Razer is Enabling Gamers To Donate Masks To Frontline Workers by Gaming

Razer has launched a new initiative that lets gamers donate to COVID-19 initiatives just by playing games. Now when a gamer running its Razer Cortex software earns the company's Razer Silver currency they can pledge it towards the purchase of masks for frontline healthcare workers. From a report: Razer Silver is virtual currency gamers earn when they run the Cortex game optimization software and play eligible games. Silver can normally be exchanged for hardware, gift cards, or games. It's basically a loyalty program that encourages gamers to use Cortex and earn discounted or free Razer hardware. Cortex is available on both PC and Android and supports major titles including World of Warcraft and Borderlands.

So, what I'm hearing

[Voyager529]

...is that, since Razer Silver isn't an accepted monetary instrument for anyone else, that Razer has the actual-money to give masks to frontline workers without requiring anything from gamers but chooses not to.

I decided I didn't want Razer peripherals years ago because of their stupid requirement that Synapse has no ability to opt-out of using an account to make macros, even if I didn't want to sync them to The Cloud (tm). This even more solidifies my stance that Razer is a terrible company. If they actually gave a damn, they'd just donate the masks and actually-help. But no, they have to make a spectacle about it and artificially limit their donation?

Whoever made this decision deserves to be beaten over the head with a Model M.

Just give the money

[kriston]

Just give the money. What a PR grab this is. They have the money, just give it. Don't gate it.

If it walks like a scam and quacks like a scam ...

[Misagon]

Razer Silver is a token for store credit in Razer's online store. It used to be "created" by their "SoftMiner" program (renamed "Razer Gamma" in Aug 2019) which supposedly "mined" it as a cryptocurrency in the background.
When people looked closer at it, they found that users would have had to run the program for hundreds of days to be able for even the least expensive item. It also expired within a year, making it impossible to "mine" for anything more valuable.

Of course, a centrally controlled cryptocurrency that has to be "mined" would be idiocy -- because the purpose of mining a cryptocurrency in the first place is so that there wouldn't be any central control. When you control the tokens, you don't waste cycles on mining it.
So, obviously SoftMiner/Gamma must be doing something else which yields a profit for Razer, probably mining an actual cryptocurrency, possibly in a distributed network.

When users got to install earlier versions of this app: Razer Cortex, they had been asked if they wanted to install SoftMiner as well.
With Razer Silver produced by Razer Cortex, is that not optional any more? Is Razer Cortex mining cryptocurrency when users are not gaming?
Or is Razer collecting money by spying on users now?

This thing here about masks can not be anything but a ploy to make more people install it, to build the user-base to make more money for Razer.
Don't get fooled by this. Them exploiting the current situation is despicable.

I used to think that Razer was a horrible company even before they introduced SoftMiner, because of how their marketing claims used to skirt right on the edge of outright fraud.

Pledge it towards the purchase of masks

[PPH]

Wait a minute! Where are these masks coming from? The story I've been told is that there's a shortage at the manufacturing/distribution level. And that even with anti-profiteering measures in place, we just can't have them or some poor health care worker might be deprived.

So it turns out that politicians have been holding first responders hostage for federal grants and/or outright gifts (de Blasio and Cuomo, I'm looking at you).

Maybe it's just me, but...

[Jerry Rivers]

...this Razer software looks like crap-ware.
I like the idea of helping front-line workers and all, but just make a donation and keep your "system enhancing" software to yourself, thanks.

You know what we would be awesome Razer?

[ZeroPly]

If your bloated shitty code didn't require a 411 MEGABYTES to run a freaking mouse. I wanted a mouse with some buttons. This is a level of commitment more like joining the Greek Orthodox church. Work on that instead of worrying about masks.

Bake Sales

[MountainLogic]

So why do schools, food banks and hospitals have to survive on charity while the military and police seem to always be dripping in cash? When was the last time General Dynamics or Raytheon had to have a bake sale?