Do you mind people using scripts that make entering your giveaway automated?
KILL THEM WITH FIRE >:(
there are a lot of people creating cripts for steamgifts so it should not be hard to create a join script (idk) and if there is more then one person doing that it means that it's a public script or is googlable
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I've only got a problem with the one (that shall not be named) that makes entering all giveaways automated until points are depleted, not all of them.
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Using script is no reason to ask for a reroll. One cannot blacklist them all. If such behavior annoys you, I recommend looking to get into some of the groups.
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Thought about doing that, but I'm new and low level. And I also want to give the opportunity to win something for people who never won before.
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Public giveaways are a bit shoddy way to reach out such people as you have very limited control over who can enter. As mentioned by others, private giveaways are quite good candidate at the moment. Being new and lower level does not prevent joining for groups but most ones require monthly giveaways or similar.
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Have an invite to my crappy group! I scared off some people with my spam lately, so I'm looking for some new victims...
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create private giveaways and share them on the forum
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This script is one of the single biggest reasons I stopped doing public giveaways. I've added a number of the people that use this script to my Blacklist, which helps a little. I was tempted to go through and add as many people from the script group to my Blacklist, but I can't really tell how many of them actually use the script, or use it for non-automated purposes.
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While v2 was in beta, I suggested having the option of blacklisting by group instead of having to add all these people to my list, but it was not implemented.
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I'm not a fan of automated "bot" entries. I know the script you're referring to. While many say it does have other useful features, the main one is automated entries with the option to auto-respond with whatever you choose, say "Thx; Thanks!" etc. That's where I have an issue.
The best "defense" against it is to make private giveaways. I know it's not a perfect solution, but at least you don't get so many auto entries from bots just using points.
Hope it's helpful.
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Thank you for the suggestion. I will do that for games that have better reviews or high demand.
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I don't have an answer to your question, but: are you sure a script is being used?
The behavior you write about is similar to mine, but I don't use scripts. :D
I'm quite thorough with my filtering, so when someone makes GAs for different games (that are not filtered) at the same time, I 99% see them pop together and next to each other, so I enter them within seconds from each other.
And unless I see some specific request or description, I just go for a "standard" message (which I still mean each time!).
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The entries I'm talking about are at the exact same point in time. I can't post screenshots here though.
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The time given in the timestamp is only down to the minute. That doesn't necessitate an auto-join script when the sample size is only three or four games. An auto-thanks script would be a fair possibility (though still lacking in any real proof), but unless you can see all their entries so you can see them placing dozens of entries within that same minute (which would be much harder without a script), then saying they're auto-joining is a bit of a stretch.
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the time stamp is 19 seconds in this case, which is humanely impossible.
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The timestamps are within 19 seconds, or all say XX:XX:19? 3 or 4 games is entirely possible within 19 seconds if you copy/paste your comment.
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My message notifications were as follows:
Game A
Player Bob - random thank you message
19 seconds ago
Game B
Player Bob - random thank you message
19 seconds ago
Game C
Player Bob - random thank you message
19 seconds ago
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Dunno to whom to reply, but I know that there are scripts that do that. I wonder what is with these people that are trying to justify that.. not sure if they're not aware of bots or something else..
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do you realize users open different tabs, then enter all the games and post a message on all them (even C&P) can be done very fast. I mean, you can achieve that without using a script.
But with the script is easier.
Rules can be only applied to private and group giveaways. So blacklist is the only tool you have for public ones, that's correct, but technically those users didn't broke any rule.
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It's also possible -- vaguely -- that they have a script to auto-thank when entering a giveaway, but are still manually going through tabs; or they're using a script that lets them enter and thank a giveaway with one click from the main list, but not one that automatically enters multiple giveaways for them at once. It'd be pretty easy to enter two giveaways 19 seconds apart with that.
More likely it really is a fully-automated script, though.
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Ehh... I have a pretty slow connection, but if I were to open the giveaways in different tabs and paste the same thank-you message into each one, I could enter and reply to several giveaways in just a few seconds, by hand, as long as neither the website nor my connection got bogged down.
In fact, I have 23 giveaways open in tabs, right now, that I've already entered, but still need to write thank-yous for (I stopped to read this thread).
After a year of watching people accuse each other (and me) of hacking in MW3, when it wasn't really happening, I'd be leery of accusing anyone of something like this without hard proof.
Saying no one could enter and reply to a handful of giveaways within 19 seconds seems rather hasty. Given 30-60 seconds? Ridiculously hasty. Barring the event that I make too many typos, I could pull that off, even using different thank-you messages (i.e. what I normally do).
I can see where script users would be irritating. At the same time, though, even with scripts, one still couldn't enter a giveaway more than once, and can still only enter what they have enough points for... unless they have multiple accounts, which is a whole other kettle of fish, entirely.
Call me optimistic (though people usually say the opposite of me) but even if that is what was happening (the script thing, not the multiple account thing), I don't see it as a big enough problem yet to start randomly blacklisting people over... not without concrete proof.
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There are scripts for that, just search the forum.
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another good choice is temp white list giveaways , ask on the forum for people to do something exg: share a fave image or video, or reply with their fave gaming memory from their child hood ect. and temporary add them to your white list and do a giveaway for white list only.
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Not so long ago I was stigmatized for proposing a server side check for bots... Something like showing a captcha only to users with suspicious behaviour (like the one you noticed). So I realized that even talking about it on the forum was a lost cause. I have the knowledge to write an automated script to enter giveaways, in fact I did wrote one myselfy for a stupid online game few years ago, but in this case I think that abusing a system like steamgifts where ppl share their games with random strangers is really ungrateful.
Anyway if you want to restrict your giveaways to human beings only, you could try with some puzzles on the forum or by using the whitelist / invite only features.
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Believe me, I was so enraged yesterday that I stayed up late reading related forum discussions. I came across the captcha post and I support your proposal. Blindly entering all giveaways, especially using these means is so low. Thanks for the suggestions, I guess I'll be in the forums more from now on.
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It sucks, but as others have said, you won't be able to re-roll.
If it really offends you, just withhold the game and take the "not received" strike.
In future, if you really want to prevent scripted entries, restrict your giveaways to group/private, and pre-approve a rule with Support whereby anyone not mentioning a fruit of your choice (ie banana) in the comments section gets re-rolled. Voila. Scripters be damned....
But yeah - scripting kinda sucks.
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Actually instead of a sitewide captcha which everyone hated on, an option for GA creators to enable a captcha or not in their GA would be better. Then people can filter by captcha/no captcha on the GA list page if they don't want to see/enter GA's with captchas.
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ive always thought of this but I wondered how it would ever work well throughout the whole site, the option for it to be the creator's choice is a good idea
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I didn't propose an indiscriminate site wide captcha. If you go and read my posts you will see that I'm talking about a server side script searching for bots and prompting the captcha only to them. Anyway I'm not gonna repeat myself over and over, the thread is still up and everyone interested can read what we discussed in detail.
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Doubt it's grounds for a reroll. Idk how these scripts/bots work, but you could try making a giveaway thread and only posting giveaways there.
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Yeah, you can ask for a reroll but it wouldn't be approved :P Best to blacklist and move on.
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while i not care that much, but it really do look annoy
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Oh, and as if this wasn't enough. One ungrateful bastard just regifted the game he won and didn't leave feedback. NO MORE PUBLIC GIVEAWAYS. EVER
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I just did, thank you. But I don't think it will be reviewed soon with the high number of user reports.
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People actually use Scripts to enter GA's ?
Like....why ? Acording to what i heard they enter random GA's ... So it would take like 3-4 mins to spend 300points At most ...
How lazy can one be srsly , not only hoarding games that someone might actually wanted to play , but not even spending couple of minutes doing so ...
And half the stuff i read is Join a group or dont make Public GA's ... well yeah thats a solution , but then only specific people can enter and it sux again :P
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There are enough GAs for games I am interested in that I don't need such things but there is a case or two where I can see their use for some people.
- I would expect the most simplistic script would enter any game in your wishlist. This automated script could run while you are away and catch any of those quick GA. This to me can be a justifiable case, you are only looking to enter five different game GAs and may sit at 300 pts all the time, does it really bother you if they happen to catch a break while they are asleep or away?
- A much more complicated script would check entries and enter any giveaway under X entries but you run the risk of getting games you are not interested in unless you have hidden a lot of games. This is mainly for lazy people, not totally justifiable, but you could do this on your own anyway.
- Capping points while away for many hours would be the last use case. Very rarely after getting up I find myself capped, but if you go to school and then work you may run into this more often, or if you go away for a few days. Not as bad as 2, cold and calculating, but not as benign as 1.
As I said I don't use them, but I am not specifically against them. The scripts don't give them additional points, though they may prevent capping, and it only takes a couple clicks to enter a giveaway anyway. I am against somehow spoofing groups/whitelists or whatever that allow entries into GAs that you normally can't get into, though I am not sure that has been done.
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I believe there are fake accounts, and that's why there are so many level0 and fake giveaways.
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What do you mean by "fake giveaways"? And every steamgifts account has to be linked to a steam account with $100 in games that aren't on the bundle list (games that have been available at steep discounts don't count toward the $100). To my knowledge, there isn't any way around this, and you can't link multiple steamgifts accounts to one steam account, so unless someone's splitting up their steam purchases among multiple accounts (an inconvenience), multiple steamgifts accounts are impractical.
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That is the main reason why I don't mind scripts, otherwise I would.
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That was what I believed. However, I have seen a level 0 provided a giveaways (~50p). The winner of his first giveaway claimed he did not receive anything. I have no idea why.
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"fake accounts"
Notice how there are a bunch of games on freeplay right now.... yea.
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And it's number 2 that bugs me, I am not against the use of scripts in general. Just the one that enters blindly in whatever giveaway has the best odds. To me an unwanted game is a waste, not just for the giveaway creator, who may only care for the received feedback, but there are entrants who may have had it on their wishlist.
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True, but its not like people can't do it manually. I find it a waste to just go for increased chance for a game you'd never play.
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I don't mind them, unless they entered a private giveaway without being invited (wich I don't know if it is possible)
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If someone leaks the invite link then anyone with the link can enter... unless that has been changed in v2.
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it's not changed. Giveaway creator can stil ask for And get reroll with the cause invite only giveaway link was leaked.
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that's very thoughtful of you :o)
Only it should be all x seconds ago, not different times. FAIL
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Like this?
Edit: haha, look like cg put something in place to prevent the same comment to be posted multiple times in a short period. Probably to prevent people who pressed submit multiple times when the site was slower.
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but that's so old, you were not even a zomby when it implemented. ;_;
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But, but... I've been a zomby for as long as I can remember. And I remember a lot, I mean I know there was a day before today, and I think there was one before that too. I don't remember anything existing before that so, yeah, I can remember all the way to the beginning of times, 2 days ago.
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oh wow ur name is zomby....... I have literally been reading it as Zomb2D....I have no idea how the y escaped my vision for a whole year
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I tried, but it looks like sg won't let you post 2 messages in the same thread in the same minute ^^ i did my best considering this ^^
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Anyway, legit or not, this made me aware of the existence of a certain easy script. Coincidentally, it's Friday 13.
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Unfortunately, it's not against the rules to use an auto-join script. All you can do is blacklist them and move on. That's what I do.
The only way to prevent against botters is private giveaways linked from the forum. A simple puzzle would be the best way to prevent any kind of automated entry.
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How can I know if someone were entered via script ??? Like - No way ?
The main problem is - people are entering in ANY games... I have Lvl3, spend my money on giveaways and almost in 90% I noticed - THEY don't want this game. It's all like "Wow, cool. +1 game into library. Give it to me already".
I added all games I wanted into my steam wishlist and I few times in a day entering into giveaways with those games via "Wishlist" link on this site... And what ? About 3 months and I got ZERO games...
And there is a problem... not only for me... I'm (most of people) so tired of this, that I CAN wrote my own script 9find it on web) for this site, which will run 24/7 and will enter into all my wishlist games...
Maybe because of these main problem, those people are using scripts and entering in ANY giveaways ???
It's just sucks... :(
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Who cares ? Its just a simple task... Instead of opening the page, wait it for load, click 'enter the giveaway' and say thanks for it takes to much time if you want to burn those 300POINTS...
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People who spend actual money on the games they are giving away do care about this. If it's too much work for you to click on a link and enter the giveaway by yourself, then please just stay away from any of my giveaways.
There is no need to burn all these 300 points. I sit at 300 point 99% of the time because I only enter for the games I actually want to play.
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No, you cannot. Though it goes against the spirit of the site, it's not against site rules to use one, and it'd be essentially unenforceable if it was a rule. Also, there's no way to concretely prove a winner was using such a script.
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What if someone's script was "Thanks. Brought to you from a script."
That might be concrete! ;3
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Thank you very much for answering. It's really reassuring to see that this site is looked after. This trivial internet issue has consumed waaaay more nerves than it should have. Lesson learned: private giveaways.
This automated message was sent to you by BestOdds(not necessarily wanted)Gifts
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Adding a 1 letter capcha to enter GA's would solve 99% of it. ;)
If that was an optional setting during Giveaway creation it would be epic.
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You can try something like this: http://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/guOPL/titanfall-the-final-hours :)
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I've learned my lesson. No more public giveaways, and that's a great idea. Thanks for the suggestion.
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I wonder how many are actually bots at level 3+... Most probably just don't want to read the wall of text. Different story with no restriction or level 1.
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I believe that there are some bots, so I prefer group/invite only giveaways. I also blacklists ppl who enter my giveaway earlier than click gift received. Why? Because you will see the drugged cat first. I regard those accounts as bots.
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I also blacklists ppl who enter my giveaway earlier than click gift received. Why? Because you will see the drugged cat first. I regard those accounts as bots.
i don't get what you mean. :|
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You will receive a pop-out window with a cat picture when the system notify you that you are the winner. However, some of winners join the new giveaways rather than check whether the key is usable or what game he won.
My experience was that I posted the private link in a chat room. That user attend all 3 my new giveaways (an hour long, but created and posted at different time points) but he did not click game received until 4 days later. I am 100% sure that he knows how to do that because he already won my giveaways two times. Thus, I cannot think any other possibilities.
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okay, now i know what you mean but still doesn't make much sense to me. when i see that drugged cat (i'm yet to see it actually. pics are off on the browser.), i check the giveaways won page but usually the key doesn't appear right away. even if it does, i keep browsing the site before activating the key because starting up the client takes around an hour sometimes (bandwidth problem?). sparing my entire hour just for waiting for the steam client to start doesn't seem much appealing to me. and i'm 100% sure i'm not a bot. ._.
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I posted the link in the steam group chat room. Before I put him in the blacklist, I had sent message him directly. I think my actions should exclude the users like you.
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Why does it bother you? I takes a while to enter GAs and point stack quick now. Why does it matter how they enter?
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As a giveaway provider, I want the games are obtained by a game lover not the bot/ points owner.
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+1, and had you bothered to read (Woz), I've already given my reasons.
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If that is the case just blacklist them for future GAs, their bot list then no longer effects your GAs., I doubt its a valid excuse for a reroll, but if they win check they register the game as that is a reason to get kicked from SG if not registered
I personally don't use bots as I tend, I seltect the games I want but hen use up points on other stuff afterwards but understand why people use them so am I worse than them because I am using points on games I might not normally buy? The reason being you might uncover a real gem of a game you would not normally look at
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I've been here for almost a month now and yesterday I noticed something unusual in my messages. I created some giveaways for different games and I got thank you messages at the same time, from the same user, on three different games (X seconds ago each, same copy/paste). While I was writing a support ticket, some other wild unread messages appeared, from a different person, four different games. Since yesterday I had too much time on my hands I checked all my other giveaways, including previous ones, to notice a similar behavior.
That's how I found out there is a certain way to make entering giveaways on this site automated. Oh, the naivete! And I'm not OK with that, even if all I have to give right now is cheap bundle games. In one of my giveaways I asked the entrants how many of them actually have the game on their wishlist, four replied yes and a funny guy said no. The other answers were just same copy/paste as in my other giveaways.
From what I found buried in the forum topics I see that a lot of people share my opinion, but the thing still exists. So, I want to know if there's anything I can do about this, or just blacklist the users and move on.
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