carlosjuero: Unfortunately since I haven't had a steamgifts account prior to now, I do not have enough "points" to enter any giveaway aparently [or at least not this one].
Tarnicus: Likewise. Ah well, GoG > Steam anyday :)
MonstaMunch: It says I don't have enough points to enter. It also says my steam account is worth over $500, which is insane considering how long I've had it (and why did it tell me that anyway?). How can it tell me I've spent $500 in the week since I joined (which I haven't anyway, maybe half that) then complain that I don't have enough "points"? And what the hell are these "points" anyway? I've bought games for myself and for others, why can't I enter this awesome giveaway? I should have all the points in the world, and then some.
Akrose has done a good job of explaining how Steamgifts works. The site's official FAQ can be found at the following link if you desire more information or an official explanation:
http://www.steamgifts.com/forum/91wob/faq-and-guidelines The only thing I want to excerpt from that page is the information on the points system:
"The point system is designed to prevent users from entering for every single giveaway. This lowers the overall number of entries, and provides everyone with better odds of winning games they're interested in playing. New users start out with 25P. Every time
anyone submits a game, every member of the site, excluding the giveaway creator, receives 5 percent of that gifts value (in USD) in points. For example, if a $50 gift is created, every user on the site receives 2.5 points. And, if a $20 gift is created, everyone would receive 1 point. These points can then be spent on entering giveaways.
"
1P = $1 - When entering a giveaway, 1P is equal to $1. If you're entering for a chance to win a game valued at $20, you'll spend 20 points. If at anytime you decide to remove your entry while the giveaway is open, those points will be returned.
"The maximum number of points that can be banked is 300. This is to prevent users from stocking up on points while being away for long periods of time".
That said, even if you did not have enough points when you first registered, you will soon have more than enough points. On average (based on my month of experience on the site), I'd say that in any given 24-hour period you rack up around 50-100 points. The give-away I created is only 30 points and, since it is open for another two days, you will have more than enough points for it.
Other than that, the only thing I want to add is that it personally took me 140+ entries to win my first Steam game (i.e. Saira). There are some members who have taken part in more than 350+ give-aways without having won a single game. According to the
stats page, the (current) odds of winning are 0.25% for public give-aways, 3.02% for private give-aways, and 3.35% for group give-aways.
The only pieces of advice I can give in regards to increasing your chances of winning are: a) keeping an eye out for 1-hour give-aways (since only a few people will spot them in time to enter), b) taking part in private/group give-aways (as typically they have very few entrants), and c) if you see the game you want listed in more than one give-away, try to choose the give-away with less entries to increase your overall chance of winning.
MonstaMunch: So you're saying I get points when other people give stuff away, without me doing anything? That sounds a bit odd, but I guess it would be silly to complain about the terms and conditions of free stuff :)
Those were my thoughts too when I first joined. I tried to figure out what the incentive to create giveaways was, especially since the giveaway creator did not receive points for his own giveaway (although everyone else did). There really is no incentive. However, people who create giveaways are sometimes invited to private giveaways that aren't open to the public.
