Support NeoGAF

[Starwolf_UK]

Not a fan of this auction. I own around 300 games, I've kept backgrounds/emoticons, turned them all into gems, got about 10k. it's 2 days before the auctions start and stuff like Beyond Earth is already at 70k gems, I'd imagine that would quadruple at least before the bidding ends so what's the point?

This first auction round is overly long. Reading the FAQ is says the ones after Dec 15 at 7:45 AM PST will be 45 minutes long which limits how much bidding people can get done. Also there are 99 of those.

I like how it says "up to" with regards to total giveaway as there could always be some things which receive no bids in certain rounds.

 

[Beelzebubs]

There may be other games but even then, before the auction ends the prices on everything will at least quadruple so I don't think you'd be able to get anything but at least I'll make some waifu booster packs to get a bit of cash going.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Dumping some leftovers

Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 5 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below that corresponds to the game you want. (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering). Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.

ModBot Basics:
- I really appreciate thank you messages, but please send them to me (orthodoxy1095, not ModBot!) via PM instead of in thread.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.

Rules for this Giveaway:
- If you are a lurker you are not eligible for this giveaway. You need five or more posts in either the current Steam thread or the previous one to be eligible
- This giveaway is a LIGHTNING raffle. The winners will be selected by random draw 15 minutes after the draw was created. Any games not claimed after that point will be given away first come first serve.



Medal of Honor -- MB-B04595713B7C689C - Taken by tioslash. 1 entrants total.
RPG Maker XP -- MB-000D746D23E960CC - Taken by Speevy. 1 entrants total.
Nuclear Dawn -- MB-ADF9120446D920C6

Crysis 2 Maximum Edition -- MB-5883949EEE6875D2 - Taken by The Reloader. 2 entrants total.
The Lost Crown -- MB-596DA369D83B6692 - Taken by redlacs. 1 entrants total.

 

[_hekk05]

There may be other games but even then, before the auction ends the prices on everything will at least quadruple so I don't think you'd be able to get anything but at least I'll make some waifu booster packs to get a bit of cash going.

Waifu booster packs don't give you much profit anymore. You're looking at hours of work for like a buck. Might as well play games

 

[MUnited83]

There may be other games but even then, before the auction ends the prices on everything will at least quadruple so I don't think you'd be able to get anything but at least I'll make some waifu booster packs to get a bit of cash going.

I'm 100% sure I will be able to pick up a few cheap unknown games.

 

[Speevy]

I hope you like crap!

Instructions for Speevy:
Press the quote button to the left of this PM, select the quoted text, copy, and paste in the thread. You can remove these lines from the version you paste.

Instructions for participants:
I am giving away a Steam key. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below containing the game you want to enter for. Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.

ModBot Basics:
- No need to thank me. Please don't post thank you messages in thread or in PM.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.

Rules for this Giveaway:
- This is a garbage dump. No other rules apply, you may claim as many as you want (there are no limits or throttles), and keys you win won't be counted as wins for your record. Do not SELL these keys for a profit.



Afterfall Insanity -- MB-41D748F97429CF7E - Taken by crazyrabbits

 

[Chariot]

Waifu booster packs don't give you much profit anymore. You're looking at hours of work for like a buck. Might as well play games

The fuck.
You wanna play games when you can get Waifu cards?!

 

[Beelzebubs]

Waifu booster packs don't give you much profit anymore. You're looking at hours of work for like a buck. Might as well play games

True that, I could bid for stuff but then you're losing the ability to make booster packs. Will have to make a spreadsheet to see if I can make anything work for me. Don't see any way to win a bid without spending a crapton on backgrounds on the marketplace as the bids carry over if you don't win.

Unfortunately with the way it is at the moment, people will probably end up overpaying on certain stuff because of the "I want the achievement for winning the bid" mentality. I'm certain the games you can bid on themselves will be part of the actual sale so should be able to pick anything up I want.

 

[Merkunt]

welp. It wasn't worth it, only got around 2euro of profit.

 

[MMBosstones86]

so you just can't buy them anymore?

How should I spend my gems now?

 

[MUnited83]

so you just can't buy them anymore?

How should I spend my gems now?

Craft booster packs or bid on games.

 

[Ogimachi]

70.000 gems at a rate of about $0.30 for 1000 gems comes to about $21 for Beyond Earth. Still seems quite cheap.

$0.03 for 100 gems? What game is that?

 

[YianGaruga]

$0.03 for 100 gems? What game is that?

All CS GO/TF2/DOTA items and a lot more. But those times are over now.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

so you just can't buy them anymore?

How should I spend my gems now?

If there is anything you want that is up for auction put a bid in (not this round as everything is silly amounts). Just remember how much the gems cost you to get and how much the game may sell for in the sale.

Apart from that exchange for booster packs of your liking following similar rules (I don't think this works out cost effective on getting gems purely to sell the cards or packs).

 

[Mengy]

I am so confuse by this whole thing. I feel like I'm missing out big time. I'll catch up on it tomorrow night I guess.

Nah, I don't get it either. You aren't alone.

 

[Ogimachi]

Any other games with 80 gem stuff?

 

[Turfster]

New humble flash deal: Banished 61% off

 

[MUnited83]

Any other games with 80 gem stuff?

Worms Clan Wars. This background has still 60 available at 0.03(europe, not use if it's 0.03 usd as well) http://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/233840-The Aztecs

 

[Merkunt]

Any other games with 80 gem stuff?

http://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/203140-%3AFleur_de_Lys%3A

 

[Annubis]

Now the question is, when is the best time to win an auction.

- I'm guessing you don't want to be in the top 5
- Perhaps around the 50 the bids will die down?
- I imagine that after 85 the bids will go up severely, unless maybe most cheap source of gems will be gone and the price of making late gems may actually still bring the bids down

hmmm...

 

[drizzle]

So, how do I turn my gems into booster packs? Or is the best option to straight up sell them?

 

[Ventara]

I just saw the whole auction thing, and though confusing, it sounds like a good way for me to get rid of all my trading cards and get a game.

So roughly how much is a gem worth? I see some cards are only worth 2 gems. I might keep those. Should I know anything else before I start converting? Any tricks/tips?

Edit: I just saw that there's Shadow of Mordor and saw that there's 100 copies(?). Does that mean the top 100 bidders get a copy?

 

[YianGaruga]

Now the question is, when is the best time to win an auction.

- I'm guessing you don't want to be in the top 5
- Perhaps around the 50 the bids will die down?
- I imagine that after 85 the bids will go up severely, unless maybe most cheap source of gems will be gone and the price of making late gems may actually still bring the bids down

hmmm...

I'll try around the time when Steam activity is the lowest
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/

And I guess the later auctions should have less people interested, until it ramps up again at the very end with everybody dumping gems.

So, how do I turn my gems into booster packs? Or is the best option to straight up sell them?

http://steamcommunity.com/tradingcards/boostercreator

Gems are not marketable right now, so make the boosters with the highest value and you still might be able to make a small profit.

 

[someguyinahat]

So, how do I turn my gems into booster packs? Or is the best option to straight up sell them?

Go to your badges page, then find a button at the upper right called "Booster Pack Creator."

 

[Lomax]

It also seems possible and even likely that something to do with the winter sale will use gems, so you may not want to blow everything before then.

 

[inm8num2]

I just saw the whole auction thing, and though confusing, it sounds like a good way for me to get rid of all my trading cards and get a game.

So roughly how much is a gem worth? I see some cards are only worth 2 gems. I might keep those. Should I know anything else before I start converting? Any tricks/tips?

Edit: I just saw that there's Shadow of Mordor and saw that there's 100 copies(?). Does that mean the top 100 bidders get a copy?

You're better off just selling your cards for Steam wallet rather than converting them to gems, imho.

Basically, gems are worthwhile if you have emoticons or backgrounds that don't sell for much (< $.05) and are worth 80-100 gems each. You can convert them, then use your gems to create a booster pack for any eligible game you own or use them for bidding. Some people are hunting the market for cheap backgrounds/emoticons with high gem conversion rates, but those are selling out quickly and losing their cost effectiveness.

Auctions will happen every 45 minutes starting on the 15th and go to the highest bidder. If people keep buying cheap wallpapers/emoticons and converting them into gems in order to bid, it's not going to be cost effective to win an auction. Most people will probably save money (and time/effort/hassle) by just waiting for their game of interest to be on sale, as the necessary cost of gems to win an auction could be more than the store cost.

 

[freshVeggie]

Booster Pack Creator is running again.
Wish I got the 40k gems back now

I can't buy gems from the market.

Is there a way to find stuff on the market and order by price/gem ratio?

I just payed 0,35&#8364; for 750 gems. Was that good or bad?

Also, is it more profitable to sell booster packs or instead craft badges and sell the winter cards?

 

[MMBosstones86]

I can't buy gems from the market.

Is there a way to find stuff on the market and order by price/gem ratio?

I just payed 0,35€ for 750 gems. Was that good or bad?

Also, is it more profitable to sell booster packs or instead craft badges and sell the winter cards?

best I found was .04 for 80 gems. .03/100 days seem over.

http://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/203140-:Fleur_de_Lys:

 

[Ventara]

You're better off just selling your cards for Steam wallet rather than converting them to gems, imho.

Basically, gems are worthwhile if you have emoticons or backgrounds that don't sell for much (< $.05) and are worth 80-100 gems each. You can convert them, then use your gems to create a booster pack for any eligible game you own or use them for bidding. Some people are hunting the market for cheap backgrounds/emoticons with high gem conversion rates, but those are selling out quickly and losing their cost effectiveness.

Auctions will happen every 45 minutes starting on the 15th and go to the highest bidder. If people keep buying cheap wallpapers/emoticons and converting them into gems in order to bid, it's not going to be cost effective to win an auction. Most people will probably save money (and time/effort/hassle) by just waiting for their game of interest to be on sale, as the necessary cost of gems to win an auction could be more than the store cost.

Ah, I see. Guess I'll sell my cards the normal way. With some quick math, I'll probably have 10,000 gems after selling all my cards, which doesn't seem like it'll get me much.

Thanks for the info!

 

[trolho]

Does this mean we'll get cards for voting?
pic: http://i.imgur.com/57UVwoU.png

Which will mean that prices will drop a lot, so I might as well sell these cards and buy them back later. What do you guys think?

 

[MMBosstones86]

Does this mean we'll get cards for voting?
pic: http://i.imgur.com/57UVwoU.png

Which will mean that prices will drop a lot, so I might as well sell these cards and buy them back later. What do you guys think?

we always get cards for voting. Prices tend to start and end high

 

[Calibrated Chaos]

wait why did the metro games go up in price? they were $17 yesterday

 

[AsylumX]

Sorry... Had to do it, too tempted.

 

[Vibranium]

The auction is a pretty cool idea I'll admit, it certainly makes it a little easier to make a little cash. I may try to bid a few times because the Canadian dollar is so low, meaning I get less money on selling cards/items than people in the U.S. It's more worth it to go for gems for me.

 

[freshVeggie]

best I found was .04 for 80 gems. .03/100 days seem over.
http://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/203140-:Fleur_de_Lys:

Yah, I should have said that in the 750 gems there's also stuff I melted from my inventory.

I actually paid 0,05€ for 5 backgrounds which gave each 100 gems.
Guess it was juts an ok deal.

Am I eligible for booster packs if I crafted the badge and have no cards more left for that game?

 

[Speevy]

New humble flash deal: Banished 61% off

I'd love to give this away, but every time I do a strategy/sim. game, no one participates.

 

[inm8num2]

Ah, I see. Guess I'll sell my cards the normal way. With some quick math, I'll probably have 10,000 gems after selling all my cards, which doesn't seem like it'll get me much.

Thanks for the info!

No problem, and yea it's best to do some test calculations and see what works for you. Cards seem to mostly have poor gem conversion values, since Steam is more concerned with pushing people to sell and convert their emoticons/backgrounds/etc. in order to collect those sweet market transaction fees from users.

Someone may have a very different outlook than I do, so I hope I'm not inadvisably pushing you in a certain direction!

 

[freshVeggie]

I'd love to give this away, but every time I do a strategy/sim. game, no one participates.

Hey, Banished is revelled by turfster and since I watched totalbuscuits video, I fell in love with it.

But yeah, noone would want it here... just send it my way... >_>

 

[MMBosstones86]

so by my crazy man it looks like .04 / 80 is the best we can do, right? So sell everything else and convert that way?

Then use the gems for boosters for mostly waifu cards and hope to make some money back?

This shit makes my head hurt.

I'd love to give this away, but every time I do a strategy/sim. game, no one participates.

then people are crazy.

I've been holding off on Banished wayyy too long.

 

[Pakkidis]

No problem, and yea it's best to do some test calculations and see what works for you. Cards seem to mostly have poor gem conversion values, since Steam is more concerned with pushing people to sell and convert their emoticons/backgrounds/etc. in order to collect those sweet market transaction fees from users.

Someone may have a very different outlook than I do, so I hope I'm not inadvisably pushing you in a certain direction!

I agree with everything your saying. The gem idea is a cool idea, a lot of my items that I had listed on the marketplace for over a year is selling. The problem with the gem idea is for the average user like myself that will stand no chance in winning anything. Thus, I'm just going to sell what I have.

 

[derExperte]

then people are crazy.

I've been holding off on Banished wayyy too long.

I wouldn't enter a giveaway because it's much too hardcore for me, I'd play 10 minutes and give up.

 

[yuraya]

Valve is gonna make so much money with this gem stuff. The fact that all these 3 cent items are now worth 5-6 cents is just insane.

Dolla dolla bills yo..by the end of this winter sale they will probably banked enough to fund Half Life 3 and 4.

 

[Metalic Sand]

best I found was .04 for 80 gems. .03/100 days seem over.

http://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/203140-:Fleur_de_Lys:

I'm buying all of these lol

 

[pahamrick]

Whelp, went all in (2.5k) on the one game I'd really like to win. Currently in the top 20 as far as bids go, so fingers crossed I stay within the top 100 until I win.

 

[MakeshiftChef]

All this banished talk... welp, I know what I'm gonna play while waiting for my kids to go to bed since there's no way I can play YAIBA in front of them. YAIBA really started off nicely too and I'm looking forward to seeing/playing more of it.

 

[Leon Belmont]

wait why did the metro games go up in price? they were $17 yesterday

Maybe it was a price error

 

[freshVeggie]

Sell or wait for price hike?

 

[MUnited83]

Sell or wait for price hike?

Unless there's a metagame that's worth it on the sale, the price will only go down.

 

[inm8num2]

Valve is gonna make so much money with this gem stuff. The fact that all these 3 cent items are now worth 5-6 cents is just insane.

Dolla dolla bills yo..by the end of this winter sale they will probably banked enough to fund Half Life 3 and 4.

Most of their auction/gem profits will go toward developing the next Steam market project. I predict Steam pogs.

 

[GuardianE]

Do we get Holiday Card drops now for crafting badges?