yongeandcollege
Member
The answer to this question so is obvious I'm not sure I need to respond. It's an optimization problem.
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Accounts that have spent less than $5 on Steam now have limited access
- Thread starter Sendou
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The answer to this question so is obvious I'm not sure I need to respond. It's an optimization problem.
This is Valve, not Ubisoft, they know the long game and have been profiting ungoldly amounts from it. Putting up a block (subscription) that turns people away from using their store front when things like GOG (who will never add something like a subscription) are starting to become big players. Logic, please, explain?
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
So they're basically charging a joining fee?
That's shit.
That's shit.
I guess anything is possible, but I just don't see the motivation. The only thing I could think of that would trigger something like that is if Data Costs go up in the future, and they almost certainly won't. Even then Valve could just tack on another % or two onto every transaction and cover it.
Valve is a private company so we'll never know how much money they're making, but I'd be shocked if it wasn't more than anybody could even guess. I bet they made millions in a single day just from GTAV's launch.
I agree. Its waaaaaaay less than paying a monthly or yearly subscription. Even if you never plan on buying anything...consider it a donation.
People getting outraged by this is hilarious.
yongeandcollege
Member
The logic is that if a company can maximize income by shedding a few low spenders with a paywall that ultimately results in higher steady state income they'll eventually do it. Who knows what will happen, but if I was *forced* to pick a side, I would pick the side of subscriptions. I can see the internet forum posts now : "I make back my subscription fee on the very first steam sale!".
Surface of Me
I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
This is shitty as fuck.
Pretty much this. I mean its a store first and foremost, if you don't spend money on there I don't see any reason why valve should have to do anything to appease these people. This is to improve their customers steam experience and limit them being scammed and spamming.
If you are playing f2p games and not willing to support the devs, sucks for you but it's not like your being locked out of your f2p games. There are plenty of other ways to communicate with your friends on a pc. Whats really the big deal?
toddhunter
Member
I think something like Valve access is more likely. They'll charge something like $8 a month to get advance play of all the games they release.
It might not seem like a great deal, but it still seems better than the EA one.
So ask the person who purchased your computer, pays for your electricity and ongoing internet access to shout you a couple of extra bucks. I'm sure they'll understand.
Not really.
I do know. They have no reason at all to make a subscription plan, and they already have much better means of monetization.
Pellegri Testament
Member
You're right, this is the worst thing ever compared to the Xbox Live/PSN costs. I mean this single $5 cost even shits all over that $500+ phone and $50+ monthly bill that everyone seems to be so fine with. Literally the worst thing ever. Nevermind the fact that you can still play all your Steam games without paying anything and don't get locked out, that single cost to be able to talk to or friendlist other people is worse than everything.
Seems great to me. Less spamming bots sending me friend invites the better.
I think you're confusing Steam with PS+. Valve are raking in money - they're more profitable per employee than Google or Apple - they've no reason to risk a subscription based service and alienate people. Along with the fact they could no longer call DOTA2 and TF2 free to play, and damn that hat money is nice. I see no logical reason they would imply they would go near it. Other companies sure, but Valve, nah.
That seems more likely but eh, Valve advance releases, that's just rubbing salt in the Half-Life wound at this point; unless they get other devs involved.
Normally against these sort of practices but the spambots are getting ridiculous, if this does legit effect some users would love to her their opinions. Because it could be a "Got mine screw you" type of mentality. I"m annoyed at the spambots so I'm happy with this change, however it could be legimately throwing some users under the bus.
I'm living at school and paying for it. That person would be me. I'm not going to ask someone for $5 and tell them it's so I can a play a video game.
This is how I feel, but I'm not sure what alternative choice there is that would be as effective. I don't even have many great tf2/dota items and I still get spammed with invites.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
StreetsAhead
Member
Except it's like the exact opposite of a donation.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
PM your paypal and I'll send you $5 to put in your steam account if you're really that hard up and this is gonna lock you out of talking with friends.
Pellegri Testament
Member
Good thing you don't even need to pay the cost to play any of your games then. This does not lock anyone out of the games they own, it only limits the features you can use like chat/market/friendslist.
yongeandcollege
Member
Sure, but could they rake in more money? Maybe. If they can, they'll eventually try.
yongeandcollege
Member
nah, you don't.
Only if you think you're never going to buy anything from the Steam store. Which, for most people, isn't going to happen. You'll buy something off Steam and probably not even know about this "fee" to get an actual Steam account.
This is only stopping you from attempting to take peoples items/money from the marketplace when you aren't putting money in yourself. You can still play Team Fortress 2 or DotA2 without paying money but you'll not be able to add friends or anything which probably isn't a huge deal for most people that are playing. If it becomes an issue, buy something from the store for $5 and problem solved.
JacksUsername
Member
But you can still play the game without the $5, no? You lose part of the social aspect, but it's not preventing you from playing the game unless I'm misreading the details.
do watch the itsfuckingnothing.gif happening in the next 10 years then, I guess it will be a fun wait!
He can also chat normally using the overlay too.
Only browser and mobile chat are affected.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
I could see them eventually rolling out some kind of premium service. Maybe without the memory caps on the workshop and other stuff.
I doubt they will ever lock anything meaningful behind a paywall besides something negligible like this one time $5 thing.
I feel like a lot of people posting in here didn't read the op... You can still play F2P games without spending a dollar. Besides limiting chat and friend invites, most of the limited features aren't going to affect people that aren't buying a game anyway. I mean why vote for greenlight games if you don't ever plan on buying them, or voting on workshop items, or use the marketplace. This is just people getting worked up for the sake of getting worked up.
Pretty much. You're not locked out of anything remotely important for the purpose of playing games and chatting with friends.
You can't send invites, but people can send invites to you.
It might be fun to go through this thread later for the Concerned Outrage aspect though!
flatearthpandas
Member
Hmm... Not sure how much money I've actually spent on the store. I think all my games are activations, gifts, and humble bundles. That's kind of annoying.
You're forgetting PC is an open system. If Valve starts charging a monthly fee, people will jump to another service or store. I know I will, right after cracking all the games I already paid for so I won't need to pay said fee.
This will never happen. Or if it does, it'll be an optional subscription with extra benefits, not a mandatory one for essential features (such as online gaming and cloud saves).
JacksUsername
Member
Yeah, then I don't get the big fuss. Sure, it's not ideal, but as someone who's received a ton of spam friend invites, it's a welcome effort to try and reduce some of the noise (and protect users from scams).
Considering this is a company who have like 3 or 4 major sales during the year, or basically whenever they feel like it, I think they're pretty okay with their current system - and the hats and skins and DOTA. PC gamers are fickle and Valve know better than to upset the established order (actually can't mention an example here because of NeoGaf policy, fucking a) - hell more and more MMOs are going f2p. I'm not going to pretend Valve is a deity single handily saving gaming, they've done enough anti-consumer bullshit in their time and I'm sure they're not heartbroken over the money they're going to get from people wanting the social features back, but I can't see how this will lead to a subscription system in the future. Who would pay a subscription to enter Gamestop if GOG opened up a place next store?
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
If you just hopped on the train in the last 3 years or so, all the best deals have been elsewhere IMO.
Also, I'm sure a bunch of people with toaster tier PCs buy humble bundles and such.
I've never received any spam, but I'm glad this is a new rule because some of my friends have been plagued with them.
$5 is nothing, you can go buy a couple great indie games when they go on sale that practically any computer or laptop can run.
Or buy a gift and then send it to a friend when their birthday comes around.
$5 is nothing, you can go buy a couple great indie games when they go on sale that practically any computer or laptop can run.
Or buy a gift and then send it to a friend when their birthday comes around.
nephilimdj
Member
seems like a shitty solution to the issue honestly
If you haven't found a single deal worth the 5 bucks on steam in 3 years with all of the different seasonal sales, you are purposely avoiding steam.
I really do appreciate the offer, but as I said I don't want to be taking money from others just to talk to my friends. I'm tired of feeling like I have little control over my life and I hate having to resort to asking others for help.
Fortunately, I know one friend that has my cell number so they can probably give to the other people in our group.
