Topic: The Humble Indie Bundle

[idolminds]

Woo!

A bundle of 5 indie games, "pay what you want" style!

World of Goo
Aquaria
Gish
Lugaru
Penumbra Overture

Not only is it "pay what you want", but they also have 2 charities to give to: the EFF and Childs Play. You get to decide how your money is split up. You can split it evenly between the devs and charities, give all the money to charity, or all to the devs, or some variation there of.

It's a pretty sweet deal if you don't already own these games. All are DRM free and you get versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux! Aquaria alone is worth putting a few bucks in.

[Xessive]

Awesome.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Awesome, I just got it.  I've been meaning to get some of these games for awhile, but kept forgetting.

[scottws]

This is pretty awesome.  I already have World of Goo, but none of the others.  I also like both charities.

[Quemaqua]

I have almost all of them already... still pretty awesome.

[idolminds]

If anyone bought this, check it out again. They added Samorost 2 to the bundle for everyone.

[TheOtherBelmont]

If anyone bought this, check it out again. They added Samorost 2 to the bundle for everyone.

Cool, thanks for the update.  I have no idea what the game is but I'll take it!

EDIT: Wait a sec, I do remember playing Samarost...had no idea a 2nd one was made.

[Pugnate]

Can you believe this?

http://kotaku.com/5535744/why-are-people-pirating-a-charity-game

[Xessive]

Wow. That's abhorrent.

I justify any piracy I do as some form of payback for any wrong-doing from a corporation.

This makes it all the more tempting for me to figure out a way (since my PayPal is just not working) to buy the Humble Indie Bundle as a show of support.

[idolminds]

Its not terribly surprising. Some people will just pirate everything they can. Its best not to worry about those types. You're offering 5 games available on Win, Mac, and Linux, with no DRM and you can buy it all legit for $1 and they STILL pirate...theres no reaching them. They will never give you a dime.

But on positive news, the deal is over and they made $1,030,870! Of that, $319,861 is going to charity. And since they hit the million dollar mark, they are going to release the source code for Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru HD, and Penumbra Overture!

[scottws]

Dang the deal is over?  I totally forgot to do this.

[Pugnate]

Amazing. The vast majority of those who bought the bundle opted to give the money to the developers. I would have never predicted that.

As much as I love good charities, I am all for artists getting paid for their work. I am glad they made a bit more money... even though when you divide it up amongst the five, and then their respective teams... it isn't much... but still... good stuff.

[idolminds]

Oh shit, scott it looks like you can still order this. They must have extended it or something since I could swear they were announcing "4 hours left!" and stuff.

[scottws]

I don't know what to put down for a donation.  I was thinking $25 at first but that seems really low to me, to be honest.  I think I'll do $50.

[Cobra951]

Humble indie bundle extended.  You weren't wrong, idol.

[Quemaqua]

So they're at it again.  I think we've discussed it on here somewhere, but figured I'd update the thread.

http://www.humblebundle.com/

Some great games in there.  Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos, and Revenge of the Titans.  And I have to say, Revenge is just bloody brilliant.  I've been getting my ass handed to me by a boss monster, but it's basically a tower defense game crossed with an RTS, except better than that sounds.  The graphics and sound are phenomenally fun.  I've not tried the others yet, but Osmos and Machinarium both have been on my radar for a while, and Cortex Command looks hideously awesome.  I've had Braid for some time now and still haven't gotten around to playing it.  Maybe now I will.

Anyway, a few days left.  Help some charities, get great games!

[idolminds]

They just topped $1 million. Dudes at Wolfire are working on some special surprise because of it. Last year it was bonus games added to the bundle. Who knows whats coming, but it should be awesome!

[idolminds]

Turns out the surprise is you can now register your games on Steam and Desura.

[gpw11]

Note that not all of the games are available in Steam (As of yet at least).  Cortex Command and Revenge of the Titans are unavailable, but you can still download the .exe

[idolminds]

So, everyone that bought Humble Bundle 2 just got all the games in Humble Bundle 1. New customers that pay more than the current average price will also get them. Current average is just over $7.

[Pugnate]

OK I am getting on this. I will give $20. Will split half and half.

[Pugnate]

For exactly one fucking hour I have been trying but Google Checkout keeps declining all my credit cards.

[idolminds]

wtf, that sucks!

[Pugnate]

Same with Amazon. I think Humble Indie Bundle has black listed my country. WTF.

[Pugnate]

Well to experiment, I added $10 to Steam and then paid some of my eBay fees with my other credit card. Both went through OK.

I am 99% certain humble indie bundle has decided to block certain countries, which is sad.

[Pugnate]

Well, I decided to ask Xessive gift me the bundle in exchange for something on Steam.

Poor X.

While I was rejected almost immediately every time, X was rejected an hour after. Bullcrap. Not happy at all with these guys.

[Xessive]

Same issue.. Order was declined.

I think it's a Middle East problem, even though Pug is not technically in the Middle East.

Anyway, I guess donating for a good cause is also subject to political discourse.

Fuckin' bullshit.

[idolminds]

I just saw this on reddit. Looks like Google is being stupid, and the HIB is being hosted on googles servers. Bah!

[Pugnate]

I am not even in the Middle East! I am in Asia.

I don't even understand what region has to do with it? Also, Amazon.com refused to work as well, even though it works normally just fine.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Xessive and Pug, I would try contacting the people running the Humble Bundle.  I am sure they would respond to you pretty quickly and may be able to help you guys get the bundle.

[Pugnate]

haha it probably seems weird for someone to be pissed off at what is a cause also contributing to a charity. I am not really frustrated with them. I was just more frustrated with my waste of time. If they (Google) had simply stated that they were blocking certain countries, I would have been OK. I actually spent twenty to thirty minutes on the phone with my credit card company trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I was blaming the bank, actually.

So yea, block regions if you want, but be transparent about it. This sneaky stuff lead to two hours of frustration, because it takes a while to set up the payment and process every time.

[Cobra951]

I clicked on a Kotaku link above, not realizing the post was from May.  But still, a comment there seems very apropos in this situation.

Rosen, the co-founder of Wolfire Games, mentions that the download links have been posted all over the Internet and that some people would rather click on those directly, than go through the entire payout process just to send over a penny. We could call this the laziness or convenience argument to pirate.

Another explanation is that the payment processors that are used are not available in every country, so some people couldn’t pay even if they wanted to. In a similar vein, but not mentioned by the Wolfire team, is that many people in the target audience are young and don’t have access to a credit card.

How about contributing directly to the charities involved, then hitting the torrent sites?

[Xessive]

How about contributing directly to the charities involved, then hitting the torrent sites?

A soul-savingly good idea!

[Xessive]

I sorted it out. I used an int'l card and made the purchase!

Pug, check your inbox.

[gpw11]

I have to say, once I received the email telling me that the first bundle was now available to me, I instantly felt bad for only giving up $5.  Lesson learned for next time, I guess.

That said, I now have Aquaria on Steam...great and I may actually finish it this time.  I bought the game from the developers a couple of years ago (when 1.1 or 1.2 came out) but have never been able to finish it on like three tries. I was going to reinstall it lately, but when I went to the email to get the link I saw that it had expired and I needed to email the company directly. Never got around to it. I'm pumped.

[idolminds]

Can't buy the bundle? Wolfire (dudes that came up with HIB) is buying 20 $10 bundles to give away. If you can't buy the bundle and aren't pirating it, let them know and you may get one!

[Xessive]

Humble Bundle 9 is out!

Just.. just.. just see what it has. It's a really, really good bundle!

[idolminds]

Even though I already have pretty much all of those....I still bought it. DRM free Mark of the Ninja was worth it. And now Brutal Legend PC. Plus whatever bonus games come along.

PS, I already have Mark of the Ninja on Steam so if anyone wants my extra key let me know.

[Xessive]

Yeah, so worth it.

Btw, extra FEZ Steam key if anyone wants it.

[W7RE]

Yeah, so worth it.

Btw, extra FEZ Steam key if anyone wants it.

I'd be willing to take the Fez Steam key.

EDIT: Seeing Brutal Legend mentioned again just reminds me of how disappointed I was in that game. The on foot stuff wasn't amazing, the driving wasn't amazing, but the setting and music made up for it and I loved it all... until they started throwing in the RTS elements. I mean, partially because it meant less of the stuff I was already enjoying, and partially because I really don't get into RTS. At all.