Comment on Steam Machine pricing announced (from $1049-$1428 USD), reservation lists open
HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 20 hours ago
Gonna get skewered for this take but... that's slightly better than I thought it would be. I thought it would be 1500 USD at the minimum.
OH NO brother they’re RAFFLING IT!? hahahaha that’s fucked
I’m actually glad to see it. A raffle is one of the only realistic ways to deter scalpers while still leaving the console eventually accessible to people who actually want to play on it. Fuck scalpers; anything that hurts them is a win in my book.
I mean, yeah, fuck scalpers. But valve’s global market is atrocious. I could buy a PS5 in a brick and mortar store, I could order any Xbox version I want, I could’ve bought and play a Switch2 on launch day. But somehow 4 years later I would have to find a sketchy online reseller if I wanted a Steam Deck. The Steam controller won’t get to me unless I’m willing to pay 4 times the original cost, and it would probably be years before I see a Steam Machine in person. Valve is right, piracy is a service problem, and I’m starting to suspect that scalping is too.
OH NO brother they’re RAFFLING IT!? hahahaha that’s fucked
I disagree. The Deck and Controller each had their queues announced at least a week ahead of time. The queue for the Steam Machine kinda just shadowdropped in comparison. Plus a raffle doesn’t penalize anyone for having work or living in a timezone where they’d normally be asleep.
Given the circumstances it’s pretty fair.
Even with an announcement ahead of time it’s so much better imo. Doesn’t penalize people for having to work or just living in a timezone where it’s the middle of the night.
Sure it feels like you have less agency over when you get it but it’s so much fairer.
Yeah 10:00 a.m. is perfectly reasonable but it converts to 6:00 p.m. UK time 7:00 p.m. for a lot of Europe, that’s kind of late in the day to be trying to order something and I think it’s the middle of the night in Australia. This does seem better.
It’s not a raffle anyone who joins the list will get a device it’s just when you get it. It’s a countermeasure to stop bots from being used to scalp the machines. I’m sure if you’re not that bothered about getting it in the first week or so you can just hold off and then it’ll go to normal purchasing after that.
Valve seem to have been pretty good so far about keeping scalpers from becoming part of their distribution network. Compared to the shit we saw with the PS5, for example.
It’s a one-per-household, vetted for bots and scalpers raffle, yup. Well, more of a first-wave-shuffling and then waitlist, really.
Each global region has separate quantities and lists, and each version of the box has their raffled/shuffled lists.
What’s nice about that is, not only are they going to actively try to limit to one household, but as long as you get in before the 25th, even if you get shuffled to the very end, you’re still going to be before anybody that comes in almost 4 days later, and have a chance to be literally first. Chaotic, but I think that’s kinda fun.
Each global region that’s supported that is. I wish they’d have some way for regions outside of those list to still try. There was essentially 0 chance I was able to get a Steam Controller being outside of those lists.
For all the talk about fighting scalpers, valve’s lack of global shipping and market means that scalpers are literally the only way I can get any hardware product. The billion dollar corporation won’t ship to my country, but Randy from Jacksonville will literally ship the product right into my doorstep. I don’t defend scalpers but this is ridiculous.
Yea, the annoying thing is that this used to be fine. I was able to order the Steam Deck with my non-US account and pick it up when I happened to be in the US. Now, I can’t even do that. I have a 15 year old account and spent probably more than a couple thousand bucks by now. Surely I’ve earned it?
Yeah Valve only really believes in about three of the earth’s continents. Personally I think it’s payback for Asia keeping all the cool phones to themselves.
randomization is to determine the order of receipt
... that's high demand, sheesh
i mean, i just entered a raffle. but it’s for free music tix at stern grove in san francisco. that’s the kind of raffle i’ll enter.
I actually wish they did concert tickets like this. I might actually occasionally be able to go to one.
jordanlund@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
They will sell out instantly and this blocks the scalpers.
HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 20 hours ago
Oh yeah sorry, I don't mean to say they're wrong for doing it. I just mean that scalpers are now so prolific that this is the only way to ensure fair purchases, that's the fucked part.