It's not just checking one or two keys, it's pile of them! And I'm really not sure which one is used or not!
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Actually there's absolutely no way to check a Steam key without using it (unless it's a DLC for a game you don't have and even in this case you'd have to use ASF to learn what game is the DLC for).
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i take it you mean use keys you already own to test if they work? right? cause begging can get you banned. sadly this does not work.
steam sees if you own the game before seeing if the key is active or not also there is a chance of activating a game you already own again so testing it can make it inactive.
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As your fellow SG users have helpfully pointed out to you, begging is strictly prohibited on this site. Instead of suspending you, however, I will tell you to edit your comment and remind you that new users should make themselves familiar with our FAQ and Guidelines so as to avoid problems.
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But he was. Making a joke isn't the same as actually begging.
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Whether or not he meant it as a joke is irrelevant. I hope that is clear enough for you.
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Was he referring to the comment that said "Give me a few and ill check." ?
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That's just silly, if he were serious he'd have written something like
"Add me in steam and i can help you but checking a few of the keys with "insert made up way of checking""
or something like that
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That doesn't matter, mostly because otherwise anyone could go around saying "hey, give me free stuff" and then "just kidding" to avoid a suspension. It's also because other users (especially non-native English speakers) may see the comment and assume this is allowed if they didn't understand the joke, resulting in their suspension and claiming that mods are doing a bad job because "[user] can do it but I can't, so it's mod abuse".
It's harsh, but not much of an option in big online communities. If you enforce rules, you either have to be strict or have a clusterfuck in your forum.
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When it's worded like you said then it wouldn't be a joke. The way he worded it was an obvious joke.
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Make invite-only-group with rule "If key is used, winner should agree with giveaway deletion" and make a topic here
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussions/group-recruitment
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Typically people hold private invite only giveaways with members who will agree to a giveaway being deleted if it turns out the keys don't work. You could try doing that.
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Thank you for suggestion, Mihey3Z and Incariuz. It seems the only viable way is make my own group and test all the keys. But then I would be bother alot of times with support guys, to ask them delete the giveaway! I hope they won't think me obnoxious!
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dont forget if you delete a GA you lose 1 GA slot so unless you are near 2000 Ga creation abillity you are going to hit 0 and be unable to make ever a GA again...
Might be worth it to ask support for additional slots, it is possible because devs get also extra slots for the 500+ ga's....
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Dev accounts actually don't have limited GA slots, but yes a normal user can ask for more :)
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Well if he hasn't used most of these keys then hopefully he will get more slots than the ones he'll lose.
But if possible, he should avoid creating GA for games that he owns at the beginning to avoid losing his initial slots.
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If I recall correctly for every 3 that are marked received it is +1 ga slot
A pretty risky gamble if you ask me :)
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yes this is a good idea but tell support whats up.
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It's the side effect of using Groupees, Bundle Stars (Fanatical), Indie Royale, Bunch Keys, and other many bundle websites for years!
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Groupees are actually pretty handy in that there is an option to mark your key as used. Same goes for DIG. HB doesn't have such option but I just don't reveal the ones I already own until I'm giving them away. As for other sites (IG, BS etc.) I just copy all the keys I'm not redeeming myself to a spreadsheet and then mark them as sent out when I do. Yeah, I know it doesn't solve the problem at hand, but may be useful in the future. ;-)
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Same, I never reveal unused keys
And I keep a spreadsheet for keys accidentally revealed or for keys from sites i'm likely to forget their existence in the future
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Didn't check their keys for over 3years to find out last summer that they don't exist anymore...would be curious how many steamkeys I bought there that got lost when they shutdown. :D
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I don't think there is sadly. You could give a random small amount of them away to your whitelist to test the water (with a preface about the possibility of them not working) and see how many work, or in batches; as I'm sure those on your whitelist- or at least most- would read the description and accept deleting the giveaway if they didn't.
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I did think to make them with pre-delete permission description but then I don't wanted to be a irresponsible man! It seems the only way is making my own group or waiting until Valve users to check keys!
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Nah I'm sure the entrants, especially those on your whitelist would just be grateful for the chance & giveaway:) The only way I could see this in a light of irresponsibility is the potential hassle for the SG staff if many end up not working- but that'd be unavoidable if you want to give them away here as gibs.
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There's a nice group for such keys: https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/s1tVq/ninja-retreat-a-group-for-giveaways-of-once-free-games
The rules of the group state:
GA joiners: If the key you get doesn't work, let the GA creator know and give them a chance to provide another key. If they can't, you're obligated to agree to GA deletion. If you don't agree to GA deletion even once, you're out of the group.
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no, this group is for free-games and there're strikes
If the key you give doesn't work, you need to provide another one. If you can't provide another, the winner is still obligated to agree to GA deletion, but this is counted as a strike against you. 3 strikes and you're out of the group
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That's true, but I believe that a GA creator should be reported to the group admins to get a strike, so I wouldn't worry about that too much since the majority of people wouldn't do that. And even so, the only penalty for 3 strikes is to leave the group.
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Well, I wanted to make them as inclusive giveaway but it seems I have no choice! Thank you for letting me know the perfect group for my job!
Wait, there's strike rules for that group! I go back to pondering state!
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The group creator wrote this comment though so I wouldn't worry about the strikes too much: https://www.steamgifts.com/go/comment/UXLb2jj
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I think Ninja retreat is actually the perfect group, because they are usually old keys, so people won't mind if they don't work.
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Well, for the games that you have multiple keys you could create a giveaway for said game and then add the winner and give him/her one key at a time via chat untill one of them works. That way you can shave a few duped keys from your list with minimal risk of having to delete the giveaway.
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what happens if none of his keys work, wouldn't that result in a suspension?
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As many people before mentioned do an invite only(or group only) GAs with it saying that if you join and win and the key doesn't work you agree to deletion of the said GA. I have seen many people do it that way and have no problem :)
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I have some of those too and don't know what to do with my keys. I'd feel bad promising someone for a game then they get an already used key D:
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Can I join your test person (your whitelist).
I will agree to delete the giveaway if the giveaway's key don't work.
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If you have a lot of time on your hands you could create a spreadsheet with every game you've purchased, won or otherwise received (gifts, emails with freebies, etc). Then compare this list to your library - if you have multiple copies on your list, those are the games you'd want to start gifting first (send one key to the winner and if it's duplicated, then the second).
I've been keeping an Excel list for years but occasionally I fall off the record-keeping wagon and send a bad key. At first I did not keep track of the keys (only game names, where I got the from and if I'd redeemed them or gifted them to someone else) but later went back and remedied that. With for example, Groupees, they only later added the function to mark a key as used so when I cleaned up that my keys on that site, I marked them as I added them to my spreadsheet. I also have tabs - keys that I know are good, keys that I've redeemed, keys I've given away or traded.... every-time I create a GA or redeem a key in my library, I move the game to the appropriate tab.
Anyway, you might not be the organized type or care enough to spend the time doing this but it's a thought...
Edit: Well I just checked your profile - with almost 8.8K games, yeah... ignore me :-p
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Make a private group, and post them, with the condition that if the key doesn't work, they have to agree to delete the game.
Ask support for more slots, just in case.
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Everyone else has already recommended making a group, but yeah, in just this thread alone, there seems to be plenty of people who would gladly delete the giveaway if the key doesn't work. An occasional drop in the orphan key drop thread would help too (or you could drop all of them in one message if you really wanted to), although I tend to use that for smaller amounts of keys.
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I guess a group is the best idea so far.
If you post the plain keys most of them will get taken by bots...
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Steam does not let you check the status of a key. However... It depends on what you've done with keys in the past.
If you used them yourself, you can try to redeem the key in Steam and then click the button to send an e-mail. If you get the email, you know you've used that very key on your own account.
If you've given away games on Steamgifts and if you used the key delivery system in SG itself, you can search for the game in your giveaways and view the keys that were given away.
If you sent the keys in chat, or made trades, or whatever... you're gonna have a hard time to figure it out.
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Hi jjj0309
I would just give them out to your steam friends as you have 118 of them and explain key may work or not .
I'm sure they would like them and it would save wasting the keys!!! : )
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i've seen the orphan keys thread somewhere in the forum, you can dump them there, problem solved.
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There's no way to solve your current situation. But, going forward, I would suggest that you use a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. I have an Excel spreadsheet that I host in my OneDrive (with security turned on) so that I can get to it from anywhere. When I put a key in a GA, I mark it as used. When the GA finishes (and the winner confirms the registration), then I update the filter to hide all of the games & keys that have been marked as used. This way, I always know what I have available and what has been given away.
I also have columns for proposed trades, games that do not grant CV, etc. Games that don't return CV usually get put into free GAs for specific groups or just dumped into the orphan keys thread here on SG.
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Just share 'em and they'll be thinned out in no time :) Got a million keys ? No problem, they'll find a home, this is the place.
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Not necessarily, with a user base of 1 million, a large collection of keys is going to find takers pretty fast, regardless of the way you're handing them out, or the quality of the games themselves.
Has anyone heard of a public giveaway that was canceled/deleted because no one was interested ? I think not. Even the games that you can obtain for free elsewhere - in a single click - still get dozens and even hundreds of entries. So, in the present case, the trains just need to start rolling, or a dedicated group like it has been suggested, with a disambiguation that the keys may/or may not work.
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So any plans to make group and make ga for those games?
I want some old bundled games :(
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I have over a thousand, near 2,000 keys that I'm not sure used or not. I want to make giveaway but I'm really not sure if those keys are used or not!
I wish there's way to confirm and check those keys but as far as I know there is no such way!
What should I do? What do I do!? I hope Steam allow users to check keys!
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