STEAM!

[Humanoid]

Cheers, will do, but I'll need to pick up a second copy to gift to my sister to try MP with, so I'm curious anyway.

[Monte Carlo]

OK but with regards to your original question it's just pricing anomalies.

[Majek]

So they can't even bundle it  only as "the new steam version" with both expansions? b.tards.

[Humanoid]

It added four separate entries to my library: Company of Heroes, Company of Heroes (New Steam Version), Opposing Fronts, and Tales of Valor. Confusing to say the least.

[Monte Carlo]

You need the new steam version: this will unlock all the other content, or should do.

[Majek]

Yes, the other content is DLC in that ( the only working) version.

[BruceVC]

I have been reading about the Steam card system and all the benefits seem cosmetic expect for something that says "You might earn game or DLC coupons"

 

That's rather vague so what is the point of the card system?

[Deraldin]

I have been reading about the Steam card system and all the benefits seem cosmetic expect for something that says "You might earn game or DLC coupons"

 

That's rather vague so what is the point of the card system?

It's all cosmetic. Before the sale you could earn game discount coupons instead of the summer sale cards you currently get, but I haven't seen anything that was comparable to the steam sale prices so how useful that is may vary.

[Keyrock]

Of course it's all cosmetic.  It's all a cleverly calculated ploy to get people to buy more games.  Everything Valve does is to get people to buy more games.  Frankly, it should be.  They're in the business of selling games.  As with any ploy, there will be those that restrain themselves and reap the meager rewards, and those that fall into its clutches and wind up spending a lot more money.  That's how these things work.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Keyrock

[BruceVC]

 

I have been reading about the Steam card system and all the benefits seem cosmetic expect for something that says "You might earn game or DLC coupons"

 

That's rather vague so what is the point of the card system?

It's all cosmetic. Before the sale you could earn game discount coupons instead of the summer sale cards you currently get, but I haven't seen anything that was comparable to the steam sale prices so how useful that is may vary.

 

 

 

Of course it's all cosmetic.  It's all a cleverly calculated ploy to get people to buy more games.  Everything Valve does is to get people to buy more games.  Frankly, it should be.  They're in the business of selling games.  As with any ploy, there will be those that restrain themselves and reap the meager rewards, and those that fall into its clutches and wind up spending a lot more money.  That's how these things work.

 

Okay thanks, I thought as much

[Humanoid]

Cards are also only earned when playing in online mode. There's an indirect motive as well, ultimately with the same goal, but it's to get people more absorbed into the Steam ecosystem as a whole, in that you're encouraged to play online, with all the various knickknacks that that entails. They're selling the idea that Steam is the *only* games platform, much like MS tries to sell the idea that Windows is the only OS. That it's not just a distribution platform, but something you should make the centre of all your experience, not just for gaming, but perhaps everything that's social online. From a business perspective, the idea that you can make it a Facebook-style primary social hub while selling your own products through it instead of just serving ads is an attractive one.

 

Case in point - already Steam is the first and only thought for people buying various indie games during the sale right now. This despite being many of the games being price-matched during the sale, right down to the daily deals, by the developers own storefronts. Monaco right now is on sale at the exact same price on Steam as it is on the official site, which not only gives you a Steam key, but also a DRM-free copy on top of it (and a couple other trivia). Steam takes a 30% cut of the sale when you buy from them, as opposed to a 5% cut taken by Humble Bundle (who do the fulfilment for the developer-direct sales).

Edited July 20, 2013 by Humanoid

[Oerwinde]

Speaking of cards, I need Chivalry, Tomb Raider, and Torchlight 2 for the badge. I can trade Dead Island and Skyrim

[LadyCrimson]

So somewhere in this thread I saw that the cards were maybe worth real money. Are y'all collecting cards for a chance at cash and prizes, or for Steam achievements or "just because?" I confess I don't understand the cards...outside of the fact they seem incentives to buy more games?

[Keyrock]

So somewhere in this thread I saw that the cards were maybe worth real money. Are y'all collecting cards for a chance at cash and prizes, or for Steam achievements or "just because?" I confess I don't understand the cards...outside of the fact they seem incentives to buy more games?

You can sell the cards to other people and the money appears in your Steam wallet.  Initially, you could get some decent coin for cards (I sold a couple for $0.60+), but the prices have plummeted to where you can't expect much more than $0.15 for a card, if you can even sell it.  Anyway, if you collect a full set you earn a badge which levels you up.  Beyond the cosmetic factor of "look, I'm level 2 now" I don't know what that means, likely nothing at all.  I basically just play what I play and if I get a card I get a card.  If I ever get a dupe, I sell it.  Otherwise I hold on to them.  If I ever get a set and earn a badge then I'll earn a badge.  If not, then whatever.  I'll be damned if I ever spend a single penny to buy a card, though, or if I buy a game just because it has cards.

[alanschu]

 

 

Cards are also only earned when playing in online mode. There's an indirect motive as well, ultimately with the same goal, but it's to get people more absorbed into the Steam ecosystem as a whole, in that you're encouraged to play online, with all the various knickknacks that that entails.

 

If cards can be earned while playing offline, I'd be concerned about potential abuse then, as it means that something local on your machine would impact your ability to collect the cards.

[Humanoid]

Yeah, the monetary value is an issue. If it was just a plain collectible - well, offline mode can remember achievements now for example, so it'd be a similar thing. Not that I'm saying that's a good thing, offline mode now is a lot more intrusive than it used to be, with Steam connecting regardless of your wishes, to update itself and update the Store panel in the client for example. I'm pretty uncomfortable with that now, since it's basically turned into an online-light mode instead of being the strictly offline thing it used to be.

 

 

On the mechanics of cards themselves, eh, it's a case of the cart driving the horse. Needless to say, my opinion of the platform as a whole continues its downward slide.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Humanoid

[Keyrock]

On the mechanics of cards themselves, eh, it's a case of the cart driving the horse. Needless to say, my opinion of the platform as a whole continues its downward slide.

Eh, I don't really see the problem.  If you don't like the cards, ignore them.  You'll likely get a few just from your regular usage.  If you ignore them, nothing changed.  If you sell some of them you gain a few pennies.  It's a feature you can just ignore if you wish.  There will always be the people that will spend actual money to collect cards, but that's their problem.  Sheep will be steered, be it by this or something else.

 

Like so many other schemes, it's there to take advantage of suckers.  Not to be heartless (okay, I will be), but if you're a sucker, you deserve to be taken advantage of.  It's just an extension of Natural Selection.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Keyrock

[Humanoid]

Oh I'm very much ignoring them. Just don't like it as a business practice, that's all. It's like giving away toys with kids' meals at fast food outlets, yeah, it's business, but it just feels icky.

[Keyrock]

Oh I'm very much ignoring them. Just don't like it as a business practice, that's all. It's like giving away toys with kids' meals at fast food outlets, yeah, it's business, but it just feels icky.

Business is business.  The end goal is to get as much money as possible.  ALWAYS.  If you're a business that's not attempting to get as much money as possible, you're not a very good business and will likely not stay in business for long.  That's just the brutal truth of it.  Companies may hide behind some warm and fuzzy bull**** about community and giving back and whatever, but the bottom line in business is, was, and always will be profit.  

 

Edit:  that's not to say that positive things can't come out of business.  Positive things for the community can come out of the drive for profit as a byproduct (jobs, education, etc.).  Also, business owners can have legitimate, pure, untainted charitable causes, but those will always be separate from the business itself, a personal drive or enterprise. 

Edited July 20, 2013 by Keyrock

[BruceVC]

 

Oh I'm very much ignoring them. Just don't like it as a business practice, that's all. It's like giving away toys with kids' meals at fast food outlets, yeah, it's business, but it just feels icky.

Business is business.  The end goal is to get as much money as possible.  ALWAYS.  

 

I have to dispute that view. There are still standards and ethics that every business needs to adhere to, it may seem like its all about money but it can't be at the expense of everything else

[Keyrock]

 

 

Oh I'm very much ignoring them. Just don't like it as a business practice, that's all. It's like giving away toys with kids' meals at fast food outlets, yeah, it's business, but it just feels icky.

Business is business.  The end goal is to get as much money as possible.  ALWAYS.  

 

I have to dispute that view. There are still standards and ethics that every business needs to adhere to, it may seem like its all about money but it can't be at the expense of everything else

 

There are standards and laws they must adhere to but the bottom line will always be profit.  Yeah, you can't just do anything in the name of profit, but companies will do everything they can within the rules (and bend the rules as far as they can get away with).  Those that don't tend not to survive.  People like to sound idealistic, the real world doesn't function like that.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Keyrock

[BruceVC]

 

 

 

Oh I'm very much ignoring them. Just don't like it as a business practice, that's all. It's like giving away toys with kids' meals at fast food outlets, yeah, it's business, but it just feels icky.

Business is business.  The end goal is to get as much money as possible.  ALWAYS.  

 

I have to dispute that view. There are still standards and ethics that every business needs to adhere to, it may seem like its all about money but it can't be at the expense of everything else

 

There are standards and laws they must adhere to but the bottom line will always be profit.  Yeah, you can't just do anything in the name of profit, but companies will do everything they can within the rules (and bend the rules as far as they can get away with).  Those that don't tend not to survive.  People like to sound idealistic, the real world doesn't function like that.

 

 

I hear you and I agree that profit is the ultimate goal and I support that business objective but there is no reason big business can't also follow standards which you are saying so I think we are on the same page. Most of my customers are banks and financial institutions and despite the perception these types of businesses do try very hard to conduct business ethically. I see more malfeasance and unethical behavior in the public sector, but that may be a South African phenomena

[Monte Carlo]

Not my bag, but the BG:EE is in the Steam sale for pennies.

[LadyCrimson]

Thanks for all the notes about the "cards." Much clearer. I don't think I'd be personally interested at all, but it's still interesting.

 

[...] offline mode now is a lot more intrusive than it used to be, with Steam connecting regardless of your wishes, to update itself and update the Store panel in the client for example. I'm pretty uncomfortable with that now, since it's basically turned into an online-light mode instead of being the strictly offline thing it used to be.

For some reason, my Steam isn't doing this, but my husband's is. We both D/L the BL2 DLC at the same time, and Steam seemed to do some updating then. Later when we actually played the DLC, hub's PC/Steam downloaded something (offline mode). But mine hasn't. It does say "Downloads disabled" in the offline mode greet screen now, I don't think it did before. We can still play BL2 together so there doesn't seem to be any version conflict. It's odd that mine hasn't done anything tho...wonder why.

 

I don't have Steam set to run on bootup (edit: nvm, thinking of something else disabled it in msconfig actually) and I have the "Enable Steam Community-In-Game" option unchecked...but I'm pretty sure I did the latter on hubby's Steam too (because it seemed to get around the issue of Steam not really wanting to allow offline mode at all that occurred to me recently).

 

And all that's just to say ... I don't like it either. They really seem to be desirous of moving away from having offline mode be a ... viable? useful? ... option. Even if the games don't require being online just to run, eventually Steam itself might. Bah.

[Gorgon]

I suspect it sniffs out if there is an active internet connection and if there is, it just does whatever it wants.