The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
[STEAM] Summer Sale is in full swing. Current Contests now featured in OP (λ)
Decoy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Current Contests
If you're running a contest, please PM me you post, so I can add it to the list. As well as the winner when you end it, so know to close it out.
If you are going to run a contest, please ask that all entries be submitted by PM only. Mods have expressed that pages filled with pictures and videos will result in no more public contests within the thread. Your assistance and understanding is greatly appreciated.
DiamondGFX - Amnesia
Source
UreshiiAkuma - Mass Effect 2
Source
Bullio - Sanctum
Source
Shadowfire - Splinter Cell: Conviction Digital Deluxe Edition
Source
If you're running a contest, please PM me you post, so I can add it to the list. As well as the winner when you end it, so know to close it out.
If you are going to run a contest, please ask that all entries be submitted by PM only. Mods have expressed that pages filled with pictures and videos will result in no more public contests within the thread. Your assistance and understanding is greatly appreciated.
DiamondGFX - Amnesia
Source
DiamondGFX wrote: »CONTEST TIME
You are alone in a dark and musty [castle,house,asylum,spaceship,etc]. You can't remember your name, or why you are here. You've travelled through the various corridors, hearing faint sounds in the distance. Suddenly, a shadow moves across your field of view! You turn the opposite way and RUN! You find a room with a desk, a closet, and nothing else. You're alone, unarmed, and terrified. You grab the desk, block the door with it, and dash into the closet.
As you sit there, heart racing, trying to hold your breath, wallowing in a puddle of your own cowardice ("Hey! That wasn't cowardice!"), you hear the desk move and the door creak open. You peer through a small crack in the closet door only to see...
What is on the other side of the closet door? What fevered nightmare has chased you to this tomb?
Best answer will receive a copy of Amnesia!
UreshiiAkuma - Mass Effect 2
Source
UreshiiAkuma wrote: »Contest Time!
Prize: Mass Effect 2
As one of those obnoxious proud new parents, I need a good caption to go along with my new avatar!
Funny, cute, silly, profound ... whatever you think works best.
Rules:
1) PM me your entry and SteamName
2) Be sure to friend me (BoofBoofski, see sig) in Steam.
3) Should be a PA community member (lurkers are ok, as long as you've been around for more than a few days :P)
4) Contest will go until at least 8PM Eastern today.
5) I'll pick my favorite caption as the winner.
EDIT:
Here is a bigger version:
Bullio - Sanctum
Source
I was going to do this during the second chance sale, but the Yankees game is postponed so fuck it.
Sanctum Contest (second chance)
I'm having a hard time with thinking up a quick contest idea, so to enter PM me an idea for a Steam game giveaway contest. Whichever one I like best wins a copy of Sanctum. Deadline is 10pm ET. Usual rules about forum membership/activity and ease of access to Steam profile apply.
Shadowfire - Splinter Cell: Conviction Digital Deluxe Edition
Source
Shadowfire wrote: »CONTEST TIME!
You are a spy. Or, you were. Top of your class at the academy, always setting the records in training exercises, and schooling the new guys on all the protocol. Now you're old and angry, but no less capable of shooting people. So you say, anyway. But I don't believe your old ass was ever a spy. You went to North Korea and stopped world war III? Shut the fuck up and prove it, old man.
Convince me. The funnier the better. The winner gets a shiny copy of Splinter Cell: Conviction Digital Deluxe Edition and can continue stealthy-shooting mans.
That said, when there are winners, there are losers. And I still think your old ass is lying. When your "proof" is a terrible YouTube video or other non-entertaining entry, the entire thread will know of your failure. You will relive your real military history; exploits as chronicled in the Chrome/Chrome: Specforce bundle. Not only will these games sully your good games list, but you must play them and post screenshots with captions. One way or another, you will entertain me.
Edit: Contest ends at 11pm tonight (or, 3.5 hours from now).
Steam Summer Sale Advice...
If you are unable to send someone a gift directly via a Steam purchase, send it to yourself via email. After the transaction goes through you should be able to send out the gift normally through your "Manage Gifts and Guest Passes" screen.
If there is an individual game that is discounted by some percentage, like 25% or 33%, you'd best wait until the LAST DAY OF THE SALE to prevent heartbreak and disappointment. There is a chance that those games will go on as some sort of daily deal, depending on the age of the title and other factors.
Try to limit the amount of purchases you make per day, as Steam is a real dick about multiple charges to the same line of payment within short amounts of time. THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO IS MAKE STEAM THINK SOMEONE HIJACKED YOUR ACCOUNT. It's probably best to load money into your Steam Wallet. Not only will this lessen the amount of charges, but hopefully keep your spending in check.... Hopefully.
Spending the tickets you get from doing the daily camp activities doesn't removed them from your entries into the Grand Prize Giveaway. So by all means, cash them out.
Camp Activity achievements from past days can still be completed after the days they are posted.
Lastly, the Summer Sale is a marathon, not a sprint. So pace your wallets.
For the sake of the thread...
If you are wanting to participate in a public contest, please make all of your submissions by PM to the person running the contest.
There are tons of generous people in this thread. More than I can name. I know a lot of us here struggle financially (myself included), but come on, please try and refrain from flat out asking for someone to give you a game. Regardless of whether it's tongue in cheek or not, there is bound to be a contest going on that you can be apart of in hopes of getting something.
If you receive a game or pack via a gift or a contest, remember to thank that person either through a PM or by announcing it in the thread. We are classy gentlemen and will act as such.
If you are unable to send someone a gift directly via a Steam purchase, send it to yourself via email. After the transaction goes through you should be able to send out the gift normally through your "Manage Gifts and Guest Passes" screen.
If there is an individual game that is discounted by some percentage, like 25% or 33%, you'd best wait until the LAST DAY OF THE SALE to prevent heartbreak and disappointment. There is a chance that those games will go on as some sort of daily deal, depending on the age of the title and other factors.
Try to limit the amount of purchases you make per day, as Steam is a real dick about multiple charges to the same line of payment within short amounts of time. THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO IS MAKE STEAM THINK SOMEONE HIJACKED YOUR ACCOUNT. It's probably best to load money into your Steam Wallet. Not only will this lessen the amount of charges, but hopefully keep your spending in check.... Hopefully.
Spending the tickets you get from doing the daily camp activities doesn't removed them from your entries into the Grand Prize Giveaway. So by all means, cash them out.
Camp Activity achievements from past days can still be completed after the days they are posted.
Lastly, the Summer Sale is a marathon, not a sprint. So pace your wallets.
For the sake of the thread...
If you are wanting to participate in a public contest, please make all of your submissions by PM to the person running the contest.
There are tons of generous people in this thread. More than I can name. I know a lot of us here struggle financially (myself included), but come on, please try and refrain from flat out asking for someone to give you a game. Regardless of whether it's tongue in cheek or not, there is bound to be a contest going on that you can be apart of in hopes of getting something.
If you receive a game or pack via a gift or a contest, remember to thank that person either through a PM or by announcing it in the thread. We are classy gentlemen and will act as such.
Most Frequently Asked Questions
1. Steam's search tool is cumbersome and not very informative. Is there a website, other than Steam's, I can go to find out what's on sale?
There are two:
SteamGameSales.com
Didimatic.com
2. Can I register this __Insert Game Here__ on Steam?
Here's a list of games you can register on Steam. You can always add a non-Steam game to your Steam games list, so that people can see you playing it.
3. If I buy a game pack that already includes a game I own, can I gift that game?
No, this was a one-time thing for people who already owned Half-Life 2 and bought the Orange Box. Additional copies you own are lost forever to the ether.
4. Why isn't __Insert Game Here__ available in my region?
Many Steam games might be unavailable in your country if you have the temerity to live outside of the United States. This is not Steam's fault. Regional game availability is determined solely by the publisher, who should be the source of your ire. Gifting works regardless of region so you might find some helpful person in North America who can gift you the game.
There are two:
SteamGameSales.com
Didimatic.com
2. Can I register this __Insert Game Here__ on Steam?
Here's a list of games you can register on Steam. You can always add a non-Steam game to your Steam games list, so that people can see you playing it.
3. If I buy a game pack that already includes a game I own, can I gift that game?
No, this was a one-time thing for people who already owned Half-Life 2 and bought the Orange Box. Additional copies you own are lost forever to the ether.
4. Why isn't __Insert Game Here__ available in my region?
Many Steam games might be unavailable in your country if you have the temerity to live outside of the United States. This is not Steam's fault. Regional game availability is determined solely by the publisher, who should be the source of your ire. Gifting works regardless of region so you might find some helpful person in North America who can gift you the game.
Helpful Stuff
Steam Price Guide
Do you have the misfortune to live somewhere other than America? Steam hates you! Luckily, this cool website with prices for Steam games all around the world is here to help, so you can know if you want to ask an American friend to buy the game for you or not.
electricitylikesme wrote: »AUSTRALIANS!!!!
You need this program.
It reconfigures your Windows IPSEC settings (run it as an admin) to block out all but the servers which don't count towards your download quota on Steam. Now supports a bunch of ISPs through a graphical interface.
Basically guarantees you won't add to your download quota with Steam.
150KB/s
Download TCPview: TCPView
Then, use TCPview (run as admin if you're on Vista) to close all Steam TCP servers (this is important, NOT the UDP ones, just the TCP ones). Steam will then reconnect to a different server, which will hopefully get you a better speed. If you don't go faster in a couple of seconds, retry until you get a speed you like.
This shit totally needs to go into the OP, I've tipped this to so many people already.
Cool Community Add-Ons
Steam Signatures
With such a cool service, someone must have done some extra things to build on it. The forums have one such man, who made some super cool Steam signatures. Suds is his name and killing is his game. Except for the killing. The signatures automatically use backgrounds for the games and the correct icon. Pretty neat, and they're 100% free!
Sample signature:
Avatars
http://www.ddgamer.com/signatures.php. Select Avatar from the drop down list.
You need to delete your Avatar under:
Edit Avatar
Then add that URL in the Avatar URL field in:
Edit Your Details
Also, the border changes colour based on if you're online, offline or in-game.
Steam Calculator
You can also use a script on his Steam Calculator page to see how much your Steam account would be worth if you had taken advantage of some obscure, arcane combination of special deals that nobody could ever have taken advantage of. Or something sort of like that.
With such a cool service, someone must have done some extra things to build on it. The forums have one such man, who made some super cool Steam signatures. Suds is his name and killing is his game. Except for the killing. The signatures automatically use backgrounds for the games and the correct icon. Pretty neat, and they're 100% free!
Sample signature:
Avatars
http://www.ddgamer.com/signatures.php. Select Avatar from the drop down list.
You need to delete your Avatar under:
Edit Avatar
Then add that URL in the Avatar URL field in:
Edit Your Details
Also, the border changes colour based on if you're online, offline or in-game.
Steam Calculator
You can also use a script on his Steam Calculator page to see how much your Steam account would be worth if you had taken advantage of some obscure, arcane combination of special deals that nobody could ever have taken advantage of. Or something sort of like that.
Decoy on
0
Posts
BATMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN
But still no Morrowind or Witcher, damn.
Even thouugh I own most of them.
This going to get lost in the shuffle, but Atom Zombie Smasher is an amusing little game.
Steam ID: Good Life
Oh look, that borked Spiral Knights ticket achievement is back.
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
Yes. Absolutely, yes. You don't want to play with the bots. For the love of all that is holy.
Definitely grabbing Atom Zombie Smasher, glad to see Batman is cheap (I have it: YES, YES IT IS WORTH $7.50), and am a bit annoyed that Sims 3 is listed as a "franchise sale" when the full pack itself hasn't budged from the $80 they were asking for it at the start. Hoping it drops a little further, but might just have to bite the bullet and snag it at that price. For my girlfriend. Totally for her.
>.>
<.<
Pondering Prototype and the GTA pack, but I've got plenty of games banked so I figure I might just hold off and hope for some solid discounts at the end of the year with the Thanksgiving and Winter sales so close together.
Oh, and yes, Maddoc has graciously tossed up a Killing Floor server for our communal use!
I haven't used it much, but it should be there for us to tear up should people feel so inclined.
The PA Steam group for L4D is still very (hyper)active but only if you're looking for Versus games in L4D2.
Playing co-op with pubbies is, to put it mildly, a mixed bag.
You can play with bots, which is less satisfying but also less rage-inducing.
No, but it's more fun, and the PA group is still bustling with activity.
Goddammit they did it again.
I don't want GTA IV Complete, I just want the Episodes to go on sale. What would be so hard about putting them on sale separately too?
Steam - Wildschwein | The Backlog
Grappling Hook Showdown - Tumblr
Expensive games today!
Jamestown! ... Now I don't have any games I want to buy.
And coming from someone that has clocked more than 200 hours to Killing Floor, KF for less than 4 USD is a steal.
There's an active PA L4D group? can someone swing me an invite? I haven't been able to get into L4D2 as much as I'd like, but I logged an obscene number of hours on the original when it first came out.
There goes the last of my steam cash. Is killing floor worth a look?
Killing Floor is awesome and totally worth full price, it's a fucking steal right now.
Also, Far Cry 1 for 2.50. I'll be damned if that isn't tempting.
Mike's Dangerous Batman Giveaway
Guys, I love Batman. Noir sorta-low-tech old-timey Batman. High-tech JLA Batman. Lovecraftian The Doom That Came to Gotham Batman. (Seriously, look this up, it's awesome.) Kevin Conroy "I AM THE NIGHT" Batman. Christian Bale "DO I LOOK LIKE A COP?!" Batman. Michael Keaton "Because I bought it in Japan." Batman. Even Val Kilmer "Chicks love the car" Batman.
Send me your favorite Batmoment, movies, TV, or (of course) comix. If you have the most awesome moment or think like me and pick the moment I almost posted instead of that Batman Begins scene, I will give you Batman: Arkham Asylum, and you, too, can leap off buildings while humming The Animated Series theme song.
Some disclaimers:
- If there are two people who are tied (both have awesome moments or both picked my Secret Moment), I will resort to random.org.
- You should be a long-time member (that is to say, I'd like to see a high post count or a join date from Long Ago). If I see some dude who joined 2 weeks ago and has 4 posts, he is going to be cleaning up guano in the Batcave.
- Entries should be sent as PMs to me. If my PM inbox fills up (I don't think it will but You Never Know), I will leave a post directing people to my email instead.
- Contest ends at 9 PM tonight, when I will dart out of a high society event while the Batsignal shines in the sky.
Under games->manage gifts and gift passes, does it allow you to resend?
Now, it's single player and many such checks are in place to prevent multiplayer shenanigans, but I'd hate to see her account locked (and waste $80) because Steam threw a fit because she added in a bunch of extra models from the Sims community.
The direct route would be to ask her about it (if nothing else, if she'd care to have the package with the possibility of not being able to add in outside stuff) but as this would be a surprise gift I'm trying to save that as the last ditch effort.