Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Cuntpunch
Oct 3, 2003

A monkey in a long line of kings

SA_Avenger posted:

The high average seems to suggest we could raise the minimum to 15$ without issue if all aggree.

I suggest we just ditch weird attempts to keep currencies in order - and just standardize around either USD or Euro - guess math says we're 50/50 split - and set a minimum of yeah, around that.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

BabyRyoga
May 21, 2001

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2021
I'm still a little confused about how gift keys work in the event of cross region.

Say I go to Greenman or Humble and I come across the game that says something along the lines of:

Note: Game activates in region of purchase. Available regions: NA EU etc etc etc

Does that mean I can buy the key in the US with USD and someone can activate in within the pool of all the regions listed? Or that if I use USD it will be locked in NA?

Saoshyant
Oct 26, 2010

:hmmorks: :orks:


BabyRyoga posted:

Does that mean I can buy the key in the US with USD and someone can activate in within the pool of all the regions listed?

Yes. That's it.

OhFunny
Jun 26, 2013

EXTREMELY PISSED AT THE DNC
Thank you Nettle for running the train again and the Wheel gift. Thank you to everyone who rode as well.

BirdOfPlay
Feb 19, 2012

THUNDERDOME LOSER
As always, this was great fun. Thank you Nettle for running it and for the others who help Nettle.

And to train friends, new and old, I'll see y'all at the end of the year. :comfyoot:

Deformed Church
May 12, 2012

5'5", IQ 81


I didnt join in as much as usual but I got some cool games and had fun as always, thanks riders and thanks Nettle!

sklurb
Sep 13, 2012

I'm a billionaire super spy and part-time supermodel.
TL:DR

- Overall, one of our BEST Trains!
- "Yada yada, history of the train, blah blah."
- If someone fucks you over on the train, "ignore" them on the SA Forums (check the base of their profile to do so), "block all communication" on their Steam profile and speak to Nettlesoup.
They won't be able to ride after you anymore. 👍🏽 (Example: Xander77 on Steam / Xander77's SA profile)


✂---✂---✂---✂---✂---✂---✂---✂---✂---✂

First and foremost, the Gift Trains have been intended to be a place to meet fellow Goons in the spirit of giving and fun. I've met a lot of good people from around the globe!

Lots of respect to Nettle, who hosts the Train every six months, manages the behind-the-scenes stuff, and chases down riders, threatening a spin on the Wheel of Trash. We have a lighthearted event to gather around twice a year, peek at each other's wishlists, banter a bit, and fire off some joy to a giftee. The Train has improved in leaps and bound in recent years, and this summer's Train broke new records for us! Cuntpunch mentioned earlier (and I'm looking through his spreadsheet), we had an average gift given of over 250% of the minimum at $26.44 USD this year and that's with 249 rides!

Really impressive.

As SA_Avenger stated, we could reasonably raise our minimum gift, especially with more recent currency fluxuations the past couple years. Personally, I agree with the idea of raising it to $15 USD; I like that price point for a couple of reasons.

One of those reasons is to help further ensure newcomers and veteran riders alike don't get hosed over by a rider who dumps their several years-old, bundle leftover trash or that gives the absolute bare minimum to riders repeatedly who have played nice. It's a lovely thing to do. It's much more rare now, but it still happens. I feel that behavior isn't in the spirit of the giving nature of our event, and often the recipients just don't return. I've personally observed this for the past seven(?) years of riding the train (as have others) and how it's evolved. It's been addressed several times, and it's exhausting to have to come back to, so I'll be suggesting a few solutions that are in our power to help improve the experience more permanently. (SEE BELOW)

As I mentioned, the Train has improved significantly. In the past, when I first started riding years ago, you gifted down to the person who joined after you. This created an issue with exploiters, as described above, who would be refreshing the page all day, looking for a known generous gifter to hop on, and these people armed with bundle trash leftovers would pounce on for a ride knowing they would get a good gift. They would often receive their gift from the person above and then dump trash onto whoever rode after them; usually a person who didn't know any better or someone who was going to take one for the team to get the train moving again (because the people in the know wouldn't ride after them). Even if these exploiters broke even, they could never lose. There used to be several people gifting bundle leftovers and the old Steam gift-style games from their inventory that the recipient didn't even have on their wishlist. It was something awful. *cough*

So on to the 800lb gorilla in the room: Xander77

Back then, Xander77 was one of these people who would jump on the train after a generous rider and now appears to be the lone holdout of the trash-dumping trend from that time. He has ridden the Train many scores of times (potentially hundreds). He's one of the reasons we have a "neighborhood watch" in the background to keep an eye out. We're trying to grow the Train's community, and behavior like that destroys what we've trying to build here. When he fucks someone over, we often feel obligated to send that person some gifts to give a proper welcome and supplement his gift, etc. Sometimes, people will hop on after him to ensure that he receives as 'good' as he gave.

These issues resulted in the enforcement of adhering to people's wishlist and the change from gifting down, to gifting up, so that no one could stack the deck in their favor in more recent years. Xander77's adjustment to this change would be to find a game for around $1.99 from the recipient's wishlist and then add in some bundle trash to puff up the gift. The absolute minimum he could do to still claim he followed the rules and gave from the person's wishlist. He could still gift trash and make a moderate gain and sometimes a big gain. It was after Xander77 used this tactic on me a couple times a few years ago that I set him to "ignore" on the SA Forums and blocked all communication from him on Steam. He hasn't been able to ride after me since I did that, and it's been a relief.

Next, regional pricing became a thing and majorly hampered his ability to join the train as often as he had. Now, with a higher minimum gift, rules to stick to the wishlist and regional currency issues, he can't ride very much anymore. He wants to talk in private, but he has been able to maneuver successfully through the years in privacy and obscurity, when people don't speak up and shine a light on him, when he isn't reported and called out.

I've observed him use bundle leftover gifts to invite more people to the train that he can gift, and sometimes if they ride and receive a bad gift, they don't wish to bring it up because of his previous feigned generosity. I've talked to a few of these people over time. It's literally a lure. He's been known to send small $.19+ gifts to most train riders to smooth things over, appear generous and friendly. He has also displayed a much friendlier and helpful disposition toward the Train hosts than he has to fellow riders. Gifts generally go unthanked, unless it's pricier from his wishlist. He can be abrasive, ungrateful and insulting, not just in my past dealings with him, but with other train riders. There's some riders who speak behind-the-scenes who have chimed in with similar experiences. Every train.

I have no confidence that he would do more than the absolute bare minimum to stay on the Train to keep his Train-sucking vaccuum going based on his history with the train, my personal history with him, and his overall Rap Sheet history on SA Forums going back to 2009. I don't see the point of trying to appeal to his sense of decency or shame. His Rap Sheet shows an even longer history of being unable or unwilling to change except what will allow him to skate by. He's been suspended and banned more than anyone I've seen on SA. He's even had to rebuy his account after being permanently suspended. He's behaved persistently and shamelessly.

Anyway, that's been my experience through the years with and without Xander77, and as I look back through the Train to Page 6, it appears as though he still hasn't done right by Bad News Panda after being called out for making GBS threads on the Train. As stated, he technically gave a little over the minimum, but he's been exploiting for years. Veteran rider Bad News Panda deserved better from a fellow veteran rider.
Shining a light on this publicly, because we've been so sick of talking about it privately and having it recur year after year.

So, the heyday of the Train of yesteryear is over for exploiters like Xander77. Neighborhood watch is here to stay. :siren:

-END

______________________________________________________________

PS: I wanted to make a differentiation:

For the newcomers and the financially strapped, the minimum gift is intended to make sure everyone gets a chance for a ride or two and is seen by most as a positive open door to do so. Repeatedly using the minimum, especially from a veteran rider who has taken years of rides on the Train is not the intended use: to give the minimum and gain the maximum over and over and over. Big difference! :)

______________________________________________________________

CHANGES THAT WE CAN MAKE GOING FORWARD:

Solution 1: Ban exploiters from the train. (A very rare need)
Solution 2: Raise the minimum gift to dissuade exploiters.
Solution 3: "Ignore" users who exploit their fellows. (You can do this on their SA profile link at the bottom of their page)
Solution 4: Go to their Steam profile and "Block all communication" from exploiters on Steam. (Upper right side by the displayed badges)
Solution 5: Clean up your wishlist of games that are older than 1-2 years. 'Follow' these older games in Steam to keep track of them away from your WL. If you haven't bought them by now, you probably won't soon. :D

sklurb fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Jul 10, 2021

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



Huh. That's a fairly big jump from "It's a breach of *etiquette*, not *law*" to "we're the TRAIN WATCH". And from the reasonable to the aggressively paranoid.

Genuinely had no idea that sklurb blocked me anywhere prior to this rant. Feels like the sort of thing that communication might have helped resolve.

Anyway. I never made a secret out of using a lot of fanatical and humble codes - I'm gifting from Israel, and direct gifts are often blocked by regional differences. I've done my best to gift well above the train minimum, accounting for regional differences, particularly over the last few years.

I did assume (and checked with others) that a game is valued at its current price on steam \ humble \ fanatical (The giftee wants to have this game at present, and probably doesn't have a time machine to go back and purchase it some years ago). However, I can understand why someone might think otherwise and value games at their lowest possible cost.

Thus far to the reasonable concerns.

I enjoy gifting people. I gift people who add me from specific threads, I gift people who add me in general. I gift people on the gift train (obviously) and I gift people who add me to gift me things on the gift train. Gifting as many people as possible is in fact the point of the exercise, as far as I'm concerned.

The days when I'd manage to gift over a hundred people per sale are long behind us (RIP dead gay forums), but I generally still manage to gift dozens of people every time. As a way to scam my way into 3-6 train rides, I probably have a better use for my time. (I don't even play the vast majority of games I receive. Which isn't a positive, per-se, just that the bizarre scheme described has practically no benefit).

As to getting banned in 2013 (12, 11, 10) - I've also been caught letting classmates copy my paper during my matriculation exams and was nearly expelled from the Hebrew U for my laissez-faire attitude to intellectual property.

sklurb
Sep 13, 2012

I'm a billionaire super spy and part-time supermodel.

Xander77 posted:

Huh. That's a fairly big jump from "It's a breach of *etiquette*, not *law*" to "we're the TRAIN WATCH". And from the reasonable to the aggressively paranoid.

Genuinely had no idea that sklurb blocked me anywhere prior to this rant. Feels like the sort of thing that communication might have helped resolve.

Anyway. I never made a secret out of using a lot of fanatical and humble codes - I'm gifting from Israel, and direct gifts are often blocked by regional differences. I've done my best to gift well above the train minimum, accounting for regional differences, particularly over the last few years.

I did assume (and checked with others) that a game is valued at its current price on steam \ humble \ fanatical (The giftee wants to have this game at present, and probably doesn't have a time machine to go back and purchase it some years ago). However, I can understand why someone might think otherwise and value games at their lowest possible cost.

Thus far to the reasonable concerns.

I enjoy gifting people. I gift people who add me from specific threads, I gift people who add me in general. I gift people on the gift train (obviously) and I gift people who add me to gift me things on the gift train. Gifting as many people as possible is in fact the point of the exercise, as far as I'm concerned.

The days when I'd manage to gift over a hundred people per sale are long behind us (RIP dead gay forums), but I generally still manage to gift dozens of people every time. As a way to scam my way into 3-6 train rides, I probably have a better use for my time. (I don't even play the vast majority of games I receive. Which isn't a positive, per-se, just that the bizarre scheme described has practically no benefit).

As to getting banned in 2013 (12, 11, 10) - I've also been caught letting classmates copy my paper during my matriculation exams and was nearly expelled from the Hebrew U for my laissez-faire attitude to intellectual property.

Who is this person who looks like Xander77, but sounds nothing like him?


EDIT: Dinner done, belly full.

Disclaimer: My previous post and this one have been from a place of calm. I've been direct, but I've taken time to consider my thoughts before posting.

It's bothersome to see you gaslight so easily, and turn it around like several of us have an issue in our state of mind that causes us to become paranoid and see things that are just not there. Like we haven't experienced this personally with your behavior. The way you are speaking shows that you know what a person should do in such a situation, but....you just don't behave that way.

Sounds like you are quoting Cuntpunch in your first sentences, but I absolutely agree with him. Neither of us were saying that you "technically" broke a rule, but you sure have been gaming the system for a long time and that's no figment of the imagination as you would have people believe. We're not the only ones who have experienced this with you, and others do speak up in threads or in private conversations; it's been a "thing" for a looooonnnnngggggg-rear end time. I guess you don't recall one of the conversations we had on Steam years ago.

It became necessary for a group of us to make an effort to retain members to have some riders keep an eye out for people making GBS threads on the train. It's been that way for a few years now. To play sweeper and send supplemental gifts to welcome newcomers who might not come back after the experience.

I have no personal issue with you using Humble, Fanatical, etc, and I use keys myself mostly when I gift, but when you selectively dump crappy old keys from the Stone Age that were in cheap bundles multiple times over several years, you are knowingly making GBS threads where you live and loving a fellow over.

You speak to how generous you have been gifting to hundreds of people that you now can't due to regional issues, etc, but if you're now saving all that money, surely you must be able to gift extremely well to three or four people on the train...because you "enjoy gifting to people." As Penance at the very least.


You're welcome to have the last word. I've said what I came to say.

sklurb fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Jul 10, 2021

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Xander77 posted:

Which isn't a positive, per-se, just that the bizarre scheme described has practically no benefit).

As someone with a low-income who would ride at the minimum and get double the gift value in return: this is bullshit. Giving 10$ or less in games and then getting 20$+ in return is one hell of a benefit, especially if the stuff you're gifting is from bundle keys for even less value than 10$.

I don't want to knock your generosity, but your actions don't match your words. You've given me extremely low-value rides. All of the free stuff you give out in exchange for reviews/riding the train is literal bundle trash. And you keep coming back! You've said that if it's in a bundle and you want it, you buy it - so you have the income to ride better, and you don't? C'mon.

Also, we have other international riders who have found ways around the region gifting restrictions. There are enough sites listed in IsThereAnyDeal that I don't believe you can't find SOMETHING of value to gift!

Finally - why didn't you say anything when people pointed out that you were rude to BadNewsPanda? Why are you only showing up to say anything now, when you've been threatened with being banned from the train? That is extremely suspicious behavior.

BabyRyoga
May 21, 2001

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2021
This being my first train, I tried to follow a certain etiquette. I hope I did well.

I believe the average I spent was around $21.00 USD, and the average I received was around $28.00. I only gifted stuff I had previously played (and highly recommended), and tried to gift everyone above me around (or higher than) the same price they spent. I made sure to remove most of the stuff from my wishlist that I was only marginally interested in, so everything I received was of high value to me. I notice most of ya'll are pretty drat generous anyways, so I can't really seem to be a reason against raising the min to $15 or even 20 next time around. Maybe let newcomers in one time at $10 to attract some new blood, if that doesn't over complicate things.

Bad News Panda
Aug 17, 2010

:gaysper:
Kirby says trans rights!


First off, thank you as always to Nettle for running the show and the wheel of trash! I'm 100% sure that wheel grows every year, despite the number of spins on it and it terrifies me.

I'll note that tonight Xander77 reached out to me and sent me Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition with his apologies as an extra to bump up his initial ride.

I'll toss my two cents into the pot that Xander's gift didn't seem like a minimum/under-ride to me - the steam prices added up to well over the minimum so I didn't think anything of it. Plus one game was something he had recommended on his profile and which seemed like it would mesh well with other things on my list, so it seemed like a slightly more personal touch. That said, it's clear that there have been/still are issues with his gifting habits that I lacked any context on and I'll defer to the folks who've had more experience with him. I'll admit that some of the price hawking had me a little nervous because I know I would feel bad if I sent someone games that were on someone's wishlist that others might consider "bundle trash" but that added up to $20+ on steam. However the answer in that case should be "oh poo poo, my bad, here's something extra to top it off" and you maybe do a quick search on IsThereAnyDeal when it's an older game, rather than getting defensive.

I still remember the first year I rode the gift train that someone was really generous on one of my rides - that memory keeps me coming back and trying to spread the cheer. I especially appreciate the efforts sklurb et al. are putting in to make sure newer folks in particular get a good first impression. Given the success from this year, raising the minimum seems like it would be reasonable, though I do worry it might turn off newcomers as well if it gets much higher. The gift train is legit one of my favorite parts of the year and I'm always happy to see more and more new names in the thread, so thanks to everyone who rode this year and helped make it a fun time again!

sklurb
Sep 13, 2012

I'm a billionaire super spy and part-time supermodel.

Bad News Panda posted:

First off, thank you as always to Nettle for running the show and the wheel of trash! I'm 100% sure that wheel grows every year, despite the number of spins on it and it terrifies me.

I'll note that tonight Xander77 reached out to me and sent me Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition with his apologies as an extra to bump up his initial ride.

I'll toss my two cents into the pot that Xander's gift didn't seem like a minimum/under-ride to me - the steam prices added up to well over the minimum so I didn't think anything of it. Plus one game was something he had recommended on his profile and which seemed like it would mesh well with other things on my list, so it seemed like a slightly more personal touch. That said, it's clear that there have been/still are issues with his gifting habits that I lacked any context on and I'll defer to the folks who've had more experience with him. I'll admit that some of the price hawking had me a little nervous because I know I would feel bad if I sent someone games that were on someone's wishlist that others might consider "bundle trash" but that added up to $20+ on steam. However the answer in that case should be "oh poo poo, my bad, here's something extra to top it off" and you maybe do a quick search on IsThereAnyDeal when it's an older game, rather than getting defensive.

I still remember the first year I rode the gift train that someone was really generous on one of my rides - that memory keeps me coming back and trying to spread the cheer. I especially appreciate the efforts sklurb et al. are putting in to make sure newer folks in particular get a good first impression. Given the success from this year, raising the minimum seems like it would be reasonable, though I do worry it might turn off newcomers as well if it gets much higher. The gift train is legit one of my favorite parts of the year and I'm always happy to see more and more new names in the thread, so thanks to everyone who rode this year and helped make it a fun time again!

Really glad to hear that things got settled up a little bit. :)

Most riders seem to keep an eye on what's being sent and received; it's kind of exciting (to me) to see what's trending or especially seeing something given that I haven't heard of before. Checking out other people's wishlists and preferences is a lot of the fun. To offer some relief to you and anyone who may feel some anxiety about gift values, generally speaking, the prices/values of gifts that are being given aren't 'scrutinized' normally, unless problems keep popping up around a specific person. That's when some of us start looking into patterns.

PS: I agree, the Trains are some of my favorite parts of the year too!


BabyRyoga posted:

This being my first train, I tried to follow a certain etiquette. I hope I did well.

I believe the average I spent was around $21.00 USD, and the average I received was around $28.00. I only gifted stuff I had previously played (and highly recommended), and tried to gift everyone above me around (or higher than) the same price they spent. I made sure to remove most of the stuff from my wishlist that I was only marginally interested in, so everything I received was of high value to me. I notice most of ya'll are pretty drat generous anyways, so I can't really seem to be a reason against raising the min to $15 or even 20 next time around. Maybe let newcomers in one time at $10 to attract some new blood, if that doesn't over complicate things.

I thought you were great. :D
You had a nice streak, you gifted well and received well. Keeping a well-tuned, modern wishlist helps enormously, having items mainly from the last year or two helps ensure that you don't receive old, commonly bundled items.

sklurb fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Jul 10, 2021

Cuntpunch
Oct 3, 2003

A monkey in a long line of kings
I have multiple people asking me privately to weigh in, and I have promised I will, and so I shall.



We, the train, are a community that exists within the greater forums community surrounding us. But unlike our parent community, the power structures in our community are by consensus, rather than anyone having actual tools of power. Nettle is the figurehead of the train, because we have all agreed it should be so. And when there is talk of some other group, in tones ranging from positive (those who help her) to negative (THE TRAIN WATCH) - those roles are also not by decree from Nettle, but through community consensus, if they exist at all. It is all of us who must decide what this train is, and what we want it to be. For my part, I adore this tradition and it is a biannual highlight of the year for me, as it has been for 5 years.

There is, however, a weakness in the very nature of this community and this tradition - it isn't uncommon in such things; I imagine all of us are familiar with it from our friend groups: but the circular generosity system requires just a tiny suspension of disbelief from participants. In broadly trying to do well, and accept at face value that others are doing the same, such that if we feel slighted we still say thank you and avoid confrontation because - especially around the holidays - it's just somewhat against the vibe of things to shake things up. I myself hate it - I hate needing to point out when someone has gone under the minimum - it's awkward and oftentimes it really does just seem easier to smile and move on. We hardly see these sort of breaches of the minimum rule these days, and they tend to be immediately corrected, because we as a community are looking out for each other.

But as a community with the thinnest of rules, we have a lot of unspoken assumptions, a lot of things that are just impossibly hard to pin down and put in some great book of TRAIN LAW. I think this is what we are discussing with regards to Xander.

For example: 5 years ago when the minimum was $5 - the average ride was a touch over double that. This time it was $10 - and the average is still a touch over double that. While some of that might be explained by the fact that we have a pretty solid core of familiar faces on the train, I think some of it is just human nature. We want to do better than the minimum, but not so much better that we're 'out' enormous amounts of money if the next person has the same understanding we do. No shame there, it makes sense.

Likewise, it makes sense when a newcomer joins the train and rides the minimum - realizing that it's basically playing Steam-wishlist-roulette. But they almost inevitably receive far, far more than the minimum as a welcome. And I can understand them riding again, maybe the minimum, or maybe dipping their toes into increasing generosity - and they will tend to see that once again the generosity is real. The damnably difficult thing about that cycle is trying to define that impossibly vague line between "doing their part" and "gaming the system" - I don't know that it can reasonably be done in a way that would satisfy all parties.

But I feel like we can all agree that if someone rides 6 times, at the 'low end' of the spectrum, almost all of us would feel better about their karmic status if they had simply ridden half as much for twice as much. Even though that isn't against the rules. It makes sense - but I don't know that any of us can precisely define exactly why it makes sense or at what point. Only that it does. Hell, last year's summer train, I had a discussion with an old-vet and regular, who told me that for years they had gamed the system and the awareness and guilt of it was weighing on them and they were steadfast they would make amends. And they have, and they did, and you know who you are and I cannot describe my respect for that honesty and that act of earnest redemption. (And the same to you as well, Strix, another person who has done the same!)


I do not buy into Xander's arguments, and indeed I find them to deftly rhetorical - but a shell game of logic. I think we can all agree that there is an implicit value, beyond the strict monetary value, in modern titles - for example. So let us start there:

This train, Xander on average gave games that were 4 year old, but received games 1 year old.
And last winter: Gave 4 year old games, but got current games.
And last summer: Gave 5 year old games, but got year-old games.

But this obscures one other fact: In all cases - he sent 3 games, and received on average 1.

So put these together: He sends a handful of old games, which add up to somewhere above the minimum - and gets a brand new game in return. Is this breaking any rules? No. But I think we can all understand that this is a violation of the spirit of things. In the same way that 6 minimum rides are worse than 3 'double' rides.

He may cry out that it is unfair to have pointed out that these are $1 bundle games - because they are worth $10 on Steam right now - but are we to be taken for fools? This is clear evidence of not ignorance, but rather premeditation. Of avoiding the heart of the point to play at naivety about the point being made. It's gaming the math and gaming the system to create maximum return on investment. Consider this:
CONTROL was $16 during the summer sale. It was also part of Humble Choice earlier this year - meaning lots of keys floating around for it. But it is a high profile title from 2020. Meanwhile, all 3 STALKER games - from a decade ago - are $6 a piece: $18 in total. Is it really so confusing why one of these is a more obviously spirited gift? Which one would almost anyone reading this *want* - if all 4 were on our wishlist?

I am tired, like sklurb, with having fellow riders be treated like dogs under the table - being fed scraps and being told that it is better than going hungry. But I don't get to make this decision: all of us get to make this decision. And I hope we can all agree that this sort of year-after-year, ride-after-ride behavior is unacceptable and that continued participation on his part will require the same changes of behavior that others have made.

Cuntpunch fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Jul 10, 2021

SA_Avenger
Oct 22, 2012
I'm not sure I should chime in as most has already been said but I guess as one of those who actually called out a few people the last few train and try to keep an eye on things (far from the most efficient one), it's fair . I'm not looking for anyone to be in trouble but I agree that this community event that is quite the highlight of the year is better when everybody tries their best to join in the spirit.

The main issue for me is not an occasional low gifting by a newcomer but when newcomers or very generous gifters are preyed upon by people who can afford several rides yet never really gift much higher than minimum. Not only it can make newcomers run away but worse it spoils the mood for those who actually have been insanely generous.

As an old timer, I believe that it's not fair to gift low to someone who has just gifted big and if I can't afford it I just won't. Although it's not always possible to gift back in kind, it's important to remember that the train is all about generosity and most of us know when we have been spoiled and try to keep track of who have been so good to us, keeping some names for when we can finally pay it back. I believe I have been insanely lucky and met tremendously generous people, some I'm still trying to pay back (but they struggle the monsters), some maybe I never will be able to because they don't ride anymore but the point is "reciprocity" is important and I'm glad to see when people who could not afford to ride higher in the past, now come back in force and pay in kind. A big element of the pleasure we have riding come from the surprise, and I believe it's best if it can be a "good" surprise :)

Although it may seem fair that if it's "on the wishlist then it's fine" as someone with an extra long wishlist I can say that not everything has the same value to my eyes (which is why I order it and point a limit) because some is there for steamgifts, because I didn't have time to look up a video, because of memory, want to gift it to someone else or even wouldn't mind trying if it ever gets free but whatever the reason is (and how silly one may think it is) the point Cuntpunch made is quite fair, gifting old, already bundled games does not have the same flavor as gifting something recent.

I don't think game keys are the issue, we are many at trying to avoid pricing issues by going to other sites like isthereanydeal or gg.deals and that's fine if it allows you to gift someone you'd have trouble gifting otherwise but at this point I'd not be against banning games that have already been free or already bundled several times from the gift train (unless someone says it's ok ) , it's easy to look up on sites like https://barter.vg/browse/ to see if a game has already been bundled or not. EGS (as some prefer to have everything on steam )and humblebundle (higher tier bundle) could be an exception of course but the idea would be to avoid games that often go on sale at 1$ to be gifted under a current value of 10$. Also raising the minimum really helped make the train smoother the last couple time imho and stats seem to indicate we can raise it some more.

Overall, I hope people understand (and I believe most do) that the important is the spirit and we only hope for such talk to not occur again and again. The point is for all to have fun and feel the spirit (esp for next one, it's going to be Christmas :P)

SA_Avenger fucked around with this message at 13:55 on Jul 10, 2021

Ningyou
Aug 14, 2005

we aaaaare
not your kind of pearls
you seem kind of pho~ny
everything's a liiiiie

we aaaare
not your kind of pearls
something in your make~up
don't see eye to e~y~e

Cuntpunch posted:

So put these together: He sends a handful of old games, which add up to somewhere above the minimum - and gets a brand new game in return. Is this breaking any rules? No. But I think we can all understand that this is a violation of the spirit of things. In the same way that 6 minimum rides are worse than 3 'double' rides.

This was one of the things that really stuck out to me this year, I think? Like......i went through and checked and 13 out of the 15 games he gave were bundle games you could find on keysites for $1-2.

I don't think giving keys is inherently bad, and I think like.......outright banning anything ever in a bundle might be coming down a little too hard*, but there's a point where it starts looking like someone isn't engaging with this dumb fun dead gay comedy forum game's subforum gift exchange so much as they're using it as a steam gacha with $3-4 pulls, I guess? (And that kind of thing is unfair to everyone, but it's especially unfair to new riders who put effort into giving nice gifts and get excited about participating and end up with a few dollars' worth of bundle leftovers.)

*Like, I think some people gift things through Steam that have been in bundles because they're not thinking about minmaxing the dumb gift exchange thing? And sometimes I add bundle keys to whatever else I'm gifting 'cos it feels like 'oh this way I can give someone a nicer gift!,' but I still make sure to spend more than the minimum 'cos I'd feel really guilty about passing off a $3 or $5 or whatever gift as some big generous Thing.

BabyRyoga posted:

This being my first train, I tried to follow a certain etiquette. I hope I did well.

I believe the average I spent was around $21.00 USD, and the average I received was around $28.00. I only gifted stuff I had previously played (and highly recommended), and tried to gift everyone above me around (or higher than) the same price they spent. I made sure to remove most of the stuff from my wishlist that I was only marginally interested in, so everything I received was of high value to me. I notice most of ya'll are pretty drat generous anyways, so I can't really seem to be a reason against raising the min to $15 or even 20 next time around. Maybe let newcomers in one time at $10 to attract some new blood, if that doesn't over complicate things.
You were wonderful! Like, you were really conscientious about gifting and I know when you gifted me I could tell you were excited about the things you were sharing!

Also I think '$10 your first time, $15 after that' could be a good idea, honestly?

Ningyou fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jul 10, 2021

Nettle Soup
Jan 30, 2010

Oh, and Jones was there too.

Xander has been in contact with me, and discussion can move on from him specifically now, thanks. I'm online in Steam if you want to message me about it.

sklurb
Sep 13, 2012

I'm a billionaire super spy and part-time supermodel.

Nettle Soup posted:

Xander has been in contact with me, and discussion can move on from him specifically now, thanks. I'm online in Steam if you want to message me about it.

Sounds good, thanks Nettle.

Cuntpunch
Oct 3, 2003

A monkey in a long line of kings
The train rolls onwards towards Christmas. Stock up the wishlists and invite your friends, we'll be back on the air in 6 months!

Nettle Soup
Jan 30, 2010

Oh, and Jones was there too.

Hmm, who do I contact to unsticky this for now!

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Nettle Soup posted:

Hmm, who do I contact to unsticky this for now!

There is a list of mods/admins! It's hidden in QCS:

SA Admin and Moderator Contact List

Also thank you again for running the train, I enjoy it every sale. :)

Khanstant
Apr 5, 2007
Is there a way to hold-up the train, put on a little bandito mask, demand y'all hand over all the pac-men and nobody gets hurt?

sklurb
Sep 13, 2012

I'm a billionaire super spy and part-time supermodel.

Khanstant posted:

Is there a way to hold-up the train, put on a little bandito mask, demand y'all hand over all the pac-men and nobody gets hurt?

The days of holding up the train in these here parts are over. :clint:

Deformed Church
May 12, 2012

5'5", IQ 81


Khanstant posted:

Is there a way to hold-up the train, put on a little bandito mask, demand y'all hand over all the pac-men and nobody gets hurt?

yeah you make sure your wishlist only has pac men on it then post something like:

This is a holdup!

https://steamcommunty.com/id/khanstant (wild west)
https://steamcommunty.com/id/khanstant/wishlist

then you give a game to whoever posted before you, then you wait

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Deformed Church posted:

yeah you make sure your wishlist only has pac men on it then post something like:

This is a holdup!

https://steamcommunty.com/id/khanstant (wild west)
https://steamcommunty.com/id/khanstant/wishlist

then you give a game to whoever posted before you, then you wait

Your links are broken, and when I manually fix 'em your wishlist is set to private!

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply