GiftBot's Gaming Giveaways |OT| Free to a good home! No begging, requests, or taking advantage

[Cerium]

Welcome to the Gaming Giveaways OT, a magical place where publishers, staff, and members alike gather to donate free stuff to you, the community! This thread is the successor to both the GiftBot 2.0 Launch Giveaway Extravaganza, as well as the longstanding FREE to a good home thread. Thanks to Tebunker for handling the latter and giving his blessing to this new thread. While members are free to run giveaways in any thread (and often do for their favorite communities) this thread remains an unprecedented nexus of generosity.


Free stuff? How does this work?

The vast majority of giveaways are run by members like you (either for fun or to get rid of spare keys) but we also host "official" giveaways including amazing prizes from publishers, developers, and friends of the site. Here are some simple guidelines to follow as you participate:

1. Please do not beg for random stuff that no one is offering, as this goes against the spirit of the thread. Keep in mind that most prizes are provided by other members out of the goodness of their hearts. If you are looking for something specific, there are all kinds of jewels to be found on the cheap in the Buy/Sell/Trade thread.
   
   
2. For the sake of convenience, most giveaways are powered by GiftBot 2.0, our advanced proprietary gifting tool. You can access GiftBot's tools from your giveaways page. While you are welcome and encouraged to make use of GiftBot, this is not a requirement! Some members prefer to conceal codes behind HIDE tags, to simply drop them in unprotected lists, or to run forum games with rules of their own making.
   
   
3. Be nice and don't forget to thank the giveaway creator whenever you win a prize!
   
   
4. Don't be greedy. Be mindful that no one owes you anything. You should avoid taking more than you give, and if you've been blessed with good luck and many wins, you should always pay it forward. If you've got unused codes lying around, why not post them here? You never know who might find your trash to be their treasure.
   
   
5. Do not create fake or gag giveaways using GiftBot. If you do, you may be subject to moderation.

What is GiftBot?

GiftBot is a powerful forum gifting tool developed for our exclusive use here on ResetEra. An initial version of it, based on an externally hosted bot system, was made available near the beginning of our site history. A much more advanced version was integrated directly into our forum software as GiftBot 2.0 in September 2019. You can read all about GiftBot 2.0 and its ever-expanding suite of features in this thread.

For your convenience we have also reproduced the initial GiftBot 2.0 announcement below. Note that additional features have been added since the announcement:

Guess Who's Back?

The original GiftBot was a much-beloved feature that helped inspire generosity and joy throughout the community. Unfortunately, it did not survive the transition to ResetEra 2.0. At the beginning of the year we pledged that GiftBot would return. Since then we've performed several critical tech upgrades, including an improved version of Image Options and a number of new features.

Even so, fans of GiftBot have been left waiting for a successor. We knew that if we were going to deliver late, it wouldn't be enough just to port the original. We had to go above and beyond what the old GiftBot offered. And so we set our sights on implementing the concept in a way that has never been attempted before.

The result is packed with features we think you'll like. Let's get right to them…

A True User Interface – No More PMs!

GiftBot was previously an externally hosted bot that required members to send a private message in order to create and enter giveaways. Complicated syntax was required to interact with any part of the system, with little to no margin of error. All commands were text-based.

We were determined to find a better way.

From that ambition a brand new user interface has been constructed. Members can now access the Giveaways feature from the left sidebar or their account options. Press the Create Giveaway button, and you will be greeted with a slick and intuitive page that walks you through every step. No more worrying about a typo breaking your whole entry, no more struggling with syntax.



Getting a Giveaway Started

When you enter the desired thread URL, the system will now automatically check to make sure that the URL is valid and that the target thread is eligible. Locked threads will be invalid.

You will be offered the option of creating a giveaway anonymously, without your username attached. Please note that to prevent abuse of this feature, moderators will still be able to see who created an anonymous giveaway. The next step then is to decide if you want to create a raffle or a first-come first-serve giveaway. If you're creating a raffle, a convenient dropdown will allow you to select your desired length (anywhere from 1 hour to 1 week).

Adding prizes couldn't be any easier! Simply select the platform from a dropdown (or choose "Other" and enter the platform name manually) and then fill out the fields for the title of the prize and the prize code itself. Selecting the PS4 or Nintendo Switch platforms will automatically prompt you to include region information, as those codes are region locked.

These aren't the only tools available to giveaway creators. There are others that are brand new.

New Options to Limit Giveaway Participants

In the past one of the biggest headaches for giveaway creators and staff was trying to prevent users from exploiting the system -- a small number of individuals tended to follow GiftBot from thread to thread, entering as many giveaways as possible, trying to rack up prizes in a way that violated the spirit of the whole feature.

To address this and similar concerns, the giveaway creation interface includes a Participants section with a whole suite of options designed to give creators control over who can enter their giveaways. These limits can all be wholly disabled with the Everything Must Go option; as the name suggests, this is good for getting rid of codes when you don't care who gets them.

With past winner restrictions, giveaway creators will be able to limit entrants to members who haven't won any giveaways within the past hour, day, week, or calendar month. Note that the calendar month option is unique in that it counts only the current month and not a fixed duration. Options also exist to restrict entry for Junior Members or lurkers (members with less than 5 posts in the designated thread). It's even possible to grant entry only to members who have created a giveaway in the past 30 days, or members who have created a giveaway since the last time they won one.

All of these options are at your fingertips. Beyond those, Admins have additional tools to ensure that wins are not dominated by only a handful of users. Exploitative behavior is now easier to detect and deter.

Include Messages With Your Giveaways

Giveaway creators now have the option to include a friendly message that will accompany their giveaway. These messages are directly integrated into the posts as quotes, with the creator named as the quote author (unless they have selected the Anonymous option). This feature can be used for friendly greetings, information about the prize or the giveaway, or anything else that is appropriate.

Revamped Giveaway Posts

The glow up is real. Extensive custom coding has allowed us to add slick and unique styling to giveaway posts, including a very visible header. Colorful icons next to each prize will denote the associated storefront or platform. If the giveaway is a raffle, a live countdown at the bottom of the post will display how much time is left until the end. Any restrictions placed on entrants by the giveaway creator will be indicated with gray icons near the top right of the post -- mouse over these icons for more details via tooltip.

When a giveaway post is quoted, it will display as linked text including the name of the giveaway creator and the number of prizes included.

Entering Giveaways

Like giveaway creation, entering a giveaway used to involve PMs to GiftBot and precise syntax, including strings of code to identify a prize. With GiftBot 2.0, it's as simple as clicking a button. Every giveaway post will have an Enter Giveaway button visible to members. The button will bring up a dialogue where you'll pick the prize(s) you want to enter for. If the giveaway creator has chosen to allow users to enter for multiple prizes, the options will be presented as check boxes. Otherwise you will have to select just one. A foolproof process.

Alerts for Raffles You Don't Win

One of the cool new benefits of integrating GiftBot directly into our forum software is that it can now take advantage of the alert system. Whenever a raffle you have entered ends, and you do not win, you will be automatically sent an alert to inform you of the outcome. You will also receive an alert if a raffle you have entered is cancelled. No longer will users have to go looking to find out what happened to their entry.

Track Your Giveaway History

With the original GiftBot there was no way to track the giveaways you created or won. This time around we're delighted to provide a convenient way to do exactly that. In addition to the Create Giveaway button, the Giveaways page also includes three separate tabs for your Active, Past, and Won giveaways. Users will now be able to track and locate any giveaway they're involved in, either as a creator or an entrant.

Improved Reliability

Because the original GiftBot was hosted externally, it was prone to breakdowns and service interruptions. Each outage would need to be addressed manually, creating work for the team and frustration for the users. GiftBot 2.0 however has now been directly integrated into our forum software, meaning that as long as the site is up, GiftBot 2.0 should remain online as well. The site and the bot are now one.

Era Clear Integration

We were previously pleased to introduce direct Era Clear gifting, which can be done via the recipient's profile or your Account Upgrades page. We've taken the feature a step further by allowing members to purchase Era Clear to include as a prize in giveaways. Simply select the Era Clear 1 month or 1 year options from the platform dropdown while creating a giveaway; the winner will have the prize applied to their account automatically!

Developing custom features like GiftBot 2.0 doesn't happen easily or cheaply. If you'd like to support the site, buying or gifting Era Clear is a great way to do so directly.

Bottom Line

Bringing GiftBot 2.0 to life took nearly as much effort and resources as ResetEra 2.0 itself -- as usual, no expense was spared. This is completely custom work. Built to our specifications, coded from scratch, made exclusively for you.

Thanks are due to Jawmuncher, JaseC, and especially ColdSun for their help with the design plan of GiftBot 2.0. Thanks also to the staff who dedicated their time to testing it before it went live.

A feature like no other, for a forum like no other. Let the gifting begin anew!

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What do the GiftBot restriction icons mean?

Near the top right of each GiftBot giveaway, there will be small icons indicating any restrictions that may apply to that specific giveaway. If you mouse over these icons on desktop you'll get a brief tooltip of what each one means. These restrictions are set by the giveaway creator at their sole discretion. For your convenience, we have created this guide explaining in detail what each icon means and how the restriction works:

Past Winner Restriction

This restriction prevents users from entering the giveaway if they have already won a prize within a set period of time. The length of time can vary according to the preference of the giveaway creator: Past Hour, Past Day, Past Week, and This Calendar Month. The monthly option is unique in that it is not based on a fixed period of time, but rather the month in which the giveaway was created.

No Juniors

This restriction disallows users who have less than 100 posts, or accounts that are less than one month old. It is intended to ensure that the prizes go to members who are real people and active contributors.

No Lurkers

This restriction only allows members who have made 5 or more posts in the thread in which the giveaway is created. This is intended for community threads and OTs where some giveaway creators might want to make sure that their prizes go to folks who are actually part of that community. It is not generally intended for threads dedicated solely to giveaways or threads where there isn't a central topic of discussion. Please be aware that while you are welcome and encouraged to join and participate in new communities, blatantly spamming a community thread for the sole purpose of circumventing this restriction will get you banned.

Givers Only

This restriction requires that users have created a giveaway of their own within the past 30 days in order to enter. It is straightforward and ensures that anyone who wins a prize will have given something back fairly recently.

Pay Forward Only

This restriction requires that if a user has already won a prize, they must have created a giveaway of their own since their last win, otherwise they cannot enter the giveaway. There is no time limit on this. It encourages members to keep paying the generosity forward.

Everything Must Go

Unlike the others, this is not a restriction. In fact, it is the opposite. This indicates that the giveaway creator has decided to allow any and every registered member to be eligible to win a prize. As opposed to simply turning the other restrictions off, this setting even overrides global restrictions set by the staff. It is intended for giveaway creators who want to dump codes and make sure they're gone.

Additionally...

There are some hidden global restrictions that are controlled and set by the staff. These settings are intended to prevent members from racking up an unreasonable amount of wins versus everyone else. One of them is a brief cooldown that prevents you from entering too quickly after a win. Another applies a much longer cooldown if you win too many prizes in too short a time. If you are among the top winners of all time, you will face additional (and increasingly severe) limitations. The specific numbers involved are subject to change, and we will not disclose exact values in order to discourage attempts at exploitation.

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Where can I get keys to give away?

If you are not a developer or publisher, it can sometimes be difficult to locate reliable sources of legitimate product keys! Here are a few places that our members have had consistent success:

• Online retailers like Amazon often offer digital download keys for most platforms (albeit almost always at full price)
• CDKeys is a reliable source of keys on all platforms including consoles, often at a discount
• The Humble Bundle store is another very popular source of keys, particularly on PC

Thank you to everyone who gives something away! Your generosity is the lifeblood of this very special thread.

 

[Cerium]

Here are some stats from the big Giveaway Extravangaza thread:

The Basics

Total unique givers: 696
Total unique winners: 1385
Total giveaways: 1602
Total participants: 4705
Total prizes: 8151
Total prizes won: 8073

Prizes by Platform

platform, count
ps4                       58
xbox_one                 153
switch                    97
steam                   6218
ios                        2
android                    1
origin                   188
gog                       40
humble_bundle            976
amazon                     3
uplay                     29
other                    305

Top 25 Prizes Offered

Outbreak                                           82
Outbreak: The New Nightmare                        51
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries 34
Mystery Game                                       31
Mirror's Edge                                      27
[MYSTERY INDIE GAME]                               26
Dead Space                                         26
Guacamelee! Gold Edition                           25
[MYSTERY GAME]                                     24
Psychonauts                                        23
Bastion                                            23
Medal of Honor                                     22
VVVVVV                                             22
Broken Age                                         22
Samorost 2                                         21
Pillars of Eternity                                21
FEZ                                                21
Crusader Kings II                                  19
MXGP                                               19
Sonic Mania                                        18
Outbreak: Epidemic                                 18
The Stanley Parable                                18
Limbo                                              18
HIVESWAP: Act 1                                    18
Crysis 2 Maximum Edition                           18

Lemon List (Top 25 Prizes No One Won)

A Virus Named TOM                                  3
Outbreak: Epidemic                                 2
Destiny 2 (Base game only)                         1
THREE DEAD ZED                                     1
Cultures 8th Wonder of the World                   1
NAIRI: Tower of Shirin                             1
SUPERFIGHT - The Joiner Micro Deck (DLC)           1
Looterkings                                        1
Killing Floor - Community Weapon Pack 1 DLC        1
Rituals                                            1
Saints Row 2                                       1
Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (LIGHTSPEED EDITION) 1
Nightsky                                           1
Tropico 5 - Espionage                              1
Regions of Ruin                                    1
Spirits                                            1
UNDERTALE                                          1
Ballpoint Universe - Infinite                      1
Starseed Pilgrim                                   1
Super Meat Boy                                     1
Overgrowth                                         1
Sportsball                                         1
60 Parsecs!                                        1
WARMACHINE Tactics - Mercenaries Faction Bundle    1
Rapture Rejects                                    1

 

[Cerium]

To kick this new thread off I'm pleased to announce that we have a new wave of prizes donated to us from an anonymous friend of the site! There is also a smattering of prizes leftover from the Launch Giveaway Extravaganza. Here is the full combined list of "official" prizes that we'll be giving away in the coming days:

GreedFall (XB1) x2​

Man of Medan (XB1) x1​

RAD (Switch ANZ) x2​

$20 PlayStation Store Gift Card x2​

Far Cry New Dawn (Uplay) x1​

That's right, we've got rare Australia/New Zealand region Switch codes! We'll also be giving away leftover Steam keys to the PC Gaming Era community, which you are welcome to join (as long as you have meaningful posts to make and not spam).

 

[GiftBot]

Giveaway

Restrictions:

Hello, I am bot! I come bearing 3 gifts from Cerium!

This is a day raffle that will expire in 24 hours. The winner will be drawn at random! Any prizes leftover after the deadline will become available on a first-come first-serve basis.

Our first giveaway of the new thread, with prizes on all the consoles! Please note that the RAD (Switch) codes will only work on Australia/New Zealand accounts.

Click to shrink...

These are our awesome prizes:

• Xbox One: GreedFall - Won by Kildrek (163 entries)
• Nintendo Switch (ANZ): RAD - Won by Limabean01 (86 entries)
• PlayStation 4 (US): $20 PlayStation Store Gift Card - Won by Cat (517 entries)

This raffle has ended. Any remaining prizes can be instantly claimed by entering.

 

[Smurf]

Hoping the new thread bring me good luck

 

[BorntoPlay]

great thread!!

 

[TheStebe]

Fingers crossed everyone

 

[Retsudo]

Well, the first thread will go down as one of this years best. Lets make this one the same.

 

[Cyberninja776]

Good luck to everyone, I foresee many better luck next times in everyone's future.

 

[TubaZef]

The ride never ends

 

[DOATag]

Woo! Good luck to everyone and thanks for all the great gifts

 

[oakenhild]

Good luck to all!

 

[Zonic]

Yay, the new version of Free to a Good Home thread. Once my budget is in a better state (I don't know how long that'll be), I'll try to do a little something involving PSN or eShop so we can have more console related giveaways.

Thanks again for everyone doing these giveaways.

 

[PerfectFlaw]

Ah shit, here we go again. Good luck, everybody!

 

[TRUE ORDER]

Another thread!! Wow
Thanks to all the people who have contributed :)

I hope I get lucky this time around.

 

[SiG]

Wait, what "ANZ"?

 

[MajinFro]

Good luck.

 

[Pineapple]

Wait, what "ANZ"?

Click to shrink...

Australia New Zeland prob

 

[manustany]

Good luck everybody!

 

[Saturday]

THE GIFTBOT OT IS DEAD

LONG LIVE THE GIFTBOT OT

 

[Lannisters1798]

Yeah, we're back!

 

[MendicantBS]

Good luck everyone!

 

[predprey]

Not a console guy myself, but good luck to everyone!

 

[MillionStabs]

We go agane

 

[LowParry]

Ahhhh shit. Here we go again. :D

 

[TheStebe]

Love these statistics! Interested to know if we will get these bi weekly or monthly?

 

[Letters]

Thanks!

 

[Fezan]

As I didnt won anything last time besides EA access I will start this thread by contributing in a short while

 

[Spyware]

This community is so cool. I hope I can contribute with more stuff soon.

 

[GiftBot]

Giveaway

Restrictions:

Hello, I am bot! I come bearing 1 gift from Radiantemerald!

This is a raffle that will expire in 12 hours. The winner will be drawn at random! Any prizes leftover after the deadline will become available on a first-come first-serve basis.

I got this from a mystery giveaway but i already had it, so here you go!

Apologies if it doesn't work!

Click to shrink...

These are our awesome prizes:

• Epic Games Store: The Walking Dead: Michonne - Won by ROMASS (44 entries)

This raffle has ended. Any remaining prizes can be instantly claimed by entering.

 

[DFG]

New Giftbot, new me!

 

[Dmax3901]

Posting to watch!

 

[Duty]

Nice!

 

[corasaur]

here's to another fifty loss-notifications.

 

[Spiderman]

Hopefully I can contribute too very soon!

 

[Necromorph]

Giftbot Thread chapter 2, here we go.

 

[Friskyrum]

here's to another fifty loss-notifications.

Click to shrink...

Don't worry, we got this in this new thread, change 50 loss-notifications to 50 win-notifications.

 

[DFG]

Better Luck New Time: Part II

 

[GiftBot]

Giveaway

Restrictions:

Hello, I am bot! I come bearing 2 gifts from eddiemunstr!

This is a quick raffle that will expire in 6 hours. The winner will be drawn at random! Any prizes leftover after the deadline will become available on a first-come first-serve basis.

Two steam keys for:
Asura vengeance expansion (this is the name on the key)
Guards

No idea if Asura is the full game or just a dlc expansion so be warned whoever enters

Click to shrink...

These are our awesome prizes:

• Steam: Asura Vengeance expansion - Won by SiG (9 entries)
• Steam: Guards - Won by Lee Chaolan (24 entries)

This raffle has ended. Any remaining prizes can be instantly claimed by entering.

 

[weemadarthur]

It's sad to see Thomas was Alone on the top of the unredeemed gifts list in the stats since it's a great game, but I suppose most people had a free copy from various sources or some such.

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

Might as well leave a message wishing the rest of you luck to work towards the five-post minimum for the lurker rule.

 

[KanameYuuki]

And so the cycle begins anew.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Shamelessly spamming so I can overcome restrictions

 

[Magyscar]

The pain never ends.

 

[eddiemunstr]

Good luck to any who enter for my keys, I have no idea if that key for Asura is the full game or not.

 

[Aphotic]

Long live the Bot!

 

[Friskyrum]

Please bot don't let me down.

 

[rsfour]

Entered one game in that last thread, gotta wait it out for something I really want to play (and not win).

 

[painey]

Damn, I wish I had deleted the DM's I got when I received a code coz I got an extra for Outbreak that i'd offer up again. The game is a turd, though lol

 

[garion333]

Thanks to the anonymous user who raffled off the PS3 version of Commando 3. I still have my PS3 hooked up, though it's been months since I fired it up, but I promise the game will be played.