# Steam holiday sale Dec 20-Jan 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864 "2010-12-20T19:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/141 "2010-12-27T19:22:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Digital delivery is changing the economics of PC gaming, make no mistake, and we’re just seeing the beginning of it. Absolutely. When the closest thing they have to manufacturing, packaging, and shipping costs is bandwidth, Steam can milk a title for all it’s worth. I picked up the Overlord pack the other day (both games and an expansion pack) for $3.00; back in the 90s, it would have cost more to _rent_ a single console game for two and half days. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is $2.49 today, and it’s still on many gamers’ top ten lists of all-time favorite games. I’m continually surprised by how quickly they slash prices, too. Street Fighter IV is still fairly new, but it’s already $14.99 today. Mass Effect 2 was, what, ten dollars earlier this week? That may be part of why older games have to be even cheaper. I see from this thread that I wasn’t the only one this week who looked at an offer and thought, “I dunno, ten bucks is kinda steep.” The crazy part is that I still have games that I picked up cheap last Christmas sale and haven’t had time to play yet (most notably Bioshock, Jade Empire, and four Prince of Persia games). But who can resist a sale? ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/142 "2010-12-27T19:30:20Z")
Anyone know if there is anyway to install games from steam to a different drive? My games drive is full, damned sales! :smack: Am I going to have to have multiple steam installs to do that? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/143 "2010-12-27T19:41:49Z")
> [@Spectralist](#): > > Anyone know if there is anyway to install games from steam to a different drive? My games drive is full, damned sales! :smack: Am I going to have to have multiple steam installs to do that? You can’t have multiple steam installs. If you have a larger drive you’d like to use instead, you can install steam on that drive. [Otherwise you’d have to use junctions.](http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1138731) ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/144 "2010-12-27T20:23:13Z")
An easier way would be to use a shell extension for symbolik links: [http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html](http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html) It’s what I do. Once installed, you’ll have a new right click option in windows explorer. Cut and paste the “Steamapps” folder to your new drive. then right click it and pick the “Link source” menu option. Then navigate back to the steam folder, right where “steamapps” used to be. Right click and choose “Drop symbolic link”. That’s it. As far as the OS is concerned, the steamapps folder lives in the steam install folder, even though really it lives in your spare drive. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/145 "2010-12-27T20:27:04Z")
Thanks ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/146 "2010-12-27T20:55:42Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > An easier way would be to use a shell extension for symbolik links: > > [Link Shell Extension](http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html) > > It’s what I do. > > Once installed, you’ll have a new right click option in windows explorer. Cut and paste the “Steamapps” folder to your new drive. then right click it and pick the “Link source” menu option. Then navigate back to the steam folder, right where “steamapps” used to be. Right click and choose “Drop symbolic link”. > > That’s it. As far as the OS is concerned, the steamapps folder lives in the steam install folder, even though really it lives in your spare drive. Nice. I have a 1tb drive that is used exclusively for games so, while I did find info on how to do it, I never bothered to try. Your method seems easier though. I guess I’ll go ahead and give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/147 "2010-12-27T21:15:01Z")
> [@Spectralist](#): > > Anyone know if there is anyway to install games from steam to a different drive? My games drive is full, damned sales! :smack: Am I going to have to have multiple steam installs to do that? My solution is only to install games when I’m likely to play them, and uninstall them when I’m likely to go a few months without playing them. Steam doesn’t limit the number of times you install a game, do they? ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/148 "2010-12-27T21:21:17Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My solution is only to install games when I’m likely to play them, and uninstall them when I’m likely to go a few months without playing them. Steam doesn’t limit the number of times you install a game, do they? No. But it does take a while to download many of them. So once I’ve downloaded one I’m always reluctant to delete the content. Unless it’s under 500mb or so. Especially as a number of the games I’ve got installed right now I haven’t actually gotten around to playing yet. Or have only gotten a few minutes into. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/149 "2010-12-27T21:23:26Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My solution is only to install games when I’m likely to play them, and uninstall them when I’m likely to go a few months without playing them. Steam doesn’t limit the number of times you install a game, do they? No they don’t but I feel bad about steeling Steam’s bandwidth like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/150 "2010-12-27T21:32:37Z")
Today’s deals: Killing Floor $5 (pack with skins packs $7) Serious Sam Gold pack (ep 1 and 2, original games) $4 Mirror’s Edge $5 Machinarium $3 HAWX 2 $33.50 Lost Planet 2 $20 ($16 if you own the other lost planet game) Eve Online $5 Star Wars: KOTOR $2.50 Cities XL $20 Neverwinder Nights 2 Platinum (game + expansions) $10 Street Fighter 4 $15 Victoria 2 series 70% off ($3 for Victoria 1, $12 for Victoria 2) Nothing great today. Machinarium for $3 is good if you like puzzle/click adventure type games. KOTOR I hear is great. Killing Floor isn’t bad - pretty simple, good gun models, no raw mouse control angers me, something is slightly off about it. Mirror’s Edge is good enough for $5. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/151 "2010-12-27T21:46:59Z")
Another option is to do as **Left Hand Of Dorkness** does and install only as you need, but before uninstalling, backup the game to another drive or a DVD (or two). This way you can re-install much faster than by re-downloading, and you can keep backups of the games you aren’t playing at the moment on a spare drive. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/152 "2010-12-27T21:59:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Incidentally, I looked at about half a dozen of today’s deals to see if there was a similar situation to the Batman one–where you click through to the purchase page and it’s only there that a bundle is first offered. Although several of the games have major publishers (Atari, Capcom, Ubisoft, etc.), only Star Wars: KOTOR had a bundle deal, and that bundle was only for LucasArts’s Star Wars games. So it may be that I never made that error before because this kind of bundle-listed-on-an-individual-game’s purchase page is a fairly rare thing. > > Frankly, I wish they’d handle it differently. On the purchase page, or on a splash page, they could have a clickable graphic that goes to a purchase page for the bundle. Make that graphic as loud and as splashy as you want to entice people to check out the bundle, that’s fine–just don’t make the bundle-purchase button look exactly the same as the individual-game-purchase button. I’m sure I’m not the only one to make this goofy error, and while definitely the fault was mine for not reading more carefully, I think they could also improve the site design to differentiate the two options visually. All the games that are part of packages have always been listed like that, so you don’t miss out on getting a package that might be a better deal before you buy the game. I prefer it that way - I’ve bought game+expansion packs that I didn’t know existed because it was listed on the game page. I’m glad you got your money refunded quickly and all, but I think you’re sort of pushing a silly point here. It is IMO pretty difficult to not notice the [difference between purchases](http://members.cox.net/senorbeef/steambuy.jpg). You need to miss that there are two add to cart buttons (and since the game alone is listed on top, you have to scroll past it). You need to miss that the second one lists a paragraph worth of 50 games right above it. You have to piss that there’s a “PACKAGE INFO” button attached to add to cart. And you have to miss the price difference on the add to cart button. Then you have to miss the price, listed twice, on the [shopping cart page](http://members.cox.net/senorbeef/cart.jpg), as well as an image of the “SQUARE Enix Complete Pack” - it doesn’t say or show batman anywhere on that page. Then you have to go to the [checkout page](http://members.cox.net/senorbeef/checkout.jpg), which lists the price 3 times again. I find it, quite frankly, pretty difficult to do. I’m not trying to embarass you but some people may be reading the thread considering giving steam a try and I don’t want them to think that steam is doing some sort of bait and switch trickery or something. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/153 "2010-12-27T22:28:29Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Counterstrike players are all poor. > > So all these games are on sale and everyone is off playing new games… except the 100k+ counterstrike (combined) players who are spending all day playing cs. So either they’re too poor to afford new games, or playing CS for the 8000th time is more important than playing new games. > > But… a few months ago I played cs with trope (original CS - the one that was made like 11 years ago). This is a game that could be run on a pocket calculator at this point. At one point I turned on my flashlight, and he said “oh, turn your flashlight off - it makes people angry because it lags their computers”. Yes, people have computers that struggle to play counterstrike. The computer I built in 1997 had no problem with this. Poverty and cheapness play a role, but CS is a classic like mario brothers or zelda in many ways and something people play just because it is simple and good. Speaking of being a cheapass, there have been tons of games for $5 or less in this deal extravaganza. I got bioshock 1 for $4.99 and Left4dead 2 for the same price not long ago. There were some pretty good games going for $1-2 or even less. Shattered union, which seems like a command & conquer type game was $0.49. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/154 "2010-12-28T04:18:52Z")
> [@MJinks](#): > > So what are the chances of a deal on Blacks Ops? Doubtful I’m sure. I only want it to play with my brothers but it’s not worth £40 to me. Maybe £20… There’s an outside chance at a pathetic 10% off. MW2 got that like 6 months after release. Bobby Kotick wants to make you personally suck his balls, and for some reason millions of people do. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Poverty and cheapness play a role, but CS is a classic like mario brothers or zelda in many ways and something people play just because it is simple and good. I don’t hate CS games, but it’s just bizarre to me to see 150k+ people playing at a time in the middle of a giant sale. I mean, anyone who’s playing CS or CSS now probably has 500+ hours of CS under their belts minimum… and it just amazes me that they can’t find anything new to do for a little while during the sale. That, combined with the “don’t turn on your flashlight! Their pentium 2s struggle!” revalation… I also noticed the CS player base drops off remarkably fast. There are like 150K people on around 3pm eastern, but by 9 eastern it’s dropped to like 50k. I think I’ve figured it out - half the players are homeless and playing in public libraries, so closing time kills the player base. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/155 "2010-12-28T05:03:31Z")
Or Europe, where CS is huge, goes to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/156 "2010-12-28T05:32:43Z")
Or European library hobos. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/157 "2010-12-28T06:38:20Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I don’t hate CS games, but it’s just bizarre to me to see 150k+ people playing at a time in the middle of a giant sale. I mean, anyone who’s playing CS or CSS now probably has 500+ hours of CS under their belts minimum… and it just amazes me that they can’t find anything new to do for a little while during the sale. That, combined with the “don’t turn on your flashlight! Their pentium 2s struggle!” revalation… > > I also noticed the CS player base drops off remarkably fast. There are like 150K people on around 3pm eastern, but by 9 eastern it’s dropped to like 50k. I think I’ve figured it out - half the players are homeless and playing in public libraries, so closing time kills the player base. I can’t speak for other people but 9pm EST is when my mom gets off work and won’t let me use the computer anymore until I clean my room. Maybe that is part of the reason. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/158 "2010-12-28T20:16:49Z")
Has anyone played King’s Bounty? The platinum edition is on special today, and I’m on the fence about it. Is it sort of like the recent Heroes of Might and Magic games? ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/159 "2010-12-28T20:37:50Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > Has anyone played King’s Bounty? The platinum edition is on special today, and I’m on the fence about it. Is it sort of like the recent Heroes of Might and Magic games? I’ve played the original and Armored Princess, but I’ve never played a HoMM game. Have you tried the demo? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864/160 "2010-12-28T22:08:34Z")
So… Crysis? Should I get it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steam-holiday-sale-dec-20-jan-2/564864.md?page=9)