Going to link this discussion for people to look over.
Everyone has addressed why the first suggestion is a bad idea.
New accounts do legitimate giveaways every day. I know this, because there is someone that likes to report what seems like every user's first giveaway. This would do more harm than good, as there are more legitimate giveaways made by new users than fake.
Limiting new giveaways to point value doesn't make sense either. You can re-read our previous discussion and see those giveaways again. And there are bundle games that are over 30p, which are perfectly normal to be first giveaways. Killing Floor Bundle, Guns of Icarus Online CE, Darksiders II, Saints Row 3, King's Bounty: Platinum Edition, etc.
I think you grossly overstate the problem of fake giveaways, and you get way more points from the legitimate giveaways since they make up over 98% of the games given here.
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A lot of people join with the intention of giving a game away. I know I did. I made my first giveaway within an hour and it wasn't a bundle game, just an extra I had from a 4 pack purchase. It wasn't a AAA title game, and I didn't get called out, but I would have been a bit perturbed if I had.
The most amusing thing to me, is that while there are certainly going to be some users that don't have the forethought to wonder if a giveaway is legit, I would assume that most people are perfectly aware of the "risk" they are taking by entering these giveaways. Not to mention that people who "mindlessly enter" (as people put it) probably aren't going to read the comments, so why do people even bother to call out? Seems more directed at the giver than a warning to others (which is the excuse I see from most people who do), and there is no need to be rude and "sky is falling" a fake, when you can politely inquire to make sure someone understands the rules.
On that note, how do you mods feel about the comments that reiterate the rules politely? Do you feel like that is calling out? (I've seen quite a few instances of it, and am curious XD )
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Why should we put more rules in place when you couldn't even follow the ones that are currently laid out?
If I understood your suggestions correctly, people who are late to the party or have made a mistake in the past should be frowned upon and shunned since the "vets" are unhappy? I'm curious as to where you get your stats as you seem fairly confident that the majority of suspended users are due to fake giveaways.
(The fact that the OP is suspended is just icing on the cake!)
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I have been on steamgifts for a little over a month, and I created a giveaway within 3 days of joining. Since then, I have given away 8 other GOOD games. You start making assumptions about new people and everyone will miss out on good giveaways and good members who will get bored and move on and they will forget the site exist after a month because they couldn't participate.
Instead, I suggest that if a new member creates a giveaway worth $30 or more, the member should receive a notice stating "Thank you for your giveaway, please remember you are required to GIVE this game to the winner when the giveaway is over."
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EDIT: First of all: No, I did NOT win one of the two copies. Second: No, none of my won giveaways turned out to be fake. I was lucky enough to always get what I won.
Remember this bold statement I made here?
Well, guess I don't have to hold my end of the promise, seeing how neither of the two supposed winners have acknowledged their gift so far. You'd think that after 6 days, they would have done so for such a highly sought-after title...
The creator of the giveaway seemingly hasn't sent out his other gift either so far, and not really surprisingly either has now turned his Steam profile to private... probably so that nobody can contact him again and call him what he is: a fraud.
This giveaway, along with so many others, shows again how flawed the current system is. If I, as a normal user, am already able to figure out a fake giveaway when I see it, why aren't the moderators, or the creators of the site? In fact, I'd LOVE to know how many public CoD giveaways have, in fact, turned out to be legit. I doubt it's a high number.
Maybe it's time to change some rules, no? Here are some suggestions:
1) Users with VAC bans shouldn't be allowed at all. Period. It doesn't matter if that happened years ago, or if it was the little brother, or whatever other excuse they come up with. They made a conscious choice to cheat against other players, and got caught red-handed. Valve doesn't remove those ban notifications, so why should we allow such vermin to win our gifts?
2) New users shouldn't be allowed to create giveaways as soon as they registered. Yes, there are the odd exceptions where a user turns out to be legit and becomes a valuable member of the community. However, I am sure the number of those pales in comparison to the number of users suspended for creating fake giveaways. A waiting period isn't the solution either because I already saw several accounts which were created months, even a year ago, come back to life all of a sudden and create a (fake) giveaway.
3) New accounts (be it newly created or never used before) shouldn't be allowed to create giveaways for 30+ points titles. Make them start slow. With the flood of indie bundles being active all the time, it should be very easy to grab one and create a couple of small giveaways to figure out how the site actually works. It's also a sign that they're willing to be part of the community, not just leech.
There is definitely nothing wrong with the concept of the site. It's a great idea, but the execution is clearly flawed. Yes, we all get points for free all the time, but just think about it: How many of those points are actually from new and legit giveaways? Isn't it rather the case that the high number of points we see when we return to the site is rather due to points being returned from fakes which we entered for whatever reason?
Feel free to discuss, although it wouldn't amaze me if some overzealous "moderator" closes this down instantly and suspends me for some obscure reason.
PS: Thanks to HugCat for telling me how to properly link. ^^
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