Gerstmas 2013 Giveaways will officially begin on January 17th, at 12:00AM.=[COUNTDOWN TIMER]=
Entries are still open! Read below and add your entry, now! (We have more stuff than we do entrants, so I'll leave entries open for at least another day or two, even while we're drawing winners).
Note: You can still contribute games to Gerstmas. Just PM me and I'll give you my email address to send keys or gift via Steam to. Thanks!
What is Gerstmas?
Gerstmas is a post-holiday giveaway, where Giant Bomb community members give away games they have accumulated throughout the year, to other members. Gerstmas was first celebrated in 2012, when I gave away 100 games. Enough people said that they would like to participate in the giving away part that I set a goal of 200 games for 2013. I wasn't sure if that was realistic, but we wound up with more than 500 600 games, movies, and sound tracks (including bundled items) that we can give away to more than 300 400 duders! Giant Bomb's generosity is unbelievable.
Who Can Enter?
Anyone who has contributed to the community. Since we need to define some base line for contribution and to weed out new accounts generated just for the drawing, you need to meet either of the following sets of requirements. Note: You donot have to be a paying member to enter. A paying membership is simply another way to be eligible, if you don't already meet the other requirements!
=> EITHER: You have a Giant Bomb premium membership subscription on the date your name is drawn or you contributed a game to Gerstmas 2013.
=> OR: Your GB user account is at least 60 days old and you have at least 100 forum posts or 1,000 wiki points.
Winners of Gerstmases past are welcome to enter, but to favor those who haven't won before, entries will be weighted. Read on for further explanation.
How Do I Enter?
You can enter up until 12:00am PST, Thursday the 17th of January. See the countdown clock linked at the top of this post.
- Post a message in this forum that contains your Steam Profile URL and a list of the top ten games that you'd like to receive, in order of preference.
- Add me to your Steam contacts (you can always remove me later, if you can't stand it).
I need you to post your Steam Profile URL here, so I can find your account and so that when you add me to your Steam contacts, I know who you are on GB.
I need at least ten games on your list, so that when some choices run out, we don't have the delay of communicating back and forth over new choices of what is still available at that time.
How Do I Find My Steam Profile URL?
To find your Steam Profile URL, log into Steam (either via the client or the web) and click on your profile icon at the top. The page you arrive at will include the full URL for your profile in the address bar. That URL is what I need.
For example, mine is: http://steamcommunity.com/id/branthog
Update on Steam Profiles: So, it appears there is a 300-friend limit on Steam. Who knew?! I've created a Steam Group, though. It'll just be a different group each year to make keeping track of who's in that year a lot easier. I'll try and clear out my friends list a little bit in the near future. In the meantime, instead of adding me as a contact on Steam, please join the Gerstmas2013 steam group, here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/gerstmas2013 -- Thanks! :)
How Will Winners Be Selected?
Every entrant's name is put into a spreadsheet. The row-number in that sheet is their entry number (or ticket). To weigh in favor of those who didn't win last year, they will get four rows/tickets and those who received a game last year will receive one. Each day, I'll draw a set of random numbers from random.org and match those against the spreadsheet to find the winners (if #249 is drawn, then I'll find that record in the spreadsheet and that person wins and is removed from the list).
If the person has added me via Steam (as they should have when they first entered), I'll gift their most preferred and still-available game. If all their choices are gone, I'll send them a PM here requesting another choice. To keep things moving along, I will have to skip to the next winner's choice after 48hrs. If I still don't hear form you by the end of Gerstmas, I'll have draw another name in your place, entirely. So, keep your eye on your PMs and make sure your GB settings are such that you get an email notification when someone PMs you.
After You Win
Please drop a note in the thread to confirm that you've received your game!
Odds of Winning
The odds of winning are entirely dependent on the number of entries, but 100 of about 300 entrants won something, last year. We can maintain the same odds with up to 1,000 entrants, this year and even if we surpass that, we won't be talking astronomical chances, here.
Gerstmas Gift Inventory
We have too much inventory to track in a forum post, this year. Instead, see this Google Docs spreadsheet for a better-formatted and updated list of available inventory and winners, throughout Gerstmas.
Since Gerstmas is about rewarding a big chunk of the community with fun little surprises, you'll notice these are mostly indie games, smaller games, and slightly older triple-A titles. It'd be great to give away full brand new triple-A games, but the cost would prohibit this from being something more people can enjoy (and most people are not collecting spare triple-A games in their inventory all year round, obviously!). There is a huge variety of great games, though, and should be something for everyone. Think of the Gerstmas celebration of being more like a little above stalking-stuffers. These are your Tiger Handheld Electronic Games rather than your Red Ryder BB Gun!
A Virus Named Tom (1), AaAaAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity (1), Achron (1), Adam's Venture: Episode 3: Revelations (1), Alpha Protocol (1), Avadon: The Black Fortress (2), AVSEQ (7), Awesomenauts (2), Basement Collection (5), Bejeweled 3 (1), Binding of Isaac (10), Binding of Isaac Collection (11), Bioshock (1), Blackwell Deception (1), Blocks That Matter (3), Booster Trooper (1), Brazen (double fine Amnesia Fortnight prototype) (1), Breath of Death VII & Cthulu Saves the World (2), Breath of Death VII: The Beginning (3), Bunch of Heroes (3), Burn Zombie Burn (1), Castle Crashers (2), Cave Story (8), Chaser (1), Civilization III - Complete (2), Civilization V (2), Closure (1), Cogs (2), Containment: The Zombie Puzzler (1), Cortex Command (1), Crayon Physics Deluxe (1), Cryostasis (1), Cthulu Saves the World (3), Cubemen (2 packs) (5), Darksiders (1), Dead Horde (1), Dead Pixels (2), Dead Space Pack (1), Defense Grid + all DLC (1), Defy Gravity Extended (1), Delve Deeper + Treasure Tunnels (1), Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2), Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition and The Missing Link DLC (1), Dirt 2 (1), Don't Starve (3), DOTA 2 (35), Dungeon Defenders + All DLC (2), Edge (1), Elder Scrolls IV: GOTY Edition (1), Far Cry (original) (1), Flatout (1), Freespace 2 / Fallout 1&2 (1), Frozen Synapse (2), FTL (2), Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (2), Gish (1), Glow Fish (1), Half Life 2 (1), Half Life 2: Episode 1 (1), Hero Acadamy (16), Hitman: Codename 47 (1), Hitman: Blood Money (1), Home (8), Hotel Giant 2 (1), Hotline Miami (2), Humble Indie Bundle #7 (binding of isaac, closure, shank 2, snapshot, indie game the movie, others) (1), Humble Indie Bundle #2 (braid, machinarium, osmos, cortext command, others) (2), Humble Indie Bundle #3 (crayon physics, cogs, vvvvv, hammerfight, and yet it moves) (1), Hydrophobia (3), Indie Game - The Movie (4), Just Cause 2 (4), LA Noire (1), Legend of Grimrock (5), Limbo (1), Lucid (7), Lunar Flight (1), MacGuffin's Curse (1), Madballs in Babo: Invasion (3), Magnetis (3), Mark of the Ninja (1), Metro 2033 (3), Miner Wars (DESURA) (1), Nation Red (3), Nexuiz (2), Noitu Love 2 Devolution (1), Nuclear Dawn (4), Offspring Fling (2), On the Precipice of Darkness 1&2 (2), Orcs Must Die! GOTY (1), Orcs Must Die! 2 (1), Patrician 3 (2), Payday: The Heist (3), Portal (3), Prince of Persia (1), Puzzle Kingdoms (2), Ravaged (2), Realms of Arkania 1+2 (GOG) (1), Red Orchestra 2 GOTY (1), Renegade Ops (2), Resonance (1), Rhythm Zone: Deep Ocean Visualizer (DLC only) (1), Robot Riot (DESURA) (1), Rock of Ages (1), Rush (2), S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (3), Secret of the Magic Crystals (2), Serious Sam 2 (5), Serious Sam 3 (2), Shank 2 (2), Snapshot (3), Snuggle Truck (1), Space Giraffe (1), Steel Storm: Burning Retribution (1), Super Hexagon (1), Super Meatboy (1), Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (2), Swarm Arena (2), Word & Soldiers HD (1), Terraria (3), The Broken Sword Trilogy (3), The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom (5), The Ship (1), The Ship two-pack (3), The Tiny Bang Story (3), The Walking Dead (3), THQ Humble Indie Bundle (27), Titan Quest (2), Toki Tori (22), Torchlight (6), Torchlight 2 (2), Trapped Dead (2), Trine 1 & 2 (1), Turba (1), Universe Sandbox (1), Velvet Assassin (4), Vertex Dispenser (3), Wanderlust (3), Warhammer: Dawn of War I (1), Warhammer: Dawn off War II (1), Waveform (3), Windosill (1), Wings of Prey (1), Wizorb (5), Wonderful End of the World (1), Zen Bound 2 (2), Zeno Clash (13), Zombie Driver (2)
>> The number in '()'s is the quantity. <<
^^THESE ARE THE ONLY GAMES BEING GIVEN AWAY.^^ Other than a few that may be added in the next few days, this is it. If the game is not listed here (or in the Google Docs link above), then it is not something being given away and there's no point in putting it in your list.
Without actually redeeming a key or game (rendering it useless), I can not verify that every key/game is available in your region or hasn't been redeemed already. I'm operating on the assumption that I'm given good codes and that, wherever you are, you'll be able to use it (except DOTA 2, which doesn't work in China). The actual items I have in my Steam inventory should be fine as I can obviously verify availability and shouldn't have issues gifting them to most places. Please understand this concern is a possible limitation that I can't really do anything about, if you have a hard time with the key. :(
Credits
Contributions are credited within the inventory spreadsheet, itself, but following is a list of everyone who so graciously made Gerstmas 2013 possible. Thanks to each and every one of you!
ALTF4_FOR_COLORS, amir90, Artea, AudioBusting, Avantegardener, Azndoctor, bigcess, bpriller, busted1der, bvilleneuve, byterunnr, Canteu, christopherson329, coles4w, Dacnomaniac, Dantey, Demoskinos, Dewar, Ducksworth, F12, Foil1212, Fredddi43, Ghostiet, Glasswall52, Grimmeh, HarlechQuinn, iBePeRFeCT, JesterRoyal, JoeyRavn, jonnybob, kaiserreich, L1GHTN1N, L44, LackingSaint, Legend, MB, Mendelson9, Mr. Skittles, mr187uk, MustachioEugene, Musou, Optix, Panpipe, Pazi, Petturi, Phrosnite, Pie, PolyesterPimp, pyromagnestir, Quipido, Rappelsiini, RPGee, SandwichApoc, shinboy630, Skr0lld0wn, Skyfire543, Stimpack, streetninja, strife777, Strongbadman47, Subjugation, Taka, Tenacious D, thelsdj, VierasTalo, Xpgamer7, yoshimitz707, Zrais, Zyn
Disclaimer
GiantBomb and CBS/i have no stake nor responsibility for this giveaway, even if they promote awareness of it. This is entirely operated by the community and while we can't promise everything will run perfectly and flawlessly, we do our best to ensure fairness, ensure gifting works, and that keys work, and so on. We strive to make as much of the process as open and documented as possible. Any questions or concerns should be raised in this thread or directly to @Branthog .
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