[prestia]

I was really impressed how well this pay-what-you-want scheme worked last year. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like a viable payment option for smaller developers who have yet to acquire the status of these indie darlings.

As an aside: I always end up already owning the majority of games in these bundles, but I buy them anyway. Here's to hoping we can eventually register this one on Steam too.

[citricsquid]

I always find it curious how people see this as some sort of viable method for anyone. It's quite clear that this idea only works in very few situations, yet lots of people will see this and claim it to be a viable idea for anyone. I hope nobody actually tries this for their own games and they're an unknown developer.

[ido]

Why not? If they are an unknown indie developer they're probably not raking in the millions anyway.

Don't think they'd have much to lose from a 1 week pay-as-much-as-you-want deal.

[citricsquid]

I didn't mean specifically this deal, horrible explanation on my part. I meant people who see success like this and then instantly try and apply the idea to themselves when it's very unlikely to work. For example a small indie developer will never make much off a deal like this. Like people who try to replicate the million dollar homepage, things like that.

Apologies for the poor explanation.

[JCThoughtscream]

It's not a "viable" model for the /developers/ involved in the Humble Indie Bundle. Not in the sense of pricing for /new/ releases, at least.

However, each of these games have been out for sufficiently long that having people name their price now is mainly extra frosting on top of an already well-decorated cake. It's a tiny bit of extra market penetration /after/ the game's already made an impact - along with some goodwill towards deserving charities.

[dbotha]

That's not completely correct; although Revenge of the Titans has been available for purchase & play whilst in beta, I think this is in fact its official release.

[bugsy]

Why do people like Steam anyway? I went to try it out and it tried to install a bunch of spyware crap on my computer and get me to agree to a 50 page legal document full of terms only a madman would agree to.

[aurynn]

Spyware what?

I like it for the single point where all my games are, so I don't have to remember where I downloaded to, or where the keys are in my inbox, or even where I put install media. I just download the client, sign in, and all my games are right there.

It makes the DRM quite tolerable, and it supports indie developers, and it's ultimately the most convenient option for me.

[Raphael]

I believe some games come with their own additional DRM systems, as Steam is more of a wrapper for the standalone version.

[sid0]

Spyware? What?