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Humble Indie Bundle 4 is now live

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wraith808:
I don't really see why they can't insist all purchases must be over $1 - if people are paying under 30 cents that shouldn't be allowed as it is costing them money for the PayPal transaction.
-Carol Haynes (December 21, 2011, 04:35 AM)
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I think the spirit of the thing is not just to let people set what they think it's worth, but what they can actually pay.  I know people that are long-term unemployed whom I have introduced to it (usually through gifting) who can't afford anything.  Maybe those are some of the people who just scrape together what they can (maybe even on .01) to pay.  I'm sure some are gaming the system, but I don't think that it can be assumed that all are...

Carol Haynes:
Just strikes me that they should set a lower limit to cover the basic cost of the service. If someone pays 1 cent then the either money donated by other people has to be used to cover the cost of the other 29 cents of PayPal's transaction charge (or similar for other payment processors) or the Humble team have to shell out to cover that cost. Both seem extremely mean spirited.

Sorry if someone is so poor that they can't shell out $1+ they shouldn't be wasting even 1 cent on games and probably should sell their PC to buy some food! They certainly can't afford to pay a broadband subscription to cover their Steam costs.

I am sure not everyone is gaming the system but obviously a lot of people are otherwise they wouldn't have made the current statement. Another thing they can do is simply wither stop using Steam to avoid the issue - all the games are still downloadable and playable which seems fair enough - or ask Steam to make it clear that Humble Buindle Keys are not going to be eligible for any prizes etc.

wraith808:
Sorry if someone is so poor that they can't shell out $1+ they shouldn't be wasting even 1 cent on games and probably should sell their PC to buy some food! They certainly can't afford to pay a broadband subscription to cover their Steam costs.
-Carol Haynes (December 21, 2011, 10:09 AM)
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Just because someone can't afford non-essentials doesn't mean that they can't buy food or don't need PCs/broadband for easy access to jobs and such.  I know quite a few people in those situations (and I'd think that most people at least in the US know someone) so I guess I'm a little more understanding with the economic situation the way that it is that but for the grace of God that I could be in the same situation, and how much entertainment helps to stave off depression and make the situation a bit brighter.  So done within reason, I can understand prioritizing a little entertainment- and that's why as a gamer I try to do these unexpected things for friends in those situations.  Economic hard times haven't spared any class of people during this downturn, and I know people who've worked hard for 20 years+ that have lost everything because of it.  And some are *still* not turning to handouts, so isn't a charitable attitude towards them just as much charity?

I am sure not everyone is gaming the system but obviously a lot of people are otherwise they wouldn't have made the current statement. Another thing they can do is simply wither stop using Steam to avoid the issue - all the games are still downloadable and playable which seems fair enough - or ask Steam to make it clear that Humble Buindle Keys are not going to be eligible for any prizes etc.
-Carol Haynes (December 21, 2011, 10:09 AM)
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I think the issue is being clouded as far as that is concerned.  During Steam events, sometimes you need to buy a game to complete an event.  Some people are getting the games exceedingly cheap in order to be able to compete in these events.  That's the issue, I think- not that you can use the keys to be eligible for prizes.  And to stop using Steam would punish the many for the sake of the few- sort of like DRM in a way...?  But that's a different discussion.  ;D

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