Steam holiday 2011 sales chatter

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[size=20]The Steam Holiday Sale 2011[/size]

Sale Dates: Monday Dec. 19 thru Monday Jan 2nd (2 weeks total)

The "DAILY" - these occur each day during the sale at 10AM PST/1 PM EDT.

* Daily sales are where it's at. Most games in Steam's library are discounted 25 to 33% throughout the sale, but if a game is placed on a 'daily' sale, it will be marked down 50 to as much as 90% off. If there's a game you want, it's best to wait till the end of the sale to buy it, to see if it will go on a daily sale first. You can always buy it for 25-33% off on the last day.

* There will likely be a server crush - and it might be a while after 1 pm EDT before the daily shows up. '503' errors are common around that time when trying to access the store page.

* prices are often wrong at or near 1PM EDT. sometimes the server glitches and wrong prices are posted. they usually correct in 15 mins or so. Remember that prices can be wrong in both directions, too high, and too low. In the summer sale, Dawn of War Retribution ($30 normal price was discounted to $7.50 for about 5 mins). Valve will honor these if you get the low price in time.

Steam Features, money & regional pricing

* You can add funds to your steam wallet to avoid many small charges to your bank/credit account.

* You can buy games/dlc etc and send them directly to your Steam Inventory. You can later trade with (or gift to) others from your inventory.

* Not in the U.S. and getting higher regional prices? Feel free to ask someone from the U.S. to help with a gift/paypal exchange. You will need paypal and if you're unknown (coffee grinder) you may need to pay the person first.

The 4-Pack, gifts, and gifting

* When going in on a 4-pack with someone ... please be considerate to the person hosting the 4-pack and mark the paypal payment as a GIFT. This will prevent the host from incurring paypal charges. Also, if you're international (to the host), please opt to pay your own paypal international exchange fee (usually very nominal).

* Please don't beg for gifts. This is not a rule, just a request. Gift-begging is generally frowned upon by the community.

* Steam sales are one of GWJ's shining moments of charity, and there will be a LOT of gift-giving, so make sure to utilize your Steam Wish List, and Steam Friends List. I'd suggesting putting some value games and/or DLC (that you actually want) on your wish list. On each game's store page, the shopper can see who amongst his friends list is wishing for that game.

I can get behind this thread if Jeff agrees to update the OP periodically once the sales start rolling in.

Prediction: I think we'll see a 25% discount on Skyrim this season. I don't see it going much lower than that because it's still so hot.

My hopes for holiday sales include:

The Witcher 2
Space Marine
Dawn of War Retribution
Battlefield 3 (is it even on Steam? If not, maybe Origins will have it on sale)
Call of Duty Black Ops (hopefully at least 50% off)

And I'm hoping to see sales on DLC for Civ V, Dragon Age 2, and Fallout New Vegas.

I'm hoping for a $30 or less Rage sale. It was $40, but when I learned there were no email/journals to find as in Doom 3 it dropped $10.

Jeff-66 wrote:

What do you want Santa Gabe to bring you this year?

A time machine... I still haven't gotten around to even installing some of the stuff I purchased during the summer sale.

Deus Ex
Skyrim
Shogun 2
Sengoku
Spess Mahreen

...(un)fortunately, I own all the others I want. Oh wait, except for the dozens of games on my wishlist. Ugh.

My experience/advice:

I have this intangible purchase threshold that's almost more dependent on the percentage off than the final price. 75+% off is instabuy, 50+% off I will buy if I really like it, and 33+% off only if it's extraordinary, like The Witcher or Valve games. That works out to under $5 for indies, $10 or $15 for second tier stuff, and $20-ish for the big boys and GOTYs. So I don't play most things as soon as they come out (well, except TF2 and Portal 1/2), but I realize a great deal of proverbial entertainment for my equally proverbial dollar. Plus, the patches, mods, and updates have settled down by then.

No specific budget, just systematic stinginess. I do buy the games I want to (eventually) play when they are on super-sale, and play them then. Of course, I still spend too much during these semiannual blowout sales -- probably about $150-200, historically -- but it's my main hobby and I don't really spend much elsewhere. Some people spend $100 per month on lattes.

My scrooginess has kept the total dollar amount in check. My immense Pile O' Shame stays my hand in the face of not-so-great discounts.

Sometimes I think I almost like the seeking more than the having, though. You have to admit, the whole atmosphere of the Steam Sales is really something.

An early release of Metro Last Light or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 4. Alas, Santa Gabe is but a magical man.

Barring some kind of Decemberween miracle, my wishlist:

$5 Tier
Bastion
Payday: The Heist
Limbo
Deadspace 2
DUNGEONS

$10 Tier
The Witcher 2
Alice: Madness Returns

$20 Tier
Batman: Arkham City
Saint's Row: The Third
Deus Ex: Human Resources
Dead Island
Rage
Skyrim

Santa Gabe's Most Wanted Tier:
Battlefield 3

michaelar wrote:

I have this intangible purchase threshold that's almost more dependent on the percentage off than the final price.

Same here. I've almost always regretted Day One purchases (Portal 2 is the major exception), so I usually wait for 66-75% discounts before I buy anything.

My wishlist currently has 38 items on it. Most of them are $10-15 games that I would buy on an impulse if they drop to 5$.

Sometimes I pick stuff up if I see it on the daily, or something else like the summer activities shows it off. I find more than a few gems this way like SpaceChem which are fantastic games but ones I either didn't know about or didn't give a second glance.

Baseless speculation, but I wonder what 'game' Valve will attach to a sale, like the treasure hunt, potato sack, summer camp, etc. Usually it's related to steam features they've recently added to steam to drive awareness, but I don't think they've added anything recently, so perhaps it will be 'just' low prices.

I honestly expect a quiet season. I've got BF3 and that's going to keep me going for ages. I want Assassin's Creed Revelations, but I think that will be a next year item for me. Same with Batman Arkham City. I've already got that one on X360, and while it isn't my preferred platform, I can't justify buying it again on PC for anything less than 50% off.

When is the sale expected to start?

demonbox wrote:

When is the sale expected to start?

Who knows. They never announce sales, but thanksgiving is Thursday, and sales usually run to Friday to "Cyber Monday".
Also last year the treasure hunt started on Dec 6th, in addition to thanksgiving/xmas sales.

Due to my backlog, my ceiling for any one game is $5 with a few $10 exception and it has to be on my wishlist or have a demo that convinces it is an absolute gem. Otherwise I'm passing on stuff. Games on the top of my wishlist:

Bastion
Dirt 3 (not likely, it's still $50, but it's one of my $10 limit games)
Hard Reset ($10 game)
Battlefield 3 (not happening, I know)
Deathspank & 'sequels'
Dead Space 2

Also, there's a big Terraria patch coming, so I may just consider that a new game and jump back in.

Really, I'd like to get outta the end of the year spending less than $50 on Steam, and hopefully more like $25. I've got console games to worry about Like Batman, Uncharted and Zelda.

Niseg wrote:

-BF3 - I'm going to buy this anyway after buying a new PC so any discount would be nice.

It won't be on steam, but I think there will be deals around new years. The back to karkand pack is out in Dec, so I think they'll be dropping the price to get people to buy the base game plus buy the DLC (which is only included in the limited edition if you bought at release).

I'm going to try to not buy anything.
Maybe best to not open Steam.

Between Skyrim and FIFA Ultimate Team, I don't see needing a new game to play until my birthday, which is in the end of February.

Life is good.

That being said, I'm not adverse to an awesome deal

Not planning on buying any games at all. My backlog can probably keep me busy till the end of next year.
Having said this, I know how tempting it is, once Steam is unleashing the sales again.

I doubt anyone's dying to know what I want to play. I do, however, hope Valve's under pressure to flush Steam with exceptionally enticing offers after the recent security breach. I'm definitely planning to treat myself after months and months of self-denial.

No, it's too soon. TOO SOON!

For those looking for Witcher 2, FYI, it's $16 right now on Amazon (it's not the Steam version, though). That said I think it will go to either $13.59 (66% off) or $10 (75% off) in the Steam sale.

BF3? ... forget it

Some smaller games I want:

Bastion
Dungeon Defenders
Orcs Must Die
SPAZ
Sequence
InMomentum
Drawn: The Painted Tower
Waves

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Dirt 3 (not likely, it's still $50, but it's one of my $10 limit games)

Due to the Nvidia pack in deal, there are lots of Dirt 3 Steam keys you can buy for $10 on ebay. I did that not too long after the game release.

Budo wrote:

No, it's too soon. TOO SOON!

So much this. I love the Steam sales excitement and chatter, and I read the threads voraciously, but dear Cthulhu my wallet is already a quivering, fearful mess. And my pile is a hulking monstrosity, intent on consuming every spare moment of my time. On the bright side, the cause for our poverty (my immigration paperwork) seems to have been dealt with for now, and it looks like we don't need to spend any more for a few months at least! On the other bright side, I will soon be in possession of a computer than can handle things beyond just games from five years ago. Woo-hoo! Christmas is looking good!

Scratched wrote:
Niseg wrote:

-BF3 - I'm going to buy this anyway after buying a new PC so any discount would be nice.

It won't be on steam, but I think there will be deals around new years. The back to karkand pack is out in Dec, so I think they'll be dropping the price to get people to buy the base game plus buy the DLC (which is only included in the limited edition if you bought at release).

Origin apparently will have BF3 on sale on Black Friday (at least in the US). Their Origin Insider Deals facebook page recently had this:

Origin Insider Deals is unlocking HUGE deals on EA’s hottest titles like Battlefield 3 and Need For Speed on Black Friday! Make sure to check back next week to learn more!

Orcs Must Die
Tropico 4
HOMM6, though I'd re-buy the old ones on a good deal
Puzzle Quest 2
DXHR
DA2

Having finished Batman: AA recently, I'm not feeling quite as guilty about the number of games staring at me unplayed.

Scratched wrote:
Niseg wrote:

-BF3 - I'm going to buy this anyway after buying a new PC so any discount would be nice.

It won't be on steam, but I think there will be deals around new years. The back to karkand pack is out in Dec, so I think they'll be dropping the price to get people to buy the base game plus buy the DLC (which is only included in the limited edition if you bought at release).

You are probably already aware I'm not loyal to any store . I seriously doubt steam would be the only ones with a sale. If EA sell some kind of deal I might get it. The price of the game isn't as scary as buying a new PC to run it(mine is just not worth upgrading) . I'm still debating if to delay my PC purchase to January-February in order to get the latest GPU and/or enjoy some price cuts which may offset HDD costs ;).

This might be the Steam Sale I actually don't get anything. Madness, I know. But there's nothing left to get that I really want.

MannishBoy wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Dirt 3 (not likely, it's still $50, but it's one of my $10 limit games)

Due to the Nvidia pack in deal, there are lots of Dirt 3 Steam keys you can buy for $10 on ebay. I did that not too long after the game release.

It was also on sale on Steam recently for around $15 (if you bought both games in the pack) so $10 at Christmas seems possible.

Loving BF3 but still things I want to get for the right deal

We are getting an xbox Kinect bundle for Xmas, so I probably won't get much on steam this year, other than gifting a few things.

I hope.

Yeah, I still have a lot of games unplayed/uninstalled since last summer/winter.

Currently playing through Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.

I'm interested in Skyrim, Witcher 2, Civ V, etc. But honestly, I'm still backlogged a couple hundred hours on the preceding titles to those. I'll probably pick up a few quirky games for <$5, but unless some of the big ones fall to that price point I'll probably just let it go.

Nightmare wrote:

This might be the Steam Sale I actually don't get anything. Madness, I know. But there's nothing left to get that I really want.

This is exactly where I am at. Skyrim can't possibly be cheap enough this sale to entice me and that's basically it for me.

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