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[orthodoxy1095]

That's fucking crazy. I can't believe they're taking away peoples reason to check the store every day. Seems like it'll kill impulse buying. I know it will for me.

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.

 

[Paz]

No kidding. Glad to know that the days of constantly checking Steam to see if we hit the jackpot are at an end.

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.

 

[FoneBone]

No kidding. Glad to know that the days of constantly checking Steam to see if we hit the jackpot are at an end.

Wait, do you guys not get advance notice as to whether you'll be a featured sale at all (let alone the timing)?

 

[LurkerPrime]

I mean regarding midtier/indie getting visibility

(or discoverability)


Ooh good point

Well, then, that leaves only one dark timeline: Framerate Police Weekend Deal (games curated by this group are on sale!)

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]

Wait, do you guys not get advance notice as to whether you'll be a featured sale at all (let alone the timing)?

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

 

[BBboy20]

Nope, it was always random as hell.

This has always been this way? I'm rather surprised there haven't been much noise about that from what I know.

 

[chubigans]

Makes you wonder about featuring though, the path you took with CSD and featured high % sales would no longer exist under the version described in the OP.

The world of small indie games on PC can be terrifying.

Yeah it's definitely hard to say. Really curious how this turns out.

On one hand, this.
On the other, will you be happy with sales comparable to being in a Weeklong? Because that's what the sale looks like now - slightly more promoted Weeklong.

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.

No kidding. Glad to know that the days of constantly checking Steam to see if we hit the jackpot are at an end.

Man, having high stress levels twice a day as I frantically refreshed Steam was not the best way to spend the holidays, haha.

 

[LurkerPrime]

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

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]

Nope, it was always random as hell.

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]

I wonder why?

Presumably they wanted people coming back to the Steam Store every day to check for new sales and to be exposed to different advertising.

I guess they have numbers that show the Flash Sales were actually to their detriment. I suspect people would wait for the entire length of the sale, then if they missed the Flash Sale they wanted (or accidentally missed the last day of the Steam Sale), they would never buy their intended game.

Returns- when flash sale hit they probably got tons of people asking to give them cash back so they can buy it cheaper.

 

[xzeldax3]

Whaaaaat??? The daily discounts were what kept me interested in the sale and I always enjoyed messaging friends, arguing over what to vote for, placing bets on the winners, and seeing what crazy discount errors popped up when prices changed.

 

[Ozium]

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.

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]

Steam you had a good run. All hail Uplay.

 

[Jimrpg]

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.

 

[irriadin]

There's no way I'm going to spend as much money as I usually do, in that case, which might be a good thing. During the summer sale I spent like $500, only because it happened incrementally. I'd never add that much to my cart at once and be like "lol gamez iz cheap"

 

[ramoisdead]

As long as the discounts are good, I'm not going to miss daily and flash deals, this just streamlines the event without me having to check back every 8 or whatever hours. I can appreciate just buying what I want at my pace without worry of a flash price popping up later and kicking myself in regret.

You know what can go to hell? Seeing a game you want as a vote option for a future flash sale and no one votes for it. I remember this happening to Ikaruga the first Steam Sale it appeared on, and it was the only time during that sale that it was an option to vote for, so of course it didn't get a flash deal.

It was 75% off at voting time. Man did that one ever stung. =[

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

As was said in the SteamGAF thread, this might be related to the Refund Policy.
Since they don't want a ton of people buying a title during the sale and then refunding when they see it for cheaper as a daily or flash.

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.

 

[Miletius]

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.

 

[spineduke]

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.

 

[toythatkills]

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.

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.

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.

 

[Wensih]

Time to find better prices on grey markets.

 

[Millsington]

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]

Kinda dampens the fun and excitement as a shopper, but holy crap my stress levels for these things as a dev just plummeted to zero with this move, thank gawd.

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]

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

 

[Daffy Duck]

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.

 

[Pewpewlazors99]

The brainy guys at Valve can probably think of a better system for the visibility issue.

Sure is taking them a long time to find a better solution to the visibility issue.

 

[Jimrpg]

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.

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]

I really wonder what is the big idea from Valve here.

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]

Good for devs tho, no need to worry about only having a time period of a bigger discount

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]

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 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.

 

[Dreavus]

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.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Who knows, Steam might also be trying to bring back games.

But no.

 

[Basileus777]

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.

The legit alternatives that don't involve buying resold keys are drying up as well.

 

[Knurek]

This will be even worse than the recent GOG sale.
That one had at least daily bundles going on for it, Steam one will just have... what exactly?

 

[serenewarfare]

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]

PC gaming is dead ! Dead !

 

[RealityCheque]

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.

 

[oti]

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]

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.

Sites like GreenManGaming for new stuff?

 

[linkandzelda]

So now it's like every other sale that has ever existed.

Apart from Amazon sales.

 

[toythatkills]

What do they want to achieve exactly?

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]

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.

Sites like GreenManGaming for new stuff?

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.

 

[Bluth54]

That's fucking crazy. I can't believe they're taking away peoples reason to check the store every day. Seems like it'll kill impulse buying. I know it will for me.

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.

 

[HUELEN10]

I literally JUST got a machine that can run Steam and play games...

Am I truly gonna miss out, or is this really not that big a deal?

 

[stan423321]

So now it's like every other sale that has ever existed.

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]

Oh boy, it'll be nice to not miss on any good deals, but will there be good deals now?

.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

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???!

 

[Nordicus]

I literally JUST got a machine that can run Steam and play games...

Am I truly gonna miss out, or is this really not that big a deal?

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.

 

[Mpl90]

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.

They've spent the last year or so actively destroying discoverability on their storefront, so I'm not so sure about that.

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]

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.