Portal 2

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Blorx
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Re:

Post by Blorx » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:38 pm

Zhukov wrote:I'm confused.

And I still don't have a damn clue when the bloody thing is actually coming out.
Tomorrow...at 4:30 AM. Originally, it was releasing...

at...

Tomorrow at 10 AM.

Great GLaDOS event, right?

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Post by Zhukov » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:11 pm

Well, it did push the Potato Sack nearly to the top of the Steam best sellers list.

Right behind Portal 2.

...

I bet someone out there is happy. Probably several someones.

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Assaultman67 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:14 pm

Id have some pretty mixed emotions if i was one of the developers that valve chose to be in their potato pack ...

on one hand you're basically making a killing

on the other hand, your game is basically being used as a publicity stunt and will be dropped like a hot potato after portal 2 comes out :P.

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Blorx » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:37 pm

Yeah, I understand the issue with it, and that, Zhukov, is why the Steam forums lit up in anger. They realized that this is pretty much all the ARG and everything were about, and at the same time, are only getting Portal 2 five and a half hours earlier than intended (like that's hurting Valve at all).

Speaking of the Potato Sack, though, anyone else notice that Valve really screws up the savings on their package pricing and makes it look significantly cheaper to buy them individually than in the package because the overall price takes discounts into effect, and not the original price?
$77.37 Individual price
$154.87 Package price
-$116.15 Potato Sack Promotion
$38.72 Cost to you
$38.65 You save
You should be saving $116.15. :P

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Renegade_Turner » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:57 pm

Assaultman67 wrote:(Sure, you could say "oh, its only 5 bucks" but if you impulsively bought anything you even slightly wanted you would be more than just broke ... hence, there is a certain level of want/price to afford it)

So what happens when you cant buy the stuff you want? You suffer from not having it.
Then you're some kind of mindless pawn who can't think for themselves? Buy it or don't, it's all content, don't kick up shit because you don't have the money for something.

It's like buying a tennis racket and complaining about having to buy sweatbands for your wrists. Things which aren't essential but some people opt for.

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Grayswandir » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:29 pm

Assaultman67 wrote: I simply hate aggressive advertising and sales gimmicks in general.
Sure, they're annoying, but its fairly easy to ignore them.
Advertising is about waving something in front of someone to get them to buy it.
Yes, yes, it is. It helps sell a product to the general public.
The TF2 store annoyed me because when I bought that game it wasn't implemented. I was happy the way the game was. Now the game is a walking advertisement, every time you start the game it shows you a brand new expensive item in the store you simply cant afford.
You may not be able to afford it but someone else can.
(Sure, you could say "oh, its only 5 bucks" but if you impulsively bought anything you even slightly wanted you would be more than just broke ... hence, there is a certain level of want/price to afford it)
Honestly, just be a smart consumer, if you can't afford it, don't buy it. Easy as that.
So what happens when you cant buy the stuff you want? You suffer from not having it.
Or, you just earn the money and go buy it when you have the cash.
Essentially its all about the Buddhist philosophy of all suffering is caused by desire.

It annoys people because they want it and can't afford it. Then the advertisement becomes a flashing reminder of what you cant have.

Advertisement in general is practically provoking suffering in people. Without said advertisement they would have never of had that desire in the first place and lived blissfully ignorant.
But why live ignorant when you could have Flashy Gold Gun-Rocket-Chair 2000?!! Just three payments of $299.99 + Shipping and Handling. Just three payments Assaultman67!
Hence, if valve never had this deal in the first place, no one would have been sad about missing out on the deal.
If they never had the deal, Valve would never get the chance to make you buy more things. Three payments!
not to mention that the deal for most people is the early release of Portal 2 which isn't even a guaranteed result! Most of the people buying the potato pack only want it because it will help speed up the process to release Portal 2. Hence this whole deal requires both money and effort and is still not guaranteed.
You could also look at it as extra support for a gaming company that makes products you enjoy.
Its just not worth the money to buy ... yet there it sits, taunting us, reminding us of this offer which we simply cant afford.
See I don't get it, you obviously think its not worth the money, so why are you whining? Someone else thinks its awesome, so they'll buy it and either be disappointed or go buy more stuff. Remember, for a limited time, three payments and this awesome chair could be yours!
... and thats where the anger comes in. Some people realize that valve is the reason for the suffering (ok more like slight inconvenience) ... however they're still responsible for causing it.
Yes, its Valves fault someone doesn't have the money to buy their products. Boo hoo.
Say hypothetically, every single morning a kid goes and puts a cinderblock behind your car tire that you have to move to drive off. Eventually you would get annoyed and you would definitely be pissed at the kid.
At that point you go talk to the kids parents rather than being silent about it and doing nothing.
This is your last offer, before we send you more mail...JUST THREE PAYMENTS FOR YOUR AWESOME GOLD ROCKET CHAIR...200...something....version X!!!
Call....NOW!!!

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Renegade_Turner » Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:09 pm

Lol. Ben wins.

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Freshbite » Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:42 pm

Oh shit, version X!? I've been missing out.

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Assaultman67 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:56 pm

Ok I lol'ed at the golden rocket chair (which is ironically worth the price considering that gold is selling at $1500 and ounce)

But it seriously doesn't annoy you guys?

I mean, there are a ton of very cool things out there in which we would love to have but simply cant afford (the joy received from getting it compared to the money departed from your wallet just doesn't work). However, we are still able to live happily by simply forgetting about those things which we will never have or can afford.

aggressive advertising makes it so you simply can't forget. It's like the most advanced form of trolling on the face of the earth because it distributes suffering on the masses yet its totally socially acceptable!

Take for example women's makeup products. They first proceed by subtlety make them feel ugly by prancing supermodels around who probably spent hours getting their makeup done by a top of the line beautician. Then they suggest that they too can look this great with this make up.

advertising is very counterproductive to the buddist philosophy of removing desires from your life.

How else do you think our society became so materialistic and greedy? (I believe ren posted a video a while back about "How TV ruined your life" ... this is pretty much the same concept)

Just look at page 3 of this thread:
Zhukov wrote:Y'know what would drive me into a boiling rage?

If the game gets released early but then Australian release dates screw me over.

I already have to wait until the 20th. But that's only one extra day, no big deal. But if everyone else were to get it on the 15th... arrrg!

(Steam pre-load: 77% ... gimme gimme gimme...)
Here's an idea, Zhukov could move to the US, if he cant well he shouldn't get upset about it. :roll:

Anywho, this whole early release thing was the equivalent of a fucking ovaltine ad (watch 'a christmas story' if you don't understand) They generated an assload of hype around Portal 2 to get peoples attention's and then said "buy this" with a completely unrelated product.
Grayswandir wrote:
Assaultman67 wrote: I simply hate aggressive advertising and sales gimmicks in general.
Sure, they're annoying, but its fairly easy to ignore them.
Why should we have to? Why is it perfectly acceptable to be a dick when you're running a business?

If I went down the street waving cash in front of people's faces, people would get upset at me (and eventually I would get mugged, but that's beside the point :P )

(I will admit though that a business can't run without advertisement these days ... what a fucked up world ...)

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Assaultman67 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:04 pm

Grayswandir wrote:...
At that point you go talk to the kids parents rather than being silent about it and doing nothing.
This is your last offer, before we send you more mail...JUST THREE PAYMENTS FOR YOUR AWESOME GOLD ROCKET CHAIR...200...something....version X!!!
Call....NOW!!!
Which is comparable to me propositioning a bill to outlaw advertising.

Or at least bitch about it alot :P

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Blorx » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:46 pm

Oh, and one more little bonus: those who found every secret "potato" hidden within the Potato Sack games reportedly got a "Golden Potato" award -- and the complete Valve game collection. Including Portal 2.
Well, not everyone got screwed, at least. :P

However, it seems more like a last minute "Oh shi-, people are pissed. Might as well do something." sort of move than anything.

EDIT: Must feel like being shot in the foot for a good portion of them though, considering all they were really interested in was Portal 2, which they likely had already bought if they were trying that hard to get it released early.

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/porta ... #continued

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Grayswandir » Tue Apr 19, 2011 12:59 am

You know, I was gonna write this long reply to Assaultman's post, but forget it.
From what I understand you pretty much think that the way Valve is advertising their products is annoying and making you suffer because they keep showing you things that you can't afford right now. You're just letting it get to you. Valve isn't indirectly saying you're ugly or you aren't complete without this game or that TF2 hat/gun/tool/condom. That's you, telling yourself that you want their product and getting pissed because you can't afford it and then getting angry at Valve because they're advertising their products to people who CAN afford their stuff. Which is really your own personal problem, even that comment on how it goes against your buddhist beliefs. That's still your own personal problem.

So I give you this:
You have a job, you see a product you want, take the time to save up for it. If you really want it that badly, you'll take the time to save up for it in a reasonable way that won't put you in a hole. Just put $20 - $50 aside every time you get a paycheck (depending on how fast you want to save up, the cost of your bills, etc.) and in a few months you'll be able to afford the games and stuff that you want. I did that with the Xbox 360 I own, I resisted spending my money on new anime, books, whatever and just saved money and paid bills and bought the essentials. It felt awesome when I finally had enough to buy myself the 360. That, and you can say you worked hard and earned your money to pay for your whatever.

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Freshbite » Tue Apr 19, 2011 1:04 am

So I'm currently decrypting the files, excited as hell.
Worst thing is... I have lectures in about 15 minutes that will take up most of the day, and a major exam due on Wednesday, which I basically have to sit down with after my sessions today.

... complete Portal 2, and make one hell of a sorting algorithm in Assembly in less
than 30 hours? Challenge accepted.

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Post by Zhukov » Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:24 am

Decryption: 100%

Move aside lesser offerings.

Something tasty is on the menu.

And I am hungry.

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Re: Portal 2

Post by Assaultman67 » Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:42 am

Grayswandir wrote:...So I give you this:
You have a job, you see a product you want, take the time to save up for it. If you really want it that badly, you'll take the time to save up for it in a reasonable way that won't put you in a hole.
But what about all those things you kinda want but have decided it wasn't worth the money?

Sure, the amount of suffering caused by your desire isn't much because you decided its not worth the money. But its still there and this happens for 100's of products.

(also, this is more of a rant towards all advertising in general than a specific rant at valve. Valve just triggered it with their highly original way of saying "Be sure to drink your ovaltine!")



(LOL ... socially acceptable trolling)

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