I think sgtools should also be closed. Why is there a second site for filtering
Comment has been collapsed.
sgtools allows for far more filtering options that Steamgfts does. And it's run by someone else, completely independent of Steamifts.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm just hoping your careful about false positives.
This comment "On average, a user with scripts enters 4x as many giveaways". Is not fully valid. I'm only going by this one statement. Hopefully there is a lot more data than that to see the difference between a heavy point spender like me and a bot.
Perhaps they are 4 times the average. But not all who enter lots of GAs are scripts. I'm in a good situation where I decide how my time is spent during the work day. I can visit for a few min here and there throughout the day. I also work after hours so it evens out.
I have seldom hit 300 points this last couple weeks due to the many BS bundles. (other then overnight of course), I spend most of my points. Likely nearly as much as a bot at times. I pretty much just spend 95% of them on wishlisted items. But I have a big list, its almost entirely based on recommendations from the discussions here. I get more then just GAs from this site. Both my wishlist and a lot of what I buy is based on viewpoints from here as well.
Pretty much every recent Bundle Star bundle has at least one Wishlisted game on it right now. So at the moment I'm spending most of my points. When there are packs out that don't contain stuff I want then my points may sit at 300 for a bit. That does not make me a bot. I've entered every single GA I've entered manually.
lol. I was at 27999 entered. Had to hit one more before I posted this. :) Nice even number. But I got some invite onlys I bookmarked to enter before turning in for the night.
Hm. Perhaps I do spend to much time here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Perhaps my thoughts are unfounded. 1 data point is not a very good comparison after all. I'm sure thats just one thing of many you could have said.
Perhaps your looking at speed of entry. I have no idea how my speed compares to a bot but it can be fast. Or at least I think it is. I often open a string of tabs with GAs in them. Close the ones I'm not interested in and bookmark the rest as a group for later. When I have points I may open that group and enter 10 GAs in 10-20 seconds as I've already looked those over. Does that look like a bot? I would think its might look fast as you would only see the time between entries and not the rest of the time spent. Perhaps a bot is a lot faster then that making me look slow. I don't know. Just putting it out there how fast a human can be. I'm sure I'm not the only one who saves and enters GAs at a later time. Mouse gestures and hotkeys can be very fast if its something you do often.
As far as reducing bots. I have no issues with that. Just be careful about it. I'm not a fan of a lower point system but I can see why some may think it might help. I don't think its the soln many are saying it is. I'm not sure what the soln is so I don't have an alternative to offer. Bots are not something I've worried about much, but then I don't run the place either.
The only bots I've been annoyed with are the ninja bots that take open keys. But I stopped trying for those or caring. But I did see a post awhile back where someone posted a bunch of used open keys to lock the bots up for bit. That was funny reading that post. Nice job whoever that was.
Edit. Hmmm. Just timed it. Opening a group of saved links and entering them is not as fast as I thought. Still fast but I'm sure its visibly slower then a bot.
Comment has been collapsed.
this
If im full of points, i massive enter every wishlisted. Why should you ban me, a little sheep :(?
Comment has been collapsed.
I lose so many ponits when i sleep or I'm at work. People with no lives who can browse here 18 hours a day win.... GG
I can enter GA faster then a bot probably. Click, click enter, back out, next, 10 seconds tops between them. So I'll get banned? _
Comment has been collapsed.
Autojoin "leeches" as if paying for rank 10 isn't a glorious investment. Especially if you're already a gamer and you know you'll spend X$ on games this year anyway.
Step 1. Buy publicity for something and rank by gifting something expensive and popular.
Step 2. Use the rank and/or the profits from the publicity you just bought to win/buy a copy of what you want.
Step 3. Get treated like Jesus as if steps 1 and 2 were about helping anyone other than yourself.
Keep clapping drones.
https://mannerofspeaking.org/2010/05/12/some-chilling-public-speaking-history/
Keep worshiping the rich.
Comment has been collapsed.
ahhh - polishing the turd that is 'Steamgifts is a Scam' by saying the US is ignorant and selfish, and this site is for the rich only
and yet your still here, clapping away with us drones - high fives all round :-P /s
Comment has been collapsed.
Who said anything about anyone's country? Nice bait troll. And I didn't say the site is for the rich only either. If it were then there's be no one to exploit. I said it caters to the rich at the expense of the poor. It's a pyramid scheme. You buy in to profit off later buy ins.
And no I'm here protesting, making public and clear my disgust for this Luddite assault on the poorest of the community.
They'll never get another of my spare keys. Do you see me cheering for yet another layer of screw-poor-people policy from SG? No, you don't.
Comment has been collapsed.
and yet this site gets your time, effort, electrical expense etc... etc.... - which is worth soooo much more LOL
you are a prime feature of the experience you so obtusely espouse your hatred for - the irony abounds :p
Comment has been collapsed.
Screw poor people? Last time I checked, nearly 60% of the giveaways were made for the bottom 9%. I'd be interested to see any society in the entire human history who spent over half of their wealth on the poorest decimal.
Comment has been collapsed.
Level 10 is not a particularly large investment as people make it out to be. My salary is €550, I live alone and pay for all my expenses, and I still managed to do it with my own money.
Comment has been collapsed.
as if paying for rank 10 isn't a glorious investment
I can assure you that it is not. Anyone thinking they're "investing" in Steamgifts by raising their level needs a reality check. I will never make back what I've put in giveaways and I'm fine with that. If someone wants a guaranteed ROI, the only way is by buying games for themselves.
Getting rid of (or at least cutting down on) autojoin scripts will simply make the site better for everyone. It's sad that you're too focused on your hate to realize that.
Comment has been collapsed.
Uhhh you pay a flat fee to raise yourself to rank ten and then get substantial free games FOREVER there after. It's a huge and permanent discount. Saying that's not a good investment is literally absurd. If lvl 10 is so worthless then why protect the rank so hard by making it impossible to get there with bundle games? Why even have rank in the first place? Because this place is a classist scam, that's why. It's a pyramid scheme where you can buy your way up. Steamgifts is pay to win.
Comment has been collapsed.
There are currently 271 level 10 users on the site. Show me just 5% of this, 13 users, who have won more than 5000 CV worth of games (which equates about 15,000-20,000 dollars in raw value next to the Win data), the same amount as needed to reach level 10. Go ahead, show me.
Comment has been collapsed.
I randomly checked 40 level 10 users, and 9 of them won more than 5000 CV worth of games. 6 of them have won more than they gave.
Not agreeing or disagreeing with the argument, but just wanted to correct you there.
Comment has been collapsed.
I know of 12 of the level 10s, this is why I am curious. He seems to be just talking the talk but avoids any confrontation when asked to provide anything to support his claims. The kind of person I love to play poker against.
Comment has been collapsed.
Like CV isn't a hilariously bloated weighted concept. Like I trust SG to be honest about anything. Like trade doesn't exist. Like being rich isn't cheaper.
Go on your holiness keep on thinking L10s are saints.
Don't dislocate your shoulder with all that patting yourself on the back.
Comment has been collapsed.
Meaning all your proof of your claim is "because I say so". I knew you are just talking big but I rarely see someone so utterly terrible at bluffing.
Comment has been collapsed.
talgaby - I told you, you were a Saint after all - and you told me you weren't - tsk tsk
Comment has been collapsed.
No, I am a cynic who enjoys verbally abusing the obviously mentally inferior to feed his vanity. To be frank though, the satisfaction here is a bit shallow, considering the target was just, well, too obviously soft to provide any kind of actual challenge.
Oh, his next respond will be something generic insult stating he is done with me, and so on, and so on.
Edit: And he is so predictable that he even went ahead and did exactly what I said. sigh
Comment has been collapsed.
I did actually spend some time reading their other threads before now, and even there website on the clear disgust that this site even exists for us elitist patrons - does elitism exist, yep, am I trying to be part of it, don't think so - but I could just be deluding myself from a physchological standpoint and have infact already drank the coolade :P
Comment has been collapsed.
yep - you win, you were right - hey, should I bow down to you now, or wait till later :P
Comment has been collapsed.
Says the rank 10 demanding his surfs tell him how beautiful he is.
Well fear not. These people would peel themselves and go body surfing in a salt pit before calling you and your buddies out for being the aristocracy you are.
Any who would stand effectively have long since been banned. I admit I lack sufficient ability to lie and manipulate the masses to effect anything like change here. Logic and facts and ethics are obviously powerless here.
I leave you to your sycophants and echo chamber. Be sure to congratulate each other on whatever it is you think you proved.
Comment has been collapsed.
https://www.steamgifts.com/stats/community/giveaways
Check the per level giveaway and say that it's worth to pay up to level 10 to get 1% of level 3's giveaways, or 10% of level 7 while requiring 7 times as much CV to reach it. There are barely any level 10 giveaways compared to the others, and the graph doesn't even take into consideration that giveaway groups usually don't use level requirements. You can just beg yourself into one of the givaeways groups and just win whatever you want while often dumping the extra you don't need.
Level 4-5 is the breaking point when it just doesn't worth to spend real money to get levels and get a few additional giveaways with a ~chance to win.
Comment has been collapsed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost
Assuming you're right about 5 being a sweet spot, once you've invested up to it bad psychology could do the rest.
Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that this isn't charity, it's investment. You can try and spin it like it's not a good one, but that's irrelevant.
Comment has been collapsed.
bad phsychology indeed - using one source, and one persons data, to conclude that the US is a selfish nation
that is your provided link afterall - keep up with the whataboutism - it suits
Also - there is nowhere on the site that says this is Charity, at least on our part it isn't, and yet that is the link you are trying to create - odd, very odd
Comment has been collapsed.
I linked that to attack the ideology this entire community run under: The libertarian my yard my rules I you don't like it leave mentality.
Of course all these people are claiming it's charity. Why else call the autojoiners "leechers?" It's steam GIFTS not steam exchanges. And this place worships the rank 10s (and SG itself) as if they are doctors without borders.
Your inept defense bolsters my point.
Comment has been collapsed.
yep - its steamGIFTS - not steamCHARITY - are you struggling with the basic comprehension, or some other fact around those words?
Comment has been collapsed.
Actually, no. We had a large debate on this. I wanted to push that this is a charity site, but the majority voted that no, it is not. The closest we ever got to that was a more-or-less middle ground of altruism being involved in SteamGifts, but it not being a charity site.
Considering you are here for 5 years, it is surprising that you do not remember that, since it was one of the topics that floated on top for a few weeks.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yes, sure mate. Suddenly the pay to win turned into an investment. A fucking bad investment, furthermore, lol.
In the past ~ two years I win public giveaways above 4:
Aftrgrinder, 5P, bundled
Downfall, 13P, unbundled
Tex Murphy Complete Pack 30P, bundled
if we add every invite only (puzzle) giveaways and whitelists as well, then extra:
Infinifactory 20P, unbundled
Tales from the Borderlands 20P, bundled
Alan Wake Collector's Edition, 35P bundled
This is 35*0,15 + 13 = 18,25 $ realCV public win + 28,5$ RealCV other wins above level 4 ; less than 47$.
And from level 4 to level 7 the site "cost me" 100 ->1000$ (900 $ counting the lower limits) or 250->1,692.08 as current CV (1442 $ ) to get.
What a fucking pay to win site, costs 900-1400 CV to get 47, what a valuable investment withe the outpay of 3,3-5,2% won CV/spent CV.
This is why we keep on saying that it's idiotic to think that higher levels mean that you're making bank, while the cost to levle up doubles each time while the number of created (not won!) giveaways logarithmically decrease.
Comment has been collapsed.
Uhhh you pay a flat fee to raise yourself to rank ten
No flat fee. Some people buy their games at full price while others like me can't afford that and will look for games with 75%-90% sales. There are no two level 10 people who spent the same amount to get there.
and then get substantial free games FOREVER there after.
LOL! What games? You do realize that there aren't that many giveaways for high levels to begin with right? Actually, I have never even won a giveaway made for a level higher than 8? And I don't get any more chances than anyone else in the lower level giveaways.
Saying that's not a good investment is literally absurd.
The only thing that's absurd is your line of thought. How the heck could that be considered a good investment when the vast majority of Level 10 users will have spent more to get there than they will ever win?
why protect the rank so hard by making it impossible to get there with bundle games?
Technically, it is possible to get there with bundle games. It's just a very long process.
Why even have rank in the first place?
CV, later replaced by ranks, was added because members of the community repeatedly asked for a way to reward those who contributed to Steamgifts. A site like this can only exist if there are members making giveaways.
Because this place is a classist scam, that's why. It's a pyramid scheme where you can buy your way up. Steamgifts is pay to win.
If you think it's so bad, who don't you do yourself and everyone else a favor and just leave? And if you're really deluded to the point that you believe what you just wrote, I would suggest that you seek professional help.
While you're at it, you should also learn what a pyramid scheme is instead of throwing random accusations that simply make no sense. I'm seriously not getting rich off the back of the lower level users. Honestly, I get very little advantages by having a high level. Access to a few more giveaways but not enough to make a large difference.
Comment has been collapsed.
why protect the rank so hard by making it impossible to get there with bundle games?
I bought about 200 CV worth of games outside of bundles. The rest of my 8000 CV is from bundles only. It is not only possible to reach level 10 with bundle games but also a lot cheaper to do so. Simple elementary school basic math. Or whatever elementary school is called over there.
(Then again, I may be asking too much here. How many people were who actually proved to be smarter than a 5th grader in the US version of the show after all? 10-12 in 8 years?)
Why even have rank in the first place?
Because this site likes to be elitist as fuck.
It's a pyramid scheme where you can buy your way up.
A pyramid scheme is when newcomers pay for the older members to swell their rank. In this case, it would mean all high-levels give away games the lower-levels gave them directly. Now, please tell me who gave you your games that let you reach level 4, because if this site really is a pyramid scheme, then you had to exploit some level 0–3 users to reach level 4, according to your own words.
Comment has been collapsed.
"Because this site likes to be elitist as fuck."
Bravo for honesty.
"A pyramid scheme..."
Is when established rank tens fleece the crap out of rank <9s trying to climb the ladder.
Wake me when it's possible for me to limit my giveaways to rank 1s or under. Oh right it isn't because the whole point of this place is kissing your ass because money.
"The rest of my 8000 CV is from bundles only."
Eight Thousand Dollars.
You either just proved you're paying to win or that the whole use of "cash value" here is a scam.
Comment has been collapsed.
I am paying to win… what, exactly? I have fewer wins than you do. This pyramid scheme is really not working out if a level 10 wins less than a level 4, eh?
By the way, if you think 8000 CV means 8000 USD, you really should never handle money. I don't even earn that amount in a year.
Comment has been collapsed.
talgaby, I've had run-ins with this person before. They are completely disillusion and will build up their own narrative that they'll then defend even if they get completely disprove. So know that you're just banging your head against a brick wall here.
Comment has been collapsed.
Wake me when it's possible for me to limit my giveaways to rank 1s or under. Oh right it isn't because the whole point of this place is kissing your ass because money.
Wake up then!
Just use SGTools.
Create private ga. Use SGT to create protected link to this GA. Create topic on forum with this link.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm not talking about some exotic third party garbage that 1% of people know how to use and fewer will ever even see.
That's just serving a whole different kind of aristocratic minority. I meant wake me when it's a baked in equal ease equal exposure option when creating a public giveaway.
As it is I have no real choice but to allow rich people in line.
The fact is clear that SG serves the monied elite. Ironically as anyone in the service industries will tell you, and shouldn't come as any surprise really, rich people are the most skinflint people on earth. I'm positive there are plenty of rich assholes here hovering up everything free they can get expressly because greed is their real game.
For them it's just another high score.
People whining about bots not deserving their games, well I'd rather a bot get it than some pampered fop who's gonna just throw the game on the pile before returning to his libertarian comment sessions and private prison investments.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm not talking about some exotic third party garbage that 1% of people know how to use and fewer will ever even see.
That's just serving a whole different kind of aristocratic minority
If by "aristocratic" you mean somebody that is able to use brain - than yes. I must be aristocrat. And you must be dirty pleb. Just copy/paste ga link. I marked with red color what you have to choose after that. It's not rocket science.
I agree that filters like that should be part of this site but staff is limited and there are more important things to do in first place.
rich people are the most skinflint people on earth
If somebody would start buying smartphones to give them to homeless - even the richest person will bankrupt. So yeah - you might be right.
plenty "redacted" here hovering up everything free they can get expressly because greed is their real game.
THIS IS THE REASON why bots are banned. And that is why points distribution changed. Because bot users want to hover up everything they can. And they don't play those games. They also don't buy bread and butter with money earned on trading cards.
They buy skins and other useless shit for counter strike:GO. I don't know if they are rich or poor. You can play CS:GO on a potato.
Also I don't get why are you so much against libertarianism. It's not the same as capitalism.
Please, just don't tell me that you believe in "social justice". If that's the case - do you also believe in Santa Claus? What are you? 6 years old?
and the best part is the fact that you started answering for all those comments after one month
Comment has been collapsed.
Considering world as whole - you are rich. Like every person that is able to buy personal computer.
Keep thinking about yourself as poor and brave socialist. That definitely gives you higher moral ground xD
Comment has been collapsed.
Says the guy... FROM A COMPUTER. /facepalm
Dude, having a computer stopped being a sign of wealth about a decade ago. For over 10 years my computers were office dumpster rescues.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_Internet_access
Also you clearly don't know shit about what life in America is like. Turn off the TV.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/economic-inequality-it-s-far-worse-than-you-think/
Comment has been collapsed.
if you think that having a computer stopped being a sign of wealth about a decade ago, then you clearly have no comprehension of what being poor is all about - despite your psudeo phsycological spreading of disingenuous internet links (and poor reliance on wikipedia for the ones you fail to get appropriate one sided links for - seriously! Wikipedia :P)
I still have friends who do not own a computer, and they are not young friends, but older people who cannot afford to purchase one - even a used one; because they have a choice, to eat and stay warm or waste their disposable income on a computer (dumpster diving for computer parts is pretty illegal here also, let alone they would probably break a hip); jeebus at this rate I might break one if I tried :P
In all seriousness though, you might have some socialist agenda here, but it is ill thought out, uneducated, and comes across as a poorly taught phsycology 101 lecture that was also misunderstood. - But continue to bang away, from your first world perspective; it is clearly amusing some here (not me I hasten to add).
Now perhaps if you started doing some giveaways - then put some charitable event links in your giveaways text areas, suggesting that others could do well to give to A or B etc... - then people can choose to go and donate if they so wish, and help out your agenda; and you would be doing something for the betterment of others, and also doing something more constructive with your time that what you currently appear to be engaged in.
Belittling of this site, and its users does nothing more than come across as a vendetta against some perceived slight towards yourself that many here do not agree with :)
Good Luck With All Your Future Works
Comment has been collapsed.
Wow. Are you seriously implying that ewaste is a myth because it has a wiki article? XD
That is some next level rejection of reality. I'm honestly impressed.
That fact is that I and anyone else can have a computer for everyone you know who doesn't have one by the end of the day. And that's even if you don't count smart phones.
Homeless people have smart phones, because they are for all intents and purposes free. Add in just a smidgen of patience and cunning and you can even start being choosy about the model.
Comment has been collapsed.
you just proved that you are a troll - who has little understanding of being poor, and a very poor grasp on many subjects - but thanks for playing r-tard bingo, it was amusing for 5 minutes :P
Comment has been collapsed.
I have never seen a single homeless person with a smartphone. Maybe a mobile phone once in a while long ago, but not with a smartphone. Not to mention that the cheapest smartphone we know costs a quarter of the minimal wage here, and all but one operator discontinued offline top-up and only allows electronic, which requires a bank card, which in turn requires a valid address. Therefore, it would be rather surprising to ever see a homeless having a phone for personal use and not just for selling it.
Or is it the case of you seeing some homeless with smartphones and just projecting it to the rest of the population of planet Earth thinking that all places are the exact same? Because that would be just sad, very sad.
Speaking of sad, I am vastly disappointed. We have two unfinished conversation threads with me asking separate questions, and while you are clearly having time to answer others, you just left me hanging there. Twice. Such rude, impolite behaviour. Shameful, really.
Comment has been collapsed.
Your ignorance is astounding. That's why I don't answer. It's pointless trying to reason with you corporatist dupes. It's like trying to talk someone out of being schizophrenic.
Comment has been collapsed.
'Kay. Come around here. I know three spots around the city where there are always homeless people. We can count together the amount of smartphones they have. I am sure it will be the exact same as in Murica. Because as we all know, the entire world is exactly like Murica.
So, how do you explain the whole electronic top-up question?
By the way, still waiting the answer on the other thread. Just because you gave one answer (well, repeating the same thing, but I guess this is all I can expect at this point) you are not off the hook with the other one.
Comment has been collapsed.
Read the article cash slave.
Maybe you should BRING them some smart phones.
I'm not even answering you here. That would imply the delusion that there's any hope of you being rational for even one second which I don't have.
We're basically debating your religion here. And you don't even realize it. Double reason there's not a shred of hope for you.
It's like trying to talk a flea or tapeworm out of being harmful. 100% impossible.
P.S. For other people reading this who have a shred of sanity left:
Comment has been collapsed.
Wait a sec. You were talking about SMARTphones, and now you link two studies that show that CELLphones are on the rise of Africa.
Do you even know what is the difference between the two? Have you ever held both in your hands? Do you know of such things as differences between a 2.5G/3G circuit-switched network and devices vs. 4G (LTE) packet-switched network devices and their average consumer price and global network coverage?
Comment has been collapsed.
The pedantry is glorious. Thank you for proving you completely understand my point. You wouldn't be splitting hairs otherwise in desperate defense of your belief system.
We really are talking religion now. Everyone one reading this realizes that smart phones follow regular phones like dawn follows night. Besides those were just supporting links. My original link was expressly about smart phones and homeless people.
And all of this is just trivia since ultimately as I said it's about your wealth religion. I'm not even being hyperbolic. You have been indoctrinated by the modern versions of Edward Bernays. I say that not for your benefit but for any possible lurkers. If there are none, then this is just another amusing session of multiplayer notepad.
And of course there's the fact that I'm also speaking to your subconscious and that it processes information in a totally independent way. (The people that do this with real skill quite literally rule the world.)
Comment has been collapsed.
Wealth religion? I earn less than 6500 USD a year. It is not uncommon as a monthly wage around you.
At any rate:
Everyone one reading this realizes that smart phones follow regular phones like dawn follows night.
This would indicate that you know pretty much nothing about mobile technology then. For example, the mobile phone penetration in Africa is pretty high, since the 3G networks were built all around. But the smartphone penetration there is lower than anowhere else, ranging from 0% to 30% maximum, since they do not even have the network which could support smartphones. Not to mention that it is common knowledge that mobile phones are not used for phoning in most sub-saharan countries but as a currency, similarly how many SEA people use them as a mobile wallet.
Comment has been collapsed.
we only read for the giggles :P - and you give us all plenty
Comment has been collapsed.
How does it work in your mind? Does mockery really count as an argument in your social circles? I mean you didn't offer anything. Does it not register that you just expressed pride in ignorance?
Comment has been collapsed.
normally just a couple of pencils up your nose and underpants on your head is what I imagine - WiBBLE :P
Comment has been collapsed.
Says the guy... FROM A COMPUTER. /facepalm
And did I called myself poor? /facepalm
According to simple fact that I have running water in my house - I'm in 1% of the most rich people on the planet... just like you.
You know shit about life. And world. And pretty much everything - you are spoiled western citizen who thinks that social justice exist (or that social justice is achievable).
Please grow up.
Comment has been collapsed.
How dare you muddy his "argument" with facts?
Comment has been collapsed.
Go back to /pol/ meat bot. Bravo totally ignoring my links that shatter your assertion. :) It's nice to know you know I'm right.
Corporatists crack me up.
Think through what you are implying. That because subsistence farmers in Somalia and the like exist, (largely because of exploitative foreign policies put in place by people like you I might add) no one in America has a right to complain about anything ever?
How tidy. How utterly transparent.
You've been played down to your brain stem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
www.rawstory.com/2017/04/a-clinical-psychologist-explains-how-ayn-rand-seduced-young-minds-and-helped-turn-the-us-into-a-selfish-nation/
That means by your logic that literally no one left on earth is allowed or able to complain about your master's unchecked greed, because either they aren't literally the most worse off human on the face of the planet, or they are the one absolutely worst off and can't speak, assuming they aren't dead by the end of this sentence.
Put another way you literally presume to speak for everyone on earth. XD
Your ego impresses me almost as much as the other guy's detachment.
Seriously, does that logic work even in your mind? I mean I could so easily turn that around. Like why are you even opposing what you perceive to be my flawed thinking when so much worse thinking is out there? Or are you honestly saying debating me right here and right now is literally the best possible use of your time? That the apex of human activity, the best possible thing anyone ever could do is defend the corrupt owners of this cash grab site? Because by your logic, if it isn't, it's 100% a waste of time and you shouldn't be doing it.
That's the standard you hold someone too when you say some pathetic version of "It could be worse, shut up. Obey happily like a good drone. Like me"
You've allowed yourself to become nothing but a walking defective-meme container. Manufactured to serve 1% interests, and serve you will until the day you die. The irony is that they subverted everything about your individuality that doesn't profit them using the lure of ego provided by so called rugged individualism.
No wonder I'm alone here, everyone sane has been driven off by the inability to unsubscribe from threads. I have no choice but to let you tools have your thousand last words or leave the site entirely. At any rate get back to work slave, your boss's boss's boss's next yacht payment isn't gonna make itself. Tell us more about stopping 60 people from owning half the planet is socialism and therefore Satan worship. ◔_◔
https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world
Keep kissing that bespoke boot.
Comment has been collapsed.
Or are you honestly saying debating me right here and right now is literally the best possible use of your time?
You entertain me :) Sometimes I just like to pull leg of some idiot and watch how he's going postal.
Satan worship
I used to, but converted to nihilism because there was too much christianity in that flawed philosophy.
your boss's boss's boss's
Currently I'm my own boss xD
Bravo totally ignoring my links
I did it only to not humiliate you too much. They were either totally unrelated or wrote as fuel for young and mindless social justice warriors. Please at least try to check other sources of information next time and try to confront different opinions on that matter. You act like a drone. Try to use your own brain sometimes and not just repeat some socialistic fairytales.
seriously? people are stupid because they have earthworm? and they have earthworm because they drink water from sewer? I would rather say that they are stupid to not care about their children/ their own health and that's why they got parasites. But who am I to judge.
just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world
Stop being jealous
Comment has been collapsed.
converted to nihilism - that made me smile :) Love it so much
Comment has been collapsed.
You didn't refute a single thing I asserted. I wonder if you're even aware of that. The pathology of you programmed cash slaves is deeply fascinating.
Comment has been collapsed.
You didn't refute a single thing I asserted.
Why should I? I don't talk seriously with people believing in flat earth either.
Comment has been collapsed.
So you disagree that the earth is flat like a pancake?
or round like a pancake...take your pick ;)
Seriously. Only responded cause I saw 'flat earth' and had to.
Comment has been collapsed.
IS THERE A PANCAKE THAT'S THE SIZE OF THE EARTH???
sorry, just seen earth and pancake and I'm hungry :(
Comment has been collapsed.
I really like the ideas !
I would also add on the second point, you could create some honey traps from time to time, like a fake giveaway which is obviously fake for a human being but which would be entered in by bots, this way you could detect them more easily :D
Comment has been collapsed.
Hey yeah and we could set some poisoned food out in the dumpsters too! Take care of those filthy poor people eating the trash, amirite? Losers.
Seriously, you and your ilk would have shame if you weren't a psychopaths.
This community is disgusting.
Comment has been collapsed.
This community is disgusting.
Please, don't use this site anymore then.
Edit: now I remember you, then ignore me please, is useless trying to talk with you and the "steamgifts scam"
Comment has been collapsed.
Thank you for proving my point. I shouldn't be the only one scolding all these wannabe dumpster bleachers. And yet I apparently am.
Such mental health.
So compassion.
.>
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah, because poisoning living people is totally the same as preventing bot scripts from entering giveaways right?
You're a very pathetic person and I feel sorry for you.
Comment has been collapsed.
Keep pretending like you don't understand WHY rich assholes bleach dumpsters. It's Exactly the same as the behavior/ideology here. Look at the people debating me. They often go on rants about how rich they are and spew cliche "I'm a rich asshole" statements like a lawn sprinkler.
Even you are calling me pathetic. Which you apparently don't realize just exposes your own anti poverty bias. Pathetic even if true doesn't mean bad. It's like calling someone weak. Weak isn't bad either unless you're the kind of power worshiping asshole that blame the desperate as if a character flaw entitles them to suffering.
You people have no honor or morality. You're psychopaths and dupes to a man. Which is which I leave to future readers.
Comment has been collapsed.
Unless you believe companies bleach their dumpsters to prevent robots from accumulating food, there is absolutely no parallel to be made here. Stores will pour bleach over the food they throw out so that no person can salvage it. (And yes, that's a disgusting practice.) What was suggested here was to make sure the games actually go to actual people and not a bot. Your example is the exact opposite of what what being suggested here.
Even you are calling me pathetic. Which you apparently don't realize just exposes your own anti poverty bias.
You should lay off whatever drug you're on. There's no shame in being poor or weak, not everyone has the same opportunities in life. Being a pathetic person like you has nothing to do with wealth or strength. It's only about the pitiful false equivalencies and baseless accusations you're spouting.
Calling people psychopaths for wanting the games they're giving away to actually go to someone who will appreciate it instead of a bot account, it shows how much of an asshole you are. When you speak of having no honor or morality, you should take a good look in the mirror to witness a perfect example.
Comment has been collapsed.
Companies bleach their dumpsters because of an insecurity over free product reducing profits somehow. Sounds relevant to me.
And I agree there's no shame in being poor or weak. That's my entire point. All the pampered children on here with their yearly gaming rig update and more importantly the time to babysit their wishlist can afford a ban on scripts, while the working poor cannot. These policies are identical to walmart trying to switch to upscale product. It's about dumping the less profitable demographic.
I'm reminded of the trends that inspired the idea in demolition man that eventually taco bells would be a 5 star.
My morality is solid. I know exactly what you and your ilk are. Pathologically deficient of empathy. You're social Darwinist Malthusians who no doubt secretly or overtly respect ideologies ultimately sourced from Ayn Rand. I know you and the people that programmed you better than you ever will.
If I'm wrong then you already agree with me deep down and this debate is trivial banter built on your pride.
And it doesn't matter if I'm Satan himself. I can still be 100% correct in my assertions and scolding, even if I'm guilty of the same or worse.
Comment has been collapsed.
Companies bleach their dumpsters because of an insecurity over free product reducing profits somehow. Sounds relevant to me.
There's no profit involved in giving away games to people over bots, still zero relevance to the topic at hand.
All the pampered children [...] can afford a ban on scripts, while the working poor cannot.
That doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. This is just hypocrisy at it's finest. If logging in once in a while to spend your points is too time consuming, then you certainly have no time to be playing games and shouldn't be bothering with trying to win any in the first place. Unlike food and shelter, video games are not a basic necessity. No one needs them.
The "less profitable demographic" as you call it, suffer no disadvantage over this. They're actually benefiting from the changes just like everyone else. (The really poor can't even use those scripts because they have to be cost conscious and shut down their computer when they're not using it, to save on electricity.) You're just looking for a way to justify your cheating by using scripts which were always against the rules. You sound like a thief complaining that your local toy drive warehouse added a security guard and you can't steal them as easily as you used to.
Comment has been collapsed.
You only have to look what happened with Indiegala after they added captchas for their GAs, the shit storm was real.
And i think i don't need to mention the captchas vanished really fast, because people already was shortly before to abandon the site
because they had enough of street signs and similar crap within hours.
Comment has been collapsed.
Done right, only those detected to use scripts will see captchas, and they'll just have to stop using scripts to not see captchas any more. I don't think they would prefer to leave the site then to just play by the rules.
Comment has been collapsed.
Good thing you can very easily detect people using scripts or distinguish between them and power users... yeah right.
Comment has been collapsed.
Do power users never sleep? Do they enter many random games in a very short time?
Comment has been collapsed.
Mimicking the pattern, and especially pace, of human users would severely restrict the potential for gains, so personally I wouldn't mind too much.
Comment has been collapsed.
Severely? At most it will add a couple seconds, hell, even if you enter one per min that doesn't seem like a big problem for them. You just can't distinguish a user with a script that is even halfway decent.
There simply are no methods that can consistently and reliably target only scripters/boters. The more loops to enter the "harder" it is for the scripters and 10 times more annoying for regular users.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yes, there are many ways to make it severe. For example, require captchas from any user after X amount of entries in a day. Since X is so different between bots that enter 24x7 and humans, it will have a severe impact on bots but not on the vast majority of human users. Those who don't use bots yet still manage to enter a numbers that are bot-like should see these captchas as a wake up call that should encourage them to be more selective. And if this minority of users are inconvenienced by these captchas yet insist on not being selective, tough luck.
Alternatively it's possible to detect bot-like behavior based on hours of activity and pace of entries, and also factor into the likelihood of being a bot other values, such as time since registration, number of wins and number of created giveaways. To make things more difficult to bypass cg should (1) avoid documenting publicly what the site is checking, and (2) delay the reaction between flagging the user as a bot and actually starting to require the user to fill in a captchas. I don't think that with these measures (and with the risk of a permanent ban, from repeated offenses) it will be so easy, or worth the risk, to find the exact patterns that are checked.
Comment has been collapsed.
Adding captchas is the only solution to get rid of a big amount of bots/scripts. But again, the more frequent the more annoyed regular users will be. "After X amount of entries", when you take out very inactive users, most people here probably don't hit their point cap very often but even then I don't think that at any point should the answer be to discourage people from entering giveaways so they don't see captchas or be suspected of using scripts.
Hours, pace of entries, and everything similar can't reliably target anyone really and it is the easiest to work around for scripts. Time since registration should not make any impact on anything since there is already a registration requirement for steam accounts. As for number of wins and created giveaways, if that is to change that should be a separate rule and that also shouldn't affect anyone since again, there are the giveaway levels up to which you can enter if you didn't give away many games which is enough of a limit.
As for your last two points I'm sure if any part of that system goes into action it probably won't be public, but yeah, at the end of the day it just comes to the balance of number of loops that will be tolerable for normal users, and how "hard" will that each loop be to work around for the bots.
Comment has been collapsed.
"After X amount of entries" should be fine tuned aiming that 95-99% of human users who manually enter giveaways never see a captcha. The remaining ones will need to adjust their ways and learn to be more selective. I'll leave it to cg to find ways to get to the correct threshold.
Time since registration is not something that can be used by itself, but together with the other values it can contribute to evaluate the likelihood a user is using scripts. For example, winning 200 games in 5 years doesn't raise any red flag, but the same amount in 5 months? Maybe. As for number of giveaways created, it's just another data point that may help evaluate the likelihood of bot use. It might not be, one needs to analyze the data to find correlation between different data points to see which one are potentially useful.
Bottom line, I think limiting auto-joining scripts significantly, without frequently annoying human users is a very achievable goal, and that, if done right, it won't be easy to circumvent. We'll just have to wait and see.
Comment has been collapsed.
CG - can I ask - are dead user accounts (as in not used in a long time) ever culled?
just wondering if clearing out ever happens - as the numbers of accounts not used in say a couple of years must throw off the numbers when evaluating site numbers versus site use etc... - if many things are changing, was just thinking that a cleanup of the database might also be an option for non active users (obviously not the banned ones)
Comment has been collapsed.
Good point. At the very least those who have 0 wins, 0 created giveaways, 0 comments and inactivity of 1 year or longer can be cleared.
Comment has been collapsed.
I am so not awake enough yet to answer this - do you have some data? - I remember liking your data alot (least I think it was your polls etc...)
https://www.steamgifts.com/go/comment/lXazDCb
my baseline was looking at the number of 0 x 0 users who may be bots, and just entering in the hope - but that is less inactivity and more just not won
- and the other was a finding that some of those 0 x 0 accounts are the smurfs (to steal a phrase) of existing rule breakers, or just silent accounts of existing users who have smurf accounts on steam, waiting in case they get caught (I actually found one of those very recently)
- but the main thing for me was, simply put, all of the data we might want to extrapolate is skewed because we have no clear idea how many true users there are; especially if, as CG has stated, the database has never been culled. If this is the case, to date all of the data has been affected surely ? and will continue to be so for the future
knew I should have gone to bed earlier last night :P
Comment has been collapsed.
My proposal (to remove those triple-bagel users) is not based on data and isn't so much to improve the accuracy of stats, but more to free up usernames. Here's one such example. It seems like a low hanging fruit to me.
Comment has been collapsed.
oh my - 4 years ago - yep, surely we can drop these off the radar - the fact that they are still around is mad :P
Comment has been collapsed.
Good to hear! Will we be penalized for using scripts that don't autojoin, but add join buttons to the frong page?
Comment has been collapsed.
I agree, yes. But what about them filters for giveaways?
Comment has been collapsed.
People who use scripts to join GAs likely just have a better understanding of probability and what's required to make back their investment in rank before the heat death of the universe ends the human project for good.
There is definitely no reason to pay for rank 10 if 1) point rates are reduced and 2) can't auto-join giveaways to make back at least some of one's rank investment (which I estimate is around USD$1000 unless you are extremely efficient with giveaways). With the more popular giveaways being somewhere in the ballpark of 1-in-4000 or worse, the probabilistic outcome is even more dismal if you're not efficiently using points.
I think the effects of this will be very detrimental to the site as the reward for building up ranks (that is getting "back" in value close to what you "paid in" to rank) will become very hard to obtain and SG will see a precipitous drop in the number of giveaways offered. Add to this the fact that the vast majority of giveaways are bundled shovelware that can be bought for less than a dollar each on the bundle site, there's no real reason to go through the hassle of GAs vs. just laying out a few dollars here and there for bundles.
Personally, I am putting a freeze on all my future giveaways and will likely stop using the site entirely. I simply do not have the time to manually grind out joining giveaways every hour so that I don't miss all the "stealth" one-hour GAs that are a large proportion of GAs created.
Comment has been collapsed.
Leveling up is not "investment", but reward for giving away games.
If you want to "get back" what you "invested" you're on loosing end from the beginning, as you won't be ever able to do this. Unless you're part of exclusive 1"1 ratio groups.
Or just spend those money on yourself, that way you won't feel like you need to "get back" anything.
Comment has been collapsed.
Or just spend those money on yourself, that way you won't feel like you need to "get back" anything.
This was the point of my post. SG adds no real value after this change and I suspect many will feel the same way.
Comment has been collapsed.
But it was like this always? SG is not like bank account.
I didn't come here to invest something and then get back it with interests. But to give people I don't know (and maybe who have less than I had) ability to play in something legally.
Comment has been collapsed.
We're here for different reasons, then. All I'm saying is that this will have the effect of shrinking the pool of giveaways, as there is even less incentive (other than altruistic motives which are few and far between and often unsustainable long term) to create GAs with the hope of improving future odds and a respectable (but not complete) recoup of the original investment.
If you do the actual math, over time and with sufficiently high rank, you had a reasonable chance to get around 1:1 if you stuck with it long enough and efficiently/strategically used your points. Now that will be essentially impossible, so there's no real incentive to "pay in" by creating unique GAs other than intangible benefits that don't really interest me. I'm not alone in this position.
Comment has been collapsed.
SG was never a good investment for anyone expecting to make back what they've put in. There aren't enough high level giveaways to make a real difference in what you can expect to win after raising your level.
Auto-join scripts were always against the site's rules, so it was bound to happen that at some point some measure would be taken to track down those who use them. And lowering the point generation will mean less entries in giveaways so higher chances to win. The only ones negatively affected by this are the cheaters using auto-join and I'm totally fine with that.
Comment has been collapsed.
i use the unofficial android app, with it is's really easy to enter giveaways fast...
Comment has been collapsed.
No GA for my wishlisted game
not affecting me that much
Comment has been collapsed.
It's called freshness of the owner of the website because of a script that pathetic
Comment has been collapsed.
Thanks cg, these changes make a lot of sense and I love them!
Comment has been collapsed.
Good.
Though I would stress not to change the site specifically to compensate for those using auto-joiners instead. If there's a good reason for change, go for. If it is "so people don't use scripts" probably a bad idea, people will still use scripts regardless, and thus it will only effect non-script users, and you have to take them in mind.
Comment has been collapsed.
There's no adverse effect by this change for regular users. Slower points distribution will allow for less entries in giveaways so higher chances of winning.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah, that sounds like a good reason.
Doing it "just so people are less prone to use scripts" though isn't.
Comment has been collapsed.
My points max at 300p at least twice a day. Lowering the threshold will only make users like me lose out on more entries.
But, if this overall reduces abuse and script entries, by all means. You have my vote (not like you needed it).
Comment has been collapsed.
I used AutoJoin to enter wishlisted only games, I do check the site when I'm free but other than that I leave the PC working and Chrome turned on when I'm at work, would I get in trouble for doing this?
Comment has been collapsed.
How do you know who is using such scripts? Is it through the number of times you visit the site? I keep SG open in a tab all the time and check it all the time, I hope I'm not gonna get caught in a crossfire because of this.
Comment has been collapsed.
I wouldn't worry about it. It is not target at people that uses points optimally, but like those you see that enters 40 giveaways and write "thank you" massage at the same second. That October part suggest that the data is already there, and that Cg and moderators will be carefully checking those.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm a sentient Android that easily passed the turing test does that matter?
I don't hope i now will get discriminated because i have an (always online fiber optics) and go into recharge sleep mode very irregularly?
Comment has been collapsed.
Great news! thank you cg for continuing to improve my favorite site!
Comment has been collapsed.
Can we get a ballpark number of accounts that exhibited auto-join script-like behavior?
Comment has been collapsed.
yes, this should work like valve bans, since VAC is foolproof <3
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm not sure I understand your comment. I was merely asking if we could have an idea of the number of accounts that exhibited suspicious bot-like activities.
Many have been wondering over the years how widespread this issue really is.
Comment has been collapsed.
oh i misunderstood your comment, i thought you wanted a public list of autojoiners 😁
which is fine since people are ok with public shaming with vac bans.
Comment has been collapsed.
Hi SG,
I want to remind everyone that using scripts to automatically join giveaways is against the rules. To help clarify, I updated the site guidelines today:
I would like to try reducing the usage of these scripts through two approaches...
The last few weeks I've been logging and reviewing data. On average, a user with scripts enters 4x as many giveaways as a user without scripts. I believe this happens because users currently receive a high number of points, and scripts are able to use those points more efficiently. To fix this issue I want to lower point distribution to a more reasonable amount. This will allow users casually visiting the site a couple of times a day to use all of their points, and therefore reduce the need and advantage of using such scripts.
Secondly, starting October, I am going to start assigning suspensions to users that are using these scripts. I feel they do not benefit the community in any way, and I want to try to ensure SteamGifts stays a fun and social place for everyone to visit. Of course, that only happens when real people are interacting with the site.
If you have any thoughts on the topic, please leave a comment.
Comment has been collapsed.