***THE CONTEST IS CLOSED. ALL PRIZES ARE AWARDED***

Thank you all for participating. :)

I'll start with the distribution of prizes tomorrow, need some time to chew a few numbers about the answers, and choose the best title and suggestion. ZPavelZ seems to be unavailable, so the responsibility of the election falls on me...

Good luck to you all! (you all deserve it, wish I had a prize for everyone).

EDIT: There will be a delay. It seems that perhaps random.org is not truly random?
EDIT2: Random.org is is truly random. Here we go!

----------------

My dream is a constantly updated thread that forum members will visit regularly to keep track of all the giveaways that are occurring, a thread that the creators of giveaways used to promote their contests, knowing that there will gain much attention as possible to their initiatives.

This dream is possible. The How does one make a gift? (aka "Gifting on GOG for dummies") thread (from now, giveaways listing thread) existed for some time, thanks to the ingenuity and the continued effort of its creator, ZPavelZ. He explains here why we have to choose between rename the current thread or make a new one (if it seems more convenient).

THE RULES:

1. To enter the giveaway, you must answer the following survey in THIS thread (even though you don't be interested in entering the contest, please answer the questions, if not too much trouble. The more participation, the better for all. Hint: Milestone prizes!):

-A) Did you know about the giveaway listing thread previously?
-B) Will you begin/continue to use the thread. If yes, why? If no, why?
-C) Do you think the name of the thread should be changed so that its purpose of advertising giveaways is more obvious? If yes, why? If no, why?
-D) Or do you think a separate thread is more convenient for "giveaway advertising" leaving the former to its original purpose as a FAQ on gifting? If yes, why? If no, why?

Optional questions (but I recommend you participate, the best for each category will receive a special prize -see 4th point-). You can make as many suggestions as you like:
-E) Suggest the thread's new name, if you think the change is necessary:
-F) Any suggestions / constructive criticism to improve it?

I really appreciate honest answers. Flattery will not help the purpose of gathering feedback from the community, and let me assure you that nobody will be excluded by express criticism (hopefully in a well-reasoned and civil way)

2. The games will be drawn (random.org) among those who respond to the survey. The winners will be notified by PM on the order in the resulting list of the draw and can choose between games not yet awarded.

3. In order not to paralyze the award, if someone does not respond within 2 working days, lose his/her turn for the following list entries of the draw, at least until they contact me by PM.

4. If participation in the survey is sufficiently high (so you know, spread the word!), there will be special prizes at the end of the contest:
- Milestone prizes, if the thread reaches a number (25, 50 & 100) of surveys completed (random.org again).
- Prize for best suggestion
- Prize for best new title
In the last 2 cases will be decided jointly by ZPavelZ and me. These two awards can be declared void at our choice (hopefully not!)

5. Winners can use the obtained games to gift others members, trade, or as giveaways prizes on their own.

6. The competition will last a minimum of two weeks, this period may be extended or not depending on participation (or lack thereof).

THE GAMES (thx a lot to our contributors!):

Steam
Sideway New York - gameon (redeemed by 51nikopol)
BEEP - gameon (redeemed by QC)
Diamond Dan - gameon (redeemed by drxenija)
The Ship (Steam giftable) - Tychoxi (redeemed by VIPERs)
Ion Assault - i666an (redeemed by te_lanus)
The Void - i666an (redeemed by niniendowarrior)
Commandos: B.E.L. - mshashankr & i666an (redeemed by Gazoinks)
Commandos: B.C.D. - mshashankr & i666an (redeemed by MegaDragon998)
Commandos 2: Men Of Courage - mshashankr & i666an (redeemed by Firestorms)
Commandos 3: Destination Berlin - mshashankr & i666an (redeemed by tarangwydion
)
Shadowgrounds - Lone Survivor - Licurg (redeemed by ViolatorX)
Shadowgrounds Survivor - te_lanus (redeemed by Alesh91)
Shadowgrounds Survivor - adambiser (redeemed by Ional)
Shadowgrounds Survivor - adambiser (redeemed by adambiser himself)
Harvest: Massive Encounter - YogSo (redeemed by maycett)
Humble Indie Bundle 3 - Arthandas (REMOVED FROM THE LIST)
(the key for the bundle appeared on the Ninja thread, I quickly asked Arthandas to remove it for using in this giveaway, and we inmediately ask if someone had redeemed it. Seems someone took it and didn't even bother to thank Arthandas). :(


Desura
Postal 2 Complete Edition - Rodzaju (redeemed by PandaLiang)

GOG
Settlers 2 Gold Edition - pH7 (redeemed by Accatone -2nd milestone prize-)
Gemini Rue - pH7 (redeemed by YogSo -Prize to the best new title-)
Battle Isle Platinum - pH7 (redeemed by ne_zavarj -1st milestone prize-)
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - NameGoo (redeemed by Rodzaju -Prize to the best suggestion-)

For any questions or suggestions about this giveaway, corrections to my English, etc.., contact me by PM (preferibly) or post in the thread. Note that I'm not much time online, so can take me some time to respond.

Thanks to our contributors for their generosity (this community is awesome!) and especially to ZPavelZ for his thread and his invaluable assistance in the criteria for the survey and prizes.

Meanwhile, if you want to help in the task is as easy as linking HERE the first post (OP) of any giveaway that is not already listed. Even better if you mention it on the giveaway linked, for his/her author may consider using it in future contests. It depends on all of us that the giveaway listing thread represent in its area that 'The GOG Community Gifting Thread', 'Classifieds' or 'Ninja Giveaway' (to name three well-known) mean for theirs. Thanks in advance!

answers here or to pm?

A : Not until I clicked on it.
B : Yes, if it gives me free games :)
D: Yes
E : If this one fills up with a lot of randomness, maybe, kinda depends on the community's reaction.
F: Suggested title : The Giveaway Incorporated, or The Giveaway Guild, or the Giveaway Association, or the Organized Giveaway Thread. Something like that

Thanks to all donators for generosity +1 to you all :)

+1 rep for you Mr. Spock :)

I love your new avatar, mate. But... no answers? :(

I answered

A) Did you know about the giveaway listing thread previously? Yes .
-B) Will you begin/continue to use the thread. If yes, why? Yes , to give away more rep points . :)
-C) Do you think the name of the thread should be changed to include "giveaway advertising" and make it more visible? I think it's good as it is .
-D) Do you think a separate thread is required for "giveaway advertising". If yes, why? If no, why? No . People always check almost every thread with unique title.

edit . You should ask the forum mods to change your username to Mr. Spock : )

A - Yes
B - I check it out from time to time, unfortunately i have no means to start a giveaway of my own
C - N/A
D - Well, that would be more selfexplanatory, at first i thought it was a guide on gifting step-by-step
E - No, an older thread with alot of posts seems more legit, than something that is just starting up

A) I found out about it the second day after i joined GOG

B) I will continue using it because getting stuff for free is awesome :D also, my financial possibilities are very limited...

C) The best name would be "The Giveaway Thread"

D) No, because gifting isn't brain surgery, you really don't need to treat as if it is :)

E) "The Giveaway Thread" or "Ongoing Giveaways"

F) People who post about a giveaway should edit their post to say it's over.

A) Yes
B) I check it from time-to-time, but not always because I mostly just like to see what I see. If I miss a giveaway or contest, it's not a big deal.
C) Yes, see explanation for D.
D) Yes. The title of the original thread reads more like it contains instructions for hosting a giveaway thread.

E) "Listing of Community Giveaways and Contests"
F) Nope, just the naming.

A) Yes
B) Yes. Nice way to see all the giveaway's in one spot
C) Yes
D) No
E) GOG's Giveaway Central
F) None

1. To enter the giveaway, you must answer this survey in this thread:
-A) yes
-B) yes, easy to lookup and advertise your giveaways
-C) yes people somehow get attracted to the word giveaway.
-D) Yes. The title of the original thread reads more like it contains instructions for hosting a giveaway thread.
-E) GOG's giveaway central
-F) nope just the namechange, although would be nice if it could be stickied.

The new name of the thread should be, obviously, Good Old Giveaways ;-D

Give me some time to type my answers, I just wanted to let this out first. :-P


Ok, here is the full survey:

A) Yes, I knew the thread, and have posted about a giveaway in it a couple of times.

B) Yes, because it's useful to check at a quick glance if I've missed some interesting giveaway.

C) Yes, probably. The current name doesn't represent what the thread is mostly about now.

D) I'm not sure what are you asking here, thespian. A separate thread for advertising giveaways? You mean, apart from the current one? Or are you asking if people think the current thread is necessary? If it's the latter, I already posted my opinion about it in the thread itself, but to summarize: I think it's a very useful thread, especially for people that can't check the forum constantly and don't want to miss the chance of entering a giveaway. And since we have a certain i666an on the loose here, chances are that a new giveaway may pop up at any moment (Joking, joking :-P And I don't want to imply he's the only generous gifter around here. For anyone interested, just read this other thread to the end [Oh, hahah, I hadn't realized this one was started by thespian too]).

E) See above. Though I'm also tempted by GOG'S MAGOG (GOG's Many Amazing Giveaways Of Games) ;-P

F) Suggestion: This won't work unless there's just a single person updating the thread, probably, and that goes against the idea that the gifters themselves should publicize the giveaways, but my OCD tendencies make me think that it would be nice if there was some kind of standard frame for the giveaway posts. Something like:

- Name (and link) of the giveaway thread.
- Who is/are the gifter/s/organizer/s of the giveaway.
- What is/are the prize/s.
- Estimated duration of the contest.

And as Licurg has suggested, if once the giveaway is closed, the post was updated to reflect that, it would be the icing on the cake.

I know all that sounds like a lot of work and instead of encouraging the gifters to use the thread, it may have the contrary effect, so feel free to disregard it completely. :-P

A - Yup!
B - Yup, to see if i missed something and bang my head on wall...
C - Don't think it needs, but could use a change.
D - Apart from the existing one? NO.
E - If really wanna change, something like: "Look here: Giveaways!" or something like " Contests and Giveaways".
F - Your niece could run the thread, would increase the number of visitors ;p... Seriously now, maybe a bit more of work, but
would be nice if the giveaways was updated in the first post (or second, the first with the tips to create one) and with time and date to expire, etc... Also, it could use a "stick", but don't know if that is possible...

oh, "Good Old Giveaways" is good too... ;p