Mt 20,1-16
TL;DR: get a lawyer and sue Valve to get your "justice"
And as ilborghi said, the participants of the beta had the chance to sell one card for over $1. If you've saved that money, you'd be able to easily buy a mystery card now.
And as far as justice goes, I didn't get a game from the recent GMG sale, and you don't see me complaining (or making threads to boycott GMG).
There's a lot of unfair things, but I'd say we need to accept that we can change some, we can't change others and not all things that might potentially be changed are worth the effort.
Comment has been collapsed.
The only thing I'd get would be an incredible loss of money.
There's no justice in this world (and in the current law system) and never will be. I can say I don't like the injustice which is around me but I won't spend thousands of dollars on something I will lose anyway.
Comment has been collapsed.
This "loss of money" is another argument I don't really get, but I read it really often when it comes to trading cards.
How can you lose money if you did get the trading cards for free in the first place?
I've "bought" lot's of cards for TF2 metal when a card was still 1 ref / each. Now they've dropped to 1 rec / each (that's 1 third of the price, for those that are not familiar with TF2 trading), but I don't really care, since I got the metal for free in the first place, so nothing of value was lost (well, if you don't count the time I've spent on trading)
I'm just saying you should not get a high blood pressure over something that's not worth it =)
Comment has been collapsed.
You misunderstood me.
I would lose money if I sued Valve. That's what I meant.
Besides, who said anything about getting mad or angry about it? Just because I write something in serious manner doesn't mean I care about it more than I should.
Comment has been collapsed.
Thank lord I'm not the only one quoting the Bible around here. xD
Comment has been collapsed.
Please, see my reply to you in my reply to ceildric.
Comment has been collapsed.
"There's a lot of unfair things, but I'd say we need to accept that we can change some, we can't change others and not all things that might potentially be changed are worth the effort."
Heironeous grant me the courage to change the things I can
strength to change things I couldn't alone
and the will to overlook the difference there in
Fighting one evil at a time
Righting one wrong at a time...
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm a child because I demand justice? I know very well that the world is not fair, you don't have to tell me that. I've learned this the hard way but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop fighting for justice where I see the lack of it.
Now, think about your recent problem and think that people have bigger problems than what you recently had anyway. That's your answer. So just because someone out there has bigger problems than me it means my problems have no meaning?
Think about that.
Comment has been collapsed.
The problem is that small things like not getting free mysterious something, somethings gets to you and starting throwing in big words like justice. In my vocablurary I would describe this card situation with "oh crud" your approach to the situation is to extreme to me at least(and as I see a lot of others).
Raising your word in this trivial matter won't have any impact, so why bother at all?
Comment has been collapsed.
I think that if you don't like something you should always say what you think about it. There's always a chance the other party might ponder on it and actually change something. I'm not saying this will happen here because it probably won't. However, I don't like the "there's no point in saying anything because it won't change a thing anyway" attitude and I have the opposite one, actually. Like it or not.
Comment has been collapsed.
I understand why people feel disappointed, but it's a bit overreacted imo. First of all, there's no such thing as justice neither in the real world nor on the internet. I could complain about the EU regional pricing, the extremely unfair currency conversion of the Steam Market and other stuff that gives me a huge disadvantage on Steam, but it would be pointless and wouldn't help to make my case any better. Secondly, I think we should see it something like a little promotion, something similar to game discounts. People don't really complain when they pay full price for a game that gets discounted next week, even if it's "unfair" to early buyers. I know it's not the best example, but couldn't think of any better right now.
Comment has been collapsed.
Just because there's no justice doesn't mean we shouldn't demand it. You know why there's no justice? Because we let others be unjust. We let the injustice happen. That's why there's no justice. We'd rather close our eyes to all the evil there is and say "well, there's no justice" rather than fight for what's right.
Comment has been collapsed.
There is this group and a very big thread on Steam full of people complaining about the unfair regional pricing for years now, but nothing has been changed so far. I don't see what else we can do.
Speaking of mystery cards, I actually see a little chance Valve changing the rules again (just like they did with the foil cards) if people will complain enough, so if it's an important thing to you, maybe you should write this on their official forum/group.
Comment has been collapsed.
i crafted my badges during the beta, so i probably won't get any mysterious cards either.
life ain't fair. we just gotta live with it
Comment has been collapsed.
orjust trade the cards of games that you do not want for the ones you do want? Or wait for a booster pack?
Comment has been collapsed.
Then I'd have to play other games (probably ones that I do not like) and get cards for them too which is not fun, imo. And I just don't like trading on Steam, sure it's an option but I hate the whole economy thing ("Your card is 10 cents cheaper than my one, you should throw a hat in there") And booster packs? Did not know about those honestly.
Comment has been collapsed.
Its probably just like the coal items from ages back where you have a chance for extra prizes or something.
Comment has been collapsed.
People still complain about the way the b.m.o.c. was distributed...
Comment has been collapsed.
When I think of justice and equality, this is the last fucking thing that comes into my head. Some people are fucking ridiculous.
Comment has been collapsed.
So much questionable "logic" in this thread (but not the OP), I don't know quite where to begin.
I do agree that the world is an unfair place and that it would be very difficult for Valve to make something fair for everyone involved, especially since fairness, equality, and justice are such nebulous concepts. Still, I do think they should be striven for, so that we get as close as we can, even if we can't reach perfect attainment of these concepts.
Likewise, this complaint that hustlayo brings up is valid. Those being rewarded here seem to be those that either were not in beta and/or those that sold everything they got in beta. Those that collected cards and crafted badges during the beta (or even in the time leading up to this event) are at a disadvantage because they have been participating in the card collecting in the way that it was designed from the start. Trading cards are clearly there first and foremost for collecting and crafting. They are not designed to be sat on as an investment, nor sold for a quick buck so you can get games. Those are latent functions at best.
My point is, Valve seems to be incentivizing the wrong kind of behaviour, and thus the OP has legitimate reason to question the setup.
Comment has been collapsed.
Honestly, all this "life's not fair, get over it" crap tires me so. Not only due to what you said in your post (i.e. if we all thought that way nothing of any equality or fairness would ever be achieved in the world), but also considering what is being asked of Valve. The effort required to create fairness is a huge part of the equation. If you're asking someone to do something major that takes a lot of effort, for a tiny shift towards more fairness or equality, you can start arguing that it might be not worth the effort, nor the effort of complaining about it.
It would take a tiny effort from Valve to write a script that would add mystery cards to the accounts of everyone from the beta who crafted badges then. It's not like they can't see who made which badges, or how many, then. Beta users opted in to test their new goddamn features and new way of printing free money for themselves, never knowing what kind of issues or bugs they might have to deal with along the way. The least they could do (literally) is retro-actively give <x> of these mystery cards to anyone that crafted an <x> amount of badges.
The implied value of these cards gleaned from their very suggestively worded description seems to be something all users who should be eligible should be privy to, and deserve to have some of. What if these cards are tied in to something similar as what happened with that winter sale, and coal? It would seem that using trading cards, especially ones that take crafted badges to attain, would solve the problem they had with coal farmers, then. Crafting badges takes cash to do (buying missing cards of a set off the market / needing a specific game to be able to get drops if you don't want to buy all cards in a badge), or at least manual effort in trading for cards, unlike coal, which you could farm using SAM, over many accounts. If they do, and these mystery cards somehow either give you a shot at a free game, or a heavy discount, I'm gonna be pissed off about the two crafts I already did during the beta. And no, that doesn't make me a whiner, or pathetic, or unreasonable. Me not getting mystery cards is what's unreasonable.
And as for that quoted bit from the bible from user TheDopefish - what's your point? Because it's in the bible, means it's righteous, just, or correct? Screw that. The bible, as most religion, was crafted to keep the masses calm and compliant. That bit that was linked to seems like the very definition of injustice. The sole reason I can see such scripture existing is to keep the masses calm when rich and corrupt vassal lords and kings would do little to no effort to maintain a rich lifestyle, levying taxes off the already impoverished masses. And that's exactly why such rampant injustice as the corrupt banking system, and white-collar criminality exists today - people won't even open their mouth to object, let alone act, because this idea of "if you complain, you're automatically an entitled jerk who deserves nothing" has been imprinted on our minds by, for example, such ridiculous scripture, for centuries, even when you have legitimate complaints / concerns;- even when you have valid, objective, fact-based arguments. And we even force that idea on each other by negative social control! Those who stand up for something just and fair, get snubbed and derisively scoffed at, until they too sit back down and keep riding the "fuck you" bus down "up the ass-ville". How well the manipulation has worked. Exhibit A? This thread, right here.
If the boss man had given the workers who'd worked less a fair share for their efforts - so less money - you would hardly expect them to complain. Maybe they'd ask for a full work day the next day, but they would see the fairness and justness of the decision.
If I was one of those ancient workers who'd have been working all day in the hot sun, for the same reward as those who worked in the fields for one sole hour, I'd not just open my mouth - I'd lead the charge and rob that boss and take what was fair from him. Screw that concept, and screw him for acting so. I wouldn't harm him, I wouldn't even yell at him, I wouldn't take more than was fair judging by the time that I'd worked versus the time the people who came last had worked. His reasoning is solid - he wants to give all an equal reward and conform to the de facto days' pay for all - but the way his reasoning works out in practise is so stinted, it becomes an issue of injustice. And it has nothing to do with envy - I would be happy for those who had received a days' pay for an hours' worth of work - it's the boss who had decided things so who would be the one I took objection to.
Although, I would also accept a compromise - if the boss would let me work the next day for an hour, and have those who had worked less the previous day work a full day under the sun, then rewarded us both again equally, that would be acceptable, as well. But there must be some form of fairness offered - if not, I will stand up, and make things fair. I won't sit down and enjoy my surprise sex from behind, to state things politely.
Comment has been collapsed.
I didn't mean to say religion has no merit or potential positivity whatsoever, nor that the spirituality in it is wrong. It's just that when I read such scripture, it seems diametrically opposed to the general message of equal treatment of others being a desirable trait implied in most religious teaching. Right, so you should treat others equally, but not count yourself equal to others, or try to seek such equality for yourself? Turn the other cheek and all that? Sure. Makes perfect sense. Oh wait, no it doesn't.
Heck look at Jesus and the corrupt rabbi's. He fought them because they were levying unfair taxes off people to be able to worship and follow the teachings of scripture, which at the time - when education wasn't a right or a mostly universally enjoyed thing - was a way to hoard information and learning, further serving to keep the people subdued and compliant, by keeping their moral and emotional development on the low.
The problem is that people forget a few things concerning religion:
People forget these two things, and therefore see the book and following all of it as a virtue, something good to do. Because of course, it's all god's word, right? All of it must be true, and the right way to do things. Heck, some of it makes sense to me, and the bits I disagree with or don't understand - well now that's no problem, it's just that we finite beings, us puny humans, can't understand god's mysterious ways, nor see his grand scheme for us all. So we simply must follow everything the good book says, right?
This kind of reasoning is exactly why I say that certain scriptures have been snuk in by men interested purely in manipulating and controlling the world around them. Not all of any religion is just, or fair, or forms a healthy mentality or feeling of self-worth. A lot of it does the opposite - it forms doubt, guilt, judgement and a sense of unworthiness in people's minds.
Comment has been collapsed.
The thing is that if everyone followed Jesus' teaching we would have no misery in this world. No injustice. World would be a perfect place. Oh, but we can't have that. We're corrupted by sin. But we can strive to be better people and I'm convinced the Bible helps us to do so. I'm a religious person, I've always been. There are ups and downs but I try and stay on this road and I like it. I choose to follow Jesus because I think his teachings are beneficial for me and for everyone who follows them. You seem not to put faith in some things, as with the Bible being written by God's hand and so on. The Bible was written by people under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and you have to take it by faith. There's no other way. If you won't believe then it won't make sense to you. We don't have to follow everything the "book" says. Just Jesus. He is the essence of christianity.
Comment has been collapsed.
.. You are entirely missing my point. Even if the Holy Spirit guided man's hand in writing the book, and even if at one point there was a bible / koran / torah that was 1:1 god's word, these books are all many centuries old, and have been susceptible to manipulation and additions for all those centuries. I don't believe for a second that some of the inherently negative and mentally burdening scriptures come from any god. If there is a god, he will most certainly be happier with someone who leads a righteous, good life, treating others fairly and equally, and most importantly someone who is looking to better themselves and constantly seeking mental and spiritual growth, not someone shuttering off their experiences in life by putting on the blinders imposed by many of the teachings of the main 3 religions, or feeling unworthy or at a disadvantage somehow due to feelings like guilt or inadequacy. Those teachings were man-made efforts to subdue and control the masses through manipulating and adding to something many followed so fervently they imposed it on others, often by force. In ancient times, kings and rulers controlled the flow of information, and often the access to education and old tomes of knowledge. What better and easier way to control people than by taking something that by itself had a positive message and many positive teachings (yes, maybe that original book handed down by god) then adding in scriptures that made people feel a host of negative emotions towards themselves and their self image, and inspired them to put their head down, and keep working hard, while "turning the other cheek"?
I'm curious, seeing as how you made this thread about fairness and seem to agree with me on that issue, what you think of specifically what I said about that bit TheDopefish linked to? Would you think it was fair that this boss man gave you the same pay as someone who'd done less than an eighth of the work you had? Oh and let's not forget, during a time of the day when work was far less hard on you, due to the sun being lower in the sky? Would you calmly accept that, not just once, but every time such a situation occurred? Because that's what that scripture teaches you to do and tells you is righteous and good..
Comment has been collapsed.
Tell me, how is the Bible manipulating "masses"? People absorb knowledge from it and use it to their benefit in their lives - yes. That doesn't mean that the Bible manipulates them. We all know that kings and rulers manipulate people but they never use religion to do it. Look at today's world - everything that's going on in politics (well, most of it) is against christianity. All the corruption, lies, thievery and so on. How exactly are politicians using the Bible to manipulate people? Because I don't understand.
You seem to have negative image of christians like they're sad victims of reality who always get the worst treatments. All christians I know are very very happy and their lives are full of joy. You see, when you're a true christian (that's not easy and it doesn't always is that way even if you try though) then all this suffering you get, all misery and trials are actually good for you and you understand that and you accept that. You can be full of joy when suffering. Look at saints. That wouldn't be possible without God's intervention of course and if one hasn't experienced that it's very hard to understand.
As for what Dopefish linked, it's a parable and it refers to people who will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Those who are christian all their lives will enter as well as those who will accept Jesus in their last seconds of life. And I can answer you right now that I'm glad it will be so. If I said otherwise I'd be jealous. I hope that as many people as possible will be saved.
However, in the afterlife everyone will have a different level of "joy", "happiness" or whatever you want to call it - according to their lives on Earth. For example, even if I go to Heaven I'll never have the same level of experiencing it as saints. And rightly so. Everyone will get what one deserves.
Comment has been collapsed.
I think you're overlooking the message of the scripture. The laborers hired in the morning received a fair compensation for their work. They weren't forced to work for an unreasonable amount. The landowner then saw people still standing around without being hired and decided to act charitably towards them, so that they too can provide for their families. The landowner did not have to do this, but he did so out of the kindness and generosity of his heart. If someone was giving away money or gifts, would you look at what others have received and demand that your gift be equal to someone else's? Why should you concern yourself so much over the actions of others? This sense of false entitlement is what the scripture warns against. I wouldn't consider myself religious, and I see a lot of hypocrisy in religion, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I can't find merits in religious texts either.
You state that you would lead the charge and rob the landowner and TAKE what is just. If I hired you to perform a task for 8 hours, for $200, then decided to give away $200 to someone else out of charity who only worked 1 hour, why do you feel entitled to $1600 for 8 hours of work? Is this not unreasonable? I know one thing, I certainly wouldn't advocate crime for this kind of "injustice"
Comment has been collapsed.
Why are you saying what I would do? Don't do that because you're wrong.
I am a generous person and I often give people a lot (not only on SG). I would never rob anyone of anything. Not every situation is the same obviously but do you want me to say that "justice" is wrong? Of course not. Many people want justice in this world (me included). So I don't know what you're getting at. Not to mention this is a parable about salvation.
Comment has been collapsed.
You are aware I wasn't even replying to you right?
I was responding to Ansatsunin and also referenced this from one of his earlier posts:
"I'd not just open my mouth - I'd lead the charge and rob that boss and take what was fair from him"
Comment has been collapsed.
Ok, good points. Very good points. They made me analyse my own response and consider my thoughts about it. Thanks.
Let me retract the "would rob" statement then - that was me being in the situation and feeling screwed by the landowner, and translating that anger into action at the time, being rash in my theoretical response. It was dumb and rash, and were it a real situation, I most likely would put more thought into things before acting so rashly.
At the very least, I'd expect some form of reasoning and explanation from him, though. I absolutely agree that the landowners' intentions being charitable is a good thing, and yes, it would be unreasonable to expect a disproportionate pay for a days' work. You can't fault me, the theoretical worker though - having worked hard all day in the hot sun and being tired, then seeing others receive the same pay as me for what amounts to a fraction of the work - for at least being somewhat bewildered and confused, if not somewhat offended. That's not to say that any ill feelings wouldn't disappear in an instant if he'd explain his thinking behind it. In this situation there's a good reason behind it all, and positive intent. And I repeat that at no point would it be a case of envy, or any form of ill will towards any of the workers.
I agree that I shouldn't feel entitled to that disproportionate pay, but what I feel people should feel entitled to is equal treatment. When that isn't the best option, or someone chooses not to treat you equally to others, there must be a good reason behind it, and you deserve to hear that reason. Like I said, I'd accept the explanation provided in that story in a heart beat, and my ill will would disappear like snow before the rain.
There's a lot to be said for not focussing on others, or reasoning comparatively from a sense of entitlement, rather focussing on yourself and whether or not you feel what you experience / receive is fair to you according to your own sense of fairness, insofar as looking at what you'd do in the same situation as the person who's behaviour you're considering. For sure. And I think I said very well how I feel about religion in my other posts here. I agree that there can be a lot of good in it, definitely, including lessons such as this.
What worries me about that scripture is that it's far too easy to misinterpret it and / or twist its' meaning by messing with subtle nuances in explaining the story, or misappropriating the story in a comparison with other similar (yet not comparable) situations. Also, that it inspires a very polarised way of addressing morality, principles and thoughts. Something either is good, or isn't. And that's what I feel happens a lot with religious texts. This specific text bears with it the risk of people drawing an over-simplified concept of "don't ever look at others or what they receive, be happy with what you have, period" from it. Which would be unfortunate, because while to some degree that's a healthy mentality to have, to keep yourself happy, sane, and sociable - that thinking does have its' limits. If people never compared their situation to each other, and only kept this mentality as a polarised principle in their mind rather than a good starting point to form opinions from, there would be no development of a sense of fairness or equality, because no one would ever open their mouth to rant about injustices - they'd just put their head to the grindstone and keep ploughing on, while others would profit off of their work.
Which is where most of the intensity in my initial response came from - frustration with looking at the world around me, and seeing this exact thing happen day in, day out. It's like people have become scared to complain, or show any form of dissent, when injustices do come up. Look at the banking cartels running the economy nowadays, or recent happenings with Snowden, PRISM, all that jazz. Like someone in another thread said - back in the day, Nixon got impeached for wire-tapping one building. Nowadays, the US president gets caught out wire-tapping, basically, everyone in the world with internet access, and what happens? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Corrupt banking cartels manipulate the free market, gamble with our investments and mortgages, and what happens? They laugh from their balconies as people protest, knowing they won't be ousted.
The "entitled isn't a good thing" thinking would say "yes, corrupt bankers receive a ridiculous amount of money and bonuses for little work, aside from the fact that they do all kinds of unethical business, including unfair manipulation of entire markets, but I am getting a fair pay for the work I do, and am happy with it". And that's where that thought would end. Your life's ok, you're happy, good! That's the positive part of that way of thinking, and is indeed something to be strived for (being happy with what you have and not comparing yourself to others so much). But at some point, people thinking along this path have got to realise that while their way of looking at things is a healthy, positive, and most importantly sustainable, harmonious way, the way these corrupt types look at things is "will take, when I can take, regardless of fairness or equality" - and isn't at all harmonious or sustainable. If we keep letting such rampant injustice happen, they'll end up leeching not only the rest of humanity but this entire planet dry..
And that's what bugs me about this parable. I understood what it was trying to go for and teach, it's just that I fell into the same trap as people abusing it to espouse thinking conducive to exploitation. I turned it into a vehicle for my own thoughts. There is a good lesson in it, as you reminded me of quite deftly.. But just as with so many other religious texts, stories like this often get misquoted, misappropriated and oversimplified by people aiming to manipulate people into, for example in this case, accepting their fate, regardless of the fate of those around them. Someone can perhaps easily flip this parable to defend themselves when they act entitled, by suggesting that we should accept the concept of "so the last will be first, and the first will be last" while they profit off of stinted laws or regulations, or a lack thereof, knowingly plotting to find ways to exploit situations and receive unfair rewards or pay, or bonuses..
I hope you get where I'm coming from and accept that I admit - I was acting rash and dumb, and feel like a moron for doing so :P. Thanks for the thoughtful comment that woke me up and made me find the right words for what I was thinking / feeling.
Comment has been collapsed.
Then don't read it and move on. Wth. It takes literally 2 minutes to read. Is your attention span seriously that damn short? That's not my problem, nor concern. I wanted to get a few points across, and not everything can be summed up in a neat little "TL;DR" bit for those too lazy to read. Sometimes, you need nuance and elaboration on concepts or ideas.
Comment has been collapsed.
My point was, that Valve never promised us anything for participating in the beta.
They gave us cards, they gave us the opportunity to craft them, to sell them, to trade them, to keep them, to ignore them.
Whatever we're doing with them is up to us.
When they changed the requiremend to get a chance a dropping foil cards from "at least level 10" to "no requirement at all", I was like "great, I could have traded my cards away then, instead of crafting them".
To some, this might be "injust" as well, worthy of a thread, worthy of painting shiny banners and walk to the streets, to others, they just think "wth" and move on, because they have more pressing problems than some pixels.
Do I think that everything about trading cards is good, great, well planned and "just" / "fair"? - No.
Do I think it's worth asking for incentives? - No, because I don't feel entitled to them.
Why do I think it's pointless to spread awareness of this injustice? - Because let's face it, nothing will be done. The time they'd invest in it would be better invested in really important stuff, like a mechnism to inform users if a game they traded for was removed from their inventory/library because the other person asked for a refund, or time they could spend answering a support ticket, or finishing HL3 cough cough
And even the time we users invest in this could have been spent better, e.g. instead of writing this long reply, I could have washed the dishes ... which I'll do now ;)
Comment has been collapsed.
Not promising us anything, ok, sure, but that doesn't mean we didn't beta test a new Steam feature for them that is now earning them top dollar. And like I say elsewhere in the thread, the effort required by Valve to retroactively drop mystery cards into people from the beta's inventories is minimal - a simple scripting job. If people were up in arms about this and asking Valve to re-make the entire card system, rewrite the way drops worked, or something else major, hey then I'd also just accept things the way they are and drop it entirely. It;s not worth that much effort.
But, considering they themselves are vaguely implying some real value being associated with the cards, as well as the small effort required to please us all, I'd much like them to also reward beta card users, not only people coming in now. Like I said in my post you replied to here, what if the mystery cards somehow tie in to big discounts or free games during the sale? That's real world monetary value you're talking about, then! Them then only rewarding non-beta peeps, who can now craft badges for far less than people who were crafting during the beta, is really nonsense.
That feature you mention about notifications when games are removed from your library - holy fuck yes, I cannot agree enough that that's a hugely important feature that needs to be addressed (and I still don't get why it hasn't been so, yet). Yes, they need to prioritise in general. But like I said, the fix in this situation is something one of their DB administrators could hack up a script for, and let run overnight. Not a major rewrite of anything or anything significant in effort required.
As for the efficacy of typing such posts? Sure, that's true, good chance it'll do nothing. But at the very least, it might make people think, and maybe inspire some others to post a little comment on the trading card groups' page, voicing their dissatisfaction. At least it's something interesting to think about, and mull over.
Thanks for the reply :)
Comment has been collapsed.
NOT having a exclusive beta badge and 2 exclusive emoticons (you can buy them, but not the badge) aren't "better benefits" for non-beta users, IMHO.
They couldn't release something like the mystery cards in the BETA, because (hence the BETA word) they didn't know if the new system was 100% reliable.
PS: I'm into cards and I'm ok with this.
Comment has been collapsed.
They can, with minimal effort, let a batch job run overnight on their databases that would check to see which accounts crafted badges during the beta, and add <x> number of mystery cards to those accounts, where <x> is equal to the number of badges crafted. No one's asking for a huge effort on Valve's part, nor for anything unreasonable. The suggested value of the cards is implied to far outweigh the value of some stupid "look I was in the beta" badge (which is 100% cosmetic), or two lame emoticons that have no real use outside of making ascii art.
Comment has been collapsed.
Personally I'd feel a bit jibbed if the cards had anything to do with one particular event. They push the fact that cards 'aren't just cards' but having a throwaway single-use special purpose doesn't seem enough to me. What if I had only just gotten a steam account after the sale had just ended, I wouldn't have gotten the special benefits everyone else did just because I was late to the party. If they implemented something with cards into this event, summer sale, whatever - they'd have to keep doing so for future events too.
Comment has been collapsed.
What about people who joined after/was inactive during the Treasure Hunt / Portal 2 ARG / Summer Camp / Holiday Sale 2011? If you missed it, you missed it, that's it. I'd like to get a Valve Complete Pack by collecting all the potatoes now, but it's not possible anymore.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah, but say, getting a special badge because you participated in a particular sale is a bit different to a whole set of trading cards suddenly gaining extra meaning and then having it taken away again. That would be interesting to see though, cards would rise in value before subsequent sales and drop again afterwards.
Comment has been collapsed.
Lolololo...
Game that costs 50$ in 'murica, costs 65$ in europe (Not in UK) and 76$ in UK...
Is that justice? nope...
Comment has been collapsed.
Are you honestly kidding me right now? 90% of the games I check, we pay more for them than our British friends across the pond (NL here).
Comment has been collapsed.
I personally don't see a problem... It's like a cable company charging $39.99 a month to it's normal users (who have been using them as a provider), but giving new customers a $15.99 special if they start now. Kind of like an incentive. How is that wrong? It's as if you expect to get something every time something is given out just because you were "first". Those who started later than you will never have the chance to get that beta badge except via trading, while you still have a way to get mystery cards (via trading or crafting). Seems pretty fair to me.
Comment has been collapsed.
..
1) The value of the beta badge is 100% cosmetic, as are the quite useless emoticons we got.
2) This isn't a case of incentivising with some package deal concerning a main service or product. This is a case of offering something with a lot of implied value to people participating in an entirely optional thing, who are participating in it for a fraction of the cost people were before. If they were, say, offering this to people making a new Steam account? Sure, then your comparison makes sense. But crafting badges etc isn't a main feature or service - it's an optional activity we can partake in, that even earns Valve a lot of cash. Hey we can choose not to craft badges, or spend money, right? But then we don't get the mystery cards, either. While we are still using the same service people who are crafting are using - Steam.
3) As I've said many times over in this thread - the effort required from or asked of Valve is minimal. It's not like anyone's asking them to redo or remake the whole way cards or card drops work or anything. We're asking them to run a batch job on their DB to add <x> number of mystery cards to the inventories of people who made <x> badges during the beta. A small effort.
Comment has been collapsed.
If you really care about justice, get away from your PC and change the world.
Comment has been collapsed.
being in the beta also gives an edge on selling the cards, you got to get them when they were worth more. so it balances out anyway. if they backdated the drops how many more would beta users have and people would just complain about that, so its damned if you do/don't anyway
personally I'm annoyed cards and levels are coming into the sales either way
Comment has been collapsed.
725 Comments - Last post 8 minutes ago by leecee
1,951 Comments - Last post 49 minutes ago by diehard
148 Comments - Last post 58 minutes ago by jiggakills
13 Comments - Last post 2 hours ago by yush88
9 Comments - Last post 3 hours ago by yush88
5 Comments - Last post 6 hours ago by yush88
30 Comments - Last post 7 hours ago by cpyd
198 Comments - Last post 1 minute ago by Vincer
79 Comments - Last post 10 minutes ago by Vincer
37 Comments - Last post 12 minutes ago by UnknownEAK
790 Comments - Last post 25 minutes ago by grez1
218 Comments - Last post 27 minutes ago by HustlaOG
89 Comments - Last post 28 minutes ago by herbesdeprovence
582 Comments - Last post 34 minutes ago by Noroco
My post taken from Steam Forums.
Consider this.
Those mysterious cards will probably have something to do with the summer event. They'll be beneficial to those who have them.
Now, you can get it from crafting badges if I understand that correctly. So people who were not doing that for the last month and who are doing it now get the benefit of getting those cards. But what about those who were participating in Beta and were crafting badges then? For example I should have something around 15 mystery cards now (as I've crafted something around 15 badges). I don't and I won't probably. So those people who were not in beta and who got into cards just today (and later from now on) will get better benefits than those who were participating in beta and using cards since the beginning of this system?
I really hope, Valve, that you'll make it just for everyone involved into trading cards. I just want it to be fair.
Comment has been collapsed.