Does "product already owned" guarantees that key is not duplicate?
But how exactly is it possible? Why would it be "product already owned" instead of duplicate if it is duplicate?
Prizes at challenges are limited to some number of titles. I got few duplicates and highly doubt they all was for games i don't already own. Guess i should check them in browser for what packages it was.
UPD: Checked last 2 won duplicates - they was, indeed, for games i don't own.
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But how exactly is it possible?
If you own the game, then Steam doesn't check if the key is usable, it stops after checking what game the key is for. It just works like that - you know of the key is invalid (wrong format, or never was an activation key) and the game, but as you said, it gives no information about a key being a duplicate or not.
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The first check is whether you own the game or not, if you don't own it then the second check is whether the key is valid or not.
Unfortunately, if you fail the first check, you will never know if the key is valid or not.
I'm sorry if you don't like my answer, but it's how Steam works... :(
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The only way to truly find out is to try to use the key with someone who doesn't own the game/dlc, but of course if it works the key will then be activated.
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If you own the game, steam can't say that your key is works or no, it just says that you can't redeem it. See thread where people report about duplicate/used keys and calculate your chances that key can be used. Sometimes it is safer to just gift key to someone than create giveaway.
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So it just prevents people from activating same product twice and nothing more?
I guess Steam technically CAN check key, other question if it just don' do it...
Is there any official and recent statement from Valve? Quick googling returns only discussions.
However, found that on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/5gp5d8/verify_steam_keys_before_trading_games_i_already/
For anyone who might not quite understand:
Steam activation parsing is as such: Is this a valid key for a license? If so, is the license owned by this account? If not, has the key been used previously?
There are two possible ownership states for a user account in regards to a key license, of course: owned; not owned.
There are three possible states for a key license: valid, duplicate, and invalid.
So if you try to activate this is what will happen:
Key state | Ownership state -> Steam response
Invalid key | n/a -> Invalid key
Valid | unowned -> activated
Valid | owned -> Already owned
Duplicate| unowned -> Duplicate key
Duplicate | owned -> Already ownedAs you can see, already owning a license does not allow you to learn anything new regarding a purported key for that license.
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there are other states, like trying to activate "region restricted" keys in a not allowed region, or trying to activate a DLC when you don't own the base game.
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Thanks. Looks like it's at least possible to check if a key is valid. If a key has been revoked, would it fail this vaildation test?
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Watch your tongue.
I'm not whining. I'm just asking.
I was afraid to giveaway that keys here and it turns out - not without reason.
Won't do it now, either here or on iindiegala.
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Check their forum. They have a "list" on which you can see which games have more chances for duplicates. Also, as an alternative you can gather 2-3 keys of each (with some games it will happen) and ga them then so you can have an alternative. Or simply gift them to a friend etc
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Btw speaking of this IF you have another key for whatever game it was you can try commenting on your winners profile to replace the key (and send to change the rating)
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The toxic one - part which insult people over your delusions and just being rude.
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It was a legit question about steam messages that from what I have seen MANY people have in general.. Where did you saw the whining in this?.. Because of the 2 not received ga's mentioned? It's just explaining the circumstances.. Big woop........
IG is also clear on it that it can happen. Aaand they are also free + giving free wallet to people. So there is not much to complain over..
Your irritation over "whining" when there is none because 1 person asked about the meaning behind those steam messages is baffling though.. Hmmm..
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Thanks. Guess i'm convinced now and won't try to giveaway that keys here. And stopped doing that on indiegala some time ago, despite less strict rules there.
Unless group only, like dedicated to indiegala or LootBoy.
But i really hate "by entering you agree to delete giveaway" attempts to force some some custom BS "rules".
So i won't do it either.
I hope this post would be useful for someone else in doubt.
Though info is frustrating. According to that, i'm not sure even about Fanatical and Humble anymore.
And just to think how risky trading turns out to be...
Should i close topic or keep it open?
Looks like people really like polls with potatoes and just to speak out, even if it was already stated by someone else. :)
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Every key from EVERY site has a chance to give a duplicate or invalid (be it a tiiiiny chance or a huge one). The difference is the frequency and the support after.. HB, Fanatical, IG, etc will always help you if something goes wrong and you will veeeery rarely see a duplicate (IG feuda keys don't count on this. They are not being sold and they stopped replacing them)
"by entering you agree to delete giveaway" -> this is a veeery bad statement.. Better it would be to explain that it is x key and may not work blah blah please allow me to delete blah blah. I don't mind those ga's because they are explaining why the key might not work and it's better than to throw a key to the trash
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"and may not work blah blah" is just excuse too. Better one, as it phrased politely, it's better as action and behavior, but it's still avoidance of responsibility.
It might be noble of you to just let them do so and "get away with that", but this shouldn't be forced - at least in public giveaways.
And there's some (not my) public giveaways with literally "by entering you agree to delete giveaway" statements, which are actually against the rules or, at least, guidelines.
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"but this shouldn't be forced" +1
Oh, I agree.. I'm specifically speaking for "invite only" ga's (usually trains etc) or groups that are keys from X place and only that place (example lootboy, feudalife, whatever) and that are known for this so it makes sense putting it there than throwing it away for no one to try to use. Of course there are better alternative solutions than this but some are not social.. And some prefer this vs a key drop for the "not bot" buuut I'm not sure if this works or not..
But it's also not a "must" and usually those are "cheap" keys so a replacement or an alternative should be easy (I prefer this not being a CV way.. They give almost nothing anyway.. )
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All the "you accept/agree a deletion... blabla" are only words that bring absolutely nothing because none must accept a deletion if something isn't ok with the key.
In the most cases the users accept a deletion when you explain that you don't have a replacement key.
And if you meet someone that prefer to be a dick, he will be a dick with or without that sentence in the description.
I had in 4 years only 2 ones that don't accepted that/don't wanted to try a need key. And in the end are the "not delivered marks" complete uninteresting if they aren't for very pricey games and not in a really high ammount.
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IG will NOT help you with key problems if you come with that 60+ days after the purchase.
I had that case by my own, with a duplicate key, and since that day they are dead for me as store.
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I think (not 100% sure ) HB has the same "rule" for help though they also try even past this.. It hasn't happened to me so far so I have no idea what happens after 2-3 months.. I'm about to find out though as today that I was activating some bundle keys I've had 2 (!!!) duplicates from HB (lego + burn rubber bundle games) but that's closer to 2 months.. Still the longest for me.
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I had never problems with HB and Fanatical to get a replacement key, help to contact a developer direct or something like that and in all cases (and there were very few of them).
If the key were 2 years old or newer, never, made a difference for them.
Only IG play the dick move card with the 60 days after the purchase is it not more our problem AND they added that rule at some point, somewhere in the last 2 years, because 2 years ago they helped me with a key problem, revoked key that were older as 60 days, with speaking with the dev and made the contact with him possible through a email adress to get a replacement.
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Hmmm.. Yeah ok it's a bit of a shitty move.. I didn't know it got added so recently. Maybe because they deal with much more "small" devs than HB + Fanatical? Dunno.. But I will definitely keep this in mind to be faster on IG activations if possible.. Thanks! :)
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if you create your giveaways for groups like "LootBoy" or "Delete giveaway if key is not working", you don't have to write "by entering you agree to delete", it's a default rule for joining the group and (as I understand) if someone breaks it (does not agree to delete, regardless of whether you wrote that or not), they get kicked out of the group.
Also if you browse the Indiegala Masterpost thread, sometimes you can figure out if your key is a working one or not just by looking at it, or you can be like 90% sure. We have figured out on the forums that e.g. Commandos 2: Men of Courage are 99% bad keys if they begin with "A", but if they begin with other letters/numbers, they are good to go. You can figure this out for other games as well, usually. E.g. Disciples II Galleans return have most dupes begin with "B" or "A" and I have had 4 working keys begin with "C"
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There are really no repercussions for getting a negative feedback for a giveaway on Indiegala. You just don't get a malus reduction for the challenge. Even honest users with good standing have a few negatives usually.
Also on Steamgifts you can use the Lootboy or Delete Giveaway If Key Is Already Used (or something like that) groups to give away your extra keys from the challenge. These groups have a rule that winners must agree to delete the giveaway if the key is not working.
And there's a topic on the Indiegala forums for dupes. You can check there whether the key in question has a high chance for being dupe. Some games have never been reported so far so are safe to gift, some others on the other hand can have a very high dupe chance.
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"no repercussions" and "don't get a malus reduction" seems like mutually exclusive statements.
If it's not receiving additional malus reduction like from purchases, then it's not a big deal, indeed.
But not having malus reduction at all (reset over day) would be really harsh.
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I mean you just don't get the extra -2s for it. And if another giveaway of yours gets a positive you still get the -2s. The one with the negative feedback is like it never existed afaik.
If you are opposed to use groups made exactly for sharing keys with some chance of being a dupe or the IG giveaways where having a few negatives is not a big deal then your options are pretty limited. You can pre-screen your keys by checking the dupe reports on IG. Some keys from Feudalife are very safe to give away, others have a small risk and some others are almost always a dupe. You can also wait till you have more keys for the same game so you can provide a replacement if needed. Other than that you can try to trade them on barter where you can indicate that it might already be used. (But that is quite similar to using the groups for these types of keys here.)
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"no repercussions for getting a negative feedback for a giveaway on Indiegala"
That's not true.. Not anymore anyway.. There are banning and they are checking if you report directly to them
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They won't ban you because the Feudalife Challenge key you got from IG themselves turned out to be a dupe. The IG giveaways are rife with people who give away beta keys as full game keys or in-game items and if they ever get banned it must be a very slow process. I think the only thing that has a high chance to get you banned is using fake giveaways of obscure very expensive items to level up quickly.
On IG the sentiment is the opposite of yours, that the moderation has decreased.
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2 years ago they hadn't a moderation.
I reported them clear multiaccounters, that wrote that public in the GA's and used accounts (and the used names were very abvious too). They never banned one of the reported ones.
Not to speak from all the Fake GA's that never got delivered.
It were Wild West/Anarchy.
Based on that i don't believe that they added some sort of Moderation that could be decrease :-D
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But i really hate "by entering you agree to delete giveaway" attempts to force some some custom BS "rules".
So i won't do it either.
There are people deleting their GA for multiple other reasons : I didn't read the rules recently, but IIRC one can even delete a GA with no reason at all provided it has not ended... and it happens : just check https://www.steamgifts.com/archive/deleted and you'll see squared dozens of deleted ones because "created by accident" !
Looks like a GA is not a promise of anything, even if not explicitly stated, there's no real need IMO to wonder if it's a BS rule !
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You can check my giveaways list in profile - big part of group-related giveaways from indiegala. And has "recieved" status. Just learn how to estimate your chances for key being ok and that's all. And if chances are not so good - just gift that keys in threads like that and you still make someone happy if they works:
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/tnWVh/anti-ninjas-key-drops-no-keys-in-messages-though/search?page=13#DKfsECm
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I deleted my posts...
Iam sorry if I offended someone, using word "Whining"!!
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You only deleted them for blacklist reasons.. After having some fun.. But regardless.. Personally I couldn't care less about this type of "games"..
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There were no bad or offensive language. No Blacklist reasons. I just thought It is easier for me, if I just delete my posts.
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This is repeating the conversation you had with SpiralTraveler.......... It was explained enough I think.. Perhaps if you hadn't delete them you miiiight had understood something
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No - you're not sorry - you're being demonstratively sarcastic and just can't stop.
And just deleted evidence, which may be (or not) stored server-side anyway.
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There were no bad or offensive language. No Blacklist reasons. I just thought It is easier for me, if I just delet e my posts.
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DuDe!! LoL!! Very nice answer!
Heavy Duty!
... And NO, She is not My Wife/GF/Sister! D:
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I'm a bad person! I let her live in caribia, all expenses paid... But c'mon., I have no reason to meet her 2 often.. OMFG Look that wall of flesh running towards you...
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If you think you may have a duped/used key just make a GA for a group that has a rule that people who enter will delete the GA if there are any problems. I used this one before I made my own groups.
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I don't want to derail the thread. But reading this thread a question arises - is there a method to make sure the key is valid besides activating?
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It's not a derailing - it was all about confidence from the very beginning.
And sad truth is - no one can really be sure even after activating.
Actually even with games which you didn't previously owned - it may be revoked.
Updates, which removes content, "games as service", etc - "dark times, indeed".
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Revoked from within the account is rare.. But this happens because (on steam) you don't OWN the game but a license OF the game.. Sad..
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I was certain it does, until i got 2 negative feedbacks on indiegala while giving away already owned games, which i won at feudalife challenges.
Keys are random there and you need to activate them anyway just to know what it is. Sometimes it straight up duplicate and then out of question.
But what about "product already owned" ones? I see a possibility it's get revoked like from Humble time limited giveaways and some other similar cases. But what if i just checked the key right before giving it away and it shows "product already owned" - is there still a chance of duplicate?
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