Please review the previous thread if you missed it.

Based on all the comments, there have been a few updates.

  1. We created a list of bundles and abused games with start dates. It's a work in progress, and if you believe we need to make any changes, post here.
  2. If you created a giveaway before a game was in a bundle, you always receive full value.
  3. The first $25 in bundle games you posted receive full value.

This is a little complicated, so I'll try to explain. When calculating contributor values, the following happens.

Non-Bundle Value = The value of games received, which are not in the above list, as well as any games in the list that were created before the bundle.

Bundle Value = The value of games received, which fall into the above list. They're only included if you created your giveaway after the earliest bundle, meaning there's a possibility of boosting values with these games.

Now the first $25 from the Bundle Value is moved over to Non-Bundle Value. If you have $26 in Bundle Value, and $15 in Non-Bundle Value, it's updated to $1 and $40 in this example. This happens to give new contributors a free pass. Over 200 games have been in bundles, so we don't want users that just started out to lose value because of bad luck. This way, we wait until they've contributed a few more gifts, to get a better sample size.

Total Value = Non-Bundle Value + min(Bundle Value, Non-Bundle Value * 0.2);

The above determines the total value based on those two numbers. The value coming from bundle games can only contribute to 20%.

Profiles are now updated with the new values. Take a look, and let us know if you think this is fair.

1 decade ago*

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I like this. But then again I liked the original zeroing out plan as well. why reward ignorance that cant follow rules

1 decade ago
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It's mostly to not penalize too much people that gave away giftable copies of games that were previously in bundles.

1 decade ago
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but people will abuse it like they have already did. but how will it penalize people who made a giveaway a month before the game went bundle if they are going to check dates like they say they will. they should have an option on the recievers end as in Recived, Recieved KEY, not recieved. that will help a little from bundle abusers

1 decade ago
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this looks like a very good revision of option 1! :) i love it

1 decade ago
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Honestly, I think this an interesting idea and would like to see it combined with option 2 from before. However, could someone explain to me why my contributor value stays the same even though my giveaways were games from indie bundles (not bundle keys, just games that have been in previous bundles)? I'm not complaining, of course, I just like to understand everything that goes on :)

1 decade ago
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The difference between this and the original first option is that the dates of bundles are documented, and giveaways for games in bundles prior to the bundles they were part of (in other words, if you gave away game X, worth $20, and then five months later it went into a bundle) are treated as full contributions, not bundle games. You don't get "punished" for a game being added to a bundle at a later date.

1 decade ago
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I understand this, that's not the question. I gave away a game that was in a bundle about 2 months after it was in the bundle, so according to the rules, I should have $30 contributor value, though it still lists me as having full value with this update. That's what I'm confused about.

tl;dr - I gave away Beat Hazard Complete in July, it was in a bundle in May, no change in contributor value. Why?

1 decade ago
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If I'm not mistaken, it was Beat Hazard that was in a bundle, not Beat Hazard Complete. That's probably why you're not affected by this proposed change.

1 decade ago
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Beat Hazard Complete (Base game + all DLC with seperate keys) was in a Groupees Bundle. Beat Hazard on it's own was in Indie Gala I believe.

1 decade ago
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Oh, OK. I was only aware of the base game being bundled in Indie Gala V, because I bought that bundle for that game. In that case, I'm not sure exactly what's going on in MisterXYZ's situation.

1 decade ago
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I like this tons better than the first idea, because it minimizes some of the collateral damage to those who give away non-bundled indie games. However it's not without its problems - people will still find ways to exploit the system. "Trains" wasn't part of an indie bundle yet people inflated their contributions by the hundreds, by buying it at a deep discount. Is that not the same problem people have with bundle games? That people inflate their contributor value with little cost to themselves? Why are indie games bad and steam sales ok? Are you going to have to monitor everytime any game goes in a bundle, or even on sale? As long as there is a contributor system, people will find a way to exploit it.

1 decade ago
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I feel the same way completely.

1 decade ago
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I think of the available options this one was pretty good, both as a means of solving the problem, and to reduce the workload on the support staff in the long run. I feel the only negative aspect is the complexity from the user stand point in determining contributor value, but frankly don't see any reasonable solution to that.

1 decade ago
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I like this option. +1

1 decade ago
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I like this idea.

1 decade ago
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Wait, Time Gentlemen Please! and Ben There Dan That! Special Edition Double Pack was in some bundle back in may? I purchased and gave away 5 of those (steamgifts, not keys) to support developers new game... Would be a bit sad if those "street creds" were deleted... but they are not! Yay!

I like the new proposal more than any of previous three.

1 decade ago
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I think it's the best solution until there's an automatic process way to distinguish bundle keys (if this is ever possible, that is).

1 decade ago
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Unfortunately, that's not possible. There is no way for the site to know what you gave away. Plus keys could have been bought from somewhere else and not come from a bundle at all, which complicates things even more.

1 decade ago
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The receiver of the gift could be given an option box to mark that has the options "key" and "gift," right? That would be sort of an honor system, but it would work better than nothing at all.

1 decade ago
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People will lie. Or they just don't care.

Look at how many entries bundle key giveaways got even when the description by the gift-giver said it was a rule-breaking bundle key giveaway.

1 decade ago
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I'm sorry, but... Is this revised contributor value working properly or I'm too dumb to understand it?

1 decade ago
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The latter ;P

Pkeod is a dev of Faerie Solitare, he game out his game for free using this site, that why his contributor value has not and will not drop a cent.

1 decade ago
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Oh, so the system recognizes exceptions...
I didn't know that. I thought it just checks if the game is from the bundle list then applies the appropriate calculation.

1 decade ago
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I'm guessing there's probably no exception. Those thousands of games were gifted before the keys were marked as exploited (if they even are; I can't find them on the list)

1 decade ago
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I like the fact that they are not on the list cause I donated 3 tradable copies last week. :p

1 decade ago
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What's not clear? He's the developer of that game. Would you accuse him of gifting his own game in great amounts?

1 decade ago
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1 decade ago
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This is closer to an acceptable solution, but again, not to harp on, but I have two indie games sitting in my inventory: EDGE & RUSH.

Rush, according to your list, has not been in a bundle. If I give it away now, it won't count as a bundle game. If I wait and it does appear in a bundle, it will count as a bundle game, even though it is a giftable/tradeable copy from my inventory.

Edge, according to your list, has been in a bundle. If I give it away, it will count as a bundle game, even though it is a giftable/tradeable copy from my inventory.

And as I've stated previously, I've given away nothing but giftable copies with 2 exceptions, Magicka Complete & 1 copy of Lara Croft: GoL but because I bought Limbo in a Steam sale after Indie Bundle V, it counts as a bundle game.

It's not a big deal, but it seems unfair.

1 decade ago
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It probably is, but of all the users who pointed that out, noone so far has come out with a good/feasible suggestion to solve just that issue... :\

1 decade ago
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I was typing the response below while you made your comment :)

1 decade ago
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Ahaha and I was answering to another user who made a similar observation as chukie100 (I must have missed this one) while you were writing your other comment :P Though I know really little about those links so I can't say for sure how they works and if they could be used to prevent exploiting giftable copies of the game to be reused over and over to submit tons of keys from bundles.

1 decade ago
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The link contains the e-mail address of the receiver and the Steam name of the gifter is included on the page (I blanked it out to protect the innocent ;)).

So I can't see a way for this to be exploited to give away multiple copies...

1 decade ago
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chuckie100 has pointed out that there is a link that appears at the bottom of a Steam gift e-mail that takes you to a web-page where you can redeem it via your web-browser. This link is viewable by anyone and remains even after you've actually redeemed the gift to your inventory/library.

If there was an option to check a third checkbox saying, "received as giftable copy", and asking the receiver to paste in that URL (after they've redeemed it), SteamGifts support would be able to quickly click on the link and see that the copy given was a giftable copy from the inventory, not a bundle key.

[edit]
inb4 too hard.
I understand that SteamGifts support are overworked, but the links would go into the database against the gifter automatically, therefore:
Exact duplicates can be flagged/rejected automatically.
Non-exact duplicates, that resolve to the same page, e.g. redirects/f**ked URLs with chars replaced by encoded chars, can also be checked automatically.
That the URL resolves to a page on Steam's servers can be checked automatically.

Since the receiver's e-mail is in the URL, the system can automatically check that against the receiver's e-mail, stored in the database.
The name of the game and the gifter's Steam name also appear on the page linked, so that could be checked (or at least, filtered) automatically by parsing the page.

The only downside is if you gave away a giftable copy and the receiver doesn't acknowledge the fact, which is no worse than the currently proposed solution.

This doesn't work if you send the gift directly through Steam, or if you give a non-bundle (e.g. GamersGate/Amazon) key, but it at least goes part way toward solving the problem...

1 decade ago
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Works for me.

1 decade ago
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Just want to ask, is it possible to give a separate game from Humble Bundle? As I recall you dont get "leftover" games from HIB when you already own some of them. If this is correct, is there even problem with games in HIB?

1 decade ago
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I think HIB's problems stemmed from early on when you could get a steam key for a $0.01 donation. They have since raised that to a $1 minimum. After that I believe it just got tagged with other bundles to avoid confusion.

1 decade ago
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The extras for Humble Bundle sometimes come as a single key. But other bundles like Indie Royale, Indie Gala, etc., will provide you with a separate key for each game.

And altough the Humble Bundle's key can't be separated, people still gave it away as "Amnesia" since it had the highest value from all the bundle games.

1 decade ago
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I like it, Atleast I won't have to worry about not gifting certain games etc as the list continues to grow.

1 decade ago
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Lovin' it, great compromise. Well done crew! :)

1 decade ago
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hrm, this system would drop $80 from my contributor value and I've never submitted any keys from any bundles I've ever bought...

Super Meat Boy is a great example of this. I've bought many retail copies of it, and always had photo proof that it's retail, not a bundle key. In fact, unless if it was a game that had never been in a bundle, I always made sure to explicitly state where it came from. Extra potato sack copies, extra From Holland With Love copies, etc. Unless these are now considered bundles, even tho theyre sold through the steam store itself, this doesn't seem "fair." At all.

TBH: I'm not sure I would like this new blanket system if it went into effect. It casts a blind eye to us who are actually NOT abusing the system, but still have submitted games that are considered "abused." This, personally, kills any impetus to ever submit a game to this site again as I really don't have the time to check the list to make sure what I'm buying from the steam store and submitting isnt considered "abused." Especially if there is no way to mark it as "actually in my inventory" as a lot of these "abused" games I have in my inventory, waiting to be given away. I understand you have to cover yall's ass, but please make sure not to steamroll over people who actually contribute the right way and follow the rules.

1 decade ago
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Better than the current system of getting banned/suspended though. To quote myself, here's a possible solution: "Is there a way to check whether something is a gift vs a code? I suppose the receiver of the gift could be given a checkbox to mark, right?"

1 decade ago
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My/chuckie100's suggestion a couple of comments up /\ could offer a way to check that something was an inventory gift, but with receiver-cooperation required. XxZeroxX's suggestion below also offers a way to check if something was an inventory gift and requires gifter/receiver cooperation, but it might be easier to force that cooperation :)

1 decade ago
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Meh, not really fair for me. Contrib value went from $111.91 to $68.36 even though I've only ever given Steam gifts.

1 decade ago
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Is there a way to check whether something is a gift vs a code? I suppose the receiver of the gift could be given a checkbox to mark, right?

1 decade ago
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I've retyped this proposed solution 5 times now.. so PLEASE let me know if everything seems in order. I feel that you're making progress by giving 100% credit to people who gift things before they were in bundles, but I am hesitant about physical copies still getting diminished =(.

My best guess towards a solution is an inventory scan prior to receiving the gift and after receiving the gift, BUT before activating. Since we can only enter for games we don't own, the proof that we received a physical copy would only be possible this way since picture proof can be Photoshopped and the workload of staff to go through them is unreasonable.


To Confirm Physical Copies Were Sent:


When a giveaway ends and SteamGifts chooses a winner, I believe that there should be a mandatory (automatic or manual) inventory scan of the Receivers inventory. If their profile is private, a manual one would need to be done. This would store what they have, and will be used as a before-and-after check to confirm a physical copy was sent. Since game X's quantity is stored, you will know what they gained in the process.

From here, the Gifter sends the Receiver the gift and, before activating, runs SteamGifts inventory check to prove that it was a physical copy sent. If they had won Dead Island, it checks to see if you have 1 more Dead Island in your inventory than you did last time and rewards the Gifter with full credit. This would work even if they already had 1 Dead Island in their inventory since they would now have 2.

A few things worth noting and my input:

  • Inventory is private

    • Don't let the Gifter know who has won until the Receiver has done an inventory scan.
  • The *Receiver doesn't Scan before redeeming

    • There could be a small reward for doing proper scanning ahead of time which could be worth like 5% bonus contributor credit for both the Receiver (and maybe the Gifter). I know the pause between redeeming and scanning will be the touchiest part of this, but something should be doable.

Feedback is most definitely necessary. I haven't thought over all aspects and made sure that it seems realistic enough merely due to the pause before redeeming. I'd hate to have more support requests where the winner 'accidently' activated it early.

1 decade ago
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So, if I can summarise, as I understand your proposal:

  1. Giveaway created.
  2. Receiver wins.
  3. Gifter scans inventory (game exists in inventory)
  4. Receiver scans inventory/library (game doesn't exist)
  5. Gifter sends game
  6. Receiver accepts game into inventory/library & scans inventory/library (game now exists)
  7. Gifter scans inventory (game no longer exists)
  8. Receiver marks gift as received and Gifter gets full credit.

I can't see a way to exploit it, but it's a little convoluted :)

1 decade ago
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I should have probably put together a step-by-step simplified like you xD. I didn't think about requiring the gifter to also show a before and after history, mainly just the receiver. There is a very minor loophole which I don't feel would be useful/really that effective at all. Basically borrowing a physical copy but redeeming a key instead. Although how many people would go through the hell (and agree) to do so?

Basically what you said minus Gifter work xD:

  • 1) Create Giveaway.
  • 2) SteamGifts chooses winner and requires an inventory scan (prior to letting gifter know they won is optional).
  • 3) Gifter sends and asks to not redeem instantly.
  • 4) Receiver scans to show that it was a physical copy.
  • 5) Mark complete and Gifter receiver full credit.

The system just needs to see the before inventory prior to them owning the game. And the post-sent inventory to confirm they received something. Checking that they redeemed the physical copy could also be put in, but isn't exactly necessary.

1 decade ago
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Stupidly complicated.

Contributor should just be a Y/N toggle. Want to give away to contributors? Then just make it all contributors. This is just getting more and more convoluted.

1 decade ago
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Good idea, like how at the Olympics they give out exactly the same medal to the top three competitors. Or how both teams in the Superbowl Final share the trophy. </sarcasm>

Seriously though, judging by the fact that there are giveaways for contributors with values ranging from $0.01 up to $1500 and beyond, most people like being able to reward contributors based on how much they've given.

1 decade ago
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Also anyone would just create giveaways for the cheapest game or DLC on Steam and be a contributor. That would make contributor giveaways pointless.

1 decade ago
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SUDDENLY, FORTIX

FORTIX EVERYWHERE

1 decade ago
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Has this already been applied? I can see some users having lower contribution amount without the /revised.

1 decade ago
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Closed 1 decade ago by cg.