Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 7:36 AM
Fri Dec 4
57 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us:
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
| AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
| AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
| AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
10/28/09
10/28/09
Heck I'm sure most developers won't mind you sending some extra cash donations for their games. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
Set a price. If people buy it, great. If not, lower your price.
I don't want to feel like a freeloader. I also don't want to feel like a chump. I'm not sure if the consumer has the information to not feel like one or the other here.
These guys made the game, they know how much work went into it. They know how much money they need to earn to keep the lights on. I don't.
I didn't like it when Radiohead did it either. It made that record seem less valuable for some reason, knowing that they were giving it away.
/rant #worldofgoo
10/28/09
All your problems seem to be personal. It's okay! They're just doing a social experiment. No need to think too deeply about it. :) #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
Additionally, I'm speaking about this general practice, not necessarily this game. Truth be told, I couldn't care less about this particular game. I did not buy it. I don't like to game on my Macbook, so I simply had no interest in it regardless of the price.
However, you basically validated my point when you said it was a "social experiment." That's precisely what I don't like about it. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
And I'm not angry about it. I just don't like it. Like how I don't like ranch dressing. I'm not angry about that either. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
I dabble in improv comedy, and social experiments is all I do. To constantly test what society lets us get away with. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
I'm not trying to attack you at all. I've just never seen your type before. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
That can hardly make me unusual. I actually think (hope) that makes me a typical American.
Again, this is not a charity. Yet they are acting like one. To me, it feels like a guilt trip. I'm not upset about it. I just don't [b]like[/b] it. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
They've done the full price bit, the 50% off . Now they're picking up the stragglers, and probably torrenters, and getting a dollar to two for it. It's no skin of their back - these are copies what wouldn't have been sold otherwise.
When Coldplay released LeftRightLeft for free I didn't think "Oh no, I'm ripping these guys off" I thought, "hey, cool - free album". #worldofgoo
10/28/09
Why didn't they just sell it for a dollar or two then?
What I don't like about it has very little to do with me and how much I'm going to pay for it. What I don't like is how cheap assholes get rewarded for being cheap assholes. The system REWARDS being cheap. I find that inherently distasteful. #worldofgoo
10/29/09
Sounds like you have a very clear definition of what the game is worth to you. Pull out your wallet and be done with this. If it continues any further you need to bring some cheese to the table too. #worldofgoo
10/29/09
No one is being rewarded here. Using your logic, if someone was, as antithisis to 'cheap bastard', a 'rich idiot' then they could indulge in paying £200 for the game, and then have that smug feeling that no one else paid as much as they - ego inflating goodness all round. The rich idiot gets his reward for being a rich idiot.
The only thing the 'cheap bastards' got was a quality game (that they might otherwise have not bought, or just torrented) at a very low price - a price equivelent to Ebay, or the bargain bin at your local games shop.
They havn't ripped anyone off. Even if you paid 1p, that probably 1p that the devs wouln't have got otherwise.
The only evil with this sale was that full price, on release purchasers get kinda nerfed. #worldofgoo
10/29/09
Look at the rest of the comment threads. There are people feeling the need to justify paying a penny. There's a guy saying he would have paid $5 but ended up paying $10 "to make up for all the $.01 people."
Why should some nice person feel compelled to pay more than they initially thought was reasonable?
This really isn't that big of a deal. I just don't like it. I don't like a pricing structure that simply says: the cheaper you are, the less you pay. It is the Jewish Mother of pricing structures. I don't want to feel sorry for a developer.
We are conditioned to look for the best prices on things. Sales, promotions, buy 2 get one free, etc. If I walk into a game shop and insist on paying more than the marked price for something, I'm an idiot.
Upthread, I'm apparently an idiot for owning a mac (implying I paid too much). This turns that completely upside down. Here we are patting each other on the back over who got the worst deal.
I think far odder than my take on this is the fact that over a dozen people (you included) felt compelled to tell me I'm wrong. As if I could possibly be wrong about my own likes and dislikes. #worldofgoo
10/29/09
10/28/09
10/29/09
10/29/09
10/29/09
10/28/09
Any others want to share their purchase price if they took advantage? #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
I'm sorry but these words, they don't belong one hundred imperial miles of each other. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
What do I win? #worldofgoo
10/28/09
France surrenders. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
I find this interesting as a case study. Someone should do some research.
Here are my theories:
1. Simply, it could partially be that, indeed, macs ARE more expensive, and the people using them have more disposable income.
2. Macs are also more commonly used by urban hippie liberals like me who are less likely to screw people over for a couple bucks and to help out the little guy. Studies show that conservatives tend to generously give more money directly to charities - like churches and the Red Cross, and liberals tend to use or "donate" their money nmore often by spending more in what they feel are "worthy" places or will spend the extra $2 to buy from a local seller than a Wal-mart, for example. This would fit that theory.
3. It could also be that since there are fewer games for Mac, we're willing to spend money to get quality ones and show support for products in hopes of getting more. (I fall into that camp.)
4. PC gamers are used to getting stuff for free and are less inclined to feel weird about pirating or downloading music/games/content. We've seen that repeated throughout the last 20 years. (See any thread regarding pricing of DLC or DRM policies in the past year for evidence.) This would fit that mold too. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
Maybe not as much as I think (no serial number/activation when you install Mac OS X, and Apple seems OK with that), but if you want to pirate on OS X, you sure as hell can. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
So much generalisation.
Because Azerus doens't work on Macs? 360, PSP, DS, Wii piracy doesn't exist?
Point 3 is kinda a good one. But too bad Apple ain't listening or they'd make an attempt to get Games on the Mac. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
And you can sod off with your generalisations. Honest the console gamers on this site have started getting too far up their own arses the past few weeks.
"oh you guys want community maps, well you should pay like we do cos we know no better"
"oh you want an expansion not a high priced full game, well we can't have expansions on consoles, so you'll have to make do"
"$60, well we pay that cos of licensing and stuff so you should too"
It's annoying, and it reflects badly on other console gamers.
Also oddly enough most PC gamers game on consoles too. Shock Horror. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
I decided it was not worth my time, let alone my money. But the fact that so many people have abused their generosity is truly disheartening. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
How much would you pay for a Mercedes?
Anything you want $0.01 up to $1million+
Human nature dictates that you'll pay as low as you can.
It's why there's an RRP on stuff.
If I was him I wouldn't be surprised at the folks who paid only 1cent, but the folks who paid more than that. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
And yes, I know it's in human nature to be greedy. (Self-interest behavior I think it's called in Psychology) And I'm not saying I'm surprised in the least, I'm just saying it's disheartening that the overall average is so low.
@MajorNewbie:
Just because I'm not interested in the game, doesn't mean other people won't enjoy it. I don't like rhythm games, but do I think that means everyone should pirate them or steal them? No. If I did enjoy the game however, I would certainly be willing to pay what I believed it to be worth. And I would certainly say it's worth more than $0.01 if you were to get even 1 minute of enjoyment out of it. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
What is an acceptable price point if you already owned it on one system? If you paid $20 for one system, and you paid $.01 for the 2nd copy. You still average $10.005 per copy...
Not that this is necessarily what happened, and it surely wasn't every case, but it's something to consider before we all feel bad for misrepresenting (or not representing, as I did not participate in the sale) our country. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
Though Wii gamers getting it for PC I can understand. But you didn't mention Wii just "system" so I'm gonna assume you meant PC. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
Ad Mac's paid more than Windows as they are more used to paying more than Window users for the same thing.
Oh yeah I went there. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
I know you were going for a joke, but I'm not even a linux user and I know these things. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
Our uni uses Fedora (haha, not anymore, replaced em with Vista, woot) so I know that uses .rpm.
And I also know .tar is fairly universal, so I just picked a random distro, which happened to be Ubuntu as that's the more popular (I prefer its spin-off, Mint) Just it's not always at my front of my mind that Ubuntu is a spin-off of Debain :P.
Yes I was going for a joke.
Mr. Letsnotmakejokesfunny
:P #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
Just be thankful I'm not a BSD user or else I'd have to make fun of Mac users for not knowing that their OS is just BSD with a shiny coat of paint. Whoops. Did I just say that out loud? Now I'm going to have to deal with all their secondhand smug... #worldofgoo
10/28/09
Love my games too much to swap over. And I get Windows for free. (MSDNAA FTW) #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
But for the most part most of Europe tries not to use €=$=£. ;)
Steam kinda shafts itself out of a continent of users with their silly prices. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
Cheap is... well, cheap. "Oh, I don't really want to pay what it's worth to me... so, I'll pay a lot less if I can get away with it. I mean, after all, the internet is mostly anonymous." Similar to be said about pirating, but we'll try to avoid discussing that. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
...would you pay 20 dollars(retail) or more for a game which the maximum value only worth 20 dollars?? when they allow you to pick a price...it is human nature to minimize our loss while maximizing the profit(in this case, the max is a set value, which is obtaining the game)...so the only thing that could be adjusted is the loss...and .01 is the lowest you could go...i'm surprise overall ppl paid that much when they don't have to(this is when generosity, human emotion, comes into play, that would affect the outcome)... economy 101...
don't be judging those who tried to do what's logical..also, 2d boy could possibly made more money in this sale than selling it retail
and fyi, i paid 5 doolars on it during the d2d 5yr anniversary sale #worldofgoo
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
This is a case of Americans being cheap, not Americans getting something inexpensively. The game was inexpensive to begin with at retail, being given a choice and paying $.01 is just plain old cheap. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
Not everything is a selfish, self-motivated decision, but I'm guess we'll disagree on that. #worldofgoo
10/28/09
@Showmeyomoves!: Hah! You'll get it back.. but Hah! #worldofgoo
10/29/09
though i didn't specifically stated whether it is legal or illegal way to acquire the game and being generous,a by product of human emotion, is absolutely fine, as i occasionally donate money to charity and perform volunteering work.. but what i'm saying is don't judge on those who paid a penny for it because they are doing what's best for them #worldofgoo
10/22/09
10/20/09
I feel the i have already supported the game/developer already with my Wii purchase, I'm just out to get a bargain now. Is there something wrong with that? #worldofgoo
10/20/09