Originally Posted by Idiotekque 25% off instead of 35% off a $5 game... First world problems.

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys are insulting each other over like two dollars. That's un-Christmas-like.

Originally Posted by asheskitty Wow, so much drama. It's like even more than if they pulled their "permanent" 15% IGN Prime discount.

I'm starting to think that Europe is a Wonderland where Permanent means Temporary and New Year's Day is on December 14th.

Originally Posted by asheskitty Migtht want to ease up on the drugs a little. This is the GMG thread.

Sometimes I sit here and try extra hard to find a way to make sense of things that don't make sense instead of, you know, immediately filing them away in the mental doesn't make sense folder.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque 25% off instead of 35% off a $5 game... First world problems.

But, but with that extra 50 cents I could buy, um....okay I got nothing.

Originally Posted by rayshon1 THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are insulting each other over like two dollars. That's un-Christmas-like.

Originally Posted by rayshon1 THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are insulting each other over like two dollars. That's un-Christmas-like.

$0.50 is enough to cross the River Styx (Στύξ, also meaning "hate" and "detestation").

Two Dollars

Originally Posted by Idiotekque 25% off instead of 35% off a $5 game... First world problems.

because all games cost $5

Originally Posted by MrshllJcb Wow, you actually used the term Indian Givers, well done. Its really not that big of a deal and if this ruffles your feathers that much you must have a really easy life. If you've ever shopped at GMG you know that they regularly have promotions that offer somewhere around or above 25% off games. I know the 35% off discount is pretty large, and doesnt come around too often, but instead of getting this bent out of shape you should maybe appreciate the fact that they are a retailer you can regularly get steam keys for cheaper than anywhere else, and that these sorts of issues with their promo codes (which they seem to always have running) rarely seem to happen. Now time for something real to bitch about: Why wont GMG change their name so my bank wont think they are a gambling site wah wah wah

Actually, you're right. It's not that big a deal. The main reason I wrote such a big bitch about it is because they aren't responding to it at all. That's kinda disrespectful to the people who give you money. So, in my experience if you call someone out enough, they might notice, and may actually get the point. If you say nothing, then bad behavior will continue and the next time it happens you will see more pages of bitching instead of talking about great deals on games.

I take great pride in being a massive cheap ass when it comes to games. So yeah, I figure where better a place to vent and maybe actually get some positive feedback or at least an agreement.

People tend to take to facebook and twitter when they want results. And to my ignore list when then don't.

Originally Posted by RuzzT Actually, you're right. It's not that big a deal. The main reason I wrote such a big bitch about it is because they aren't responding to it at all. That's kinda disrespectful to the people who give you money. So, in my experience if you call someone out enough, they might notice, and may actually get the point. If you say nothing, then bad behavior will continue and the next time it happens you will see more pages of bitching instead of talking about great deals on games. I take great pride in being a massive cheap ass when it comes to games. So yeah, I figure where better a place to vent and maybe actually get some positive feedback or at least an agreement.

Yeah, I do understand where you are coming from, cause as a consumer if you are told something you expect it, but I figure theres just better things to get upset about, when at most it'll probably be a $3-5 difference from 25% to 35% off. Wasnt trying to come across disrespectful or anything, Ive just enjoyed GMG's deals so far

Originally Posted by RuzzT Actually, you're right. It's not that big a deal. The main reason I wrote such a big bitch about it is because they aren't responding to it at all. That's kinda disrespectful to the people who give you money. So, in my experience if you call someone out enough, they might notice, and may actually get the point. If you say nothing, then bad behavior will continue and the next time it happens you will see more pages of bitching instead of talking about great deals on games. I take great pride in being a massive cheap ass when it comes to games. So yeah, I figure where better a place to vent and maybe actually get some positive feedback or at least an agreement.

Okay I have to kind of agree that there should have at least been a short blurb to the effect of 'Unfortunately, we were unable to extend the 35% off voucher to January 1, 2013 as originally planned and it will now be expiring December 14th'

Changing it and hoping no one would notice was tacky.

By the way, that survey is still up and is still giving out the code though they did change the text to say that it expires December 14th.

Originally Posted by RuzzT Actually, you're right. It's not that big a deal. The main reason I wrote such a big bitch about it is because they aren't responding to it at all. That's kinda disrespectful to the people who give you money. So, in my experience if you call someone out enough, they might notice, and may actually get the point. If you say nothing, then bad behavior will continue and the next time it happens you will see more pages of bitching instead of talking about great deals on games. I take great pride in being a massive cheap ass when it comes to games. So yeah, I figure where better a place to vent and maybe actually get some positive feedback or at least an agreement.

You know, I started out not really caring about the coupon because I had no plans to use it. But you & Motoki have changed my mind a bit. At the end of the day, the difference between 35% and 25% isn't all that big, but it certainly does set a bad precedent. As Motoki said, I will probably have this indecent in the back of my mind whenever GMG does any kind of promo in the future.

I can easily see where the date listed at the end of the survey was simply a mistake. And maybe they needed to correct that mistake. But it probably would have been better if they had just announced that the date on the survey was an error. Some people might have been a bit ticked off, but most of us are reasonable people. I'm sure that we can understand that mistakes happen.

It would have been a lot better than pretending that nothing happened.

Originally Posted by The End I can easily see where the date listed at the end of the survey was simply a mistake. And maybe they needed to correct that mistake. But it probably would have been better if they had just announced that the date on the survey was an error. Some people might have been a bit ticked off, but most of us are reasonable people. I'm sure that we can understand that mistakes happen. It would have been a lot better than pretending that nothing happened.

That's the thing, it wasn't an error. It was supposed to expire January 1, 2013. But because of how much it got spread around and used they decided to cancel it weeks earlier. Here's what a staff member actually said on the situation in a topic about the coupon on their site:

"The reason we had to pull the date closer was because it was an associated discount for completing our survey.

We had an absolutely massive response within just a few short days and hit (and surpassed drastically) the quota we needed to hit for the data. The discount code was also being spread at an incredible rate around the web. While we'd naturally expect this to happen anyway, eventually, it was still a bit of a shock to how much of an impact it made.

We could have stopped the voucher code outright, but we felt it would be better to give you guys a solid week's time to make use of it. While we understand that could annoy some folks, especially if you were waiting for payday in December, there was an incredible number of people who were using it already.

I hope this helps.

-James"

So yeah, he said they hit their quota for the amount of data they needed (for the surveys I'm assuming) and decided to cancel the coupon early. So plenty of people did actually fill out the survey (myself included), and once they got what they wanted they canceled the voucher. Sure they gave customers a week before canceling it, but most of us simply got a generic e-mail saying "Thanks for the survey, here's 35% off" days before it ended, instead of something like "Unfortunate news regarding the 35% off survey voucher". I didn't bother reading the e-mail since it sounded like a reminder about it expiring January 1st. If they worded it differently and gave me a heads up I would have read it. I still would have been annoyed, but not as much as I am now with how they handled it.

Well, it's kind of silly to me. Complain about not sending out a notification, but apparently they did send one out with the new date. OK, now complain that it wasn't worded the right way or in a way to draw your attention, etc.

I think next time they just need to a disclaimer, promo may expire at any time if survey quota met or something. Seems the easiest way outside of issuing a unique coupon code for each user and then stopping the survey once they fill up.

As has been pointed out... GMG did get the data they wanted. I spent my time filling out the survey to help them and in return was given a coupon code. It's in bad faith to accept my info and then pull the stated reward in an unclear manner. Motoki pointed out that they're still running the survey!

Yeah, not the end of the world, but not cool either.

The more interesting development, however, has been the meta-complaining... complaints about complainers and then complaints about those complaining about the complainers. Like an onion, layers just keep getting pulled away at this whole thing. And, yes, I'm adding one right now. Last I checked this was a forum for discussion and it's definitely on-topic. Fascinating!

Wait, who hasn't complained yet? I want to complain about how they haven't complained yet. Like what gives man?

The truth is that they up when they explicitly said to give the code to people who didn't do the survey, and they explicitly said they didn't care if they bothered to fill it out. Now, I didn't do that. I filled out their survey truthfully. If you look at the questions they were asking, they really were trying to get a handle on why you chose certain services and what drm you were ok with. It really hit home with the questions directly asking about how you felt about their Capsule client. In the end, I filled out their survey, I got my code, and they changed their mind. Dick Move! I was also pissed that I didn't get to use the 25% off code for Viking: Asgard because it to was pulled earlier then implied. Another Dick Move. It's not enough to keep me from shopping there, in fact the next time I'm there to jump on a pricing error on a deal that just flipped, I'm going to feel pretty vindicated. But, I'm not purchasing anything that isn't a Steam code. that's how I feel about GMG. I'm just going to use them as an end point retailer for building my back log of games on a client I actually like. I'll stick to Amazon and Indie Bundles for any DRM fare (or the occasional addition to my shelf over at Gamersgate). Cest la Vie

Not the biggest deal in the world but still a dick move. Needless to say, I won't be doing them the favor of filling out any surveys again (I'm sure this breaks their heart). Actually, I was about to use it on a Metro: Last Light pre-order (I mentioned earlier in the thread I was thinking about it) and ultimately decided that I didn't feel great about the whole thing and passed. I'll get the game from wherever when it's on some 50%+ sale after release instead.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque 25% off instead of 35% off a $5 game... First world problems.

If I wanted to worry about clean drinking water instead, I'd move.

That said, I bet people in 3rd world countries don't like having the terms of a deal changed from under them either.

Originally Posted by Syntax Error I bet people in 3rd world countries don't like having the terms of a deal changed from under them either.

"What are you doing in my house?"

"You live here NO MORE. This is Akawanga land, you give children to fight in Akawanga Militia, or you DIE!"

"But... that's not what the terms said! :("

It's funny because my wife comes from, at best, a 3rd world region in a 2nd world country (born and raised in the Peruvian Andés during the 70's & 80's with the height of the Shining Path movement) and knows a lot of other 3rd world immigrants from her job in the federal immigration courts. They view the "first world problems" meme with a bit of amused eye-rolling since it rests on the conceit is that everyone who isn't from a developed western nation must spend all day every day digging for grubs or avoiding militias and no one can ever spare a moment to be annoyed at the same petty little shit that's such a luxury to us. Bad cell phone signal? Got to the store five minutes after it closed? The coffee you bought went cold while you were dealing with something else? No way you'd be upset about that -- you're too busy eating dirt and getting your arms cut off!

In other worlds, "first world problems" is a first world meme because only privileged first worlders could assume their little annoyances are exclusive to them.

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Well, I just see it as that the things that frustrate us in a "first world" economy are stupid and petty compared to everyday problems that people in "third world" regions have to deal with.

Everyone deals with petty problems, so by that reasoning, even in the third world you've got "first world problems". But yeah, we don't have to forage for berries to survive, or be careful of water with fireworm larva in it.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque even in the third world you've got "first world problems".

Or, you know, just "problems". Unless you want to point at some Liberian guy upset that he can't get the radio station he likes and say "Haha! First world problems!"

Originally Posted by Syntax Error Or, you know, just "problems". Unless you want to point at some Liberian guy upset that he can't get the radio station he likes and say "Haha! First world problems!"

I do that on a daily basis!