Steam pricing v CD keys etc...

[eekfek]

It's the major advantage PC gaming has over other formats, wait a few months and you can get most games half their release price. If you wait even longer you can pick up really good ones for a fraction of what people paid at launch.

The other side of that coin is you buy games you probably won't play just because they are cheap kidding yourself it's a bargain

 

[robin66]

It's the major advantage PC gaming has over other formats, wait a few months and you can get most games half their release price. If you wait even longer you can pick up really good ones for a fraction of what people paid at launch.

The other side of that coin is you buy games you probably won't play just because they are cheap kidding yourself it's a bargain

I can sympathize with your last sentence. As I have a large backlog myself.

 

[Rezident]

Or just slightly exaggerating for the purposes the post, because I can't be arsed to trawl a whole bunch of key sites to get to-the-penny precise figures for the sole purpose of making a minor point... I don't care about exactly what the prices are.
But to keep you happy - "€8 on one site, versus Steam charging €40", according to a fellow in this very thread, though I assume he's making it up too....

Grand, then I will buy it for €8. Why on earth would a sentient human being with internet access pay €40 for the exact same thing?

Brand loyalty is optional. You don't have to stay loyal to steam or nvidia or apple or whoever it is that has fooled you with their expensive marketing (which you are paying for btw). In fact, you are propping up the high prices by supporting this charade - and steam and apple and co are counting on it in their budgets, and will raise their prices each time you do not switch to a cheaper supplier for the exact same product. It's like in the old days when your doctor would recommend the brand drug instead of the generic drug that is chemically identical but just costs way less.

As a shareholder I fully support your decision to pay this premium (because it makes you feel good, I guess? You must be getting something out of it, but what is that?) and the companies are right to charge it - but I'm not paying it because the numbers do not add up.

 

[Rezident]

It's the major advantage PC gaming has over other formats, wait a few months and you can get most games half their release price. If you wait even longer you can pick up really good ones for a fraction of what people paid at launch.

The other side of that coin is you buy games you probably won't play just because they are cheap kidding yourself it's a bargain

+1 for this! I get all my games cheap now, bar the odd exception, also it takes most developers 6 months or so to iron out all the bugs that games have on release. I don't have time for bugs these days, I'll buy the game when it works properly (i.e. 6 months to a year after release). I wouldn't be able to go back to buggy release day games now, it was so time consuming and frustrating doing dev's bug testing for them and paying a premium for it!

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[Rezident]

Convenience.
A lot of people are just too lazy to spend time shopping around, looking things up, cross-referencing prices, etc.

Cross referencing? It does not take the human brain long to compare two prices. If you are honestly too lazy, then that's your own fault. Companies are over-charging people due to your laziness. So you are basically criticising people for not being lazy? Ignore list.

 

[Fluffybob]

Steam sales have got progressively worse over the years, I just shop around tbh.

 

[Omega_]

Steam sales have got progressively worse over the years, I just shop around tbh.

This

 

[Teh_Next]

I actually dislike giving valve any money these days.
I can't avoid Steam but I'll pay someone else to get a hold of steam keys before I pay valve.
It's a shovelware platform with few checks these days. Very dubious.

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[Angilion]

It's the major advantage PC gaming has over other formats, wait a few months and you can get most games half their release price. If you wait even longer you can pick up really good ones for a fraction of what people paid at launch.

The other side of that coin is you buy games you probably won't play just because they are cheap kidding yourself it's a bargain

It's worse when you buy a game from one source only to realise you bought it from another source months/years ago, never played it and forgot you had it

I've made a habit of checking my other game library (I only use GOG and Steam) before buying anything, just in case. I haven't played even half the games I've bought.

 

[robin66]

Steam sales have got progressively worse over the years, I just shop around tbh.

That sums up my spending on steam these days. I didn't buy anything in the Halloween steam sale this year. And I have a feeling it might be the same again for this holiday sale during Christmas.