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Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

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Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#171
I will buy games purely because I want them continue to be made. There’s developers that released a game I liked 10 years ago that I still buy all the games of just on the off chance the next one will be equally loved by me.

Conversely, there’s publishers that I avoid like the plague. Nothing Ubisoft or Electronic Art will ever see my disk any more.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#172
post #110

Taking a segue, I am a 50+ man who hasn't played any games in my working life. I did play Prince of Persia 2 but never crossed level 1. Played Doom in the network mode with classmates. Now I want to start exploring games. I am on Ubuntu with Intel graphics. I am ready to invest in a joystick or gamepad. What games do you guys recommend to me? Also any hardware accessories, other than GPU's, that is? I just tried Stea…

The problem is that I could recommend a hundred wildly different games that you might like, but playing a hundred games just to figure out which one is right for you doesn't sound like a good use of your time. Can you give more information? You like single-player games? Classic card games like solitaire (rec: Zachtronics Solitaire Collection)? Postmodern card games (rec: Balatro)? Deckbuilding roguelikes (rec: Slay T…

Kibwen gets it, not to knock the other user who suggested Subnautica, but that would likely be one of the last games I would think to recommend, its too much for a first game. Too many gameplay mechanics, too many objectives(and side objectives you set for yourself) I would think it would just be overwhelming for a "first" game.

To go on top of kibwen's questions; what kind of game do you think you'd like? Do you like a long movie/book that gets you heavily invested in the character?

Do you tend to prefer genres like action, romance, comedy, drama, or even sub-genres like spy films, whodunnit, slapstick over dry humor etc etc. I'm not asking for you to respond with all of these answers but it if you're looking for something that will click with you - you have a better chance using whatever genre/styles you like in other entertainment mediums.

Lastly, do you want to see what you've "missed out on" in the last couple of decades us nerds(collectively) consider the creme de le creme? Or are you looking for a game you* specifically will enjoy? Again, just something to think about.

As someone in their mid-30s whose dad got me into gaming when I was in diapers while I watched him play Hexen and Tribes 2, here are some random games off the top of my head - these will only include 'modern' games aside from roguelike/card/'programming' games, going from what I think would be "easy" to "hard" in terms of accessibility:

Portal 1/2 Terraria/Minecraft Half life 1/2(maybe at a lower difficulty) Team fortress 2(something my father still plays today) Disco Elysium Uncharted Series """ this is the point I'd consider to be somewhat difficult at this point) many of these games I recommend just becuss the developers are known for their intuitive introductions to controls, UI, gameplay mechanics, etc. I'm really not sure about Disco Elysium though you may want to research it a bit more and see if its something youd be interested in)

""" And for some personal picks if you're able to pick these games up or want something further down the road some of my personal favorites of the last decade(definitely not titles I'm recommending for a first): """

Nier Automata/Nier Replicate Baldur's gate (series) Mass Effect(1-3, the only ones that exist :) ) The Witcher 3(the first two are great as well IMO but haven't aged well visually or in terms of gameplay mechanics) Metaphor: Refantazio The 'Yakuza' series or as its now named 'Like a Dragon' Claire Obscura: Expedition 33 Red Dead Redemption(old and new)

And if you destroy any or all of these games or find yourself to be a masochist when it comes to games you can try my personal favorite series(toss up between nier):

Dark Souls(and all of the spinoffs available to PC)

I purposely stayed away from games from genres that kibwen mentioned, although I think those are much better choices than my own.

Oh and as far as controller; either a Nintendo switch pro controller or ps4/5 controller would be my go to if you don't like the feel of keyboard/mouse. A decent headset like a Bose QC37(whatever the most recent over ear headset is) or just a decent sound system(doesn't have to be a headset) as well as a decent monitor with a refresh rate higher than 120Hz...

I went on forrr wayyy longer than I expected to, but hopefully some of what I said makes sense. If nothing else just research the 'easy' titles and kibwens recommendations.

I'd just hate for you to pickup a game that just didn't vibe with and have it ruin your reintroduction with gaming. As I alluded to at the top, movies and games share enough similarities where it feels almost like someone asking "I haven't watched movies/TV/read any entertaining books in the last few decades, which movie/TV show/book would you recommend for me?"

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#173
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but did they really value the game at its sticker price to begin with? reply Factorio is a game that's sold at 35$ price point - half of the usual new game price. Does that mean that the developer doesn't value his game when it's so cheap? What a silly notion.

I guess you're being rhetorical or sarcastic, but for people who're not familiar with today's gaming market: $35 is a very high price for 2D games like Factorio. Most 2D games are $10~$20. If you take sales into account, it would be much closer to $10 than to $20.

Thinking about games along a single axis (2D vs. 3D) is a weird way to measure value.

You should compare Factorio with other sandbox/simulation games with procedural generation, deep systems, complex logistics, and large modding communities. Examples that come to mind are Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress, which have similar price tags.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#175
post #14

The title is a misreading of the data. It's not that "most people who buy games on Steam never play them". It's that most games people buy remain unplayed. A tiny, tiny minority of people who buy games of Steam never play games they buy on Steam. EDIT: Apparently, this error was introduced by the HN submission! The title of the article on the website is: "Most people who buy your game won’t play it". This matches the…

The article glosses over what I'd have to believe is the biggest reason - some games, in particular older AAA games, are discounted so aggressively that it seems silly to not purchase. Like 5-15% of the original retail price.

5-15% is not aggressive. 50% is aggressive and that’s when i bought games on steam that i never played

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#176
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article glosses over what I'd have to believe is the biggest reason - some games, in particular older AAA games, are discounted so aggressively that it seems silly to not purchase. Like 5-15% of the original retail price.

5-15% is not aggressive. 50% is aggressive and that’s when i bought games on steam that i never played

Of, not off. So 85-95% discount.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article glosses over what I'd have to believe is the biggest reason - some games, in particular older AAA games, are discounted so aggressively that it seems silly to not purchase. Like 5-15% of the original retail price.

It’s never silly to not buy something you’re not going to use. Particularly once you realize there will be an identical sale or discount in 6 months.

[deleted]

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#178
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting a product on sale is amoral because somebody might buy something they don't need, is weirdest take I have seen in a while. We're not all just whales, some people don't have that much money. Plenty of teenagers, unemployed, etc. are able to get some good experiences because of good sales.

I think the point is that, on the whole, sales manipulate consumers into spending -more- money than they otherwise would have. Of course this isn't true for every person all the time, but on average I suspect it is; sales are common partly because they actually lead to more revenue, despite the discount.

With physical goods unsold items literally cost money to the point that sometimes it is cheaper to sell it for a dollar.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#179

Taking a segue, I am a 50+ man who hasn't played any games in my working life. I did play Prince of Persia 2 but never crossed level 1. Played Doom in the network mode with classmates. Now I want to start exploring games. I am on Ubuntu with Intel graphics. I am ready to invest in a joystick or gamepad. What games do you guys recommend to me? Also any hardware accessories, other than GPU's, that is? I just tried Stea…

I'm gonna recommend Final Fantasy VI. The FF games generally aren't sequels to each other (the ones that are have titles like Final Fantasy X-2) and FF6, while on the older side, is not only very beginner-friendly, but also has quite good writing.

So-called JRPGs (Japanese Role-Playing Games) tend to offer decent bang-for-buck and are generally more controller-friendly than CRPGs (Computer Role-Playing Games). Besides the Final Fantasy games you could also check out the Persona series.

Re: Most people who buy games on Steam never play them

#180
post #45
post #32

I wish more game developers adopt the “no sales, period” policy of Factorio. Here’s a relevant quote from the developer. > Not having a sale ever is part of our philosophy. In short term, they are good and bring extra money, but we are targeting long term. I believe that searching for sales is wasted time, and people should decide on the price and value, but putting option of wasting time to search for deals or waiti…

The real reason cracktorio can do no sale is the same reason Minecrack can be basically no sale (same price forever) - it’s an evergreen game people will always buy at a low roar. Most games are like DVDs or books, they frontload 90% of their total revenue in the first few months, and so sales are a way to squeeze a bit more juice out later.

While the price of Minecraft stays the same, the game never stopped evolving and getting content updates. For $30 you get a much bigger game now than fifteen years ago.
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