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General discussionGOG Community Giveaway Tradition - Discussion and Poll(1446 posts)(1446 posts)
(1446 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 29, 2026
No objections, good idea BenKii.

If it were the case that requests keep being posted instantly after updating the list, I'd also support giving Stiffkittin's proposal a try (if it isn't too much of a hassle).

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Stiffkittin: If BenKii were willing to randomly draw a name for Standard requests, I can't see how that wouldn't be a net positive. May even diminish impulse-requesting the instant something is posted. It's extra faff for BenKii to deal with though. You could make this simply limited to the first 24 hours after a game is listed, then first in first serve? My two cents, thanks for reading.
Posted January 29, 2026
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Braggadar: The number of popular game codes is finite, the number of drops isn't guaranteed, and the number of interested and eligible users is growing. Something had to give.
This is so true. For every person who donates, there are at least 10 takers. I'm hoping this simple shift in standard game cooldowns from 1 month to 2 months will make things fairer for everyone and may even inspire more people to donate when they see the CG is a more fair place.
Posted January 29, 2026
Don't know if I should chime in, since the last time I requested something from the giveaway was in May last year (or something like that), but while we're on it, how's this for a suggestion:

If you win a starred game, you're not eligible for more star entries for 6 (or 12) months, but can still request standard keys after 2 months' time.
Posted January 29, 2026
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TheDudeLebowski: Don't know if I should chime in, since the last time I requested something from the giveaway was in May last year (or something like that), but while we're on it, how's this for a suggestion:

If you win a starred game, you're not eligible for more star entries for 6 (or 12) months, but can still request standard keys after 2 months' time.
With winning a starred key being a matter of luck, entering doesn't mean much of anything, unlike requesting standard keys which does mean actually eliminating the possibility of someone else who wants that title to get it then, so I don't think that getting lucky should be "penalized" worse than a direct request (or even worse than it already is).
And I'll still hold that games won by draw aren't really part of the Community Giveaway.
Posted January 29, 2026
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Braggadar: If that indeed became a big problem, then BenKii would just dagger them or institute a lower cooldown category for those items.

Not that these cheaper games hanging around is a big issue. Anyone thinking of donating and seeing lots of unwanted games sitting there (which concerned them) would likely make them decide not to donate those same titles (or type of titles). It might lead to a more varied pool of games.
I really hope I won't offend the person who has donated the games because I really appreciate any donated games regardless of type/genre etc. but some of these are very good examples. For the Broken Sword 4 (that is on the list atm) I can guarantee you it won't get requested so that lower cooldown category better be ready for it. I have spent so much time in these games, I love the Broken Sword series, but the 4th is just... a big no(not to get in details). 3 is also very problematic but with great second half - still likely to have the same fate.

I think here someone who donates such games would provide a better feedback. I am trying to think from their perspective - if I buy a few small cool adventure games and nobody requests them for few months I don't think this would make me want to buy more - quite the opposite actually. And if they do shift to other titles this will eventually lead to more and more popular games/games that get requested only being donated (and not varied pool as you mentioned) which would be disappointing. One thing I love about these donations is that there are very often so many random games some I never even heard about. We are different people and we like different things so this way there is something for everyone!
Post edited January 30, 2026 by Hirako__
Posted January 29, 2026
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Cavalary: With winning a starred key being a matter of luck, entering doesn't mean much of anything, unlike requesting standard keys which does mean actually eliminating the possibility of someone else who wants that title to get it then, so I don't think that getting lucky should be "penalized" worse than a direct request (or even worse than it already is).
And I'll still hold that games won by draw aren't really part of the Community Giveaway.
I read your response three times, and read my suggestion many times. I can safely say there's miscommunication here. Lemme make it foolproof:

Winning a starred game doesn't block one from requesting standard keys (after the Standard key cooldown), i.e. separate from the Community Giveaway, but does block winners from entering more starred entries for a certain period (say, 6 months).
Posted January 29, 2026
I've been silly, always waiting until the last couple of days to request standard keys, hoping that more experienced folks would respect that as a newcomer instead of viewing it as a sentiment of entitlement. I'll start asking anytime now
Posted January 29, 2026
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MyTropico: I've been silly, always waiting until the last couple of days to request standard keys, hoping that more experienced folks would respect that as a newcomer instead of viewing it as a sentiment of entitlement. I'll start asking anytime now
Based on the results returned by this search, you seem to (exclusively?) request Amazon-sourced GOG codes. I very much doubt that you were meant to be included within that 'entitled' grouping (if I am understanding your post correctly).
Posted January 29, 2026
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MyTropico: I've been silly, always waiting until the last couple of days to request standard keys, hoping that more experienced folks would respect that as a newcomer instead of viewing it as a sentiment of entitlement. I'll start asking anytime now
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Palestine: Based on the results returned by this search, you seem to (exclusively?) request Amazon-sourced GOG codes. I very much doubt that you were meant to be included within that 'entitled' grouping (if I am understanding your post correctly).
Yes, pretty much Amazon GOG games requested until they receive the "no activity required" flag, and for standard Amazon GOG keys, I usually wait until the last couple of days of the month. Several times, games offered in higher sections have been appealing to me, but I've restrained myself because of this not-so-appreciated rule of mine. Time to change things for better conditions for myself, then. I just happily requested Megarace 1 & 2!
Posted January 29, 2026
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TheDudeLebowski: If you win a starred game, you're not eligible for more star entries for 6 (or 12) months, but can still request standard keys after 2 months' time.
I've actually had no issue with having to wait 3 months for any non-daggered games after winning the starred entry, so I'd support the starred category having its own cooldown extended even further, but I do think the original 3 month cooldown should still apply until you can request even standard keys.

Or not. It doesn't actually impact me much in any regard. *shrug*
Posted January 30, 2026
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BenKii: I believe since people are still scooping up GOG keys from the Standard list within seconds of me updating it, I would like to propose increasing the cooldown time from 1 month to 2 months.
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Dark_art_: Seems good and will benefit everyone but won't change the speed people will do the requests as it's working as intended.
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Provide_A_Username: Besides the rule addition, I'd like to propose a change: each game offer should remain "open for grabs" until four eligible, cooldown-free users with no interest in the title (conflict-free) post a countdown for that specific game. Once the countdown reaches zero (sequence 3, 2, 1, 0), the first person to reply to the "0" post would make the valid request.
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Dark_art_: Not quite agree with this one. A good case would be the Thief 2 copy that is available, and probably will be available for a long time. The game is quite cheap all the time and has been available through amazon recently, most people who actually want the game most probably have it already.

I'm not touching the countdown idea, though...
What a nice long-stay scenario. Yes, I think its countdown would jump to zero almost immediately, as many conflict-free people would be willing to release it. Would its instant zero make it immediately requested? Not at all, for the reasons you've already given. It would float around until someday a newcomer requests it. In fact, that newcomer would need to discover the game is ready to be claimed as time passes.
This is similar to the expiring keys and ninja threads, where valid and valuable game offers aren't requested because of an avalanche of posts. Isn't some disguise desirable to delay the requests?

Would you mind helping me guess another scenario? Terminator: Resistance.
It's never discounted and rarely offered in this giveaway. First problem: How many people would countdown it? (Remember, people not interested in the game) It would take some time to materialize: hours? days? yet to be seen.
One thing is certain: longer than the few seconds it took under today's mechanism.

Relying on some four people from the elegible community to "release" a game would add randomness to the timing for every game announced (yes, the countdown would be by title, not the batch!). It would reflect implicit awareness of the titles (at least among those four people, worst-case), and require people to read the giveaway thread carefully. And yes, it would introduce enough "royal mess" (as #Cavalary mentioned above), to disrupt those "suspiciously fast" scoopers.

I hope you agree it isn't strange to find people totally detached from the current giveaway status but throwing their hats in immediately just because they spot a succulent game in post #2. Welcome to the basic idea of immersion reading the thread if a countdown mechanic is implemented. Who knows, maybe people could spend some time chatting between countdowns instead of just requesting games.

I'm offering an idea. It's perfectly improvable if enough people review and refine it. Thanks for taking a look at it and sharing your thoughts.
Posted January 30, 2026
The above proposal would be easily exploited by people with a lot of friends, and making the giveaway far more complicated than it already is isn't really a solution.

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I find it curious that games being "scooped up" as soon as they're posted is seen as an issue in a giveaway that's primarily first come, first served. If first come, first served has become a problem, then perhaps a new giveaway should be started. Something like "The Community Roulette", or "The Community Casino" has a nice ring to it.

I also find it curious that the issue of longer cooldowns pop up the moment there's suddenly a huge influx of games to the giveaway, instead of in leaner times when it actually is an issue.

I don't mind longer cooldowns, though. If anything it should be taken even further. 1 month for Amazon, 2 months for 'Standard', and 4 months for 'Starred'. Just 3 months for 'Starred' is a bit low if there's already 2 months for 'Standard'.

In fact, with longer cooldowns across the board we don't even need the 'Starred' category, so we should just get rid of that altogether.

I know some of you like the 'Starred' category because it's harder for some to be present when new games are posted, but longer cooldowns across the board would solve that issue.

You wouldn't see it the first month when no one's on cooldown, but you would start seeing it the second month, and you would definitely see it the third month when most people are on cooldown.

If you don't see a notable change after the third month when most people have been on cooldown, you can just increase it even further to 1/3/6 months. That would bring so many people on cooldown that the giveaway would be absolutely brimming with games after these massive donation periods, and the need for the 'Starred' category would be completely abolished.

Unless there's some other reason than game availability to keep the 'Starred' category around?

Another plus side with these changes is that it wouldn't increase the workload of the maintainer of the thread one bit. It would actually reduce the workload, since no more time would have to be spent on rolling dice and keeping track of participants for each game.

Instead of 'Standard' and 'Starred', the categories can just be called '4 month cooldown', '2 month cooldown', and '1 month cooldown', and remove any chance of confusion. The categories themselves would be self-explanatory.
If "high demand" games aren't requested, they can just be downgraded as they already are.


While we're already on the subject of fairness, I'd also like to propose another change. I don't think the maintainer of the thread should be able to nominate others for games.

I know it's well-intentioned, but I have doubts about if the ones who ask for a game after someone else have already requested it are the only ones who are interested in it. I think it's more likely that most people just don't bother to request something if they see that it has already been asked for.

Again, I know it's meant well, but when others nominate people for games, it's still first come, first served by proxy. When the one who's posting the games does it, right after they are posted, it's just handing out games, and the chance is taken away from everyone else who might be interested in the games.
Posted January 30, 2026
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BenKii: I keep forgetting to post this here but guess now is better than never.

I believe since people are still scooping up GOG keys from the Standard list within seconds of me updating it, I would like to propose increasing the cooldown time from 1 month to 2 months. For the Amazon keys, I'd keep them at 1 month for now since interest in those aren't as high as regular GOG keys.

So how it would look is this:
Starred -- 3 months
Standard -- 2 months
Amazon -- 1 month
Daggered -- no cooldown

And I'd like to implement this at the beginning of February so not much time for discussion so what are some thoughts on this?
I think it's a good idea, it'll give others a chance to get some of these donated games (Standard/Starred).

And you're right about the Amazon keys, since even at 1 month, some keys remain after the expire date. So it makes sense to leave it at 1 month. Especially the repeat ones that Primes does sometimes (some of the Fallout series for example) re-release.

Current subscribers can't get the code again, but there are some people that go through the extra effort to open another account just to claim a code, which IMO, is sort of crazy lol. But each to their own I guess.
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Posted January 30, 2026
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(ø,ø): I also find it curious that the issue of longer cooldowns pop up the moment there's suddenly a huge influx of games to the giveaway, instead of in leaner times when it actually is an issue.
Nothing curious about it. There's been an influx of codes, and clearly BenKii has noticed the same accounts as ever are firing off requests before anyone different can get a look in. Demand for games is definitely very high and it's overtaxing the supply. So rationing becomes more important.
Posted January 30, 2026
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There's been lots of good ideas proposed but for now I will stick with just increasing the cooldown for standard keys from 1 month to 2 months since that seems to be getting a lot of support. I will, however, put a pin in all the other ideas and revisit them should the need arise. Thanks everyone for your valuable inputs.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionGOG Community Giveaway Tradition - Discussion and Poll(1446 posts)(1446 posts)
(1446 posts)