Point System Updates

Why not allow faster regeneration of points for those with a higher level on the site?
This would motivate any users to make more giveaways.

One by one my predictions turn out true, but it feels pointless to write anything anymore.
And there the new system to some degree is even beneficial to my kind of usage pattern, so I could just sit back, but am still despite this against several parts of the implementation that I consider detrimental.

Oh well gonna put to use the first win due to the changes now (ironically the last gib I decided to enter for it and yes I actually wanted that to really utilize it)
and can now present the result: SG - The Game

I can guarantee it is 100% better than the best game ever made: Vickinachi
I would immediately put it on greenlight and grab dem cardz moneyz, but sadly that has closed, so I have to manage with itch.io only:

https://tristar.itch.io/sg-the-game?password=steamgifts

Have fun playing this not serious epic 2 minute masterpiece ^_^

New =/= Better

Old system was good and interesting ("time to check SG, maybe they created many giveaways and I will have points for my wishlisted game"), new is a little boring, you never will be surprised about points, new giveaways, etc.

I hope that Patreon and changes won't kill this site, because I simply love SteamGifts and SG Community.

I do like the point cap increase. but...
not enough points to enter two WL games. since both were on the monthly HB there are more than usual.
use to be able to enter all WL games and then some trains. now only enough points for a few WL games.
during holiday season there will not be enough points.

would be better 5p to 10 minutes

Liking the more points, disliking the low amount of points we're getting now.
With this system we don't need the higher cap, we aren't getting points :/

Not sure that 5min is the same, when all the people push in the games & when site is not so active... :/

Not sure about this... went to sleep and woke up and was barely able to enter for 2 giveaways and was already out of points.. :c + people delete GAs and you don't get points back I think.

The intention of the change was really very good. After all, we are always looking for improvements. I liked it very much as soon as I saw it. But unfortunately in practice it is not working as well as the old system. At this point I still prefer how things worked before.

Since I'm someone who is in a position where I am almost always able to check my computer and phone and didn't mind checking steamgifts multiple times a day, my initial impression is that I don't like the change. :p That said I'm willing to adapt, if anything I'll probably just be using key trade and bundle split sites/groups more often to get smaller games I want and save my points for larger things.

Well, before the generation matched the activity. So when there was a flood of stuff on here, there was a matching increase in points. Now, with the current system, I see people exploiting to get around it.

When stuff is slow, just start investing all their points into the longest giveaways possible and just keep doing that to store them making sure to pull the points when they start getting close to move them to another far out giveaway to stash points to spend when the flood of good stuff hits.

Could do that before except there was no point to it because the points were boosted during that time to give enough points anyways. Now, that becomes a useful strategy.

I do not like the static point generation and still feel the same as I stated in the thread before the change was made here. I will quote my old comment here since I still feel the same. Also to stop the bots, I think we should add a captcha that only needs to be completed once and hour as I explained here.

I definitely think we need to reduce the points, but I like the way the system is currently setup where you get a percent based on the value of the giveaways created. I feel that if we are given a flat amount of points there will be times when you don't have anywhere near enough points and times where you have way too many. Having points given based on the value of the giveaways created allows you to enter a certain percent of the giveaways no matter how many giveaways are created.
 
An example would be how there are a ton of giveaways created when the Humble monthly is released and with this system you will quickly run out of points because you are receiving the same number of points, but there are so many more giveaways being created, especially the huge influx of 1 hour giveaways right after bundles are announced. Then there will be times when there are not many giveaways, but you are receiving the same number of points with not much to spend them on.
 
The points are going to become so restricted right when the Humble monthly or another popular bundle is released, which will make entering giveaways much more strategic. People will have to sit on the site and watch giveaways until they are almost over and see how many people enter to try and get the best chances of winning because they know the points gained are very few compared to the number of giveaways created at this time and if they wait until most of the people run out of points entering the early giveaways right after the bundle is released, they will have much better odds entering the later giveaways when everyone is out of points.
 
Also, a lot of people already store points in giveaways that don't end for a long time so they can take them out and use them in these type of situations. Reducing the points that much and having them given at a flat rate instead of a percentage will make storing points much more valuable and more important to improve your chances of winning when these type of bundles are released.
 
I feel like giving points based on a percent of the value of the giveaways created fixes this problem because as a large number of giveaways are created, you will receive a larger number of points to enter them and as less giveaways are created, you will receive less points and not be flooded with points you don't know what to do with.
 
If we currently receive 5% of the value of giveaways created in points, I think it would be good to drop the point generation to somewhere between 2 and 3%. This will cause people to think about what they are entering and enter for games they actually want to play instead of entering everything for the +1 on their Steam account. Also, to reduce the advantage of using bots and give a more fair chance to the people that cannot sit on the site all day, the points cap should be increased. I don't know how high to make the cap, maybe around 500?

I'm just noticing same amount of GA, less points to enter... so much more loss

The points cap increase is a good idea, but I don´t like the new point accrual system at all, 15 points an hour is very little. If it was still affected by the amount of giveaways created, if only partially it could be okay, but as it is now, not so much.

We should just multiply everything by 3. Cap raised to 1500, we get 15 points per 15 minutes, but also raise the price (to enter) of every giveaway by 3x as well. :D

Yes I'm being facetious, but my point is that I think people are taking their time to realise that points are about 3 times more valuable than before. Not being able to enter as many giveaways as you could before is by design, not a side effect. A few years ago this was the norm anyway - you had to be somewhat choosy about which GAs to enter. You couldn't just enter every wishlist GA there was.

Now we're back to the old way of doing things people will take time to adapt. You have to be selective about which GAs you enter. If you are impulsive and spend all your points on wishlist GAs for levels much lower than yours, don't be surprised when you find you have not enough points left later when you could have entered some nicer higher-level GAs for the same games.

Just to give my opinion as a member of this community... I'm against changing the minimum duration for a ga. I think it should remain 1 hour.

after having had a day to get used to the new system, I think it's an improvement. While it can be frustrating not having enough points to enter all the GAs I want to enter, I do need to pick and choose, and entries for games I'm only a little interested in are withdrawn when I see a game I'm more interested in pop up. I do think it will be a major nuisance on Tuesday when the humble bundle releases - I'll be in the middle of my work day, and only have odd moments where I can enter GAs, so I'll have difficulty thinking about what to enter.

People will complain no matter what you do, but I for one think this is a net positive. though, I think I agree with the suggestion that the minimum GA time get raised

Meh, point cap increase was good, but I strongly feel that changing the point system from being based off of the amount of giveaways being created to a static amount took away a lot of the fun from this site. I found it more enjoyable to have a surplus of points and being able to enter the vast majority of wishlist giveaways, as opposed to entering a select few giveaways and trying to micromanage my points to maximize my chances at winning a game. Rather than being something I can look forward to doing every few hours, it just feels more like a chore now.

I feel that rather than having a set amount of points per hour, it would have been a better idea to stick to the points system being based off of the amount of giveaways, but start by decreasing the amount of points each giveaway gives. If I recall correctly, the amount of points generated was 5% of the game's value? Please correct me if I am wrong. But if it was 5% of the game's value, then decrease it to something like 3% and adjust accordingly.

I'm interested to see how this plays out.
It's way too early to say if this will ultimately be a good or bad thing, but so far I like how it's starting to result in better odds of winning.

is it just me, or are the points really slow rn, i 0'd out my points 15+ hrs ago, and rn it's still on 253 points, wth

Not getting anywhere near enough points for the games in my wishlist :(

Yay, someone just deleted their GA and I lost 50 points... Cry much? indeed, im a sad panda.

New point system seems less than perfect.

Here is a different perspective... ( without reference to winning chances, point-banking, flash-giveaways and so on )

The new point system is much more boring.

There is no incentive to visit the site more than once a day.
Visiting the site several times a day, browse giveaways, spend points, read discussions,
maybe join a private giveaway/train or wait for the next point rush, incoming from a new Humble or Bundle Stars bundle,
was part of the fun. At least for me.
The old flexible point system made the site more interesting at nearly every visit.

Now it's all static and a little bit frustrating.
More like, visit once, spend points, possibly read some discussions, nothing left to do..., return next day.

I agree with fewer point generation but in my opinion, a dynamic point generation system was better for the whole website.

Too sad.

( my english is not so good, therefore translated by google. I hope it did well, sorry )