So you want to create public GAs, but you don't want bots and auto-join scripts to enter? Good. Just post a comment in this thread with a link to an invite-only giveaway. The idea is very simple and is really not different from many (most?) of the other threads in the forum, except that you don't need to invest much time or thought into it. Just post the link in a comment, and you're done :-)

A few additional guidelines:

  • Feel free to obfuscate the link to make it more difficult for bots/scripts to enter. This is completely optional and may not make much of a difference, because the forums are probably not as infested with bots and auto-join scripts as public giveaways (see example).
  • You may use itstoohard.com, sgtools.info or other sites as filters to the link, but do try to keep things easy (for humans) to enter.
  • Don't feel obligated to write anything to accompany the giveaway link. If you have stuff to share beyond just the link, you probably should create a dedicated thread for it. Needless to say, you can also write it here, but it's not required.
  • Cross-posting giveaways your posted in other threads is fine, as long as they are your giveaways.
  • If you want to add a dynamic signature showing the game name, giveaway end date and current number of entries, but without revealing the URL to bots, you can use this tool created by Reforced. It takes the signature created by SG and provides you with a new URL that hides the original giveaway address. Just add it to your comment using the regular format for posting images: ![](URL)
  • Just like public GAs typically have a lot of entries, there's no need to maintain a low number of entries in GAs posted here. If you want to give especially good odds to people who enter and still get CV, you may want to instead consider posting the link here (and then remove it when you have your 5 entries). This is not needed here in this thread. The more (humans) the merrier :-)
  • The best way to bump this thread is by posting a link to your own invite-only giveaway. With that said, if the thread drops from the first page a regular "Bump" would also be appreciated.

I'm trying to find how serious the issue with bots really is. So far the results don't really prove things one way or another. Here are some stats from my latest experiment:

Game: Space Trader: Merchant Marine
Number of giveaways: 5
Period: 3 days

Giveaway # Level Type Number of entries Winner's Sent:Won Reroll needed?
1 Level 0+ Public 891 0:82 No
2 Level 0+ Invite only, direct link 55 4:47 No
3 Level 0+ Invite only, SGTools (no restrictions) 48 6:71 No
4 Level 0+ Invite only, shortened URL, captcha-free 50 1:205 No
5 Level 0+ Invite only, shortened URL with "I'm not a robot" captcha 54 162:86 No

Yet some more stats:

Giveaway game Period Level Type Number of entries Winner's Sent:Won Reroll needed?
Tales from the Void 5 days Level 0+ Public 755 0:37 No
Tales from the Void 5 days Level 0+ Invite only, obfuscated link 183 42:514 No
Hyper Box 4 days Level 0+ Public 554 0:32 No
Hyper Box 4 days Level 0+ Invite only, obfuscated link 193 178:188 No
Ace Combat Assault Horizon 3 days Level 0+ Public 1596 0:28 Yes
Ace Combat Assault Horizon 3 days Level 0+ Invite only, obfuscated link 234 88:107 No
7 years ago*

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You are so cruel to forbid that the level 11 users are able to enter :-D

2 weeks ago
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You should really stop to divulge info about the secret level.

2 weeks ago
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First rule of the secret level: don't talk about the secret level. Second rule of the secret level: don't talk about the secret level.

2 weeks ago
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Wirt says Moo!

2 weeks ago
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Insert 'I understood that reference' meme here.

2 weeks ago
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Thank you! :)

2 weeks ago
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https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/Ii?W?/gigantus-tank-natsuiro-hs-markings

The characters ? ? are the same voice as "see you".

2 weeks ago
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If it is too hard, please let me know 😉

2 weeks ago
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View attached image.
2 weeks ago
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At first I thought it was a joke. But now I feel it actually is really hard, or I am just too dumb.
I can't enter, but regardless I am curious to know what the answer is. Can you share the solution after it ends?

2 weeks ago
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Did you try CAPS?

2 weeks ago
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Yes, I tried all combinations of lower and upper caps. I am sure that I am using the wrong alphabets though.

2 weeks ago
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Sometimes case sensitivity makes all the difference.

2 weeks ago
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Tried all combinations, it's the letters that I am not able to guess.

2 weeks ago
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I had the same problem, Chrome automatically changes the url for some reason, close the browser and try again

2 weeks ago
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Reopening chrome did not help. Rather I added a few extra random characters at the end of the link to make chrome thin it's a different url, that worked for me.

PS: I replied this to the wrong person below!

2 weeks ago
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If you're old enough, you might remember ICQ (I seek you). This is similar.

View attached image.
2 weeks ago
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Yes, that's the logic I used, but I messed up very badly when trying them, or I am reading it wrong somehow.

2 weeks ago
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If you're using Chrome, when you change one letter's capitalization it will actually default to the capitalization of a url that was previously used. It's stupid, but it might be forcing you to use the same wrong url instead of other three different possibilities.

2 weeks ago
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Oh, you are right. That's so stupid. Why does it change it like that, I should really just switch to Firefox I guess.
Reopening chrome did not help. Rather I added a few extra random characters at the end of the link to make chrome thin it's a different url, that worked for me.

2 weeks ago
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yeah it's an idiotic feature

2 weeks ago
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Yes, very!

2 weeks ago
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I made the switch to FF and never looked back. I still use 99% of the chrome extensions in FF

2 weeks ago
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I have made the switch to FF on my work system, but not on my personal system yet. Just don't have the time or energy to do all that work. I use a ton of extensions and customizations. And then there are a few niche features in chrome that are still not present in FF (and vice versa too). I'll switch one day for sure though. There's better privacy on FF too.

2 weeks ago
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Just curious, does FF also have synchronizing, where you can access your tabs and history and everything with just one click on other PCs or mobile devices, because this feature became vital to me.
Also never switched that easy to a new PC, two clicks and i had every tab, which was open before on my old PC right there.

2 weeks ago
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yes. in fact, convenient tabs/history sync was one of the reasons why I switched to FF years ago.

2 weeks ago
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well, i find the Chrome/Google sync quite convenient

2 weeks ago
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it's probably gotten better over the years. back then I had very annoying lags where the last ~15 minutes of browsing might not sync unless you do the sync manually.

2 weeks ago
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If you mention the past i remember FF occasionally crashing back then and then couldn't restore my opened tabs, i never had this problem with Chrome

2 weeks ago
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i've never had problems like this on win/android, but who knows, maybe it depends on the number of open tabs, or some add-ons are to blame. anyway, ff is great and it is definitely worth to try (again).

2 weeks ago
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nah, FF had its time, which is gone now, there must be a reason it's in decline for a decade now i think.
Also i'm quite happy with Chrome, so i see no reason to switch to something not being used to (anymore)

2 weeks ago
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that's the only reason I ever moved to Chrome from FF, my FF crashed once or twice without saving my tabs

2 weeks ago
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horrible memories

2 weeks ago
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I shall refer you to Firefox browser sync

2 weeks ago
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well, what i read there is, that you have to send tabs manually to other devices, that would be very inconvenient.
In Chrome you just synchronize and tada, you have everything on hand in just 2 clicks.

2 weeks ago
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Yeah on FF, it's a 3 step process

2 weeks ago
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then i really don't see the point for me in switching :)

2 weeks ago
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Usually a dropdown menu below the adress bar appears, if you type something.
Go in that dropdown menu and click the black X behind the URL, which then removes the URL out of your history

2 weeks ago*
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I see. Nice trick, but extra work nonetheless. At least for SG links, I found adding / removing some characters from the game name to be an easier solution, like https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/Ii?W?/gigantus-tank-natsuiro-hs-markingsEXTRA instead of https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/Ii?W?/gigantus-tank-natsuiro-hs-markings

2 weeks ago
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It's a click vs. typing several letters on the keybord and hitting Backspace after.
I wonder which method is extra work here lol

2 weeks ago
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I am more of a keyboard guy...

2 weeks ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 week ago.

2 weeks ago
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One month late happy cakeday!

2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
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Journey lvl 3
simpler anti bot

2 weeks ago
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Bump!

2 weeks ago
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bump.

2 weeks ago
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BUMP

1 week ago
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bump

1 week ago
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Bump

1 week ago
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Lvl4, lasts 24 hours
American Fugitive
DONE
R == w

1 week ago*
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Bump

1 week ago
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1 week ago
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bump !

1 week ago
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EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 WINGDIVER THE SHOOTER
https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/XxxXX/
XxxXX = If a program has a bug, this will happened and this word will be displayed.

EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: IRON RAIN
https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/QK?J?/
?ictory = Win

1 week ago
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I'm very clueless for the first puzzle hahaha

1 week ago
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The first link is a funny coincidence))

1 week ago
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b̵̭̦̜̉̆̈́̿ů̸̞͓͊͛͗̕m̵͔̿̂p̸̖͍̻̂̿̅̍̓̕͝

1 week ago
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bumpo!

1 week ago
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Just under 2 hours left bump!

1 week ago
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Minute of Islands
https://www.sgtools.info/giveaways/490187d1-e738-4b10-8d2d-ab7af81f07cS

Last letter is a number , lvl 2 , some rules

View attached image.
6 days ago
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Bump

6 days ago
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Thank you! :)

6 days ago
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Bump!

6 days ago
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Region restricted to Europe (most of it anyway)
Level 4, ends Wednesday midnight CET

https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/id***/chorus

***=Designation of Airco's WWI bomber aircraft (lower case)

5 days ago
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boomump

5 days ago
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Was the answer supposed to be DH9 (lower case)?

2 days ago
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It's dh4

2 days ago
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Almost, the DH9 had a predecessor the DH4 both named after constructor de Havilland. Btw my first flight ever was on a de Havilland Comet III. I still remember the sleek lines of the wings with integrated jet engines.

2 days ago*
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holy, how old are you?

2 days ago
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Jumping to conclusions are we? The jet was operated by Dan-Air for a long time.

2 days ago
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sure :D reading upon the topic, was this a West-Berlin thing?

2 days ago
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Not for me the airline offered cheap flights to London from multiple European airports.

2 days ago
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Need 5 people from NA (US and Canada) for Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ Gold Edition

11 hours ago
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10 hours ago
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Other regions not welcome?

9 hours ago
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Can i join

8 hours ago
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Been interested in this one for a while. I’d love to join, ty :)

7 hours ago
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The quarry US and Canada only https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/hlLiI/the-quarry capitalize the "h"

7 hours ago*
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