Groupees: [NEW] Build a Greenlight Bundle 33 + Oktoberfest + MiniBundle 7

speedwerd

speedwerd

CAGiversary!
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Build A Greenlight Bundle 33

Buy it here: https://groupees.com/bagb33

Must spend at least $1/pick 2 games

Gamelist:


Oktoberfest Bundle

Buy it here: https://groupees.com/oktoberfest

For the minimum of $2, you get the following:

Mini Bundle 7

Buy it here: https://groupees.com/mini7

For a minimum of $2, you get the following:


Other Non-Gaming Bundles:


Icon Guide

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= Steam Key
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= Steam Greenlight
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= Desura Key
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= GoG Code (Click To Redeem/Enter Code)

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= GamersGate Serial Key
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= DRM Free Download

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= Steam Trading Cards Available
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= Playable On PC
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= Playable on MAC
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= Playable on Linux

 
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Coginition Dev:

"We approached Steam once Greenlit because we wanted to release Ep1-3 right away before we had Ep4 ready and Steam wanted us to wait for Ep4 so we could release it as a single package. We explained what we had offered to people and that we were worried about Steam keys,and they said we could cover that by offering discounts depending on how many episodes people had bought previously."

So basically Steam is the douche here.

 
re: Cognition; it's all Valve's fault.

Still not an excuse. They need to find some way to make it work.

*Edit: my reply to them was this:

Well all this is going to serve to do is cause me to never vote again for any games on Greenlight that are broken up into episodic content.

Great job everyone involved.
MIND LINK said:
Titanfall PC Release Date Could See Game Skip Steam In Favor Of Origin Exclusivity [REPORT]
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Wow I'm shocked.
NOT

Seriously, did anyone really not see this coming?

Also this has what to do with Groupees exactly? Is there some Groupees EA New Release Bundle in the works I don't know about? I'm really sure they would love to drop down to selling a few thousand bundles with Groupees after selling 2 million with Humble.

 
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Motoki said:
re: Cognition; it's all Valve's fault.

Still not an excuse. They need to find some way to make it work.

*Edit: my reply to them was this:

Well all this is going to serve to do is cause me to never vote again for any games on Greenlight that are broken up into episodic content.

Great job everyone involved.
Wow I'm shocked.
NOT

Seriously, did anyone really not see this coming?

Also this has what to do with Groupees exactly? Is there some Groupees EA New Release Bundle in the works I don't know about? I'm really sure they would love to drop down to selling a few thousand bundles with Groupees after selling 2 million with Humble.
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lol you seem salty

 
I also posted in that thread, quoting from a message they sent via Twitter just this past Monday.

"@Dimitri2401 @IndieBundle2012 Hi Dimitri, yes, both episodes will be eligible for a Steam key when #Cognition is up on the Steam store. :)."

Since deleted.  Found via Google.

I get that Steam talked them into selling the games as a complete set.  I just think they should do more to make this right for their customers.  They haven't been advertising a Steam discount when you buy their games, they've been advertising a Steam key.  That part was all Phoenix Online, not Steam.

EDIT: I swear I couldn't find this tweet earlier.

 
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Motoki said:
Yes I noticed that too. If you are going to be completely honest then you really need to leave the old stuff up there. Saying 'We thought we could but we couldn't' is one thing but now they are deleting stuff too? Not cool.
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I think I have found the words to express [customspoiler="how I feel.']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfwWHgXzD7I[/customspoiler]
 
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I don't think it's really suspicious that they're deleting stuff. That WAS the plan, they weren't lying, but now Valve has backed them into a corner. They're just deleting stuff because plans have changed and those statements are no longer valid. I doubt they're that eager to go "NO STEAM, we're doing it this way!" as soon as Steam puts their game through.  

That said, considering the fan fallout they're going to get and are already getting for this, that's pretty much what they need to do.

 
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Hm, seems like Adam's Venture Episodes 1-3, Half-Life 2 Episodes 1-2, Sam & Max Episode 401, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episodes 1-2, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episodes 1-5, and Winter Voices Episodes 1-5 are all being sold individually.

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Idiotekque said:
I don't think it's really suspicious that they're deleting stuff. That WAS the plan, they weren't lying, but now Valve has backed them into a corner. They're just deleting stuff because plans have changed and those statements are no longer valid. I doubt they're that eager to go "NO STEAM, we're doing it this way!" as soon as Steam puts their game through.

That said, considering the fan fallout they're going to get and are already getting for this, that's pretty much what they need to do.
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Oh please now you're going all soft?

And yeah they can and should explain to Valve the prior commitments they made. If that doesn't work (and I get that Valve can be lame and thick headed) then honestly they should just give the whole damned thing to everyone who has a key. They got what they wanted which is their game on the the largest digital PC gaming store in the world. Likely their future games they will be able to get in without so much hassle from now on too. If nothing else they're known and got their name out there and have a released game on Steam (well they will) to show for it.

The way they got it was obviously by buying votes, which is fine but they need to make good on promises and if that means giving episodes 3 and 4 to people who just got 1 and/or 2 in indie bundles well, oh well. The whole episode thing is lame in the first place and it's just not worth the ill will you will get from pissing people off. It's not like most of those bundle buyers are going to pay full price (even taking into account the episode 1/2 'discounts') anyway.

Sorry but while I realize Valve are oblivious dicks sometimes, some nicey nicey talk on their part isn't going to get me to get on the side of Phoenix Studios. Sometimes when you are dealing with customers you have a to give a little extra more than you really wanted to to keep the good will in the long term. The alternative is hard feelings, potential lost customers (admittedly who are cheapskates but still they might not buy their future games at 75% off) and having a bunch of pissed off people running around the internet talking shit.

Not worth it, but apparently they think so. We'll see how it goes down.

 
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Blade said:
Hm, seems like Adam's Venture Episodes 1-3, Half-Life 2 Episodes 1-2, Sam & Max Episode 401, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episodes 1-2, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episodes 1-5, and Winter Voices Episodes 1-5 are all being sold individually.

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They gave some lame excuse for that too and I guess Idiotekque buys that now too.

 
Motoki said:
Oh please now you're going all soft?

And yeah they can and should explain to Valve the prior commitments they made. If that doesn't work (and I get that Valve can be lame and thick headed) then honestly they should just give the whole damned thing to everyone who has a key. They got what they wanted which is their game on the the largest digital PC gaming store in the world. Likely their future games they will be able to get in without so much hassle from now on too. If nothing else they're known and got their name out there and have a released game on Steam (well they will) to show for it.

The way they got it was obviously by buying votes, which is fine but they need to make good on promises and if that means giving episodes 3 and 4 to people who just got 1 and/or 2 in indie bundles well, oh well. The whole episode thing is lame in the first place and it's just not worth the ill will you will get from pissing people off. It's not like most of those bundle buyers are going to pay full price (even taking into account the episode 1/2 'discounts') anyway.

Sorry but while I realize Valve are oblivious dicks sometimes, some nicey nicey talk on their part isn't going to get me to get on the side of Phoenix Studios. Sometimes when you are dealing with customers you have a to give a little extra more than you really wanted to to keep the good will in the long term. The alternative is hard feelings, potential lost customers (admittedly who are cheapskates but still they might not buy their future games at 75% off) and having a bunch of pissed off people running around the internet talking shit.

Not worth it, but apparently they think so. We'll see how it goes down.
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[customspoiler= venum has sof side 2 ]
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[/customspoiler]

Motoki said:
They gave some lame excuse for that too and I guess Idiotekque buys that now too.
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I dunno, wasn't much of an excuse. Really it just comes down to that "Valve wants" episodic games to be sold in one single package now.

Really, that is pretty stupid of them. Like Blade said, Half-Life 2 anyone? All I'm saying is that I understand the position they're in and why they may be less than eager to insist upon doing something their way with Valve, but like I said on the Steam thread, they basically need to explain to Valve why they NEED to sell the episodes, or at least give previous buyers the episodes separately. At the moment they're kinda just going "Uhh, Valve said to do it this way, so we're gonna do it that way. Did we promise to do it that other way? Never mind that, sorry!" which isn't cool.

 
You know what Idiotekque once you get something in your head you just won't let it go and argue and argue and argue and argue forever. Been there done that so you can just

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As I mentioned in an edit to my original post, I found that tweet that I couldn't find before.

@Dimitri2401 (2:01 PM - 26 Aug 13):

@POStudios @IndieBundle2012 Do we get a Steam key for the Ep2 (when released on Steam) as well? Ep1 has the SGL logo, but not Ep2. Thanks :)
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@POStudios (2:47 PM - 26 Aug 13):

@Dimitri2401 @IndieBundle2012 Hi Dimitri, yes, both episodes will be eligible for a Steam key when #Cognition is up on the Steam store. :)
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@IndieBundle2012 apparently is the account of indiebundle.org and, because of this information from the developer, is informing their customers who buy their Phoenix Horror Bundle that they will get Steam Keys because the game is green lit (The SGL logo referenced in this exchange apparently means "Steam Key Guaranteed if Green Lit" and was added to Ep2 shortly after.) That bundle is still available for 3 more days.

I don't know how long Phoenix Online has known they wouldn't be able to provide keys to individual episode purchasers (They were green lit two months ago), but they just don't seem to be in a hurry to keep everyone updated. They only seem to be coming forward with this information on their Steam page because of Idiotekque's post and even then, they're trying to contain discussion to a neutral sounding thread (Responding in "Clarification about Steam keys & Prior Purchases, please read!" to direct people away from "Prior purchases will NOT receive Steam keys.").

 
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So the only game that interests me in the Capsule bundle is Swords & Soldiers HD? Anyone play it? Think it's worth $5? Any help is appreciated.

 
Idiotekque said:
Coginition Dev:

"We approached Steam once Greenlit because we wanted to release Ep1-3 right away before we had Ep4 ready and Steam wanted us to wait for Ep4 so we could release it as a single package. We explained what we had offered to people and that we were worried about Steam keys,and they said we could cover that by offering discounts depending on how many episodes people had bought previously."

So basically Steam is the douche here.
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No. Steam is pushing a new requirement for episodic content. That said, the Cognition devs could still give Steam keys for the complete game to prior episode purchasers. (This, of course, makes those that did buy the entire set early feel kinda hosed.) Alternately, they could make sure the coupons stack with Steam discounts and don't expire for a long time.

 
Idiotekque said:
Did you even read what I wrote? Because I basically agreed with you, lol.
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No you're right, I didn't read it. As soon as you started agreeing with them I tuned you out and heard the Charlie Brown Teacher talking. :p

The Sifu said:
I don't know how long Phoenix Online has known they wouldn't be able to provide keys to individual episode purchasers (They were green lit two months ago), but they just don't seem to be in a hurry to keep everyone updated. They only seem to be coming forward with this information on their Steam page because of Idiotekque's post and even then, they're trying to contain discussion to a neutral sounding thread (Responding in "Clarification about Steam keys & Prior Purchases, please read!" to direct people away from "Prior purchases will NOT receive Steam keys.").
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What really started it is someone asked in Groupees chat asked and Idiotekque noticed (maybe it was even him but I hate their stupid 1990s AOL chat room and don't feel like scrolling way the hell up through nonsense looking for it) if Cognition in this bundle was going to give Steam keys. The Groupees guy said something to the effect that he knew the answer but didn't think he was allowed to say. So I guess then he asked Phoenix Online Studios (again?) and apparently they told him it was now okay to break the bad news in chat.

So even Groupees knew at least since the start of the bundle and it seems like POS was trying to keep it on the down low because someone gave Groupees the impression that it wasn't something they were allowed to disclose.

Not sure how long they've been sitting on it or when they were planning to tell people.

 
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Motoki said:
So even Groupees knew at least since the start of the bundle and it seems like POS was trying to keep it on the down low because someone gave Groupees the impression that it wasn't something they were allowed to disclose.

Not sure how long they've been sitting on it or when they were planning to tell people.
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I don't have any extra information to help answer that last question, but my best guess would probably be never.

 
lol...well obviously the dev signed something.  They implied they are in litigation over it, but if the devs are in the right then the pub will be forced to pay them.  Pubs can't just steal Steam keys and distribute a game without the proper paperwork. 

 
Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
lol...well obviously the dev signed something. They implied they are in litigation over it, but if the devs are in the right then the pub will be forced to pay them. Pubs can't just steal Steam keys and distribute a game without the proper paperwork.
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I don't know.. the dev claims that they haven't been paid anything since the release of the game. Check his last post in that thread:

"Nope ! Sorry to disappoint you, but even the early sales didn't make its way from Steam to us. That's one of the reason for the conflict between us and our publisher. Well, actually that's the MAIN reason. We've earned 0 euro since the release of the game, absolutely nothing."

 
I guess I wonder if Topware are such crooks then why is no one else (that I have heard of) complaining about getting ripped off by them?
 
There's probably a grain of truth in their complaints but I also can't help feeling like there is more to this story...
 
spoderman said:
I don't know.. the dev claims that they haven't been paid anything since the release of the game. Check his last post in that thread:

"Nope ! Sorry to disappoint you, but even the early sales didn't make its way from Steam to us. That's one of the reason for the conflict between us and our publisher. Well, actually that's the MAIN reason. We've earned 0 euro since the release of the game, absolutely nothing."
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And that may well be the case. It still doesn't mean the pub doesn't have permission to sell it. There's a contractual dispute here. I don't really know what is going on. It could very well be their game hasn't earned any money since there are fees involved in selling something on Steam, etc. Basically, unless a judge declares the contract void and tells the pub they can't sell it, this whole "without our permission" shtick by the devs is just them taking their court case to the public.

 
Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
lol...well obviously the dev signed something. They implied they are in litigation over it, but if the devs are in the right then the pub will be forced to pay them. Pubs can't just steal Steam keys and distribute a game without the proper paperwork.
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It's clear that an awful lot of devs really have very little clue when it comes to contracts. It's entirely possible that this game is in this bundle with the permission of the entity that can make the decision to include it. The dev may not like the agreement he is under, and may feel that the distributor is not living up to that agreement, but that agreement likely is not voidable at will.

Edit: This developer seems to be pretty clear on contracts, from reading the comments on that thread. He's stated that they don't recognize the right of the distributor to sell the game, but that until a court makes a ruling all they can really do is make their view clear.

 
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Well, the publisher, being a publisher, most likely retains the rights to publish the game wherever they decide, and selling it cheaply is probably a response to the court case. Not receiving any money whatsoever despite the game being $10 on Steam and having it featured in the Indie games section of the Summer Sale should make it a clear-cut case for the devs, so selling it for technically less than $1 is a tricky way to cut down the revenues they should be getting. Topware has always been shit, though. Transcripted is probably the most unique game they've ever put on the market.

 
shrinerr said:
So the only game that interests me in the Capsule bundle is Swords & Soldiers HD? Anyone play it? Think it's worth $5? Any help is appreciated.
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I personally feel the game is worth about 2.50...more likely 2. It gets quite repetitive quickly though the game plays decently fast and the graphics are decent. Not 100% sure how all the teams play as I only finished the Viking part.

 
Who want's to bet that Topware has a threshold payment system like Desura in this case? As in, until they make a certain amount of money on the game, the developer doesn't see a penny. Desura's threshold is a whopping $500 (meaning once YOUR percentage of the sales hits $500, you get that $500) last I heard, so your game has to sell pretty damn well before you make any money whatsoever. If Topware has something similar, or perhaps even worse, and the Transcripted dev didn't read the fine print well enough? Case closed.

The game isn't that popular, and it's been on sale for EXTREMELY cheap in the past, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case.

 
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Idiotekque said:
Who want's to bet that Topware has a threshold payment system like Desura in this case? As in, until they make a certain amount of money on the game, the developer doesn't see a penny. Desura's threshold is a whopping $500 (meaning once YOUR percentage of the sales hits $500, you get that $500) last I heard, so your game has to sell pretty damn well before you make any money whatsoever. If Topware has something similar, or perhaps even worse, and the Transcripted dev didn't read the fine print well enough? Case closed.

The game isn't that popular, and it's been on sale for EXTREMELY cheap in the past, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case.
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Maybe, or maybe it's just a contract like those found in the music industry. Plenty of stories about rock stars seeing nothing from well-selling records.

 
gilby said:
Maybe, or maybe it's just a contract like those found in the music industry. Plenty of stories about rock stars seeing nothing from well-selling records.
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I'm not really an expert in this sort of thing. How do those work? I can't imagine there's a clause in the contract that says [customspoiler= "You get nothing" ]
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[/customspoiler], so how does that work out?

 
Idiotekque said:
I'm not really an expert in this sort of thing. How do those work? I can't imagine there's a clause in the contract that says [customspoiler= "You get nothing" ]
KgL2jzI.gif
[/customspoiler], so how does that work out?
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Generally, the contract states that the artist will get a certain percentage from sales, and that costs for marketing and distribution will be taken from that percentage. Here's one article I found with a quick search, though it's easy to find many more: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110707/03264014993/riaa-accounting-how-to-sell-1-million-albums-still-owe-500000.shtml.

 
I figured they would eventually if they had any decency. It's just a shame it took someone stirring up a hornet's nest for them to actually make the effort to do it.

 
Motoki said:
I figured they would eventually if they had any decency. It's just a shame it took someone stirring up a hornet's nest for them to actually make the effort to do it.
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The interesting thing is that it doesn't really change things much at all. We still have the episodes we had before, and we'll still need to buy the entire package on Steam if we want the rest.

 
gilby said:
The interesting thing is that it doesn't really change things much at all. We still have the episodes we had before, and we'll still need to buy the entire package on Steam if we want the rest.
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The other 2 episodes may get bundled eventually, so I'm guessing if they're bundled, they'd provide steam keys for them. They're offering discounts/coupons according to how many episodes you have too, which is about all they can do.

 
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spoderman said:
The other 2 episodes may get bundled eventually, so I'm guessing if they're bundled, they'd provide steam keys for them. They're offering discounts/coupons according to how many episodes you have too, which is about all they can do.
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Yup, they're sticking with the coupon thing on top of giving us the episodes separately. I just honestly think it's silly to ONLY sell the episodes as a complete package anyways, but ah well...

 
The final Be Mine bonus is a ten dollar in game coupon for some game called March of War. Seriously? The base Be Mine bundle was good, but the bonuses for this one were pretty bad. The 39 Steps is the only bonus that I have any interest in.

 
rainking187 said:
The final Be Mine bonus is a ten dollar in game coupon for some game called March of War. Seriously? The base Be Mine bundle was good, but the bonuses for this one were pretty bad. The 39 Steps is the only bonus that I have any interest in.
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I actually think the bonuses were decent, but free2play credit is just awful, and as the last (presumably) bonus is even worse. At least it's on steam I guess, so I'll download it eventually and try it...maybe :oldman:

 
I guess I misinterpreted a screenshot in the teaser video.  I thought for sure that this...

lErfbpM.jpg


...was Highborn but some people are saying it's Eador from another perspective.  Doesn't seem like the art styles match up.

 
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Mooby said:
I guess I misinterpreted a screenshot in the teaser video. I thought for sure that this...

lErfbpM.jpg


...was Highborn but some people are saying it's Eador from another perspective. Doesn't seem like the art styles match up.
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http://youtu.be/PMe99_NXBKk?t=32s

Shows up there. I wouldn't have caught that either, 'cause it's from a perspective you'll never see in the actual game and it appears to be alpha/beta graphics since it looks a bit different in the final product. But Groupees apparently grabbed it from the trailer.

Be Mine 9 was surprisingly bad for a Groupees, though. Eador was basically what made it.

 
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