Humble Indie Bundle

[fuchikoma]

But how do you explain that phishing attempt? There was not a single link in the whole message that did not lead to Valve's servers. The return address was also for Valve. There was nothing to gain by my reaction to it. Whoever sent it had some pretty obscure privileged info, and utterly neglected to include a vector for them to receive my personal information.

[Vecha]

I can understand the issues folks have with it, it's the first that's both non-DRM free, and also the first that's not multi-platform. Which both are the main reason for HIB in the first place a

 

I always thought the main reasons for these bundles were for charity. Non-DRM/Multiplatform was just to entice the users to come donate.

 

If people take so much issue with it...don't get the bundle. Or, if you do, donate all the funds to charity instead of HIB and THQ for this particular bundle. That way...they get no "tip"

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

I donated mostly to charity on this one, actually.

[Vecha]

I donated mostly to charity on this one, actually.

 

I donated all to charity....I do that on all of them actually. Not sure if that makes me a super dick or a super nice guy.

[toxicitizen]

Wow, Humble Bundle 7 is out. Maybe someone should tell them to slow the fuck down or something?

 

Once again, I already own half the line-up (kinda wish I hadn't bought Shank 2 a couple weeks ago...). Maybe it's because I already own most of the big titles in it, but it seems like a weaker line-up than the last few main bundles. Indie Game: The Movie is a cool addition, though. Also I guess I'll have to finally give Dungeon Defenders a try.

 

Curious to see what they'll be adding halfway through this time.

 

edit: holy fuck! I saw that Dungeon Defenders came with all the DLC but I just checked on Steam and I hadn't realized there was so much of it. The whole thing costs 50 bucks! That's actually an incredible value.

Edited December 19, 2012 by FLD

[deanb]

Dammit, this popped up during work and I figured "woot, LoG and might get to try out Binding of Isaac since loads of folks bang on about it". Now I get home and find LoG is a beat the average game, I own Dungeon Defenders already and certainly don't care for Shank 2 and two more "Puzzle platformers"*.

 

 

*It's funny you have folks moan about AAA games all being FPS titles, and indies will save us from this repetitive drudge and yet most indie titles are fucking puzzle platformers. Without even trying I've ended up with Braid, And Yet it Moves, Gish, Cave Story, Nightsky, Aquaria, Toki Tori, Super Meat Boy, VVVVVV, Trine, and this would add Closure and Snapshot to the mix. And I'm sure if it could it'd add to Indie Game the Movie and throw in Fez too.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

How many FPS titles do we have a year vs. the number of indie-platformers a year? The spread of years for that titles is pretty wide.

 

Not to mention that most of those focus on differing game mechanics/playstyles whereas the issue with FPS is they all try to mimic each other.

 

So try again.

[P4: Gritty Reboot]

I agree a lot of them are samey, but there are definitely standouts in there.

[deanb]

The ones I listed are just from the random HIB's I've purchased over the past one and a half years. Which in counting is 7 of the 19 gaming bundles (one was a music one and one was the ebook one). And I rarely pay over the average too. In general, especially when it comes to the HIBs/HABs instead of the dev bundles, a third of the games in the bundle are puzzle platformer types. After that it's point and clicks.

 

And then after that yeah it starts to fracture severly across several genres n genres yet to be named (though you can likely just call them "puzzle")

[fuchikoma]

I'm not sure about this newest one. I have what I want from it, but it could be a good way to get the Isaac DLC since my existing copy is the HIB version too (unless there's another way? I haven't really looked into it.) I could also send more money their way this time since when I got it, I figured it wouldn't be for me, when it's really my most played game from the earlier bundle.

 

Then... I could also just wait for the remake to hit Vita since it'll include a version of the DLC content if I remember right...

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

@Fuchi the EFF is included on this one, too. So charity wise it's solid.

 

@Deanb: I don't care when you got them. That's entirely against the point. If we're talking oversaturation of platformers Cave Story came out in 2004, Aquaria in 2007, etc. There's far less puzzle platformers per year than FPS games.

 

Plus, not many indie FPS to choose from.

[deanb]

It's not against the point at all, in fact it's my point so I don't see why you're attempting to be defining it. Roughly 1/3 of the games through Humble Bundle (especially the HIB ones) are platformer/puzzle-platformer types. Despite the fact indies are supposedly our saviours from repetitive games and non-experimental devs. If you're not into puzzle platformers, or at least not enough into them to be up for 1/3 of your purchases being puzzle-platformers then the Humble Indie Bundles are somewhat meaningless to you.

(Also Cave Story+ is 2011, not 2004 and was included in the Dec '11 HIB 4. The first HIB is about the only one with '04-08 era games, the rest being 2009 and up, mainly congregating around 2011 era. HIB 7 being 2011 and 2012 games).

(Also I'm pretty sure there' was something about a month or so ago on VG genres over time and it turned out FPS titles actually only amounted to a small overall slither. Which makes sense when you think on it. FPS titles aren't over saturated, they're overmarketed. This year had what? COD:BO2, Halo 4, Warfighter, CS:GO, Far Cry..maybe Borderlands 2 though it's in RPG class too).

[fuchikoma]

FDS: True, of course. I've loved the EFF since the blue ribbon campaign, and reading The Hacker Crackdown, it seems they were cool even before that.

 

FWIW, I still feel that puzzle platformers are much more diverse and original than FPSes overall. It may be the default indie format for now, but really, Braid, Shift, Psychout, Miegakure, Nightsky and Fez are all puzzle platformers, but they have very little in common, aside from some of them being based on getting to the exit of a level. I'd say Portal has more in common with Serious Sam than most of these with each other. (As for games like Super Meat Boy, VVVVVV, Gish and Cave Story, I wouldn't even call any of those puzzle games, personally.)

 

[edit: Isn't it great when you use the opposite word from what you meant?]

Edited December 20, 2012 by fuchikoma

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

This year had what? COD:BO2, Halo 4, Warfighter, CS:GO, Far Cry..maybe Borderlands 2 though it's in RPG class too).

 

PlanetSide 2, Tribes Ascend, Natural Selection 2, Ravaged, Primal Carnage, Doom 3: BFE, Nexuiz, The Darkness II, Hawken, Gotham City Imposters...

 

So to get back to your point:

 

It's funny you have folks moan about AAA games all being FPS titles, and indies will save us from this repetitive drudge and yet most indie titles are fucking puzzle platformers

 

Considering the release date of all of these platformers it's far less saturated with a lot more variety between each game. Also, this isn't the only indie bundle in existence. There's a lot more variety in the other ones.

 

It comes down to the fact that it's simply more expensive to make a FPS and 3D games in general. Thus you see a lot less indie titles that try that unless it's an established company.

[deanb]

It comes down to the fact that it's simply more expensive to make a FPS and 3D games in general. Thus you see a lot less indie titles that try that unless it's an established company.

*clears throat*

You're definitely missing the point. I didn't say "Oh it's a shame that indies don't bother to make lots FPS titles and instead make lots of puzzle-platformers". You even quoted me too so I'm not sure how you missed what I said.

 

And yeah it's not the only indie bundle. The Indie Royale Xmas 2.0 started today. Let's see what they have. Hmm, Colourblind..let's see what that's about..

Colour Bind is a physics platform-puzzler

Okay maybe that's just a fluke, what's the next one. Offspring Fling:

through over 100 levels of action puzzle platforming

Next up two Serious Sams, an FPS title, Little Kingdom a TBS type game, and Puzzle Bots. a " point and click adventure".

 

So let's review what I said previously:

a third of the games in the bundle are puzzle platformer types. After that it's point and clicks.

And of 6 games we have 2 are puzzle-platformers, which I did my GCSE Mathematics some years ago but iirc that's...about a third. With a point and click, and then the random genres (though yes two FPS games is a tad rare and not entirely fitting my somewhat informal breakdown prediction)

 

 

(Also some of the games in your FPS list are from indie studios, on top of the Serious Sam in the Indie Royale)

 

 

edit: I should note I don't have a particular issue with puzzle-platformers in on themselves. I'll play the ones I have, but it's getting a bit dull to have an ever increasing collection of puzzle-platformers, especially from a section of games creators which are supposedly meant to be our saviours from the repetitive and "play it safe" AAA studios.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

You're not doing anything to support your own point here. You need to be more than just in the same genre to be "repetitive drudge" and you seem to think that any sidescrolling game is a puzzle platformer. As Fuchi pointed out and I have as well (good job on ignoring Fuchi btw) there's a lot more variety in the genre.

 

Why you keep going on and on about the numbers is beyond the point completely. Though it does seem like you're just trying to backpedal at this point and you really do have something against the genre.

[deanb]

(good job on ignoring Fuchi btw)

Woops, didn't mean to, the post did start with "FDS:".

 

So I guess first:

@Fuchi: There's some pretty diverse FPS titles. And one third of AAA games are still not FPS titles (And nor do AAA studios have some sort of promise on saving us from repetitive tiles either). Obviously what constitutes the puzzle part of a puzzle platformers is going to be somewhat different from one game to another. Be it swapping gravity, going fast, or just hitting the right bits in the right order. You've also got the hugely common element of them all being 2D (except the notable 4D example in the game that's yet to exist yet).

 

@FDS: What back pedalling? You said to look at other indie bundles, and it turns out, to my own surprise since I did just throw it out as a rough guestimate, that other bundles fit the "one third rule" too. That's the complete opposite of backpedalling, that's shooting forward in fifth gear. Also you may have missed the quotes from the games own pages but they seem to think they're puzzle-platformers too and I've a feeling the developers of the games might know more than you.

 

And no I really don't have anything against the genre, pretty much my only annoyance being just how many there are. If there was 1/3 of HIB titles being tower defense I'd likely be making this point too. The point isn't against the genre, it's against the saturation of said genre within in a sector of the...wait I've said this bit before. (And dammit I can't make a quip on repeating myself due to responding to someone clearly not reading what I'm saying due to the fuchi fumble)

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

The only important point here is the diversity which is why Fuchi and I have both mentioned it and you've done nothing but gloss over it. You're the one stuck on this 1/3rd thing.

[deanb]

They're puzzle platformers, they're of the same genre, there's only so much diversity to be had. About as much diversity as is to be had in FPS. Or pretty much any other genre. I never once said "they're all exactly the same game", I said "most indie titles are fucking puzzle platformers.", aka the same genre. You see diversity would be where instead of being 1/3 puzzle-platformers they're instead say puzzle paltformer, point and click, FPS, RPG, RTS, TBS, rougelike, tower defense, adventure game, sandbox, puzzle game and maybe a random game with no easily mandated genre. That, would be diversity.

 

You can't just say "Oh yes we've got a diverse range of workers at our company, sure 90% of workers are white but some of those have ginger hair and one of them even has a scar".

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

They're puzzle platformers, they're of the same genre, there's only so much diversity to be had. About as much diversity as is to be had in FPS.

 

Possible diversity=/= the products actually being made.

 

It's not "repetitive drudge" if these games are all different. It is with FPS where half of them try to mimic each other.

[deanb]

If the games were all different they would be

puzzle platformer, point and click, FPS, RPG, RTS, TBS, rougelike, game, sandbox, puzzle game and maybe a random game with no easily mandated genre.

 

Hmm. I find myself repeating myself again.

[fuchikoma]

There's some pretty diverse FPS titles. And one third of AAA games are still not FPS titles (And nor do AAA studios have some sort of promise on saving us from repetitive tiles either). Obviously what constitutes the puzzle part of a puzzle platformers is going to be somewhat different from one game to another. Be it swapping gravity, going fast, or just hitting the right bits in the right order. You've also got the hugely common element of them all being 2D (except the notable 4D example in the game that's yet to exist yet).

But... any AAA game has the hugely common element of being 3D. If that's the most similar thing between games... I'm really not seeing the connection between them. Atari and NES games were 2D and many of those are worlds apart.

@FDS: What back pedalling? You said to look at other indie bundles, and it turns out, to my own surprise since I did just throw it out as a rough And no I really don't have anything against the genre, pretty much my only annoyance being just how many there are. If there was 1/3 of HIB titles being tower defense I'd likely be making this point too. The point isn't against the genre, it's against the saturation of said genre within in a sector of the...

 

Hang on... If one third of AAA games are not FPS, that means there's not too many FPS, but if one third of games are puzzle platformers, there's a glut of them?

 

And really, would you say that the differences between games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor - ok that's not fair, say CoD and Halo, or even Halo and Prey - are as broad as the difference between the most similar pairing of Braid (selectively reversing time to get a key to a door... as far as I've played), Shift (reversing whether black or white areas are solid or empty and flipping between them to navigate to the exit), Fez (rotating 3D scenes to compose 2D environments) or Miegakure (travelling along the 4th dimension to pull objects through the dimensional continuum to the correct place)?

 

I can see looking at a breakdown by genre and being surprised how many fit into one category, but I don't think it's a big issue since many of them are so radically different.

 

...though if you want something fresh, in an earlier Indie Royale I found a game called "Sequence" that's a multi-page DDR dungeon crawler visual novel.

[Vecha]

I love Video Games.

 

 

Anyways...I got this Bundle...so glad I waited on getting Grimlock!

[P4: Gritty Reboot]

One does not simply "wait" on getting Grimrock...

 

I got this simply because a friend accidentally bought it twice. Sooooo can't argue with the price.

[Faiblesse Des Sens]

Grimrock was just $3.74 a few days ago. Though if you were specifically waiting on a bundle you did well.