DiffuseReflection: I understand the motivation but ultimately I do not prefer this idea.

Firstly, just in terms of how it would feel, imagine several new games drop and you choose to try a "starred" game. By the time the drawing happens (because it cannot be immediate), most likely all the other "normal" games will have been requested, so if you are not the lucky winner of the starred game, you will get *nothing*. To me, making a game request in the giveaway is a source of happiness: even if some games I would have liked were gone already at the time of the request, I chose what I liked from the remaining. Here, it could happen that the request is completely wasted and leads only to disappointment. To me, that's contrary to the spirit of the giveaway.

In terms of probabilities, I expect that there would be tens of people requesting each starred game, let's say 20. Then, the value of such a request would be on average 1/20 of a normal request, which is quite low. So on average you would need to make 20 starred requests to win one. But that's just the average: if you lose ten times in a row, that will not increase your chances for future times - so I imagine there would be some very disappointed people who lose again and again and again.

I am not against having raffles - I have participated in some and have done some myself - but I would like to have them separate from the community giveaway.

mrkgnao: I believe there's a solution for your problem.

In the past, BenKii would post, for example, 20 games. By the time you notice it, say 3 have already been requested (quite possibly the most wanted ones), so according to your post, you feel happy choosing from the remaining 17.

In the new scheme, BenKii would post, for example, 20 games, 17 regular, and 3 starred. If you feel so opposed to the possible disappointment of not winning and getting nothing, just assume the 3 starred games are gone (just as they had been in the previous example) and feel happy choosing from the remaining 17. But if there is nothing for you in the remaining 17, and you want something from the 3 starred, go for it, you might actually win (unlike the previous example) --- or not.

It is clear to me that BenKii intends starred games to be a minority, so it doesn't too dramatically reduce the number of games available for people who like first come, first served.

But there are people --- myself included --- who feel uncomfortable with the first come, first served scheme. If I happen to enter the giveaway thread shortly after BenKii posts a new list and I notice something I want, I often --- unless the list is very very long --- feel uncomfortable to ask for the game, as if I were greedy in doing so. I usually say to myself that I'll wait a couple of days and ask for it then, if it still remains, which usually doesn't happen, as by then the game is long gone.

This new solution offers a small alternative for the latter group of people, making the community giveaway more inclusive, in my opinion.

BenKii: Hello Goglodytes! I have an idea for the CG that I'd like to get your feedback on.

It's come to my attention that many of you find the current system of the Community Giveaway to be unfair when certain titles get donated and then quickly snatched up within seconds. In the beginning of the Community Giveaway, there were far more donators than we had giftees. Sadly, this has now been inversed. With more giftees, the competition to get there first is very strong even to an unhealthy level of just pure stalking the giveaway. So in an effort to stave this competition and to keep more games on the CG list longer, I propose to add a 3rd category of games to the CG called the Starred ★ category. Much like how the Daggered † category was created to offload some of the low demand freebie titles that most people already have, the Starred category will contain high demand games but it won't be "first come, first served". Instead, anyone who requests a Starred game will be entered into a drawing that ends in 24 hours (I will have the exact date and time the drawing ends listed in parenthesis next to each Starred game). Active Forum members can enter in the short drawing as long as they haven't received a game for that month already. If the person wins then that will be their game for the month. If you lose, you are still eligible for more Star drawings or anything from the regular list which will still be "first come, first served" but now you will have to decide what to do. Do you take your chance in a drawing for Starred game "Skyrim" or do you grab one of the regular games like "Deus Ex", "Diablo", "Baldur's Gate", etc. and exclude yourself from the drawing. How I decide what gets labeled as a Starred game will generally be by average price and how recent it was released. If for some reason no one enters the drawing for a Starred game then it will get added to the "first come, first served" list.

This is an effort to not only give people a shot at the higher demand games but to also offload the demand from the regular category of games. Questions? Comments? What does everyone think of this? If folks like this change then I plan to enact this in the beginning of July.

4thDown: There are multiple daggered games that I'd like and I could request by following the rules, but I refrain from not being considered a hoarder.

Ice_Mage: Doc should opine on this, since the change would apply almost exclusively to his donations. I say go for it, for whatever that's worth.

BenKii: There's nothing wrong with requesting the daggered keys. Many folks already own those so don't feel like you're taking it away from someone else. So please request away for any of the daggered you'd like. :)

Ice_Mage: Doc should opine on this, since the change would apply almost exclusively to his donations. I say go for it, for whatever that's worth.
Ice_Mage: I see no rude replies to you. Everyone was very accommodating even though you jumped the gun before you were eligible, and you posted an off-topic question about basic offline installer usage. Plus, you were granted multiple requests.
One person was disappointed that you requested a game you already own in another store, but he wasn't rude about it.