Feedback Abuse Solution

[NightStrike StrikeNight]

Bear with me, this is not going to be simple to digest.

Premise:

• We need negative feedbacks to flag people posting scam giveaways.

Problem:

• Scammers also abuse negative feedback, for instance to try to get multiple keys or perhaps just to troll.

Solution:
This is a multistep process.

1. Hide the key from the winner behind the same "reveal" button used for keys gotten from IG directly.
2. Use the Steam API and the linked Steam account to have a button that activates the key on your linked Steam account before revealing it to you.
   1. If it's a duplicate, auto-negative.
   2. If it works, auto-positive.
   3. If the game is already on the account, verify the name of the game returned by the API. If it's not a match, auto-negative.
   4. In either case, reveal the key AFTER the steam API call returns.
3. Create another button that allows you to access the key directly and forfeit your right to provide negative feedback.

In this solution, the feedback can only be given when Indiegala uses the key on your account on your behalf. This prevents you from being able to lie about the key or otherwise call into question its validity (for instance, by giving it to a friend who claims it doesn't work... too many hands have touched it at that point.) If you already own the key, you still get to provide negative feedback when the key is for the wrong game, since the API can verify this without revealing it to you. If you own the game, and the key is for the right game, then you don't have the ability to fairly test it and so we default to a positive feedback.

Now... there's one more part to this. Sometimes, keys are invalid by mistake. As hard as we try, we are humans, and sometimes we paste the wrong key into the box. We need to give the giveaway maker a chance to make it right. When you open your completed created giveaways, and there's a thumbs down on one, make it clickable and have it open a box that lets the user input a replacement key. Have it follow the same steps as above. Users get one chance to provide a replacement key in this fashion.

That last part is key. There are going to be scammers, and there are going to be mistakes. We can address all of this with the above design.

 

[NightStrike StrikeNight]

Ugh.... those bullets under Solution are supposed to be numbers. That's website bug #1. The 3 "If" bullets and the "In either case" following it are supposed to be indented a level. That's bug #2. Both of those displayed correctly in the editor. Finally, editing this post is completely broken, as it can only load the first few lines. So...... apologies about the formatting. Hopefully, the right people can still get the right idea. It might take some patient reading.

 

[retrobunny2005]

I like the suggestions and IG really needs to do something. The more legit users get ticked off by scammers or people trolling = the less people creating giveaways = less traffic for IG = less profit for them. So really its in their best interest to do something about this too.
2 other quick things I'd like to add
1/It would be nice if a user could delete something they posted and anyone who entered could get their coins back. Or at least delete things in the trade section. I noticed earlier I accidentally posted same game to trade section twice looked around for a way to delete one of them and was confused when there was no way to delete. Best thing I could do was warn in comment section that I posted same thing twice and wait for them to expire which isn't that great a solution.
2. Would be helpful if there was a messaging system for between users other than posting in the forum/trade chat and hoping they see. That way if there was a problem you believed to be a legit mistake you could message the other user and tell them there is a problem before leaving bad feedback.
Anyways that's my 2 cents. I'm in the crowd that doesn't want to do non guarenteed giveaways right now either until the feedback thing is fixed to be more legit.

 

[GoBerserk]

Is it possible to redeem keys directly to Steam anymore? I mean this sounds sort of like what HB was doing for a short while, where you had to have a Steam account linked and the redeem button would put the game on your Steam account without you ever seeing the key. But after a short while Valve said they didn't want that system used which is why HB and anywhere else dropped it. I don't think there's been a way to do that since then.

 

[*****gamer2014]

Or at least base ban's on % like 95+ or so, cause then it wouldn really matter if 1 of 100 give u a fake negative

 

[LightTremorsFantasy]

It is no longer possible to remotely activate keys. Valve removed the option a few years ago. Activations must now be done logged into a client.

 

[NightStrike StrikeNight]

Well darn.... I figured that the same mechanism used by third party tools like ASF that tell you the status of a key could be used for the site.

 

[LightTremorsFantasy]

ASF is an actual Steam network client, albeit a narrowly purposed one designed with only specific functions.