Steam Summer Sale 2016

[ImpulsE69]

Well Steam officially ruined the trading card market by adding a bunch of unnecessary BS because people are idiots.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Well Steam officially ruined the trading card market by adding a bunch of unnecessary BS because people are idiots.

I know i haven't opted into some mobile security site so i can't sell the stupid cards

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Witcher 3 DLC not on sale. BLAH!

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Historically, they did exactly that. So "it can't happen" isn't true. Steam sales made a fair amount of economic sense for older games where the sales had dropped off to nothing - 1000x the sales at 80% off was still a net profit. "1000x" may sound like a gross exaggeration, except that some developers have said in public that their Steam Sales results were that dramatic.

The question at this point is whether we'll see those days return, rather than them being "impossible."

"Rock bottom" only used to last a day with the daily deals.

 

[GusSmed]

I'm guessing it's necessary BS. Because people were getting their accounts hacked, and inventory sold off. Much like what frequently happens with WoW.

If you've got a smartphone, the mobile security is really no big deal. Download the app, sign in, enter the usual email confirmation code, that's it for setup. Then when you list something for sale, you tap "confirm" in the app. The additional time is nothing, the main annoyance is requiring you to have your phone handy.

I've got the cheapest of possible smartphones myself. No data plan, so data is wifi only, but this still works.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm guessing it's necessary BS. Because people were getting their accounts hacked, and inventory sold off. Much like what frequently happens with WoW.

If you've got a smartphone, the mobile security is really no big deal. Download the app, sign in, enter the usual email confirmation code, that's it for setup. Then when you list something for sale, you tap "confirm" in the app. The additional time is nothing, the main annoyance is requiring you to have your phone handy.

I've got the cheapest of possible smartphones myself. No data plan, so data is wifi only, but this still works.

Provided you don't have windows phone....also I see no reason why any online vendor needs my phone number.

 

[GusSmed]

also I see no reason why any online vendor needs my phone number.

Do you want all your online goods sold off by a hacker? No? That's why they need your phone number.

It's not like they're going to call you or spam you with SMS messages once they have it for two-factor authorization. For that matter, SMS isn't actually used beyond the initial setup. After that, it's a prompt inside the Steam app.

If you're feeling super-paranoid about giving your phone number to Steam, perhaps you have an alternative two-factor method that doesn't require phone numbers. One that's valid even if they have your email.

Implementing two-factor authorization required time and money. I'm assuming they did it because Steam encountered enough cases of fraud where email-only security, which is what they had for years, was not enough.

 

[GusSmed]

"Rock bottom" only used to last a day with the daily deals.

That's true. For whatever reason, they're not doing the one-day or flash sales anymore, so we're only seeing the somewhat-mediocre discounts now.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Do you want all your online goods sold off by a hacker? No? That's why they need your phone number.

It's not like they're going to call you or spam you with SMS messages once they have it for two-factor authorization. For that matter, SMS isn't actually used beyond the initial setup. After that, it's a prompt inside the Steam app.

If you're feeling super-paranoid about giving your phone number to Steam, perhaps you have an alternative two-factor method that doesn't require phone numbers. One that's valid even if they have your email.

Implementing two-factor authorization required time and money. I'm assuming they did it because Steam encountered enough cases of fraud where email-only security, which is what they had for years, was not enough.

Meh what is there to sell? You can't transfer steam games, I'm not liable for fraud from my bank. I get its extra security but I don't think steam needs that level of security to protect $.89 worth of trading card sales. Hell my bank won't call me to prevent fraud they wait for me to call them.
*my card was recently suspended for failed online purchases ina different state*

 

[GusSmed]

Meh what is there to sell? You can't transfer steam games

Actually, you can. Not the ones you've authorized for your account, but you can have games in your inventory, and those can be transferred. I've got 5 in my inventory right now, all games that are duplicates of games I've authorized to my account. They're all marked "tradeable, but not marketable," so they can't be sold for Steam wallet cash.

I'm not sure of the exact mechanics of Steam fraud. I know how it works for WoW. In WoW, some gold farmer takes over your account, sells off all your stuff in the auction house, and then sells the game cash for real world cash on some shady site. If they still have your character, they may go around using mining exploits to gather material to sell for the same purpose.

Presumably it's something similar for Steam. They trade the stuff in your inventory for real-world cash. Trading cards are pretty low value, but maybe if they can collect enough of them from different accounts, it's worth their time.

"I don't see the need" just means you aren't in possession of all the facts. Neither am I, of course, but my assumption is that Valve wouldn't have put in the effort if there wasn't significant money involved on some level. For example, it's possible that some people are really into the trading cards, and have hundreds of dollars into it. Those people really need the extra level of security.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Again I get it but it takes the simple fun away. I also look at steam as a weirdly run organization. They have no titles, no definite form of management, work on what you want when you want. I can't escape the feeling that two step security was some odd project a couple of guys did at valve to get some college credits.

 

[GusSmed]

Again I get it but it takes the simple fun away.

I agree it's annoying, but if you have an iOS or Android smartphone, as practical matter it turns out that the actual energy you have to expend is pretty small. The real energy barrier is installing Steam on your phone in the first place. Which I freely admit I resisted for a long time for no particular reason.

Once it's installed, the extra tap doesn't really get that much in the way of "fun" in trading cards. If you find that fun, that is, I mostly just cash 'em in.

As for speculation on it being someone's "pet project," that's not really useful. We're never going to know, and the particular theory you advanced is not based on any facts at all.

Valve's management structure, or rather non-management anarchy, is worthy of its own thread. I have all sorts of mixed feelings about it, and I have no idea how it behaves in practice. I've worked at 3 different game companies, and the culture was always toxic, and management usually was at fault. But I strongly suspect that it's worse at Valve, because individuals can be pretty toxic too, it's not something that's limited to upper management.

 

[balloonshark]

Well Steam officially ruined the trading card market by adding a bunch of unnecessary BS because people are idiots.

It's a huge PITA. It's taking forever to login and once I login I need to get the code from an email. Meanwhile my device went to sleep and I had to start all over again. WTF!

Edit: Ok, I tried a different device and it works a bit better. It's still a huge pita because you have to ok every transaction.

 

[Newbian]

Meh what is there to sell? You can't transfer steam games, I'm not liable for fraud from my bank. I get its extra security but I don't think steam needs that level of security to protect $.89 worth of trading card sales. Hell my bank won't call me to prevent fraud they wait for me to call them.
*my card was recently suspended for failed online purchases ina different state*

The problem is some of peoples inventory can be worth hundreds or more as there are some insane game items that sell for over $400 these days.

It's just they have cards that are usually worth nothing linked with game inventory in the same area.

Here is a current list of the overpriced items they sell for cosmetic look:

http://steamcommunity.com/market/search?q=#p1_price_desc

 

[Artorias]

Witcher 3 DLC not on sale. BLAH!

Worth every penny, in fact it should probably be priced 50% more.

 

[Ranulf]

Witcher 3 DLC not on sale. BLAH!

Bummer. It was 10% off each on gog during their sale. Season pass was cheaper if you didn't already have the first dlc.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Arrrgggghhhh!!! Steam guard keeps redirecting my windows phone to the android app....grrr...

Edit: SMS verification what's my password.....grrr...

 

[balloonshark]

Arrrgggghhhh!!! Steam guard keeps redirecting my windows phone to the android app....grrr...

Edit: SMS verification what's my password.....grrr...

lol, I feel your pain. The hard part is almost over. They should give you a steam card for your troubles.

 

[Craig234]

That's true. For whatever reason, they're not doing the one-day or flash sales anymore, so we're only seeing the somewhat-mediocre discounts now.

Because having a two week sale where it made no sense to buy anything outside of a flash sale until the last day, was bad for everyone.

 

[Craig234]

Steam explanation:

http://store.steampowered.com/news/20631/

 

[ImpulsE69]

So...they essentially put a 15 day hold on sales? Which makes sale time cards worthless. I don't need/want their app on my phone. So tired of companies and this practice.

 

[Adrenaline]

I see Van Helsing 1, 2 and 3 are on sale. How are they?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

So...they essentially put a 15 day hold on sales? Which makes sale time cards worthless. I don't need/want their app on my phone. So tired of companies and this practice.

Yup and sms validation doesn't change the wait time. Stupid trading fun is over.

 

[Newbian]

So...they essentially put a 15 day hold on sales? Which makes sale time cards worthless. I don't need/want their app on my phone. So tired of companies and this practice.

Remember that before this it was a 3 day hold if you did not use the app.

In either case it's easy enough to use on your phone / tablet / pc so either use it or don't sell the free stuff they give you during these events as they will vanish like usual after the event.

 

[GusSmed]

Yup and sms validation doesn't change the wait time.

Validating via the Android Steam does remove the wait. I set it up today, and was able to sell a Summer Card immediately.

The Summer Sale cards was what pushed me over the edge to install it. Because they'd be of zero value by the time the wait expired.