United States giveaways only when?
I have 4ish copies of a game waiting to be gibed. lol
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this is sihit, so hov i can enter to ga-s if i now study in Hingary but live in Ukraine ?
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Not sure if I like this idea or not, but it kinda sucks that I can't even LOOK at the region restricted GAs... I would prefer it if I was just unable to join...
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Poland is a separate region when certain retail keys are concerned.
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So that means Polish keys are different from rest of Europe?
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Not all of them. CD-Action keys are quite common and are locked to Poland, for instance.
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And finally if i buy something from muve.pl i don't have to wonder if it's region free i can just slap it with PL region and don't stress about it :)
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Nice idea. Thank you :)
But yeh it's understandable. people people will complain about the CV and such. Now if someone wants to up their CV they can just go buy a russian game for 75% cheaper.
In all honesty, the only fair thing to do is to restrict the expensive regions too. Like now, a region locked game is restricted to people from that region which makes sence ofcourse. But giving a game from an expensive region to someone from russia for example is just a waste of money.
edit: btw. How can Poland be region locked? I thought it was part of the European Union...
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We've got digital shop - Muve - which sells keys that sometimes can be only activated in Poland (and they're cheaper than keys from GMG, Amazon etc). Plus there're keys from CD-Action.
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Thank god... i skipped buying (on muve.pl) and giving away Fahrenheit remastered this weekend since i could not find any info if it's region restricted, next time i can just make PL restricted GA and don't stress about it :)
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So I see a lot of questions about how this will effect CV. Here's a thought. I skimmed the thread and didn't see it, but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm repeating someone. Please be respectful, this is just an idea I'm offering for consideration. I'm NOT sure I think it's the right answer. Thoughtful replies are great!
We have regions assigned to our user accounts, that's what gets checked when entering a region lock flagged giveaway. E.g. if your flag is Greenland you can enter Greenland GAs. What about this:
Meet GifterGuy, who is assigned to RegionX on SG user data.
If GifterGuy gives away a region locked game in a giveaway flagged for RegionX (his region) only, they will get 100% CV value for that giveaway .
If GifterGuy gives away a region locked game in a giveaway flagged for RegionZ (NOT his region) only, they will get 15% CV value for that giveaway.
So if you get a lot of region locked games from whatever store in your region, great, give them away to people in your region for full CV.
BUT if you intentionally trade/buy games from another region that is NOT your region just to giveaway, they will in effect give bundle CV.
If you occasionally win a region locked game you can't use on another site (you shouldn't on SG if the rules are followed) then yes, the gift you won for free and had to regift would also receive reduced CV.
Objection: But what if I'm a native RegionZ-ian who is currently living in RegionX and I want to generously buy a bunch of RegionZ games to give to my comrades still in RegionZ? Great! In that case, does CV really matter?
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Well. If someone intentionally buys games from a cheap region just for the CV, What stops that person to just create a secondairy cheap region account just to get the 100% instead of 15%?
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He would be banned eventually if he had second account. And his main account too. Maybe this will stop him.
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You mean a secondary SG account? It would in effect be their primary because it would be the one getting all the CV, having the potential to reach high CV and enter high CV GAs, and then required to redeem any wins to that account. Not to mention the technical issues with having a Steam account for a region that is not your own. I don't think you can move CV or won games between your "cheap region" account and a separate account easily.
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That's interesting idea, but should be elaborated more. If he won RegionZ game on some other site, is this a crime? Maybe there should be some limit for this kind of giveaway, for example "not more then 10% of giveaways from other regions", or something like this..
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That's actually an interesting idea, maybe 15% is somewhat harsh but it deserves consideration of CG.
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I understand where you're coming from, and am not certain on what percentage would work, if this is even a viable option.
This still gives some reward to people who get cheap games to giveaway in regions that are cheaper than their own, but also de-incentivizes intentionally attempting to exploit it.
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Great!This would come very handy for throwing away region locked keys\gifts
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I see a lot of ppl complain about members who live in region restricted areas getting more CV by paying less for the game etc. Personally I don't care at all. I live in Greece (EU2) and I have, along other countries, the highest (I think) prices. I don't suppose Greeks are wealthy right? Anyway, it doesn't matter.
I believe you can fight this problem which ppl who care about cv have, by changing the cv algorithm to include the entries, but not remove the game price. Have both determine the cv. Region restricted games = less entries, Less wanted game = less entries. Use the number of entries accordingly as a "fixer" for "fair CV". This is for public giveaways ofc. For whitelist and group giveaways (where entries are far less), something else can be implemented, maybe a different measurement for the entries.
For examble:
A public giveaway with no cv restriction has 2000 entries and gets, let's say, 10 CV
A public giveaway witth no cv restriction has 500 entries. This member can get, for example, 4 CV. This game is far less wanted than the one with the 2000 entries or it has run for far less time. Also entries are not the only thing that counts. The game price will also be in the algorithm making it more fair.
A group giveaway with no cv restriction has 150 entries. This member can get (again the game price will count as it does so far) the amount of cv as it was a public giveaway with 750 entries.
All of the above are just small examples to explain my idea. The algorith is much more complicated that this and only the mods can find the actual numbers.
This is not a perfect idea but I am writting it in case someone else can take it and make it better. I don't know if there are any region restricted areas where the game price is actually higher that row or there are regions with a small amount of population. In that case this idea would be unfair.
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I live in Greece (EU2) and I have, along other countries, the highest (I think) prices. I don't suppose Greeks are wealthy right?
Well, you have the highest avg income in EU2 along with Slovenia :) Still half of what the Germans or French make though. (wiki data)
The CV based on entries is not a really good idea, because there's a big difference in entries if a giveaway lasts 1 hour or 4 weeks.
I think a far more fair solution would be split the CV in 2 categories - CV from ROW games and CV from region-restricted games. In ROW giveaways only your ROW CV would count, while in restricted both the ROW and region-restricted CVs would count.
This way people would get their CV without the possibility of exploiting cheap regional prices, since region-restricted CV would only allow them enter more region-restricted, same priced, giveaways. And it wouldn't discriminate regions that have locked games but not are not cheaper.
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And it could look something like this:
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The data of the avg income is a result from those who get an income or everyone? Because I know that approximately 25% of Greeks who are eligible to work are unemployed http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/unemployment-rate That means 1/4 of Greece has 0 income unfortunately. Yes I am sure we are better than other countries but I don't think it is justified to be in EU2.
About your idea for 2 types of cv, I aggree, it is a good solution.
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I think it counts only employed people, but I wrote it as a kind of "richest of the poor" joke.
Btw. 25% unemployment rate is from the active workforce, in terms of whole population, it's actually 11% of the population who's only source of money might be social welfare/ unemployment benefits. Croatia has 18% unemployment rate and 3/4 of the average income in Greece. Yeah, this whole situation is really unfortunate and it doesn't really look like it'll get better any time soon :(
EU2 (EU Tier 2) was created as a region for not-so-wealthy european countries, which should imply lower prices, unfortunately that's not the case with 98% of games.
To clarify, EU2 consists of: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain or the Vatican City
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awesome, so i can finally get rid of my medieval engineers 4-pack copy. ^^
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Add the option to hide region restricted giveaways that are outside of our region.
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This is one of the very few things SG.com did right! :) I hope all the people will read this.
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What if I can acrivate some RU games without VPN? We in Baltic states can do it, for example Bethesda's games.
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How about you let us see the giveaway, but just disable or completely remove the enter button? And add the big red banner below or above description explaining you can't enter because of region restriction?
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Well, if CV can't be based on regional price for these region-locked GAs, it's probably time to remove the whole CV thing. CV does not mean anything if it's not counted the same way for everybody, better remove it before it starts frustration / exploit / region wars threads.
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CV was always counted the same way for everybody, ie based on US prices. Up until a few months ago, people in those regions were able to buy region-free gifts and make giveaways just like everyone else. The universe did not collapse back then and their price structure is pretty much the same. Why do everyone act like people in lower-income regions will suddenly immense amounts of money to put toward giveaways?
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Thanks for removing my fears about universe collapsing :) I still disagree with you because with the old system, everybody was able to buy a giftable (row) copy where it was the cheapest (with a litlle fee for traders, ok), and so the system was the same for everybody. Now it isn't since everyone will be credited the same CV while paying different prices. I'm not saying that region-locked gifts on SG are a bad thing, only that CV is not really meaningful now...
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Actually, I feel it's more meaningful now than it was back then. The reason behind those lower prices is that the people is these countries do not have the same purchasing power we do. (There are a few inequalities, like some poor countries paying Europe's prices, but in general it's meant to be representative.) Technically, they're spending a similar portion of their income as we do toward the game they're giving. The only difference is that now, WE can't cheat our way to higher CV by buying poor countries' games with 1st world salaries.
It's no different than someone giving away a game from a $1 bundle and another paying the game full price in the store. They get the same CV but one has clearly paid a lot less than the other.
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The only difference is that now, WE can't cheat our way to higher CV by buying poor countries' games with 1st world salaries.
It's quite the opposite: unless I'm missing something, it has never been easier to farm CV with region-locked GAs. Nothing stops average Joe in a "wealthy" country to buy cheap gifts from traders and create region-locked GAs for huge CV profit.
Anyway, I guess I get your logic and you get mine on that matter :)
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Nothing stops average Joe in a "wealthy" country to buy cheap gifts from traders and create region-locked GAs for huge CV profit.
So, the situation is exactly the same as it was 6 months ago, except less people can enter those giveaways.
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Exactly... except...
I guess it's time to stop arguing, we disagree, end of story :)
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everybody was able to buy a giftable (row) copy where it was the cheapest (with a litlle fee for traders, ok), and so the system was the same for everybody. Now tell me, why can't you buy a giftable (region restricted) copy now where it is cheapest (with a litlle fee for traders, ok), and do the region restricted giveaway? As far as I see the system is still the same for everybody.
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Will we be able to remove region restricted giveaways from available giveaways to enter. Because it may state that it's a region restricted, but i may not see it and if i win it i will probably not be able to activate it and probably will get ban for that.
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Great job.
Anything that makes it easier to give away games (particularly for those who live in regions afflicted by Steam's draconian region locking system) gets a massive thumbs up from me.
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Hi SG, we have an exciting update for the community today, allowing users to create giveaways for gifts or keys that are region restricted.
How do I create a region restricted giveaway?
If you visit the create a giveaway page, you'll see a new section with the name Region Restrictions. At the moment you're able to select from five different regions: Poland, RU+CIS, SE Asia, South America and Turkey. This list will likely expand in the future to include other popular regions that are available. If you have a gift or key for a region that's not listed, we ask you not to post it at this time. Giveaways incorrectly listed, or region restricted giveaways created before this announcement will be removed.
How do I know if a giveaway is region restricted?
Region restricted giveaways appear in the giveaway list with a globe icon, and you'll notice the region name is visible next to the icon when viewing the giveaway. If you click these icons, you'll see a list of countries within the corresponding region. You'll only see giveaways on the homepage that are region free, or giveaways that are within your region. If you try to view a giveaway for another region, you'll see an error message.
How do I specify my region or change it?
As of yesterday, users select a country when registering on SG, setting their Steam region. If you're already registered, your IP address determined your country, and it can be viewed on the account page. Please double check this is accurate, and you're entering to win giveaways for the correct region. If the country is incorrect, and you're entering giveaways for another region, you'll be unable to redeem any games that are won, and we require all gifts or keys to be activated on your Steam account. If you need the country to be modified, please submit a ticket, and we'll adjust it for you.
Do region restricted giveaways contribute to my SG level?
Yes, region restricted giveaways function the same as every other giveaway, and follow the same rules for calculating value.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask below!
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