The Guildelines still say:

Beta keys, guest passes, coupons, and free games should not be given away.

But we all know that free games now can be given away. Please update the Guidelines.

And while you're at it, when you get a chance, please address the weak language ("should"), missing content, and poor prioritization of the Guidelines and FAQ. =)

6 years ago*

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Nice observation.

A little bump for you.

6 years ago
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Thank you. I vaguely thought there were some changes, but I checked the Guidelines and they were unchanged, so I thought I must have been mistaken.

6 years ago
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Wow good point...

The latest Mysterium and Ticket to Ride keys technically can be given as seen now... seems like it's easier to attempt free cv..

I figure these that are trying to get the CV now will temporarily get it until support updates the free list which no CV is given.

6 years ago
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Yep. Wonder how many GAs they'll be able to enter with their temporary bonus?

6 years ago
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I always wonder if we need to keep certain games at zero CV just because they were given away free once (and temporarily). For instance, if you look at the latest Shadow Warrior Special Edition GA from Humble Bundle, it only lasted two days, and all of the licenses were time-bombed. I believe we've already passed the date by which you had to register the license. So, technically, no one can be hoarding a bunch of those. That license is now worth $20 or whatever again.

Given that scenario, if I were to gift that game five months from now, it seems like I should get some CV credit for it. It should be zero during the time when it's plausible that the game was free, but after that, the value should come back. The problem is that, with the way that SG works, your CV value adjusts real-time based upon the current value of the game, which I've always said is a bad idea. So that means if the value comes back to the game, then everyone who gave away a free copy would suddenly get value for it.

It's the same thing with reducing CV of a game once it gets bundled or is free. It shouldn't matter that it becomes free later...if it was valuable when I gave it, I should get to retain that CV. IMO, the user's CV should be a running total whose value does not change based upon the current value of the game, but rather what it was worth when it was given.

Obviously, exceptions have to be made if someone gave it when it wasn't really worth much (or anything), and the list just simply wasn't updated yet. We have the data, so we know when a gift was given, and in that case, all of the appropriate total user CV values could be adjusted to take this into account. But for people that gave the game earlier when it was more valuable would not lose the credit for what they gave.

6 years ago
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I agree as regards "free" games such as the recent Shadow Warrior GA from Humble regaining CV eventually. There are some great games like ETS2 that I considered buying to give away when "free" games weren't allowed, and Steam "gifts" were still a thing, until I found out it counted as a free game as it had been given as a promo with a GFX card or something. I wouldn't want to buy a genuinely good game to give away for 0CV now that it's possible.

As to adjusting CV based on current price I agree with you in principal, but I can see the logistical nightmare (or more precisely, the extra server load) in constantly fetching current store prices across multiple regions for each giveaway made.

6 years ago
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It was pretty well established that Humble simply stops hosting the keys; they don't actually expire (making them hoardable if you simply copy them off-site). I'm not aware of that having changed, which would explain why they're still listed as free: While it's possible they got overlooked, time-limited promotions are, as far as I'm aware, removed from the free game list already, so that hasn't actually been a concern thus far.

Past that, I'll refer you to the usual site response: If it was part of a heavily exploited promotion, then hoarders will still have keys available to exploit. Encouraging giveaways for a certain game again isn't necessarily worth throwing site CV balance off by allowing exploiters to profit across their various greedy efforts with just a bit of patience.

if I were to gift that game five months from now, it seems like I should get some CV credit for it.

That'd be a simple as putting a time range on the free listing. That's not really an issue, if they do decide to implement an on&off feature. Of course, then you're just punishing everyone that posts during the free period, meaning most everyone with any considerations toward CV would start hoarding keys. Yeesh.

It's the same thing with reducing CV of a game once it gets bundled or is free. It shouldn't matter that it becomes free later...if it was valuable when I gave it, I should get to retain that CV.

You already do. Free/Bundle-listing isn't retroactive, except to the point of the free/bundling start.

6 years ago*
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It's the same thing with reducing CV of a game once it gets bundled or is free. It shouldn't matter that it becomes free later

As Sooth said below, you don't lose CV for a game once it gets bundled or is free, unless you gave away that game on or after its bundle/free date. This seems perfectly fair (although admittedly frustrating when you find out a game was already bundled when you gave it away, and you lose CV retroactively).

Your CV value adjusts real-time based upon the current value of the game, which I've always said is a bad idea.

I had this explained to me once, and the explanation makes sense. I can't recall the reason, but it was well thought-out. Maybe somebody else will remember.

So that means if the value comes back to the game, then everyone who gave away a free copy would suddenly get value for it.

No-- if I understand it correctly, one's it's been given away free in large quantities, it will forever give zero CV.

6 years ago
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The Shadow Warrior keys aren't lost - if you redeemed them as steam keys they didn't terminate, they are still usable. The deadline to redeem on HB (not on Steam!) was the one shown by the site.

6 years ago
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Although there are some which expire fully - had that issue with the XCOM one they hosted a few months ago. Still sounds reasonable to block them while being given away, to avoid the site being flooded with keys, but for anything limited or time-bound a lift of any restrictions would still be kinda nice, since there are some neat games which probably would be otherwise lost to SG - though with the new changes regarding free games it isn't that big of an issue anymore to me anyway, so... :o

6 years ago*
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But we all know that free games now can be given away.

And given away some more. And some more.
By golly, if you ain't grabbin' as many copies from a promotion as you can, then what even is the point of taking part in a free giveaway promotion anyway?

View attached image.
6 years ago*
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no one reads the rules, it's ok!

6 years ago
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The (roughly) 95% discount to get bundled should be also mentioned - nowhere in guidelines or FAQ is mentioned, then no wonder if someone's posting on the forums that 85% discount got the game bundled without the site mentioning anything about other currencies, as well as about the ~95% threshold.

6 years ago
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Yep, that goes under "missing content." But first let's make sure all of the info is correct/updated. :)

6 years ago
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For me its ok 😁
You can't make giveaways for "Beta keys, guest passes, coupons, and free games".
For example Dota 2. 😱


You can make giveaways for games that were once available for free due to promotions or pricing errors.
For example Particula 😎

6 years ago
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Yes, but it doesn't say that last part, and free should say "currently free," or something to that effect. Also, it's not against the rules to give away free game-- you just won't get CV for it, and the game will be removed from the list once the mods catch up (and it will be returned to the list once it's no longer free).

Or, if it is against the rules to give away a currently free game (prior to the mods removing it), then that should be clear as well.

The fact is, they simply didn't update the Guidelines.

6 years ago
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That which you are requesting is already in the works.

6 years ago
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Great news, thanks! Would you like me to close this topic?

6 years ago
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It's up to you. There may be benefit in having feedback.

6 years ago
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Closed 6 years ago by trentjaspar.