The text is essentially meaningless as it doesn't change anything except to prepare the entrants for the possibility of disappointment.
Don't think we should prepare people for disappointment 🙀. I don't like those texts but there is nothing in the rules that would make them not allowed.
They can be ignored, any text that states rules to enter giveaway or be eligible a winner is not valid.
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someone else who does not partake in entering giveaways
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I was actually wondering what's the boundary here. Asking for GA deletion is one thing, but I often encounter comments like "By entering you agree..." which are actually in opposition to rule stating "When a giveaway has ended, the gift is required to be sent to the winner within one week." if suggesting otherwise is fine, than on what basis does support for example delete GAs where the creator states that the prize is a different game? Maybe in the end the creator would deliver the right one? In the end the rules don't state anything about any comments being binding.
So just to clarify are all such comments allowed, or only the ones asking for permission to delete the GA/informing about the possibility of the key being revoked/region restricted etc and ones suggesting that deletion is an enforceable rule are not(aside from those just reminding the group rules)?
I actually find the latter category harmful, as they might mislead newbies and give false, bad impression of the site
Edit: Same question for all other custom rules. I know that they are not enforceable, but allowing such comments gives them some creditability, while they are misleading.
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You can write anything you want in giveaway descriptions, as long as it doesn't violate user content guidelines.
Heck, you could even write something like "by entering this giveaway, you agree to buy me 10 copies of GTA V", or "the winner of this giveaway will have the privilege to buy me this game". What you can NOT do, is enforce it.
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"by entering this giveaway, you agree to buy me 10 copies of GTA V", or "the winner of this giveaway will have the privilege to buy me this game"
This could be read as really convoluted way of begging. I would give user a warning but if I see it again I would issue suspension.
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I know they can't be enforced, but that's exactly what my question is about. Whether anything suggesting that it's an official rule is allowed, as people not knowing about the loophole in the rules may believe that such things are binding. In the forums it would be visible if somebody tried to abuse such "rules" made in a post, but that's not the case with GAs. GA creator could start harassing a newbie winner and there would be no one to help them and explain, that GA creator doesn't have any right to demand anything from them based on such description.
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I actually find the latter category harmful, as they might mislead newbies and give false, bad impression of the site
Edit: Same question for all other custom rules. I know that they are not enforceable, but allowing such comments gives them some creditability, while they are misleading.
This is a point I argued before but it was decided we won't add it to the guidelines. User can write anything in the description unless it's in breach with content guidelines. We will not follow any such rules. Winners needs to give permission for deletion. Permission can't be given passively by simply entering giveaway with such "rule".
You can even not agree on deletion while winning group giveaway that have in rules "you must agree on deletion". You are free to leave not received feedback. But you may also be removed from such group later by group moderator for not following the group rules.
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The mods could write in each of that GAs that the text is meaningless and to write/copy&paste it could be avoided.
At least in the ones that DEMAND to accept a deletion automaticly with entering the GA.
A good bunch of unexperienced users don't know about the fact that the text is meaningless and that they don't need to accept a deletion.
It would lower, after a short time, such texts a lot because the most gifters copy/write it because they think they must.
Yes, a lot of them are unexperienced users too.
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In this case, the person would either replace the key with a new one or most likely ask your consent to delete the giveaway. Either way, you don't have anything to worry about. If a replacement isn't provided in a week, you can just mark it not received or if you agree to delete the giveaway, the person will proceed to do so
There is no trouble involved in marking as not received afaik
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Any variation of "if the key doesn't work, you agree to let me delete the giveaway" holds absolutely no value, as it's not allowed to set your own rules.
Giveaway creators have an obligation to provide the winner with a working copy of the advertised item, while winners have the right to demand it.
Besides, deletion can only be carried on with the winner's explicit consent - which a "let me delete" face-saving description is NOT.
As a winner, if you win one such giveaway, you can decide to:
Generally speaking, option 2 is kind of an unwritten rule, as it's the polite thing to do, especially in these times where keys get revoked left and right for no reason whatsoever.
But nobody will chastise you for choosing the more radical option 1, as that'd actually be the "regular" way to go about it. In the end, it's your choice.
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I don't know about your Option 1. Blacklisting is a form of "chastisement", and I've done it before for someone who demanded a key, especially since I had to go buy a new one for the replacement.
"Here's your freakin key. You'll never demand another thing from me again." (my thoughts)
On a similar note, I was blacklisted by someone recently for not marking a key received I had won only 5 days prior. So much for folks playing nice.
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"Here's your freakin key. You'll never demand another thing from me again."
Yeah, that's exactly what I'd do as well.
I purposely avoid problematic giveaways in a public environment just to avoid that, but should that ever happen, well, I did agree to certain guidelines when I signed up, so I'd just suck it up. But the ensuing blacklist would be just as legit.
But blacklisting winners for not being quick enough? Now that's too much.
What are you doing, a giveaway to get virtual points, or an auction where you'd have sold the item to a better paying buyer instead?
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What made that even worse is that I was so mortified by the mistake I had made; by using copy/paste, I had pasted the same key to a different giveaway - but it was the wrong key and was marked received by the winner of the incorrect key. But I was really put off by the language used by the true winner.
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"Not quick enough" is often a sign for a autojoiner but in the case of BigMrX is one small look into the stats enough to see he isn't a autojoiner with only 6.7k entered GAs in all the years. A autojoiner would have that ammount after 2-5 months.
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I have a number of keys from packages etc. that I prefer to give away to let others use. What I do not have is extra funds to replace keys should it turn out that they are no longer valid. Also there are people who will fraudulently report a key as not working to get the giver to give a second key. I have already encountered a few of those in my short time here.
There are times when I have prefaced a giveaway with a comment saying that by entering my giveaway, a user acknowledges that they will allow me to delete a giveaway should it not work. If that comment of mine is not binding, then I will simply have to take many of my keys offsite to less policed sites or simply stop giving them away at all, because I honestly cannot afford to buy new keys. Giving to others should not require additional expense. The thought truly saddens me. :(
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Be advised that sporadic not received flags don't affect the GA creator at all. Unless you give support a reason to believe that you made the GA with ill intentions you don't get penalized for not delivering a game.
It's more about the fact that some people want to have a "clean" profile. Either way you loose that GA slot. If you ask politely most people will agree to GA deletion, on the other hand demanding it according to a custom rule may have the opposite effect
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Thank you! I somehow misunderstood this point and thought that my account would be suspended if a few of my keys ended up being bad.
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Tell me, why having giveaway marked as not received is a problem for you? It's not a punishment, you lose nothing because of it, why do you even bother with deletion?
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Thank you for the reply. I had missed or misunderstood this point. Thank you for clarifying / correcting this for me. :)
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Well, that's the point, creating a giveaway is kinda like a contract between creator and future winner.
You wouldn't sign a real contract if you were unsure whether you'd be able to fulfill your part or not, and most notably, if you weren't sure whether the other party would be actually understanding or hostile, which in public giveaways is a shot in the dark.
Now, this isn't as aggravating as it sounds, as not working keys are actually pretty rare, and they tend to come from:
In other words, you'll be fine with games from reputable devs, found in regular bundles from reputable sites.
Or in small groups, where users are generally more polite (there's even one that's specifically for this kind of keys).
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I understand what you are saying, but I will disagree with the analogy. :)
If I had to pay for a contract, you are correct - i would not agree to pay (full price) for something that the seller said might not work. But there are millions of gifts of material goods that are freely gifted "as is" (that is, with absolutely no guarantee). I have given many and received many such gifts in my life. So I don't agree that the situations of a gift and a contract for a paid item are equal. :)
What is helpful is knowing that (as several have now posted) the giver would not be penalized for an occasional giveaway that is marked as not received. Somehow I had missed or misunderstood that point and thought that I could have my account suspended if a few of my giveaways were marked as unreceived. Knowing that is not true, I am much relieved knowing that I can proceed with my giveaways without concern for my standing at steamgifts! :)
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You see, people are getting something for nothing, so it's not really a contract. You might have entered into an obligation to give what you promised, but that shouldn't include buying a new key if the GA was made in good faith where you believed it was working. The winner could always lie, give the key to a friend and say that it didn't work. There's two sides to it, and we're just expecting everyone to be honest. And to tell the truth of most people here, they are.
SOME people do indeed treat this site like a sort of achievement hunt to get to level 10 and give away all sorts of shady keys, but the majority of people don't do that. They're just giving stuff they don't want a new home. Or being nice and buying a great game to give away because they enjoyed it themselves.
If I thought that I was entering into a contract every time I created a GA for a key I don't want either because I don't like the game, or already own it, I would not make any giveaways at all.
I've had one situation where I wasn't actually sure if they winner was being honest. I sent him 2 keys for the same game and neither worked. I had gotten my keys from legit sources. I asked for the GA to be deleted, but I wasn't going to accuse someone of lying over some cheap bundle keys from Fanatical. There's a chance they could have been revoked for whatever reason.
And then there's the time where I've bought bundles from Lootboy. Most keys work, but always a chance they won't. I do not spend real money on Lootboy anymore. Not everyone gets their Lootboy keys for free is my point.
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I think there is 4th point - already used key (I think this is the most popular reason). With so many bundle sites and all these huge steam libraries, if you don't have a excel spreadsheet with all codes statuses, you can't be sure if the code is ok. You could use it yourself, give it to a friend or use it in another way and forget it. So now you can only create giveaway or just give the key to someone (or in internet). I really wish there was an option to check the key on steam without activating it and also having the game in library.
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will they get in trouble if the key doesn't work and mark it as not recieved?
Absolutely not. It's just their OCD that they don't want to have giveaways marked as not received, and because of that annoy other users with silly notices and moderators with giveaway deletion. You do as you seem fit - you can agree to giveaway deletion in case key don't work, or you may not agree and mark it as not received - and don't believe if somebody will say that this is any bad.
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Hmm ...
nothing specially you can mark the giveaway as not received after 7days ,you can allow them to delete the giveaway....
Some people write it ,because the key is old ,the site was shady they bought the game ,some people write it in every giveaway...
If you dont want the chance that the key is used ,you can ignore those giveaways.
there are many options.
but just a warning ,some people might get angry though and blacklist you ,if you dont allow them to delete the giveaway.
but you do you .
^-^
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There's no obligation to do anything different when a key doesn't work if one of those warnings are given, it's just considered polite to allow for the giveaway to be deleted. I often frase it as "there's a chance the key might be duped, you've been warned" to avoid disappointing the winner too much when I know the key comes from an uncertain source (mostly from lootboy and keys that I acquired long ago), but I use the appropriate groups for those giveaways. Even then I wouldn't mind if the winner doesn't agree to delete the GA, I once had to get out of my way to find a replacement key, but most people are fine with deletion as long as you've warned them beforehand, that's why I do so.
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Indie Gala has keys deactivated within a month sometimes. Well when the developer's email doesn't work and your key from IG doesn't work, there is no giveaway.
"In order for us to delete the giveaway, you will have to get the winner's permission."
This is why all the GA's have "rules" now, so people will be decent when given stale keys.
I couldn't care less if I have a red mark on my account at this point, I used to go and buy extra keys when the key was bad, but it happens way too frequently now, and nobody should even care if the bundled crap +1 has a revoked key. (Good bundle sites will email you to inform you when more keys come in, but not IndieGala)
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wait which indiegala s keysgets deactivated within a month sometimes?
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So users who giveaway keys in this situation should be blame by "Not received" mark?
Any key might not work, and it happens way too frequently now. I would always allow it as there's no point in not allowing it other than being vindictive. This is one of the reasons I stopped doing public GAs.
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I haven't had a case where a winner didn't agree to delete, but I usually give them a choice to either mark as not received or delete. I'd be fine with either. The occasional "not received" feedback doesn't mean much unless someone is knowingly being a troll. In that case, seeing that a large proportion of their giveaways have been marked as "not received" is useful feedback.
There is no blame here. Sometimes keys don't work for whatever reason, and that's fine.
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I've only had a single giveaway deleted, I sent my key, it didn't work, notified the winner that I'd get it replaced as soon as I could, talked to my store, they told me it could take about a month, then I notified the winner of it, told him it was fine to mark it as not received until I eventually got the key.
However he said he was fine with deleting the giveaway, so I sent a ticket to get it deleted. He refused a replacement gift as well, so, I added him to my whitelist, looked at their wishlisted games, bought a game they wanted that I could afford at the moment, removed everyone else from my whitelist (but didn't tell him) and made the giveaway, he eventually entered and won.
I just lost a little CV because of the less than 4 entries, but who cares about that lol
TLDR. They can't force you to agree to delete as many like to copy-paste, so, you're free to mark as not received if you do not agree to delete, is your choice to make. I personally wouldn't judge anyone for not agreeing to it, if you do want that game and if the creator doesn't want the not delivered game mark on their profile, then, they just need to get another copy of the game. Most of the cases with used keys are from sites that don't cost anything or trading anyway, hell, you're not supposed to give keys you're not 100% sure work.
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This is the sneakiest and sweetest thing I've read in sg xD
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If you wanna be friendly, you'll respect and agree to delete. If you wanna be toxic, just mark "not received".
Pretty much this. No further consequences.
I must warn that being toxic to giveaway owners isn't very profitable in a long term.
Often people quit to make giveaways because toxic winners and SteamGifts will shrink even more, little by little.
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In my philosophy is "A good deed is never lost" if someone ASKING for delete GA I have no problem with that. And there a grup accept delete if is key not work
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good day. many years ago I got a game key on another site. then it could not be activated because it is a regional protection from an incomprehensible region. I recently found it in my notes. I decided to create a giveaway for the group and set the regions that the game supports. Group "Delete giveaway if key is not wo".
also wrote that there is "Description
my old key. i hope work
https://steamdb.info/app/651560/
no work and no have price in store
Vietnamese Dong N/A
Ukrainian Hryvnia N/A
Australian Dollar N/A
Polish Zloty N/A
Argentine Peso N/A
Israeli New Shekel N/A
Kazakhstani Tenge N/A
Kuwaiti Dinar N/A
Qatari Riyal N/A
Costa Rican Colon N/A
Uruguayan Peso N/A".
but the winner could not activate because the region of the key did not fit him. I requested the selection of another winner, later I already made a request for removal. how much does site moderation consider requests?
support tickets:
Clash of Robots
Delete Giveaway - 1 day ago by VovanVV1982
Pending
Clash of Robots
Request New Winner - 5 days ago by VovanVV1982
Pending
ps. I was thinking of creating a new thread. but decided probably better in this one. if necessary, create in another
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In the times we're living in now, you can never be sure how long a key is good for activation. They can stop working after a few weeks or can be revoked years later.
As such, I am totally fine with a user mentioning in his description, that it would be nice of the winner to agree to a deletion if the key turns out to be bad. As long as the user asks for it in a nice way. I am doing this myself within my descriptions, to be honest.
What I am not okay with are users who write in their description that they demand that the winner agrees to a deletion or that "by entering this giveaway you automatically agree to a deletion", because a) is rude and b) is against the rules or, better said, void.
Second one is also a newbie trap, because many new users think they have to abide by those "rules" although they don't have to.
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I think there is a huge difference between these two variations:
The first sounds like "my giveaway, my rules". And sounds rude too.
The second sounds honest and polite.
I'd not have any problem giving permission to delete on the second case, but I'd have trouble giving it in the first case due to several reasons: trying to convince users that's enforceable, putting it as a rule not knowing you can do such things, not using groups made for that (Lootboy SG, Delete Key If...), etc.
I also think it's a problem you can't go to a giveaway to say to the user that they can't put such thing as an enforceable rule (as in case 1, not case 2). Why? Because you'll likely be blacklisted or enter in an useless arguement with the user. Or both. And there's lately an increasing number of case 1, and it seems they will keep increasing.
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Does't points return to people if the giveaway deleted after winner is generated ? (๑´ㅂ`๑)
If so, I'll agree to delete for the points. (●’ω`●）
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Does't points return to people if the giveaway deleted after winner is generated ? (๑´ㅂ`๑)
No.
If the giveaway is deleted before it ends, all entrants get their points back. If it is deleted after it ended, well, it is just deleted. No points are returned. Which is the correct way, mind you.
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Oh, I didn't fully understand. Σ(￣□￣!
Thank you for telling me. (∩_∩)
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The points will always be returned to the entrants when a giveaway is deleted, it doesn't matter if this is before or after the giveaway ends
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Your question has already been answered, so instead I'll give you a point of view from the other side:
I mainly buy bundles on Fanatical and give away the games from the bundle that I don't want, while still paying less for the game(s) I did want. Win/win in my book. I used to write something along the lines of "Please allow me to delete the giveaway if the key doesn't work for some reason" but some people somehow took that the wrong way as "I know there's a good chance the key isn't going to work but I'm going to give it away anyway". The fact that I have given away over 300 such games and only 2 of them had any issues, and 1 of those was instantly remedied, was apparently irrelevant and I even got a few blacklists because of it. So I stopped writing it... now I just say something along the lines of "I bought this from a Fanatical bundle a while ago. To the best of my knowledge it has no restrictions." It essentially means the same thing, aka "things might happen that are beyond my control" but now I don't have people getting mad at me for it.
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I just want to know how to proceed correctly!
There are some giveaways that state that the key they are giving away may not work.
If I do get a key that does not work I assume I should mark the giveaway as "not received". However the person has said in the giveaway that the key may not work, will they get in trouble if the key doesn't work and mark it as not recieved?
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