I read the whole post but can't really help deciding the games to give away.
You should definitely create a giveaway flagged topic to attract more people for feedback when creating the giveaways. Hiding the link as a text within your message will make sure that others atleast read what you want to tell/ask them.
Games like "broforce" that never showed up as a bundle and don't cost too much (to create several giveaways) or even get features by known youtubers might attract more people.
I'm always kind of sceptical so I most likely wait on any of your causes until it's featured on pages that do security checks before installing any apps (regardless if PC or mobile device)
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Thank you for the feedback. I like the idea of reaching out to prominent YouTubers to get the word out.
Keep your skepticism. It is better to err on the side of caution when it comes to security (though the app for the homeless is not a software download at this point - I am only looking to gather information as to whether people would use it to see if it warrants developing).
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Thank you for the feedback. Giving back to the SteamGifts community via gifts is definitely nice, but I am looking to make a bigger impact than allowing people easier access to entertainment. I am in a position to do that, so I want to be as effective as possible in that regard.
As for feeling safe enough, I'd just encourage you to exercise real caution when it comes to use of the internet. There is not a security product on the market for home users that adequately protects them against malware. The safest thing you can do for free is surf inside of a virtual machine (I would strongly encourage that to everyone).
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Thanks a lot for reading the whole thing and the game suggestion. Rocket League is far more fun than it deserves to be :).
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Thanks guys for the idea to use the existing tools to see what is popular.
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1) I noticed that my most successful and praised giveaways have been: XCOM: Enemy Unknown Complete Pack (5,99€ at the moment on Steam) and DARK SOULS™: Prepare To Die™ Edition (4,99€ at the moment on Steam). Personally I love both games and it is nice thing to see that these are popular games. Remember that the games you giveaway don't need to be the newest AAA games; You can do more giveaways (=make more people happy?) with a bit older but still popular games.
2) Getting to know some popular Youtubers could be a thing. I don't know much about social media since it isn't really my cup of tea. I was in a Facebook for couple of months because of the work project but left a bit later since it didn't really feel my place :) Twitter could also be a great place to advertise if you just get the followers there. Needs bit work at the beginning but gets easier when you have the community :)
3) Do some lvl0 public giveaways and add forum thread with private giveaways. People tend to read more of the topic on forums; most public giveaways get just participants but they don't really read the description. You could also add more giveaways to the thread over time so people tend to follow up :)
Good luck with the projects and keep us posted! :D
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Thanks for the advice based on your own experience, I'll take that into account. I also appreciate the well wishes in my endeavors. I would really like to see both make a difference for people.
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I have read the whole post and to be honest I don't expect that making giveaways will have much of an influence for bringing out the word. I tried multiple times to promote some of my reviews and guides with giveaways and the result so far has been disappointing. There are probably some people who read the stuff but it is more of a "Taking notice". If you want to spread word here public giveaways for boring popular AAA titles is your best bet.
To avoid confusion it is probably a better idea to just discuss one topic per giveaway. For the security stuff it would probably be interesting why you think that your software will bring better results than already existing software or what security holes you intend to cover which have not been addressed so far.
For recommandations I will hold back for the moment since I don't like AAA games and could only recommand Indie Games which will not gather as many people. Also you should wait a bit, atleast til end of january, for the giveaways since right now the forum is buzzing with too much informations and threads.
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Thanks a lot for the advice. Really good point about waiting a little while until the activity settles down a bit.
As far as the software the security service will use, there are a number of differentiating features that make it better than alternatives (proprietary detection based on identifying unauthorized software persistence - so it can detect/remove known and unknown threats, runs transparently for the end-user, driver-less for increased compatibility with existing security products in use by home users, exceptionally low resource usage, unique rootkit removal methodology, and customized to avoid direct attack on the product).
As importantly, we will have a small team of security experts volunteering their time to monitor the events reported by the security software and issuing automated remediation of threats. Enterprises rely on incident response teams to investigate and remediate incidents detected by a vast array of sophisticated security software and hardware (most of which aren't available to home-users). There is no other service I am aware of that offers an incident response team to a wide user base of home users (let alone for free).
The hard part of that is communicating the information above (which is already simplified a fair bit but is still rather technical) to home users who I wouldn't expect to have security knowledge. My inclination is to frame it as giving home users the opportunity to receive the same sort of security expertise that is currently only available to enterprises.
Even enterprises that have far more sophisticated security products available to them than home users still rely on security experts to protect their systems. It is unrealistic to think your home computer is secure against the prevalent malware/viruses that are capable of challenging those advanced defenses and security teams. I would like to change that and make securing a home computer a legitimately achievable goal. And because there isn't enough money in it, I don't think it is a problem that will be addressed unless someone like me does it for free (venture capitalists won't invest in a consumer-focused security company due to lack of upside).
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1 - I think you could get some 80% off games (like Transistor or Grim Fandango Remastered) to GA as they'll give you good value and they're games that many people want, although many might have it already. Looking at the SG group wishlist (like people have already pointed out, since we don't have the general wishlist anymore) might give you a better hint of what most people are wishing and give you a better visibility, probably costing you more, though.
2 - I also have IT background and I think security is a very important and often neglected part of computer systems, although I'm not very knowledgeable about many things regarding this area myself. The things you mentioned should give you good credibility, I think. My suggestion is if you can provide mentions about you regarding that subject from external sources (i.e. sources that are not related to you, outside your linkedin, youtube account or your company's website), it could give you extra credibility. I know you have mentioned the conferences, but the more the merrier.
3 - I think you're right regarding long descriptions. Many people don't read descriptions at all, but I guess it's less likely to be read if it's too long. That being said, I think you should discuss only one cause per giveaway. And as others have mentioned, it's possible that more people will read and engage if it's done through the forums. You could test it yourself and try both public and and invite only GAs on the forums for the same game and see which one gives you the best results (if that's possible).
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I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions, thank you. It's a good idea to link to some of the external sources (there are some press releases from companies that reference me and the company I run that would likely make sense to that end).
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Not sure what game should I suggest, maybe games that involve multiplayer like Don't Starve Together / KF2 / Borderland etc.
On the other hand, it may be a good idea to post private giveaway in forum, which you can get more ideas for your app
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Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I think doing at least some private giveaways is a good idea.
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Hello Everyone,
I am looking to give back to the SteamGifts community and in a much broader way as well. I could use your feedback to make sure I am going about this in the most effective way. Meaningful feedback is greatly appreciated (especially given the long post). I will update this post (as well as add a new post when I update) to share any of the details of how I will move forward giving back.
What I want to do:
I'd like to share great unbundled games with the community as I have been very fortunate to have been on the receiving end of some great giveaways
I am very active in the computer security community (running an enterprise security startup, speaking at security conferences, and ethically hacking to help discover vulnerabilities and protect end-users against compromise). I am frustrated with the lack of viable options home users have to protect themselves against viruses and malware. I plan to change this early in 2016 when I release a completely free (now and for the entire life of the service) computer security service. I intend to donate my time and resources ensuring home users are better protected against malware and viruses. I'd like to get the word out about this so I can make as meaningful a difference as possible. The giveaways provide an opportunity to get the word out.
I have an idea for a not-for-profit app that I feel has potential to empower people to contribute more freely to improve the lives of those who are homeless. But I wanted to ask an engaged user base some questions to determine whether others would use the app and what feature would need to be present to make it viable. The giveaways provide an opportunity to get some of these questions answered.
How I need your help:
1.) What great unbundled games would you like to see shared with the community? I have about a $50 budget on Steam now. I'd ideally to get good bang for my buck to draw the most attention to my causes.
2.) People should be wary of anyone offering security services on the internet (there is a lot of fake antivirus malware out there). I intend to provide a link to my LinkedIn profile so people can learn more about me and my computer security background (my LinkedIn profile has links to videos of me speaking at security conferences, vulnerabilities I have disclosed to improve end-user security, my company's website info, etc). What additional steps can/should I take to help the community understand that I am trustworthy and credible?
3.) I am trying to get the most bang for the buck with my giveaways. Are you more likely to participate in either or both of my causes if a giveaway discusses just one cause or both? I am concerned (as I am with this post) that long posts are unlikely to be read in their entirety.
Speaking to question 3, if you made it through the whole post and don't have any other feedback, please just let me know you read the entire thing. That alone will help me know what I can expect from the community. Thanks again for reading and any feedback you can provide to help me advance some causes I feel strongly about.
Joe
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