Valve's Pricing Experiments Result in Time Travel and 40x Increases in Sales - Polidicks

When Gabe does something good, you all woo. However, when he fucks up, you all boo. Honestly, you guys are like sheep.

[QUOTE=1337ubercharge;32951437]When Gabe does something good, you all woo. However, when he fucks up, you all boo.[/QUOTE] So basically we like people when they do good things and dislike them when they do bad things How sheepish of us

[QUOTE=1337ubercharge;32951437]When Gabe does something good, you all woo. However, when he fucks up, you all boo. Honestly, you guys are like sheep.[/QUOTE] Pretty sure that's what you're supposed to do in such situations. When someone does something good, you applaud them. If they do something stupid, you're supposed to reprimand them so they know not to do it again. What, are we supposed to just have one feeling towards them all the time? EDIT: FUCK, Ninja'd!

[QUOTE=1337ubercharge;32951437]When Gabe does something good, you all woo. However, when he fucks up, you all boo. Honestly, you guys are like sheep.[/QUOTE] When has he ever fucked up? The only thing Valve has done that a lot of people didn't like was Left 4 Dead 2.

[quote]Valve's Pricing Experiments Result in Time Travel[/quote] [video=youtube;a_7u3nhANa4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_7u3nhANa4[/video] Let's do the time warp again!

[QUOTE=stepat201;32951600]When has he ever fucked up? The only thing Valve has done that a lot of people didn't like was Left 4 Dead 2.[/QUOTE] And like most valve games, it received a huge price drop after like three months.

[QUOTE=ironman17;32944357]They're the closest thing to good guys in this conflicted climate. Sure they have a monopoly, but unlike most wealthy people who grow complacent and indifferent, Valve's been investing their riches wisely in creating quality. Plus, they know that money-off sales make more people able (and more importantly [B]willing[/B]) to buy the game if it's good. And that's an important factor in getting games sold; making them great and memorable.[/QUOTE] Plus the CEO is actually cool enough to talk with you if you ever decide to poke an email at him every now and then.

[img]http://cdn.geekwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/newellfries.jpg?7794fe[/img] Gabe showed up for the fries, hence the "those fucking liars" look on his face.

[QUOTE=Ermac20;32945557]valve best gaming company in the world i shouldnt have to pay 70 fucking dollars for mortal kombat[/QUOTE] I wish I had the option to pay for Mortal Kombat :smith:

And I remember how I hated Steam when it made me download 20 mb for HL2 through my paid per minute ISDN connection.

I wonder if they will ever release their sales figures.

[QUOTE=kimr120;32955719]I wonder if they will ever release their sales figures.[/QUOTE] For your own safety, they won't. If you set eyes upon the sheer orders of magnitude on those numbers your head would explode out of envy.

Piracy in Russia is only because developers DON'T want to sell anything there. Dumbfuck nazi developers!

[QUOTE=AntiNazi;32956152]Piracy in Russia is only because developers DON'T want to sell anything there. Dumbfuck nazi developers![/QUOTE] Go away, for your own good. Really you're so full of shit it's coming out of your every orifice.

[QUOTE=AntiNazi;32956152]Piracy in Russia is only because developers DON'T want to sell anything there. Dumbfuck nazi developers![/QUOTE] Dammit Godwin.

I don't expect this experiment to do much to prices in the long term. It's not as simple as 'lower prices -> more profit', it's squeezing the profit that would be earned over a long period of time into the short-term. Suppose a big-budget game was released for $10 instead of the usual $50-$60. I bet there'd be a lot of sales, but then it would end quickly. Everyone who wants it has it, since it's only $10. And I doubt they'd be selling 5-6 times more copies in the initial week, so it's a net loss. Worse, they probably won't sell much beyond week 1, since it's priced low enough that people interested will buy it immediately. On the other hand, a game that starts at $50-$60 can be slowly reduced in price, generating a trickle of additional revenue. The point is, this isn't a marketing strategy that will work for release. It's only useful a year or so after launch, so the price can be slashed and a bit more revenue squeezed out of the game before the sequel hits.

I love valve, now invest in a slightly better engine. Portal 2 looked good, but not exceptionally great when compared to today's standards.

How can a developer be a nazi developer...?

So let me get this straight, by doing promotional sales they get people that would have bought the game later to buy it earlier in large droves because it's on sale?. I would have just said that offering sales gets people to buy it and not try to throw the notion of predestination into it, but oke Valve.

[QUOTE=goon165;32959079]So let me get this straight, by doing promotional sales they get people that would have bought the game later to buy it earlier in large droves because it's on sale?. I would have just said that offering sales gets people to buy it and not try to throw the notion of predestination into it, but oke Valve.[/QUOTE] Yeah, i think they're just trying to say that instead of having a constant high price and getting profit, you can cut put it on sale and receive may more purchases and even though you're selling the game for cheaper, the number of customers ends up making you more money. Win win situation for valve and the customers

Gabe Newell is a business genius.

[QUOTE=crackberry;32959768]Gabe Newell is a business genius.[/QUOTE]He's a genius in general. Wasn't it one of those Portal guys that said "talking to Gabe is like playing against a professional chess player. He knows everything you're going to say and already has a response ready before you even say it". I doubt Valve is very much at risk with their experiments nowadays. Steam must be bringing in a pretty constant stream of money.

[QUOTE=Clavus;32960419]I doubt Valve is very much at risk with their experiments nowadays. Steam must be bringing in a pretty constant stream of money.[/QUOTE] The gaming industry is a chaotic battlefield of producers attempting to leapfrog eachother to dominance. But Valve has transcended this. Valve is like that fat-ass emperor on the side of the arena (with his arms crossed), viewing for pleasure - no risk. The fat kid who doesn't play tag, he judges from the side.

[QUOTE=just-a-boy;32962342]The gaming industry is a chaotic battlefield of producers attempting to leapfrog eachother to dominance. But Valve has transcended this. Valve is like that fat-ass emperor on the side of the arena (with his arms crossed), viewing for pleasure - no risk. The fat kid who doesn't play tag, he judges from the side.[/QUOTE] You made me think of Gabe sitting on a throne watching developers bitch at each other

Gabe Newell for president 2012 I mean, dude's a tactical genius (HURR), he has business experience (from what just [I]happens[/I] to be one of the best companies ever), the people fucking love him, he's not focused solely on money and he takes the path that helps most whether there's a risk or not - and he's already calculated the chances of something bad happening anyway, so there's not even much of a risk to begin with. Fuck, if he were a candidate and I lived in America, I'd vote for him. I even plan on naming my firstborn after him, he's that great.

[QUOTE=Gareth;32959557]Yeah, i think they're just trying to say that instead of having a constant high price and getting profit, you can cut put it on sale and receive may more purchases and even though you're selling the game for cheaper, the number of customers ends up making you more money. Win win situation for valve and the customers[/QUOTE] Except then those customers who grab it on sale are all paying a very low price, whereas if the price were reduced more gradually, the overall profit would be higher, just drawn out over a longer period of time. These sales aren't an overall better business strategy, they're a quick way to cash in and get paid before the next release- still useful, but not something that will revolutionize the way games are marketed. There's a reason Portal 2 wasn't $20.

[QUOTE=LoLWaT?;32944919]I don't know if anyone has heard about it outside of the "Elder Scrolls: Skyrim" thread. But someone was able to get a Skyrim preorder for just three hats in Team-Fortress 2. :v: I'm still contemplating on whether or not I want to get rid of every single item in my TF2 inventory for as many games as possible. [editline]24th October 2011[/editline] Here's proof of my statement: [img]http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9082/whatadeal.png[/img][/QUOTE] Not surprising to me, if you look closely at one of those hats [the fedora] it's unusual. I've seen unusual hats go for $90+, which to me is quite pointless. But onto the topic: And Valve/Steam were worried that EA and their Origin would start taking away their sales. Silly Valve, you're not praised for your logic. You're praised for everything else.

Physical terminals?! I want one!

It's really depressing to see how easy it is to make a fuckton of money without raping the customer's wallet, and yet pretty much everyone on the entire planet does the opposite by making overpriced products bought by an "elite", letting everyone else with either half-quality products or having to steal/pirate things in order to have them because of how expensive it is. Valve is an example of good marketing - giving the customer a genuine habit of using your services instead of another one by actually caring about him and granting him great accessibility, instead of exploiting a monopoly to overprice everything or use scum-tactics to keep them here instead of another place because they simply cannot leave. This huge profit rise should be an example for every greedy company willing to sell cheap products at a way too heavy price, especially because Gabe actually made more money selling things cheaper than if he stayed with a high-price policy. [editline]26th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=just-a-boy;32962342]The gaming industry is a chaotic battlefield of producers attempting to leapfrog eachother to dominance. But Valve has transcended this. Valve is like that fat-ass emperor on the side of the arena (with his arms crossed), viewing for pleasure - no risk. The fat kid who doesn't play tag, he judges from the side.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=CakeMaster7;32964103]You made me think of Gabe sitting on a throne watching developers bitch at each other[/QUOTE] [img]http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9258/gabenpirate.jpg[/img]

Factor of 40 is a lot. I would've expected profits, but [b]40[/b]?