Gifting and gift inventory: Multiplayer games

[Fnord]

The new system is, to put it mildly, not exactly great for us who enjoy playing multiplayer games with friends. Usually when there's a good sale, I'll buy a few extra copies of multiplayer games and store in my inventory to give out to friends when I/they want to play something together. With the new system this is not really doable, I need to know who will play the game(s) with me at the time of sale, I can't store multiplayer games in my inventory for future use.

So thanks for making life harder for us who enjoy multiplayer games with friends :(

*edit* Also, I'm hearing reports that people from the US can't gift to people from the EU. Is this true? Does this mean that the friends I have in Norway (cheaper steam prices than EU) can't gift anything to me?

[✿ My ✿]

Yes i agree steam's new gifting system sucks.
I craft alot of badges so have alot of coupons, some of which for some good games i buy before the coupon expires and so i like keeping them in my inventory for either later gifting to friends or making giveaways.
Seems like steam will lose alot of business with this new change. I hope people will band together and vote with their money (go elsewhere and don't buy on steam) and show steam that this was a bad move and they should revert it like what happened with the paid mods fiasco.
They already had region locking with gifts so i don't see how this new system helps with anything at all except another money grabbing attempt maybe?

[Fnord]

✿ My ✿ の投稿を引用：

I hope people will band together and vote with their money (go elsewhere and don't buy on steam) and show steam that this was a bad move and they should revert it like what happened with the paid mods fiasco.

With the new system I kinda have to do it anyway, so I'm onboard ;) I guess stores like Humble, Bundle Stars, GMG & Gamer's Gate will see more of my money, while Steam gets to see less of it.

[✿ My ✿]

Fnord の投稿を引用：

✿ My ✿ の投稿を引用：

I hope people will band together and vote with their money (go elsewhere and don't buy on steam) and show steam that this was a bad move and they should revert it like what happened with the paid mods fiasco.

With the new system I kinda have to do it anyway, so I'm onboard ;) I guess stores like Humble, Bundle Stars, GMG & Gamer's Gate will see more of my money, while Steam gets to see less of it.

I agree with you there, Humble & IG and others will have more of my money now and also looking at GOG now too.
Also with this they are just pushing more people to use grey markets like G(scam)2A and others which is sad to see as it's the developers who will lose out most when that happens.

[dagr]

Fnord の投稿を引用：

The new system is, to put it mildly, not exactly great for us who enjoy playing multiplayer games with friends. Usually when there's a good sale, I'll buy a few extra copies of multiplayer games and store in my inventory to give out to friends when I/they want to play something together. With the new system this is not really doable, I need to know who will play the game(s) with me at the time of sale, I can't store multiplayer games in my inventory for future use.

So thanks for making life harder for us who enjoy multiplayer games with friends :(

*edit* Also, I'm hearing reports that people from the US can't gift to people from the EU. Is this true? Does this mean that the friends I have in Norway (cheaper steam prices than EU) can't gift anything to me?

US gifts - region locked
EU gifts - region locked
Norway gifts - region locked

'Happy gamin
Your Gaben'

[FPS]

The update is obviously for steam convenience, not for user's

[ShadowAngel]

Taking away power from the consumer, it started with the "let's go digital" movement that retarded people even welcomed without using their brain and now we are here: Region locking like it's the console era, trade restrictions, gifting restriction, geo lock and the next step is the return of paid mods.
Oh well, this is the big chance for gog to step up and become a true competition. They have no gifting restrictions or region locks and they actually realize that 1 dollar is not 1 euro and adjust that and give the difference back to the customers.
Sadly i guess for the majority people it's more important to have a nice GUI and get stupid achivements, so they will shove money at Valve no matter what they do. Basically bend over and say "Yes god gaben, ♥♥♥♥ me in the ass". sigh.

[Muza]

✿ My ✿ の投稿を引用：

Yes i agree steam's new gifting system sucks.
I craft alot of badges so have alot of coupons, some of which for some good games i buy before the coupon expires and so i like keeping them in my inventory for either later gifting to friends or making giveaways.
Seems like steam will lose alot of business with this new change. I hope people will band together and vote with their money (go elsewhere and don't buy on steam) and show steam that this was a bad move and they should revert it like what happened with the paid mods fiasco.
They already had region locking with gifts so i don't see how this new system helps with anything at all except another money grabbing attempt maybe?

[yamina-chan]

Not being able to store gifts for later when you don't have a person in mind uppon purchase is really frustrating.

Furthermore, removing the E-Mail Option will be a huge inconvinience to Let's Players, streamers and their Fans. If you have a large fanbase, you can't add everyone to your friendlist. Being able to have a public E-Mail to send things to is much easier for both parties.

Not having that Option removes a huge ability of Fans to support their favourite content creators.

[Fnord]

✿ My ✿ の投稿を引用：

Also with this they are just pushing more people to use grey markets like G(scam)2A and others which is sad to see as it's the developers who will lose out most when that happens.

Indeed. This just makes it much more attractive to use any 3rd party site, be it white or grey market. And even less of a reason for the grey market sites to clean up their act and actually do something about the problem sellers they have.

ShadowAngel の投稿を引用：

Taking away power from the consumer, it started with the "let's go digital" movement that retarded people even welcomed without using their brain and now we are here: Region locking like it's the console era, trade restrictions, gifting restriction, geo lock and the next step is the return of paid mods.

I was not one of the earliest adopters of the "digital revolution" because of some of the concerns I had (and still have) about it, but it has meant that smaller games can get more exposure, and games no longer disappear from stores once they start getting a bit old. So overall I still think digital distribution has done more good than harm... I just wish Valve would start acting well again. They got to where they are through being quite consumer friendly (not without their blemishes, of course, but still, I would have considered the valve of 5-7 years ago to be relatively consumer friendly), but now the fact that they have a near monopoly, and no real competition from retail, means that they don't need to care as much about their consumers

ShadowAngel の投稿を引用：

Oh well, this is the big chance for gog to step up and become a true competition. They have no gifting restrictions or region locks and they actually realize that 1 dollar is not 1 euro and adjust that and give the difference back to the customers.
Sadly i guess for the majority people it's more important to have a nice GUI and get stupid achivements, so they will shove money at Valve no matter what they do. Basically bend over and say "Yes god gaben, ♥♥♥♥ me in the ass". sigh.

Gifting on GOG does have its quirks though. For people from regions with lower prices (Russia in particular) gifting can become quite a price shock, as every game will be set to US prices (unless they're otherwise more expensive in your region), and certain games can't be gifted (The Witcher 3 got gifting locked for a while at least, I'm not sure if they ever lifted it).

Valve just gave me a reason to spend less money on their store. Not in a "grr, I'm angry so I'm going to boycott them" kind of way, more of a "you just made your own store the least convenient alternative, so why would I buy from you?" kind of way.

[Lord Khyron]

I think they are setting the terrain for their next step > REMOVE KEYS

[Ogami]

Lord Khyron の投稿を引用：

I think they are setting the terrain for their next step > REMOVE KEYS

I am actually really thinking they are working towards that. I imagine a system where you have to link your Steam account with the online reseller shop you buy a game from and the game gets automatically activated on your account when you buy it. Would also eliminate every unauthorized reseller shop at once and bring the average price of games up since there is no competition. Publishers will LOVE that.
Only thing that is stopping Steam from doing this is that there is still a small retail market out there with game releases on disc. But for how long?

[tmwfte]

Ogami の投稿を引用：

I imagine a system where you have to link your Steam account with the online reseller shop you buy a game from and the game gets automatically activated on your account when you buy it.

They already had that. It lasted maybe a couple of months before they scrapped it.

[Fnord]

tmwfte の投稿を引用：

Ogami の投稿を引用：

I imagine a system where you have to link your Steam account with the online reseller shop you buy a game from and the game gets automatically activated on your account when you buy it.

They already had that. It lasted maybe a couple of months before they scrapped it.

Yes but not quite. The old system was basically a remote activation of a steam key, not a direct integration with steam. And it was scrapped due to security issues.