So.
Guess everyone knows that if a game goes below 95% of the US price anywhere it gets bundled. (If you didn't now you do)

But the topic came up in a group chat and I was thinking:
Russian gifts are supposed to be region locked and compared to Russian prices the games are still discounted only up to 90% (mostly). So why is a game still added to the bundle list if it gets below 95% in Russian Steam?
Do I miss something from the formula?

Also many of the games are added with a huge delay compared to the discount date so many users' CV gets hurt in the process.

Mandatory bulls**t gibuway

8 years ago*

Comment has been collapsed.

Games bundled because of Russian prices still good?

View Results
Of course!
Not anymore.

Because there's no such thing as "regional CV"

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

So why is a game still added to the bundle list if it gets below 95% in Russian Steam?

While I do find it a bit annoying, I do agree with the reasoning behind it. It's possible to abuse the CV-system by having someone else buy the games for you. Send your money to a friend in Russia, have them buy the games, then give them away->Cheap CV boost. No, the system is not perfect, but it's better than having one that is open to abuse.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

So what you're saying is you ask a friend to buy a game so you can make a Russian Zone restricted giveaway?
I can understand this.

But is it fair that everyone suffers because devs are too the devs don't want to create a more complex bundle system?

8 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

As I look at the number of responses I feel like people don't really care.
Well, not having an opinion is an opinion too...

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

They will at some point care yet move on quickly unless the exploit can be avoided another viable way. Until then it is better to stay away from ANY game that has seen 90% discount on Steam store which could be translated to 95%+ thus bundled even if after years.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

regional-cv or bundle-by-region will be a mistake, there are lots of region-locked countries that still pay USA prices.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Why do you think it would be a mistake? I'm not disagreeing, mind you, I haven't given this option any thought and I'd love to hear more :)

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

maybe i should have said it's "unfair", not a mistake.
regional-cv it will punish users that live in countries that still pay full price for games (which is stupid since they get region-locked games instead or ROW). so by forcing regional-cv on them, you are punishing them twice: first from valve's side because they get region-locked crap paying full prices, and then on sg because their gifts have a lower value (and probably bundled).

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Oh I had no idea there were restricted countries that paid US prices. That's just horrible.
I completely understand what you mean. Thank you for teaching me something new :)

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

False.

None of the region restricted GA's able to be made on SG pay full USD price, that is why they are region restricted. There would be no point if it were the same as everywhere else to have region locking to start with.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

before shooting down what i said, you should check the store...

last 3 countries: uruguay, argentina, chile.
just 3 examples. all SA-locked, still paying USA prices.

View attached image.
8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Because one of the main problems of the new SG region gifting system, even though you can now make region restricted GAs, is that there isn't separate CV scores for each region, public, and group. If there were, then regular CV price could be unaffected by bundling because of RU or other regions.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

so region locked cv would fix things ... but than again i dont feel it would be fair towards people from those regions though, because regional pricing is there for a reason and $5 somewhere is just as big as $50 somewhere else :=)

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Finally someone who understands! +++

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

You get the same CV whether the giveaway is region-restricted or not. It's an unfortunate situation but not one that can be easily avoided. It could be "fixed" by assigning a lower value to region-restricted games but it brings other problems:

  1. There's a reason people in those regions have lower prices. Their dollar isn't as strong as other places and relatively speaking, they end up paying just as much as us compared to their income. (This isn't always true either, since there are exceptions on both sides.)
  2. Someone could simply make a group of Russian users and do group giveaways without having to set them as region-restricted. They would get full CV for their giveaway even though it's region-restricted.
8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

There is an other group. Who pay more then the US prices. Like part of the eu. Should they get more points

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

As I said, there are exception on both sides. Some part of the EU pays more than US yet have salaries similar to Russia. And there are games in lower-prices region which are priced just as high as in the US. We could try to give more or less vale to gifts depending on where the person is from and whether they do open or region-restricted giveaways, but that would probably turn out to be a mess.

As imperfect as the current system is, it has the merit of having the same calculations for everyone. Even if that means adding titles a bit aggressively to the bundle list. There is no shortage of non-bundled games anyway.

In any case, CV should only bee seen as an added bonus to reward you for your contributions. If you're doing giveaways for CV, then you're doing it wrong.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I figure there's enough stuff to give that isn't unbundled that I'm not going to get too fussed if the system is little aggressive on what games are added to the list.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Well, you're right on that :)

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Sign in through Steam to add a comment.