Steam - can they really keep it up?

[Griffolion]

This is for Steam users mainly, but I appreciate others comments as well. Just want to know if I'm the only one who has noticed any differences.

So in my opinion, Valve may have shot itself in the foot with the volume of deals they're launching. I've been using Steam since Half Life 2 was released but it is only over the past two years or so I've started buying games on there. It used to run like clockwork, I'd get home on a Wednesday night, load up Steam at 6pm (UK) and would be presented with an advertisement for Midweek Madness and whatever deal they were offering. Friday nights were Weekend Deal and various different concepts for the festive period, summer deals and the regular school holidays (or so it would seem).

Very recently they have launched the daily deals and it seems since then they have been struggling to launch the deals on time, Midweek Madness and Weekend Deals seem to have moved back a day, they have been marking down the wrong games/advertising the wrong games and the 'preparing download' window seems to take a lot longer to complete (although this may just be something my end).

Is all of the administration work that goes into the deals (and the money) finally getting to them or am I noticing things that are mere blips on your average Steam users radar?

I really hope Steam keeps going, I don't want to sound like a pandering fanboy, but it's really revolutionised the way I've played games on my PC. Also, the connected community is fantastic to play with. So it's all cool to me. If an offer is on, great I'll go for it. But I also believe in paying full price for good games devs have worked hard to create, so I'll always pay the price.

 

[Bags159]

I think they can keep it up, they've realised, before the rest of the industry, that after about 6 months or so, sales of a title are virtually nothing.

Therefore a 75% sale is actually more profit than charging full price, especially with the negligible costs of digital distribution.

Say a game has dropped to maybe 10 sales a month after its peak period, so they chuck it out for 75% off for a weekend

10 x£30 = £ 300
200x£ 7.50= £1500

Without having any facts to back it up, I'd suggest that's an understatement in terms of sales on discounted titles.

Gabe said in a video conference with a highschool class that a 75% sale results in 400% more sales revenue.

I remember Gabe saying something about how a product's sales get doubled (or even 4x) when they are on sale. And that is why they shoot deals at us with a minigun.

 

[Anjel]

it's really revolutionised the way I've played games on my PC.

This is the best way to sum up my feelings about it as well. I used to have stacks and stacks of games on my shelf. Now I have about 100 games that take up no space that I can download as I wish. My shelf looks a little bare, any ideas what I can fill it with?

 

[Treblaine]

I never said that I thought Steam was going to collapse. Am I concerned that they may collapse? Yes. Do I think Steam are going to collapse? No. Is that clear enough for you?

No.

How can you be concerned about something you don't think is going to happen? Make sense damn it.

You could say
"I WOULD be concerned IF Steam DID collapse, or if it showed signs of collapsing"

Is THAT what you mean? Because you haven't actually said that yet.

 

[4RM3D]

The only thing I wish to mention here is the Portal 2 release. On steam you could buy the game for 45 euro pre-order (normal price 50 euro). On the day the game finally came out, my local retailer was selling the game for 33 euro. And it's not just Portal 2. Lot of times the games are cheaper in store than on Steam.

Steam is overpriced. They are cutting away 'the middle man' and you get nothing in return except 24/7 availability. These deals on Steam are at least a step in the right direction. But overall I'm not yet satisfied with how Steam handles things.

 

[Griffolion]

it's really revolutionised the way I've played games on my PC.

This is the best way to sum up my feelings about it as well. I used to have stacks and stacks of games on my shelf. Now I have about 100 games that take up no space that I can download as I wish. My shelf looks a little bare, any ideas what I can fill it with?

Exactly, we can go with the whole minimal look! But yeah, 30+ games that I can play without changing CD's? If that's not a reason to come back to the PC, I don't know what is.

 

[Anjel]

I never said that I thought Steam was going to collapse. Am I concerned that they may collapse? Yes. Do I think Steam are going to collapse? No. Is that clear enough for you?

No.

How can you be concerned about something you don't think is going to happen? Make sense damn it.

You could say
"I WOULD be concerned IF Steam DID collapse, or if it showed signs of collapsing"

Is THAT what you mean? Because you haven't actually said that yet.

What is this a fucking English lesson? Everyone else has understood what I was saying, whether they agreed with me or not. You are the only one who is saying that they have a problem with it so far. Does that not lead you to believe that you're making a big deal out of nothing?

If you have a problem with my writing style or my use of English may I suggest picking another thread to poke around in, there is much worse on these forums than how I have worded my post.

 

[EllEzDee]

Their "daily deals" are mostly shitty games at average/below average prices. Evil Genius is good, but they won't keep that quality up. "Big Rig Mother Truckers" and whatever other crap is stuck to the bottom of the Steam barrel is what they deliver as "daily bargins".

 

[ServebotFrank]

My brother bought KOTOR for a bout five dollars. That's a great deal. Steam is enjoying the success of the digital age which is nice as Valve deserves it.

 

[Treblaine]

The only thing I wish to mention here is the Portal 2 release. On steam you could buy the game for 45 euro pre-order (normal price 50 euro). On the day the game finally came out, my local retailer was selling the game for 33 euro. And it's not just Portal 2. Lot of times the games are cheaper in store than on Steam.

Steam is overpriced. They are cutting away 'the middle man' and you get nothing in return except 24/7 availability. These deals on Steam are at least a step in the right direction. But overall I'm not yet satisfied with how Steam handles things.

Remember you can buy the PS3 version of Portal 2, take the Steam unlock-code to get the game on Steam, then immediately sell on the PS3 version with a loss of only around £7 to £9 depending on whether you trade in for cold-cash or store-credit.

So £9 would equate a 70% sale cut, can we expect that of Portal 2 in the near future? I don't know.

 

[Rainforce]

I suggest you are projecting your own personal issues onto a massive system.

Projecting? LOL! I'm not projecting anything, just asking if anyone else has noticed the issues and if anyone else is concerned that Steam are sacrificing quality for quantity. Projecting, pah!

so projection it is, then.
*takes cover*

anyways, they're doing fine.

Spoiler: You probably cannot even imagine HOW fine they're doing.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Might i just add that i really need to learn how to restrain myself when something is a click away. I buy so many little arcade games i dont end up wanting to play...