A lot of it is the fact that people have already acquired most of the games they want. So from their perspective its a 'bad' sale because they already own all the games.
For some reason people struggle to look past that objectively. I got a couple friends like that on steam who always message me about it. Annoys me to no end.
Prepare to keep being annoyed.
People who have used Steam for years = These sales are horrible compared to past sales.
People who have used Steam for 6 months to a year = Shut up guys, these deals are GREAT! You just own everything!
I'm in the camp of people who have used Steam for years and agree that this sale is horrible. Bad choices for dailies, mediocre prices, no meta-achievements, and only 6 dailies make this the most disappointing "big" Steam sale to date. Thankfully places like Amazon, GMG, and GG are picking up the slack.
Jasper's earlier post is correct. I have been involved with all of the major Steam sales, except for last summer, and they have been noticeably dropping down in terms of quality. We don't get the same huge price drops percentage wise, no meta-achievements, only 6 dailies with mediocre flash sales, inferior game choices for dailies and flash sales, numerous repeat sales or sales that are well above what Amazon/GMG are offering. But apparently those points are all illegitimate points because "we own all the games"? Ridiculous.
Not counting DLC, I have somewhere around 180+ games on my wishlist, hardly any are on sale near the old typical Steam Holiday prices. This sale is quite uninspiring and mediocre in comparison to previous sales. I have bought Ys The Oath in Felghana from Steam directly, will be getting the Dawn of War Franchise too today. That is it so far. The rest of my purchases have all been Amazon/GamersGate/GMG. Anyone with any kind of knowledge about ongoing deals really
should realize that Steam is clearly being outpaced by Amazon/GamersGate/GMG etc, as they have been for the past year now. I wouldn't mind this situation that much at all because I am still getting great deals, just not on Steam, but now they pulled the fun and worthwhile meta-achievements too? Expect some negative feedback from annoyed Steam fans.