Would you like an option to create a giveaway with keys you're not certain work?
Give them to friends. Problem solved. We don't need people making giveaways without a prize.
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If you don't want the key to be picked up by an ungrateful ninja, just create a thread and ask people interested in the game to comment, then pick a winner with random.org, add them on Steam and give them the key
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People might abuse that and claim that the key has already been used even if it might not have been. At least that's what I can imagine.
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Winner: Nope, the Key is no Good
Giver: But.. your account now shows you own the game
Winner: Uh... I bought it
Giver: Then why didn't you remove your entry?
Winner: Forgot I bought it, I bought it so long ago
Giver: But Steam Gifts won't let you enter for games you already own.
Winner: I just had not synced yet.
Giver: I also checked your profile before I sent you the key and you didn't have it!
Winner: It was in my inventory
I have no idea where I am going with this, just came to mind after reading your post
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I almost included the "they then can give it to a friend or try to trade with it" part in my comment but then I just left it out. Of course activating it on your own account doesn't make sense then.
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Also, people trying to advertise their youtube/twitch channel or greenlight game or something, could abuse this by creating fake giveaways with a key they know is used.
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there's this thread to drop keys you don't know if they work (please post them with a mini puzzle or bots will grab them).
i understand if you don't wanna drop them in public because of ungrateful leeches/ninjas, but there's not much else you can do except what delta and tempete said.
or maybe give them when someone wins your GAs as a bonus.
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Just delete keys from your spreadsheet when you give or trade them away and you'll never have this problem.
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When posting it in the forums (or ANYWHERE public on the internet), always do some basic obfuscating. Just dropping the key, chances are it will be picked up by a bot and you will never hear about it. Replace some symbols and hide them in the rest of your post, mangle the order of the blocks, post them backwards. Or hide them behind a simple itstoohard puzzle.
Alternatively: If you know what key it is for and you have that game in your library you could just pretend to claim the key yourself, it will either return a "duplicate key" error meaning it's used, or an "Exists in account" meaning it isn't.
Edit: apparently I was wrong about the second part, please ignore that.
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Alternatively: If you know what key it is for and you have that game in your library you could just pretend to claim the key yourself, it will either return a "duplicate key" error meaning it's used, or an "Exists in account" meaning it isn't.
No, you get exists in account anyway.
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If you own the game it will always give you an "Exists in account" error, regardless if it's a duplicate key or not.
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If you want someone to say thanks for the key, try making a puzzle. People who have to work a little to get it are more likely to drop in and say something. You don't even have to mandate they say anything in particular, though you should probably dictate some way for them to let others know they've taken the key. I did this recently and it worked pretty well.
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You forgot the main purpose of this thread: "Keys that are not certain to work".
Solving a puzzle to find out that the key was invalid... makes people sad.
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Nothing stopping you from giving the winner another key if the first doesn't work (unlike a giveaway), or leave multiple keys (ditto). And I don't know about you, but usually my definition of "key that's not certain to work" means a key that should work, but I can't be sure about. Not something I'd risk making a giveaway on, but usually I'm pretty sure it's not actually used. If I thought it was used I wouldn't post it. But pretty much the only time I trust a key not to be used is when I reveal it immediately prior to making the giveaway so I know, barring some issue with the bundler's key mechanism, it's impossible for the key to have been used.
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Just hide it behind an itstoohard with an easy question or something D:
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someone will try to activate it and won't even say thanks if it works.
How many people "thank you" in giveaway, 1/100 ? And most of them just copy-paste same thing for every giveaway
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Unless the giver posts something to respond to, there's really not much else people can say other than a token bit of gratitude. I post a funny/cute/interesting picture on everything I enter (I change the picture everyday), but if the giver actually posts a question or a topic of discussion, then I'll comment accordingly.
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I think the wisest solution will be if Steam implemented a system that actually lets you check what the Steam key will give you, and if it was used or not. GOG has that, Origin has that, maybe Uplay has that as well, even though I am not too sure about them. The key redemption system on Steam currently is extremely outdated.
I know, I know it's not realistic for Steam to do anything unless that will give them some sort of profit, but in the long run, if they continue to offer bad support to their users, I doubt they will stay on top of digital game stores so easily.
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Not sure if they still work:
iBomber Defense Pacific 09YVA-RG#9L-Z9QQZ ?
Marine Sharpshooter II: Jungle Warfare #7KDP-TR2QV-2IM7C ?
Bloop +DCYP-PHHRX-BGJW7 ?
PID: 0J9+7-V5KW3-ZVEBQ ?
Codes: #=3, +=7
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iBomber still worked. Redeemed now. Thanks for the game and for nicely demonstrating this alternative. I think I'll "bury" such keys in the forum, behind similar anti-bot puzzles. Possibly in the description of whitelist-based giveaways (of other games), where leechers can't reach. BTW, you're on my whitelist now :-)
P.S.
I didn't try to activate the other games, so others might want to give it a shot
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Take for example this key for the game The 39 Steps: 6PFPD-4FVJJ-29JX6 ...in my spreadsheet it's listed as a key that might have already been used, but I'm not sure (about 3 out of a few hundred keys fall into this category). Now, I can post it in the forum (like I just did above), but most likely someone will try to activate it and won't even say thanks if it works.
A better alternative would be to create a giveaway where it's clearly stated that the key might not work. If it works, then the winner is encouraged to mark it as received and the creator gets half the points of a regular giveaway (to encourage users to still create giveaways where they commit that the key is good). If the key doesn't work, no harm no foul. The giveaway is finished, and the creator doesn't get the Not Received mark that taints their profile.
Thoughts?
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