So, asking for advice here.

December is just around the corner, and long-time regulars well know
what that means: I'm clearing out my closet and giving away a bunch of
free games. Seeing that this year I have an excess of games to toss
out, I've been wondering how I should handle things . And since this
is a public forum, I thought I'd ask the opinion of the regulars.

Typically, I've made a new post every day, with one or two serials per
post; first person to claim it on Steam (or wherever) gets it. Usually
I gave away the 'weaker' games at the start of the month, with the
better games becoming available as the Solstice celebration
approached, with a notable climax at the very end. This method does
tend to flood the newsgroup though, and there's always a worry that
bots are getting the games rather than our regulars. So should I try
something different (and if so, what and how?) Is it a matter of "the
old ways worked well enough, don't be messin' with 'em"? Or maybe
you'd all rather I forwent the give-away this year entirely.

You all know me; I'm more than happy with making a post every day, so
the 'old way' is fine by me (it's harder for me NOT to post). But if
you've been dreading this season because of the upcoming inundation of
generosity, speak up now ;-)

On Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 11:39:31 AM UTC-8, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> So, asking for advice here.
>
> December is just around the corner, and long-time regulars well know
> what that means: I'm clearing out my closet and giving away a bunch of
> free games. Seeing that this year I have an excess of games to toss
> out, I've been wondering how I should handle things . And since this
> is a public forum, I thought I'd ask the opinion of the regulars.
>
> Typically, I've made a new post every day, with one or two serials per
> post; first person to claim it on Steam (or wherever) gets it. Usually
> I gave away the 'weaker' games at the start of the month, with the
> better games becoming available as the Solstice celebration
> approached, with a notable climax at the very end. This method does
> tend to flood the newsgroup though, and there's always a worry that
> bots are getting the games rather than our regulars. So should I try
> something different (and if so, what and how?) Is it a matter of "the
> old ways worked well enough, don't be messin' with 'em"? Or maybe
> you'd all rather I forwent the give-away this year entirely.
>
> You all know me; I'm more than happy with making a post every day, so
> the 'old way' is fine by me (it's harder for me NOT to post). But if
> you've been dreading this season because of the upcoming inundation of
> generosity, speak up now ;-)

After the obligatory "They're your games, do what you want," the breaking the
codes up in text (which I know you can come up with plenty to break them up)
seemed to work to keep the bots from them much longer, whereas rot13 didn't.

My personal preference would be to get the big games earlier so there's more
time to play them :D

- Justisaur

On Tue, 22 Nov 2022 14:39:20 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>So, asking for advice here.

I have exactly ONE game I am going to share here. The way I am going
to do it is ask whoever I give it to to post an email address and I
will send it to them that way. That method is fine for just one game.

But with all the games you post, that will quickly become a pain in
the ass. Justisaur's suggestion is a good one.

On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 08:21:22 -0500, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>On Tue, 22 Nov 2022 14:39:20 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>>So, asking for advice here.

>I have exactly ONE game I am going to share here. The way I am going
>to do it is ask whoever I give it to to post an email address and I
>will send it to them that way. That method is fine for just one game.

Yeah, I tried that the first year and it didn't really go very well.
Which is understandable - who wants to share their email with some
random weirdo on the net? - but was somewhat disappointing. Still, you
may wish to create a temporary email that people can send their email
address to, rather than expecting them to post it in a public forum.

>But with all the games you post, that will quickly become a pain in
>the ass. Justisaur's suggestion is a good one.

I was considering doing it all on Christmas day (either one over-long
post with all the games or a disgusting number of individual posts) to
make the celebration seem more grand. And there's always the Steam
group, except half the point of these give-aways is to encourage
Usenet usage (besides, I'm never sure if I'm on the correct
c.s.p.i.g.a steam group or not :)

But I'm fine doing it our traditional usual way. Start expecting
prezzies come December 1st. I'll use the 'embed in text' method to
distribute the codes (which has the side benefit of making people read
the nonsense I type ;-) and will post at semi-random times. Hopefully
that makes it more likely our regulars get the games rather than bots
or lurkers.

But, sorry Justisaur, I can't help but save the best games for last. I
like a big finish ;-)

On 11/22/2022 11:39 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> So, asking for advice here.
>
> December is just around the corner, and long-time regulars well know
> what that means: I'm clearing out my closet and giving away a bunch of
> free games. Seeing that this year I have an excess of games to toss
> out, I've been wondering how I should handle things . And since this
> is a public forum, I thought I'd ask the opinion of the regulars.
>
> Typically, I've made a new post every day, with one or two serials per
> post; first person to claim it on Steam (or wherever) gets it. Usually
> I gave away the 'weaker' games at the start of the month, with the
> better games becoming available as the Solstice celebration
> approached, with a notable climax at the very end. This method does
> tend to flood the newsgroup though, and there's always a worry that
> bots are getting the games rather than our regulars. So should I try
> something different (and if so, what and how?) Is it a matter of "the
> old ways worked well enough, don't be messin' with 'em"? Or maybe
> you'd all rather I forwent the give-away this year entirely.
>
> You all know me; I'm more than happy with making a post every day, so
> the 'old way' is fine by me (it's harder for me NOT to post). But if
> you've been dreading this season because of the upcoming inundation of
> generosity, speak up now ;-)
>
Well, you are the one who is going to be doing the work and taking the
time from other things so you are the one who has to be happy with it.
I say do it the way you want to.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Wednesday, November 23, 2022 at 8:27:01 AM UTC-8, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> I was considering doing it all on Christmas day (either one over-long
> post with all the games or a disgusting number of individual posts) to
> make the celebration seem more grand. And there's always the Steam
> group, except half the point of these give-aways is to encourage
> Usenet usage (besides, I'm never sure if I'm on the correct
> c.s.p.i.g.a steam group or not :)
>
> But I'm fine doing it our traditional usual way. Start expecting
> prezzies come December 1st. I'll use the 'embed in text' method to
> distribute the codes (which has the side benefit of making people read
> the nonsense I type ;-)

Ha!

Oh I do have one more thing, please make it clear what the game is,
as someone was posting games without making it clear what they
were and if I can look and see and it's not something I'm really interested
I'd rather let it sit a couple days so hopefully someone who is gets them.

> and will post at semi-random times. Hopefully
> that makes it more likely our regulars get the games rather than bots
> or lurkers.
>
> But, sorry Justisaur, I can't help but save the best games for last. I
> like a big finish ;-)

Your giveaway, your rules. I'm not looking the gift horse in the mouth :)

- Justisaur

On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 18:51:19 -0800 (PST), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:

>Oh I do have one more thing, please make it clear what the game is,
>as someone was posting games without making it clear what they
>were and if I can look and see and it's not something I'm really interested
>I'd rather let it sit a couple days so hopefully someone who is gets them.

Well, aside from my usual descriptions I'm also going to include a
link to the appropriate store page on Steam.

Although I find your attitude heretical. When it comes to free games,
after all, it's not so much WHAT the game is but how many you can
collect ;-) ;-) ;-)