Originally Posted by Necrotron They're not doing themselves any favors tweeting like that. Best to leave the dislike over Humble promoting a 'big publisher' bundle to new sites. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/1...ds-reputation/ Bascially, Humble Bundle stepped up to help THQ, since they're on the brink of bankruptcy. It's understandable why they would chose to do it, they're helping a good cause (still), and using their good name (Humble) and goodwill to encourage people to help bail THQ out. This doesn't change my view of Humble Bundle, and I doubt it will most people.

That article is terrible for making no mention of THQ's extreme financial issues. The comments are just as bad, with people trying to stick it to THQ by donating completely to charity. Sure, it's their decision, but you know those will be the first people to complain when THQ goes out of business wondering where everyone else was to buy their games.

Edit: See below for a good example.

Originally Posted by Motoki You can get a bunch of non-indie games for as little as a dollar and you are really going to complain about not getting separate keys for them all? Anyway most of their past Bundles have been like this.

The thing is, the website says "Steam keys for" the six games that are bundled together. "Steam keys" is plural, leading me to believe we'd get individual keys like we did we Android 4.

Humble cancelled my order anyway, since my page doesn't come through anymore. No response or notification of refund. Meh, whatever, I'll just dispute it with Paypal if they don't. I'll just stick with Groupees and Indie Gala and their more expensive, shittier games by comparison, according to the almighty louiedog. Because we all know that Humble is the best.

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I'm playing Endless Space, which is the free weekend title. It reminds me massively of Ascendancy. You know, this game:



Speaking to KaOTiK, he's never heard of it. Am I alone? This game definitely existed, right?

Doesn't really matter -- for every developer that 'boycotts' Humble there will be ten more willing to take their place.

Originally Posted by Mooby So this begs the question: what SR3 DLC is worthwhile?

The Shark Attack Pack is a must. A gun that shoots chum at someone and a shark busts out of the ground eating them? win

Yeah, Shark Attack is the only cosmetic DLC I bought for SRtIII.

I recently bought the season pass but haven't played it.

Originally Posted by Blade The thing is, the website says "Steam keys for" the six games that are bundled together. "Steam keys" is plural, leading me to believe we'd get individual keys like we did we Android 4.

Well, if you BTA, then technically you do get steam keys (plural).

Shark attack seems to be overwhelmingly popular!

Just got this e-mail: Spend $50 at Days Of Wonder eStore, get a Steam key for Ticket To Ride. Good until Dec 6th.

To be honest, it is probably the weakest holiday deal they have done.

http://blog.daysofwonder.com/2012/11...-holiday-gift/

I read some interesting comments that I think were pretty spot on - that THQ partaking in this bundle is their attempt to dilute their IPs before any potential creditor takeover.

I'm an accounting geek, so I just took a look at their balance sheet. They have over $100 million in long-term debt (not to mention any of their current payables of another ~$100 million). The money raised from the Humble Bundle is not going to help this company in any tangible way (they do have ~$36 million cash on hand, but obviously doesn't compare to their obligations).

So in short, I agree - THQ is not doing this for money. It's two fold. Try and get their IPs out there to either raise awareness for their brands and try and hit a home-run or two in the near future, and at the same time, dilute those IPs so that if a creditor takes over the company, they won't be able to sell the games profitably since most people will already own the games from this and other cheap sales.

Personally I really loved Super Ethical Reality Climax (Genki) in SR3.

Humble Bundle has done more with the cream of the crop of indie games -- games that were already known prior to their inclusion in HiB -- than the other indie bundles. So if a few indie devs don't want to play ball, there's plenty of fish in the sea, and HiB is still a "premium" bundler.

This also begs the question of where exactly do you draw the line? Is Runic Games (Torchlight 1/2 dev) indie? Their parent company Perfect World acquired Cryptic Studios from Atari for over $50 million in May 2011. I suggest that perhaps a better differentiator would be if the devs have complete control over the game direction and content. This was well ridiculed in Brian Fargo's Wasterland 2 kickstarter video. Or more recently the totally "they made us do it" tacked on multiplayer in Spec Ops: The Line.

Originally Posted by TheLongshot BTW, there is a new graphics mod for Dues Ex that just got released... http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...mod-completed/

Ha!

I knew there was a good reason to procrastinate on playing this. I only bought it, er, 10 or 11 years ago. Heck, back then I even had a Voodoo card to take advantage of the special graphics.

Originally Posted by blitztwn36 I read some interesting comments that I think were pretty spot on - that THQ partaking in this bundle is their attempt to dilute their IPs before any potential creditor takeover. I'm an accounting geek, so I just took a look at their balance sheet. They have over $100 million in long-term debt (not to mention any of their current payables of another ~$100 million). The money raised from the Humble Bundle is not going to help this company in any tangible way (they do have ~$36 million cash on hand, but obviously doesn't compare to their obligations). So in short, I agree - THQ is not doing this for money. It's two fold. Try and get their IPs out there to either raise awareness for their brands and try and hit a home-run or two in the near future, and at the same time, dilute those IPs so that if a creditor takes over the company, they won't be able to sell the games profitably since most people will already own the games from this and other cheap sales.

Out of curiosity what would the purpose of diluting their IP be? What do they get out of that later when the company goes out of business?

Originally Posted by blitztwn36 I read some interesting comments that I think were pretty spot on - that THQ partaking in this bundle is their attempt to dilute their IPs before any potential creditor takeover. I'm an accounting geek, so I just took a look at their balance sheet. They have over $100 million in long-term debt (not to mention any of their current payables of another ~$100 million). The money raised from the Humble Bundle is not going to help this company in any tangible way (they do have ~$36 million cash on hand, but obviously doesn't compare to their obligations). So in short, I agree - THQ is not doing this for money. It's two fold. Try and get their IPs out there to either raise awareness for their brands and try and hit a home-run or two in the near future, and at the same time, dilute those IPs so that if a creditor takes over the company, they won't be able to sell the games profitably since most people will already own the games from this and other cheap sales .

Now that's an interesting (and most sensible to me) thought. This cheap THQ bundling is something like a poison pill against a hostile takeover, to try an deter against them from being bought and broken up.

Originally Posted by asheskitty Now that's an interesting (and most sensible to me) thought. This cheap THQ bundling is something like a poison pill against a hostile takeover, to try an deter against them from being bought and broken up.

That doesn't really make sense. The creditors will still seize the IP's and throw a padlock on the door. It's like suggesting the bank won't foreclose and repossess your house if you kick holes in all the drywall and poop on the carpet.

Originally Posted by CheapLikeAFox Out of curiosity what would the purpose of diluting their IP be? What do they get out of that later when the company goes out of business?

Perhaps this helps push creditors away from a takeover and towards a reorganization as the value of taking over is less?

Originally Posted by Genocidal That article is terrible for making no mention of THQ's extreme financial issues.

Yeah, I just grabbed the first news article I saw on google, and it was complaining just like the indie devs.

Originally Posted by TheLongshot BTW, there is a new graphics mod for Dues Ex that just got released... http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...mod-completed/

And that's why I love PC. Stalker had an amazing update mod, and now Deus Ex has a nice graphic overhaul mod. Very cool indeed!

Originally Posted by TheLongshot BTW, there is a new graphics mod for Dues Ex that just got released... http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...mod-completed/

Thank you for that.

Originally Posted by Syntax Error That doesn't really make sense. The creditors will still seize the IP's and throw a padlock on the door. It's like suggesting the bank won't foreclose and repossess your house if you kick holes in all the drywall and poop on the carpet.

That's not a good analogy.

If nothing else I expect THQ games to hit rock bottom prices come the winter sale in either a last attempt to cheapen their IP's or a last ditch effort to rake in some much needed cash.

It won't help me since I own most THQ games, but still.