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[STEAM] The Summer Camp Sale! Daily Activities metagame for prizes and games!

DecoyDecoy Registered User regular
edited July 2011 in Games and Technology
These links help make sense of the sale.

SteamGameSales.com

Didimatic.com


Steam Summer Sale Advice...

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.

For the sake of the thread...

Until things calm down, please hold off on running contests (this is merely a recommendation). When you do, for the sake of everyone, please don't require them to post anything in the thread. Rather ask them to PM you whatever funny/awesome/embarrassing thing you require. Feel free to post the Winner and their entry though.

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.




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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.


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.
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.

Ampix wrote: »
LaCabra wrote: »
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:
steam_sig.png

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
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Posts

  • -SPI--SPI- Osaka, JapanRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Solar 2 is a pretty neat little game. It's kind of like Osmos or FlOw, but with planets and stars. There's something amusing about predatory star systems, travelling the cosmos and picking off smaller systems or rogue planets.

    -SPI- on
  • Hahnsoo1Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Still waiting for the summer sale. If there is going to be one. I'm skeptical.

    Hahnsoo1 on
    8i1dt37buh2m.png
  • Triple BTriple B Bastard of the North MARegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Blue-dotting this shit for future purposes. :D

    I will also reiterate: GO BUY FEAR 3 NOW

    Triple B on
    Steam/XBL/PSN: FiveAgainst1
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I just finished the first level of Fear 3, and it was pretty impressive. Runs very well on my system, and jump kicking dudes in the face or stabbing them in the back is oh so satisfying.

    harvest on
    B6yM5w2.gif
  • HadjiQuestHadjiQuest Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    FEAR 3 is fancy.

    I hear Dungeon Siege 3 is a little problematic on PC, though. Had to pick between the two; think I made the right choice.

    HadjiQuest on
  • IslandIsland Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Blue dotting...etc, etc.....

    Tried TF2 for the first time... was fun, didnt really have any idea what I was doing, but got a few kills and achievements. Seems like it could get pretty addictive....I have too many games to play... therefore I NEED MORE!

    Island on
    camo_sig.png
  • Cannon GooseCannon Goose I need some GAGS! If only I had my gag book!Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Has anyone tried the co-op in FEAR 3?

    Cannon Goose on
  • chocoboliciouschocobolicious Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Sadly, having owned the first 2 fear games for quite a while now and playing neither, I doubt I'll be getting fear 3 anytime soon.

    chocobolicious on
    steam_sig.png
  • Maz-Maz- 飛べ Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I'm so bored, I need to play something.
    Unfortunately, I don't have anything to play.
    Summer sale can't come fast enough.

    Maz- on
    Add me on Switch: 7795-5541-4699
  • SoulGateSoulGate Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    You know, with a baby on the way, and my PC acting up as is, I'm not sure a summer sale is what I need. :P

    Let's hope there's no sale, so my baby can get the things she needs!

    SoulGate on
    steam_sig.png
  • BiopticBioptic Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Figgy wrote: »
    Mirror's Edge in the zombie survival genre. Someone make this.

    Yes. A thousand times yes. I can just picture that ad they had for the game with Faith leaping toward a mirrored glass building, except now there's tons of zombies falling off the building behind and when you look down you see crashed cars and hordes.
    I'd love more Mirror's Edge... Long as they take out the guns. the shooting was stupid. RUN WOMAN RUN.

    Yeah, if you were shooting you were pretty much doing it wrong, something that seemed to catch a lot of people offguard just because it was first person.

    I actually quite liked the format of "jump kick an enemy in the face, steal his gun, empty a few rounds into the couple of guys standing behind him, throw gun away" as long as you could do it all without losing momentum. But of course as soon as you screwed up, the game ground to a halt and became about tedious attrition.

    I do think you need some combat in there in order to make the game 1) commercially viable and 2) varied enough, but I can absolutely see them going with a pure martial arts focus this time - everything focusing on you building up enough momentum to barrel through enemies rather than stop and shoot. If they remove combat entirely, they need to introduce entirely new mechanics (like puzzle solving) that don't feel completely incongruous to the basic flow of the game.

    Bioptic on
  • -SPI--SPI- Osaka, JapanRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I just shot everyone to death asap with the biggest gun I could find so I could enjoy the platforming more.

    -SPI- on
  • chocoboliciouschocobolicious Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Bioptic wrote: »
    Figgy wrote: »
    Mirror's Edge in the zombie survival genre. Someone make this.

    Yes. A thousand times yes. I can just picture that ad they had for the game with Faith leaping toward a mirrored glass building, except now there's tons of zombies falling off the building behind and when you look down you see crashed cars and hordes.
    I'd love more Mirror's Edge... Long as they take out the guns. the shooting was stupid. RUN WOMAN RUN.

    Yeah, if you were shooting you were pretty much doing it wrong, something that seemed to catch a lot of people offguard just because it was first person.

    I actually quite liked the format of "jump kick an enemy in the face, steal his gun, empty a few rounds into the couple of guys standing behind him, throw gun away" as long as you could do it all without losing momentum. But of course as soon as you screwed up, the game ground to a halt and became about tedious attrition.

    I do think you need some combat in there in order to make the game 1) commercially viable and 2) varied enough, but I can absolutely see them going with a pure martial arts focus this time - everything focusing on you building up enough momentum to barrel through enemies rather than stop and shoot. If they remove combat entirely, they need to introduce entirely new mechanics (like puzzle solving) that don't feel completely incongruous to the basic flow of the game.

    I dunno, the only 'puzzles' you need is to add a bit more open ended variety to the levels and make it so you cant just shoot your way out. That way it becomes all about avoiding people, not getting shot, and finding creative paths past road blocks and other such things. Which could be a lot of fun if handled well.

    chocobolicious on
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  • emp123emp123 Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I hope the FEAR pack is on sale during the Summer Sale, I regret passing on it even though I probably wouldnt have played it yet if I had purchased it.

    emp123 on
  • MaddocMaddoc I'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother? Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I just disarmed people and tossed their guns away as I ran past them.

    There was never even the slightest need to fire a single bullet in Mirror's Edge, and often trying to do so would fuck you more than anything else.

    Maddoc on
  • Renegade WolfRenegade Wolf Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Island wrote: »
    Blue dotting...etc, etc.....

    Tried TF2 for the first time... was fun, didnt really have any idea what I was doing, but got a few kills and achievements. Seems like it could get pretty addictive....I have too many games to play... therefore I NEED MORE!

    I was so lost playing TF2 for the first time. In fact, last time I played after not playing for ages I was incredibly lost again because of the huge amount of new weapons.

    Renegade Wolf on
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I think "drive a [steam] train" should be the title.

    Antihippy on
    10454_nujabes2.pngPSN: Antiwhippy
  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Island wrote: »
    Blue dotting...etc, etc.....

    Tried TF2 for the first time... was fun, didnt really have any idea what I was doing, but got a few kills and achievements. Seems like it could get pretty addictive....I have too many games to play... therefore I NEED MORE!

    I was so lost playing TF2 for the first time. In fact, last time I played after not playing for ages I was incredibly lost again because of the huge amount of new weapons.

    It's really best to stick with one class in the beginning, I think. I still find the engineer a bit intimidating to play as, and I've had the same since their public beta.

    And that reminds me: we should be getting the TF2 "Meet the Medic" video today!

    SteevL on
  • AsheAshe Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I have a buncha games in my backlog I could be playing right now. But instead I'm reading the Steam thread hoping for a sale so I can add more stuff to my backlog for MEGACHEAP.

    Also, all this Mirror's Edge chat has made me realise that is kicking around in the backlog somewhere, completely untouched. Maybe, just maybe...

    Ashe on
    steam_sig.png
  • chocoboliciouschocobolicious Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I dont have the PC version. I'm very sad. I hope I can snag it at some point.

    chocobolicious on
    steam_sig.png
  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    InkSplat wrote: »
    So, the Borderlands community is still pretty strong around here? If so, I might have to save up/snap it up if it goes on sale, as I've definitely been interested in it for a while now.

    I don't know how many people are actually playing it these days, but there are always people willing to talk about it in the thread. :)
    SoulGate wrote: »
    You know, with a baby on the way, and my PC acting up as is, I'm not sure a summer sale is what I need. :P

    Let's hope there's no sale, so my baby can get the things she needs!

    Your baby needs a copy of SpaceChem, Recettear and the whole King's Bounty series for only $5.

    Iolo on
    Lt. Iolo's First Day
    Steam profile.
    Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    If the trains start wearing hats, would even Bill Gates be able to purchase the complete Railworks pack?

    Icemopper on
  • BloodySlothBloodySloth Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    If there are people who don't own Recettear, they should feel bad about themselves. That game is charming as fuck.

    BloodySloth on
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    SteevL wrote: »
    Island wrote: »
    Blue dotting...etc, etc.....

    Tried TF2 for the first time... was fun, didnt really have any idea what I was doing, but got a few kills and achievements. Seems like it could get pretty addictive....I have too many games to play... therefore I NEED MORE!

    I was so lost playing TF2 for the first time. In fact, last time I played after not playing for ages I was incredibly lost again because of the huge amount of new weapons.

    It's really best to stick with one class in the beginning, I think. I still find the engineer a bit intimidating to play as, and I've had the same since their public beta.

    And that reminds me: we should be getting the TF2 "Meet the Medic" video today!

    Yeah, stick with one class, and don't worry about stuff like alternate weapons, the default weapons for each class are all good (and usually still the preferred ones). Personally I still don't have most of the alt-weapons, and I can't say I really care about them either.

    I'd suggest starting off as Heavy or Medic whilst you learn the maps and how the classes interact (fortunately, this is usually fast to pick up), but really, most classes are good for a beginner.

    Save more complex classes like the Spy until you're a bit more familiar with the game.

    subedii on
  • DecoyDecoy Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    subedii wrote: »
    Yeah, stick with one class, and don't worry about stuff like alternate weapons, the default weapons for each class are all good (and usually still the preferred ones). Personally I still don't have most of the alt-weapons, and I can't say I really care about them either.

    I'd suggest starting off as Heavy or Medic whilst you learn the maps and how the classes interact (fortunately, this is usually fast to pick up), but really, most classes are good for a beginner.

    Save more complex classes like the Spy until you're a bit more familiar with the game.

    Even after years of both TFC and TF2, I still suck as a spy. For some reason, no matter how many servers I join, the people I play against are never as dumb as the ones I see in the spy gameplay youtube videos. Hah.

    Decoy on
  • IslandIsland Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    subedii wrote: »

    Yeah, stick with one class, and don't worry about stuff like alternate weapons, the default weapons for each class are all good (and usually still the preferred ones). Personally I still don't have most of the alt-weapons, and I can't say I really care about them either.

    I'd suggest starting off as Heavy or Medic whilst you learn the maps and how the classes interact (fortunately, this is usually fast to pick up), but really, most classes are good for a beginner.

    Save more complex classes like the Spy until you're a bit more familiar with the game.

    Learning the maps seems to be the hardest part right now. Also am a little confused with all the weapons and stuff. I have a level 10 fire axe from a Rift order, and saw someone have the same axe but it said level 58? Do they level? Is this really a MMO in disguise?

    Island on
    camo_sig.png
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Yeah I've never been too good with Spy myself. But I've seen some pretty rockin' spies on the PA servers on occasion who really know how to take advantage of any window of opportunity you give them to mess your team up. Makes everyone a whole lot more paranoid and all of a sudden I'm switching to Pyro and trying to hang back and observe a bit more to identify likely troublemakers.

    EDIT: The levels are just a joke on MMO stats. Like the Heavy's Sandwich is called a "lvl 10 lunchbox item" IIRC. There's no weapon levelling here really.

    There are different weapon variations that have different stats and occasionally different purposes (The demoman can actually be completely re-equipped to be a melee character of all things), but in general, learning the default stuff will give you most of what you need to know.

    And yeah, learning the maps is probably the hardest part (especially on some of the more convoluted capture point maps), but in general, just follow the crowd.

    subedii on
  • BloodySlothBloodySloth Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Island wrote: »
    subedii wrote: »

    Yeah, stick with one class, and don't worry about stuff like alternate weapons, the default weapons for each class are all good (and usually still the preferred ones). Personally I still don't have most of the alt-weapons, and I can't say I really care about them either.

    I'd suggest starting off as Heavy or Medic whilst you learn the maps and how the classes interact (fortunately, this is usually fast to pick up), but really, most classes are good for a beginner.

    Save more complex classes like the Spy until you're a bit more familiar with the game.

    Learning the maps seems to be the hardest part right now. Also am a little confused with all the weapons and stuff. I have a level 10 fire axe from a Rift order, and saw someone have the same axe but it said level 58? Do they level? Is this really a MMO in disguise?

    The levels are kind of a joke. They don't mean anything.

    BloodySloth on
  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    If there are people who don't own Recettear, they should feel bad about themselves. That game is charming as fuck.

    What if I own it but haven't even tried playing it yet?

    SteevL on
  • CatalaseCatalase Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Fear was an amazing game. But I still haven't found time to play Fear 2 yet, so the third game is definitely getting a miss for now.

    Catalase on
    "Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination."
  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    SteevL wrote: »
    If there are people who don't own Recettear, they should feel bad about themselves. That game is charming as fuck.

    What if I own it but haven't even tried playing it yet?

    I think that means we win at Steam.

    Peewi on
  • emp123emp123 Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So that TF2 store thing, you pay real money to get stuff for the game right? Has this fucked up the games balance? I havent played TF2 in forever, despite collecting a hat here and there.

    emp123 on
  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    emp123 wrote: »
    So that TF2 store thing, you pay real money to get stuff for the game right? Has this fucked up the games balance? I havent played TF2 in forever, despite collecting a hat here and there.

    No, it has not fucked up game balance. You can still get everything through random drops, crafting and trading with other people.

    Peewi on
  • AlexAlex Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Catalase wrote: »
    Fear was an amazing game. But I still haven't found time to play Fear 2 yet, so the third game is definitely getting a miss for now.

    I'm only at interval 3 in Fear 2, and I'm loving it so far. The pop-scares have already made me jump and squeal twice, and I've been playing survival horror games since the first resident evil. I'd even go as far as to say I've been unsettled more by fear 2 so far than I have been the whole of Amnesia.

    Alex on
    steam_sig.png
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    emp123 wrote: »
    So that TF2 store thing, you pay real money to get stuff for the game right? Has this fucked up the games balance? I havent played TF2 in forever, despite collecting a hat here and there.

    It really hasn't.

    Pretty much most of the alt weapons can be found or crafted anyway, but you're never going to be at a disadvantage just by using the default weapons as it is (2 cents etc.). Mostly they just provide altered ways of playing the classes.


    I am genuinely surprised to hear that F3AR (Fathreeaarrr?) may actually be a good game. I don't think anyone was expecting that, especially after FEAR 2 dropped the ball a bit with the gameplay, and then the new game was passed to a different team.

    Will have to look it up.

    subedii on
  • IslandIsland Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    What game should I play? Fear or TF2? Fear or TF2? L4D2? Some indie game? Torchlight? SO MANY CHOICES.

    Seriously there are times where I just look at my backlog for 10 mins, then say fuck this and go watch TV.

    Island on
    camo_sig.png
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Island wrote: »
    What game should I play? Fear or TF2? Fear or TF2? L4D2? Some indie game? Torchlight? SO MANY CHOICES.

    Seriously there are times where I just look at my backlog for 10 mins, then say fuck this and go watch TV.

    When that happens, I tend to generate a random number to decide which Steam game in the list I should play. I match the number up with its corresponding title in the list. Then when I've found the game I should play, I throw away the random number and play some other game on my list because I now realise that's the one I actually wanted to play.

    Works every time, seriously.

    subedii on
  • IslandIsland Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    subedii wrote: »
    Island wrote: »
    What game should I play? Fear or TF2? Fear or TF2? L4D2? Some indie game? Torchlight? SO MANY CHOICES.

    Seriously there are times where I just look at my backlog for 10 mins, then say fuck this and go watch TV.

    When that happens, I tend to generate a random number to decide which Steam game in the list I should play. I match the number up with its corresponding title in the list. Then when I've found the game I should play, I throw away the random number and play some other game on my list because I now realise that's the one I actually wanted to play.

    Works every time, seriously.

    This intrigues me and will try this.

    Island on
    camo_sig.png
  • chocoboliciouschocobolicious Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Island wrote: »
    subedii wrote: »
    Island wrote: »
    What game should I play? Fear or TF2? Fear or TF2? L4D2? Some indie game? Torchlight? SO MANY CHOICES.

    Seriously there are times where I just look at my backlog for 10 mins, then say fuck this and go watch TV.

    When that happens, I tend to generate a random number to decide which Steam game in the list I should play. I match the number up with its corresponding title in the list. Then when I've found the game I should play, I throw away the random number and play some other game on my list because I now realise that's the one I actually wanted to play.

    Works every time, seriously.

    This intrigues me and will try this.

    Quicker/easier just to make a backloggery account, add all your steam games, then use the fortune cookie option to randomly pick one for you. That way it shows you a name and everything.. which you can then safely ignore and go play something else. On the plus side, backloggery is good for writing yourself notes so you know where in a game you are.

    chocobolicious on
    steam_sig.png
  • IslandIsland Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So the idea is to pick a game at random and then not actually play it but play a different game? Is this because you secretly want to play a game but you trick yourself into not playing anything?

    Would be easier if I would just let myself in on the secret.

    Island on
    camo_sig.png
This discussion has been closed.