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[jhxmt]

Huzzah, Europa Universalis IV has just gone on Daily Deal (50% off - now £17.49)! 

On the other hand, the Stanley Parable has also just gone on Daily Deal at 40% off (so, now £5.99).  Sigh.  Typical,they always come along at the same time...

Anyone know if EUIV is polished enough to be worth the sale price yet?  I'm aware it's a Paradox game, and that they're notoriously buggy early on (I'm a long time EUIII and CKII player).

Ninja edit: also, yeah, Steam prices are weird with regional prices.  GBP doesn't suffer from the 1 = 1 issue that USD and EUR seem to, but there's no way it uses a standard exchange rate.  I can't do a Euro-prices screenshot, obviously, but can do GBP if that's of any use.

[Bauglir]

A screenshot has been dispatched.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

EUIV had the best release of any Paradox game to date. It's currently in a very good state and I've downed countless hours into it. If you liked EUIII than EUIV is a step up in pretty much every single way. It's well worth the money.

[jhxmt]

EUIV had the best release of any Paradox game to date. It's currently in a very good state and I've downed countless hours into it. If you liked EUIII than EUIV is a step up in pretty much every single way. It's well worth the money.

Excellent, thanks - had already pretty much sold myself on it (I definitely enjoyed EUIII, and CKII albeit from a different perspective), but it's always helpful to run a Steam-purchase-whim past Bay12 to make sure I'm not missing something fundamental! 

[lemon10]

That's insanity. I mean, in some places in Europe, the average salary is much higher than for most Americans, so it's not such a big deal to pay higher prices for things. To be honest, Europeans pay higher prices for most things anyway, because of shipping distances and taxes and various other nonsense. But I live in Prague, where the average monthly salary is about $1000 (so about $250 per week). The cost of living is lower too, of course, but why are the prices for Steam higher? It's not like they have to ship the games overseas or something. It costs them NOTHING to send the games wherever they want. They just charge higher prices because they want to and probably most people don't even realize it (I sure didn't).

Anyway, sorry again, I'll drop it and leave everyone to discuss the sale. I am serious about the request for a screen shot of the front page though. To avoid further thread hijackery, if someone wouldn't mind just taking the shot and even just PMing it to me, I'll make up something for Tumblr. (My page is thingsairafound.tumblr.com, in case anyone wants to watch for it and make sure I did it right.)

EDIT: I just posted a thread on the Steam forums asking what the deal is and how people feel about it. It wasn't just locked, it was completely removed from the forums as though it had never been there, within 10 minutes of posting it. Oh it's ON now, Steam.

AFAIK, its a because its always been done this way, and because they can. Game prices in Australia (and possibly other parts of the world) were equivalent to those in the US due to currency differences. But as the dollar weakened, they never lowered prices in those regions (because none of the other publishers/stores did either), so the cost got far higher comparatively.

Steam doesn't set the price either, its set by the game publishers. I imagine that steam could force consistent prices across regions/currencies, but they don't really seem to care enough too.

[Sappho]

Spoiler: The very last piece of my derail. (click to show/hide)

Steam doesn't set the price either, its set by the game publishers. I imagine that steam could force consistent prices across regions/currencies, but they don't really seem to care enough too.

From the information I have found, in some cases Steam gives publishers the chance to modify their game prices, but in the end, Steam decides the final price themselves. At least one game publisher has explicitly stated that they did not set the Steam price for their game. This thread has plenty of info: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=770231

In any case, if Steam's hands were tied, they would just say that instead of immediately deleting any discussion threads that ask them why they do it.

I ended up going with a screen shot from the steam price comparison web site for my Tumblr post. If anyone on here happens to use Tumblr, please consider reblogging it to help spread the word: http://thingsairafound.tumblr.com/post/68796168178/do-you-use-steam-if-you-have-ever-purchased-a

Okay, that's it, I promise I'll shut up unless explicitly asked to say more about this. Thanks for your patience with my little derail, guys.

[Sirus]

ANYWAY, any good daily deals today? Of is the Autumn/Spring sale over?

[Mephisto]

Oh hey, I just checked even though I assumed the sale was over. It actually lasts until tomorrow.

The only ones I might be interested in are Dust for $3.74 and Tomb Raider for $9.99. The Stanley Parable is 40% off, if you're into that kind of thing. Scribblenauts Unlimited and Garry's Mod are also on the list, but I've already got them.

Brutal Legend is one of the flash deals, going for $1.99. Dragon Age Origins is on that list as well, but I'm not going to talk about that.

[Thexor]

Brutal Legend is okay. For $2, I'd say it's worth it. It's a fun little action romp with an interesting setting and decent gameplay. Just don't be surprised when it transforms from a decent hack-n-slash to a mediocre RTS halfway through.

Really considering getting the Stanley Parable. I've heard really good things about it, at least. Can anyone make a recommendation (either textual, or a nice review)?

[Sappho]

I am also interested in recommendations for the Stanley Parable. Part of me wants to refuse to buy anything more on Steam because of all that business we discussed earlier. I could easily pirate this one. On the other hand, I really like the look of the game, and it's an Indie developer. I just watched the Raphael Trailer and it made me want to throw my money at them.

So I guess I'm wondering, how much money does Steam make off of each purchase? How much money does the actual developer get? The difference between the US and EU prices for this particular game is less than 8%, so not devastating... So, seconding Thexor, is this game worth buying?

[Mephisto]

I bet most people would call the Stanley Parable an artsy game, but that requires there be actual game-like mechanics there. The only mechanics it has in common with other first-person games is... you being able to walk around in first person.

That being said, I'm not that into gamesy art, so I'll be giving it a pass. I have to wonder how much of the "SP is so great!" thing is everyone hopping on the bandwagon because everyone else says so.

[Graknorke]

I bet most people would call the Stanley Parable an artsy game, but that requires there be actual game-like mechanics there. The only mechanics it has in common with other first-person games is... you being able to walk around in first person.

That being said, I'm not that into gamesy art, so I'll be giving it a pass. I have to wonder how much of the "SP is so great!" thing is everyone hopping on the bandwagon because everyone else says so.

It's no more art than anything else. It's just an interactive storytelling thing.
Anyway, people are allowed to like things that you don't like, you know. I sincerely enjoy the game's sense of humour that doesn't take itself too seriously.

[Sappho]

Well, as for me, I am not a traditional gamer. I can't handle most first-person games. I actually purchased Deus Ex when it was new and spent weeks trying to beat the first level, and could never make it, which caused me to throw the disc across the room in rage. I like games that are unique, interesting, and do something unexpected, which is what it seems like SP does. I don't care how well it fits the label "game," really. I just want to get a thing that is fun and interesting and different and not the same regurgitated stuff I've seen a thousand times. Usually I buy games either because they have a good story, or a unique and interesting game mechanic, or a really amazing and unique graphical style, or I simply have never seen anything like it and it looks like it would be fun. Based on the "Raphael" trailer alone, the style of humor suits me very well and I want to play it.

I just wrote an email to the developers asking if there's any way I can buy the game from them directly (the only official option seems to be Steam). Based on the sense of humor displayed in the videos, I'm thinking they might actually throw me a bone here. If not, I may just give in and buy it on Steam, despite the price difference, even though this game is easy to pirate...

Spoiler: Here's my email, in case anyone thinks they might enjoy reading it. (click to show/hide)

Hello! I have just seen The Stanley Parable on the Steam Autumn Sale front page for a discounted price. Before, I hadn't heard of the game, but I watched the videos (particularly the Raphael one) and I want to give you guys my money.

The thing is, Steam charges different prices depending on what country you live in. In the USA, it's 8% cheaper than in Europe. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I live and work in a much poorer country than America (Czech Republic - I'm an English teacher, I highly recommend it in general, Prague is pretty sweet) and I'm really upset to discover that Steam is charging different prices based on different regions, and especially that my poor region is charged more than America's wealthy one. (Honestly, we're not even on the Euro here. I earn Czech Crowns. 20 of them to a dollar.) Some people say this is because the game developers set the prices, but I have no idea if that's true. At least one company claims that Steam set the prices for their game. If it was your idea to charge more in Europe, please let me know so I don't blame Steam. (Also, hey, guys. If you do that, that's really not very nice, doing that. Not everyone in Europe is rich, you know.)

What I really want to do is boycott Steam, but it seems to be the only way to purchase your fabulous-looking game that I really want to buy. So, a few questions, if I may be so bold: First, how much of the sale price do you actually get? How big of a cut does Steam take? Second, is there any way possible for me to buy the game directly from you? It seems the game is very easy to pirate, but I don't want to steal it. I want to give you money. What if I pirated the game, and then just sent you some money directly, via PayPal or something?

What it comes down to is, I want to give you money, but I don't want to give Steam money, and I don't want to deal with Steam's DRM. How do you feel about that, and is there a way I can give you the money and get the game, without Steam taking a cut.

Thank you for taking the time to read my rather long and certainly unorthodox email, assuming you actually do so. Well done on the excellent game and videos, and I look forward to playing it, one way or another. I offer you a virtual hug in thanks. (Close your eyes and believe to receive said hug.)

Sincerely,
A fan who hasn't even actually played your game yet, whose name is Megan

[Mephisto]

Anyway, people are allowed to like things that you don't like, you know.

Didn't mean to imply that they shouldn't be able to (but why would they, considering my opinion is right and theirs is wrong?  ).

I have lots of indie games. I genuinely enjoy most of them. Stanley Parable just rubs me the wrong way. No harm meant.

[Itnetlolor]

Any thoughts on Tomb Raider (recent release)? It's at a pretty decent price right now (10 bucks, 12 for Survival Edition), but is it worth it?

As for AOE2-HD, I suggest you get it for the second expansion pack (in eons; The Forgotten) that comes with the combo pack (AOE2, AOC, TF), and the mere fact that it's Age of Empires. I mean 5 bucks for the game isn't half-bad (optimized for modern machines), and the combo is just 2.50 more to it. The modding community also seems rather strong as well from what I thumbed through on a whim.

I'll see you guys on the battlefield.

* Itnetlolor buys his copy of AOEII+TF.