This is the first GOG special sale in a long time where i haven't actually bought anything.


I am either getting good at this "self control" thing, or realised from reading all the above forum posts, that the chances of a good game dropping from Pinatas is extremely low... maybe both? XD

True, but that itch in the back: what if can get Rime or Homeworld or Tyranny!? MUST TRY ..... you buy one and then you end up with CivCity Rome and you really do not like management strategies ... well, f***


In my case I bought 5 pinatas and really did not like 4 of the games, 1 was actually from the wishlist. Fortunately GOG refunded me all but that one. And honestly, I am getting the itch again since they added a new batch, but I must ... control ... myself. .....


:D

so... is this legal? can they ban me for abusing this or anything? any official word?

I didn't say that. Thanks for implying it and putting words into my mouth though.

The big issue here and what caused GOG to make drastic changes by removing games from Pinatas and adjusting prices is one of perceived value. You see, GOG is advertising that by buying a Pinata you'd be getting "exceptional deals on some of our favorite hand-picked titles" and "guaranteed a game worth anywhere between $5.99 and $44.99" (see post #1 in this thread and the Pinata FAQ). However, people were complaining about getting a bunch of games that were currently on sale and valued at $2.99 (sometimes cheaper depending on regional prices) - one penny cheaper than the pinata itself costs - even though the base price of those games was above the $5.99 threshold.

This was a big problem for customers as they were not getting their perceived value's worth out of these pinatas. They'd put $3 into the pinata and get something out that was currently 'worth' less (even though its base price was greater) than the pinata itself. GOG could have said tough luck, it is what it is, but instead they chose to acknowledge this as being a "situation" that they "needed to act fast" to "fix" (see post #383 and #393 in this thread). To "fix the situation" they:

1. "Remov[ed] from Piñatas the games that in some regions are available cheaper in the sale."
2. "Remov[ed] a few games from the sale" completely.
3. "Add[ed] new games to the selection,... to cover the excluded ones. Those new additions are not available on sale, and their base price is at least $5.99 USD."
4. They offered "a refund for such purchase."
5. "To make up for the trouble, we’re also going to give you a code for one free Piñata."

I'm merely pointing out the fact that perceived value comes not only from current prices (sales or otherwise), but also recent and historical prices. Some customers will put the same $3 into a pinata and get something out that they perceive only has a value of $0.39 (Gomo), $0.59 (several titles), $0.99 (several titles), $1.19 (several titles), etc., etc., based on their prices during recent sales events. Who's to say these customer's views are any less valid than the customers who only look at current prices? By GOG validating the concerns of customers who were looking at current (sales) prices they are also creating a potentially worse situation by now adding a ton of even more low-valued games to the pool for those who look at recent sales prices. In the prior pool there were (based on customer reporting) 104 games, with 39 games (or 37.5%) having a historical sale value under $3 - the lowest being $1.19. Now however, with the changes GOG has made, there are (again based on customer reporting) 159 games, of which 94 games (or 59%) have a historical sale value under $3 - the lowest being $0.39. To these customers who view historical sales data this is a slap in the face by GOG because they may view it as GOG pretending to care about their concerns but then making matters worse by adding even more low-valued games into the pool, making it that much harder to get something decent and your money's worth from these pinatas. GOG's actions may thus appear disingenuous and duplicitous to these customers.

Edit: posting links doesn't seem to work...?

"I didn't say that. Thanks for implying it and putting words into my mouth though"

I am sorry you perceived what I said as putting things in your mouth. But they were questions and not statements. Sincerely meant questions. As such they were not meant to imply anything one way or the other. Least of all to put any words in to anyone's mouth.

"Who's to say these customer's views are any less valid than the customers who only look at current prices?"

This goes both ways.

What criteria relating to price should GOG have used to determine which games to include in the Piñata pool?

Edit:

The whole nature of a Piñata sale is that some people will get games to perceive to be of low value.

I agree, I am not falling for these kind of shit sales ever again!

Then my question to Zoidberg applies to you as well: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_pinata_madness_sale_starts_now_98cd1/post509

I could put it differently: Why should I and others be deprived of a sale we have enjoyed immensely?

That is only part of the situation, since you can even get a "deal", but it can be a game that you don't will enjoy to play, for example, because of the genre and its characteristics.

Edit: Certainly it could be attenuated by themed piñata or daily pools. Bringing more strongly this characteristic of you receiving a game from a genre that you like, maybe is unknown and can satisfy you. Or it still will be like a secret friend with strange peoples. Maybe the chances for getting a game could even be weighted in favor of your favorite genres or by the content of the library, by a more sophisticated algorithm. Statistics have its uses.

Someone that is worried about that probably shouldn't buy a Piñata.

I added a edit to my commentary, because my point is changes to how the promotion is done, to make peoples that shouldn't buy a piñata to be more likely to buy piñata.

Edit: Maybe even if the prize is a game that have a value below of the piñata

Honestly I don't care, if people want to gamble then they can, I just said I won't be participating and to be honest it is illegal gambling in disguise if you want to be technical. Not that I care, but again I don't like how this is handled but that's just me. But others may feel free to do whatever they want with it.

Just bought shadow warriors 2 and decides to gamble for ones in my live... and i got 'Serious Sam's Bogus Detour'.
as a long time 'serious Sam' fan i am very happy with my pinata. The game cost still more then 10 € on sales, so i got a exellent deal.

Nah, I would say money-wise the games from Pinata are quite reasonable, if you buy like 10 of them ($30), and sum the base prices of games, you will very likely get well over $60 or more.

The problem is, that it doesn't FEEL that good, not even close, as you will very likely receive several games which you will simply find I-don't-like-this (even if those games have serious number of fans, maybe even majority of players may like them).

If I hand-pick my games in ordinary sale, even if the total sale percentage is worse, I get more satisfaction.

That said, as I'm a bit collecting the whole catalogue (although I did filter out the most uninteresting pieces by hand at first, the pinata sale gave me quite some of them :/ ), buying anything for $3 is not that bad deal, in the end I bought about 25 games IIRC. But very few catched my eye, I think I will try about 3-4 of them.

So if you are mindless collector, or you are ready to accept even things you would never ever buy by yourself, pinata sale may be a bit of fun. Just not as much as *that* promo bringing *that* game from your wishlist, that's always better.

First of all I think GOG should be upfront and transparent, listing all games that could potentially be had from pinatas. This would allow the customer to make a more informed decision and decide for themselves (using whatever personal criteria they use) whether the risk/reward is worth their purchase.

As to your question, speaking personally, I'm actually fine with them having games with a sale value right around $3. I'm actually keeping three games that were currently on sale for $2.99: Her Story, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Little Big Adventure. As I said before "at first I was excited for this event and supported GOG as it seemed promising. However, over time I now have mixed feelings about it. Especially after they removed the games that were currently on sale for cheaper than $3, ostensibly because people were complaining about receiving cheaper games than the pinatas were worth, only to replace them by even more games that have a far lower historical sales price." I actually preferred the original Pinata pool because even 'losing' felt like you were breaking even because the games were on sale for $2.99. Now, however, in order to make the disgruntled customers feel better Gog, I feel, engaged in some underhanded techniques such as 1) artificially raising the perceived 'value' of the games by removing $3 sale items and adding games that weren't on sale but which, when they were on sale, have an even lower price point than the removed games. 2) Flooding, and thereby diluting, the pool with these low-priced games, thus making it even harder to get the "exceptional deals" they advertised and customers expected to find. These techniques cause the customers who 'lose' to feel the sting of 'losing' even more, and it opens the door wide for people to resent GOG for engaging in such shady practices, especially when GOG expressed interest for the customer's concerns as this now makes them only appear to be feigning interest all the while using sleight of hand to make things worse for the customer and better for GOG.

In short, I think the only changes GOG should have made were:

1. Be open and transparent from the beginning with exactly what games were in the pool, thereby allowing the customer to weigh the risks/rewards and make their own informed decision on whether to buy in or not, instead of forcing them to jump in completely blind with only the promise of finding "exceptional deals."
2. Make a clarifying statement that the "guaranteed... game worth anywhere between $5.99 and $44.99" was for the retail value of the games and did not apply to sales prices.

Personally I believe these two things would have resolved most of the major issues we've seen, for them, and the customer.

Yes but that doesn't change that plenty of people were affected. If you gamble in a casino and there's a technical error then all transactions are nul and void, so you don't get anything but can ask for a refund.