I just got informed that some idiot has leaked giveaways from my puzzle and spammed the links around. Since he uses a fake profile there's no way to track his real SG profile, I'm already blacklisting a few suspicious entry, but cannot do much more than that.
First thing that came to my mind was to delete everything, but maybe it would not be fair to people that actually solved the puzzles...so what do you think?

EDIT: I'm surprised so many people voted for deleting, I think I'll find an alternate way then: let's pretend the giveaways lasted a week less, everyone that joined before today is legitimate, everyone who didn't, well...I'll blacklist them, and ask for a re-roll. If there are too many illegitimate entries, I'll just delete the giveaways and make whitelist ones (whitelisting people that already entered).
I know that's not great for people that maybe saved the links and thought to join later, but still...fault is on the leaker.

EDIT#2: since the non-legit entries are way more than the legit ones, I'm deleting all giveaways and blacklisting everyone who entered after the leak.

9 years ago*

Comment has been collapsed.

What should I do?

View Results
Delete all giveaways, so people will learn.
Leave it be, there's still enough honest people around.
You learned your lesson: don't do puzzles again.

Now that I had the chance to think more cold-blooded (not even sure this kind of sentence make sense in English, but let's say I'm more calm now), I think I found a pretty honest solution.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Not trying to be like grammar dick or anything but since you say you're not sure it makes sense... "cold-blooded" means lacking compassion. Usually used to describe murderers ._.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Well let's just say my blood was not cold when I wrote that :D

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

then you were hot-headed! :D:

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

so you were aiming for level headed

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

sorry to hear this

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eiZMWZF8kA

Seriously though, that blows. I don't understand the point of doing that... he's actually sabotaging his chances to win. Maybe it's someone who's mad at you. I don't know. I don't understand people.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I think the same, makes real no sense otherwise

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Damn! I knew there was something fishy going around.

I entered CuzWeLoveFreeStuff group page and saw someone posted like 8 giveaways. I entered the links and they were yours but the dude posting them was not you. They were private (invite only). I thought that maybe you just had different username on Steam and you just changed your avatar but now that you posted this it all makes sense. I entered only one giveaway but I'm going to leave now so that I know it was for people who solved the puzzle. Man, that's messed up. Sorry to hear that happened. The dude who leaked those links is a fucking idiot.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Sorry Dunther. After all the work creating a puzzle involves, this must be a really big disappointment for you :(
Please keep making puzzles. These set of puzzles are very original and really difficult to solve. I would like to see more of them in the future, I had a lot of fun.

Maybe you can add some kind of code to the solution of each puzzle and if the winner don't know that code ask for a reroll, as bobofatt said. That way, only people who solved the puzzles would have the code and could prove they actually solved it.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Well I would understood it if someone just somehow got to the giveaways without solving the puzzles, like shared answers or something...it happens all the times, pretty sure it happened last year too, but this is more than that since he just spams the links around.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

some people are still entering,the numbers are rising

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Let them do it, they'll just get re-rolled/blacklisted.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

for me the best solution is to delete these giveaways.they might be ppl that solved the puzzles but didn't enter yet because they need the points and the giveaways end in a week.i didn't solve these ones but i constantly do things like that and enter just a day before the GA ends.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

pro-tip for future - if you solve a puzzle, find hidden GA etc and don't want to enter immediatelly - just comment on it ;) This way Puzzle-maker will know when you actually reached it - as like you said it may be different from when you entered it ;)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

+1, also I know it's an unfair solution but it is an unfair problem to begin with

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That... really sucks. The puzzles were cool, and must've taken some time to set up. If someone ever finds out who did it, I hope that person gets banhammered off the site permanently for being a not-cool spoilsport..

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Luckily I would've done the video in any case, that montage consumed a lot of time

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I really enjoyed + spent a good amount of time on your video puzzle and it was very fun (expect more puzzles from you) so how someone leak links instead of letting society enjoy the solving

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

When I first found https://steamcommunity.com/groups/lowcygier these giveaways in the comment section, I thought maybe someone of his friend put it there ,he is an asshole and should be banned from steamgifts . I have removed my entries from all of your giveaways. He is called eNdless .Im feeling sry for you because you spent some time making the puzzles.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

this eNdless is sadly just a fake alt account - not linked to any account on SG. Leaker just made it not to get caught leaking :/

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 5 years ago.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I hadn't gotten around to your thread or puzzle yet, but I guess there is no point for me to now.
Not everyone who could join anymore is necessarily blacklist worthy, but I can sure see how the leak wrecked knowing who wouldn't be.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

i saw the link on https://steamcommunity.com/groups/communitychat and joined the giveaway, i didn't know about the puzzle :/

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

np, I added a disclaimer now

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

i removed the entries, i will try to solve your puzzle :)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That really sucks, I never even went back and did the normal one either. I was actually the first to enter in Surgeon Simulator though and that's the one I wanted most. In the end if it gets to be to much trouble I'd just delete the giveaways.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Sad to hear that.
Really dumb that somebody would do that.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Aww that sucks since I spent a few hours to complete your puzzles. Cheaters will always be losers.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

If you joined/commented my GAs before today nothing different for you ^^

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Funny thing is I joined one of your GA earlier today since I forgot to enter it and left it bookmarked, but I have commented on it a week ago so I guess it's fine :)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I'll do my best to double-check every winner

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Damn.... so sorry this happened to you, Dunther =/ People are such assholes sometimes.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

there are some people who solve the puzzle and deliver the giveaway link in a X group , there are many giveaway, that solvers are always the same , and it means difficult for that person know everything about everything ( sorry my english )

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

you musk keep in mind that there are also quite a few ppl who are simply extremely good at solving puzzles, simple as that ;) seeing the same faces in every puzzle doesn't necessary mean they shared answers with each other. back in my more active puzzle days I made some extremely hard puzzles - some were getting zero solvers, some were getting 1-2 and if something got more than 10 solvers it ment I screwed up. And mostly all these puzzles were solved but the same group of 10-20 ppl - and they didn't share answers/links with each other. They used to talk with me about what an asshole I am, where they are stuck, what they tried etc. The sole reason they were in every goddamn puzzle was they were just so good at solving them ;)

Also as for knowing everything about everything - you don't have to. You may google 99% of answers to all the puzzles if you are good/dedicated enough. I've had ppl who never watched a single anime solving anime music puzzles - they tried writing down what they heard in lyrics and finding titles this way.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It really sucks that someone would do such a thing, I mean, it seriously makes no sense, what does he/ she hope to accomplish by leaking the link?

Either way, I'm not sure if the solution you came up with is the best one, mostly because of this rule from the FAQ: If the user entered one of your giveaways prior to being blacklisted, their entry still remains valid. In this case all the people who joined via the leaked links have joined prior to being blacklisted so I don't think that support would provide re-rolls.

In my opinion, deleting them is quite necessary and recreating them as whitelist giveaways idea sounds like the best option to me.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

bobofatt
(Moderator)

Was going to PM you about it, I deleted his post on the SG Group wall.

You could request a re-roll with "leaked giveaway" if a winner was someone who entered after the giveaway ended, and didn't solve the puzzle. You could ask the winner to prove they solved the puzzle, or ask them some questions from it.

or

If you're not using a whitelist, you could whitelist everyone who had entered already and re-create the giveaways as whitelist giveaways.

^This was posted by bobofatt on the 1st page, so i think it's safe. ;)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Ah, I see now, re-rolling should work then. I had somehow missed that post.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Ya, i figured as much. ;)
And i know you were trying to help, like the rest of us, i myself would've been on the fence, if not for bobofatt's post. :)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The only thing he accomplishes is to damage (errhh not really) me and the legit solvers

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I suggest to post inside your GA links to this thread because some people is hmmm lazy ?? to read about puzzle solving and entering even writing "thanks" (facepalm) but if they saw one more link maybe they will go there thinking it is other GA and finally read, that they are not eligible to enter those GA
Wanted to ask one of the user "user/noodlesinsoup" why he entered GA even if there was written not to enter, because liked his profile, 7 years everything is looking awesome, find out he is chinese and don't speak english even with google translator LoL how he find out how to enter this links? (thought I think he just pretend because there clearly english language wishlist and written stuff on his profile)

9 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I wrote to not enter if they didn't solve the puzzle ;)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

they not read just enter, well bad for them

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

and that's exactly how blacklists grow so large :D: if entrant is too lazy to read GA description and end up not following it - he damn well deserves a blacklist spot ;p

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I thought maybe they just not aware what that mean "If you not solved puzzle not enter" because not everybody know what it is , but anyway, don't know why it is happened., why to share this links, did he want to make everybody who was not aware and entered be banned somehow was he fired and dumped by girl :P

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

blacklista i tizi sospetti, gli ultimi entrati.. e rerolla di conseguenza (dovrebbe anche esserci la motivazione 'leaked')
peccato per chi effettivamente ha risolto davvero i puzzle di recente :(

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Parecchio ingiusto nei loro confronti, ma sempre meglio che togliere tutto

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

noto solo ora che ti è toccato cancellarli.. tutto per un dannato imbecille..

spero tu lo abbia già segnalato al supporto, un bel ban se lo merita... :(

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Non c'è modo di scoprire chi sia stato purtroppo, ha creato un profilo falso appositamente

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

quindi stronzo, oltre che imbecille...
che gente insulsa c'è in giro....

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Definitely do not delete your giveaway and be penalized a giveaway slot for some others idiocy. Ask for a re-roll and try to judge a good winner based off what Bobofatt said. I most certainly would not take losing a giveaway slot because of someone that didn't follow the rules.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

To be honest I don't really care about GA slots, I have more than enough to re-do everything and still have some slots, but yeah

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That is true, but still losing slot is just meh to me if it was not my fault. But if you do not care, best solution would be to re-do them and instead of getting link to invite from solving puzzle, solvers get placed on Whitelist and make giveaway that way.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It really depends ;) when I got above 30 GA slots I really stopped caring about losing just one for deleting GA. Now with 261 Slots I care even less ;)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Guess I can forget about going back to them, lol. I had almost forgotten about this puzzle.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Sorry to hear that.

These idiots make me angry.
You put some effort to create nice puzzles and someone just comes and messes up everything.

I don't know which is the best solution.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

what if someone solved your puzzles, then bookmarked the giveaways for the next day to wait for points regeneration? if winner, could i send a screenshot of the solved itstoohard pages?

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

edit: nevermind, there are too many hints on the giveaway pages for someone to reverse engineer solve the puzzles. thanks anyway! :)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

true...didn't think of that, sorry

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

as puzzle-leaks happen from time to time good thing to do is to always comment on GA the moment you get to it. Then it doesn't matter if you bookmark it to enter later, don't have points atm or just want to wait till it's closer to finish - you have a hard proof you solved it before leak if leak would happen ;)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

This is a good point. Plus, it's just nice to say hi and read posts about which questions other people struggled with.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

yeah, that's a great idea. if i comment, i usually do it when i enter, but for puzzles, i guess now i know it's better to comment immediately. thanks for the tip! man, link leakers really mess up the entire philosophical game theory of everything here.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yep, so I've noticed. Was posted on FGF's group page. Banned him for a month, but now that I know more about this, a permanent ban + group kick is more appropriate.

I really can't understand why anyone would do such a thing. Whichever way you look at it, this is a losing situation for the leaker. They break the rules, they get a lower chance of winning the said giveaways, but most importantly, they just screw up the puzzle or private giveaway.

The only conclusion I can come up with is that they want to be jerks. Why? That's beyond my thoughts.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The profile he used isn't even registered here :)

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yeah, that's really too bad. I wish there was a way to backtrack to the leaker's account.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

contact Steam for cross-IP-check with other registered accounts? :D:

<irony off>

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Steam? Why, my good man, let's just directly drop a line to our beloved friend Gabe Logan Newell, shall we? This will be much quicker.
Cue old times music
Old silent movie text card

The two gentlemen call their good old friend

Cue music goes on

"Alas, we are out of change for a call!"

Fin

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Tears of laughter. Oh, the tears!

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like games. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

9 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Closed 8 years ago by Dunther.