I'm finally caught up with this thread and can contribute some of my thoughts.
The address change may have raised a red flag with Nintendo, but the bigger flag was the sheer amount of coins in the account. I also have ended up with some duplicate codes over the years and have a family account setup. It's hard to resist buying a few used copies of Wii Fit for a buck and getting a hundred coins out of each. I do tend to stockpile codes from games which I purchase, as well as ones given to me by friends or family. In these instances, I ask their opinions of the games and fill the surveys out accordingly. This is almost definitely against the rules, but I do not feel like it is total dishonesty. I also do this knowing that if Nintendo comes down on me, I am the one to blame. I admit to this for two reasons:
First, I got a slap on the wrist for it during the Mario Kart 8 free games promo. I had an issue which required I call customer service and the gentleman on the phone commented about how many people in my family were named eggwolio with a number after it. I laughed and tried to shrug it off, and he said, "that's not allowed, but you don't appear to have abused it. Just know that we are aware." (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it.) I've barely logged in since, but will be deleting some family members when I do.
The second reason I mention this is because holy crap are surveys tedious. Half the reason I stockpile is because I can't be bothered to answer all of the questions over and over and over. I whipped out a stack for the luigi figurine and it was mind numbing. I don't know how someone could sit through twelve thousand coins worth of those surveys without some sort of automated program to fill them out on his or her behalf. In fact, it would probably be easy to forget just how many accounts one had if he or she were to write a script that logs into one account, attempts to redeem a code, and then either moves to the next account or autofills the survey depending on whether or not that title had been registered previously. I can't imagine that this is particularly hard coding, but no one has ever mentioned automation like this previously. That always kinda surprised me, that here on GAF where things like idlemaster are created to farm Steam cards, no one had automated this process. And now, thanks to this thread, I've learned that is also against the ToS. Who knows if TTH did this or not, but it certainly seems to me he's capable. Maybe I'm wrong and dude really likes surveys.
The final thing I wanna point out is that the surveys are kind of silly, in my opinion. I shouldn't need to rate a game on a hundred point scale. My purchase should tell you that I like your product. We live in an age where I can get any information I need to know about a game instantly before I make my purchase. My purchase of said game should be all of the research you need. I got all kinds of prizes from kool-aid when I was a kid. Sure, I had to pay shipping for those, but other than that, all I had to do was buy kool-aid. There was no questionnaire about how I felt about a certain flavor or if I added sugar or how much water I mixed it with or if I poured the powder directly into my mouth or if I even drank it at all. I just sent them proof that my family and I and anyone else who would throw me some UPCs were buying their product. They knew we liked it because we BOUGHT it.
I think that a system where we are rewarded for purchases and given an option to speak out in detail would be better, yes, but that's really splitting hairs. Complaining about rewards for games I will be buying anyway really just seems silly. As silly as parading around, bragging about how many coins I have accrued or regularly giving away freebies to the little folks with their paltry coin balances just so that I can later emphasize my own philanthropy when it all goes awry. When a gift is given discretely, it's usually a gesture for the recipient. I feel like a public gift is just as much if not more for the high fives and pats on the back which go along with it.
I don't think anyone should be discouraged from giving away or accepting (for free) Club Nintendo rewards. Just don't go overboard.
