Steam Trading Card

[Niyeaux]

That's fine to have a different opinion. But a few of us clearly aren't fans of the implementation and have given reasons. That statement at the end is a little condescending to those that don't share your viewpoint. 

I get why people don't want to use it, and that's perfectly fine. The people who are offended by the fact that it exists at all are being patently ridiculous, though, and are a pretty textbook case of "STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE."

[Zeusthecat]

I get why people don't want to use it, and that's perfectly fine. The people who are offended by the fact that it exists at all are being patently ridiculous, though, and are a pretty textbook case of "STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE."

 

I have to assume you are counting me as one of these people but please correct me if I'm wrong. If that is the case please re-read my post and some of the other posts here. I think most of us are taking the stance that we don't like it for various reasons and see some potential for abuse and that it is not for us. I'm not really seeing what you call "a textbook case of "STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE.""

[Niyeaux]

I have to assume you are counting me as one of these people but please correct me if I'm wrong. If that is the case please re-read my post and some of the other posts here. I think most of us are taking the stance that we don't like it for various reasons and see some potential for abuse and that it is not for us. I'm not really seeing what you call "a textbook case of "STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE.""

It's been labelled as "a scam" and something with "the capacity for real harm" in this thread. Those are not the words of someone who doesn't really like it but doesn't mind other people playing along.

[osmosisch]

It is a system that appears to be quite clearly engineered to extract a lot of money from compulsively-minded individuals. That could be seen as unethical.

[Zeusthecat]

It's been labelled as "a scam" and something with "the capacity for real harm" in this thread. Those are not the words of someone who doesn't really like it but doesn't mind other people playing along.

 

That may be true but I really don't see anyone implying that other people shouldn't like it. That is a distraction from the actual argument, I think there's a word for that . The actual disagreement is in the implementation of the system and the intent behind it. 

 

Just because someone doesn't like McDonald's advertising methods doesn't automatically mean they don't think anyone should like McDonald's food. That is a false assumption.

[SecretAsianMan]

That may be true but I really don't see anyone implying that other people shouldn't like it. That is a distraction from the actual argument, I think there's a word for that . The actual disagreement is in the implementation of the system and the intent behind it. 

 

Just because someone doesn't like McDonald's advertising methods doesn't automatically mean they don't think anyone should like McDonald's food. That is a false assumption.

 

I don't like McDonald's advertising and I don't think anyone should like their food.  So there.

 

But actually, I agree with Zeus.  People can like it or hate it all they want.  Either way, it doesn't make me any less concerned that it could turn into a horrible thing (to me).

[Twig]

I don't really want to make this personal, but i gotta clarify for you, Zeus.

I challenge you to go reread I_Smell's posts. He's very clearly being derisive of both the system and anyone who purports to find something enjoyable within the system. Maybe he wasn't being entirely serious, but it was across the span of several posts, so it's hard not to think he's just being belligerently anti-other-opinions. You, and most other people, are not in the same category!

[Zeusthecat]

I don't really want to make this personal, but i gotta clarify for you, Zeus.

I challenge you to go reread I_Smell's posts. He's very clearly being derisive of both the system and anyone who purports to find something enjoyable within the system. Maybe he wasn't being entirely serious, but it was across the span of several posts, so it's hard not to think he's just being belligerently anti-other-opinions. You, and most other people, are not in the same category!

 

A challenge? I fucking love challenges!

 

So yeah, I took the challenge and see your point. I cannot argue against what you're saying based on a few of those posts (despite the fact that I agree with a number of his other points).

 

Arguing is fucking fun when it's civil. They should make a video game out of that!

[Ucantalas]

I'm interested in trying to figure out what the mechanics of such a game would be like.

[Zeusthecat]

I'm interested in trying to figure out what the mechanics of such a game would be like.

 

Well... you never win and you never lose but you keep on trying to chase that purple fucking dragon.

[SecretAsianMan]

Maybe it could have cards that drop just by playing.  And then you could trade them with other people.  And some of them would be super rare and you could only get a full set by trading or buying them.

[Zeusthecat]

Maybe it could have cards that drop just by playing.  And then you could trade them with other people.  And some of them would be super rare and you could only get a full set by trading or buying them.

 

That sounds like some amazing emergent gameplay!

[Twig]

Ahaha I am amused by the turn of this thread.

[Ben X]

Arguing is fucking fun when it's civil. They should make a video game out of that!

 

Kind of civil:

 

http://pixelpolitics.tumblr.com/post/8047717858/pixel-politics-is-back

[jeremywc]

I'm interested in trying to figure out what the mechanics of such a game would be like.

 

I don't know, but I just want to say that you fight like a farmer.

[Ucantalas]

I don't know, but I just want to say that you fight like a farmer.

How appropriate, you fight like a cow.

[Merus]

This is a little tangential to the current state of the thread, but I think the discussion around games as a product and games as a service clarified something that's been rattling around in my head for a while: specifically, that if you have a product someone will be happy to forcibly convert it to a service with or without your consent. For games, this is essentially what piracy is: an all-you-can-eat buffet for the low price of $0, excluding internet access charges.

 

There are ways to do this well. I was involved with a game that decided to try and sell a sequel on an open-source code base which they couldn't reclose, so they came up with the novel idea of charging for the campaign content and leaving the editor fully unlocked. What we found is that lots of kids would download the demo, download user-created levels (we had invested in that infrastructure early), and would stick around in the community, building their own levels and wanting to save up for months if necessary to buy the campaign and see how everything was "officially" introduced. It couldn't be sold as a product, so we cobbled a service out of it that worked for everyone.

[Zeusthecat]

This is a little tangential to the current state of the thread, but I think the discussion around games as a product and games as a service clarified something that's been rattling around in my head for a while: specifically, that if you have a product someone will be happy to forcibly convert it to a service with or without your consent. For games, this is essentially what piracy is: an all-you-can-eat buffet for the low price of $0, excluding internet access charges.

 

There are ways to do this well. I was involved with a game that decided to try and sell a sequel on an open-source code base which they couldn't reclose, so they came up with the novel idea of charging for the campaign content and leaving the editor fully unlocked. What we found is that lots of kids would download the demo, download user-created levels (we had invested in that infrastructure early), and would stick around in the community, building their own levels and wanting to save up for months if necessary to buy the campaign and see how everything was "officially" introduced. It couldn't be sold as a product, so we cobbled a service out of it that worked for everyone.

 

Pretty interesting how Radiohead's strategy with In Rainbows worked out well for them. They let fans pay whatever price they wanted for the album with no DRM and actually ended up making a lot of money. Yeah, this probably won't always work and Radiohead is fucking Radiohead but I think it at least builds a case that a transparent, customer friendly approach is recognized by a lot of consumers. 

[Niyeaux]

I'm interested in trying to figure out what the mechanics of such a game would be like.

I'm pretty sure that game exists...

[lumberbaron]

I think it is scary how quickly some of the stuff you put up for sale goes for.  I put up an invite and it was gone in 20 seconds, which I am sure is just long enough for the server to process everything and send me an email.  The cards are kind of the same way.  I have been in an handful of Steam beta's before, and while some of them change slightly over the course most of them seem to sort of stay the same-ish until release.  I am pretty sure that the state of things as they are is probably what we are stuck with for the time being.

 

Also, I still have a couple invites left if anyone wants in.

[Merus]

Pretty interesting how Radiohead's strategy with In Rainbows worked out well for them. They let fans pay whatever price they wanted for the album with no DRM and actually ended up making a lot of money. Yeah, this probably won't always work and Radiohead is fucking Radiohead but I think it at least builds a case that a transparent, customer friendly approach is recognized by a lot of consumers. 

 

I think a lot of media types have been starting at the Humble Bundle with surprise and alarm because the Humble Bundle basically did this and removed the 'well it's Radiohead' excuse from the equation. It looks like charity involvement helps.

[SecretAsianMan]

Ok, I took 30 seconds and now I have cards.  Yay or whatever.

 

I will say I am amused by looking at the graphs for the average price of various cards.  Economics in action.

[elmuerte]

So it's even worse. You can get duplicate card drops while playing games. I've now got 2 hansom jack cards.

[osmosisch]

I love the idea of a hansom with his face on it. Pulled by a Bioshock Infinite robo-horse.

[TheLastBaron]

Yeah as soon as the beta started I had tf2 and Dota cards in my inventory, both of which I had doubles for. I just gave my extra Dota card to a friend.