Great Steam Deals (And other Online Distribution Systems)

[SlyReaper]

I used to wait until Skyrim was cheaper. Then I took an arrow to the knee.

£23 is too good to pass up now. Purchased.

And with that, I have just spent more on a single game than I've spent in the entire sale so far. The only pity is this computer isn't good enough to play it, so I'll have to wait until I go home in the new year before I can play it.

[pseudoidiot]

I've got plenty of other games, so I'm waiting for Skyrim to get a bit cheaper.

I've got 3 pieces of coal & a 33% off any VAlve game coupon. Oh and some crowns (191) for Spiral Knights that are apparently tradeable.

I'm happy trading crappy gifts to get the achievement. Steam username is pseudoidiot.

[Jorpho]

Y'know, you can get the trading achievement just by trading a piece of coal for another piece of coal. No biggie.

[pseudoidiot]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was hoping for.

[bigglesworth]

Anyone recommend Blood Bowl as a game? I like Warhammer but I've heard mixed reports about the game.

[Yakk]

Anyone recommend Blood Bowl as a game? I like Warhammer but I've heard mixed reports about the game.

I assume you aren't talking about the tabletop game. Which, as an excuse to have a game where a skeleton army of football players goes up against a team where an ogre throws a rat-faced midget into the end zone, isn't a bad one.

[Endless Mike]

I'm pretty sure the PC game is a pretty direct port of the board game, but I could be wrong about that.

Actually I'm sort of intrigued by The Wonderful End of the World. Though we may need to wait until the Steam servers calm down a bit to actually complete the trade.

It's a decent Katamari clone.

[SlyReaper]

Well, I ended my run of just getting coal, and finally got a voucher. 50% off a game I already own, and which is 75% off in the sale, only valid once the sale is over. Nice one.

[Jesse]

Anyone recommend Blood Bowl as a game? I like Warhammer but I've heard mixed reports about the game.

Eh, loved the tabletop game, but the videogame version was lacking. Maybe if I'd had people to play against instead of computers.

[GenericPseudonym]

Apparently, steam thinks I like strategy games. I got a coupon for 60% off a game called Hearts of Iron 3, which happens to be exactly how much it's on sale for right now, without the coupon... Then I crafted 7 coal together and got a different 60% off coupon for a different strategy game (Victoria 2) that's also 60% during the sale.
And, of course, the 33% off valve coupon...
I think Steam coupons would do a lot better if they debuted them some time other than the middle of a sale.

at least none of the coupons are for games I already own...

[SlyReaper]

I've not heard of anyone getting a coupon that is in any way useable. Every time, it's for a game that's already discounted by at least the amount the coupon is for*, but won't be valid until the current sale is over, so the discounts don't stack. I don't understand how anyone at Valve could have thought these were a good idea.

At least a few people have been lucky enough to receive free games.

* I actually had a coupon for 50% off Back To The Future, which was only discounted by 33% at the time. Next day, it appears in the daily deals for 75% off. So much for that.

[The Scyphozoa]

"Let's create a minigame which won't allow anyone to spend any less money but will make people spend more time looking at our store.": sounds like a good idea to me.

[Xeio]

"Let's create a minigame which won't allow anyone to spend any less money but will make people spend more time looking at our store.": sounds like a good idea to me.

Relevant?

[EmptySet]

Anyone recommend Blood Bowl as a game? I like Warhammer but I've heard mixed reports about the game.

I have the Legendary Edition and it's a bit meh. I did have fun for a bit, but I lost interest pretty fast.

I haven't played Blood Bowl before and I found it a little difficult to pick up, not least because some idiot decided there would be a mandatory time limit on all turns for some stupid reason, which prevents me reading the action logs and looking at the tooltips for all the abilities and such to work out what things are and what happened and why. A lot of the skill descriptions also require a semi-decent knowledge of the rules before you can understand what they mean and how much of an advantage they are.

The commentary is kind of funny but gets very, very repetitive very quickly. There's a couple of lines for each race and you'll soon hear them over... and over... and over.

As far as actual gameplay goes, it's... kind of okay. I found it a bit repetitive, though - it seemed like pretty much every match plays out the same way, with the only major differences being a result of the two sides which are playing (some are good at marching down the field slowly and bashing everyone, and some are good at running a guy past and throwing to him). Also, you need to roll dice for pretty much everything, which is sometimes a bit frustrating. I found it particularly annoying that players often have trouble just picking up the ball when it's sitting in the middle of a group of friendly players. Maybe if you know more about the game or you play the right side you can ameliorate this, but since it's a little difficult to get into, as I mentioned...

I suspect the actual tabletop game is a bit more fun because you have actual people sitting around together, so when someone fumbles the ball in a bad spot or a player gets terminally injured everyone can have a laugh. Also you would go through each action one-by-one rather than them all being mysteriously resolved in three seconds by magical RNG fairies, which might make it easier to learn the mechanics.

I'm pretty sure the PC game is a pretty direct port of the board game, but I could be wrong about that.

There are a few options, which range from "exactly the official tabletop rules" to "the real rules with some house rules and extra stuff" to "silly real-time mode, for people who just bought this because it had a guy with spiky football pads on the cover and they thought it looked cool".

[Endless Mike]

I've not heard of anyone getting a coupon that is in any way useable. Every time, it's for a game that's already discounted by at least the amount the coupon is for*, but won't be valid until the current sale is over, so the discounts don't stack. I don't understand how anyone at Valve could have thought these were a good idea.

At least a few people have been lucky enough to receive free games.

* I actually had a coupon for 50% off Back To The Future, which was only discounted by 33% at the time. Next day, it appears in the daily deals for 75% off. So much for that.

While it may not be the case for you or me or a lot of people, I'm sure there's at least a few people out there who are unable or unwilling to spend money now, but a coupon for the future could still be useful.

[PeteP]

I've not heard of anyone getting a coupon that is in any way useable. Every time, it's for a game that's already discounted by at least the amount the coupon is for*, but won't be valid until the current sale is over, so the discounts don't stack. I don't understand how anyone at Valve could have thought these were a good idea.

At least a few people have been lucky enough to receive free games.

* I actually had a coupon for 50% off Back To The Future, which was only discounted by 33% at the time. Next day, it appears in the daily deals for 75% off. So much for that.

While it may not be the case for you or me or a lot of people, I'm sure there's at least a few people out there who are unable or unwilling to spend money now, but a coupon for the future could still be useful.

Sadly it's a short future since they only work till march. If they didn't have a time limit I would find them much less useless.

[Ghostbear]

Yeah, the problem is they've tried to set it up so the coupons won't just get saved until their spring sale, which I suspect a lot of people would do if it was an option. They should have made the coupons last a year or something, but exclude the big 4 seasonal sales from it.

[Jorpho]

Eighteen coal and four coupons at this point – and two of them are Valve 25% off coupons. Is anything more useless?

I find myself retaining sufficient sense that I am not inclined to buy a game for the sake of getting an achievement alone. Do you think Rock of Ages, Anomaly, or Worms Reloaded are worth it?

[Amnesiasoft]

two of them are Valve 25% off coupons. Is anything more useless?

Yes, 50% off Oddworld. A game that is 75% off during the sale, making it $0.62.

[bigglesworth]

Jorpho: I think that Worms is definitely worth getting for the fun multiplayer (it works as a hotseat game as well as online so it's unlike anything else in my game collection). I'd play it with you if you were ever online at the same time as I am

However, the achievement's particulars were seemingly made to make me cry. It's really random and arbitrary.

Also, I now have over 7 coal, and face the agonising choice of whether to craft it or keep it.

[SlyReaper]

I just played the demo for Anomaly and it convinced me to buy it. Downloading it now. It costs less than a pint of beer in the daily sale today (and will probably be appreciated for longer), so I think it's worth a punt based on what I saw in the demo.

As for worms, I already had that one and definitely think it's a decent game. The achievement was annoying though; hit a 100 HP worm for exactly 12 HP. I just kept restarting a game over and over again until I managed it with a bazooka. There might have been an easier way, but I don't know it.

[bigglesworth]

Apparently you can get 6 2hp shots with an uzi, or 12 1hp hits with a blow torch, or drop exactly 12hp worth of falling damage.

I haven't managed it though.

[SlyReaper]

You have to be very good at it though because an uzi will do more than 12 damage if every shot hits the target. You have to know exactly when to move your aim.

In other news, I just did the Anomaly achievement (I didn't even know there was one) and got a steam gift! Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and The Longest Journey. At last, something that's not shit!

[GenericPseudonym]

It probably reflects badly on me that I downloaded CrimeCraft, Rise of Immortals, and Spiral knights just for their achievements...

[Spambot5546]

It probably reflects worse on my video card that most of those won't run on my PC.

[Deva]

It probably reflects badly on me that I downloaded CrimeCraft, Rise of Immortals, and Spiral knights just for their achievements...

Downloaded them for the same reason. Will not waste an easy opportunity for free stuff. Promptly deleted them afterwards.

[PeteP]

The CrimeCraft Achievement seemed like it might take some time, does it?

[bigglesworth]

Yeah, what time investment did you put into getting the achievements?

[Deva]

The CrimeCraft Achievement seemed like it might take some time, does it?

Completed it in two attempts. Requires you to score two hundred points over all of your snowball battles, not just one match (according to forum posts). Disregard any level requirements. Recommends remapping the grenade key (F1) to your normal firing key for this battle. Hit Space to roll, also.

Yeah, what time investment did you put into getting the achievements?

Completed most achievements in under an hour. For speed help:
- Spiral Knights: Complete the first dungeon in the camp to gain crowns. Should be able to queue for the correct battle with two hundred crowns. Takes little time to bean someone with a snowball during the match.
- Rise of Immortals: Queue for a five versus five player versus player match. Do not do a solo match.
- Rusty Hearts: Complete the quests to clear the first dungeon section on Normal, Hard, and then Very Hard (A Simple Task). Recommends upgrading your weapon. Received one through a quest (probably completed in the second dungeon section). Personally used the spellcaster. Sustained little damage on boss fights by simple kiting and prioritizing any archers. Mashed the attack button on anything else with good results.

[SlyReaper]

I just got given Trine for doing the Solar 2 achievement. I already have this game, so would anyone like to trade for it? It's a fantastic game.

[EmptySet]

As for worms, I already had that one and definitely think it's a decent game. The achievement was annoying though; hit a 100 HP worm for exactly 12 HP. I just kept restarting a game over and over again until I managed it with a bazooka. There might have been an easier way, but I don't know it.

The shotgun would probably have been easier, since it's not affected by gravity or wind.

[Jorpho]

Rusty Hearts was actually vaguely amusing, although the post-download patching process was kind of annoying to sit through. Much less annoying than Spiral Knights, on the whole. CrimeCraft is just bog-standard. Hooray for unlimited bandwidth!

I haven't even bothered with Rise of Immortals, as I understand it is the most tedious of all.

[Deva]

I haven't even bothered with Rise of Immortals, as I understand it is the most tedious of all.

Will describe the Rise of Immortals experience as the area effect spellcaster during the five versus five player versus player match.

1. Meet everyone in the middle.
2. Hit E to suck enemies in and deal damage.
3. Hit Q to snare and inflict more damage.
4. Run away for fifteen seconds until spells recharge.
5. Repeat steps two and three once.
6. Out of mana. Die to help the other team.

Add in a step using R (a two minute cooldown) on occasion. Broke the routine sometimes by rushing in too far to cast (periphery-positioned, dinky area effect spells with a frail(?) character, with lag). Averaged around one assist per minute (or maybe minute and a half). Intended to finish the game. Quit after twenty to thirty minutes, thoroughly displeased. Acquired twenty assists (double the requirement) to allow everyone to probably finish the objective.

[Jesse]

I just got given Trine for doing the Solar 2 achievement. I already have this game, so would anyone like to trade for it? It's a fantastic game.

I'd love Trine, but all I have is a lump of coal and a 50% off Valve voucher.

[Yakk]

50% off shadowgrounds -- a top-down indie shooter -- for trade.

[SirBryghtside]

Buying KotOR now. I have a physical copy, but last time I tried playing it the 5-disc installation ended up not working...

My new account is starting to get big now mostly RPGs, for some reason... as in, 6 out of 7 games.

[LLCoolDave]

I just got given Trine for doing the Solar 2 achievement. I already have this game, so would anyone like to trade for it? It's a fantastic game.

I played the demo once but never got around to playing the full game. Thanks to some confusion with the Renegade Ops 4-pack two days ago I have a spare copy I could offer for it if that interests you.

[Decker]

I have an extra copy of Portal (ha) and Darksiders.
I have to check but I MAY have an extra copy of Cave Story+.

[pseudoidiot]

Currently I have 33% off any Valve game, 66% off Prototype, & 50% off Alien Breed Impact.

Looks like Alien Breed Impact is already discounted 50% (and it's not a gold coupon), so not worth much there (same for the Valve coupon), but unless Prototype has a better sale price in the next few days that coupon is actually pretty nice, so I'd be willing to trade it if anyone's interested.

[Jesse]

I have an extra copy of Portal (ha) and Darksiders.
I have to check but I MAY have an extra copy of Cave Story+.

Portal 1?