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Valve's fake, rigged, waste of time Progress Quest troll Portal 2 ARG

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Twig said:
Me.

I would guess quite a few people are in our situation.
Do you guys get to gift all of the Valve games you already had?
 

Twig

Banned
I read something about some sort of... bug that gave us golden taters all the Portal 2 DLC bullshit. Was that fixed? Was it actually a bug?
 

Zomba13

Member
dani_dc said:
I actually got extra copies of HL2 and HL2:E1.

But yeah, already had nearly everything on Valve Complete package, and I preorder Portal 2 yesterday so that's actually somewhat frustating.
This. I'm pissed off.
I already have most of valves stuff and pre-purchased Portal 2. I feel ripped off. This is a crappy 'reward'. 'Congrats on getting a golden potato. Here is a few of or not so good games you don't own and ones that nobody plays online anymore :D'

I would have MUCH rather we got a fucking Portal 2/TF2 hat. I can't even gift the games I would have got to my cousin.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Zomba13 said:
This. I'm pissed off.
I already have most of valves stuff and pre-purchased Portal 2. I feel ripped off. This is a crappy 'reward'. 'Congrats on getting a golden potato. Here is a few of or not so good games you don't own and ones that nobody plays online anymore :D'

I just got a weird message... along the lines of "Thanks for purchasing The Orange Box. You may give your extra copies of games."

I go to check my manage gifts, and under extra copies I have (and did not have before launching Portal 2):

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Ep 1
Portal
Portal 2 (whoa)

Is this what happens for people who preordered and got a golden tater? Anybody else experience this?
 

MNC

Member
Hawkian said:
I just got a weird message... along the lines of "Thanks for purchasing The Orange Box. You may give your extra copies of games."

I go to check my manage gifts, and under extra copies I have (and did not have before launching Portal 2):

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Ep 1
Portal
Portal 2 (whoa)

Is this what happens for people who preordered and got a golden tater? Anybody else experience this?
But you can gift them? Oh man.

I am really tempted to just say GIVE IT TO ME MAN, since my preorder copy of the ps3 version won't arrive but in this case I really don't want someone to just give it out. It's portal TWO man!
 

Zomba13

Member
Hawkian said:
I just got a weird message... along the lines of "Thanks for purchasing The Orange Box. You may give your extra copies of games."

I go to check my manage gifts, and under extra copies I have (and did not have before launching Portal 2):

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Ep 1
Portal
Portal 2 (whoa)

Is this what happens for people who preordered and got a golden tater? Anybody else experience this?
I can confirm I have no extra copies of anything to give. I've already recieved extra Portal 1, HL2 and HL2 ep1 games to gift from previous things (Portal 1 from preordering Portal 2).

It's funny though, the one time I decide to pre-purchase a valve game on steam for the chance of getting some goodie it bites me in the ass.
 

Seiru

Banned
Zomba13 said:
I can confirm I have no extra copies of anything to give. I've already recieved extra Portal 1, HL2 and HL2 ep1 games to gift from previous things (Portal 1 from preordering Portal 2).

It's funny though, the one time I decide to pre-purchase a valve game on steam for the chance of getting some goodie it bites me in the ass.

It's just outrageous enough that I still have hope Valve will do something about it...

But then again I would never have expected them to let the ARG take this kind of turn, so.
 
Afraid I'm going to beat the game before I even go to bed. That would be a shame after this whole fiasco. I really have no idea how long this game is supposed to be.

Really incredible so far, though. And I thought the first one was perfect...this one blows it away.
 

Jzero

Member
Hawkian said:
I just got a weird message... along the lines of "Thanks for purchasing The Orange Box. You may give your extra copies of games."

I go to check my manage gifts, and under extra copies I have (and did not have before launching Portal 2):

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2: Ep 1
Portal
Portal 2 (whoa)

Is this what happens for people who preordered and got a golden tater? Anybody else experience this?
Well you can gift me the extra portal 2 :)
Please :(
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Seriously? No one else that both preordered and got a golden potato (and has played Portal 2) ended up with an extra copy of Portal 2?

How did I end up with this?

edit: oh yeah, the extra portal copy is from the preorder, I must have had that before I got that message. But still, weird.

autobzooty said:
Really incredible so far, though. And I thought the first one was perfect...this one blows it away.
And yeah. Barely anywhere into it yet but I can already tell it is a fucking masterpiece.
 

Zomba13

Member
Seiru said:
It's just outrageous enough that I still have hope Valve will do something about it...

But then again I would never have expected them to let the ARG take this kind of turn, so.
I have to say I'm very disappointed in them. I also expect they knew that the people with the golden potatoes are most likely their biggest fans/hardcore gamers that already own the majority of their catalogue and have pre-purchased/ordered Portal 2.

EDIT: Also, has any actually got the promised potato sack Portal 2 bot skin? All I had in my backpack was the Mann co hat and Potato Hard Hat.
 
A whole lot of angry people in this thread now.

This is why I didn't get pulled into the ARG. I had no interest in doing it and as such thought it would be better left to people who would experience fun doing so without hoping to get Portal 2 10 days early etc.

I can understand some people being letdown but at the same time I think a lot of people hyped themselves up in to a frenzy which as a result was always going to disappoint them.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
I got a lot out of this ARG and really enjoyed my time with it as well as the challenge of the Golden Potato, and I think the reward was pretty cool for me (basically got CS, a bunch of Half-Life expansions, and pride; and I had the game open and ready to play at 12:01).

I seem to be in the minority, though. At the very least it was mismanaged.

shagg_187 said:
And thus the begging COMMENCES!! :mad:

haha, right, um, probably will give my family members the right of first refusal on it, then I'd probably have some kind of contest here to pick the lucky winner.
 

Zomba13

Member
Foliorum Viridum said:
A whole lot of angry people in this thread now.

This is why I didn't get pulled into the ARG. I had no interest in doing it and as such thought it would be better left to people who would experience fun doing so without hoping to get Portal 2 10 days early etc.

I can understand some people being letdown but at the same time I think a lot of people hyped themselves up in to a frenzy which as a result was always going to disappoint them.
Don't get me wrong, the potato xontent in the games was damn awesome and it was great fun getting the Golden Potato. It just sucks that others get a reward but I don't. And that I esentially wasted £27 buying Portal 2 when I would have gotten it free.

EDIT: I would be happy if they gave us all the DLC for Portal 2, for the ones that own most of Valves games and already Pre-purchased Portal 2. Like the bug some people had.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Zomba13 said:
I esentially wasted £27 buying Portal 2 when I would have gotten it free.

I was extremely frustrated by this aspect too despite ardently defending the experience up til now. Although I suddenly do have this extra copy I cannot explain, so maybe it is a result of that and I can't really complain.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Yeah I'm pretty annoyed that those who didn't pre-order got it free, and those of us who gave Valve our money got nothing.

It's a pretty strong disincentive to pre-ordering anything of theirs in the future.
 
Zomba13 said:
Don't get me wrong, the potato xontent in the games was damn awesome and it was great fun getting the Golden Potato. It just sucks that others get a reward but I don't. And that I esentially wasted £27 buying Portal 2 when I would have gotten it free.
Yeah, like I said I understand where the disappointment comes from.

I'm usually one of the biggest pro-Valve guys you can find but I think they handled this a bit wrong. The fact it was on a grand scale was amazing, but it probably has alienated a few people. One of the few examples I can think of where Valve's PR hasn't been 100% awesome.

... Still, I decided to buy the PS3 version for the free PC copy and to co-op easily with my girlfriend, and as a result won't be playing it until Thursday, so to all of you with it on Steam now I say a big fuck you. ;) Such. A. Long. Wait.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Foliorum Viridum said:
to all of you with it on Steam now I say a big fuck you.

My favorite line so far:
If the laws of physics no longer apply in the future, god help you


TheExodu5 said:
It's a pretty strong disincentive to pre-ordering anything of theirs in the future.

I haven't agreed with much of your criticism of this event thus far, but I have to say this is a compelling point. Pre-ordering essentially got us nothing* for $44.99, not pre-ordering would have landed us a free copy of the game.

*again, I mysteriously have this extra copy now. So maybe they're slowing giving them to golden potato-heads that preordered and this is all groovy. But I seem to be the only one so far.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Yeah I'm pretty annoyed that those who didn't pre-order got it free, and those of us who gave Valve our money got nothing.

It's a pretty strong disincentive to pre-ordering anything of theirs in the future.

lol wow, I assumed they were reimbursing the people who preordered that got the 36 potatoes. That's hilarious.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
shadyspace said:
lol wow, I assumed they were reimbursing the people who preordered that got the 36 potatoes. That's hilarious.

I'd settle for exclusive Portal 2 skins or a little icon beside my name or something...but right now, the message was that the more you've supported Valve, the less you get. :|

I wasn't expecting much from the Golden potato, but the prize ended up being pretty amazing. It just happens that they, again, handled it completely the wrong way. If they reimbursed us for Portal 2 we'd be really happy. If they gave us gifts for the Valve Complete Pack, we'd be really happy. But no. We get nothing.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
No seriously though. I'm not just such a constant beacon of good luck that I got a random extra copy of Portal 2 on a fluke.

Anybody who got a golden potato, definitely check your extra copies. Is there any way we can get to the bottom of this? I feel almost guilty, although it'd be an appropriate reward considering that I paid for something I also earned for free... I shouldn't be the only one!
 

darthbob

Member
TheExodu5 said:
I'd settle for exclusive Portal 2 skins or a little icon beside my name or something...but right now, the message was that the more you've supported Valve, the less you get. :|

I wasn't expecting much from the Golden potato, but the prize ended up being pretty amazing. It just happens that they, again, handled it completely the wrong way. If they reimbursed us for Portal 2 we'd be really happy. If they gave us gifts for the Valve Complete Pack, we'd be really happy. But no. We get nothing.

: (

Yeah, they could've handled it better. Seems like the ONLY people who'd have gone to such extreme lengths for all 36 potatoes would be the diehard Valve fans, so why shaft them in such a way? I have no idea.
 

Jzero

Member
To the people bitching about having 2 copies of Portal 2, just gift the other to some broke person that really wants it
Me ;)
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Can we talk about very basic/early plot points here with spoiler tags? The OT is a freaking minefield, not touching it with a ten foot pole until I beat the game.

Jzero15 said:
To the people bitching about having 2 copies of Portal 2, just gift the other to some broke person that really wants it
Me ;)
The problem is, it doesn't seem to be "people" at all. I'm not bitching, I think it's awesome! I just think it should be the same for everybody who did what I did! Also I already spelled out the process I'm gonna follow for gifting it.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Jzero15 said:
To the people bitching about having 2 copies of Portal 2, just gift the other to some broke person that really wants it
Me ;)

Constantly begging for it is not going to get you anything. Spoilering 'playful' hints like that is not going to win you any points. Just a tip.

Hawkian said:
No seriously though. I'm not just such a constant beacon of good luck that I got a random extra copy of Portal 2 on a fluke.

Anybody who got a golden potato, definitely check your extra copies. Is there any way we can get to the bottom of this? I feel almost guilty, although it'd be an appropriate reward considering that I paid for something I also earned for free... I shouldn't be the only one!


No extra copies here. Would have been great to share the Portal 2 love with some friends. :(

Anyways, I sent an email to Gabe with my thoughts on the matter. I don't expect him to read it or reply, but whatever. I tried to be as level headed as possible.
 

Jzero

Member
TheExodu5 said:
Constantly begging for it is not going to get you anything. Spoilering 'playful' hints like that is not going to win you any points. Just a tip.




No extra copies here. Would have been great to share the Portal 2 love with some friends. :(

Anyways, I sent an email to Gabe with my thoughts on the matter. I don't expect him to read it or reply, but whatever. I tried to be as level headed as possible.
Yea my bad im just mad because i'm poor lol i would of so tried to get the rest of the potatoes but i was missing some games.
 
So people got the Valve Complete Pack the golden potato? I haven't received anything. Maybe it is because I received it after the potatoes were declining. Or because I am in Europe.

Oh, not everybody, ok then.

EDIT 2: Aaaaargh, the decrypting takes so long :(.

EDIT 3: Jeeeee, everything went into overdrive. Everything went better than expected.
 
Game is awesome so far. Golden potato got me nothing but a slightly early release. I already had every Valve game and got no extra copies or anything. Pretty lame.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Everyone that got the golden potato should have all the Valve titles in their Steam games list now, unless something went wrong. I saw another user on the Steam forums with no games to show for it...maybe an oversight?

If you already owned the games however, you will have gotten nothing.
 
TheExodu5 said:
Everyone that got the golden potato should have all the Valve titles in their Steam games list now, unless something went wrong. I saw another user on the Steam forums with no games to show for it...maybe an oversight?

If you already owned the games however, you will have gotten nothing.
Oh yeah, took me a while to think of titles. But I see I have Counter Strike and Day of Defeat now. :)
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
TheExodu5 said:
Everyone that got the golden potato should have all the Valve titles in their Steam games list now, unless something went wrong. I saw another user on the Steam forums with no games to show for it...maybe an oversight?

If you already owned the games however, you will have gotten nothing.

Yeah, if not for the expansions and CS: Source, I'd have had no idea that it worked either.
 

Slavik81

Member
CrookedRain said:
Game is awesome so far. Golden potato got me nothing but a slightly early release. I already had every Valve game and got no extra copies or anything. Pretty lame.
What were you expecting?
 

TheExodu5

Banned
As much as I am loving the game, the store on launch is just showing how shameless Valve has become at this point when it comes to making money. Animations and skins, being sold for $2, $5, and $7.50 a piece. The MannCo store was launched 3 years after TF2 came out, and after the game had been on sale for as little as $2.50 (or $5) at times. I could forgive that. Seeing Portal 2 launch with $85 worth of cosmetic content is pretty disappointing. I realize it doesn't affect anything in the end, as the content is just cosmetic, but it's disappointing nonetheless. It's en route to validating a business model we thought Valve stood against for a long time now.

Combine that with this shameless marketing ploy, and yeah...

Slavik81 said:
What were you expecting?

Most of us weren't expecting much. But the way they handled the prize just ended up rewarding those who have not supported Valve and giving nothing to long term supporters. It's not the best message to send. Not to mention, since the prize included Portal 2, I now consider it as a disincentive to pre-ordering any of Valve's products in the future, in hope of a similar event happening.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Ehhhh... as long as they give no advantage for gameplay I can't say I have a problem with microtransactions. Think of it as a donation with an aesthetic reward in-game.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Valve deserves our money for the amazing games they make...however they're hardly small enough to warrant giving donations.

The store won't affect me as I won't buy anything from it anyways, but I am still disappointed in the direction that Valve has been heading with MannCo, this past weekend, and the reveal of this store.

I suppose if I were to look at it in a positive light, I would say that having the store there is probably going to be justification for Valve to keep supporting Portal 2 post-launch.
 

StuBurns

Banned
That stuff never bothers me as long as I feel the core game isn't missing content for the sake of selling it separately, that doesn't appear to be the case. If Valve want to do an EA and attack the wallets of the weak willed, fair play to them, makes sense really.

And although begging isn't cool, if anyone wants to throw me a free CS:S if they get one, feel free.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
StuBurns said:
That stuff never bothers me as long as I feel the core game isn't missing content for the sake of selling it separately, that doesn't appear to be the case. If Valve want to do an EA and attack the wallets of the weak willed, fair play to them, makes sense really.

And although begging isn't cool, if anyone wants to throw me a free CS:S if they get one, feel free.

They've got non cosmetic items in TF2...not hard to believe it's going to spread to other games. This is just setting a precedent at this point.

I really hope none of this microtransaction nonsense spreads to my beloved Half-Life 3.
 

Mairu

Member
So if I didn't preorder Portal 2 I would've gotten it for free after getting the golden potato?

...

Well, I have CS:Source and CS:CZ now, I guess there's that to be happy with. Oh, and I didn't have Day of Defeat or DoD Source either... I wonder why they didn't give us giftable copies.
 
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