Winter is coming. (STEAM SALE THREAD Q4 2011)

[DraconianOne]

This probably makes me a bad gamer, but even at $5 a piece, I can't bring myself to actually pull the trigger and buy Mass Effect 1 and 2.  I know they're totally different games than NWN and NWN2 and people keep singing their praises, but I just can't bring myself to trust Bioware after NWN and NWN 2 (both of which are fucking garbage).

ME1 & particularly 2 are nothing like NWN at all. I liked them quite a lot and really enjoyed ME2. In comparison, I tried DA:O recently and that felt like a new version of NWN with prettier graphics.

YMMV obv.

[Tebonas]

Today I finally pulled the trigger on Blur and E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy. Because they were both on my wishlist and under 5 Euros. That seems to be my new sweet spot for game purchases (apart from the must have nows like Skyrim).

[schild]

This is going to sound insane. Not mildly insane, rather totally insane - but I'm quite serious.

Post the combustion of Black Isle, there is not a western RPG that MUST BE PLAYED other than Skyrim. It will, quite seriously, catch you up on every mechanic, idea, and storyline that existed in every game that came before it. The world-building is best-of class, the writing is consistently good enough to put aside the fact that most RPGs are written by gibbering retards who can barely put words together, and the massive-amount of handcrafted content is enough to make any neckbeard go "Ok, even I'm not doing EVERYTHING."

It's not the perfect game, but it's definitely the culmination of everything Western RPGs have been working towards.

Now, you might say, "Hey guy, you gave Bloodlines the game of the year award when it came out!" Indeed, I did! But if that bug-added mess came out this year and Skyrim did also, it would have barely gotten an honorable mention.

So, yea, feel free to skip ME1, ME2, Dragon Age. Skip ALL the things, go directly to Skyrim.

Tl;dr: There are no western RPGs between Planescape: Torment and Skyrim that MUST be played.

[Reg]

Hah, you're nuts!  Skyrim is good but aside from the the Dark Brotherhood line the writing is pretty dull.  I'm sure it's a matter of taste but IMO it's not half the game ME1, ME2 or DA:O are.  I do agree that it's way better than most horrible JRPGs though.

[Lucas]

Tl;dr: There are no western RPGs between Planescape: Torment and Skyrim that MUST be played.

What you said about Bloodlines can be said about Arcanum too, IMO.

[5150]

So Space Marine is on sale today but none of it's DLC are (I appreciate some of the DLC only came out a few days ago but still...)

Poor show

[Thrawn]

Tl;dr: There are no western RPGs between Planescape: Torment and Skyrim that MUST be played.

So I should get around to playing the copy of Planescape I've had sitting on GoG for probably over a year sometime? 

[JWIV]

Poking around Amazon's download service, there's some pretty nice deals there to be had.  Deux Ex is 75% off today ($9.99), Shogun is $7.49, and Medieval Total War 2 is only $1.49. 

[Lantyssa]

Tl;dr: There are no western RPGs between Planescape: Torment and Skyrim that MUST be played.

Must-play no, but I'd still rate Bloodlines highly for story and atmosphere.  And I'm glad for certain RPGs to be there in the thirteen years between Planescape and Skyrim.

[Engels]

So what's catching my eye today is Dirt3 and Saint's Row The Third. Opinions on either, both?

[HaemishM]

Only thing even slightly interesting is the EYE: Divine Cybermancy. It's dirt cheap but the meta reviews aren't great. Any opinions?

[Hawkbit]

I think Skyrim ruined me.  I can't find a single thing that seems worth playing when holding it up to Skyrim.  I'm trying to figure out why this sale seems so crappy compared to other iterations.  

Also:  If you're considering Cave Story (and you should for retro NES gaming goodness), buy it from the humble bundle.  For $5.50 (or more, it's for charity!) you get Cave Story and about 8 other indie games.  As long as you give more than $1.00 you'll also get keys to unlock all the games on Steam.

[luckton]

New sales day. "From Dust" for $8    From all the moaning and bitching I heard about that game post release (bugs, DRM grief) I'd say the price is about right, eh?

[Ruvaldt]

I'm trying to figure out why this sale seems so crappy compared to other iterations.  

For me, it's because I have stocked up on most of the games I wanted already during previous sales.  This Steam sale isn't any worse or better than last year, I've just gorged on games for the past year and a half and rarely find anything that I would want, but don't already have, and the few games that I do actually want are understandably too new to get a big sale right now (read: Saint's Row 3/HoMM VI).

Today, for instance, I'll be biting on Cave Story+ (which is phenomenal and I can't wait to play through again), and From Dust.  Both of which have never been on sale before due to being fairly recent additions to Steam, but aren't so new that they can still justify their full price during a holiday sale.

edit: Ah, missed your edit.  Nice catch on the Humble Bundle.  I'll probably pick up Cave Story that way then.

[Rendakor]

Also:  If you're considering Cave Story (and you should for retro NES gaming goodness), buy it from the humble bundle.  For $5.50 (or more, it's for charity!) you get Cave Story and about 8 other indie games.  As long as you give more than $1.00 you'll also get keys to unlock all the games on Steam.

Good call, thanks. I think I'm getting it for my 3DS for Xmas, but I'll pay $5 to have it on my PC as well.

[Mrbloodworth]

Only thing even slightly interesting is the EYE: Divine Cybermancy. It's dirt cheap but the meta reviews aren't great. Any opinions?

I picked it up, its indi, its cyberpunkish, seems fun with friends, its 2$. I have had my eye on it a while. I think there were a few others here who talked about it, and recommended it. Just not as a GOTY game.

EDIT: Also, God dam it steam, I'm trying to see people wishlists here. Stop shitting the bed.

[Paelos]

Steam is ridiculous with the promotion today. Trade an item to get a present? Geez Steam, you think that means everyone MIGHT TRY TO TRADE AT ONCE?!?!?!?

Servers have shit the bed. 503s everywhere. Cats and dogs, living together, MASS HYSTERIA!

[JWIV]

well, anyone want to trade a Valve 33% coupon?  Thing is useless to me.

[Azazel]

Why isn't the Space Marine DLC on sasle? Fuckers.

They only just released it. And they don't seem to realise it's an almost-dead MP game.

[Trippy]

So what's catching my eye today is Dirt3 and Saint's Row The Third. Opinions on either, both?

I really like SR3 -- I played it a lot when I first got it. Work and other shinies have suspend my play but I will finish the storyline at some point. If you are on the fence, though, you might want to wait till it drops further in price.

[Azazel]

New sales day. "From Dust" for $8    From all the moaning and bitching I heard about that game post release (bugs, DRM grief) I'd say the price is about right, eh?

I fucked about with the demo on XBL a week or so ago. I'd buy it if it were $5 or under. But it's not. So I won't.

[Engels]

So what's catching my eye today is Dirt3 and Saint's Row The Third. Opinions on either, both?

I really like SR3 -- I played it a lot when I first got it. Work and other shinies have suspend my play but I will finish the storyline at some point. If you are on the fence, though, you might want to wait till it drops further in price.

Thanks. See, I have this messed up gaming mentality. If I don't spend at least a little bit of money on it, if I get it for a pittance, then I will take it for granted and not play it past the first half hour or so. I already regret Just Cause 2; not a bad game, probably, but I can tell its already not going to hold my attention past the initial thrill of shooting your grappling hook onto a helicopter. So that's why I'm skeptical about SR3.

Now Dirt3, I can see picking up, cuz when I get a driving sim bug, I get it bad, and play it alone for weeks.

[bhodi]

If anyone gets an ubisoft coupon, I want it for Anno :P

Will trade a copy of portal and/or frozen syanpse for it!

[taolurker]

So what's catching my eye today is Dirt3 and Saint's Row The Third. Opinions on either, both?

I really like SR3 -- I played it a lot when I first got it. Work and other shinies have suspend my play but I will finish the storyline at some point. If you are on the fence, though, you might want to wait till it drops further in price.

If you want to buy Saint's Row 3, buy it some time before the 26th on Green Man Gaming because right now they have a voucher for 50% off.

[bhodi]

Amazon has Deus Ex: HR for $10, and a sale off a bunch of sony games as well.

[lamaros]

Deus Ex HR is $9.99 on amazon right now for download. 
http://www.amazon.com/Deus-Ex-Revolution-Standard-Download/dp/B005HRZ29K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1324595979&sr=8-4

According to the steam knowledgebase it should activate there too.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601

Poking around Amazon's download service, there's some pretty nice deals there to be had.  Deux Ex is 75% off today ($9.99), Shogun is $7.49, and Medieval Total War 2 is only $1.49.

Amazon has Deus Ex: HR for $10, and a sale off a bunch of sony games as well.

Just in case you all didn't notice, I think Amazon has Deus Ex: HR for somewhere between $9.99 and $10.00.

[Rokal]

I'm seeing diminishing returns on the sales too. Part of that is because I've already acquired most of the games being offered over past sales. Part of it is because I'm a little more cautious about only buying what I'll play, after buying lots of games I hardly touched from previous sales. Part of it is legitimately that the sale prices just aren't that great this year. Arkham City for $25 is the best deal I've seen so far. In a lot of cases, the sale prices during this steam sale are higher than the price we've already seen these games for on Steam or elsewhere. I was sort of interested in finally picking up JC2 on the first day of the sale, but we've seen the game for less than $5 on steam before iirc (and it's $2.50 on Amazon right now). I've only bought two games so far (Torchlight since I lost my old Runic Games product key and Renegade Ops) and one DLC (Dredmor) for about $10 total, whereas in previous years I'd have spent at least $40 by now.

Still, Steam sale gives me a reason to replay some of the older games I've already bought as part of the event. I'm having fun revisting games and remembering why I liked some of them so much, or seeing all the changes that have been made since the last time I played. Half the fun of the steam sale is the event surrounding it.

tl;dr - I'm buying a lot less with each subsequent steam sale, but I'm still greatly enjoying them. That said, I'm still hoping to see Skyrim on sale for 25%+ off.

[Ruvaldt]

Skyrim is the third best selling game on Steam right now and it is at full price in the middle of a huge sale.  I don't see it getting discounted until the Spring Break sale, but I could always be wrong.

[Azazel]

Deus Ex HR is $9.99 on amazon right now for download. 
http://www.amazon.com/Deus-Ex-Revolution-Standard-Download/dp/B005HRZ29K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1324595979&sr=8-4

According to the steam knowledgebase it should activate there too.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601

Poking around Amazon's download service, there's some pretty nice deals there to be had.  Deux Ex is 75% off today ($9.99), Shogun is $7.49, and Medieval Total War 2 is only $1.49.

Amazon has Deus Ex: HR for $10, and a sale off a bunch of sony games as well.

Just in case you all didn't notice, I think Amazon has Deus Ex: HR for somewhere between $9.99 and $10.00.

But only if you live in the US. If you're in Australia or Canadia or such, tough shit!

[Azazel]

I'm seeing diminishing returns on the sales too. Part of that is because I've already acquired most of the games being offered over past sales. Part of it is because I'm a little more cautious about only buying what I'll play, after buying lots of games I hardly touched from previous sales. Part of it is legitimately that the sale prices just aren't that great this year. Arkham City for $25 is the best deal I've seen so far. In a lot of cases, the sale prices during this steam sale are higher than the price we've already seen these games for on Steam or elsewhere. I was sort of interested in finally picking up JC2 on the first day of the sale, but we've seen the game for less than $5 on steam before iirc (and it's $2.50 on Amazon right now). I've only bought two games so far (Torchlight since I lost my old Runic Games product key and Renegade Ops) and one DLC (Dredmor) for about $10 total, whereas in previous years I'd have spent at least $40 by now.

Still, Steam sale gives me a reason to replay some of the older games I've already bought as part of the event. I'm having fun revisting games and remembering why I liked some of them so much, or seeing all the changes that have been made since the last time I played. Half the fun of the steam sale is the event surrounding it.

tl;dr - I'm buying a lot less with each subsequent steam sale, but I'm still greatly enjoying them. That said, I'm still hoping to see Skyrim on sale for 25%+ off.

You pretty much nailed it for me, as well. I was talking to Nix earlier and he suggested that the sale might pick up after Christmas Day, when presents are sorted for people. He might be right, as I recall a couple of lackluster sales that got me buying stuff later on. FWIW, I also agree with Ruvaldt on Skyrim. If it goes on sale, I'll pick it up, but I don't think it's showing any need to do so at this stage, so I won't expect it before midyear. Plenty of other stuff to play between now and then, though....

[Hawkbit]

I played a ton of Just Cause 2 on PS3, but sold it at some point before finishing it.  Since it was less than a cup of coffee at Amazon, I bought it for the PC and surprisingly plays wonderfully.  Averaging around 45fps and it looks so much more pretty than the PS3 version. 

If you like campy open world games, I can't recommend it enough.  It's like playing the movie Commando.  Registers to Steam, too.

[Azazel]

For anyone tempted by Saints Row the Third - Greenman Gaming has a Steam Key for cheaper than the Steam sale.
Use voucher code FIFTY-SAINT-XMASS to get 50% off of our price listed! You can pick up the game for just $19.99 / £13.29 / €17.49! Voucher expires: 1000 GMT 26th December 2011.
(just found this or would have posted it earlier...)

[Sheepherder]

Hah, you're nuts!   Skyrim is good but aside from the the Dark Brotherhood line the writing is pretty dull.  I'm sure it's a matter of taste but IMO it's not half the game ME1, ME2 or DA:O are.  I do agree that it's way better than most horrible JRPGs though.

Right, you like trite soap-opera bullshit, it's nothing to be ashamed about. (it totally is)

I would assume he chose Planescape and Skyrim for a reason, and it's not because the two games bear any similarity to each other.

FWIW, I also agree with Ruvaldt on Skyrim. If it goes on sale, I'll pick it up, but I don't think it's showing any need to do so at this stage, so I won't expect it before midyear. Plenty of other stuff to play between now and then, though....

That's because you're not chasing the dragon yet.  You're just lucky the first hit is not free.

[taolurker]

For anyone tempted by Saints Row the Third - Greenman Gaming has a Steam Key for cheaper than the Steam sale.
Use voucher code FIFTY-SAINT-XMASS to get 50% off of our price listed! You can pick up the game for just $19.99 / £13.29 / €17.49! Voucher expires: 1000 GMT 26th December 2011.
(just found this or would have posted it earlier...)

Just found it up eight posts from yours?

[Comstar]

Bloodbowl is 50% off till 3rd January on Steam!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/58520/?snr=1_4_4__13

Buy it now and be ready for the next F13 season! The F13 playoff's are happening now, so0 buy it now and have some experience of the UI before the next season starts!