"All new games purchased as a gift and placed in the purchaser's inventory will be untradable for 30 days. The gift may still be gifted at any time. The only change is to trading.

We've made this change to make trading gifts a better experience for those receiving the gifts. We're hoping this lowers the number of people who trade for a game only to have the game revoked later due to issues with the purchaser's payment method."

Source

9 years ago*

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Yep just saw this posted. Its directly from Valve.

Just wow.

9 years ago
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its fine by me :) still would not stop scamers at all only way to stop them is to make transactions nonrefundable

9 years ago
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If anything I see scamming going up dramatically.

9 years ago
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Was just gonna post a thread on this but I'm glad I checked the forum again. :D

I guess it'll be harder to get a low price on price errors since most traders usually just buy a bucket load right away and find buyers after the fact.

Edit:
Hmmm, thinking about it, price errors can still be taken advantage of. Just without the safety net of the trading window. They can still send gifts from their inventory, just not trade them until the 30 days are up. It does mean that scams will go a lot higher now though.

9 years ago
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Not to mention, 30 days give time for publishers to retroactively lock the gifts.

9 years ago
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Yeah the backlash would be crazy if they did that...

9 years ago
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think its more for the gifts where the seller/trader revoked payment for the game or used stolen credit cards to pay for them.

9 years ago
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What they say though I think they aim to hinder price error abusing and/or RU store using super traders

9 years ago
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How trade will work now: (A is selling, B is buying)

  • B send his keys in trade window

  • A send the game as gift

  • game gets revoked

  • B wont get his keys back, cause he didn't traded the gift in trade window, but A still has the keys

  • GG merry scam and happy new year

9 years ago
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made me lol... also so true:D

9 years ago
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but but valve said it's to prevent scamming.... ;)

9 years ago
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in theory, but this opens up entirely new cans of worms.

9 years ago
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That is true. Well done valve for making more people get scammed. Also it's quite clear that there just trying to stop the trading of Russian gifts and they don't care about the scammers.

9 years ago
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But less work for already lazy and work-dodging support! Now they will be able to smoke their cigars with Chardonnay without being interrupted by peons! -.-"

9 years ago
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when someone is so stupid and send keys to someone than he deserve to be scammed

some people have to learn how life works in the hard way and most buyers for this are kids with monthly 10€ and never worked for money in their life anyway

9 years ago
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Well, BREAKING NEWS: That's how you trade when you cannot use the trade window

9 years ago
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Pro-Tip: If you can't use the trade window, don't trade.

9 years ago
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Useful tip 10/10

9 years ago
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"game gets revoked"

You should really work on your reading comprehension.

9 years ago
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Explain.

9 years ago
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Sorry if it got too long, I added a tl;dr at the end.

While you are right that a game can get revoked at any time - up to 6 months depending on your payment method as far as I know; I was referring to a basic flaw in your setup as a whole.

First, you can still trade for the game using the Trade-Window. The trade ban is only applicable for 30 days. If you chose, nonetheless, to trade beforehand than it is akin to trading with someone for a game-key instead of a game-gift.

Second, just like when trading for game-keys you would look for someone with rep. Otherwise, you have a high risk of getting scammed.

Third, most people still receive their credit statements in the mail. If you ever read he small print you probably noticed a line stating something like "...if you do not respond within 30 days to the contents of this letter than you consent..." ; In other words, you have up to 60 days dispute a payment in standard CC.

TL;DR, Valve shows tough love by saying 'we know most of you are dumb so we decided not to stop the next one from sticking his fingers in the electric socket'.

9 years ago
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Or maybe you should just work on your understanding of trades and scammers.

9 years ago
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I appreciate your advice on the matter.
Please read the post above to understand my pov.

9 years ago
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Just before the big sales. Sad news.

9 years ago
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Yep, the timing is obvious.

9 years ago
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Won't that just raise the ammount of scamming?

9 years ago
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Yep

9 years ago
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Was thinking the same thing. But if you're going to trade someone for a steam gift then odds are its someone from with high rep, if its not then its easy to find a trader for the item you want with high rep.

9 years ago
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Of course, but that worked before as well. It's ridiculous imho. If they don't want region trading then they should find a proper solution, not making stuff like this.

9 years ago
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Oh I agree, not to mention people will be forced to give first and then be gifted the game later or vice versa. Honestly I think thats going to cause more scams. Not to mention you can still charge back gifts, which is why they implemented this in the first place.

9 years ago
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they already have the region cross trading allow tag, dunno about this change :/

9 years ago
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Yes, but Valve will no longer have to return whatever got stolen from you because you will have "gifted" it to the scammer.

9 years ago
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Get ready for the automated response:

'Unfortunately you decided to gift those items, so there's nothing we can do. We are not responsible for whatever deal you might have agreed outside the trade window. In the meantime, make sure to check out the newly released Operation Vanguard, it's just $5.99 on our store! Be quick, as this promotion only runs until February 10th, 2015.'

9 years ago
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srsly ? i would reply with 10 lines of insult to "make sure to check out the newly released Operation Vanguard"

9 years ago
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a lot, above all revoked gift

9 years ago
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Cae: Reads like "we don't want to give anyone the security of the trade window anymore" to me.

I think this sums it up quite nicely ^^

9 years ago
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To me it sounds like: we don't want to hire more people to deal with all the credit card chargebacks. If you want to trade through gifting, that's on you.

9 years ago
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Chragebacks can also happen to gifts, not just when an item is traded.

9 years ago
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Yeah but what he is saying is that in this case Valve doesn't need to help you.

No trade window = no help.

9 years ago
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Yeah, even though support already worked like it was staffed by one asleep intern...

9 years ago
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GPTrixie is speaking the truth!

9 years ago
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Note that this doesn't affect gifts, just trades, so it won't directly affect SG.

9 years ago
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Indeed. Very well observed, sir!

9 years ago
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I use the trade window, like many other users.

9 years ago
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+1

9 years ago
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Could I ask you something?

  • How do you get the vast mayority of games that you either gift here o get to yourself?
    Edit: Nevermind, I posted without taking a look at your steamgifts and steamtrades profile. Sigh.
9 years ago
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Just an excuse to deter regional pricing trading and store glitch trading/hoarders.

9 years ago
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This is basically Valve covering their asses. Scamming will actually go up, since scammers will just use this excuse to ask people to send their stuff first and then either don't gift the game, or send the gift and do a chargeback as they already do. And when that happens, you won't be able to contact support to ask for your items back, since you effectively gifted them. They're just screwing a lot of newbies and people who don't usually trade, who will fall victim to scams even more often, while at the same time destroying the game trading ecosystem.

They're also cutting down on pricing error hoarders and your usual regional trading to get better prices. Why bother doing things the right way, when you can just restrict them altogether. Ridiculous decision.

9 years ago
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Thinking about it, people can still gift the games purchased through price errors through their inventory I think. It removes the "insurance" you get from the trading window but you can still get it :/

9 years ago
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Yeah, they can. It just lets developers region lock those items more easily, if people try to hoard them and keep them in the inventory for 30 days until they're tradable.

9 years ago
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At least, I buy from the same guy since some weeks now and I trust him but still.... that means that I will almost be obliged to activate these games since it will be really hard and long to trade .. Even if I have a lot of rep, that still sucks for people who don't have rep...

9 years ago
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Valve should leave bad decisions to Ubisoft.

9 years ago
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I lol'd

9 years ago
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Me 3!

9 years ago
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+1

9 years ago
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Haha

9 years ago
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exactly. i still can't believe what i just read...

9 years ago
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+1

9 years ago
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tis

9 years ago
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so dispenser.tf just died tonight ?

9 years ago
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sg too (a bit)

9 years ago
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Not really. You can still gift the game at any time. Just cant do it via trade. SG is fine.

9 years ago
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In a way yes. I dont think it affects gifts already in inventory, but any new purchases, yes.

9 years ago
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No, its just slows things down a little. If you buy a game intending to trade it for stuff, you need to wait a month.

9 years ago
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This will increase the number of scammers. Money first... keys first and gift never

They just want to cut trading firstly with ACRTAG for new releases and now this new rule for older games.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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If I see someone who says "you always go first regardless of rep" my very first thought is, SCAMMER.

9 years ago
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Come on Valve. Not even a kiss before the f@#k.

We dun got REKT.

9 years ago
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I guess dinner was out of the question too. No cookie, just the nookie.
Well, it only affects newly purchased gifts so i guess you'd better find a trader you trust or give up on trading all together.

9 years ago
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So if I'm not mistaken, it looks like you can just check the guy out on steamtrades, if he has legit rep, you then pay with paypal or give the keys, and then he gifts you the game.

Less secure, but will still work if the people are trustworthy, right?

9 years ago
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Yes, but think of what this has done.

In the past, everything was done in the trade window, now EVERYTHING is based on trust (unless the gift is 30 days old). Its only going to increase the amount of scamming.

9 years ago
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I agree, I just wanted to make sure that this was a valid workaround.

9 years ago
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Yes, it is the workaround. Basically the seller will almost always be getting paid first depending on rep.

9 years ago
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it's more complicated than that ... and even high rep scam some time (rarely)

9 years ago
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Well, in theory, but it's trivial to build rep on low-mid value gifts then go out with a bang, a single big value scam. This just removed the single biggest game trading safety and gave scammers huge excuse for "you go first"...

9 years ago
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30 Days!? Really!? Oh Come on -.-

9 years ago
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and you sheep still think valve is TEH AWESOME!!

all this does is change the system from USING the trade ssytem, to using the far more riskier GIFTING system, hoping each party wont screw the other over, and at the SAME TIME it allows valve to wash their hands of backing and supporting legitimate trades through the trading system. this WONT... WILL NOT... stop revoke issues, its purely for allowing valve to stop supporting victims of bad trades if a larger number go through gifting.

Valve has done a lot of scummy things lately, but this one really takes the cake. They're willing to let customers twist in the wind over gift scams just so that they dont lose money and expend effort on enforcing scams through the trade system. ALL HAIL VALVE! Such a good company that works hard for their customers!!

9 years ago
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they only think about money, trading gifts making less profit cause it usually gifts from russia/cis or glitch. But i think their sales will be less than usual cause there's no one willing making "shop"

9 years ago
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I dont think anyone thinks valve is awesome. If they do they haven't encountered support. Sure Steam is "teh awesome" but I love meat and hate the USDA...well thats probably a shitty comparison but you know what I mean :P.

9 years ago
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Wait, you really didn't see people writing prayers to "Our Lord GabeN"?

Just so you know, there are people who do it seriously...

9 years ago
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Yeah, and then there are special cases who would have paid much more for Steam game than DRM free GoG version...

9 years ago
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Steam games are bought for the convenience of having them all in one place as well as the collection factor. The latter is the same reason why people pay more for original casing/instruction manuals. If I wanted "DRM free" without the convenience of having a single download source and a collection to show off, I'd just torrent.

Don't get me wrong, Steam has its flaws, but I've thrown my lot in with Steam and given the choice between it and something like GoG I'd do it again.

9 years ago
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But in this case, it's not paying for original casing. It's paying to have seller thrown the casing into trash. That's why it makes no sense. GoG offers not only DRM free games, almost all of their games come with lots of extras Steam sells as 'collectors edition'. Soundtracks, manuals, artbooks, GoG has it all free instead of squeezing more money with DLCs. As for convenience, well, yes, as of now Steam is tiny bit more convenient, but once Galaxy is out even that tiny advantage will disappear.

9 years ago
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I've seen it and for those who do take it seriously, aren't they praising him for Valve's games and not the company itself? I mean I love Ubisoft games but hate most of Ubisoft. There is developers and then there is corporate, or so.

9 years ago
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Usually it's accompanied by lots of -X%, so I'm guessing it's about company, not games...

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Well said.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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1++

9 years ago
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+100

9 years ago
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Not sure if it'd make a dent as it dosen't have steam's overall selection.

9 years ago
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I should get rid of my steam stuff and move to gog...

9 years ago
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At least they have the currency conversions done right, but even with the trading locks, most games are still cheaper to get on Steam.

9 years ago
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+1, plus The catalogue is bigger un Steam. Not to mention how Steam deals with updates and The community tools.

9 years ago
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...that's the whole point of Galaxy, matching that... -.-"

9 years ago
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Is the bigger catalogue of games better when many games are awful? GOG actually has some quality control, which is why publishers like Strategy First can't dump their shitty games that barely work on GOG.

GabeN said on his Reddit AMA that Steam will become a self-publishing platform. That means Steam will be filled with crap and if you can't even run the game you bought, then tough shit because Valve doesn't offer refunds. Thanks to Valve we all get to enjoy games like Chickenman Is Faboules and ASTRALFOREVER YOUR DREAMS FOREVER.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Of course nobody is forcing me to buy anything. More choice isn't always good, when the amount of bad games is much higher than the amount of good games. It will be harder to find the good games and the devs will suffer from that. Valve has tried to improve the visibility with the recent store updates, but it doesn't help much. Most people don't bother digging through hundreds of games to find a game that they think they might like. The situation would be a bit better if Valve at least offered refunds if the game doesn't work or is completely broken i.e. incomplete and full of bugs.

I'd rather have a smaller selection of games that work properly instead of a large selection with lots of broken games.

9 years ago
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LOL, I would rather get games from PirateBay then buy that DRM-free sh*t from GOG.

9 years ago
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Good to see Stockholm Syndrome is alive and well.

So often, as PC users, we get the DRM we deserve...

9 years ago
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... but not the DRM we need right now. So we detest it . Because it not our friend, it a nuisance , a jerk . It is a pain in the ass "

9 years ago
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+666

9 years ago
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"All new games"

Doesn't that mean just new releases...

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Scammers, scammers everywhere.

9 years ago
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Awwww, and the Winter Sale was just around the corner. The only people I could trust now are people with 300+ rep

9 years ago
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I wouldn't be surprised if someone decides to trade a lot during wintersale and then chargeback ftw

9 years ago
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mmmmm...well i just read here that a lot of people don't like to wait 30 days... That's your problem if you don't want to wait..or the people who just can't wait 30 days to trade.... I don't think it's a bad move... actually i think is ok...of course is not okey for the ppl that wants the games "NOW" but... Patience is a virtue. People with patience will be less likely to be scamed that the others ones..

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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I don't think they affect keys or bundle links, which is how cheaper less popular things are generally traded.

9 years ago
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maybe valve pr will say something like that "that's your problem.." . when you buy gift and wait for 30 days to trade it will make it tiresome, so it will make ppl think you just buy it for yourself (or gift for your friend) not for trade. So trading is dead (or half dead) [not half life :lol:]

9 years ago
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You can still gift it through email, but yeah more scams incoming. but THIS SUCKS LOL!!!!

9 years ago
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Does anyone remember This?
Bans can happen to excessive gifting.

9 years ago
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wtf!

9 years ago
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This only means, ppl will buy more from semi-legal sites like G2A, where they sell Steam keys AND Steam gifts, for them it doesn't matter if it's not tradable, they can just gift it to an email. G2A, Kinguin and others will be extremely happy, party at G2A to celebrate "positive" changes incoming!

Also what can happen to tf2 key's prices now? Also the actual trading prices for all tradable games we have around should rise now.

9 years ago
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