Now gift copies cannot even be stored in the inventory rather then sent directly:http://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/1301948399254001159

I never thought that I would say this, being quite a Steam supporter myself but at this rate Im very much planning to cut my losses and potentially make GOG my second home for gaming >< Im just getting really fed up with how things are being handled around steam lately.

Does it mean that no more cheaper price steam gifts from sites such as G2A, Kinguin etc?

I assume those traders still have a lot of leftover copies they will try and make clear house with. Other than that, cd keys trading is still a thing and I wouldnt be surprised that these sites will move to those soon enough.

Where is it CD-key came from? Developers themselves?

Sucks for people who want to buy some games in sales and gift them later, but their decision totally makes sense, considering how much the old system was abused to get around regional pricing.

"Scheduling Gifts Is Even More Straightforward
Go ahead and buy a gift months in advance and have it delivered to a friend on time, every time."

In the OP link...

That's great if you know who you want to give the gift to.

I was only trading cards but they kinda made it impossible without giving them my phone number and using some weird steam thing on my phone which I'm definitely not gonna do (until when they eventually force it as the only way to access my steam library)

the way i see it, valve just trying to cut the people who trade their games on steam, some traders buy the games on sales on valves , its more cheaper if its on the steam bundle (example: like unreal tournament bundles), the traders then sell it probably next week or so from there as a steam gift on third party sites. Profit for the traders for selling higher prices steam games. This is pure business for those party involve.
Valve doesnt want that. its smart on their part.

that buying gift and scheduling gift for your friends part its just public relation talk

Their whole announcement felt like PR bullshit imho

Doesn't sound very flexible but at least it's something. Is it smart? They seem to piss off some of their customers (see OP here). Better to have a soft criteria like allowing it for the normal user but forbidding it for the commercial re-seller. An activity based limitation might be much better (more friendly) here.

Basically, this whole thing just shows just yet again that we can not have nice things, and a customer can not be trusted. You were not supposed to trade the keys, you did, and therefore the system got stricter. The only people to blame for this situation is those who abused the system and ignored the TOS / agreements to start with.

You made your bed, now lay in it.

I don't even use Steam and I 100% agree with your post immediately above, but this is just an extraordinarily stupid and clueless excuse for design. People buy games to sit in their inventory because they decide whom to send it to (or even redeem for themselves, I've had it happen on GOG) when they send it. Between now and my friend's birthday, they'll either buy the game for themselves or make other plans. I can't stop f5ing waiting for Regalia to be released this month, but when it does come out, I'll probably be ***** deep in genome assembly or something.

Yes, the old system was ohexploitable. Yes, they did right removing it. No, the alternative they're suggesting is stupid and offensive and offensively stupid.

Also this: Sorry but what? If they know the pricing difference between countries, meaning they know which country my friend's in, why don't they let me gift my friend at the friend's price if it's greater?

What's so bad about trading keys as long as one does it not in the large scale (say less than 1 per month)?

Maybe trading (some) keys is exactly what customers would like to do. Valve earns enough as it is.

So what? Steam customers always complain about customer unfriendly policies and bad customer service and what not. But most of them keep throwing money at Steam and Steam knows that. Customer outrage doesn't mean anything with such a user base. "I am so pissed off! Here, take my money!" is the usual reaction to any change. So Steam can basically do whatever they want, because enough people don't grasp the concept of voting with their wallet. Profit is the only feedback Steam needs to care about - and the select few that actually leave don't make a noticeable dent in the profits.