Giveaway of the Day,

I do not hold you all responsible for the conditions required by the vendor "giving" the software away.

I am always free to agree or not when it comes to providing the information a vendor requires.

I will not be "leaving" Giveaway of the Day because I am not able to get every game or application offered.

Vendors who have some level of exchange system - i.e., do these things and we will give you a copy of our program - (or enter you into a drawing for a certain amount of licenses) - will very likely be increasing as the global economic system continues to deteriorate.

One very positive situation I recently encountered, here on GOTD, was with the "enter to win" a license for Curvy 3D. I did not win. I then asked if they would consider giving a discount for those of us who did not win one. They responded by giving us a 75% off discount.

People are always free to go elsewhere for freebies and discounts. People are always free to choose not to participate in any giveaway they do not agree with the conditions for. And people are always free to chose where they will invest their time.

One of the things I have learned over the past 65 years is that there truly is no such thing as a "free lunch." Everything "free" has a cost. If not to me, than for someone.

I would rather have the option of a game or program - an option I am free to accept or not - than to have none at all.

So thank you for making every effort to provide giveaways with little or no extra steps required.

And thank you for choosing to also agree to offer the occasional giveaway which requires the jumping through some hoops.

Getting a 75% discount for Curvy 3D was absolutely worth doing what was needed to be done in order to have had a chance for winning a free license.

As always, others mileage might vary.

Giveaway of the Day,

Thanks, but I personally prefer a week-end without a game then this....I wasn't able to get it anyway (and the children wanted 2 try it as they saw the screenshots..)

Louis Hazard,
Thanks always sound better when you're not issuing a veiled sneer at people who don't agree with you.

swa, I prefer not making that choice for everyone else.

Giveaway of the Day, scaricatelo tutti

Giveaway of the Day,
Well, considering that I went straight from here over to one of my other sources and downloaded the game within three minutes - WITHOUT JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS - yeah, kinda not believing this line you're feeding us here.

.......................Moderator Comment...............................

Was that from MyPlayCity? If so, can you tell me if they have stopped requiring you to check the boxes to stop installing toolbars etc evertime you start a game up. The last time I downloaded and installed a game from MPC you had to watch out as they had become quite sneaky with respect to installing toolbars and changing your home page etc. Also do those other sources all open your browser when you close the game down? All of those sites actually pay the developers a retainer every year to be able to give the games away. Every time you visit their sites they earn cash, which pays for the games and of course makes them a profit. Nothing wrong with that so long as the consumer doesn't get bitten. I tenmd to stay away from them now unless i need the game to review, but i always keep my eyes open to make sure I don't get toolbars installed etc. My favorite used to be Gametop, but they don't have much variety these days. At least MPC have well over a thousand games to choose from. :)

Sparrowhawk, could you help me out by identifying what exactly came across as a "veiled smear?" I did not intend for that to happen and would appreciate a chance to learn from my mistake and correct it.

Thanks.

Giveaway of the Day,

Oh, and P.S. - TREAT YOUR MODERATOR BETTER. He's the only reason most of us are still here.

Louis Hazard,

What do u think that "I personally' means?

Giveaway of the Day,

Thanks.

Unfortunately today's game is one I'll never be able to play because, despite jumping through the various hoops and signing up to sites I don't want to sign up to, I still can't download it!

I don't complain if a game comes up that I don't like - because that's the way it works, and I'm delighted when you do offer something I know I'll enjoy even if it's a game that's several years old.

I do hope you'll be able to go back to the easier download etc., because it seems that if you don't then the site will die, which will be a great pity.

Giveaway of the Day,

Don't believe you, period. We're told below it wasn't Alawar that caused this but you lot. You lot are telling us it's Alawar. You have a very long history of ignoring anything we say about anything and doing what you want. You don't care one whit what we think on anything (like the site changes), treat your mods like crap, talk down to us, edit our comments if you don't like them and various other whatever. Then you lay blame elsewhere. Not buying it. It's just you responding in the face of a huge backlash when you try to force us to do something and we refuse. It comes down to this won't work. I have shared links on FB for some of what you give away with a recommendation AFTER I TRIED IT. Those are the sort who get you the hits you want. This? It doesn't as I refuse to do so and refuse to download. I hate Steam and am doing nothing there. I do not visit pages when forced. No game is worth this, especially since i went and downloaded it elsewhere in under a minute, which means i get the game and you lot get no review :P Which hurts more? Most of these game you can find elsewhere for free. Think about that... You aren't the end all be all for this and we can go elsewhere, which we do. The more you pull these stunts, the more we will then where will you be?

Sparrowhawk, ?????????????????????????????

swa, you are right. I apologize for phrasing my comment in the way that I did.

You are saying that YOU would rather not see such offers. You were not suggesting that GOTD should not offer them to others who are ok with seeing them. Correct?

Giveaway of the Day,

Thanks for replying to the communities concerns. I've only just seen your comment Monday morning, so was unaware of what you had said.

Regards

Stephen

Sparrowhawk,

I am truly not meaning to have my question marks come across in a snide or sneerful fashion. i really do want to understand how I am mistreating the moderator?

Here is the comment I posted elsewhere to Whiterabbit......

************************************

I absolutely hold you and your in-depth reviews in the highest respect. If you need to step away from investing so much of your time in continuing to provide them, please do not hesitate to do so.

I simply ask for you to consider that if the only reason you would stop is because of some giveaways requiring steps that all folks either cannot or will not take, that you consider simply not reviewing THOSE specific giveaways.

If, however, there are other reasons why you need or want to step away, please do what you need to do for yourself and your family.

Whatever you finally choose to do, please accept my deep appreciation for all you do and have done each week for all of us.

*************************************

Please help me to clearly see where I have gone astray.

Thanks.

Whiterabbit-uk,
I would assume it's here:
http://toomkygames.com/download-free-games/terrafarmers
It says, after you start downloading the game, and I quote:
"You may be additionally asked to install other software products that may be interesting to you."

.........................Moderator Comment...........................

Ah yes, TooMky Games. I forgot to check their site. Thank you for being helpful. :)

Louis Hazard,

What you said about just ignoring those games where you are required to pass through hoops is a good idea. We shall see. :)

Louis Hazard, I think you misread the comment about Stephen, in no way shape or form have i seen you misteating our favorite GOTD mod, the cmment is directed at the giveaway team right at the start. And I agree with that comment. There are to much days that the great white hopping dude could not get into his admin panel and had to post the same way as we do, comes with that the fact they change the site, the layout, the way giveaways work etc without informing their mods. Yes they do not treat their mods with the respect they deserve

I can not talk for Stephen of course but I have a sneaky suspicion that the recent changes only is a catalyst rather then the definitive reason. Don't forget he is doing this for years now and as most of us regulars know by now, his health is not the best AND like the rest of us, he actually has a family and life to live as well. It will be a sad day when he decides to leave but if anyone on tis site deserves to take a break it is him.

Stephen, as for you, you know my sentiments, no need to join the spontanious tickertape parade on here for me ;)

..........................Moderator Comment................................

Thanks for your comment Mav, appreciated. With respect to the giveaway team, I do see why they have done what they have done. It's increasingly difficult to get free games so they have had to resort to strategies that would hopefully bring in new members to the community. Sadly this doesn't seem to have worked in this case or when they updated the site as numbers downloading games each weekend has fallen steadily since the site change. This week has been the lowest I've ever seen with only 318 downloads compared to before the site change where regularily more than 10 000 were downloaded. since the site change the highest I've seen is just over 6000, but generally downloads are now between 2000 to 4000, which is a massive reduction in numbers. Maybe numbers will increase as word spreads via Facebook and Twitter; sadly the simple open the browser to the game giveaway and immediately download your game seems to have gone. (Though as I've said several times since the changes, you can skip the FB and Email steps when we get the usual gamegiveaways if you wish).

Giveaway of the Day, Dear team, like many others I don't buy for a second that this is Alawar forcing your hand especially since the greenlight game was NOT an Alawar game to begin with. However it doesn't matter who is the initiator of this distributing methode, it is wrong... period.

Look, I have no issues jumping through hoops for the extra giveaways like the rabiez game, after all it will give me a steam key if I win one of the licenses which means I can install and play as long as I have my seam account (really people, Steam is not some evil facebook like platform, it actually is a great way to get many good games without the hassle of keys and often has great deals, better yet, they don't post your activiites to every frigging " social" platform unless you specifically ask them to, besides that your steam account CAN function as login to many game related sites as well... ok back to the GOTD team)
I DO however mind doing this for a game I will lose if something happends to my system, before you go to deep into the steam requirement it might be good to know that posting about giveawayoftheday and it's offerings when gamerelated is considered spam, even if the same software is sold on Steam itself. The recent Myrilis Action giveaway almost had cost me my account as I got an official warning within five minutes of posting about it and I was told to remove mentions to GOTD from my profile page... just so you know. Don't cuddle to deep with Steam because the love is not a two way street

..........................Moderator Comment................................

:)

Louis Hazard,

That is correct...and as english is not one of the official languages in my countrie (dutch,french and german are) u have to excuse me for not always expressing myself correct....

Giveaway of the Day,

People are far to quick to complain. What's with this I want.. I want.... Give me... Give me.... ? No vendor is under any obligation to give you their software for free. Be grateful that some are prepared to do so.

I don't see the problem with having to do an extra step to get free software. I didn't in this case but not because of the extra step, only because it's not the kind of game that interests me.

I will be careful though when dealing with vendors that I don't know but a once-off setup of a free email account for Jack Frost isn't the end of the world. Are there really people out there who don't yet have such an account?

..........................Moderator Comment................................

:)

swa, no need to be excused. Your access to languages surpasses mine! It is I who needs to remember to step back and not assume that I am actually hearing what another is saying. (Probably a major reason why there is so much discord among Nations.)

My native language is English, but it is time for all of us who have English as the official language of our country to not assume that what WE read or heard in English means what we think it does.

All I can remember from my high school German is how to ask if someone is going to the library. If I were to translate what I was trying to say, into German, I might be responsible for a major diplomatic crises!

Reminds me of the following from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

********************************************************

It is of course well known that careless talk costs lives, but the full scale of the problem is not always appreciated.

For instance, at the very moment that Arthur said "I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle," a freak wormhole opened up in the fabric of the space-time continuum and carried his words far far back in time across almost infinite reaches of space to a distant Galaxy where strange and warlike beings were poised on the brink of frightful interstellar battle.

The two opposing leaders were meeting for the last time.

A dreadful silence fell across the conference table as the commander of the Vl'hurgs, resplendent in his black jewelled battle shorts, gazed levelly at the G'Gugvuntt leader squatting opposite him in a cloud of green sweet-smelling steam, and, with a million sleek and horribly beweaponed star cruisers poised to unleash electric death at his single word of command, challenged the vile creature to take back what it had said about his mother.

The creature stirred in his sickly broiling vapour, and at that very moment the words I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle drifted across the conference table.

Unfortunately, in the Vl'hurg tongue this was the most dreadful insult imaginable, and there was nothing for it but to wage terrible war for centuries.

Eventually of course, after their Galaxy had been decimated over a few thousand years, it was realized that the whole thing had been a ghastly mistake, and so the two opposing battle fleets settled their few remaining differences in order to launch a joint attack on our own Galaxy - now positively identified as the source of the offending remark.

For thousands more years the mighty ships tore across the empty wastes of space and finally dived screaming on to the first planet they came across - which happened to be the Earth - where due to a terrible miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was accidentally swallowed by a small dog.

Those who study the complex interplay of cause and effect in the history of the Universe say that this sort of thing is going on all the time, but that we are powerless to prevent it.

"It's just life," they say.

**************************************************

Thank you, swa.

Whiterabbit-uk,
Don't blame you a bit if you do. This IS one step too far. It's--well, it's bad. They had a very viable community here which did give the feedback they wanted. They are alienating all of them with these stunts.

Whiterabbit-uk, I think that many of us are getting ready to leave the community. I, for one, thank you for all your guidance and informative criticism that is lacking on most sites. There are enough Free sites on the Net that we can use to get the new FREE games, without all the extra BS of going thru FB or using that obnoxiuos STEAM. I have bought games and NEVER been able to access them thru steam, and never gotten a response from anyone when trying to resolve the issues ... they get my money and I never get to use the game! I finally chalked it uo to the cost of a life lesson, but go out of my way to steer friends AWAY from Steam.
Gonna miss you if you leave, Oh, Long, Floppy eared Hopper. Your reviews were the first things I read every week end. Hooray if you stay ... sob if you leave!

FINALLY finished getting the link to my "personal download link". Only took 35 minuted to jump thru all the hoops! I expect this may be my last time.

Whiterabbit-uk, this is a shame. I don't want to give up seeing your name and comments Stephen! Is there a place where we can see your reviews of games you are trying or have tried? If not would it be possible for you to have your own webpage? I'm sure you would have a whole community of backers to help out!

.............................Moderator comment.................................

It's coming sometime this summer

Rixxter, I agree with you but I'm curious about the steam issue you've had. Your games should be in your inventory if you don't see them on the download list. If you still have the steam client, have you tried opening that, hover over your name and go to Inventory, then click on Steam tab? I've been with steam for many many years and I've never had a problem with games I can't access. See if that helps you. :)

Stephen, I agree completely, and I sympathise wholly with your feelings about calling it a day if these tasks aren't rolled back.

There's one issue in particular I'd like to flag - the requirement to share on Facebook. Facebook demands registration with your real name, so everything you do with your Facebook account is public information, whether you like it or not.

Although playing casual games and collecting free software are harmless activities, I consider it unwise to advertise all of your leisure pursuits to acquaintances, colleagues, employers, every potential and future employer, and anyone else who ever has cause to Google your name for the rest of your life.

Needless to say, I won't be collecting a free copy of Terrafarmers. A shame, because the game looks fun.

Whiterabbit-uk, Hi Dear Stephen! Today You spoke also for GGOTD Community members and that deserves a note of Thank You. In recent times and since this Site, once happy, vibrant and bustling with activity become a 'ghost town', or graveyard of it's past glory - You have been most loyal Fan of GGOTD (as Moderator and 'one of us'..) to a point where justifying changes made by Giveaway Team and their efforts to provide free Games for this Site (at all!) became painfully sad to watch, sorry.
And yet - those of us who would still visit this Site (out of old habit if nothing more any longer) stayed hopeful that there would be some change of heart, some form of gracious 'U-Turn' to the whole concept and structure that WORKED before, and in return HELPED to promote GGOTD, Vendors, Games!!?

It is not hard to understand that ALL of it can only be possible (again?) if Visitors VISIT, commentators COMMENT, Users feel FREE and HAPPY not only to obtain free Games (there are other Sites!), but GLADLY recommend this Site to others (not to mention giving up free time for Games Presentations, writing Comments, creating INTEREST and FUN!). At present, sadly - NONE of it stands, and as wee can see, is worth even trying! It is particularly more bitter and poignant, when this supposed to be 10th (happy) Anniversary of GOTD, and later GGOTD!.. Know expression of feeling an 'useful idiot'? Unfortunately that's what springs to mind playing own part in this Giveaway Experience. I wish You WhiteRabbit and All past and present GGOTD Community Members better times ahead! Thanks.

......................Moderator Comment...........................

Thank you for your words Fran. Please excuse the time it's taken for me to reply, I spent four hours preparing the review, and more trying to cope with the new change. I decided to take a break and just enjoy a peaceful sunday for a change. :)

Whiterabbit-uk,
Thanks so much for speaking out. I too wasted money on the Steam engine and never did get a game to load.
I've touted this site to all my FB friends but no more.

While wanting the good old old days when there was a game every day, I could well understand why it became a weekend thing. But now, 'win a key' takes away a day. Name the site one giveaway game a week.

I would rather see going back to the beginning of the list of games and accept that I may already have the game than keeping on with this nonsense.

Hate to see you go sir. And may be joining you. Thanks for all your hard work.

Whiterabbit-uk,
Well Stephen, this must be a blow to your head as well; after all these years of your hard work as moderator and your excellent comments on the game.
For me it shows how little GGOTD really cares; when they treat you this way they won't give a ..... about the users of the site.
I will be checking sometimes whether the owners have come to their senses, else it's a good bye from me as well.
Thanks Stephen for all your work :)

......................Moderator Comment...........................

Thank you Irene

My dear friend Whiterabbit-uk (it's been so many years of reading and enjoying your comments and reviews that I feel you are my friend), I am saddened, as many others are, by the direction GGOTD has taken. I teach various aspects of computing at a U.S. college, and every semester I advise at least 200 students (that's anywhere from 400-600 college students a year) to visit this site and GOTD. We discuss the offerings every week, and I know that many of those students have purchased games from Playrix, BigFishGameClub, and the other amazing vendors of the weekly free games. GGOTD's 10th anniversary and change in policies will mark the end of these recommendations - that's at least 5,000 clients for you and customers for your vendors that you are losing (as many of my students and former students share fav sites with their families and friends, I'm sure the number is far larger). While each individual writing to protest this change may not seem like much to the site's owners, I hope my comment is recognized as backed by at least 5,000 other unhappy FORMER clients.

That said, please don't leave us, Whiterabbit Stephen - leave a bunny trail for us to follow. Or I'll not only lose my favorite early weekend morning ritual - visiting GGOTD and sending/receiving hundreds of emails discussing those offerings - but someone whose opinions are respected and who has become dear to so many people.

Whiterabbit-uk,

It was YOU who made this site what it was. I think I speak for many when I say that. Sure, the free games were nice but you served as our guide. Your reviews, suggestions and help brought the human side to things that is so often lacking online.

It is quite sad that the GGOTD team does not recognize the value you provide. At least it seems that way. The handwriting was on the wall when they changed the format of the site. It has been downhill ever since. I rarely use the GOTD site anymore since the change. BDJ and SWOS have them beat in that department now.

Anyway, I will still keep checking here for awhile, for games and for your reviews. However long, or short, that may be, I just wanted to be sure to thank you, Stephen, for all your efforts over the years.

jboy

Whiterabbit-uk,

I absolutely hold you and your in-depth reviews in the highest respect. If you need to step away from investing so much of your time in continuing to provide them, please do not hesitate to do so.

I simply ask for you to consider that if the only reason you would stop is because of some giveaways requiring steps that all folks either cannot or will not take, that you consider simply not reviewing THOSE specific giveaways.

If, however, there are other reasons why you need or want to step away, please do what you need to do for yourself and your family.

Whatever you finally choose to do, please accept my deep appreciation for all you do and have done each week for all of us.

......................Moderator Comment...........................

Hi Louis, I'm just a little tired. I've spent literally thousands of hours over the past nine years writing reviews, moderating these comments and administering the forums. It's been a pleasure for most of it, especially the feedback from the community. In fact it's the community that has kept me here. The giveaway team has thanked me once a few years ago. apart from a few messages in the forums letting me know what the next game was going to be there has been no communication with them at all.

It's the negativity of recent months that has become a little too much for me. I don't patticularily want to stop, but I'm not happy with the recent changes. Maybe I'm just an old stick in the mud and hate changes, we shall have to see what happens over the coming weeks. :)

Nothing more to add, Whiterabbit-uk.

The whole social media involvement surrounding games, software and giveaways in general is in my opinion overdone a long time already. I'm pretty sure everyone heard about sites like gleam.io and the possibilities to add certain amounts of steps in order to be able to participate, there is no maximum to steps in theory, which means that there aren't any guarantees that it will remain let's say "only" 3 steps, in the next one it might be 6, 16 or even 30, where the amount of steps equals possible game value (but that is rather the opposite), you know what i'm talking about.

I've already grabbed lots of free ones and purchased so many games that i wouldn't bother to even look at this section anymore with that type of system in place and the reality is, that there are a lot of better games than time management or hidden object ones, that's a matter of opinion though and in theory they all are the same game in a different outfit, a variety in games given away in general is almost non-existent and if such a new system makes it to the public over night, it should at least be worth it to spend the required time but it really isn't worth the hassle IMO.

Not every system that worked for years requires a change, especially when it's not for the better, again, IMO.

......................Moderator Comment...........................

Games have become sop cheap over the past several years, especially now when yopu can buy a game bundle for a few dollars and get upwards of a hundred dollars worth of games. At this time there are at least 40 different game bundles available, with a range of genres that I'm sure most community members would find agreeable. Even the big AAA games have been featured in these bundles, I bought a couple of AAA bundles that had over $800 worth of excellent AAA games included for a cost of only $10. Most newly released games will be found ion sales within several months of release with up to 75% off the original release price. Wait a little longer and you may even grad a bargain at 90% off. so, games have become easy to buy for very little. I know the gamegiveawaya featured here tend to be either HOG's, TM or Match 3's, but that's only becasue those three genres have been over the past decade the most popular and therefore there are literally thousands to choose from. Thankfully we do see other genres appearing here; maybe not often, bet they do appear and can often be little gems.

The addition of Steam requiremnts IMO has been a little bit of a disaster as it does mean creating yet more ame accounts and I think you have to install the client as well. I already have the client installed because i buy the bulk of my games via Steam, so it wasn't an issue for me, but I'm sure it will be for many others.

Whiterabbit-uk, you are absolutely correct.

I don't like the "Steam" concept and wouldn't have a Steam account even as a gift. As for Farcebook, likewise no way am I ever going to have an account on any social nonsense of that sort.

In particular, I don't like the way this site is tending towards Steam licences or whatever they are called. I like standalone games installed 100% ON MY PC, and like Rixxter, Steam is NOT the way to go.

Whiterabbit-uk, you are absolutely correct.

I don't like the "Steam" concept and wouldn't have a Steam account even as a gift. As for Farcebook, likewise no way am I ever going to have an account on any social nonsense of that sort.

In particular, I don't like the way this site is tending towards Steam licences or whatever they are called. I like standalone games installed 100% ON MY PC, and like Rixxter, Steam is NOT the way to go for me.

......................Moderator Comment...........................

Hi Cad, I understand where you are coming from as I didn't want Steam on my computers several years ago. I much preferred stand alone games. My collection of games were all DVD based a tthat time. when they introduced DRM that changed the boundaries a little as you had to create accounts to be able to play your game. The first one I remember doing this was EA games with their release of Battlefield 2042. The only way you can play that game is if you sign into an EA account. Then I purchased two digital games from Direct 2 Drive which were tagged as Steamwork games (Galactic Bowling and Defense Grid: The Awakening). I didn't know what Steamwork meant at the time and didn't bother checking. I purchased the games only to find I had to install Steam to play them. As I really wanted to play them I went ahead. There are so many great games that are Steamworks only now I couldn't do without Steam; (e.g. The more recent games in the Total War series, which is one of my favorite games, also Steam has introduced me to Japanese games such as the Nobunaga's Ambition series(similar to the Total War series) which I'd never have experienced if I'd not installed Steam. I still prefer standalone hard copies, but to be honest, if you want certain games (which I do) I haveno9 choice but to have Steam installed. If you aren't as fussy over what games you play, there are still games you can buy that are free standing, but they are becoming increasingly rarer.

Lets hope the giveaway team decide to drop the three steps. I'm sure there are a lot more community member slike yourself that do not or will not install Steam.

p.s. if i offered to give you several hundred dollars worth of Steam games would you still not install Steam? I have at least 4 thousand spare Steam codes for many games (most bought via the indie bundles). I'd be happy to give you a hundred or so if you installed Steam.

Whiterabbit-uk,
Dear Mr. Rabbit / Stephen ,
You are absolutely right.
Thank you for always for all your work and for always being such a nice guy :-)
Personally I only filled out one the giveaway requirement (I am already member of their Steam group but will not sign in through here and I am certainly not going to sign in through / lik to FB either) , but that didn't give any game so I guess that Alawar will have to keep their game - a pity since I felt like trying it ;)

......................Moderator Comment...........................

Hi my dear Steam friend. It's actually quite a decent time management game. If you like any of the Farm Frenzy games this is as good, if not better.

Whiterabbit-uk,
YES. THIS.

I have never had a Facebook account and will never have one. I can't imagine why anyone opens themselves up to that awful company. Requiring US to have an account with them is not only wrong, it's a great way to chase off members.

And by the way, people, you actually can get these games for free elsewhere. I have a couple of sources, and none of them make me jump through ridiculous hoops. So not really believing the whole "this is the only way to get these" line.

......................Moderator Comment...........................

Most of the games can be downloaded via sites like MyPlayCity, tohugh they do have their own hidden extra's. The advantages with gamegiveaways at least previously was that they were clean and usually free standing installs

Julia,
I've always wondered - HOW exactly do they enforce this "real names only" rule? I can't see that there's any way they could actually do that.

P.S.
Sorry for the "re-posting" of my message that have appeared, but Firefox didn't confirm that message were sent (just kept showing a spinning thing) so I tried more times before it worked in my end.

......................Moderator Comment...........................

No problem, I presumed as much. :)

Rixxter, log into you Steam account using your browser and locate the games that you have purchased and been given for free; I'm thinking it's under "My Account". Highlight and copy (control c) the activation code for one of the games. Open up Steam on your computer and click on the 'Games' drop down menu and select 'Active a game on Steam'. Paste the activation code where requested and click 'Finish' when everything is done. Next select the 'Library' drop down menu and locate the game you just activated. If it hasn't started to download, click on it and will begin to download. Do the same for the rest of the games that you have purchased. You can always reinstall your games later if your computer crashes, etc.

Cad Delworth CEng MBCS, can you send some my way, steam id: jdjk2017

Jen,

Hi Jen, please excuse my lateness. I've never had to moderate so many comments before. also I was busy for quite a large proportion of today. A friend was going to set up a site and administer it for me. I'd prepared around a hundred reviews that were going to be posted then I was going to post reviews for not only giveaway games but new releases and games i tohught warranted a mention. Unfortunately my friend had some problems that prevented him from creating the site and the project never got off the ground. I'm totally useless when it comes to web design partly becasue I don't find it interesting.

Despite this I have considered setting up a web site in the recent past, as I do have the appropriate tools to do so and the space on the web to do so, but it would take up too much of my time to create, run and maintain the site as well as post reviews etc.

Stephen, it's a kind offer, sir, but I'd literally rather stab my hands with a blunt rusty fork (repeatedly) than have ANYthing to do with Steam >ack< >ptui<, and even the threat of death if I didn't comply wouldn't persuade me to install their software.

.......................Moderator Comment.................................

:) I understand.

It was a genuine offer as I really do have thousands of spare Steam keys for a whole range of Steam games. I've been trying to put them into some sort of order for several months now. Once done I intend to add some to my second Steam account (which I may end up selling as it was originally created for my childrens friends when they came to sleep over, but they seem to have grown out of such things, that account has around 1400 games at the moment, but I doubt I'll get even a small fraction of what it would cost to buy every game in the account). The rest of the Steam keys I'll add to my childrens accounts and probably give away to friends. I was even considering giving a couple of games away here each week as well (at least to those writing decent feedback, hopefully giving some community members the incentive to post), but until I know whether I'm staying, that is on hold. :)

Rixxter,

Hi Rixxter, I was surprised to hear of the problems you've had using Steam. Personally since buying my first Steam works games (not directly from Steam) and being forced to install Steam before I could play them, I've not had many problems installing and playing my games. Of those that have been problematic, it's usally been my fault, and there has always been a fix. Contacting the Steam help desk or checking the Steam forums have helped me get the games working. for example, I used to play a game called Fallout 3 several years ago. When Win 7 was released Fallout 3 wouldn't play via Steam, but a simple fix in the config file, which was posted in the Steam forums got the game working on Win 7.

Because of the massive community, it does take a little longer for queries to be answered, but I've never had one ignored ever. They have always tried to help, or have directed me to where I could ge thelp. I've even had several refunds for games I purchased previously (and this was before they changed their policy on all games refunds), for example, I gifted an expensive game (cost me £55) to a good friend (whome I met here on the giveaway project). Sadly he passed away before he'd ever got a chance to play the game. I approached Valve and explained that I'd purchased the game so that I could play cooperatively with a friend, but he'd passed before I'd got the chance to play with him. They transferred the game back to my account so that I was able to give it to someone else even though it had been tied to his account for several months.

I'm sure if you contacted them and explained that you've never been able to get the games you purchased working, they would solve the issues, or just check the forums to see if anyone has had similar problems. What games were they?

Jen,

Hi Jen, will see what I can do. The giveaway team have replied to the communities concerns and it appears they are going to remove the new tasks from next week, though they also implied that 'some' developers will ony give games with these tasks.

Thanks for the good review, as usual, but it is probably pretty useless. Will someone download this game with the absurd new requirements? I don't think so. Anyway, I will pass on all GOTD offers until they come back to a more acceptable method.

Thanks for the previous offers, GOTD.