After more than 10 years giving away games on this site, I had my first instance of a winner marking the game not received without saying anything.

Is there any downside to just moving on, or is it worth the effort of trying to contact this person to figure out what happened and maybe get it resolved? The key came from lootboy, so I guess there's a possibility it won't activate, but none of the other lootboy keys I've given away have had problems.

The winner has won over 20 giveaways without creating any or ever commenting, so it doesn't seem likely I'll hear from them and I suspect it isn't worth the effort of trying to fix this. The game is not showing up as activated on their account. Since I already have the game I attempted to activate the key so I could confirm it's for the right game -- no problems there but it's the same messages for a key from a different giveaway that the winner DID activate so can't tell if it was used.

1 year ago

Comment has been collapsed.

The only downside, is that you lose a giveaway slot, the upside is that you get more slots the more level (or was it giveaways?) so, is not a big loss anyway.

Lootboy can give used keys, or keys that do not activate the correct game, my advice would be to not giveaway keys from there, or find a group that encourages deletion in case of keys not working.

It's up to you if you want to ask the winner to let you delete it, find a replacement key, or just move on.

1 year ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

thanks! i still have 151 giveaway slots and i don't like running more than i can fit on one screen of my created giveaways page at a time anyway, so i can take the hit of one slot down.

as for lootboy this is the first potential problem i've had with them unless you count letting a game lootcard sit in my inventory so long that they ran out of keys (guess they don't allocate them when you get the card but when you scratch it off). i'd rather use the steamgifts system for choosing a winner than just post them in a thread for whoever gets past whatever bot protection i try to put on it first (who may actually be a bot anyway). if i have more problems i think the lootboy group as you agree to delete giveaways where the key doesn't work -- i can start listing them there.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleting giveaway also takes one ga slot if I remember right. Though using Lootboy group for LB keys seems like reasonable thing to do:)

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleting giveaway also takes one ga slot if I remember right.

It does.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That's why I don't get it why GA creators are so obsessed with deleting giveaways. If there is no possibility of replacement... deleting GA is courtesy for ga winner. In that way he/she can still enter giveaways for that game without need to wait for two weeks.

In this case ga winner doesn't care - so there is no problem xD Maybe besides total lack of communication, which is quite uncomfortable.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That's why I don't get it why GA creators are so obsessed with deleting giveaways.

Just to be sure: You mean why it's soo important for them to get them deleted if it turns out impossible to make good on their giveaways?

Obviously it also depends on their number of sucessful giveaways and a single Not delivered might not be a problem but some of the more picky groups won't accept you if you have not delivered giveaways.

Also I've never seen a place with more people with mild and not so mild forms of OCD or other neurotic behaviour in one place than here on SteamGifts.
So even if it's just a perceived problem and nobody would give a damn about it except themselves for some people it would bother them for weeks.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Just to be sure: You mean why it's soo important for them to get them deleted if it turns out impossible to make good on their giveaways?

Got that right.

picky groups

Haven't thought about that. I see that argument for the first time though.

OCD or other neurotic behaviour

You might have a point xD

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Realistically speaking, the downside is largely negligible. Your profile will indicate one game as Not Received, and (as Ashtart pointed out) that giveaway slot will not be returned to you. Other than that, there's really no penalty. The site was designed on the mindset that it happens sometimes. Do it waaaaay too many times, and you could find yourself running out of slots or being seen as an untrustworthy account. But once in a while is generally considered harmless. Having 1 bad GA out of (checks profile) 462 will go unnoticed.

edit: personally, I would attempt to send a friend request on steam to open a line of communication. But if they don't respond, there's not much else that can be done. How invested you want to be over it is ultimately up to you fam.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

yeah, i can spare the giveaway slot and the 1 not received out of 462. i feel like the winner not commenting on the giveaway or commenting on my steam profile or anything at all (also no comments on steamgifts at all) makes me think they're not going to communicate.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Happened to me once. The person was just lazy. When I reached out, the person said, Sure, and left a message in the giveaway agreeing to delete.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The winner has won over 20 giveaways without creating any or ever commenting, so it doesn't seem likely I'll hear from them and I suspect it isn't worth the effort of trying to fix this.

Just say "no" to level 0 public giveaways. Your comment sounds like a bot won your GA.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Over 5 years, and only entered 27K giveaways? That seems like a low number of entries to me if it were a bot.
Looking at their Steam profile, they seem like a legit user, not just a bogus account.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I didn't inspect the profile.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I can recommend use a lootboy group for game keys from lootboy. Cause that may happen again. It doesn't really matter tbh cause you still lose a giveaway slot, but you won't have it on profile. I got one not recieved, cause game turnt out being region locked and I still don't like that scar on my status.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

winner is in a different region than me and i suppose lootboy wouldn't bother to tell me about region locks as long as they're giving me a key that activates in my region. of course if that was the problem it would have been nice to hear about it

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

With lootboy I bet key was already used. If winner don't communicate, he doesn't want game. There is nothing to do, just moving on.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The game is not showing up as activated on their account.

This would warrant a ticket so a mod could have a look at your winner.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

winner marking the game not received

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Right, my brain had a shutdown.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

try adding them on Steam to talk to and ask them - otherwise i hope the mods can help you

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

not expecting a response if i were to try contacting the winner. didn't think mods would do much because no way to prove the key is good -- all we can see is that the winner viewed the key and it is a key for the game in the giveaway...

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

sorry tried adding them on Steam and already rejected me - not much help is it

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The winner didn't had the basic manner to contact you to inform about the problem, so don't invest more time/energy/money that he get the game.
You have nothing bad from it (the 1 GA slot lesser is not from interest).

I seen accounts with 120 GAs and 30 not recieved marks, nothing happened.
So i assume it is impossible to get suspended because "too much" not recieved marks.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

that's what i'm thinking -- they didn't put in any effort so why should i? i just wasn't sure if there were any other issues besides the giveaway slots and no longer having 100% received for my giveaways.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That guy is currently too busy playing Hogwarts Legacy.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That is a change .... I mean look at:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 421 hrs on record - 1 achievement
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 153 hrs on record - most achievements for RDR Online, hardly any single player achievements
DC Universe Online - 128 hrs on record - 2 achievements
Stellaris - 247 hrs on record - .... not a single achievement

They seem to idle a fair bit.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

i recently started playing stellaris (alienware arena had 25 arp for running the game for an hour so i figured it was time to try it), and i noticed if you play in the mode where you can reload an old save you don't get any achievements. haven't played the others

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Most people use mods for Skyrim, so that would mean the bulk of the achievements shouldn’t trigger either.
Stellaris could be a similar situation.
I think you’re probably reading too much into it.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Not sure about DC Universe but the other 3 dont allow achievements if you play with mods and Stellaris also doesn't give achievements if you arnt playing on Ironman mode.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I had an instance of that,despite key being sent and activated. The winner had never reached out,and after they changed it to 'not received',I reached out,but never received a response. I made a ticket with my screenshot evidences and explained and asked if they could either delete the giveaway or change it back,because I had done my part and lost a key for it.
They gladly changed it back to 'received', and that was the end of it.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

in this case the winner didn't activate the key on the account that won the giveaway, so no way to tell if it was a region-locked or already-activated key or if the winner transferred it to another account.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Well,I would assume that because you sent it and they didn't reach out for whatever supposed issue, if you reached out,trying to make things right,and they don't reply (which they probably won't) ,absolutely request for giveaway to be changed or deleted,because you didn't do anything wrong and they did by not activating it/not communicating,and they will probably get temp or permabanned,as usually was the result after my tickets.
It's only fair, because you did your part already and shouldn't have to take the hit.
._. There's so many shitty/fake winners, I got so sick of making tickets over this or similar issues, that I only even give anything away now to my region,and it's been such a nicer experience,even though nobody hardly enters or offers thanks. lol

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

there were a bunch of thanks comments from people who entered, but out of 10 similar giveaways i had running at the same time only one winner commented. maybe i should appreciate the thanks from people who don't end up winning more ;)

never considered region-restricting giveaways when I don't have reason to believe the key is actually restricted -- still not sure i'll try it, but now i'm aware i could

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The most thanks messages in public GAs, below level 4, are from autojoiner accounts with activated thanks script (it's a part of the autojoiner program that can be activated).
I would see the thanks spam as negative from the most accounts. It's mostly (not always) very obvious which ones are hand written and which ones are copy & paste from the script. At least if you look into a few random GAs, you always see the same accounts that post the same thanks spam.

And to not send a thanks after winning a game, are bad/missing basic manners.
I make sure such ones will not win a second time from me... ;o)

1 year ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I checked winner. Classic leecher... Took 36 game gifted nothing. Do not create GAs for 0 lvls. Solved.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

don't mind leechers -- not everyone has the money to buy games and i'm not in a position to evaluate anyone's situation. i do think it's common courtesy to contact the giveaway creator if you have a problem activating the game though.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I think you are correct.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I recommend too, to not do level 0 public GAs.
The site is infested with autojoiners (i don't speak from a few hundreds...), so the chance that a not cheating person with level 0 get the win is ultra slim. The majority are autojoiners, at least up to level 2. So it's feeding the (few?) guys behind a lot of the autojoiner accounts.

And with no level restriction you have more problems with the winners. With each level higher, you have lesser problems and more that know the word "thanks" after the GAs end.

But, of course, it's your decission what you do with your GAs.

1 year ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Hey I was level 0 for a while, you don't know everyones financial situation.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

True, we don't know. What we do know: everybody entering a giveaway has access to internet and a computer somehow but 85% can't afford a game.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Guy we talk about got 700+ games on acc incuding latest Hogwarts. Dont think he cant afford something... Also in times of bundles where u can get 3 games for $1 and so. Is different if someone simply cant or do not want to.
Guy got 700+ games and can spend hundreds of hours to sit on pc and cant gift single title? Yeah thats leecher.
Ofc i dont know everyones situation but in this case its pretty obvious and thats why i say.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I did just check out his account and I believe you are probably right

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Great that guy won 36 games in 5 years without creating any giveaway and i won nothing in 8 years.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

oof, you have an even lower win rate than me -- maybe you're even more selective about what you enter? i only look at giveaways for games i've put on my wishlist and that tends to keep me out of giveaways for games in high supply.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yea same here i only enter wishlist games because i know i will never gonna other games.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

If you only enter wishlist games you are shooting yourself in the foot cuz then your far more unlikely to win

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It's not about time on site. He entered 27529 giveaways, and you entered only 7463. Number of entries in those giveaways and number of copies given away also matters.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

if u compare 27529 vs 36 wins and 7463 vs 4 wins it looks unfair.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

As I said, it also depends on number of entries in those giveaways and number of given copies. Entering one giveaway of trash game with 1000 copies is not equal to entering one giveaway of AAA game where. You are probably just more picky with what you enter for.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Oh ok.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I’ve also won more games than him, does that make me even worse than him?

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Of course not also you have given many games. CRAZY463708 doesn't win much cuz he is more picky about what he enters which is completely fine it just lowers your chances.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Considering games you have joined, maybe lowering standards would help.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yea maybe my standards are too high xdd

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I checked a bunch of his wins and I couldn't find a single "thank you" message. He surely seems silent... O_o

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Just looked at their profile and the last win they had before yours they marked as not received too no communication on GA. It says in the rules that its ultimately up to the gift winner on what they wanna do when a key doesn't work so I would just wash my hands of it and blacklist them.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Saw that too. A bit of a coincidence I would say. Seems to me if a person can write some game reviews in English, they are capable of writing a short comment on a giveaway. If it was me, I would report this.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Definitely black-list them immediately.
I see mention of lootboy Groups, which is probably not a bad idea, but I participate in the Delete giveaway if key is not working group which is a safer place to try to give questionable keys with general agreement to delete if it doesn't work.

edit: Softened language to try avoid implying that agreements to delete giveaways are mandatory. They are not, but if you're inclined to try a GA with a dubious key, you are better off doing so in a group like the one I mentioned, where the participants are much more likely to agree to delete the GA in case the key fails.

:: "safe place" => "safer place"; "with agreement" => "with general agreement"

1 year ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

which is a safe place to try to give questionable keys with agreement to delete if it doesn't work.

There are no automatic "delete if doesn't work" groups. Winner still must agree to the deletion. You should mention this in your comment(s). It just makes people feel like they can send demanding tickets "I wrote it in description, why you make problem".

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I'm sure op can appreciate the clarity you added - Q: As an Ultra Moderator: Can you confirm how many, if any, members of the group I mentioned, launched a complaint vs agreeing to delete when a key ended up not working? I mean, one would have to be an Ultra A**hole to do so, but you are right that the rules of the site wouldn't prevent it.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

We don't keep track, why would we? If someone doesn't agree, then we tell the creator we can't process deletion.

I mean, one would have to be an Ultra A**hole to do so, but you are right that the rules of the site wouldn't prevent it.

And I think it's on people who risk giving people dubious keys being "bad guys". Not people who follow SG rules and have reasonable expectation that creators make giveaways they can surely deliver. But if you want to use personal insults towards people, and go into "if you don't agree, you're an asshole" - go and discuss this in one of "by entering you agree" threads.

It's off-topic here. I came to make it clear that no one by default must "agree on deletion". The more people repeat it without being confronted, the more people think it's an actual SG requirement.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

LOL, people saying "autojoiners!", "leechers!", "no public giveaways!" and all the usual.

Don't let it discourage you. Just let it go and move on. Without people like you making public giveaways, this site dies, and the people continually crying have no place to cry anymore. We can't have that, because they make me laugh. ;)

So yeah, FWIW, I'm going to whitelist you for helping the site grow by drawing in new members.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The winner has won over 20 giveaways without creating any or ever commenting

These are the people I blacklist after they win from me. Another user has said something like, "if you can't extend the minimum of courtesy by saying 'thank you' when you win and are gifted something, why do I want you in my giveaways? I don't continue to give away games to rude people."

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

+1

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Happy Cakeday.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Thanks!

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

For some reason the average SteamGifts user is completely, unreasonably paranoid when it comes to Steam friend invites as if they could steal their soul. When I was still more active I used to reward them for that annoying, time wasting paranoia by waiting 7 days, taking screenshots of the pending friend request and then asking for a reroll due to Winner rejected gift.


Of course there's also a nicer way to go about it but with that modus operandi you described I'm not sure the winner deserves you chasing after them and wasting your time.

1 year ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Also for your upcoming giveaways I suggest adding this as a giveaway description:

The game comes as a SteamGift so please accept my (temporary) Friend request so I can send it to you.

It lessens their paranoia and also preemptively solves the awkward question "Do I have to leave them on my friends list after I got my game? Oh god 😱 What if they want to talk to me at some point?"

😅

1 year ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Only 15% of the sg users read descriptions. Because that, i assume the sentence is better as nothing but will not bring much.

I would do the same with the 7 days waiting and sending then a "Winner rejected gift" ticket. At least in a case with a user that never done something, besides winning/leeching, in 8 years.

1 year ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It actually worked pretty well but I have to admit I mostly used it in combination with groups / public events + level restrictions. People are more likely to read descriptions there.

For my occasional public giveaways most of those were keys I think but there were a few cases that proved more of a hassle 😅

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

1 year ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Sign in through Steam to add a comment.