Slashdot Mirror
New Humble Bundle Is Windows Only, DRM Games
jbernardo writes "After all the indie, multi-platform (including 4 for android) and DRM free releases, the latest Humble Bundle release is a polarizing one. It features non-indie games, it is Windows only, and the games are saddled with DRM. There is already a very vocal discussion on the Humble Bundle Google+ thread, but it seems it is selling well."
I have a Windows computer, and value wise this may be the best bundle yet, but I feel it is against the spirit of the bundle and am not chipping in, if they don't do another one before xmas, my big donation one is going strait towards a charity.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polemic
Do you know what polemic means?
Because the humble bundle finally has good games.
I'm +Eric Hopper over on Google+.
I'm angry for several reasons. But the biggest reason is that I gave the Humble Bundle brand name a lot of free advertising and word of mouth because I expected them to always be DRM-free and cross-platform. Them choosing not to be feels like a betrayal and a cheat because they're taking all that good will I helped them create to sell something that is at cross-purposes to the reason I helped them create this good will.
I'm also angry because I spent a bunch of money, always above the average, often significantly so. I spent it not just because I thought the games were worth it. I spent it because I believed in Humble Bundle and what I thought they were trying to accomplish. It was another way for me to invest in the brand.
If they had done something like this under a different name I wouldn't be angry at all. Create another brand "Pay What You Can" bundles or whatever and market your stuff under that brand if it doesn't fit the Humble Bundle image. Then I wouldn't feel like all the work and money I put into supporting the Humble Bundle brand was a waste.
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
If you have an urge to walk down a crowded street and whack people with a giant purple penis, you're in luck -- Saints Row 3 is included.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
it's capitalism, baby!
Well, if they were going to start with DRMed Windows only games, the AAA name in the title served as ample warning. I used to just look at the games without checking the sysreqs because DRM-free was a given. But as soon as I saw the AAA name on this one, I got suspicious and for the first time in a while, looked closer.
Thanks THQ, because of you I'll keep a closer eye on the Humble Bundles from now on so I don't get burned by some indie dev who thinks DRM is a good idea!
Not gonna BUY the darn thing, of course, but thanks!
THQ has been struggling, so they're trying something new. That's a good thing. If you don't want to buy it, don't. I did, as did many of my friends, and I'm quite happy with it.
give 100% to Charity.
That way THQ get's 0
What the hell does this have to do with GOG?
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
I fail to see a problem here, if you have an issue with this just send everything to charity. Personally the way I view it is this way, the more money they raise for charity the better, it's to help the less fortunate after all. This time around it is for Child's Play and America Red Cross both respectable organizations which I would be proud to donate to.
So yes if you have a "Screw You" type of mentality towards DRM and refuse to give them money for it, go right ahead. You can still buy said games and just donate everything to charity and deny the company who produced said games money.
+Eric Hopper,
Free advertising? How much did you spend on this advertising? Google hosted your "free advertising" for free. Did they ever claim to always be DRM Free and cross-platform?
Stop playing the victim. If you don't want to buy it, don't; but stop acting like they gave you syphilis.
You appear to be having a problem with your thesaurus. Perhaps you were looking for "arrogant"?
You're right, Arrogant Bundle is way catchy.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
They did, Its the Humble THQ Bundle, and not the Humble Indie Bundle.
This company is near bankrupt. We can all hate because we're from a subculture that supports individualism and new startups for games. However, this company is offering us games for basically CHARITY. Also, they're a company that needs these funds to continue on after doing bad in the market. Games like Saints Row and Company of Heroes are great games, DRM or no DRM, If you're really idealistic, you would be opposed to other humble bundles which they use Steam WHICH IS DRM. Grow up guys and support THQ for their work.
Time to change the name from Humble Bundle to Greedy Bundle.
Really? Did the price go up? Let me check... Nope, still pay what you want.
I'm guessing they got rid of the Child's Play donation... No, that's still there.
Must have stopped the EFF donation.... No, that seems to be there too.
I figured it out!
The people that buy the bundle are greedy, getting 6 games on Steam for as low as $1.
Must have stopped the EFF donation.... No, that seems to be there too.
Whoops, spoke too soon, the greedy bastards changed it to the American Red Cross. Those bastards, donating to charity like that.
It's fine with me. Best DRM ever.
Your loss, lol. The real problem is if there's ever a UPlay-exclusive Humble Bundle
Average purchase: $5.67
$13.37 is more then I'm willing to spend on THQ games. Even if the money can go to charity. I have morals.
I am stupid. please ignore. at the time it looked like that was the lowest amount, but apparently you can do .01 if you want (but under $1.00 gets you the soundtracks).
I will say Metro 2033 was a fun game to play, but rest the games are just meh.
Be seeing you...
It's just that THQ games are shit, and dressing up a turd in a suit doesn't make it any better.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
anyone actually involved with the red cross would tell you that it's a "scam" - actually it's not, but it's horribly inefficient and there are plenty of "market competitive" level salaried positions.
I paid $6 dollars myself. This is actually the first Humble Bundle I've bought.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
See? The very first definition: "an aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another"
The author saw the bundling of windows-only, drm-laden games as an attack on the principles of those to whom the humble bundle is marketed. Whether that view is accurate or not, the word usage fits.
From what I remember in the previous bundles, Linux users on average were paying more, followed by Mac, with Windows users having the lowest average.
So let me see, dropped the EFF donation and added DRM. What is the message?
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
The desperately trying to keep THQ afloat bundle.
Still some good stuff there. All of those games, with the possible exception of Red Faction Armageddon, were well received.
Buy it, and select "All to charity". Meaning nothing for The Humble Bundle team, and nothing for the game publisher.
I just did it. I love voting with my wallet.
morcego
Whole Foods has Oscar Mayer bologna on sale this week.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
$5.67 - if this keeps up, it will be one of their lowest 5 averages. Probably a ton of people are just paying the $1 minimum. Should have tried to include more platforms.
Seriously, this is THQ doing something charitable for once, and working with a well-known charity to do it. Why should they bend over backwards to make the games cross-platform; is giving away games for (potentially) free not "kind" enough? It'd be different if they were already cross-platform and they were just choosing not to offer them. As far as DRM is concerned, Steam's a pretty gentle pounding in the rear anyways. This isn't Humble Bundle "selling out", they're just working with THQ for this offer which I'm pretty sure will bring all sorts of people who have never even given them a look onto the site. I know this will be the first I'm purchasing.
Look, I get THQ are struggling for money. And to be honest the selection is extremely good quality for any price. But the Humble Bundle is synonymous with DRM-free and cross platform titles. It used to be only about indie titles, but some commercially published games like Psychonauts have starting slipping through and I'm OK with that, since it increases potential interest and they're still DRM-free and cross platform. But here? It's not DRM-free at all (Steam) and it's Windows only. Not something I associate with the "Humble" Bundles.
Having said that the bundle has been available for around 27 hours as the time of this post, and has reached nearly $1.6 million in that short space of time. This kinda reaffirms my belief that ultimately people (well, gamers anyway) don't care about DRM-free and cross platform benefits, so long as the games are cheap.
Dude...
The message is 1 > 0.
As in, some money still goes to charity, you still pay what you want. Even if the Red Cross isn't the best charity, Child's Play is, and $1 > $0.
Humble set up a system to let people get games cheap and help people in the process, what have you done to help the world this week?
(Hint, whining here about DRM counts as 0.)
Whatever you do, don't think of the children !!!
Listen up guys! This is not a bad thing, this is the time to send the other publishers a message that giving gamers options and good deals is beneficial to business. While I understand the disagreement some of you have with these games being DRM, I for one will not get angry unless HumbleBundle stops offering DRM free and Indie titles in favor of these. I am happy with them offering both and if we can encourage more, it will help generate some solid numbers that can help break the illusion of whether or not DRM is providing the businesses an advantage when they see DRM free indie games generating respectable or hopefully more income than DRM'd games.
We should applaud a company for taking a step in the right direction not lambasting them, even though it seems suspect. Companies follow the money and if they can make more money by dressing their CEO's in clown suits instead of a suit and tie then that is what is going to happen. We have the chance to show the other companies how much of a success using services like GOG.com, KickStarter.com, and HumbleBundle.com can be to their revenue stream and they will be paying attention to that more than anything! They only include DRM because they think it actually protects them, but in cases like this, it might be in our best interests to offer a little breathing room!
If It was $.01, I would start buying thousands of copies for $.01 apiece and throwing them away, because that's what I think of DRM.
I can understand how some of the idealists are upset.. But frankly I could care less.. I've bought a few humble bundles now and the main reason is because a portion of the proceeds (or all if you wish) goes to charity. I also like this pay what you can type model. Quite honestly I haven't played many of the games but if they look semi interesting i'll by them on the off chance I will.
This deal seems to be the best value yet, so I paid more than I normally would.
"Thanks to the remote control I have the attention span of a gerbil."
I think that some leniency is advised.
The Humble Bundle has been a resounding success when it comes to pushing forward indie multiplatform studios but there is no reason why they shouldn't test some new grounds. In my opinion, what they offer here is another groundbreaking thing - a major game studio offering their games (and not poor stuff no one would buy) at an indiscriminate price. This is an unprecedented thing that can shape the way games are priced in the future and you guys all complain about the fact that the games don't run un Linux.
Come on - I'm a Mac user and I still bought the thing as a gift to a friend just to show my support. This is exactly what we all should be supporting if we want to see progress. Of course on the first attempt THQ will not be willing to shell the incredible amount of money it would take to create viable ports for Linux & Mac but this is a first step towards something better and all you do is just complain that we are not there just yet. I really applaud this effort and I think it is a milestone instead of being a step back for the Humble Bundle.
does really anyone play that crap?
The first Humble Bundles supported Desura, and direct download.
For those who don't know it, Desura is like a DRM-neutral Steam, and was friendly with indie devs before Steam was. The client has also been open-sourced, and has been cross platform since the first HB.
Several HBs ago, they dropped desura- so they became steam&tar.gz.
Desura is quite cool, since I just had to put my username, password, and got a list of games ready to download+play on any of my PCs.
Since they dropped desure, I stopped buying from them. It's like they showed preference to Steam over Desura; they showed preference to a DRM-based game-distribution-sytem over a DRM-neutral one.
... I intend to pirate the games and then just give some money direct to a charity :-)
There are quite a few ways to look at this and putting them all together still leaves me feeling a bit uneasy and with the idea that this isn't a good direction for HumbleBundles.
I'll start with the beneficial - I am not against the fact that major publishers have finally seen the allure of the "pay what you want" dynamic. This should be a victory! Major publishers and (hopefully, in the future) Studios, sans publishers, will see that even for major AAA titles, "pay what you want, give some to charity" etc... is a good model. We shouldn't rebuke THQ for moving down this road.
Now the neutral - The game selection itself is decent, but lets remember that these titles are all older and "out of season", likely tossed into this bundle by THQ to hope to pick up a few sales from the pay-as-you-will crowd - these aren't top tier, recently released games. I'm less enthralled that they've not include the "Complete Edition' or whatnot of Saint's Row: The Third. The game has tons and tons of minutia sold as paid DLC and users are going to find they've a LOT to buy. Likewise, I would have liked to see Darkstalkers 2 and all its DLC included as well. THQ is known for having absolutely obscene amounts of DLC in some cases and quite honestly, i'd rather see those titles not part of the bundle at all if they can't be included as a "complete" version.
However, herein lies the negative - I do feel that the failure is in the bundle being 1) DRM required and 2) Windows only, is completely unacceptable. Personally, I'd like to see everything open source/creative commons as well, but I can live without that. However, HumbleBundle has always been very vocal that DRM-freedom (with the option for Steam keys for those who wish them offered) and cross-platform use is an integral part of their bundle and I feel those behind HB are diluting the meaning of their platform by shirking that when some AAA money falls across their plate. Rather, HumbleBundle should have used their success to bargain with THQ and let them know they'd be willing to deal, if THQ would be willing to allow their games to be sold DRM-free and at least start working on ports to Linux and OSX. If they weren't open to it, they should have turned them away. There are plenty of other "pay what you want" clones that have sprung up that don't have the ethical focus that HumbleBundle has always acted in deference, so THQ could have gone elsewhere. By accepting THQ's standard slop, they're weakening their own position as a paragon of the community.
From personal experience I've turned down a lot of money to alter one of my ventures into something considerably more "evil" in return for them handing me a big wad of cash, but I knew that in the long term I'd not only be selling out my own ethics, but part of the "movement" as well and even from a business sense, I'd lose those who came to my venture because of its ethical underpinning and I wouldn't stand out in the "normal/common/evil corporatist crap" market, so I'd lose financially in the long run as well. Its sad to see this happen with HumbleBundle and I feel it is important for all of us who bought from them not just because it was cheap or pay what you want to contact them and show our concern.
We need to try to ground them and not to let the financial success of this go to their heads - of course they're going more people than usual paying a few bucks for AAA games they've heard of, but remember that many of these titles are available near to as cheap during Steam Sales and other options. The Humble crew has no future in being just another seller of proprietary, Windows-only, DRM laced games that are old enough for AAA publishers to be willing to let the "pay as ye wilt" crowd invigorate them a bit. Without the Humble-ethics bringing supporters to open their wallets, they're going to have to end up competing with Steam, GoG and the like and that won't work out to their benefit; worse, I don't want to see them as just another vendor of the same old crap. Even worse, i
You may have found your thesaurus, but you should look in your dictionnary, because they are neither arrogant nor greedy.
It's not the first time EFF is not in the charities, it's up to the devs of the bundle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE
How exactly does this fit with "Humble Bundle?". DRM, non-indie, and single platform? There is plenty of that main-stream. This is not a good sign.
The Humble Bundle changed, or sold out if you like, long ago. This isn't a real surprise. The Humble Bundle is run by Wolfire Games. Their previous, and pretty much only, product being Lugaru, a game with bad graphics where you play a ninja rabbit (yes, really). They've announced a couple other games, for example Overgrowth, but nothing has been released. Overgrowth was announced in 2008 and is still in alpha.
It should be no surprise they haven't had a ton of commercial success.
Well the Humble Bundle was quite a success. Most people left them a reasonable percentage as a tip, so they made quite a bit of money on it, and this has continued with later bundles. In general, the more a bundle sells, the more they make since most don't change the percentages.
So while the first bundle was purely indy titles that almost nobody had heard of (including their own) and source code was offered by some devs at certain levels, after that it has started going far more mainstream.
The reason is this isn't some big developer/publisher with tons of money that is doing this as a fun side thing, this is a little developer who has made FAR more doing this than ever on their games.
they're putting up a bunch of their stuff for darn near free. It's Windows only and DRM'd because that's what they already had ready to go. I think it's a bit much to ask for them to port the games to Mac and strip the DRM off Windows for a charity event....
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I'll buy another if its DRM free multi platform.
Originally I thought this was some kind of December Fools joke early. It wasn't. The horror of it all. I wonder how much M$ paid them (look at the wingdingz 8 logo at the top.)
What they lack in quality, they make up in quantity?
Would I like cross-platform/DRM free? Sure. But sweet f*ck, come on. All this impotent Nerd Rage over a bundle that's selling like crazy. We can pick our own price on some A list games and get 7 of them for pennies on the dollar of retail.
How about everyone here bitching about "principles" use all this anger for something that will make a g*d damn difference in the world. For all the energy that gets spent on stupid shit like this, we could have cured cancer by now. And I don't mean cancer researchers. I mean the people on this forum who are so pissed off about a company "going against principles".
Including myself.
I'm out of here to go do something that makes a difference.
You forgot ZeniMax/Bethesda
The Indie game has had a long run on the Windows platform before it becomes part of the Humble Bundle. That said, the return on sales to the Windows gamer has always been about 3/4 of the whole. The return from the Linux gamer about 1/8 of the whole.
The obvious conclusion to be drawn from looking at the HB stats is that. while the Linux gamer will pay generously for the steeply discounted Linux port , the Linux market remains pathetically small.
The Humble Bundle has been looking rather stale and predictable of late ---- with many games making a return engagement. Either the pool of quality Indie titles is smaller than their fans may be willing to admit or the Indie developer is finding newer and more profitable outlets for promotional sales.
As I post, the new Windows-only Humble Bundle has sold over 320,000 units. currently at a rate of 2 sales a second or better, and is closing in fast on its first $2 million in sales, with twelve days yet to go.
It's coming up to Christmas time - why dilute the charities that really need Christmas boosts with one that doesn't? As for the DRM, it's already in the games - why would a company, that is in dire financial straits, spend $$$ to remove DRM from games just for a short sale?
it doesn't seem very humble to make this about indie's, linux or DRM. For me the spirit is about charities more then some technicalities. The complaining will do more harm for those causes then for humble bundle releasing this bundle from a general public pov.
It also struck me as odd because one of the main selling points in the gaming community is that you can get steamkeys... . And seeing how succesfull this bundle is, boy what a mistake...
They are a distributor. Publishers put up the money for a game to be made, and handle marketing and all that. Wolfire is just a distributor.
I'm not hating on them for making money, just pointing out what is going on. If someone like Valve was doing this, well then sure people might be surprised. After all they've all the money in the world so if they started a special indy, DRM free, thing it would be because they believed in the cause.
However Wolfire has had little commercial success. They haven't released many games and the ones they have really haven't had much appeal. So then they came across something that makes them much more money, and they are going in on it far more.
People shouldn't be surprised if they decide they'd rather make money by selling bigger name stuff than sticking to principles.
Didn't own a single game from this bundle and just gave $6 to charity, all good. But i also dislike the whole DRM deal they got going with this. But it still is an awesome bundle.
I can't decide what would make the bigger statement; ignoring this bundle completely, or buying it for 1 penny and marking myself a linux user...
What a Steaming piece of bundle.
I'm just completely bemused by the seeming response.
THQ did a good thing. Somebody within the company went to bat for this, made it happen, and people respond like this?
FFS.
I've bought all the Android bundles and the first two PC bundles, because I generally like indie games (and these bundles have included quite a few gems). This bundle, however, is filled with games I feel no desire to play.
But they ARE games many other people, including most of my friends, would like to play. So I forwarded the newsletter to those friends. Chances are some will buy it (even if the ~$6 to include the extra game is too steep, $1 for the rest is damn cheap) and some will subscribe to the newsletter. Next time these hard core gamers get an offer to buy a bunch of indie games for cheap (especially for mobile), I'm sure some of them will buy it too.
This THQ deal basically gives HB lots of "free" marketing, which will likely end up benefitting future Indie bundles.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
Dammit, I bought this exact pack in the summer sale!
It's not about THQ getting money or not. By paying for this you're basically saying it's okay for HiB to sell DRM'ed Win-only game subscriptions (seriously, look up Steam license, you're not actually buying games). There is no other meaning to this.
but allocated the price to charity and HB. For indie bundles I pay between $30-40 with the default allocation; I figure a >100Mil/year corporation is mostly in this niche market for the free publicity anyway.
There is a reason for this non-indie bundle. THQ is on the verge of bankruptcy. This is basically their last attempt at getting some much-needed money so that they can release their in-development games (such as the South Park RPG) instead of going under. I suppose they contacted the humble bundle guys and made them an offer in percentages that they couldn't refuse.
I still think they should have called it something else than "Humble Bundle", maybe make another catchy name for enterprise sponsored bundles, but I don't think it was a bad idea by itself. If THQ can get say, 5 or 10 millions from the bundle, it might just allow them to turn around and come back to profitability.
Religion is the best example of mass psychosis
God forbid a company only meets like 99% of your criteria "But it's not my FAVORITE thing!!" - Louis CK
Maybe the message is that the EFF probably wouldn't want money raised from the sale of drm encumbered games?
I wouldn't be surprised if the Humble Bundle people had specifically checked that with the EFF before proceeding.
The cool thing that made HB cool was it tried to be all-platform-inclusive while promoting indie software while remaining DRM free. Pay-what-you-want and charitable contributions were also a big plus. I felt warm and fuzzy buying HBs.
If I were to buy this Bundle I'd just feel like a tool. THQ or not, it's totally out of spirit with what HB initially represented.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
What's there to be humble about?
From ArsTechnica:
UPDATE
In a response to Ars, Humble Bundle co-founder John Graham assured users the company will "never stop creating Humble Indie Bundles... and the other bundle types we've successfully launched this year. But we’re also eager to see if our pay-what-you-want plus charity model meshes with critically acclaimed AAA content as well."
Graham said the new THQ bundle did not represent a permanent departure from the company's indie roots, and that the company may even release a third indie bundle this year. "This year has also been a year of many experiments for us that fall outside the traditional Humble Indie Bundle framework," Graham told us. "We’re very excited to be able to offer the gaming community a massive sale with blockbuster content and raise money for charity at the same time. We will of course continue to support indies content as a core of our business."
Regarding the lack of Mac and Linux ports this time around, Graham said plainly that, "in the case of this promotion, it would not have been possible for us to deliver this blockbuster content via other means." But Graham also promised the Humble Bundle "will not cease in our quest to bring awesome content to Mac and Linux and Android," and pointed out that the Humble eBook Bundle contained the first digital publication of Neil Gaiman's graphic novel Signal to Noise.
I've faithfully bought all Humble bundles and registered as a linux user and was quite generous in the amount I've paid. However for this one I paid $.01 over the minimum and registered as a Winders user. I allocated all the money to go as a Humble Tip.
I started with nothing and have most of it left.
Look no one can debate the facts. This bundle is making more money than previous bundles and will likely end up dwarfing the previous totals. More money for charities is better than less money for charities. Well done HB.
My issue, and reason for not purchasing this installment is that it feels sordid. I use Linux, Windows and Android and appreciated past bundles because they catered for everyone. I was very happy to support a group that did not care which operating system I wanted to use. I liked reccommending the bundle to friends, perhaps gifting them a copy of a game they'd missed. So I always paid a few quid more than the average as a result.
This bundle seems to have actively targeted one group in order to maximise how much money is made. The group that in all previous multi-platform bundles has paid the least per person (I mean look at the current average - less than $1 per game! - how can anyone pretend the average backer is "charitable"?). The group which always paid the most per person has been excluded. As someone who has tried bundle games on both Linux and Windows, I can say that this group not only gave more, but did so for games that were often riddled with bugs. But I digress.
This bundle is not in the spirit of previous bundles. It does not promote fairness and generosity. It is merely milking a cash cow. There are plenty of other charitable groups to support while the Humble Bundle gets a grip.
Yeah, dropping the no-DRM option and the EFF aren't great but I'm looking at the whole picture and I see no reason not to give them money.
THQ is one of the nicer publishers and not seeing them go under is a good thing. I can even see this being positive for the entire games market (from a gamer's perspective); more competition means more innovation.
As for the DRM... Well, it's Steam. It's already the "I could get this without DRM but Steam is more comfortable and hassle-free enough for me not to care" DRM. I can live with that. I can even live with the Windows-only nature of those games as a one-off thing.
In the end I guess this time I'll give a smaller amount to the HB team than usual but that's about it. Neither will I reduce any amount to zero (Bad THQ! How dare you try to keep yourself afloat through consumer-friendly offers?), nor will I stop paying attention to Humble Bundles altogether. I don't demand perfect karma from people I do business with; "mostly good" is still reasonable.
As long as the THQ bundle is a one-off affair I'm perfectly fine with it.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Spent $20 on one of their "indi" games, and it was really an alpha. Full of bugs and features that basically made you have to restart the game every 5 minutes. I could get through one mission much less the compaign. AI was about worthless. I didn't post on the forums for support because many others with exactly the same issues had posted and instead of receiving support, they're issue was treated as if they committed blasphemy against the all holy of indi games. The non-working AI was excused by supporters as being not needed because you should have someone come over to your house and play with you.
I decided to buy this Windows/Steam bundle for $13.37 (about € 10,-) with the default split (THQ 8.69, charity 2.67, Humble tip 2.01) and was quite happy to see that on the download page you can still select your contribution to count as, for statistical purposes, for Linux. I'd be quite curious to see how many other folks did this.
Perfect is the enemy of done.
Geek card hand-in time!
Pulling up firebug, we can see the stats update is a constant swarm of data in the form: [[{"product": "thqbundle", "_timestamp": 1354300639, "stats": {"rawtotal": 2367272.1873848438, "goodwill": null, "numberofcontributions": {"windows": 370102, "mac": 30179, "total": 416354.0, "android": 0, "linux": 10563}, "rawplatformtotals": {"windows": 2076567.8200000001, "mac": 188377.39999999999, "android": 0.0, "linux": 72808.139999999999}}}],"13543006391584274"]
Now, on this we can see: "numberofcontributions": {"windows": 370102, "mac": 30179, "total": 416354.0, "android": 0, "linux": 10563}
But also: "rawplatformtotals": {"windows": 2076567.8200000001, "mac": 188377.39999999999, "android": 0.0, "linux": 72808.139999999999}
An educated guess takes the latter as the actual cash amounts, so the number of Linux-credited payments is 10563, 2.53% of the total.
We see that on average windows-based people spend $5.61 on the game but linux people $6.89. Of course these 'linux people' like yourself can only use the game on a windows box, but still, always good to see the numbers behind what is going on. (Also had some interesting looks at the PubNub system that is the backend for these stats. Very interesting system)
...
Awesome. Great find!
Perfect is the enemy of done.
but surely no more a 'publicity grab' than all the indie-game devs trying to make their mark?
*somebody* in THQ has pitched this on the basis they'll get a return on their property of "whatever people think it's worth", and I assume some drone piped up to say that "potentially we'll get nothing back" - just seems pathetic that some posters are gloating on the fact "They gave nothing to the dev" They made the game, they deserve something.
I *actively like Steam* This offer did nothing to dent that either. I paypal up, I get a code I copy&paste into Steam and OOOh there are the games.
(Hint, whining here about DRM counts as 0.)
It's not whining it's perfectly legitimate complaint despite your feeble attempt at spin.
Well not exactly with what you've said, but in how it impacts me.
Firstly - I've never had a problem with Steam. I buy games, it appears in my library and it's always loaded if I'm online, or not. I pay and it works. Not only works, but gives me greater convenience than a CD or a bunch of floppies - I get a definite advantage and I've yet to see a downside.
Doesn't make me a DRM fan though - I've had major issues with Origin (oooh a $5 voucher as compensation I can use to buy another game that won't f'in run etc).
I think the original posters selection of Steam and Spotify are valid - yes I know I'm risking being locked out if they screw up, but they haven't and I've got some massive benefits non-DRM platforms are unable to offer.
More to the point, I've stopped pirating certain items. Music (Spotify), Books (Kindle) & Games (Steam) - I can hand-on-heart state I've paid for every single one in the last 5 or so years. Films & TV... erm I'll plead the 5th on that.
It's not a money issue (although I'm sure that depends on personal circumstances), it's an objection to having arbitrary hurdles chucked between me and the media I want. I'm reasonably sure that I'm not alone in this stance. *Most* people don't have an issue with DRM per se. *Most* People actually wish to pay a fair price for the media they consume. If a service offers them the opportunity to do this, then they will - and they'll consume more.
Mainstream publishers are the 'real' bosses.
Assuming the point of Humble-bundles is to raise money for charity - then I'd assume they'd be gunning to get GTA-V and CoDx in bundles ooooh months before the publisher release. That's what would get them the most money.
In reality, I think the HBs are like Steam Sales - a chance to mop up the huge number of people who're aware your game was great, but never quite got around to buying it - but they get the benefit of a the charity-aura, and you feel a bit better about picking it up. The whole DRM & Indie component is entirely irrelevant to most purchasers. If anything getting SR3 into this bundle will get the attention of those who previously were completely unaware of Indie Games.
Shut up and buy the games if you want... I gave all my money to charity...If you want to be an asshat then don't buy the games. This is a non issue. Wait for the next bundle...Cry babies.
When the first bundle had a huge boost in last-minute sales after the devs offered to free the source of 4 of the 5 games, I had hoped, they would keep that. I was one of those who paid when they offered to free the games, and I’m pretty sure that they got a huge boost in people who knew the Humble Indie Bundle due to that.
But when the second did not offer freeing the source, I did not pay, and I feared they would go further down that track.
Now Steam comes to GNU/Linux, so being cross-plasform isn’t unique for the Humble Indie Bundle anymore. And they dropped cross-platform support and added DRM. Somehow I saw that coming
Well, they sell their brand while it still holds, but by doing that they burn the ones who brought them where they are today.
Never put effort in a project where you have to *trust* the creator to not misuse it. Free copyleft licenses are a safeguard for contributors - not only the coders, but also for those who promote the project.
Being unpolitical
means being political
without realizing it.
As for the DRM, it's already in the games - why would a company, that is in dire financial straits, spend $$$ to remove DRM from games just for a short sale?
Because it's worth a try, a roll of the dice to see if they win big? It's not like they have a lot to lose.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Maybe the message is that the EFF probably wouldn't want money raised from the sale of drm encumbered games?
The real message is that Wolfire/Humble Bundle just diluted their brand, which was going gangbusters, and now has controversy. Good for a quick buck, but is it worth it in the long run, to erode the perception that their mission is to take and hold the moral high ground?
I say, they just opened the door to some new group would will come out with the "Honest Bundle" or similar, and make a much better effort to stay on-message.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
It's a non-issue, because as every other whining FSF lacky fails to grasp about anything related to proprietary software, you simply don't have to buy it if you don't approve of it. The world is not enslaved because a company decided to offer some good deals on some games. As as much as you hate it, thousands of people will buy and install these games, and there's nothing you can do about it. Plus, a charity got some donations out of it, so shut up. Any good done by this far outweighs your exaggerated fantasy of what this will result in.
Seriously, free software proponents are some of the more melodramatic hypocrites you will ever encounter in your life. They talk about freedom while aggressively pushing their agenda on anyone and anything they can. They remind me of Christians.
I don't see why people are complaining, they are steam keys and you are can control what you pay on it, you could pay something like a buck for all but SR3 if you want and just over 5 bucks if you want SR3- it is cheaper than going to a gamestop bargain bin and if you are upset about the
I've already got all but two of them, but it's still a great price and a nice gesture on THQ's part. It really is a pretty genius move on their part, as most people aren't going to buy those older games for the full price on steam, and it gives them some good publicity.
They aren't getting any more tips from me as long as they keep doing Bundles like this. Ever. I'd get this if there was an option to give it all to EFF, but there isn't.
#firstworldproblems all up in this comments section
The nerdrage at HumbleBundle is extremely undeserved. For the game it's a great deal on some a higher tier of games. For THQ it's a chance to get some of that Humble Bundle Developer money. All these bundles tend to make the developers more money than they lose pricing so low. You're not punishing anyone by skipping. I punish the industry more by refusing to buy Call of Duty. My favorite part about the rage is how many people seem to think that Humble Bundle is a store. All this "I'll never shop here again" nonsense. It's not a store. They offer bundles from time to time, you buy or you don't buy. HB never had a mandate to serve linux only customers or a promise of DRM free games. Heck I remember the annoyance when some of the bundles don't come with steam codes (other bundle sites I think). If the beloved Steam DRM is really so offensive to you it's much easier to just not buy. You never had to buy every single bundle.
Just another second banana
My favorite part about the rage is how many people seem to think that Humble Bundle is a store.
See, Humble Bundle actually is a business. So there's no controversy: they're only doing what makes them money.
What's happening is actually the opposite: many people DON'T understand that Humble Bundle is a business. Many nerds thought HB is some sort of ideological movement or activist group. (advice for nerds: if you want to support an ideal, don't support a business which you don't control - support non-profit organizations, preferably ones you can control)
But hey, if the nerds want to rage and boycott, that's fine too. Again it's just business. Sometimes businesses fail, unfortunate but it's part of life.
And BTW, they added Titan's Quest and Red Faction DLC to the bundle (for those who paid above average). Even those who paid before can get them (hope you kept your email)!