The level system on SteamGifts is the worst part of it

I remember when I won FTL: Faster Than Light 5 years ago with 1200+ entries from public steam group without any level requirments - I'm was so happy, as much as when I lost my virginity lol.
Level system is just a bonus which helps to motivate users to giveaway games here and it works fine in my opinion.

Also this is the mean of the site. To win FREE games

That's totally wrong. Meaning of this site is to give away games, not to win them.
Also, nobody forces you to gain levels or even to do giveaways at all. You can pretend levels are not there, change settings to not see giveaways above your levels and ignore levelling system. After all, you said it only gives " 0,000001% more chance", do you are losing nothing

Also yes, you are salty loser.

Would it be inappropriate to mention the many low level users that brag about the specs of their expensive gaming rigs on their Steam profiles?

I have never seen someone brag about how rich they are on this site. I doubt you have either, and that you are making a strange scapegoat. Anybody who actually did that would be considered an ass by most people who witnessed it, not glorified. If anything I find the highest CV level people tend to give away higher quality games, or put in more effort by creating puzzles or other activities to thin the applicants, rather than limit by level.

Your odds of winning do not increase with your contributor level, only your access to restricted giveaways. The restrictions are set by those who are creating their own giveaways, nobody else. As you pointed out, this is a place to win games for free, but that also means we should respect peoples wishes on how they narrow down the entries, within reason.

You could say that the system encourages people to give away low-value games in an effort to increase their contributor value, but in practice people seem far more likely to give away unwanted keys they already came into ownership of. Low-grade giveaways only really help you attain your first few contributor levels, but then become extremely ineffective. You can search giveaways by name, by what is on your wishlist, or what is currently popular (usually revealing higher quality giveaways).

Your proposed system would be abusable, particularly with bots. If anything it would promote more 'garbage' giveaways that people would all deliberately enter in high numbers, so everyone is very unlikely to win, and therefore increase their chances on other giveaways. It would increase the divide between low-level and high-level giveaways.

I have no reason to hate you, even if your opinion seems strangely emotionally centered and doesn't hold up to scrutiny. However, if I were to dislike you in any shape or form, it would be because you automatically assumed that people with the highest CV levels are rich, and therefore their willing participation is 'not generous'. Openly appraising and scoffing at others based on assumption does not speak well of you. Belittling a good gesture based on your projection alone is just unnecessarily judgemental and shortsighted.

just start or join a group. public giveaways even at high levels have a crap %. if you look at anyone who wins alot it's because they are in a group.

the system has worked for this long so no reason to mess with it when other sites like this are all gone.

Levels are bad, cause they encourage to brag about Your status and people give any trash, because of that

Frankly, I don't remember seeing anyone bragging about their level The only thing I use level for is as an indication of how someone is used to how the site works. In particular, when I give a game that is "Steam API restricted", I usually set the GA to a high level, because I assume those people are more likely to check their library before revealing the key (or even better even though I really don't mind rerolling, to not enter the GA at all in the first place if they already own the game). It's not 100%, but IMO it still saves trouble.
Other than the case of Steam API restricted games, I vary my level requirements depending on how much I feel in the mood of dealing with trouble delivering the key. Again, it's not 100% reliable, but I feel it's globally reasonable to assume that someone who's run a thousand GAs (or a bunch of high value GAs) will, on average, be more sensitized to how inconvenient it is to have a winner sitting on a key for a week (even though it technically is legit), be more understanding if - God forbids - the key happens to not work, etc.

I feel that people will hate me so much. Just because I have an opinion, that prolly differs from theirs.

Coming from a country where most people literally hate anyone they qualify as "rich" (seriously, it's a cultural trait that our sociologists pretty much all agree with), I understand your point. But, meh, I differ indeed.

Being rich and giving away expensive stuff isn't being generous

It's still more generous that not giving anything, though ;) But anyway, just like I don't remember seeing people bragging about their level, I don't remember seeing people bragging about being generous. And actually, I remember some philosopher, I think, who argued that giving stuff while bragging about it is precisely not generous (to a way bigger extent than giving stuff while being rich to the point that what you give is "light" compared to your riches).
As I view it (cf my first point), the SG level isn't a generosity marker or contest, though.

I can't figure out what you're trying to do here.
You can't complain that your winning chances are too low when, from what I can see, you've mostly idled your wins.
You can't complain that "rich members" brag when they don't and when you have almost 2k games in your account, though that doesn't necessarily equate to being rich.
If it's attention you're seeking, I guess you must be happy now.
Like many have said, you can join GA groups to filter out a part of the community or the trash games.
A perfect system does not exist because there's always going to be dissatisfied members who think it doesn't meet their needs.
Give what you can and be grateful for what you win. That's all there is to it, really.

Have you ever seen games on steam that was made for this site? No? But they are existing. A few developers sell their own games for 1$ for 10-50 keys. Each game itself cost 30-50$, this games are completly scrap, but really a good and very unfair way to level up here. (NOT sure if the steam have allready delated some of them). The system here is not perfekt.

Rich huh? I'm level 7, and I'm probably the furthest from being rich of anyone I know.
Seriously, I can only afford like $10-15 a month on entertainment, anything beyond that is me being an idiot with my limited money. But I like giving away nice games, and thanks to bundles and sales I'm able to do that every so often. Has nothing to do with having a lot of money, has everything to do with enjoying making someone else's day just a little bit better.

I am not rich but I've been active here for a year and I sent 14200 Keys,
I am not lvl 10! I'm not looking forward to
I know I'll never win half Games,
yet why did I send so many Ga? this ist munificence ,
"Give if you can, even if you don't get CV points for it"
the experience itself is a hobby,
I'll never wait to win, If i win this Gift for me, and not for something in return

Chance to win? oh yeah search for Ga groups
there you are more likely to win,,don't enter if 1000 people have entered

how much does it cost me? much less than you think:)

Your issue isn't with the actual system, it's with the people and how they use it.
The level system is not changing the odds for people to win a particular giveaway, it's not like people with a higher level have better odds than those with a lower level on a giveway.
People are restricting their giveaways in various ways based on what they feel is appropriate. They use puzzles, groups, custom sgtools gates, levels, whitelists or might even just make links to private giveaways and hand them to people they want to participate.

I think your view is flawed from the beginning, which gives you an erroneous outlook on the remainder.

The site is not for winning free games, it's for giving away games you don't want for whichever reason. The winning is the means of how those unwanted keys are distributed, not the basic point of the site.
On top of that there has grown a community of people who buy games only for the site, or buy bigger bundles, etc, than they need to get extra keys to giveaway here. And if you do that persistently you'll slowly limb the level ladder. But higher level does not give anyone a greater chance to win a particular giveaway - it merely gives you access to giveaways that have a higher lever requirement, where an joiner will share the same chance of winning as everybody else.
And like you yourself said, high levelers have had to work hard, or pay much to get where they are, that's usually the reason the higher leves giveaways even exist at all. I seriously doubt there would be as many good games given if we were all level zeroes as I believe a lot of people would feel that freeloaders would take the keys, with or without bots.
Is the system perfect? No, not by a long shot. But I believe it's one of the better solutions to please most of us most of the time.

Being rich and giving away expensive stuff isn't being generous. Cause You just give leftovers of Your money. Giving away things when You have less, that's generosity. As the evangellion says (it doesn't matter if You believe or not; that's just the truth told): the richman who gives 1000 gold coins gave less than a poor guy, who gave just one, because that one coin is all he has.
Well.... You are right so far that giving everything you have is probably more generous than giving a bit of what you have, but is it not generous still? And isn't giving all your coins away a bit ridiculous, you'll probably starve now and can never give again, so your only contribution is that one gift? And you need to ask yourself what good the 1 gold coin does compared to the 1000 gold coins. This is an argument about who can enter paradise after dying on earth (if you believe in that sort of thing), not one about if your gifts gets people happy or not. And to boot, that is a silly argument that only works as long as you are the underdog, looking ''up'' the chain - I somehow seriously doubt that you even thought about looking ''down'' the same chain, you'd probably see quite a lot of people who thinks you are the rich one, that you are not giving all you could either, which makes you no different from the people you accuse of bragging.

the system is good because every giveaway creator can decide on their own how to give the game and to which user level.
it is not about bragging. it is about rewarding generous people. your giveaway, your rules. simple.

Whoa, so many assumptions, sweeping generalizations, and plain wrongness in that post, that it must take the cake for this week?

OP is not mistaken when they say SG incentivizes CV farming, though the rant is missing quid-pro-quo groups which are a crucial part of it.

As for shovelware from bundlers the like of Bunch of Keys, DIG and so on, I only look at public GAs through the wishlist filter so I'm not personally impacted by it.

Level 8, yeah i i must be so rich, dunno why i am "forced" to live with my parents really..

Making assumptions will rarely end well and should generally be avoided. How one sees the site is personal opinion and if you see it as a site to win free games that is okay. However, extrapolating this view on others is wrong. For me, this site is about giving away games I enjoyed and make other people enjoy these games as well. Or more it has been in the past. With the changes in the gifting system of Steam it has become rather difficult to do this. But still, the games I give away so people can play them and enjoy them. And this is were my problem with Steamgifts has always been: Many people win games not to play them but for ..... don't know .... have them? Or even worse, for some cents from cards (I like the Trading Cards in general, not how people abuse a system for some cents).

Well, looking at it from a wider perspective I think my general problem is with human "nature": Winning games to not play them, exploiting Steam gifting system so much that Steam had to change the storing system, etc...

Also I'm tired about arguments about people being too poor to afford giveaways. If people don't want to make them it is their choice but they should be clean about it and not make up arguments. Because often when people say they don't have money to afford giveaways they magically have: A Pc which can handle the latest AAA games, thousands of unplayed Steam games (even a lot of expensive ones) and enough money to still buy alcohol and cigarettes in real life.

But as you seem to have skipped for now engaging in any discussion it seems that you are not interested in other opinions. And to make an assumption (ignoring my initial sentence) you probably only wanted people agreeing with you and you would probably go even as far as interpreting the backslash as "proving your point".

TLDR: Problem is not the system but how people/community (ab)use it.

PS: Such a "desperation" system could easily be exploited. If you win something just enter fast some giveaways you are not interested and raise the chance again. If such a system shall work there has to be some balance between "risk and reward".

no hidden giveaway :(

This post reeks of hypocrisy, complaining, downright lies and a few good points. Let's dig in.

Also this is the mean of the site. To win FREE games.

I mean... no. It's a site where you make giveaways and enter in giveaways. You take away the crucial 50% of the meaning which literally drives the other 50%. There are no giveaways to win if there's no one to make them.

So basically, You can't be mad at people who want to get games for free. No, You can't.

No one is mad at them. The ones who get hate are the ones who take, don't give and then complain about the CV system or something else that is prohibiting them from getting even more games.

Because first of all, it encourages RICH people to brag about how they are reach. /.../ Why is someone, who probably earn so many many money better or more entitled to win games, than someone who earn less?

Lol, even a dollar is considered rich now? Alright, fair enough. I'm fucking loaded, it seems.

If you haven't got a buck to chip in, then don't. No one's forcing you. But to pretend that a dollar's suddenly the epitome of wealth is so dishonest, it's unreal. Just like if you go to a "pay-what-you-want" restaurant/event, you can pay nothing, but realize that you've taken something while not giving it. You get free shit, yet here you are saying "Waah, I'm not getting enough", while giving away games and winning giveaways that you got away for contributing... my lord, this is hypocritical and just downright shameful.

If you earn less, then you can give less or nothing at all. The site's free and the majority of total giveaways are for lvl 0 & 1. Or is giving away a 25 cent game too much as well? If so, then lvl 0 giveaways are still the most numerous on this site.

But the main problem is... why You should pay 5000 $ to just have 0,000001% more chance to win a game. /.../ You have to pay that 5000 dollars to BUY those games with 100% chance of getting them.

Because you've contributed to the system. You've kept the site going, so you're given a chance at entering giveaways that other users have voluntarily restricted to higher levels.

You don't have to pay $5000. I mean, you can do it, of course. You can go full retard and buy games at even twice the price, if you want to. But that $5000 is when you buy games at full price on Steam. Why you'd do that is your own business, but you yourself know that you get a shitload of CV for bundles and discounted games. You yourself take advantage of this. How can you do something while also pretending that it's some alien concept for you?

Also current system encourages people to give away trash games. or the ones given away for free.

One man's trash is another's treasure. Fuck this general attitude of "I don't like it, so it's trash". You have to have some balls to look at a free offering and say "it's trash". Learn to filter your feed. It's easy. But I guess it's really rough for you to have to actually put in effort.

Free games give no CV, so there's literally no incentive to give free games. But I mean, it's easier to just lie, right?

Also, I used to think that giving free games is useless too. But then I found out that some people just don't have access to free game giveaways. So those people can now enter in the giveaways for what they couldn't snag. Why are you so against that people get a chance at getting them?

This statement shows how fucking cocky you are in what you give away. "I bought the most valuable games by myself", you say, all smug and shit. The fact is that you mainly only give away your own bundle refuse that you just didn't want. Also, who the shit doesn't buy the games they give away? "Ah yes, I'll have you know, I personally eat all the food I consume!". Applause for breathing all your air yourself... jeesh.
I won't shittalk what you've given, unlike you. I'm glad you're so fond of the smell of your own farts though.

Or from bundles.

You mean like almost everything you've given? Yeah, god forbid that happened. I mean, people can't/won't buy something and have a chance at winning it instead... that's bad, since it's sold at a discount. Of course.

I mean, for real. Who are you shittalking here? You do the same stuff. How self-absorbed are you?

You just give whatever You have unneeded, probably some leftover from Bundle or other crappy deal. It's okay when they are good games. But what if they are just random crap? And that's the case usually.

Yeah... since people have different tastes. I said I won't shittalk what you've given, but screw it. Everything you've given away is total garbage. Does this mean you're also the perpetrator and are now the problem? No. Because I can say and think what I want, but other people also have their own brains. Let them like what they like. You have no right to pretend that their tastes are shit. Well, you have the right... you're just a total asshole for doing this.

Every time You didn't win the giveaway, You get slightly higher chance to win in next one. When You finally win the game, the bonus is reset.

I like this system for winning games. But there's no incentive to give. Or are we still pretending that you only give for the fuzzy feeling in your belly when an orphan smiles when getting a Steam key for "Holy Potatoes We're in Space!?" and just ignore all the games you won solely because you made giveaways?

You would rather wait for something better, then just win random stuff.

Nah, yeah... Can we now point out that you almost always only farm cards from your wins and actually play less than 10% of all your wins based on your stats? Or do we have to ignore your hypocrisy because you did the brave thing of going against the system?
Seriously though... 70% of games have gametime (surprise enough, almost all are games with trading cards and the unplayed ones are the ones without them) while you have gotten at least 1 achievement on only 3.88% of your wins...

For real, practice what you preach and don't be so arrogant, if you criticize something.

New ongoing SG comic series.

THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN… Before he was cg, he was John -- a boy stolen from his parents and conscripted into the SG program.

View attached image.

View attached image.

Can't say I agree with this post... Thankfully, so many before me already explained why in great detail.

Yeah, I agree. The leveling and CV system is something that I personally very much dislike - it creates drama and a sense of elitism. It especially sucks because, contrary to what the community makes it look like at times, this site's core purpose is to give away games. It honestly saddens me.