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Icedfate Jul 5, 2022 @ 11:56am
why are the steam sale trading card "valid until august"?
wat happens then? they cards "expire" and disappear? wtf, that's kinda of a ♥♥♥♥ move for a "digital collectibel" that is a tradable commodity for real cash. especially since aside from the 1 free one you get each day, you have to make a purchase to get more of them. . .


for clarity, this rant isn't about the cards themselves, but the fact that these ones have an "expiration date"
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Showing 1-15 of 22 comments
Crazy Tiger Jul 5, 2022 @ 12:06pm 
They're event cards, of course they're limited. Which is nothing new either.

You haven't participated in sales events in the past?
#1
Aachen Jul 5, 2022 @ 12:19pm 
:kentconfused: Why does the need to use Steam to get more cards imply they oughtn’t expire sometime?
#2
my new friend Jul 5, 2022 @ 12:45pm 
A few years ago... Long sentence.
Because people complained about them expiring after the event, tons still don't have the mobile authenticator to sell/trade instantly to get or sell the cards and they extended it to a month beyond the end date so everyone would stop complaining.
And only 1 event has trading cards that never expired and still can be traded and purchased on the Market. Those were the "Steam Summer Getaway" trading cards.
But everyone can hold a full set of cards to craft whenever they want, years later.
Last edited by my new friend; Jul 5, 2022 @ 12:49pm
#3
cinedine Jul 5, 2022 @ 1:11pm 
Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:
They're event cards, of course they're limited.

Why of course? The other stuff I can get through the event is not time limited. Except the golden profile if that's still a thing.
You can still trade long expired beta invitations even.

Why do people think it's normal? It's not. It's pure FOMO inducing marketing.
#4
Crazy Tiger Jul 5, 2022 @ 1:30pm 
Originally posted by cinedine:
Why do people think it's normal? It's not. It's pure FOMO inducing marketing.
And yet I've seen such things at stores, gas stations, canteens, etc for over 30 years now. So why exactly wouldn't it be normal?
#5
cinedine Jul 5, 2022 @ 2:39pm 
Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:
Originally posted by cinedine:
Why do people think it's normal? It's not. It's pure FOMO inducing marketing.
And yet I've seen such things at stores, gas stations, canteens, etc for over 30 years now. So why exactly wouldn't it be normal?

You have seen a gas station that gives digital gratification that expires after a sale?
Wait, nevermind. That's not the important part here.
You have seen a gas station having a sale?!
#6
Crazy Tiger Jul 5, 2022 @ 2:45pm 
Originally posted by cinedine:
Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:
And yet I've seen such things at stores, gas stations, canteens, etc for over 30 years now. So why exactly wouldn't it be normal?

You have seen a gas station that gives digital gratification that expires after a sale?
Wait, nevermind. That's not the important part here.
You have seen a gas station having a sale?!
The concept of items being limited (either in quantity or time) during certain events (which can be a sale, but also other ways) isn't actually new or specific to digital/game stores.
Last edited by Crazy Tiger; Jul 5, 2022 @ 2:46pm
#7
Icedfate Jul 5, 2022 @ 2:56pm 
well, i have done events in the past. I've been on steam for 13 years. the reason i asked this is because the cards are a "commodity" with monetary value.

i don't really care about the cards. whenever i get cards, i sell them with the purpose of getting rid of them as quickly as possible.

I've been doing the queue every day to earn the 1 free card each day.
the thing is that i was waiting until near the end of the sale to make a game purchase. doing research, what games i want and sleeping on it.
it's near the end of the sale and i'm now getting close to making a purchase and i noticed that "for every $10 i spend, i will earn another card", a card that is only worth 2 pennies and won't even just be worhtless in a month from now. . it will be gone.
I just spent 8 hours last night playing a game in my library, to earn some more card drops , only to find out that the cards from that game are literally worthless, because nobody is buying them, not even for the minimum price of 0.03, people are still not buying the cards for this particular game, which i will not refer to by name. .


but here's the thing. having the cards awarded for making "milestone" purchases is deliberately manipulative, because it's designed to drive more sales, because people might be like "oh, i have $28 worht of product in my cart, if i spend $2 more, i'll earn another card.

again, i'm not influenced by this tactic. I intend to spend what i intend to spend and not a penny more.

maybe i just never noticed that the cards are temporary in the past.


I assume the idea of the cards isn't to "collect" them, but instead, it's to "collect the whole set and then trade them in for the badge, which is permanent" and the only way to do that is to interact with the marketplace, which by making the cards expire, it creates a sense of "urgency", that now i can't sit on my cards. I either have to get rid of them fast, or try to complete the set so i can convert it to a badge.

now, i neither care about the badges, nor do i care about the 2 pennies i would get from the cards.

I just wanted to know the justification for awarding them to us, but then taking them away later if we don't find a way to "use" them?


edit : and yes, i realize the irony that i just spent 5 minutes typing out a rant over something that is worth 2 cents.
I wonder if that's the origin of the phrase "putting my 2 cents in". . .
Last edited by Icedfate; Jul 5, 2022 @ 2:59pm
#8
Tito Shivan Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:03pm 
Originally posted by cinedine:
Why do people think it's normal? It's not. It's pure FOMO inducing marketing.
Aren't sales themselves the original FOMO induced marketing?
#9
Icedfate Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:05pm 
yeah, that's true. i just bought $20 worth of stuff that was all 85% off because of FOMO, even though i still have a ton of games in my library i haven't played yet. . .
whatever, i'll just show myself out
Last edited by Icedfate; Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:05pm
#10
rawWwRrr Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:20pm 
Originally posted by Icedfate:
yeah, that's true. i just bought $20 worth of stuff that was all 85% off because of FOMO, even though i still have a ton of games in my library i haven't played yet. . .
Come on... No one's buying games during the sale to play any of them. Pssh. You buy the game to get the cards to craft the badge to make the XP to increase your level! Everyone knows this, man. Get with the program!
#11
Icedfate Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:21pm 
honestly, my cart originaly had $100 worth of games in it, but then i realized, whatever is on sale once, will be on sale again, lol
#12
Tito Shivan Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:22pm 
Originally posted by rawWwRrr:
Come on... No one's buying games during the sale to play any of them. Pssh. You buy the game to get the cards to craft the badge to make the XP to increase your level! Everyone knows this, man. Get with the program!
Not like people out ther buy the cereal boxes to get the toys inside... That's unheard of!
#13
Icedfate Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:26pm 
and come one, don't tell me you believe that absolutely nobody is going to look at their checkout screen and see that little meter at the bottom and it says "$2 away from earning the next card drop" and then back out and look at the market for a $2 throwaway game they might not even play to pad their cart.

but for clarity, my rant wasn't about the cards themselves. it was about the expiration date. that was just what annoyed me.

and i realize, my phrasing in my title, as if i'm asking a question, when i already know the answer.
maybe i just subconsciously wanted to drum up some controversy? i dunno
Last edited by Icedfate; Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:28pm
#14
Tito Shivan Jul 5, 2022 @ 3:42pm 
Originally posted by Icedfate:
but for clarity, my rant wasn't about the cards themselves. it was about the expiration date. that was just what annoyed me.
From a logistic point of view. it kind of makes sense. Still part of the FOMO event that sales are but:

Once the sale expires so do the ways of creating new sale cards. So from now on you have a limited (and diminishing,as people carft badges) ammount of cards available. And as supply of cards diminishes so could the price of the remaining ones increase.

The problem is one can get cards for free. So with a scenario of sale cards with no caducity we could face a massive ammount of bots farming the free cards for a chance of making some money selling the free cards after the sale expires.

There's people out there who have proven they'll throw armies of bots for the sake of a small monetary gain.

Making the cards expire would make such an abuse way less viable.
#15
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Date Posted: Jul 5, 2022 @ 11:56am
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