Blink Bundle Megathread | 12/09 - 12/16: Hidden Gems Bundle 3
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BobbyTastic
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I know that was a joke, but I don't think the Starbound devs just give free keys to bundle sites, I'm sure they either saw a cut or got paid upfront by Humble. I'm actually curious as to how they arranged that.
I very much like that mentality. Keep up the good work.BB's cut is soo low that there's no chance that it could cover my collecting habits
But I will admit that there is a huge collector advantage when you're involved in forming a bundle. But theoretically that advantage should also extend to your consumers, since a collector is more likely to go above and beyond in acquiring something that has never been featured before. So I see a good game that has never been bundled before, or was bundled so long ago that even hardcore bundle buyers don't have it. Their website is down. Emails are inactive. I'll try multiple avenues to try to get around that. If I'm working with a publisher I'm going to push featuring a lesser known game above that one that has been bundled to death.
Side-note: I'm definitely guilty of being opinionated on certain things, but as you may not have noticed, I'm far from alone in that respect. I don't know exactly how familiar you are with this site but CAG has its fair share of opinionated people especially when it comes to pricing/value and business ethnics (not to say they are necessarily wrong to feel that way, just often stubborn and outspoken), who may or may not be incredibly rude about it. Unfortunately, it's not just limited to game deals either, game taste and a myriad of other subjects have their zealots here.
It seems today you've experienced this first-hand, and you have my apologies.
Just figured you should know that going forward considering how involved you've been in the community. This is a much different environment as opposed to Reddit (for better or worse), specifically in the sense that all opinions here have equal weight (can't be downvoted out of existence/hidden).
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BobbyTastic
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I very much like that mentality. Keep up the good work.BB's cut is soo low that there's no chance that it could cover my collecting habits
But I will admit that there is a huge collector advantage when you're involved in forming a bundle. But theoretically that advantage should also extend to your consumers, since a collector is more likely to go above and beyond in acquiring something that has never been featured before. So I see a good game that has never been bundled before, or was bundled so long ago that even hardcore bundle buyers don't have it. Their website is down. Emails are inactive. I'll try multiple avenues to try to get around that. If I'm working with a publisher I'm going to push featuring a lesser known game above that one that has been bundled to death.
Actually, if you always assumed the worst, wouldn't you always be disappointed. All that really means is expectations are met.
Bruticis
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If you're always disappointed, at some point it's not going to be disappointing anymore.
asheskitty
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Negative.
disappointmentLevel = disappointmentLevel + floor((long double) 0, deltaDisappointment);
caseyblink
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Doesn't really phase me to be honest. I've been the sole moderator on Playblink for quite a while now, so I'm quite familiar with how people can be really passionate about specific things related to gaming. Sometimes even go completely overboard. Every time a company like EA is brought up I just shake my head and prepare for the worst.
I'm actually a very opinionated person, but unfortunately I do have to restrain a lot of that in public now. I miss ranting.
I finally played about an hour and a half of Winter Voices. Pretty unique and interesting. The gameplay is ok as is the look...not great on either but not terrible. The story and characters seem interesting enough and I like the premise. I bought the rest of the episodes cause it feels like a game I can play a bit of everyday and hopefully reach the end. Hopefully I don't get disappointed but at least it will be a cheap disappointment then. Plus cards is always a good thing!
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I'm wondering this too. I asked Casey on Steam, but he didn't respond
Looks like The Epic Highborn Bundle 1st tier bonus game is Alien Zombie Megadeath*
*has been bundled before in the Halloween 2 bundle (IR) and April Fools bundle (IR)
*has been bundled before in the Halloween 2 bundle (IR) and April Fools bundle (IR)
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Honeybaked Ham
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I was still happy with this one, I didn't have one game in it which is rare these days. I think it was only a small letdown because Winter Voices took up 3 spots but I think they learned from this.
Yeah, the proof can be seen in the sales too.. I think it's at about half the sales compared to the other 2? At least they learned from this.
BobbyTastic
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Definitely going to echo a drop in quality, but this is mainly due to the high tier losing 2 spots to expansions/DLC. I would also say that the rest of the games in the bundle aren't as good as in the previous ones (like Epic), but it's not a HUGE drop in quality or anything. Either way, I don't think I owned any of these, so I'm not too upset. You still got me for the $5 tier (partly because of the speed in addressing feedback, the devs stepping up to the plate, and Blink partly being responsible for them stepping up to the plate, I like rewarding that kind of stuff with my wallet). So that's 3 for 3, not bad at all.
I hope/expect better for next time though.
I hope/expect better for next time though.
caseyblink
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Looks like the next bundle will actually be a big departure for us. It's not going to be a main bundle. We're going to be offering something different (but I suspect it is still going to attract attention for the way it's being set up) so we can take some quality time making some site adjustments. Plus, it gives me time to finally start planning ahead.
caseyblink
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Similar time frame between bundles. I'd love to be more specific, but there is always that chance that something will throw a wrench in that plan. I can say it will be games only. We have no plans to include anything other than games in our bundles.
annihilator
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MrNinjaSquirrel
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caseyblink
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I should specify that we did recently add the capability to include game soundtracks in Blink Bundle, but no chance of them taking up game slots or anything like that. The plan is to add them as just bonuses for bundle purchasers for those developers that want to participate.
MrNinjaSquirrel
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Even better, I really like how most bundle sites include OSTs now, I've gotten a ton of great music from them.
It may not be, but if Blink can show other bundle-reluctant devs convincing sales numbers then that becomes part of my purchasing calculus. I don't even wanna go into the whole vs. MSRP, bundlers' cut, etc. subjects.
Modest Package
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A little under 20 hours left on this one, which means if you wanted to buy the extra chapters of Winter Voices and/or Highborn and have been putting it off, now is a good time.
BobbyTastic
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So... no new bundle since the 1st.. and no word from Casey. Should we be concerned?
Maybe we scared him away.
Maybe we scared him away.
caseyblink
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No need to be concerned. Just been busy lately. We're working on introducing new bundle types in the coming weeks so we can get on a predictable schedule (with hopefully no breaks between bundles sooner rather than later). Of course not completely predictable, since surprises are always nice too.
Sounds cool
So does that mean you're planning on having multiple bundles happening at the same time, or just different kinds happening individually one after the other?
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caseyblink
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I think (for now) we're just concerned with making it so the bundle is regular with no breaks. But not doing the main bundle every two weeks, since the average quality is going to suffer by going that route. So we'll introduce a couple new ideas (or refining older ideas) to fill in gaps. It also expands who we can work with during breaks, but hopefully in interesting ways.Sounds cool
So does that mean you're planning on having multiple bundles happening at the same time, or just different kinds happening individually one after the other?
We might do multiple bundles at once down the road, but it's not really something we're thinking about now.
asheskitty
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caseyblink
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Yep. Next week we introduce one of our new bundle types (two week run). Followed soon after by our other new bundle (one week run) type and BB#4. Then we should have our scheduling all worked out with no breaks.Well, maybe next week...?(
caseyblink
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So here's a question that I wouldn't mind a bit of feedback. Has nothing to do with our upcoming bundle launching later this week. It's relevant to future main bundles.
Let's say there's a game named X. Now due to licensing/corporate issues it's not really possible for X to get included in a worldwide bundle. They simply can't give permission for a bundler to include X in any bundles sold in certain regions. The bundler has to prevent it on their side. They can't even provide a region restricted key, since that's still officially selling it to them. Comes up more than people might think.
So does the bundler do it? Or do they please those regions by no one getting the chance to pick up X in a bundle? I've seen it come up before, but it was usually an entire bundle and not just one title out of let's say 12.
Let's say there's a game named X. Now due to licensing/corporate issues it's not really possible for X to get included in a worldwide bundle. They simply can't give permission for a bundler to include X in any bundles sold in certain regions. The bundler has to prevent it on their side. They can't even provide a region restricted key, since that's still officially selling it to them. Comes up more than people might think.
So does the bundler do it? Or do they please those regions by no one getting the chance to pick up X in a bundle? I've seen it come up before, but it was usually an entire bundle and not just one title out of let's say 12.
Probably not worth it. 1 of 2 (or both) things will happen:
1. People will get frustrated and vent their anger on places like reddit/forums. In the end it might result in bad PR.
2. People end up using VPN anyway to bypass any regional restrictions.
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caseyblink
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So it'll probably end up coming down to does the inclusion of it outweigh any potential negativity. Like Humble wasn't going to turn down SEGA even though they couldn't sell their Humble weekly bundle in Japan.
People will also get their friends to buy or trade for bundles to avoid taxes. That and VPN is something that is going to happen, and it's not a reason to prevent doing it.
Just hate the idea of people not getting access to certain games simply because of weird publishing issues that come up too often. It's the overall bundle buying community that gets shafted ultimately.
I think Humble can easily pull something like that off without enough negativity to affect them much.. but I'm not sure if Blink could, since you're relatively new to the bundle scene. This also depends on how good the game(s) are that you'd be including. If it's something amazing, then that may outweigh any negativity you get.
caseyblink
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This is more my whole thing of getting a few games in that make collectors go wow. Not really something like at Humble level. Though that could come up later.
If this game named X is going to only be available in NA & EU regions, I think it's a safe bet that it'll satisfy the majority of buyers.
I assume your Blink Bundle site tracks regional web-traffic, perhaps looking at where buyers or page views come from would help determine and offer the best information on whether to include "game named X" or not.
I assume your Blink Bundle site tracks regional web-traffic, perhaps looking at where buyers or page views come from would help determine and offer the best information on whether to include "game named X" or not.
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caseyblink
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We have all of that. Just looking for viewpoints I maybe haven't thought of rather than just going the route of weighing the region based bundle sales. It's probably come up like a dozen times already. Usually Japan. Though I have encountered America only (NA & SA) once.
If it's only one or two countries, it wouldn't bother me much if it's a rare occurrence (or a little more common if we're talking Germany, given their sad censorship laws.) And yes, I do mean if that means that I can't get the game....
However, there'd better be a very good substitute game - or a discount - to make up for it.
However, there'd better be a very good substitute game - or a discount - to make up for it.
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bread's done