Blacklisting is definitely a controversial -and personal- matter. Every side has legitimate arguments, and belittling those who don't share a certain point of view is detrimental to the community. I'm really glad you avoided that pitfall and embraced all SGifters in your original message.

If you want me to move beyond the generalizations, I'll simply say I don't find blacklists useful. You can avoid giving away games to users who blatantly and consistently disregard the site rules by asking for a justified reroll every now and then. You can create multi-group giveaways for groups with thousands of members or even just add a Level 1 contributor requirement to some, filtering out most rule-breakers.

All these tools seem to suffice. But in all honestly, I can understand the importance of a blacklist to someone with such a diverse group of game recipients as yourself. The main problem about "justifiably" blacklisting someone is it takes a bit of time and at least a short conversation to take note of any mitigating factors or extenuating circumstances.

That's not to say you aren't allowed to do it haphazardly -after all it's your games being given away. But I think it's far easier to set guidelines in your giveaway descriptions, even though special giveaway rules are off the table. I find that most of the community tends to follow etiquette and abide by those without the need to employ a blacklist.

Please bear in mind there are people who've found themselves literally unable to contribute games, but do try -and mostly succeed- in contributing in other meaningful ways, like setting up a dedicated server for other members of the community, helping out with tech problems, throwing in translations for projects that need them or even providing some urgently needed psych support now and again, to name a few.

If keeping a whitelist along your blacklist isn't too much trouble and you're willing and able to take the time to update both, you can probably have the best of both worlds.

In any case, rest assured your generosity is very much appreciated, even though the occasional dimwit might make you regret it. I won't be commenting in any other page, I think it'll only make it more difficult for you to keep track of the discussion here. You do have my sincere thanks for all giveaways though!

Bump for tl;dr!

Well less than 4 hours since my last giveaway finished, with me at work and, as a driver, unable to and not allowed to use any form of electronic communication device, I got a whiny comment from the winner complaining they hadn't had it yet... from someone who's won 6 and given 0...

I can see how blacklists start... lol!

And just to check I wasn't breaking some rule, I checked, and the FAQ says quite clearly: "Giveaway creators are allowed one week to send the gift after the giveaway has ended."

Some people bl just because you had a different opinion in a discussion, which is kind of petty. However, it's their BL and they can do what they want to. If you spend a lot of time checking peoples stats etc. then it's your time. However, I wonder if it couldn't be used better like playing games, watching vids etc. You just have to make up your mind wether it still is fun when you figure out how much time you spend doing it.

You just got an entry in my whitelist ;)

I approve of this message!

Totally sympathise with you for there are so many scumbags out there willing to play the system. By the same token, there are (rather thankfully) many nice peeps as well.

I've been told I've recently leant towards the dark side due to the pre-emptive steps I've found myself taking to blacklist those I believe have done something illicit (which includes giving away recent mass giveaway games on their account even though the game is already owned - more often than not indicative of the fact they've somehow obtained the game either by not marking their won game as 'received' or simply used another account to obtain it). At the end of the day it's your choice. A motivating factor for me is that I ask myself 'Did I ever feel inclined enough to re-gift a game even when I was new to the site?' and the simple answer is 'no', thus I don't expect others to do so either. If you do so feel inclined then I don't want to know you.

I am fine with blacklisting, I personally have 5 people on my blacklist and I blacklist only rarely and for extreme reasons.

I don't really care if I am blacklisted either. It is up to the individual who does the blacklisting, not me. I don't even know how to tell if someone has me on their blacklist and don't really care - what am I to do about it? It's their choice.

I mean if someone gets upset that I only give away games that are unused from bundle purchases then that is fine. I am really just happy to be able to pass the game on (before finding Steamgifts I would end up activating it on my account as there was nothing else to do with the key)

Personally, I don't find blacklisting to be that serious of a subject but I rarely use mine. I used to check all my giveaway winners to make sure they didn't break any rules, etc. But this witch hunt for rule breakers ended up consuming all my precious time as well as giving me a rather cynical view of the community. I simply do not care anymore. I will let someone else do the digging and I will happily sit in ignorance believing that people are good. It's just easier in general to stop focusing on what everybody else is doing and just make sure that I'm happy with what I'm doing.

Do whatever you would like to do with your blacklist. You don't even need to justify yourself to other people, the only person you have to justify your choices to is yourself.

For some reason you are on my whitelist.

On to other matters
I thought that if I blacklist someone, that someone will not be able to view my GA on the public GA list at all. But I think you made the GA on some group or private group, where people could complain if they are blacklisted because they know they are blacklisted.

At current situation I don't know how much I am blacklisted.

I've given away what I've been able to, and even have a couple that I still could but have been lazy to actually get going, though my ratio is certainly more wins than giveaways. I haven't once considered blacklisting, though I also haven't seen the type of behavior you've mentioned. While I think that some reasons for blacklisting someone are unreasonable, there are many reasons that are and as long as you're sure of someone's guilt in any of those, they don't justify any response. Frankly, a person is able to set up a blacklist for their own reasons, just like they can set up a whitelist for their own reasons. It seems rather silly that someone would exclude people from their giveaways then be upset when they're excluded, considering my last sentence. Hopefully you don't let those negative people get to you too much. You blacklisted them for a reason, them getting upset only adds fuel to that instead of getting you to change your mind. If they really wanted to be taken off, acting in such a negative manner doesn't seem like the best idea, in any situation.

Thanks for the ride!

Blacklisting is a personal choice, and you shouldn't have to defend it to anyone but yourself. I hope that I never do anything terrible enough to another user to cause them to want to blacklist me, and I would be hurt if I found I was on someone's blacklist, but I wouldn't expect them to have to defend it. I might ask why I was blacklisted, so that I could hopefully turn my mistake into an opportunity to learn, but I wouldn't expect an answer, and I certainly wouldn't argue with someone's decision. Arguing with someone about their decision doesn't really seem like it would make them want to change their mind, so it seems counterproductive for someone on your blacklist to have complained at all.

♠ Thanks and Bump ♠

As Support, I will defend the right of members to blacklist anyone for any reason.

On a more personal level, I'm in alignment with your stated method of using the blacklist. I only have two people on mine as I dislike blacklisting people and only do it in extreme cases, but I totally understand where you're coming from.

Everyone can use the blacklist for whatever reason. It's their games they are giving away and they have the right to be selective about the entrants.
And here's the cutest kitty gif I could find.

View attached image.

Bump for blacklist train, I tend to blacklist people who don't activate their winnings, regift or create fake giveaways

While you did this in a funny way, it's really a too frequent theme of conversation blacklisting and levels here, in my opinion. I don't think cg means this and I hope he realize his mistake someday.

How do you know you have been blacklisted?

Bump for finally finishing the train. thanks again for the GAs. I don't usually blacklist unless they're a rule breaker or they are extremely rude (resorting to racial/sexist/homophobic slurs) or they're always fighting with someone every time I see them ._.

You've put a lot of thought into your blacklist, and while everyone's blacklist is their own and they can do as they wish, it is nice when someone tells you why they blacklist and you find yourself without criticism and in full support of them.

I was blacklisting for very specific reasons for a while but then I realized I didn't like maintaining the blacklist, so I emptied it out except for one or two people I remembered to be very deserving. Since then I really only add the regifters, the scammers, the people who are nasty to others, and the entitled people.

Bump

Bump