There isn't much really. The site's pretty simple after you read the FAQ and Guidelines. There aren't really many hidden rules or anything like that.
Welcome to the site as well :)
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Actually super helpful as I didn't read this, thanks!
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It is easy. Give games if you want to, if you can or if you just feel like it or just try to win some games instead :) ... and while you are at it, have as much as possible!
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Haha, I'm already well on my way! I've given a lot of games and entered some giveaways ^_^ seems I'm doing fine!
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If you get frustrated about not winning, then joining a group like Unlucky-7 or Playing Appreciated can really help get you going. Search the Group Recruitment discussions for sign up topics.
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I'm not old enough for unlucky 7, but maybe eventually! Sadly due to medical issues, I can't really play a game all the way through if I don't enjoy it, though I do make a point of playing and giving a fair chance to the games I win!
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Sorry to hear that. But you're well on your way to level 3 already, and a few more groups open up then. Keep an eye on the recruitment topics. Groups & forums have the best odds. Also whitelists. I've added you to mine since you are one of the first new users to come to the forum and not ask "How do I level?"!!
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Thank you! Honestly there are people who have it far worse than me, it seems some folks just get an un-natural amount of bad stuff thrown their way, so I just try and get on with it and find work-arounds where I can. I hope when I run out of keys I can still do the occasional giveaway, as I love making people smile.
Wow, thanks so much, I'll add you to mine as well, though my giveaways so far have been open!
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I 2nd thoughtfulhippo, it feels nice to have new users that don't post their first topic as "This scam" or "How do I win GTA V, Witcher 3.." or "How do I get level fast". I occassionally do whitelist giveaways, so feel free to enter when you see them. :)
And of course, welcome to Steamgifts!
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Thank you, I definitely will; added you to mine as well!
I think sometimes it's a language barrier that things come across so abrupt...but sometimes I wonder about people and their level of common sense...is that too mean? XD
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Your account age doesn't matter for the Unlucky 7 group when you've hosted at least 7 giveaways when applying for the group. You have already given a good bunch more than that, so they should happily accept you over there :)
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Wow, really! Awesome, I'll go join then :) Sometimes a bit of text escapes my notice due to brain issues, so it could be I totally missed that part so really appreciate you pointing it out to me!
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Hello there!
Most of the things to keep in mind are just common sense ones. Be nice & friendly, and people will be nice back to you.
Don't store yourself blind on levels. It's a common beginners mistake. Give what you feel like giving, when you feel like giving, to whom you feel like giving to.
Be a bit mindful of what giveaways you enter. Both in case you realize a year down the line that you don't actually what that terrible game on your account & list of won games, and because some people frown on people winning games that others really want without playing them
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Great advice, thank you so much. Mostly I'm trying to get rid of my backlog of spare keys right now, I had so many more before I discovered here, but I gave them away elsewhere! Still, I have a fair few to give here.
No worries, I'm only entering GA for games that are on my wishlist or look really interesting, I think it's pretty ungrateful to not play a game you win, buying it in a bundle for card farming is fair game, but if you win you should at least give it a try, IMO.
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Hi! :)
You'll figure everything out just by hanging out in the forums from time to time...
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Here's hoping! There's a lot of forum threads or fancy tools people use that go totally over my head, but I'm doing my best :)
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One of the best tools is ESGST, you should really try it out if you haven't already!
It makes a lot of stuff on this site easier to manage/use.
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Someone very kind recommended that! I've installed it, but am working my way through the options a bit at a time, due to a medical disorder, it's really difficult for me to work through big blocks of text or settings, so I'm doing it one section at a time, I've done the settings for the first section so far. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
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Yeah the settings are overwhelming at first but taking it step by step is a good approach!
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That gave me a chuckle, I have to admit, I spent a good couple of seconds thinking it was from Back to The Future, before it clicked! ;) Great show!
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Welcome, Wonderwhatif! The best advice I can give is to try and not get too discouraged if you don't win anything for a while - I was here for more than a year before my first win. It could get frustrating, but I kept giving away games because I figured karma would catch up with me and eventually it did. I'd also suggest only entering GAs for games you think you'll actually want to play as opposed to spending all your points on everything you see to try and clock wins. And hide any game you're not really interested in playing - the site can be overwhelming at first when you scroll through 10 pages of GAs and realize you're still on that day's giveways. Mostly, have fun and good luck!
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Great advice, thank you. I'm an old hand at contests, so I'm not expecting a win for a while! How do you hide a game though? There are a few I've looked at that I know I won't play and you're right, there are so many giveaways, I usually only look at page 1 and just refresh often!
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Next to each giveaway title there should be an eye icon with a line through it. If you click it, it'll ask if you want to hide every giveaway for that game. I do that to clear out games from my Wishlist / Recommended tabs that I did/will buy myself or aren't interested in. And I generally only browse by Wishlist / Recommended.
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Awesome, thank you ^_^ I usually browse from Wishlist and then take a little gander at page 1 and sometimes 2, but that hide feature will come in very handy. Usually I only need to look at a game once to know if I'll enter or not.
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It takes a while, but now I'm up to over 11,000 hidden games that I just have no interest in. Now I typically only see 1-2 total pages for giveaways and it's very easy to get through.
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you should know this site is pay to win
the more giveaways you make the better is your chance to win something good
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Do you mean because you need giveaways to get levels? I don't know that I'd describe that as pay to win...
Well, I don't know that I'll be able to get too high, but hopefully over time I can continue to give games. I can't really afford most games not bundled or super cheap, but that's ok! Some day when the wheel turns, I can do better giveaways.
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Ah, but that's the case for most contests anyway. Many contests allow 'referrals' so you are up against people who do that kind of thing. So that's pretty normal I think!
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Hi, and welcome!
As far as what I wish I knew when I started:
You get out of SG what you put into it. If you show up every once in a while, and never give anything away, you'll be annoyed and frustrated at how you're not winning anything (average is 1 win per 1000 entries for public giveaways, I believe). But if you're active, reading the forums, giving away games (as much as you can or want to, obviously), and joining groups that would suit you, you'll find your enjoyment of the site and your win % greatly increasing. And it looks like you're well on your way there. :)
Don't enter for everything just because you can. Early on, I entered for anything even remotely interesting, just to increase my chances of winning. Fortunately, the games I actually won were ones that I was excited to win, but a couple were games that I wasn't going to play anytime soon. Later on, I came to care about my SG profile, and those unplayed games seemed like a stain on my profile. Now I only enter for games that I really want, and will realistically play sooner rather than later, and while I win fewer games I cherish each win more.
Get ESGST. It looks like you've already done that. Don't worry too much about all the options, many you don't have to mess with. The features I like and use are:
(under General)
- Fixed Sidebar,
- Giveaway/Discussion Tracker,
14.2 Mark discussions as visited when visiting them, - Hidden Blacklist Stats,
- URL Redirector,
(under Giveaways) - Giveaway Extractor,
(under Comments) - Reply from Inbox,
11.1 Cache replies,
(under Users) - User Notes,
12.1 Pop up when whitelisting / blacklisting.
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Much appreciated :) Especially the advice on ESGST. I'm pretty much doing all this already. The group system is a little overwhelming as many groups want very high levels, expensive giveaways or require a lot of time. Which is totally understandable, when they are giving away such awesome goodies.
To be frank, though, with my health issues right now I have to limit my responsibilities a lot, which sucks as generally I'm the kind of person to volunteer and help with things, but I always end up taking on too much and then getting stressed and having to let people down.
I'm ok for now just to hang out on the discussions board and things like that, but I know that limits my accessible giveaways and especially the high-chance ones. You can't have everything though!
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Oh, yeah, I totally understand that. For my first groups I joined Unlucky 7, to get a few first wins, and after that Playing Appreciated, because I think that good games deserve to be played and wanted to see my games played. Neither requires high levels, giveaways, or much time (PA wants to see an effort put in to play a win, but that could be 5-10 hours across a month, which isn't asking too much).
I'm only a member of one group with a required monthly giveaway, and I feel like that's as much as I can handle. After all, SG should be a pleasant thing, and not feel like a chore. But even in the discussions people often post invite only giveaways that greatly increase your chances compared to public ones.
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I love the idea of Playing Appreciated, but from what I saw it seemed to say they wanted people to finish the game? I have so many games on my list, in part because I can tell pretty quickly if I like a game. I usually try and push through, but with limited energy, I hate forcing myself to play a game I don't like for too long. Usually within 5 hours I'll know, less than 2 if the game is really bad.
Unlucky 7 my account unfortunately needs to be a little older :(
I'll look out in the discussions! Often I see the giveaways or other threads, but get confused easily and can't figure out how or what's going on, yet another downside of my crappy brain. I greatly appreciate the advice, as usual!
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Nope for finishing the game. Their general guideline is half the time it would take to beat the main story (eg: for a 10 hour game, play tat least 5 hours) and earning the achievements that 60% of others have also gotten.
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/playing-appreciated/discussions/0/133256959381015741/
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It still sounds a lot overwhelming for me, but definitely a group I'd consider! I'm not that skilled a player either, so would worry about getting the achievements. Yes, despite playing games my whole life, I mostly suck at them, go figure!
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Thanks for breaking them down a little, it's quite hard for me to figure out things like stats and numbers especially, so I appreciate it. I'll definitely give the group a second look then.
I think it just makes me nervous worrying I'll mess up somewhere and let the group down, TBH.
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The requirements for Playing Appreciated aren't quite that strict. They want you to play the game within a month, and ideally they'd like you to finish it, but "playing" is defined as 1/2 the HLTB time for games that are 10 hours in length or shorter, or 5 hours for games that are 10+ hours long. So they won't force you to spend more than 5 hours with a game you don't like. And if you really hate the game after an hour or two, or encounter technical issues, or real life comes up and curtails your playing time, you can just post that explanation on the giveaway page and you'll be okay.
As for Discussion giveaways, ESGST has a great tool for that. It'll put a present icon next to a magnifying glass right at the start of the comments for a post, and you can use that to extract the giveaways so that you don't have to click on individual links yourself. It will also present trains in a nice list - particularly useful for really long trains.
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Once you get accustomed to the site and its features (1 month?), I would recommend checking out ESGST. I'd been using SG for 3.5 months before installing it for the first time and once I learned how to use it effectively I really hoped I'd start using it earlier. There are a lot of features that optimize the usage of the site and each of them can be easily turned on/off so in the end each user uses a different subset of them.
Ones I use the most are: train giveaway extractor, hiding entered giveaways on the main page, hiding discussions I don't want to see, marking each new game I see and want to enter GAs for with a tag informing me that I don't need to check its Steam store page again and many others. But even if you won't use any of the features I listed, I'm still sure you'll find other useful ones ;)
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Thank you! I already installed it and am working my way through it's features. I'm a very slow learner when it comes to new stuff like that, but I think I'm picking things up, especially thanks to all the wonderful advice.
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Awww meanie! :P
I felt it was quite useful! But I know I talk so much, so I forgive you!
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It sounded mean, but it's actually a good advice. When I first joined the forum, I earned several blacklists because of that, not that I'm bothered, I just wished I didn't wrote those useless comments at all. it's not even a thread, it's just comments.
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Oh, for sure! I'm not offended, when someone sounds mean online, sometimes I like to imagine them frowning at me while I poke their cheeks and say 'why so serious', but that's just me.
I mean, how do you think I ended up with two heavily replied forum topics, I made one and then had a question/worry and panicked! Ah well, we live and learn!
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Also I have a special place in my heart for Squall, so I can't even be that worried about the tone :P
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What kind of advice is that? We need more useless topics!
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I CAN DO THIS.
I mean, I can make a topic every couple of days or once a week or something, whether people find it interesting is another matter, but I already have some ideas. Doesn't have to be video game related, right?
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Sure! Only one advice - don't care about blacklists. You will gain some for posting whatever and even more for having your own opinion.
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Blacklisted for existing, just like real life :P
Yeah, I'm not too worried about that! That gif is...I don't know how to feel about it ^_^;
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Begins to leech and take notes only to realize he was already following ~85% of the advice given so far
Maybe to ask a specific question as a fellow newbie to others: what rate of giving would make people think “alright, this guy actually actually wants to be here” rather than “this guy certainly seems like he wants to leech from our group/whitelist, lets give it a few months”. So far I am thinking 1/week + 1 additional at certain milestone points [I already picked up a unbundled game to giveaway while it was on sale for when my Playing Appreciated application gets looked at]
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Hello fellow newbie! That's a great question.
I love contests, but so far what's kept me coming back throughout the days here, is mostly how friendly everyone is. There's a pretty good attitude around here, I like that.
I'd love to be able to give away and unbundled game, but can't afford to spend a lot. How did you find a good option? Or did you just pick a game and just keep checking?
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I made a filter on ITAD for the sale/price point that I wanted to give at, added not “was bundled”, thought “does this look like something would I play this if I got it for free”, then when down the list to cross validate this it was considered unbundled here (although I’d probably need to find a more scalable solution for this). I’d like to have also considered “did I like this”, but a large number of my games are bundled ones.
To give examples, for my most recent giveaway I looked at games that were 95-85% off [yes, looking at cheapest first] and costing $0.50-$2.00 after the sale. For the game I selected to give away for the group, 80-70% off in the $4-6 range and a more strict filter on could I see myself playing it (as best as I could not actually having played the game). I do plan to stop doing the first as often once when my give:win ratio improves.
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Thanks! That's an awful lot of work and very generous of you to do so. Once I run out of my leftover keys I'll definitely do a slightly fancier giveaway. I make a little money from testing websites that I can use on occasion for giveaways too, since I work hard for it it'll be nice to do something kind with it.
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Figure out which groups you want to join to increase your chances of winning and look for Whitelist recruitment threads to see if you can be added based on their ask criteria.
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Most important advice is don't be a dick, everything else is covered in the FAQ :)
In all seriousness, two pieces of advice I find important is to enter for the games you really want to play, and be persistent in checking sg and entering giveaways. You won't win a game right away, SG is a marathon race, not a sprint. Welcome and have fun, my friend
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I'm not at work atm, so I do check regularly while doing other things in the background. Thanks so much for the advice and enjoy your day!!!
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Something I wish I knew when I joined is that public GA's are generally filled with autojoiners, and that groups are a better way to cut down on the bots (though people can still join a group, then keep using their auto-joiner afterwards) -- and another way seems to be to just post the giveaway in the discussion forum (some people also like to use sg-tools, which checks that a user fulfills certain criteria that you set -- like games won < games sent).
Also, there's a group called Unlucky-7 that really helped keep up morale after I realized that all the autojoiners in public GA's were crowding me out. The group is pretty well moderated, and autojoiners there are easily spotted and removed. Once I hit level 3, I hope to join them again so I can be sure that entrants are people who really want to play the games, rather than scripts.
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Thank you! That is definitely a concern, it's sad to see bots win. I don't mind if a person wins though, with competitions it's mostly a waiting game!
I'll definitely join Unlucky-7 when my account is old enough as a few people have suggested it. Thank yooou.
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You can apply to join now if you'd like -- you meet the minimum requirement for # of GA's! (Requirement 1b: "In case your account is less than 2 months old - you need to have 7 or more completed giveaways on steamgifts (You gave away 7 or more gifts)")
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I just found this out, I am definitely going to join now. Thank you so much!
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Hello there!
Welcome to Steamgifts. Most of us are friendly, some aren't(specially Frank, screw Frank) but that's the same everywhere in life. Be friendly and we'll be friendly back, throw rocks to people is never a good thing to do, don't do that. Don't care about blacklist as much as some of us do(please, don't. Don't even mention if you got blacklisted because of whatever. It's annoying as it is).
And don't feed the animals. Let them starve, they deserve it.
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I like to think I'm already pretty well-versed in this from living in the world. I also worked in QA for a while and we all know those people are animals ;P
Thank you for the warm welcome! Blacklist Schmacklist, got it!
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- Ignore the blacklist. Don't even mention it. It's like sleeping with your cousin - it may be legal, but it's certainly frowned upon.
- Be yourself. Unless you're a complete ass, in which case, be someone else (like a few people on SG).
- Don't expect to win all the time, and don't make threads about not winning as much as you think you should.
- No food-related threads. That's Jatan's gig.
- If you don't like a topic, ignore it and move on. Too many people here simply cannot do that. It never ends well for them.
- Use the search function whenever possible, or your threads will be full of people telling you to do so while completely ignoring your topic.
That's all off the top of my head. Welcome to SG and enjoy your time here. :3
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Welcome to steamgifts!
People focused on boring stuff so I will bring something more enjoyable :)
Apparently you are not afraid to use forum - so you may encounter puzzle one day.
Here are the basics
Puzzles leads to hidden giveaways - easy one will have more entries and harder - less entries (which means higher chances of winning).
Good luck and have fun!
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I was a little afraid to use the forum, but I fought through that fear and here I am! With two threads in the top of the forum...whoops.
I've already encountered puzzles and been sooooo confused, so this is very helpful. Thanks! Might not be my thing, as my brain isnt working well right now, but I'm bookmarking this for the future just in case!
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Welcome to Steamgifts, Wonderwhatif! (Hey, that almost rhymes)
Looks like mostly everything you need to know was already mentioned, so I'll just point out/reiterate a few things that could be helpful.
Look into giveaway groups - They can improve your odds of winning good games. It's good to keep an eye on the Group Recruitment forum category from time to time if you're interested. Many groups are exclusive (invite only) and requires members to maintain ratios of won/given or to gift on a regular basis.
Did you know about the Stats page? You can see the breakdown of various stats related to your account. To the left hand side you can switch to various other community and site-wide stats as well.
While on the subject of blacklists... try to avoid making topics such as "why was I blacklisted", or "why did my contributor level not increase/go down". Reason being, they are some of the most repeatedly asked questions on the forum and the answer can be found in 1. the FAQ or 2. Via forum search function. Short answer: People blacklist for various, often petty reasons. Pay it no mind, not worth the trouble. CV (contributor value) is not always the same for every game - If a game was bundled or discounted greatly, it will be added to the Bundle List after which the value of said game will be reduced, no matter where/how much you bought it. The same goes for games that were given away for free "en masse"; They will be added to a free games list and will grant no CV.
Check out this thread for a collection of topics that are either popular, appreciated, or generally "wanted" by the community. You might find a few threads you enjoy. TinyPurple has been offline for months and the thread might no longer be updated, but it still contains a nice little overlook of what's trending on the SG forum.
Let's talk about abbreviations! (An other obscure terms):
SG = Steamgifts
ST = Steamtrades (see the "trades" button in the website header)
CV = Contributor Value
GA/GAS/Gibs = Giveaways
Lvl = Contributor Level
BL = Blacklists
WL = Whitelists
Ratio = The number/value of games won vs games given away
Feedback = If you make a giveaway for a game and the winner does not receive it or receives the wrong game, and you fail to resolve the issue within a week, then they are allowed to mark the giveaway as "not received". This will give you a negative feedback (visible on your profile by hovering the "Sent" number). Successful giveaways give you a positive feedback.
What the heck are puzzles? Simply put... puzzles are (often) private giveaways hidden behind a challenging task or puzzle that must be solved in order to access the link and in the process, gain entry to the giveaway(s). Go give it a try, you might have lots of fun and might even get handsomely rewarded if you have the skills, logic, and brain to solve the really hard ones.
With that said... I could go on but this is way, WAY longer than I wanted. I'll stop here for now. If you ever need any SG help, I'll be happy to provide it - Comment on my Steam profile (so that I don't ignore you) and add me at any time. Cheers!
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Wow, this is super comprehensive. Thank you so much for investing your time in writing such a clearly laid out guide! I'm checking out the links now :) Added you to my whitelist, thank you for being so welcoming and friendly!
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Wow, thanks! Glad you found it useful. ^^
I've whitelisted you back since you seem like a very nice person.
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there's a part where you give/try to win games and then there's the forum. that's pretty much it
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Hope this isn't a post that will annoy people. Hello, hi, I'm totally new at this and love participating in the discussions forum, but also feel a bit dumb because my brain doesn't work well when faced with new things! I've read the support section and feel I mostly understand things well now (thanks again to the people who helped, on the forum, before. With that in mind, what do you wish you knew when you were a SteamGifts noob? Any advice for a newcomer!?
Or just pop in and say hi!
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