Curator connect / claim for gifting ...
as long as you get full copy (one that does not expire) it shouldn't matter where you get it
edit: without breaking sg rules obviously. i don't really know what this is, but if that involves joining something other than giveaway, it shouldn't be ok
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In fact, it's hard to tell if these are complete copies of the games.
I tried to analyze this by reading the packages on the steam db, but I could not come up with a definitive solution.
However, I feel that these copies have some differences (I believe they are much easier to revoke than keys or store purchases, and they may also have some differences in the files, I'm not sure. I seem to have seen a couple of times, that there are no additions and other little things that are in the rest of the subs).
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They can never be revoked. See my comment below
It is true there can be differences but only if the dev makes a mistake in updating/uploading the game files. It's incredibly rare and usually fixed.
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Curator connect copies, were the winner must join a group and take that game out of the publisher offers for the curation of that group, aren't allowed as far as i know.
So if you see one, that give games that way away, then report him.
Someone that have 3 curations and a freebie site, done that stuff and lost his "developer" tag because of that, massive, abuse and of course a bunch of his cv.
Of course i weren't able to provide for all cv the evidence that it was gathered with this abuse, so in the end not enough from my point of view. But understandable that the mods acted that way and it was at least harder acting as the time before.
Cheat to level 10 without to spend money...
And, of course, it isn't good to give such copies away because the curation don't recieve REVIEW copies, from publishers, to give them away, don't review the games, and on top get something for it (cv, levels, more wins, whitelists etc.).
It's as they would trade or resell them.
People that use their curations in such a way should be direct banned on sg and steam.
Ps.: All that i know that done that are from the same country.
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Agree with Masafor, and more of that, steam are again this.
From The FAQ from steam curator copies :
" Can I use Curator Connect to run contests?
No. Copies of products sent through Curator Connect are copies of ratings and should only be activated on Steam accounts for this purpose. "
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Totally agree. If this is the case with Curator-connect (or any other publisher/developer copies provided to someone), there should be some sort of ban or suspension if required.
Thanks for clarifying this bs that still seems to be happening.
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But how can we tell which games are being given away via Curator Claim unless we win? Report feature only gets put into effect if a lot of people report the user, right? (I'm not sure, genuine question) If it only works that way, then the giveaway creator won't get banned/suspended. If it doesn't, then they can be punished.
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You see it when the gifter say you must take the win from his curation connect offers.
I seen it that way too, made screenshots from all the steps and reported the ones with the evidences.
The Mods weren't sure how to handle it and it took very long till it got decided.
Now it is clear and i assume the handling would be much faster.
I don't think the gifter will be punished, i am maybe wrong here because i am no mod, but the GAs will give him then no cv advantage. I assume they get then deleted.
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Pretty sure curator connect games were given to groups to review, not hand out for free. I know a couple groups that had their keys revoked for trading them on barter, they shouldn't be allowed to be given away here.
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I got a copy for a game to review long ago and was warned that it Might expire . Honestly the guys giving it to me ware not sure either. It still in my library after years have passed .... but still if there is even small chance of the game poofing out of your account one day ... Due to some changes on steam or something the Dev does ... i'd want to know prior to it when im joining a giveaway with a huge ass warning sign .
And i would probably avoid those tbh
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The people hosting such giveaways often have more than one curator to farm in this manner.
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The ones that i know and reported, traded and sold curation connect copies too.
So they have a reallife advantage from such stuff too.
I don't think that this people stopped with all the bad stuff. One or two curation groups got closed after reports to steam but they can make new ones that i don't know -and start with the same stuff ... but at least not so easy on sg-.
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on sites like barter there are indisputable tags "steam curator" and hundreds of finalized trades either swapping games (that are resold) or inventory (tf2). It boggles my mind why they would even openly use such a tag but i guess it shows there are no consequences.
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Thanks for the answer, that save me time :o)
And to the why ..... because they are greedy a..holes, that think it is ok to act that way, nothing else.
A few feeled the whip for it but, still, not enough.
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No curator needs more than one copy of a game to review it so why give more than one copy?
Wrong.
When you have multiple reviewers in your curation and the publisher/dev want a detailed review, not based only on one opinion or only on one language, then he can give more copies to a curation.
Of course would that mean that the publisher/dev contacted the curation before and spoke about their wish.
My own curation recieved one time 5 copies that we could do, with all reviewers, a "last minute beta test" to find a game breaking bug 2 days before the release, the recommend stuff that could be improved and to do a review.
We jumped in because the normal beta testers of that dev gone inactive and let him hung so short before the release.
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Curations that are so big that they get more as a few games daily are, nearly all, all fake ones that don't give reviews, always the same word/sentence, 100% positive reviews etc..
Real curations need time to play a game, for the reviews, have maybe 70-85% positive ratings, want to have from time to time a break/not 100% full all the time and such stuff :o)
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I agree with you, when a curation review only liked games, that then the positive % can then be higher.
But the most curations review "all" and when you realize how many crap games get "reviewed" as recommended then you want to puke.
The "some bad apples" = 90% of the curations.
They should be erased, then would be the real ones seen.
My small one had never the chance to have a high impact, and that is in general ok, but other ones write and make yt videos were they clearly say they rate all positive with the same sentence to get more games from the publishers, to show their curation as positive (the positive ones get the majority of offers) and that they use their curation only to get free games (and they don't have a massive backslash from it... people imitate them and their ""business model"" instead). How it is now, is ugly in the end.
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I like high numbers too, when not cheated/faked and i own a lot of games but i don't activate all games that i could and i would never review a game different because i got it as copy from a publisher and hope to get a next game key from them.
They get quality, maybe critic too but at least constructive -if there is hope for the game...-, so a real/good publisher/dev would be happy about it and the ones that take it bad will then not send a second, most likely bad, game. Win:Win :-D
The reasons why this faking people do it ?
To have as many +1 as possible, farm as many cards as possible, have the biggest e-pp on steamladder etc.
The same reason why such people, often, fake their playtime, their achievements and such stuff.
I would say they are in the reallife little sausages that have nothing to say and aren't important, so they compensate something online, instead to fix their reallife stuff. But to each their own.
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I will assume that the publisher has the right to even revoke the keys at any time. Distributor must indicate how the key will be provided
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Curator copies can never be revoked once claimed. They can be before being accepted, however.
Proof near the end of the faq
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I'm truly horrified by people putting such energy in cheating a system for a very minor advantage. What would they be prepared to do for achieving an objective they deem of utmost importance?
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That's nothing. What if I told you that there are folks that published games on Steam with insanely inflated prices (around $50) just so they could make giveaways of them on SG and get free CV fast. What's funny is that they are caught almost instantly and have their values reduces to 0 so it's always a waste of time on their end
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People actually do that!?!?! I have actually thought that there was something weird, with some games with inflated prices, but I thought they were just laudering money, or something. I didn't know it was related to SG
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This is wild to me, as adding a game on Steam costs 100$. Like, how much money in games could they get?
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I better not start to bring examples or i would write a long long time and would be after it not in the best mood.
Let's say it in short with "I have seen much too much (and i found the most through sg)" and "you realize then how many people are bottom of the barrel ones (i mean from the character)".
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Whenever you stumble upon someone making giveaways with curator copies, make sure to open a ticket about it so I can suspend them right away. If it happens again, I'll see what can be done to get a permanent suspension going.
I was thinking of putting a note on their profile or just a written warning but considering that this can be seen clearly on Steam curator connect pages, I think it's time to stop making excuses for people that knowingly violate the rules here and on Steam.
Also, it's always a good idea (besides opening a ticket here) to always open one with Steam Support and follow up with pictures. I always do it and I know of one former curator group owner that's been community banned because of it
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Steam prohibits the use of reviews copies to be used for any other purpose other than review purposes so no they should not be accepted. Since I have my own I already saw a bunch of stuff when its comes to curator pages to be able to say that there are is a high amount of very shady curators ^^
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I see 2 sides on this coin:
1) as I believe in not putting artificial restrictions on software, I think people who receive a copy via curator connect should be able to to whatever they want with it (after all, if a dev doesn't want a copy of his game to be distributed, he should just... not distribute it himself to begin with - or by mindful of which curator he sends it to), but
2) such a use is prohibited by Steam so could lead to trouble for the gifter and, more importantly since he didn't ask for anything, the winner as well
Given that, I think the best thing would be to just put a written warning somewhere to inform the winner about the risk, and then let them decide if they want to accept the win or mark as not received.
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Curator connect is only for reviewing purposes. Not for giveaways, trades or anything else.
If devs wanted their game to be given away, it would be as a steam key.
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You're only allowed to claim a game from the curator page if you have the relevant status to do so, i.e Owner, Officer. So, if you're not one of these then you must be given the relevant status so that you can see and claim a game from the Curator Page.
This is why the games are for reviewing purposes only, they're not for selling, trading or for use in other giveaways.
I'm guessing this is why not many folks know about it because people aren't going to make these types of giveaways and then give some random person admin status on their group, allowing them access to more than the game they have just won.
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Ähm... alone i catched 2 (or 3?) guys with 4 (or 5?) involved curation groups (3 from the same guy, that is still a lvl 10 user on sg...).
This to your
people aren't going to make these types of giveaways and then give some random person admin status on their group, allowing them access to more than the game they have just won.
Admin Status isn't needed, Mod would be enough and the owner can give access to the curation copies but not let this one, as example, edit the group description or kick members.
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Admin/Mod it's all the same thing, you need some access given to claim the game off the curator page. Even if you're just a Mod you can still take any game on the curator page. This is why I don't think it's known much because who in their right mind would make a public giveaway then granting Joe Public access to the curator page.
Instead it's kept in small groups, I seen a level 10 user earlier after I first heard about people giving away curator games here. So while you may know I'm sure there are plenty out there which don't know anything either.
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Let's say the ones that i catched, gave, partly, hundreds of GAs away on sg from curator connect.
When i had access i seen 10-15 available games and yes, i could have taken all without that the owner had than a possibility to act against it.
I seen a lot of different names from sg, so it was clear they are winners and not reviewers there.
In their right mind are none that do it in general and of course double when they give access to their curations in such a way.
But all this "curations" are throw away ones. Zero effort, all faked, made GAs/paid money to get follower numbers and to get then games (to sell them, trade them, give them on sg and maybe activate a part on their account[s] too). So no curations they care about in the end.
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So if it's not done in general and if your not in the groups which are doing this then there's a good bet you don't know it's happening, thus not many know about it. Because you do and you have found folks doing it doesn't mean everyone knows anything about it. I knew about folks selling the curator games but I never knew folk were using them in giveaways until a few hours ago.
Either way its not right and curator games shouldn't be used for giveaways here on SG and everyone should be informaed about them happening.
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Curator Connect games are limited when in your library meaning no +1, no achievements, etc. I'm pretty sure it also won't show up in your library on an sgtools check but I'm not 100% sure on that. It's definitely a different subid than the regular game activated with a steam key or on the steam store so the subs won't match.
I personally wouldn't accept curator keys in general as they're not the same as the regular game. It's like how Tumblestone giveaways aren't allowed bc most of them are for the trial not the full game. If there were specific curator subids with 0 CV giveaways, I'd maybe be fine with it but I don't see how if someone gets a review copy of a $100 unbundled game, they can instantly reach level 4 giving it away and causing issues for the receiver.
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Different keys and purchases in the store also often activate different sub.
This is especially important for Paradox games - because of this, many of their games are activated on my account several times (it seems like a scam - they like to add fake app to their sub)
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Not sure about the +1 as I don't care about that and don't really look at mine.
But it does count the achievements and SG registers it as owned.
Source: I have games through my curator.
I personally also don't think it should be allowed to make giveaways with curator connect games. They have a specific purpose and are given to be able to curate them.
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This is just not true. Curator Connect games are not profile limited, their achievements count and it adds +1 to your account. It all depends on the game, not if it's from a curator or not. I have a couple of review copies I got from curator connect and they all count towards my overall game collection number and achievements if they arent already profile limited.
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Ok i was told it wasn't +1 or achievements counting towards perfect games/achievement count but idk.
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Nah. Only profile limited games dont count for that. Curator copy or not, that is what impacts those things.
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No, they shouldn't be allowed. Unless they were sent with the express purpose for a giveaway, this is just curators abusing copies they got to level up their CV here. Ive seen plenty of low effort curators that seek to increase their numbers so they get offered games. Ive also seen plenty trade them, which is another thing I don't like and I block those people if I see I was given or they are giving curator copies.
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there are also a ton of curators with botted followers cause Steam doesnt care
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Let's do a little calling out for fun: https://www.steamgifts.com/user/Douchelord
Last I saw they only made giveaways with curator copies.
Yes calling out is bad blah blah, almost as bad as invading other countries or stealing games to give away.
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So basically, there is no difference between you and Putin, both of you are liers and offenders
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Right, more like all you Russians are the same, first do the crime and then pretend to be an innocent victim. Let me guess, I was the one who forced you to give away scammed curator copies? Or was it NATO this time too?
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Fuck off. Really, just fuck off. If you think like this, you are honestly a shit human being. Full stop. Not every Russian approves of Putin's mad idea to restore the Soviet Union. But in your mentally challenged brain that seems to be the case. Again, just fuck off with your prejudice.
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Do you make excuses for your crimes too? Pretend that they are the fault of someone else?
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Please list my crimes and not those that someone else did and is a Serb that I had nothing to do with. I'll wait.
But again, fuck off with your prejudice, you are equally as shit of a person as those who want to instigate a war with this mindest you have.
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Nope, shitty persons like you support your glorious leader.
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Nice assumptions. I am not even Russian you mongoloid nor do I support Putins actions. Could at least do some research before typing smt. But I guess your brain cant do such complex tasks. And nice to see there are more shitty people like that Starwhite person.
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Gonna share my correspondence here with Steam support since it's topic relevant.
Again, if you know of someone making giveaways with curator copies please open a support ticket (and not call them out like that genius above me) so I can suspend them right away and report to Valve. One person that I reported already got a community ban for a year and had their group disabled so Valve is clearly not fond of this.
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That's pretty interesting actually. I thought Steam wouldn't care much so I've just been reporting it to developers. This makes things way more fun!
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Very positive, I've never had a negative interaction after telling them their keys are being traded away; and the users in remove the keys for the game in question out of their tradeables. I haven't seen them get any bans from this method however.
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Thanks, so reporting to Steam would be the preferred option.
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This was to be expected.
These copies are not intended for anyone other than the one who will write the review.
Well, at least that's how I understood the system (although I have a small group and a small curator, no one has ever sent me games since only a few people subscribe to it and I usually recommend shit)
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As another small curator, you are correct.
I've only had one game sent to me and I'm mostly reviewing to pass time, but from what I've read trading curator keys is definitely not allowed.
I wonder if in the future there would be an easier method of catching individuals? Other than someone who is a trader themselves noticing curator keys in another's inventory and feeling morally obligated to report them. I wonder if something like that could be implemented on SG?
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I do not think. SG can't track the DLC that I added to my account, I have to manually hide them from the giveaways list. It is unlikely that he will be able to calculate the curators-subs.
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Since you have made it clear that SteamGifts supports Putler, here's another reason for me to never come to this shitty lair of Russian leechers and their supporters the useful idiots. Why the fuck would I want to reward them with games?
Путлер Капут!
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I dont understand how curator sell / exchanges the games received to their curatos groups. They must grant access to the group for you activate the key but then you could activate all the games from the group, not only the one they sell / exchange you.
Or do they revoke access in seconds???
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There was some end around using Discord that allowed for it. No idea how it worked though. Selling curator licenses is shady AF, and not something to participate in or with.
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They must grant access to the group for you activate the key but then you could activate all the games from the group, not only the one they sell / exchange you.
Yes and in the end, if it happens, it would be a "cheater gets scammed" situation.
They could do nothing besides throwing dirt on the scammer.
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I just stumbled upon this in another thread, where one user mentioned that he received the game from the GA creator via Curator Claim / Connect. This method is neither mentioned in the giveaway page nor in the rules.
Now this way could create some issues:
On the other hand, if this increases the amount of giveaways, it's good, right?
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