barrie's postie.

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

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The Beano have apologised for website downtime yesterday.
The Beano Facebook wrote:Hi, all. Big apologies to anyone who's had difficulty getting onto Beano.com yesterday and today. We've had a few technical problems and more annoying bugs to deal with than Gnasher before a flea-bath (not pleasant!!!) but, fingers, toes and eyes crossed, everything's fixed now.
Despite this, I'm currently getting a 503 error!

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by -MikeD- »

Digifiend wrote:The Beano have apologised for website downtime yesterday.
The Beano Facebook wrote:Hi, all. Big apologies to anyone who's had difficulty getting onto Beano.com yesterday and today. We've had a few technical problems and more annoying bugs to deal with than Gnasher before a flea-bath (not pleasant!!!) but, fingers, toes and eyes crossed, everything's fixed now.
Despite this, I'm currently getting a 503 error!
Still down...completely. I hope it's because the promotion is proving popular... :)
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swirlythingy
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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by swirlythingy »

The Beano website has been falling to pieces in a number of respects lately. I suspect they're too busy building a replacement to pay much attention to it. After all, the design is very much 'of its time' (late 2010, not a golden age of Beano covers by any standards), and all recent adverts for the site in the comic have used completely different branding. In addition, the original central concept of 'Beano VIPs' was killed off immediately after the editor change. Hopefully they'll also fix the inflexibility of the current layout which has caused so many problems.

The Beano Golden Ticket site, meanwhile, is one of the laziest sites I've ever seen. They've literally just copied and pasted the entire Beano site, then put a few sticky labels over some of the original text! And there's really no excuse for the still non-existent promotional website missing its launch deadline that badly, not in the middle of the biggest marketing campaign in the Beano's recent history.

As I think I've said before, DC Thomson really don't care much for the web...
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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Digifiend »

Result, some very p***ed off parents.
Stuart Wood wrote:My son who is 8 years old was sooooo excited about the Golden Ticket this week, his granddad went out and bought his copy of The Beano for him on Wednesday morning and it was like Christmas. It has taken us a day and a half to get onto the website and enter the code and he has "won" a 3 month subscription to the digital Beano! I have never seen him so upset about this, we had to explain for a long time what it was and he kept on saying "but where's my toy?". From the promotional images in last week's issue you made it appear that every child would win a toy. I was expecting something cheap like a pencil or sticker but a digital subscription is beyond cheap. He does not understand but i do, this was a promotional scam to try and con people into signing up to your new digital copy, if your intention was to upset young children then you have succeeded! This has backfired big time and i suggest that someone needs firing! His granddad used to read The Beano, i used to read The Beano and now my son reads The Beano but after this i'm now not so sure. I think every time my son looks at your publication from now on he will remember today and how bitterly disappointed he feels! There are other comics out there and i think i will suggest to him to try something else, unless of course you somehow come up with a plan to mend some broken hearts.
There's quite a few other comments from angry parents on Facebook as well.

If this sorry state of affairs ends up mentioned in the newspapers, the Beano's reputation will be ruined. The promotion seems to have backfired spectacularly. The web team clearly weren't ready.

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by -MikeD- »

Yeah, that basically echoes my complaint a couple of pages back - the 'competition' wasn't really much of a competition, it was just a promotion. And the advertising, the massive, disproportionate advertising that buggared the comic, appeared to promise kids a lot more than it delivered. Added to the technical failings on the website (although this may be beyond their control) it doesn't leave a very nice taste.

I genuinely hope the comic emerges from this with more readers, and excites a new generation, but from the point of view of the already loyal fans, it hasn't been the glorious, golden event that was promised.

And they better bring back Ratz soon!
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Digifiend
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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Digifiend »

Oh, and another thing, the Beano Golden Ticket site, which unlike the main Beano site is working (the actual claiming bit is on beano.com itself unfortunately), has fake successful claim messages. I know they're fake because the site isn't working! Not only that, the same few prizes keep getting mentioned. Three Batmobiles in one day, when there's only 20 of them in total - it should be one per day at the most, because the promotion runs for 28 days.
Alexi aged 9 from Reading won a Mattel Power Attack Batmobile 6 hours ago... Woo hoo!

zach aged 12 from cardiff won a Bakugan Launch Pod 7 hours ago... COOL!

Olivia aged 7 from Middlewich won a Hot Wheels Double Dare Snare set 10 hours ago... Great!

Scarlett aged 7 from Cupar won a Sony Cybershot camera 6 hours ago...

Imogen aged 7 from Knebworth won a Mattel Power Attack Batmobile 7 hours ago... COOL!

Olivia aged 7 from Colchester won a Wham-O Aqua Force Crossbow Balloon Launcher 10 hours ago... Gnash!!

CONNOR aged 12 from badminton won a Wham-O Slip & Slide Extreme Whitewater Blast 13 hours ago... Nice one!

Molly aged 8 from Lewes won a Mattel Power Attack Batmobile 3 hours ago... COOL!
Even if the site was working, last I checked, the claim page was giving a 404 error, so claiming prizes is impossible.

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Raven »

Digifiend wrote:Even if the site was working, last I checked, the claim page was giving a 404 error, so claiming prizes is impossible.
In your previous post, though, you quoted someone (posting on Facebook 4 hours ago) who won something: "It has taken us a day and a half to get onto the website and enter the code and he has "won" a 3 month subscription to the digital Beano!" so presumably some people are getting through and claiming prizes?

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Digifiend »

It tells you what you won, then gives you a link to enter your details. Clicking on said link gives a 404 Page Not Found error message, so no, nobody can possibly have claimed yet.

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Raven »

Digifiend wrote:It tells you what you won, then gives you a link to enter your details. Clicking on said link gives a 404 Page Not Found error message, so no, nobody can possibly have claimed yet.
Oh, right, it does tell you what you've won - so the ones complaining that they've been "fobbed off" with digital subscriptions are telling the truth; they just been able to actually claim them yet.

Maybe that's what the "claim messages" are referring to, though?

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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by swirlythingy »

Raven wrote:
Digifiend wrote:It tells you what you won, then gives you a link to enter your details. Clicking on said link gives a 404 Page Not Found error message, so no, nobody can possibly have claimed yet.
Oh, right, it does tell you what you've won - so the ones complaining that they've been "fobbed off" with digital subscriptions are telling the truth; they just been able to actually claim them yet.
No, in most cases a digital subscription is the only thing you win.

By the way, hot tip for anyone hoping to cheat the system: you can actually influence how likely you are to win, by entering your code at a quiet time of day. It's the exact moment you enter, not the code itself, which determines your prize - and if someone's already claimed the prize allocated to the most recent randomised time, hard luck, you get a subscription.
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Re: The Beano merges..UPDATE its not a merge!!!!!!!!!!

Post by Raven »

swirlythingy wrote: No, in most cases a digital subscription is the only thing you win.
Inevitably, but that doesn't contradict me saying that the above "claim messages" could refer to the few proper prizes that have been "won" (i.e. which people have been notified of when entering their details) but not properly claimed yet, does it?

I doubt they'd list all the people who get a digital subscription!

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