orthodoxy1095
Banned
Kind of what I was thinking. Having dailies and flash stuff made me get invested. Wonder how much I'll think to check during this sale.
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There will be no daily & flash deals in the upcoming Steam Autumn sale (25/11)
- Thread starter texhnolyze
- Start date
The info in the OP states games will still be highlighted for large periods of time, so I dunno if that part will be all that different.
Wait, do you guys not get advance notice as to whether you'll be a featured sale at all (let alone the timing)?
LurkerPrime
Member
Well, then, that leaves only one dark timeline: Framerate Police Weekend Deal (games curated by this group are on sale!)I mean regarding midtier/indie getting visibility
(or discoverability)
Ooh good point
But yeah, refunds are definitely playing a part in this. Two weeks and daily sales leaves plenty of room for backlogged games to be refunded due to a greater discount, and then probably a(n even greater) strain on their customer service staff from complaints about missed deals due to processing time and such.
BudokaiMR2
Member
Nope, it was always random as hell.
Not sure if this change is going to actually make that better in the slightest though. Seems like being featured is still gonna be a shot in the dark and maybe even less common? /shrug
This has always been this way? I'm rather surprised there haven't been much noise about that from what I know.
Yeah it's definitely hard to say. Really curious how this turns out.
Being featured on Steam in a standard promo can really rake in the cash, so being featured during a huge high trafficked event is even better. But then again, the super high impulse buys are gone now. So I honestly have no idea how it'll turn out.
Man, having high stress levels twice a day as I frantically refreshed Steam was not the best way to spend the holidays, haha.
LurkerPrime
Member
Hopefully this sale sn't like some of the recent seasonal weekend deals. (A.K.A., here's a bigass list, good luck looking through it!) It always kills my desire to browse, and all but forces me to rely on a wishlist to view highlights.
texhnolyze
Banned
What? That's insane.
So if your game hit a jackpot, you have to manually report to valve and hope that they'll fix it asap? Even more crazy.
michaelius
Banned
Returns- when flash sale hit they probably got tons of people asking to give them cash back so they can buy it cheaper.
that's exactly what it's going to be
except every day some of those will be featured on the store front
The Lone Courier
Member
Steam you had a good run. All hail Uplay.
that's great - it was a major pain in the ass to keep checking daily. (I check daily when there's no sales anyway, but still!)
They could still have flash sales for the games that only want to get discounted for one day. But having two discounts is silly - of course everyone is going to wait.
They could still have flash sales for the games that only want to get discounted for one day. But having two discounts is silly - of course everyone is going to wait.
ramoisdead
Member
It was 75% off at voting time. Man did that one ever stung. =[
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Didn't think of this. Bet you're absolutely right. The refunds pretty well necessitates the end of daily/flash sales, at least in their previous form.
I see it as a net positive. I'm not one to be able to spend a lot of time at the computer during the holidays, especially with family coming in from pretty far away. Often times that means missing out on sales. I'd rather just have one, best price, all sale long rather than sit around waiting for dailies while family time ticks away.
That being said, if the prices are indeed not going to be as great as other sales then that'll be a shame.
That being said, if the prices are indeed not going to be as great as other sales then that'll be a shame.
I don't see how it's a net positive - you're taking away user engagement and with it, all the clicks and attention spotlight on featured titles. Steams biggest spenders are actually a tiny minority, and they're the ones who are probably capitalizing on such deals.
It could be the majority of the sales were centered around the flash sales. Maybe they've inadvertently shaped consumer behavior to be totally dependent on the flash sales, and thus people wouldn't act upon any title sales until all was guaranteed that this was the lowest price. I.e the last day.
It could be the majority of the sales were centered around the flash sales. Maybe they've inadvertently shaped consumer behavior to be totally dependent on the flash sales, and thus people wouldn't act upon any title sales until all was guaranteed that this was the lowest price. I.e the last day.
toythatkills
Member
Presumably this means games will be at their sale price for the whole sale, rather than their "flash sale" price for the whole sale. Not good for the consumer, probably not good for smaller devs who could do with being featured (unless they still get featured, who the hell even knows.)
Great for AAA dudes.
I don't think that's how Steam sales work. You either go on sale the whole time or you don't go on sale.
If they were going to let people go on sale for one day, then this whole change seems pointless since they've not really achieved what they set out to achieve.
Great for AAA dudes.
I don't think that's how Steam sales work. You either go on sale the whole time or you don't go on sale.
If they were going to let people go on sale for one day, then this whole change seems pointless since they've not really achieved what they set out to achieve.
Millsington
Member
New refund policy is good, daily deals/flash sales are also good. A real shame we have to make that tradeoff. Isn't there a chance your refund may not be processed in time to take advantage of a daily deal? I feel like they could just adjust the refund policy to say refunds take 48 hours to process and keep the best of both worlds.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Yeah, as a pub, this is a good move. Sales are a mega stressful time, and this definitely makes it better.
Enter the Dragon Punch
Banned
So basically, the only time people will use the store during the sale are the last and first days, and you're taking away impulse buys that would get you money.
Bravo Volvo.
Good for devs tho, no need to worry about only having a time period of a bigger discount
Bravo Volvo.
Good for devs tho, no need to worry about only having a time period of a bigger discount
Daffy Duck
Member
Buys PC and eagerly awaits the much heralded Steam sale at Christmas.
Steam announce changes to Christmas steam sale.
FML
Let's just hope the prices are still as good.
Steam announce changes to Christmas steam sale.
FML
Let's just hope the prices are still as good.
Pewpewlazors99
Member
Sure is taking them a long time to find a better solution to the visibility issue.
What do they want to achieve exactly?
Publishers/devs can choose if they want to do a flash sale or week long. I expect most people will do a week long sale but for those that want to can just do a flash sale for a limited time.
This eliminates all the pointless waiting around to see if the game will get any cheaper on a flash/daily. If a game is on discount u just buy it knowing it's the lowest it's going to get. If it's not on discount u can still wait for it to be on a flash sale. Just my opinion on how they can still keep both going.
I'm fine with everything on sale, but I know they want to keep everyone coming back everyday.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Well, they are right by thinking that Steam has outgrown sales, but I think they are wrong if they are underestimating how this will affect sales during sales.
Millsington
Member
Some games have the same discount the entire sale don't they? It went from a choice to no choice. Seems worse for both sides. The tradeoff was you get featured for 48 hours for a larger discount which seems reasonable to me.
Hamster Plugin
Member
Steam has not really been the place you should be buying games in. Sales have nice prices on many old games, but for any newer games you should look elsewhere.
If you got a high-end PC to play the newest games, Steam should be the last place to look to buy those games on.
Well, I mean, the whole flash sale thing was just to shine a spotlight on those games for 8 hours right? Usually many returned to that price a few times before then end and it was just another thing to watch for. Makes sense what they're doing, I think.
I wonder how this will impact sales though, might be interesting to see if it affects people buying something or not.
I wonder how this will impact sales though, might be interesting to see if it affects people buying something or not.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
Who knows, Steam might also be trying to bring back games.
But no.
But no.
Basileus777
Member
The legit alternatives that don't involve buying resold keys are drying up as well.
serenewarfare
Banned
I have a hard time believing that refunds have anything to do with it because a big selling point when they introduced the refund system, which was right before the summer sale, was that if you bought a game that then went on a lower sale you could refund it and buy it at the lower price. Why would they go from openly advocating something to rallying against it in four months?
Shuggananas
Banned
PC gaming is dead ! Dead !
RealityCheque
Banned
If the discounts are good, I'm fine with this. Almost def to do with the refund policy.
Yes I know, I know: "back in my day Steam knew how to do a sale properly! I could get six AAA games, a 3 course dinner, a beer and a lapdance and still have change from a dollar!".
Thanks Grandpas.
Yes I know, I know: "back in my day Steam knew how to do a sale properly! I could get six AAA games, a 3 course dinner, a beer and a lapdance and still have change from a dollar!".
Thanks Grandpas.
RIP Steam Sales.
Yeah. Since I discovered Nuuvem Steam Sales have lost a lot of their appeal, although it gets tougher and tougher to actually buy something off their site. Even VPN and all won't work most of the time anymore.
Daffy Duck
Member
Sites like GreenManGaming for new stuff?
linkandzelda
Member
Apart from Amazon sales.
toythatkills
Member
From the OP: "[we want to] make the sale a lot more valuable for customers, and it allows us to build sale tools that highlight and recommend products all sale long, instead of just during front page features."
Having one-day discounts as you suggest they would, would directly contradict that second point.
texhnolyze
Banned
Yeah, GMG is kinda the last bastion for cheap newest PC games these days. However, you can also find good deals from free nvidia codes. You can basically get preorder codes of Witcher 3, Batman, and MGS V for about $25. I bought Batman and MGS V that way.
I'm guessing the reason they're doing this during the smaller Autumn sale instead of the Christmas or Summer sale is to see how spending habits change.
stan423321
Member
Off-topic: is this an idiom or just a... hyperbole?
On-topic: it's pretty obvious they did it to prevent LOADS of refunds. The message suggests they are going to use the resources to throw in something else, but will they? And what exactly? And yes, if the sale never changes, there isn't as much motivation to browse the thing regularly or impulse buy.
I wonder if we have data on how many people actually "waited for the dailies" compared to those who didn't. If a lot did, a Steam Wallet based "best price guarantee" sounds simple but sensible as an alternative solution.
maquiladora
Member
AHA-Lambda
Member
Fucking hell Valve WHY??'
I don't mind removing flash sales, they required a level of dedication to see all through
I don't mind no community votes cos almost no one was happy
But no dailies???!
I don't mind removing flash sales, they required a level of dedication to see all through
I don't mind no community votes cos almost no one was happy
But no dailies???!
Well, you missed out the most by not being into PC gaming in 2012, because that's when the sales were craziest. $5-15 for AAA games released barely a year ago.
Right now, the craziness has slowed down and Steam has a lot of competition that has caught up with them or even surpassed them in sales. So really, not a big loss, still better than digital console game sales tend to be.
I don't know if it's due to the refund policy, but I'd say it's an attempt to give more value to games that have been way too devalued in past sales, thus establishing a specific narrative about how much a game deserves to be payed, which is always, always risky in the long run. Basically, even if Steam's environment was still far from being like mobile's environment in that sense, they're trying to avoid to make customers think they'd just pay a few bucks for everything as much as possible IMHO.
Wait,I remember this year's update, with the introduction of Curators, the renewed portal...those sounded like good changes, and there were several positive articles on the matter after the implementation. Did anything else happen that actually hurt discoverability which I'm not aware of?
Wait,I remember this year's update, with the introduction of Curators, the renewed portal...those sounded like good changes, and there were several positive articles on the matter after the implementation. Did anything else happen that actually hurt discoverability which I'm not aware of?
Roni
Gold Member
I'm already a Steam customer, I'm looking at their store everyday. I don't need incentives to engage with them.
All the dailies and flashes did for me was infuriate me because I'd be working and would forget to chime in to buy that specific title.
All I wanted was to be able to buy the games I felt like buying the moment a sale hit and be done with it.
Guess I finally can now.
All the dailies and flashes did for me was infuriate me because I'd be working and would forget to chime in to buy that specific title.
All I wanted was to be able to buy the games I felt like buying the moment a sale hit and be done with it.
Guess I finally can now.