Oh yeah, you're forced. I'm still waiting for Gaben to come and kill me if I don't do it. I don't know what he's doing, he must be late or something...
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It only means that millions of people just trade their sellable trash emoticons and wallpapers to unsellable trash gems and only 200000 of them will get the games. If you are in and don't want to lose you need to buy more wallpapers. You are forced to do it.
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+0.80 mmm dont belive valve is forcing us to buy anything, but im agree with the fact that the amount of "trash" u need to get enough gems for the "best" games maybe is too high. Anyways scrap dupe items (wallpappers) and get gems to craft booster packs is a nice oportunity to made a god use of that "trash"
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Truth, lol. I like your style. Sounds like good advice.
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Because you don't have that, nobody has that. Kidlogic. Because you have no money on your bankaccount or only a 4digit number, nobody has higher? There are people with millions and billions my friend, you seem very clueless. I myself had over 100+ backgrounds, 100+ emoticons and 500 trading cards left in my inventory. Free games my friend.
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do u know what stinks ? people being stupid over it,until 15th dec the current auctions will stay,then on 15th after the 1st auction ends every other auction will be 45 mins liong in which people wont do such huge biddings,and will be a good idea to wait them out on the time with least traffic - early in the morning in EU when NA go to sleep(cuz its late night for em) and EU are just waking up usually then there shouldnt be as much bidding as there usually would be so it would be best chance for people with not as much resources as everyone else !
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+1
There are 100 gifts, it's enough to be in the first 50 bidders, considering more people will bid
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unless someone bids higher in the next 45 minutes...
I wouldn't even try to bid - too many bids already on everything, and too high to my taste. Well, I would actually place a 1 gem bid (and cancel it) - just to get a badge leveled (too bad it stays 100 XP anyway, but oh well).
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I put 1 gem into about 30 auctions, just to make it easier to keep an eye on certain titles. I'd imagine that the first couple rounds will be some of the most expensive. People have had days to bid up the item, so they're quite inflated. After the first couple rounds, I expect prices to hit much more reasonable levels. And since they do it every 45 minutes for a couple days, there should be multiple off times which will allow for some lowball bids (which is what I'm counting on).
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your bid gems are however stuck until auction ends when they will price crash so you either win or burn
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This event is just to separate the ultra elite from the rest of us. My guess is that there will be a few hundred people who will snatch up every item on the list.
The auction isn't even close to ending, those prices are going to skyrocket in the hours before closing. So unless you have 200,000 gems to buy a 99 cent game, don't bother.
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Ok, it is not that black and white.
For example right now CS:GO is listed with 83000 gems, which is more than 20 EUR using OP's calculation. While one could buy one for 10 EUR without any discounts (and during the sales it is likely going to be discounted).
On the other hand Civilization Beyond Earth is 73000 gems, while in the store it costs 50 EUR.
As the time window is very limited and gems are 1-2 abstractions away from actual money, I doubt that pure ratio will apply here.
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Captain Obvious here...
The goal is to make money to Steam (and devs). As prices of community items go up (so does their 15% cut), and games go away on their normal price (as you point out), everything is just fine, mission accomplished.
... flies away
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for me the main purpose of gems is to get booster packs for games i actually want badges for. i also bin on a few less-popular games in fairly low amounts, so maybe i'll get one of those too but i doubt it. i haven't bought any wallpaper or icons but i did remove all of the ones i had listed on the market.
also, since i bought 2 booster packs for 1000 gems each before they took it down, they gave me 2000 gems back and left me my cards, so free booster packs!
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Are you sarcastic? Since your Steam level is 73 ...
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There were many cheap emotes and backgrounds before Steam reopened the event. So people could get 80-100 gems for like $0.01 depending on currencies. (JPY, PHP, RUB, etc.) That means 10000 gems = $1.
I guess those who bought up cheap items are joining auctions.
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I read somewhere that there is a hidden max gems on every bid, means for exemple if you are top bidder with 20000 gems on a game and its hidden max is 5000 gems, even though you won, 15000 gems will return to your inventory. But for some reason I can't find that line anymore.
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I ordered that people spend no more than 1 Gem per game to troll Valve. Who dares to disobey my orders?
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to be honest i like the idea, thanks to it i removed 2 pages of unselling trash from my inventory, if the crystals carry on through out the years then i love the idea, if only i could trade cs go items (such as sticker capsules) or other useless items the inventory system would be improved much. p.s. at the beginning you could sell 1000 crystals for £00.06-£00.20 (depending on your luck)
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This has to be my favorite Steam event ever (note: I like black humor). So, you take something that is divorced from real money but that is still derived from real money, since it costs real money to buy, like an emoticon. And then you convert that derived thing into another derived currency called gems. And then you have people bid on real world items with that twice-derived currency. It's a currency so divorced from reality that most people will never know how much money they actually spent on a bidded game they won.
It's...Gabtastic!
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The point was supposed to be that you don't HAVE to spend real money to get gems. The gems are supposed to be a byproduct of cleaning up non-game items you have no use for, and instead of just cleaning up, you now have the chance to get something more tangible in return. Even if the chances of winning an auction are crazy low given the amount of gems people are spending, it was a nice thought.
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The gems from your stuff that's lying around, that's all good. That's freeing up loot that wasn't yet in GabeN's hands. Now that money is at last moving through the system. Feeding Steam.
But that's just the beginning. By the nature of the auction house, pitting individual against individual, prices must rise! The games must flow. When the gems you have from items are no longer enough to win the bid you've been going back and forth over, then you must return to the market and get more gems. And more and more. Until you at last beat down those twats who outbid you. And, at last you have your won game. Yay! And it doesn't matter how much you bid, after all, you just spent gems - heh heh.
More loot for GabeN.
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At the moment, I'm $8 and about 8k in gems ahead, without adding a penny to my Steam Wallet. I should be able to get at least one smaller game with that 8k (or two, if I time it right) and I'll still be ahead on my Steam Wallet. Just because the market is designed to siphon away your money doesn't mean you have to let it. Simple use the system to your advantage.
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I'm not taking advantage of anybody. If someone's willing to selling an emoticon for $0.03, then they're a willing participant in the transaction. Simply because I did a good job of finding low cost/high value gem-fodder doesn't mean I was crushing the downtrodden beneath my well-heeled boots.
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For the system to move, the money must come from somewhere. Someone must pay in to make the games flow.
It begins with the compulsion for cards and decks and badges. The gems. Freeing moneys long stuck in the system, now to flow back into the market. Bringing the money back unto GabeN.
But that is just a small current stirring the waters of the vast ocean that is the bidding house. Pitting people against each other for "free" games, but holding their bid into the next auction, doing so again and again, with each day having fewer prizes left, and everyone just one step closer to winning. Feeding off of the addictions of mankind, while simultaneously removing their ability to sense how much they are spending by divorcing the currency so much from the real money that is being spent.
It is so wonderfully manipulative, I almost cannot bear to look upon its greatness. All praise to GabeN.
(And when there's this much gambling involved in the system, where did you think the money came from that makes it all work?)
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"Pitting people against each other for "free" games, but holding their bid into the next auction, doing so again and again, with each day having fewer prizes left, and everyone just one step closer to winning. Feeding off of the addictions of mankind, while simultaneously removing their ability to sense how much they are spending by divorcing the currency so much from the real money that is being spent." <- Sounds like the Olympics.
You're posts are highly rhetorical (to make something appear more impressive than it is)... I was wondering; since Steam is a Commercial "nation" (not Demockratic, Communist, etc), and all commercial elements are advertised, would it not stand to reason that it's the system that is "evil" (as you've implied with your claims of manipulation) and not the users?
I'm sure it's easy for you to be cynical about the many forms of Capitalism that exist today, but (the) ignorance (of others) is hardly justification for crying foul.
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There have been many studies of gambling and its various addictions, as well as many theories of how to use its effects to psychologically manipulate people through their addictions. Why, casinos have whole manuals on it.
Starting with converting money to tokens, so one doesn't feel your own money slipping away as you bet it. Plus, it requires an effort of will to convert it back to real dosh, making it much more likely that you will keep on betting.
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I understand what you're saying, and I appreciate the minimum of rhetoric in your reply.
But... I've noticed your tendency to generalise people. In fact, you're inconsistent with who/whom you refer to: "... so one doesn't feel your own money...", which is one of the difficulties (as well as your tendency for rhetoric) people like Sisyphus17 & me are having with your statements. Obviously we want to take you seriously - we can tell that you have intellect to offer on the subject. But, demonising a privately owned for-profit company (that fully advertises it's rule-set for commercial operations) for being financially motivated is childish... You're effectively complaining that customers are being forced to be responsible for their own decisions.
If you have any evidence that VaLVE has portrayed Steam as an entity that seeks to govern the "common knowledge/sense" of people, I'd appreciate the links; all I ask is that you make sure that evidence is objectively genuine.
...I hope you're not just being rhetorical; it appears to me that you want to do "the right thing by people".
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Valve is really into psychology. You can just do a quick google of it for yourself. Forbes is usually a good source when you get your hits. They hire various behavioralists for many things, including game design, but also to design their sales. They've been doing it for more than half a decade now.
Psychological studies of gambling stretch back decades, from even back when it was illegal over most of the world. The token thing is basic stuff you can get almost anywhere, but you can get a taste of it here if you like. http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1149&context=grrj
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Stating that "VaLVE is really into psychology" is pointless; /every/ for-profit commercial organisation is "really into" anything that increases their profits.
And I wasn't asking you for references to the psychology of gambling; "If you have any evidence that VaLVE has portrayed Steam as an entity that seeks to govern the "common knowledge/sense" of people..." <- I requested proof that they're wanting to own responsibility of customers. I've also noticed your responses are still focused on defending people's irresponsibitity (ie. ignorance & impulsivity)...
Technically, I am also into psychology (your posts suggest you are too), which is why I have no sympathy for ignorance. To provide you with rhetoric of my own "With knowledge comes power over others. With understanding comes power over one's self." <- I've used this in the past (when I was relatively young), and yeah it captures people's attention... but it's shallow; if a collection of individuals /need/ reality to be infused with fantasy, then real-world issues are not for them to try to assess. ...and using that as an argument that commercial organisations (like VaLVE) /should/ think responsibly for their customers is short-sighted; commercial companies are NOT responsible for our well-being; that falls upon their nation's governing body.
Impulsive judgement, cynicism, a refusal to read "fine print" (or /any/ print for that matter), and then complaining that a group (that /isn't/ their nationally governing body) isn't compensating for those ignorances might be taken seriously by others with an exaggerated sense of entitlement or those who refuse to use their free-will to implement self-control (or even do something simple as listen), but for those of us who /accept/ we live in a Democratic (& Capitalistic) nation, we have little time for people who refuse to observe before acting over-and-over.
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Ah yes, and for the last little bit, to put it all together, you take the design of a casino. Many a casino will have this thing called a Jackpot Auction, or similar name. With a jackpot auction, one spends auction tokens to bid on "free" items that the higher bidders win. But, auction tokens are not directly purchased. Instead, they are awarded for various other deeds, such as buying $100 of chips in one go, then the auction tokens are awarded for "free".
But don't take my word for it. Here's the description for an online casino version. I will not provide direct links, cause that would be encouraging gambling. But like descriptions can easily be found for yourself at any casino.
"Loyalty Points can also be accumulated by customers. For every 10 credits you bet in the casino, you will chalk up one, two or three Loyalty Points, depending on what game it is. For example, playing blackjack will earn you one Loyalty Points per ten credits wagered, while Sic Bo, Keno and slots will earn three Loyalty Points. There are also Auction Points, which are earned in a number of different ways. Jackpot City awards one Auction Point for free for every Loyalty Point the player earns, and gives them out for other things the player does, like signing up for the first time, updating and/or verifying account details, answering research surveys, etc. There are a number of items the customer can bid on; these include DVD players and laptops, among others.
The player can earn 110 Auction Points for making a deposit using an alternate deposit option. And for depositing $100 or more using a credit card, Jackpot City awards the customer 75 Auction Points. These are valuable because the customer can not just buy Auction Points."
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I'm heavily educated on Casinos' operations; they are for-profit organisations after all.
You're still focused on /protecting/ peoples' ingorance... Which is why you're receiving this attention. Not that that's a bad thing; regardless of the topics, we are practicing both memory recall and civil debate (no name-calling, slurs, etc.)
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I believe you will find that I have not advocated protections. In fact, if you will note, in my first post in this line of convo, I specifically noted that I appreciate black humor.
The fact that Steam is using a replica of a casino auction with a twice derived fake currency to take monies from the weak of math and the weak of will, well, that was precious enough. The fact that Steam was also taking money from those who were "managing the system" by gambling with booster packs made it even better.
But best of all, what made it rich with comedy, was everyone running around white knighting the casino auction as a "good" thing.
'Tis a wonderful day.
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"I specifically noted that I appreciate black humor." <- Are you saying your argument is just a joke? Based on your last post, it appears that you're amused by ignorance, as opposed to sympathetic to it.
Is that what your original post is about? Pointing out arbitrations via rhetoric?
...I should ask; what was your goal, then? Because the totality of your posts suggest you're attempting to give advice to SteamGifts users, but from a highly one-dimensional perspective -- Which involves ignorance... and you're suggesting you are amused by ignorance (black humor in regards to VaLVE's customers "being taken advantage of")... If that's true, then I suggest you do some (psychological) research on both 'Projection' and 'intellectual insecurity defense constructs'.
It's not clear whether you're trying to help, hinder, elevate your self-esteem/superiority complex... In fact the only consistent element to your posts is your narrow focus on VaLVE using knowledge on psychology to boost their profits... Which, if they didn't, would make them a foolish for-profit company. It's asinine to complain about, really; their trying to maximise income, which is what a good for-profit company does.
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Advocating gambling protection on a Steamgifts site would be a waste of everyone's time. Commiserating with the OP, on the other hand, is a different story. And commiseration was my only intention. No rhetoric was used in that first post.
That came when others used Steam talking points and gambling arguments were brought up against that first post and later ones. The first of those is understandable, but the second, when I just stated Steam was being manipulative, to say I could gamble and get ahead too...
However, as with most online discussions, people don't debate the argument sentence of someone's post, they argue the introductory sentence or some other similar. Such as ignoring the argument line that Valve hired behaviorists to manage their sales, to pick at the they're interested in psychology topic line. Or stating that I accused Valve of being evil, though I never did, and asking me for proof. That, when all I did was state that they were using manipulative (casino) business practices, and when proof was demanded, showed it.
And since that is the kind of talk I expected from the beginning, I instead spun people's own sentences back at them in a different light.
(Excellent political speak, by the way, talking of rhetoric.)
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oh for fuck sake... what the hell do you think this is? some sort of illuminaty kind of shit? it's a store that sell games, it's not a complot to take out your freedom, valve is not taking down a government, they are not killing journalists, they are messing up with things they have created...
it's a company, they exists for profit. nobody is forced to participate on the event, you can easily ignore the whole thing.
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Valve started as a videogames company then moved to stock market, then to epenis who has more paid level, then to a bidding house to boost transactions and prices, and all the gems that aren't enough to convert into cards will disappear, evaporated money :-) , what will be the next step? Place your bets ;-)
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Gems won't disappear, they're sticking around as is the ability to create booster packs from them.
I know that's small consolation.
Edit: From the FAQ -
"What happens to Steam Gems after the Holiday Auction ends?
Gems will not disappear from your Inventory after the Holiday Auction event ends. You can continue making and using it to create Booster Packs."
They might well be usable in future events in some capacity too.
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actually that depend on your goal, aim at a low value game, you definetly win it, i go up 4 lv, able to reach a lv5 badge, and still have enough of gem to win a bid, all of these have without pay a single cent, yet after this, my steam wallet still higher than before, just a few cents, but still higher
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Turning useless emotes and backgrounds into boosters is a decent idea. Even if you sell the cards, pick an expensive booster and sell it.
$1 Booster Pack > 10x $0.03 emotes/wallpapers.
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Its only this price when you buy backgrounds emoticons or whatever to make gems
When you have the items allready than it is 1/3 cause they are not worth 3 cent - you would get only 1 when sell it on market.
This gem event is only bad for people who buy things .... own fault
Event is not made to give you free/cheap games.
It is just a carrot system to remove all the useless items from market and reset the badge market.
For this it works fine ... cause alot stupid people waste money on it, even when the winter sale is only 4-5 days away
just lol
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For it to be a scam, there has to be deceit... and someone claiming ignorance as an analogue to being scammed is exactly that; ignorant.
VaLVE have provided all details of the event. A commercial (ie. for profit) organisation is not immune to law; while VaLVE are free to make their "nation" called Steam whatever they want (it's not a Democracy), it is still subject to the laws that (for people who weren't raised demoralised) defend our resources.
But hey; for all I know, having a scape-goat (someone to blame) is comforting.
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Sorry it's me who stinks, I promise that I'm gonna take a shower tomorrow :/
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Now I was looking on steam gems "auction".
If I count 1000 gems = 30 cents, 10 000 gems = 3 €, 30 000 gems = 9€.
Goat simulator now 29 000 gems - thats normal price in steam !!!
And some other games has gem price same as normal price.
It should be cheaper to just buy game on sale and not thru this Steam money making event...
And maybe in the end, people will realize, that they spent money on game that they do not even want...and some will have nothing, but Steam will be happy.
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