Subs
New member
- Messages
- 8
- Points
- 3
To whoever wants to read this:
So, I've been quite a while being active in IG giveaways. The experience seems to be worsening every month for the close to 1 year I've been putting my points into work (4 wins, 34 giveaways created).
I've read in this forum that it's not allowed to create giveaways for other platforms that are not Steam. The number of GOG giveaways is increasing a lot this year. And even some users explicitly ask you to not report them because IndieGala doesn't allow GOG giveaways. "Hey buddy, I'm gonna break the rules, but don't be a snitch".
I've read in this forum that playtest or beta-only versions of the games are not allowed. Everytime AWA or someone throws away some playtest keys, inevitably some end up here, for 1 point, many not even mentioning they are playtest, that will not magically convert to the whole game once it's released.
I think there was a third case but I don't remember it because these things aren't where they should be: Giveaways — IndieGala help & documentation portal 1.2 documentation
Not a trace of that stuff there, just "Steam keys", but nothing explicitly forbidding GOG giveaways or playtest or anything remotely related.
(As a note I don't think time-restrained keys should be banned, like "redeem before July 18, 2026 because Humble Bundle said so", as long as the giveaway maker gives enough time for the user to come and check their wins and activate them. Let's say, a week, ten days?)
Now I'm seeing one more problem, which seem to have surged recently. Region locked keys. So you're watching a page with 20 giveaways and enter the ones you want. Not safe anymore. That "join" button there is worse than useless, it's dangerous, and with region locks it's worse than ever. If you have to enter the giveaway to know that it's not a playtest (in case you're not in the flow about which playtest games are being given away, to know that it's a GOG game, and now to know you will be able to activate it, then remove the button, it will, first, make you waste points for something you might not want in the form of a GOG game or playtest, but also you might end with a key that you can't activate and you can't make a giveaway of it, you can't trade, and you can't auction, something I've read here too but can't find the post, and also it's not in the giveaway page in Docs.
Solutions? Suggestions? I have a few ideas, feel free to add yours if you want, or constructive criticism, arguments against this or that. (Sorry for not making an unordered list, it works weird here.)
First of all, remove the "join" button from the giveaways browsing page until you've sorted out the rules and added those two fundamental things that are missing from the docs. This will force people to open the giveaway pages to enter them, and at least give them a chance to know that the giveaway is not what the user thought it was, and read "I know I can't make this giveaway, but here I go anyway, btw, don't report me, yeah" which is ridiculous and not fun anymore.
Add the two fundamental things that are missing in the docs: with what and what not you can make a giveaway with, and what you can do and not do with a won key. And where you create a new giveaway, post a short paragraph mentioning what kind of giveaways you can't make, and possible consequences; with a link to the giveaways Docs page. A similar paragraph could be at the top of all "giveaways won" pages, telling the user what they can and can't do with the key. There could even be a check mark (which I've seen in other places, not related to gaming) that you understand those rules and your giveaway/win will comply with them. No marked check, no "create giveaway" button to press, just as when you're missing things when creating it.
And this is a work for all of users: report more. People don't report because I think people will blacklist them, thus having access to less giveaways which might be legit and valuable. I understand that, hence my next suggestion.
We need a "report" button in the giveaway page. Something anonymous to everyone but admins, so reporting feels safe. Click the button, someone checks the giveaway, and deletes it, or warns/punishes the creator, or warns/punishes the reporter for absolutely being berserk about reporting dozens of perfectly legit giveaways from the same user just out of spite.
First the number of reports will be higher, but people will be more aware of the rules and will not want to break them. When the number of reports goes down, then it's proof that people are not creating non-legit giveaways like before. There will always be reports - someone who doesn't read that paragraph, new users carelessly doing things without checking how to properly do them, etc. But then you can re-add the "join" button to the browsing pages because with a bit of effort and some changes this can transform from "it could be good, but..." to "it's good certainly" giveaway system.
(Side note: I never reported anyone. At first I thought the userbase would be enough, but as time prove that it wasn't, I did not bother because I already saw too many cracks in a system that doesn't need more reporters, but a better approach.)
Not to be dramatic, these are just my ideas and constructive criticism (I hope it's constructive), which also shows why for me (not talking about anyone else, just me) IndieGala Giveaways is not fun anymore. It's a headache I suffer half of the days, at least. So for certain reasons I'm not disclosing openly, those headaches and frustration and other things lean the balance to the "leave now, it's not worth for me" side. So I'm not watching this thread for replies. Say whatever you want. IG admins/mods, do whatever you want, there's a solid base to get to a much better giveaway system with, I think, little effort. But I might be wrong. Often I am. Maybe in a few months I'll return, maybe I'll throw myself out of the window, maybe I scratch my cat's head while concocting a plan to take over the world. Who knows what awaits ahead. I've just talked about what I see and think today.
Everyone, have fun, good luck, and whatever your situation is, I hope it improves. There's always room for improvements. Take care.
So, I've been quite a while being active in IG giveaways. The experience seems to be worsening every month for the close to 1 year I've been putting my points into work (4 wins, 34 giveaways created).
I've read in this forum that it's not allowed to create giveaways for other platforms that are not Steam. The number of GOG giveaways is increasing a lot this year. And even some users explicitly ask you to not report them because IndieGala doesn't allow GOG giveaways. "Hey buddy, I'm gonna break the rules, but don't be a snitch".
I've read in this forum that playtest or beta-only versions of the games are not allowed. Everytime AWA or someone throws away some playtest keys, inevitably some end up here, for 1 point, many not even mentioning they are playtest, that will not magically convert to the whole game once it's released.
I think there was a third case but I don't remember it because these things aren't where they should be: Giveaways — IndieGala help & documentation portal 1.2 documentation
Not a trace of that stuff there, just "Steam keys", but nothing explicitly forbidding GOG giveaways or playtest or anything remotely related.
(As a note I don't think time-restrained keys should be banned, like "redeem before July 18, 2026 because Humble Bundle said so", as long as the giveaway maker gives enough time for the user to come and check their wins and activate them. Let's say, a week, ten days?)
Now I'm seeing one more problem, which seem to have surged recently. Region locked keys. So you're watching a page with 20 giveaways and enter the ones you want. Not safe anymore. That "join" button there is worse than useless, it's dangerous, and with region locks it's worse than ever. If you have to enter the giveaway to know that it's not a playtest (in case you're not in the flow about which playtest games are being given away, to know that it's a GOG game, and now to know you will be able to activate it, then remove the button, it will, first, make you waste points for something you might not want in the form of a GOG game or playtest, but also you might end with a key that you can't activate and you can't make a giveaway of it, you can't trade, and you can't auction, something I've read here too but can't find the post, and also it's not in the giveaway page in Docs.
Solutions? Suggestions? I have a few ideas, feel free to add yours if you want, or constructive criticism, arguments against this or that. (Sorry for not making an unordered list, it works weird here.)
First of all, remove the "join" button from the giveaways browsing page until you've sorted out the rules and added those two fundamental things that are missing from the docs. This will force people to open the giveaway pages to enter them, and at least give them a chance to know that the giveaway is not what the user thought it was, and read "I know I can't make this giveaway, but here I go anyway, btw, don't report me, yeah" which is ridiculous and not fun anymore.
Add the two fundamental things that are missing in the docs: with what and what not you can make a giveaway with, and what you can do and not do with a won key. And where you create a new giveaway, post a short paragraph mentioning what kind of giveaways you can't make, and possible consequences; with a link to the giveaways Docs page. A similar paragraph could be at the top of all "giveaways won" pages, telling the user what they can and can't do with the key. There could even be a check mark (which I've seen in other places, not related to gaming) that you understand those rules and your giveaway/win will comply with them. No marked check, no "create giveaway" button to press, just as when you're missing things when creating it.
And this is a work for all of users: report more. People don't report because I think people will blacklist them, thus having access to less giveaways which might be legit and valuable. I understand that, hence my next suggestion.
We need a "report" button in the giveaway page. Something anonymous to everyone but admins, so reporting feels safe. Click the button, someone checks the giveaway, and deletes it, or warns/punishes the creator, or warns/punishes the reporter for absolutely being berserk about reporting dozens of perfectly legit giveaways from the same user just out of spite.
First the number of reports will be higher, but people will be more aware of the rules and will not want to break them. When the number of reports goes down, then it's proof that people are not creating non-legit giveaways like before. There will always be reports - someone who doesn't read that paragraph, new users carelessly doing things without checking how to properly do them, etc. But then you can re-add the "join" button to the browsing pages because with a bit of effort and some changes this can transform from "it could be good, but..." to "it's good certainly" giveaway system.
(Side note: I never reported anyone. At first I thought the userbase would be enough, but as time prove that it wasn't, I did not bother because I already saw too many cracks in a system that doesn't need more reporters, but a better approach.)
Not to be dramatic, these are just my ideas and constructive criticism (I hope it's constructive), which also shows why for me (not talking about anyone else, just me) IndieGala Giveaways is not fun anymore. It's a headache I suffer half of the days, at least. So for certain reasons I'm not disclosing openly, those headaches and frustration and other things lean the balance to the "leave now, it's not worth for me" side. So I'm not watching this thread for replies. Say whatever you want. IG admins/mods, do whatever you want, there's a solid base to get to a much better giveaway system with, I think, little effort. But I might be wrong. Often I am. Maybe in a few months I'll return, maybe I'll throw myself out of the window, maybe I scratch my cat's head while concocting a plan to take over the world. Who knows what awaits ahead. I've just talked about what I see and think today.
Everyone, have fun, good luck, and whatever your situation is, I hope it improves. There's always room for improvements. Take care.