Steam Holiday sale on now!

[Amit]

Holy Fuck! The $400 I got for my birthday is probably gonna get sapped by Steam.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/amit9821/Capture-29.png
(http://store.steampowered.com)
Edit: WTF! Steam website is being overloaded! Getting random errors :( I want my Portal 2 for $7.49.

[arbiter901]

i got 2 coupons -33% off from any valve game and -50% rockstar games

[Timo]

http://i.imgur.com/M8kez.png

[DarkHalo003]

That's more memory than I think I'll have in a lifetime. :O

[=sw=warlord]

If only steam would stay online long enough for me to even check the sales...

[arbiter901]

Ive been trying to buy portal 2 as a gift for the past 3 hours.

[Amit]

Yeah. It's really fucking up. I didn't see this happen last year, even though the download servers were a mess, at least we could buy the games.

[DarkHalo003]

Yeah. It's really fucking up. I didn't see this happen last year, even though the download servers were a mess, at least we could buy the games.
Is anyone else having issues with "The First Gift?" You know, the one where once you visit the gift page a gift appears in your inventory. It says I got it, but the gift doesn't appear anywhere.

EDIT: I'm positive the Store is officially down now.

EDIT 2: Yeah, 1UP says Inventory and Account page errors are being greatly reported. At least we can still play some games, unlike when Deus Ex was released.

[arbiter901]

Restart steam and revisit your inventory.

[Ryx]

No one can hold all steam games -__________-

[cheezdue]

The store page isn't loading up for me. :c Fuck holiday shopping in general.

[arbiter901]

Not sure if I should get Postal 3 now since my steam wallet will probably be empty by tomorrow.

[Amit]

Is anyone else having issues with "The First Gift?" You know, the one where once you visit the gift page a gift appears in your inventory. It says I got it, but the gift doesn't appear anywhere.

I clicked the get gift thing and I get sent straight to a 503 error page or something like that.

[n00b1n8R]

That's like $3000 of railworks DLC :v:

[neuro]

i don't like the fact they tie in these 'get gifts' things in with having to buy these games in the first place.

but hey that's marketting for ya.

[Amit]

Yeah. I hate the whole crafting idea thing. It's way over the top and confusing in some cases. I don't like how there's a meta game within the meta game for a holiday sale.

[ODX]

Mother of God...EVERY SINGLE GAME ON STEAM?! D: (that's a looooot of gifting to friends that person will probably be doing)

[MXC]

I want that Telltale pack SOO DAMNED BAD.

http://i.imgur.com/X96PE.png

[Amit]

I saw that and was going to add it to my first post, but then I forgot to paste the image and closed the tab. I realize now that I shouldn't have forgotten since that's the second time someone has posted that in this thread.

[MXC]

I saw that and was going to add it to my first post, but then I forgot to paste the image and closed the tab. I realize now that I shouldn't have forgotten since that's the second time someone has posted that in this thread.

:iamafag:

[Disaster]

Apparently some people are getting games as their gifts. Anybody have any luck? I only got a 33% valve coupon.

[MXC]

Damn,finally got to open my gift and it's a 25% off valve coupon. The only Valve game I don't already have is Day of Defeat Source. Well, that and Episode 2, but I already played through that once on the 360. :\

[Cortexian]

Got a 25% off code for Valve games as well, was gonna combing it with the existing Portal 2 discount but it won't let me since the coupon only becomes active after Jan 2nd 2012. Guess I'll wait for it to go on sale again in the future.

[Amit]

Got a 25% off code for Valve games as well, was gonna combing it with the existing Portal 2 discount but it won't let me since the coupon only becomes active after Jan 2nd 2012. Guess I'll wait for it to go on sale again in the future.

Well, you're not gonna get it for any cheaper than it is now. If you wait, the sale will end, Portal 2 will go back up to $29.99 and there may be not a sale for it again before the coupon expires on March 1st. Even if it does get a discount after January 2nd, it's probably not going to be good enough to bring the price down far enough that the 25% off coupon will do much.

Btw, I got a 50% off a Valve game coupon, but I own everything from Valve already pretty much. I guess I'll try to trade it for something good.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

50% code here :)
wtt for winter crates

[Amit]

What are winter crates?

[DarkHalo003]

Is anyone still having issues with the first gift?

[Amit]

No, what's up?

[Phobias]

So I got a steam gift of 2 games, killing floor and defence alliance. The catch is I can only send them, not receive them and I can't send them individually, anyone want them?

Also 33% voucher on any Valve game.. I already own them all :S

Edit: what the shit it just updated, I now have Amnesia and super meat boy to give away.

[DarkHalo003]

No, what's up?
They must still be fixing some issues regarding items not appearing in inventories. There is still nothing in my inventory nor any history of gifts.

[Timo]

Is anyone still having issues with the first gift?

Yeah I 404'd after clicking the popup when I first went to the great gift pile page, never got a gift :(

[Amit]

So I got a steam gift of 2 games, killing floor and defence alliance. The catch is I can only send them, not receive them and I can't send them individually, anyone want them?


So when you send them, can somebody send them back to you? I was looking into getting Killing Floor since I have a bunch of bonus items for that game due to me purchasing other Tripwire games, but can't use. All I have to trade is the 50% off Valve game coupon, but if you wouldn't mind sending me Killing Floor, I can try sending it back to you so you can try to open it. Otherwise, I'll keep it, if that's okay with you.

Also, people with issues, try restarting Steam.

[Phobias]

I already have killing floor, it's defence alliance I wanted to try, I'll add and send it to you

[neuro]

i have a 50% off red faction armageddon, anyone want to trade? already have that game -.-

[ODX]

I've got 50% off any Valve title (which...they all are now, aside from the Half-Life games which are all 75% off or $10 for them all), and a lump of coal :V

Maybe I'll buy Counter Strike for my crappy computer to play on, dunno. I feel like if I were to get Source though, then I'd have to get into the animation scene for it which I'm not too interested in doing.

[DarkHalo003]

Finally got Half-Life 2. Now all I need is Ep.1, Ep.2, and Half-Life 1. Yay.

And I got the shaft. They gave me a 25% off coupon for Valve games. WTF Steam.

[Cortexian]

I'll trade off my 25% Valve coupon if anyone wants it.

Things I like:
Bad Company 2 Vietnam
Assassin's Creed Revelations
Coal?

[jcap]

:| Your 25% off isn't worth any of that. Also I have 25% off too, fuck Valve.

[=sw=warlord]

Who is Meridian4?
I've got a 33%- voucher for em.
And I think everyone got the 25%- voucher for Valve.

[StankBacon]

i finished the spiral knights achievement and got the frozenbyte collection (shadowgrounds and trine)
:( i already had it


anyone want?



-edit- also got 33% off valve and 2 lumps of coal.

[Cortexian]

:| Your 25% off isn't worth any of that. Also I have 25% off too, fuck Valve.
Might be worth some coal if someone got coal and wanted a Valve game.

It might also be worth a partial-trade.

[Disaster]

i finished the spiral knights achievement and got the frozenbyte collection (shadowgrounds and trine)
:( i already had it


anyone want?



-edit- also got 33% off valve and 2 lumps of coal.

For trade or free? If free, I'll take it. :realsmug:

[DarkHalo003]

I'll trade you a 25% coupon of Valve's for Trine. :iamafag:

And I really hope Skyrim goes on sale after Christmas. If I have money and it's like 50% off, then I'll finally have my most surprisingly sought after game right now.

[arbiter901]

I'll trade off a 50% off rockstar games for The orange Box which is on sale right now

[MXC]

If anybody has any coal they don't want, I have a 25% valve coupon I'll trade for it.

[ThePlague]

What a great time of the year to have my debit account canceled...

Meh, BF3 is my only love now :C

[PopeAK49]

*Image*

LMFAO. You asshole, I painfully sprayed apple cider out of my nose.

[Amit]

What a great time of the year to have my debit account canceled...

Meh, BF3 is my only love now :C

Why in the hell would you cancel your debit account? Surely you're going to put money into it later?

[TeeKup]

Why the BALLS do these always happen when I'm fucking broke?! I won't get paid again until January 9th.

[MXC]

I hate this man.
http://i.imgur.com/w8kGS.png

[ODX]

Wait, so you have to trade it or something?

[DarkHalo003]

It takes 7 coal for a gift. However, each coal you have on January 2nd equates to an entry for the massive Giveaway that day. Regardless, I won't win jack shit. Someone hold me.

Also, MXC, I hate that man too. I wish him the best of luck in his endeavors. :gonk:

@Warlord about the Valve coupons: yeah, I think you're right, but either way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY-FaTuuglo&feature=related

I got a rock. :(

[StankBacon]

doesn't unpack mean use it for yourself?

idgi..

[Limited]

Woah woah woah people....whats going on?

Can someone explain to me what the heck is coal, inventory and this gift stuff? I havent been on steam for a while.

E: So I got one lump of coal and -33% valve stuff...sucks the only game I may buy is SR3

[Disaster]

Coal is basically 1 entry into the Epic giveaway at the end of the sale. However, coal can also be traded away or crafted into gifts (7 coal required). If you complete the Great Gift Pile daily achievements, you have a chance of getting a lump of coal, a coupon, or even a game.

[StankBacon]

i have 4 coal, anyone wanna give me a cool game for them? :o

[=sw=warlord]

i have 4 coal, anyone wanna give me a cool game for them? :o
Portal count?
Unless you play TF2 in which I've got items for a game I never play.

[DarkHalo003]

Can you choose the gift you want from steam with the 7 coal?

[=sw=warlord]

Can you choose the gift you want from steam with the 7 coal?
Nope.

[DarkHalo003]

Nope.
That's retarded. Not only do you have to hope you have the games necessary to even get some coal, but once you reach 7 you risk getting another Valve coupon. WTF.

On the bright side, just bought Defense Grid: The Awakening for $3! I need an RTS on my PC, so this is definitely a nice buy I hope.

I have 2 Coals now! :iamafag:

[StankBacon]

Portal count?
Unless you play TF2 in which I've got items for a game I never play.

i already have portal 1, and i don't play tf2 :/

[=sw=warlord]

i already have portal 1, and i don't play tf2 :/
I've got a 33%- Meridian4 voucher if it's any use.

[NullZero]

Mass Effect & sequel, 75% off. You'd be crazy not to get it if not already owned.

[MXC]

If Bizarre Creations still existed and the money was still going to the people who made it, I would buy Blur in a second.


Oh, and Torchlight is 100% worth it.

[Limited]

So Saints Row 3 has 33% off today, making it £20.09...still yesterday it was £22.

One challenge today is to trade an item with a friend.

[DarkHalo003]

Anyone want to trade a coupon for a coupon so we complete the Gift Objective of trading?

Steam: darkhalo003

[Limited]

Servers are getting hammered, lagging like mad with me and a friend. I've added you dark.

£14.99 for SR3 on THQ store (only today and tomorrow!)

http://store.thq.com/store/thq/en_GB/pd/productID.233244200

[DarkHalo003]

Yeah, got your (and some others, thanks guys) friend request. Do you know if StarCraftII is going to have a sale? Really want to get into some nice RTS action. Defense Grid only makes me want more RTS games on the PC.

[Amit]

Do you know if StarCraftII is going to have a sale?

Activision, so no sale...ever.

[DarkHalo003]

Activision, so no sale...ever.
Lol, or when they do it's at the weirdest times. They had a 50% sale on StarCraftII back in November during Thanksgiving.

[Limited]

Tax: £1.96
Total: £14.99
Discount: £40.52

Fuck yeah, screw Steam sales (bought on THQ and downloading via Steam)

[StankBacon]

hmm, i have 7 coal... think i might craft a gift.


also, took fucking 10 minutes to do a trade because steam servers are fucking pathetic.


-edit- welp that was a waste of coal >:(

[=sw=warlord]

What did you get?

[cheezdue]

I got Morrowind as a gift for completing the Audiosurf achievement. :)

[StankBacon]

What did you get?

a fucking coupon for super meat boy..... THANKS VALVE!!

[ODX]

It gave me a -50% off The Witcher: Enhanced Edition today...which I already bought when it was on sale for $2.50 (as well as The Witcher 2 since I've been wanting to get into an RPG recently and people say it's a nice game. Fuck conformity and going to Skyrim!)

[Phopojijo]

Lol, or when they do it's at the weirdest times. They had a 50% sale on StarCraftII back in November during Thanksgiving.Yeah, imagine a company having a sale on Black Friday...

[Zeph]

Skyrim is 33% off.

And I forgot to make a deposit at the bank Friday.

:(

[dark navi]

Picked up Borderlands GOTY for $7.49... Is it bad/illegal to lie about what state you live in in order to avoid paying taxes?

[Donut]

well its direct download and state-specific taxes on something like that is basically E-highway robbery, so go for it.

[DarkHalo003]

Yeah, imagine a company having a sale on Black Friday...
:realsmug:


Skyrim is 33% off.

And I forgot to make a deposit at the bank Friday.

:(
Same here. I have $200 the night of Christmas Eve....and I have 4 dollars in my bank. Some times, timing is just awful. :saddowns:

[dark navi]

well its direct download and state-specific taxes on something like that is basically E-highway robbery, so go for it.


http://troll.me/images/gsssthrwhwr/fornicate-the-constable.jpg

[Mr Buckshot]

Awesome deals! I got Payday The Heist (note: playing solo sucks melons), Prototype, Blur, and the Oddboxx.

Prizes I won were the Orange Box, CS Source, a 50% off any Valve game coupon, and a 25% off any DeepSilver game coupon. Too bad I already owned all the Valve games, so I ended up trading for random TF2 items that I don't even notice :/

[Warsaw]

I have a 50% Off Valve coupon. I own all Valve games, too.

:mech:

Out of the entire sale so far, I have bought:
-Nexus: The Jupiter Incident
-Fallout 3: GOTY
-X Superbox
-Portal 2
-Metro 2033

[jcap]

Arguably more useless than the valve coupon: a paradox coupon.

[Warsaw]

Activision, so no sale...ever.

Hey look, MW3 is on sale today...

[MXC]

Hey look, MW3 is on sale today...


I must admit, I am genuinely surprised at that. It's not really that good of a deal, yeah, but still, it is a deal of a sort.

I now have a 25% off Sega and 33% off THQ coupon.

[Warsaw]

MW3 is on sale just so they can try and push their sales figures even further ahead of BF3, because they know that PC is where BF3 is the real competition for MW3.

As for THQ, if you don't already have it, Dawn of War.

[ODX]

Am I a bad person for passing up the "steal" on Skyrim?

I figured I'm going to be busy ploughing through The Witcher and The Witcher 2 for a while, and by the time I'll have time to get into Skyrim it'll probably be marked back down to some close-enough price (unless Bethesda is a dirty whore like Activision and doesn't like lowering prices?).

[Warsaw]

No. It wasn't enough of a steal to make me buy it, either.

[Pooky]

As for THQ, if you don't already have it, Dawn of War.

Fucking this. Dawn of war 1 and 2, and all of their expansions were excellent.

Also I don't think the DoW series gets enough credit for having some really awesome music

xSQbiAAvxn4&fmt=18

[Warsaw]

The music is pretty damn badass, yeah. I used to leave Dark Crusade's menu running in the background just for the music.

Ugh, I need more good RTS games. Why do most of them have to come out as trash?

[DarkHalo003]

Should I wait till Steam may have another Skyrim discount or should I buy a hard copy of Skyrim? Which would be less glitchy? Yes, it makes a difference. I'm starting to think processes like Steam that run in the background while I play hit my computer's performance hard enough.

[MXC]

The music is pretty damn badass, yeah. I used to leave Dark Crusade's menu running in the background just for the music.

Ugh, I need more good RTS games. Why do most of them have to come out as trash?

Because people try to combine C&C with Company of Heroes? *shrug*

[StankBacon]

Should I wait till Steam may have another Skyrim discount or should I buy a hard copy of Skyrim? Which would be less glitchy? Yes, it makes a difference. I'm starting to think processes like Steam that run in the background while I play hit my computer's performance hard enough.


steam uses ~50 mb of ram, and while idle uses 0 cpu, so no, it doesn't make a difference.

also disable steam ingame overlay.

[DarkHalo003]

steam uses ~50 mb of ram, and while idle uses 0 cpu, so no, it doesn't make a difference.

also disable steam ingame overlay.
Hmm, it probably is the ingame overlay operating. It's just another thing I guess. Regardless, I feel there's a hit on my performance when I use Steam games, like something isn't integrated right or it's routed in a way that rubs me the wrong way. Granted I've been playing 3 Bethesda games and Bioshock 2, all of which are known to carry some sort of glitchy performance issues. Speaking of which, is Skyrim glitchy performance-wise for PC? For example, is it more functional than New Vegas?

[Kornman00]

I left my computer for an hour and somehow missed the Tom Clancy Pack where I could have got like ~200$ worth of games for ~44$ :|

[seanthelawn]

Should I wait till Steam may have another Skyrim discount or should I buy a hard copy of Skyrim? Which would be less glitchy? Yes, it makes a difference. I'm starting to think processes like Steam that run in the background while I play hit my computer's performance hard enough.

Skyrim uses Steamworks so I'm pretty sure you'll need Steam even if you buy a physical copy.

[Warsaw]

Kind of like how Fallout 3 is stuck with GFWL even if you got it through Steam...

[DarkHalo003]

Skyrim uses Steamworks so I'm pretty sure you'll need Steam even if you buy a physical copy.
:(

[Warsaw]

Bastion is on sale for $8.50 (soundtrack version or bust). Buy or don't buy?

[Amit]

Download.

[Patrickssj6]

Kind of like how Fallout 3 is stuck with GFWL even if you got it through Steam...

Multiple games are. Handy for the Xbox 360 Controller support.

[DarkHalo003]

Multiple games are. Handy for the Xbox 360 Controller support.
Thinking about doing this for Skyrim....oh wait, I'm stuck with Steam instead. Nevermind.

GfWL isn't bad in my experiences, at least to the point of Bioshock 2. But then again, you guys have messed with it longer, so maybe I've just experienced the best of it all....but it did suck for Fallout 3.

[dark navi]

Skyrim still has excellent Xbox360 controller support... also, you could just pirate a copy after you buy it to avoid Steam.:cop:

[BobtheGreatII]

You have to be careful around the Modacity crew when talking about GFWL. A lot are still butt hurt about H2V and a weird rumor that they think it was deleting saved games. It's a bunch of nonsense. GFWL works fine.

[LlamaMaster]

GFWL works fine.
GFWL is a horrible piece of shit that gives me trouble every time I try to use it to play with friends. It does not work fine.

[ODX]

Bastion is on sale for $8.50 (soundtrack version or bust). Buy or don't buy?I got it too, and so far I love it. Really awesome game and definitely worth it (though for me it was $5 lol).

[BobtheGreatII]

GFWL is a horrible piece of shit that gives me trouble every time I try to use it to play with friends. It does not work fine.

I used it for Dirt 2. Never had a problem.

[Amit]

People around these parts like to pretend their problems with a game stem from GFWL when it doesn't even touch your save games. I've yet to hear specifics of what exactly makes GFWL a piece of shit. The only downsides to it that I know of is that it has a shitting matchmaking system called TrueSkill or some bullshit that doesn't work the way it should and that if you don't already have it on your computer, you have to download updates three times within a GFWL game just to log in (you can get around this by just downloading the current GFWL marketplace client).

[Warsaw]

GFWL is shit because its original purpose was to bring an Xbox Live-like system to the Windows platform, including the yearly subscription and crap-ass match-making. If it had been 100% free from the start, I wouldn't bitch about it as much. Since we all know that it is really a Trojan Horse for the demise of online PC gaming for free, it is considered to be garbage.

I mean, Xbox Live is already a rip-off. Why would I want that on my Windows computer?

[Amit]

That's your only reason? When was the last time you played a GFWL game? It's been completely free since July 2008. Any games worth getting that had GFWL attached to them were released after July 2008.

Jesus you guys act like its SecuROM or something. All GFWL is now is a social overlay.

[DarkHalo003]

Bioshock 2 is a fun game if you don't have a Gold membership with an Xbox. I suggest tinkering with the multiplayer on that the next time you ache for a nice FPS that isn't entirely redundant (though the elephant gun with electrobolt users may piss you off).

Bought both Skyrim (at Best Buy) and Republic Commandos ($2.50 on Steam!) today. Definitely nice to have some cash in pocket!

[BobtheGreatII]

GFWL is shit because its original purpose was to bring an Xbox Live-like system to the Windows platform, including the yearly subscription and crap-ass match-making. If it had been 100% free from the start, I wouldn't bitch about it as much. Since we all know that it is really a Trojan Horse for the demise of online PC gaming for free, it is considered to be garbage.

I mean, Xbox Live is already a rip-off. Why would I want that on my Windows computer?

Holy shit I miss the days of negative rep.

[jcap]

Don't forget that GFWL prohibits dedicated servers.

And before you say say, "Oh what about H2V that had dedicated servers," you should actually try setting one up and observe all the problems linked to its multiplayer.

[Pooky]

Holy shit I miss the days of negative rep.

I miss rep, period.

[Warsaw]

That's your only reason? When was the last time you played a GFWL game? It's been completely free since July 2008. Any games worth getting that had GFWL attached to them were released after July 2008.

Jesus you guys act like its SecuROM or something. All GFWL is now is a social overlay.

Two days ago, Fallout 3. I know what it is now and that's cool, but it's still a Trojan Horse. They have said that they intend to make a renewed push to get GFWL to be a major player in PC sales like Steam. We haven't seen it yet, but I suspect that will change with Windows 8. If it picks up and gets as popular as Steam or more, Microsoft will try to restart their subscription efforts. This is Microsoft. They made the mistake of going too fast in the beginning and now they are trying the "slow and steady" approach. If you make tiny, incremental changes, nobody will notice, right? Remember that they are in control of almost the entire PC gaming market because Windows is THE platform for PC gaming; OSX and Linux are footnotes. Unless the entire industry wants to move over to OpenGL (hey, why not?) from DirectX, they will do whatever Microsoft wants them to do or drop PC games entirely.

I don't want to have to pay $60 for ads on my home-screen (NEW AND IMPROVED!), UI updates that have sluggish response times, a service that doesn't actually provide dedicated servers or host voice chat (lol, it's VoIP guys), and then also wants me to pay extra for the features that they keep toting about as benefits of being an Xbox Live Gold member (Netflix, ESPN, not that I really care about them). That's what they want to do with GFWL. That was their goal before, and it is still the goal today. Integration into Windows 8 is just the next step. If you think that GFWL has gone benign, you are kidding yourself. GFWL is a very good example of voting with your wallet. Don't buy GFWL games, and they won't be compelled to push it. I didn't know FO3 was a GFWL game; I figured that since Oblivion wasn't, FO3 wouldn't be. My mistake for not doing the research. That said, I hope you were not one of those in the "boycott MW2" crowd and that went out and bought it anyways.

Bob, please, enlighten me with your opinion. You seem to be positively teeming with knowledge on the subject. At any rate, you'd just get rep-bombed back by me and some...others...for neg-repping without backing it up. That is why there isn't rep anymore, because it came down to cliques.

tl;dr: Xbox Live is an almost fraudulent "service" that provides close to nothing for that $60, and I don't want that on PC. Ever.

That said, Bastion is p cool. The music and art direction are top notch. Also, who the fuck puts a Great Gift challenge in X3? Almost nobody ejects in that game!

[Donut]

idk if anybody has said this yet, but theres an xliveless.dll for fallout 3. unlike bioshock 2 where GFWL is necessary for all aspects of the game, you can rip it straight out of fallout 3. so if thats the concern, you can remove it, at least out of the retail version. idk if you can pull it out of the steam version, but i dont see why not.

as for GFWL itself, ive shared my misery story with you guys about bioshock 2. it crashed 7 times in 20 minutes and made the game literally unplayable.

[Warsaw]

Should be able to. Thanks for the tip, I'll go ahead and try it. Unfortunately, damage is done; bought a GFWL game.

[DarkHalo003]

idk if anybody has said this yet, but theres an xliveless.dll for fallout 3. unlike bioshock 2 where GFWL is necessary for all aspects of the game, you can rip it straight out of fallout 3. so if thats the concern, you can remove it, at least out of the retail version. idk if you can pull it out of the steam version, but i dont see why not.

as for GFWL itself, ive shared my misery story with you guys about bioshock 2. it crashed 7 times in 20 minutes and made the game literally unplayable.
See, I did not experience this. You did buy it before me by a year or so, so maybe my version was ultimately complete? All I know is, from what I've been playing, Bioshock 2 from Steam has worked near-perfectly (with the exception of one crash due to my overloading it with too many particles.lol.) for me and the multiplayer reminded me a lot of Halo PC with better hit detection.

[ODX]

Just crafted 7 coal together.

I got a coupon I already had (-50% off The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, which again I already bought for like $2.50 when it was on sale).

What the fucking fuck Valve.

[Disaster]

Consider yourself lucky, I got 10% off Sega when I crafted...

[arbiter901]

You're better off trading the coal away in the steam trading forums. I got DoD:S for 4 coal.

[MXC]

Croteam knows how to make a deal. 90% off the HD remakes, 50% off Serious Sam 3, only 36 DAYS after it came out.


Worth every freakin' penny.

Also, should I get Bastion, Space Marine, the Telltale pack or DoW II?

[Warsaw]

DoW II: more expandable.

[TeeKup]

SPEHCE MAREEN. I still enjoy playing it.

[Amit]

I have a tradable Dawn of War 2: Retribution Complete DLC Pack if anyone wants to trade for Skyrim :D

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/amit9821/Capture-30.png

[MXC]

Eff it, my backlog is soo damn big right now I don't even care anymore. I'll get Bastion and DoW II(I really, really, REALLY hate unit caps, but if I stuck it out for Starcraft 2, I'll stick it out for this).


EDIT: Son of a BITCH, I forgot about Darksiders.

[Warsaw]

So. Many. Games. Ugh. Not sure if I want to buy C&C3, since it was only good before the patches ruined it.

[Mr Buckshot]

keep your coal guys, you need it for entries into the steam giveaway.

I stopped crafting coal after all I ever got were coupons for games that already see sales big enough that the coupons can't stack. E.g. I just tried to use a 50% off Capsized coupon, but still got charged $2.50 (it was already 75% off) instead of $1.25 like I hoped. I'm not complaining, as Capsized is a good game and well worth even $10, but it would be nice to get something else other than a useless coupon. Even cosmetic DLCs for the F2P games would have been better.

bought Fallout New Vegas and the old school Deus Ex titles.

[n00b1n8R]

Thanks to Amit for helping me dodge the price gouging on Australians for Deus Ex~

[Donut]

got 50% off max payne 2 if anybody is interested in that coupon.

...because i already have it, of course.

[ODX]

keep your coal guys, you need it for entries into the steam giveaway.

I stopped crafting coal after all I ever got were coupons for games that already see sales big enough that the coupons can't stack. E.g. I just tried to use a 50% off Capsized coupon, but still got charged $2.50 (it was already 75% off) instead of $1.25 like I hoped. I'm not complaining, as Capsized is a good game and well worth even $10, but it would be nice to get something else other than a useless coupon. Even cosmetic DLCs for the F2P games would have been better.

bought Fallout New Vegas and the old school Deus Ex titles.The coupons you're getting right now will only work starting January 2nd until March 2nd (or something close to), so you can't stack them on-top of the sales already going on like you were trying to do.

[Amit]

Thanks to Amit for helping me dodge the price gouging on Australians for Deus Ex~

When in doubt, seek out Canadians. Most of us are nice people if you disregard the criminals (the federal government and big telecoms).

[cheezdue]

Dammit I can't decide if I should buy Deus Ex. Should I go for it?

EDIT:And maybe Sandbox Universe as well.

[n00b1n8R]

Yes you should buy Deus Ex (and Human Revolution).

[RedBaron]

Completely wasted my time scrounging up 7 coal just to have it crafted into a 33% off valve coupon. I never expected to win the contest with only 7 coal, but I thought at least crafting it would make something better than the usual shit coupons that you get for the same amount of work as one coal. And yes I said work, cuz there's no way I have the patience to go through every single one of their indie games for such little incentive. ARG ANGER

[DarkHalo003]

I'd rather have coal than coupons. I have 4 of both now which includes a 25% off of Valve, a 25% off of Ubisoft (which may not be so bad in the future), a 50% off of Frostbite Collection (Trine, etc.), and 50% off of Trine. Basically, two of my coupons are pointless. The only reason Valve's coupon isn't is because I don't have Portal 2 or Half-Life.

[RedBaron]

Well I crafted them under the assumption that I would be getting something better than coupons. If I knew what I was in for, I would have kept my coal. I already had a 50% off valve before getting the 33%. Both of which are pointless to me cuz I already own all of their games that are worth having, minus portal 2, which I already played through the single player so there's really no point to get that either. The only thing I might get is Half-Life Source. But forgetting about which games that I do or do not have, the coupons are still useless. The fact that the coupons can't be used until after the holiday sale, and the fact that valve games are 50% off right now, makes the 2 coupons I have completely useless.

I'll state the obvious in saying that this is all a pyramid scheme. You can have a chance, a very small chance, to win awesome games that you actually want to play (like that skyrim guy). But in order to get these chances, you have to pay money for other games that you probably would never want to play. Why not just spend that money on the games you wanted to begin with instead of going through all the loops??? We've had plenty of opportunity to through the sales.

[DarkHalo003]

Yeah, I caught onto this fast enough to stop buying past major sales. For example, I bought Half-Life 2, Defense Grid, and Republic Commando from the sales this Holiday season. Half-Life 2 was disappointing and Defense Grid is alright (fun little game that fills part of the gap in RTS games my computer doesn't have). The thing is, after buying a great game like Skyrim, I haven't even touched Republic Commando AND I still need to play through Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep on the PSP. My point is that even if you win or buy a lot of games, when will you finally ever be able to play them? I still have no clues as to when I play Republic Commando (I assume once I finish Skyrim, whenever that is), I'm stuck at the end of one character's story in Birht By Sleep, and on top of all that I'm itching to buy Star Craft II even more every day (I've spent roughly $80 this Christmas already out of $200, so I'd be left too low for comfort being barely in college at $60). Gaming, why are you so fun?

[Warsaw]

Wait, Half-Life 2 was disappointing? How so? I thought it was a much more refined experience than Half-Life, and as a campaign it stands head and shoulders above most, including all of the Halo games after No. 1.

[RedBaron]

For me, both Half-Life 2 and Republic Commando are ranked as some of the best campaigns ever. Maybe I'm just old school. I would love to play Republic Commando again if only its graphics aren't completely fucked by current gen video cards.

[Amit]

I can play Republic Commando fine on a HD5750...

[RedBaron]

Look closely. All the normal maps are messed up. It makes a HUGE difference, and very little people now a days know what the game is supposed to look like. It use to be you had to turn off normal map in the settings just to keep the game from crashing. Now all the drivers (both nvidia and ATI) are updated to ignore that setting all together and leave it off.

[DarkHalo003]

Wait, Half-Life 2 was disappointing? How so? I thought it was a much more refined experience than Half-Life, and as a campaign it stands head and shoulders above most, including all of the Halo games after No. 1.
It was just a frustrating and tedious experience. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more on console. It felt redundant or overbearing except for the last level which was pretty cool. Loved the ending though.

[ODX]

EDIT:And maybe Sandbox Universe as well.I'm not sure if it's still on-sale but I'll still say my opinion:
I bought it for $2.50 and it's kind of neat, maybe I'll use it more later if I ever take an astronomy class but otherwise there isn't too much to do. I wouldn't say it was a pointless buy because it was still cool, but don't expect to be obsessed with it and playing for hours at a time.

Edit: Holy crap encore day! Skyrim is $40 again, so should I get it? Again, I'm playing through The Witcher/Witcher 2 right now and that could take a while, so I'm wondering if by the time I finish that Skyrim could maybe be lower when I decide to get into it.

[arbiter901]

I decided to craft 7 coal just now and got HL2:EP1 which I already have :(
The gift pile consists of only valve shit now but, I knew I didn't stand a chance with only 7 coal.

[Amit]

Why are people so ignorant? If you waste your coal on crafting useless stuff, you lose your chances to win the grand prize.

[ODX]

Yeah, because I would ever have had a chance to win this lottery.

Might as well just try to have crafted a game, which apparently didn't work so oh well.

[=sw=warlord]

Why are people so ignorant? If you waste your coal on crafting useless stuff, you lose your chances to win the grand prize.
And how many people use steam at any one time?
4 million maybe?
Now how would even 50 coal be any use in such numbers?

[Rentafence]

And how many people use steam at any one time?
4 million maybe?
Now how would even 50 coal be any use in such numbers?

There's 1 grand prize winner, 50 first prize winners, 100 second prize winners, and 1000 third prize winners for a total of 1,151 winners.

For the sake of argument let's take the current peak user count from the past 48 hours (http://store.steampowered.com/stats/) and assume each one is participating. That's 4,794,155 users. Let's also assume each person has 7 coal. That's 33559085 total coal. 7 coal divided by the total pool of coal gives about a 2.086x10^-5% chance of winning 1 draw, but being there 1151 prizes you'd have a 2.40x10^-2% chance of winning anything at all. With 50 coal it goes up to a 1.7% chance of winning anything. .34% with 100 coal. It keeps doubling with the amount of coal. Of course that's assuming only 4,794,155 users and 33559085 total coal. But still, a .17% chance is pretty good for a lottery.

[DarkHalo003]

If I get struck by lightning, does that improve my odds?

I wish we could trade coupons for coal. That way at least you can do something about coupons recurring over the same products.

[Warsaw]

The only Valve game I don't own is Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. That game is not really worth buying when I already own CS 1.6 and CS: Source.

[Amit]

And how many people use steam at any one time?
4 million maybe?
Now how would even 50 coal be any use in such numbers?


There's 1 grand prize winner, 50 first prize winners, 100 second prize winners, and 1000 third prize winners for a total of 1,151 winners.

For the sake of argument let's take the current peak user count from the past 48 hours (http://store.steampowered.com/stats/) and assume each one is participating. That's 4,794,155 users. Let's also assume each person has 7 coal. That's 33559085 total coal. 7 coal divided by the total pool of coal gives about a 2.086x10^-5% chance of winning 1 draw, but being there 1151 prizes you'd have a 2.40x10^-2% chance of winning anything at all. With 50 coal it goes up to a 1.7% chance of winning anything. 3.4% with 100 coal. It keeps doubling with the amount of coal. Of course that's assuming only 4,794,155 users and 33559085 total coal. But still, a 1.7% chance is pretty good for a lottery.

^^This is a pretty damn good reason. 50 coal is more chances to win than probably 90% of all other individual Steam users have. Yeah, it's still slim, but at least you didn't fuck it away on useless coupons.

[=sw=warlord]

I don't know about you, but out of the 3 times i've crafted [2/3 of those coal were from trading TF2 items] I've had 2 games come out of it.

[Amit]

Well, that's cool, but most people don't get much more than a useless coupon when they craft something and then it's 7 coal down the drain. A lot of the time you end up crafting something you already own. I crafted coal twice and got HL2: Lost Coast twice. So I decided it was a waste after that.

[Rentafence]

^^This is a pretty damn good reason. 50 coal is more chances to win than probably 90% of all other individual Steam users have. Yeah, it's still slim, but at least you didn't fuck it away on useless coupons.

Just noticed the final figures were off by an order of magnitude. That should be .1% and .3% Fixed it. You'd need like 1000 coal for a 3% chance of winning some piece of shit gaem.

[Kornman00]

Orcs Must Die is on sale...I just bought the game, plus both DLC for less than 6$ (I'm taxed too). I already had the game for Xbox so I wasn't about to throw down more than 15$ for another copy, but with this good of a sale (the game is super fun) I'll definitily support Robot Ent and buy it again.

[MXC]

Finished it last week, need to pick up the DLC now. Thanks for reminding me.