Heh, what was I saying above about it being similar to GOG's "Good News", supposedly for a very small number of games initially, then for everything...

Maybe it would be useful to know Doc's opinion

I don't think most of the games I am donating over the coming months (around 225 at the moment) should be starred, as it will completely change the nature of the giveaway.
I think it is more for those participating in the giveaway to show their community spirit - if you are one of the first to claim a game in a month, then maybe the following month hold back a bit and let others have first claim. Maybe try your hand for one of the starred games or just wait for the later game batches to drop.

This is not to say that anyone who has been first in successive months has done anything wrong, it is just a suggestion to spread a little goodwill with your fellow Goglodytes.

Hi, asked for a game and got it. But I already own it. Should I remove my request, change it or make a new post?

Just a new post stating the mistake and a little apology. That should suffice. I've now relisted your requested game back on the giveaway.

I see that starred keys have become the new way to distribute AAA games among players and I must say it is a pretty good way to make gamers more active on the forum. I cannot say that I dislike it, but at the same time, someone with high forum activity who tries to win something she/he likes and cannot do that because of a "bad luck" can be disappointed. That is my own opinion and I do not want to blame anyone, only to write my thoughts.
At the same time, 3 months period to wait before nominating someone (or myself) for the next Starred game is a good decision, it will be taken to beat the game at a normal pace without any rushing. Besides that GOG from time to time gives away games itself, so there will be no gamers who do not receive anything.

I published this thought first in the Giveaway thread and a gamer proposed me post it here (https://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_community_giveaway_6th_edition/post2616).

Update: by "bad luck" I mean low score in dice rolls, I want to make it clear.

I also asked my friend what he is thinking about the Community Giveaway, so next will be his words:
"Community Giveaway topics always have the highest popularity amongst gamers. Anyone who understands the English language (or can translate text in Google Translate) can read the rules understand what they mean and follow the rules to take a chance to receive/win the game they want. Because of a difficult situation in communication with the Gog team, I cannot contribute to the forum itself but instead, I ask my friend every time I receive a newsletter discount to post it in the forum. That is the least that I can do. I also think that 3 months period before asking for the Starred game is OK, it is not too much. At the same time even if someone won the Starred game they have the right to ask for the Standard game next month. So there are no collisions. Wish everyone who contributes to such a great action - as Community Giveaway is - to make it for as long as you can. Such activities make a far better experience for both Gog newcomers and experienced Gog gamers. Sometimes I think that without such a strong Community, the Gog project would not exist for as long as it is.
+
P.S. One thing that I want to see much more developed is the Multiplayer component of the Community. I have some games with multiplayer options both coop and PVP but it is really hard to find someone who wants to play multiplayer. In this case stores like Steam, EA store, etc. are much more privileged."
He wrote this message and asked me to publish it, some of his thoughts are not about the Community Giveaway, but I decided not to delete any of his words.

Your friend misunderstood, again due to language I would guess. The 3 month period for a winner of a Starred game applies to Standard games too. The winner can't ask for anything for the next two months that is. Can ask only for the daggered ones. That's why BenKii counts the remaining months in parentheses at the bottom of the second post.

^ CarChris is correct, the cooldown is across the board. If you win a starred game, you can't ask for starred nor standard games for a 3 month period.

So, I re-read the rules and did not find those statements that you wrote. I do not know the English language as good as my friend, so I also used Google Translate for help. This time there was no such thing as you wrote: "The 3 month period for a winner of a Starred game applies to Standard games too." You can provide any proof so I can see them (link, screenshot, or something like this).

Post #4, under Starred (★) Games: "There will also be a 3 month cooldown as opposed to the standard 1 month cooldown for any winners of a Starred game."

It does not say that the 3-month cooldown applies to a specific category (e.g. starred), hence it applies to both categories, same as the 1-month cooldown.

P.S. @BenKii, to avoid future misunderstandings, perhaps add: "Both 1-month and 3-month cooldowns apply to both starred and standard key requests."

I second this. The rules were explained nice a clearly in the giveaway forum at the start of January, but I can see how some might get confused by the wording on the front page.
Maybe just put it on the front page like you did in that post.

Done. Added it to the section talking about Starred games. Sorry for the confusion everyone.

Thanks, BenKii. Now it is obvious that the same rule goes for both Starred games and Standard games. That is much more understandable. But at the same time, it is a little bit more to read :) (for a couple of words) but it is better to understand what to expect for winners of a Starred game. Of course, if gamers understand what they are reading because some gamers only make look like they understand all but at the same time cannot follow the rules described in the topic.

To keep discussions in the discussion thread, regarding mrkgnao's suggestion that people who get starred games without competition, being the sole requesters, get a normal cooldown...
For one, do we have rules or don't we? I mean, besides the whole starred thing being counter to a core concept of the community giveaway, does it at least have some rules that are adhered to?
And secondly, doesn't getting a starred game without competition actually add more weight to it, not less, since it was basically a supposedly high value game that was, after all, received directly upon request, essentially on a first-come-first-served basis? Only having the triple cooldown if you win in the raffle would make that a penalty for luck, not the cost of asking for a presumably higher value game.

And in terms of why it's happening, the number of users willing to accept that longer cooldown may be relatively low, so a series of starred games will probably lead to such situations pretty quickly, as many of them will end up no longer able to enter, and the rest won't be willing to do it.