Split Digital Gaming Deals and Physical Gaming Deals

Odin on 14/02/2021 - 19:53
Last edited 14/02/2021 - 21:02

I browse the new section of gaming/deals pretty regularly each day, and one thing that's become kind of an annoyance is the mass amount of digital game deals. I'm not going to go so far as to call it spam, but it's close.

There's always a deal for some garbage mobile game, or some free items in some gatcha game, or games nobody honestly cares about, and the list of deals just builds and builds and builds with these posts. There are already so many websites for tracking digital game prices, I feel like it's just clogging up the deals page here.

I'd really like it if there was a way to split categorisation of "digital" and "physical" gaming goods.

I realise that this isn't a super easy thing to do, as even though I'm someone who only buys physical games - I would like to see a deal for say, a Playstation Plus subscription. The problem is just the sheer quantity of crap deals being posted is making the current setup a mess.

Basically junk like this is getting out of hand: https://i.imgur.com/CZnGA7y.png

I'm sure the posters have good intentions, but honestly a lot of these deals could just be made by spam bots scraping data from digital game sales sites. It really doesn't need to be here.

My ideal solution would be to have only the small amount of actual good digital deals posted, but who can define exactly what that is…

My realistic idea would be to add a mandatory section to fill out on the post page:

  • Title: *
  • URL/Link: *
  • Coupon Code:
  • Start:
  • Category: *

-—— after they choose "gaming" from the category drop down, another box could pop up asking "digital" or "physical"

So you'd have

Category —-> Gaming —-> sub-category —-> Digital/Physical

I think that way you could keep the current setup for anyone who wants the mix of digital and physical, and then there could be a way for people to only look at the physical game deals as well. At least that way users could ignore the things they don't want.

Poll Options

  • 12
    Yes there should be a way to split physical/digital gaming deals
  • 8
    No it shouldn't be possible to split them
Site Discussion

Comments

  • AustriaBargain on 14/02/2021 - 19:59

    Make people fill forms to submit deals and they might not bother submitting at all. Wouldn’t it be easier if mods could tag deals as digital or physical?

    • Odin on 14/02/2021 - 21:01

      It'd just be one extra drop down menu. We already have lots of required sections to fill out to submit deals.

  • Melb69 on 14/02/2021 - 20:56

    Poll

  • payton on 17/02/2021 - 21:20
    +2

    There's always a deal for some garbage mobile game, … or games nobody honestly cares about

    Notice any pattern on who is posting these shitty low effort 'deals' (with + vote count barely above a single digit) on an hourly basis? Not just daily, but hourly.
    Block the user that is posting these spam and your feed will be a lot less cluttered.

    • Odin on 17/02/2021 - 21:42
      +1

      That is one option, but the problem is that if they change their posting habits you'll have no idea about deals that you'd actually want, because there's a no duplicate post policy here and they'd all be blocked.

      • Lysander on 18/02/2021 - 14:14
        -1

        "because there's a no duplicate post policy here and they'd all be blocked."

        So, are you saying you want the deal, just not to be posted by a particular user?
        Would you not want all deals involving a product you are not interested in to be blocked?

        • Odin on 18/02/2021 - 14:24
          +2

          So, are you saying you want the deal, just not to be posted by a particular user?

          Not what I'm saying at all.

          Let me also be clear, I've nothing against you Lysander and I don't want you to take this post personally or anything like that.

          But it has primarily been your extreme posting of digital deals in the gaming sub section that has prompted me to post this (to be fair you post deals almost 24/7 - [it's impressive in a way]). But so many of the deals are just garbage games, and it's becoming a bit of a chore to go through pages of junk posts if I'm not on ozbargain for a few days.

          Would you not want all deals involving a product you are not interested in to be blocked?

          Well, that's where I'm saying it's difficult. I said originally:

          "My ideal solution would be to have only the small amount of actual good digital deals posted, but who can define exactly what that is…"

          I'd be perfectly happy with how things were maybe 6 months ago when it was only the really good deals being posted and we weren't being bombarded with posts for gacha games and mobile games that nobody is really interested in.

          But I realise that the users here probably aren't going to go back to those posting habits, so my solution was to have a "physical" and "digital" category to be able to check through.

          • Lysander on 18/02/2021 - 14:54
            -4

            @Odin: I am not sure why you think I am posting a lot of gacha games or mobile games.
            Have a look at the statistics for the Apple and Google Play Store and you see who post the most of those deals. Sometimes, if they are educational games or apps, they are posted under the mobile category.
            Plus, you have identified the main problem.
            When you say "garbage games" that is just your opinion (to which you are of course entitled) and other people might in fact like the games you think are garbage (and of course vice versa).
            So, who should be the judge of whether a game is great or garbage? Or if a deal is a deal or not ($2 off posts on ebay for giftcards are not deals for me but they are for a lot of people - should be now get rid off them based on my opinion? Of course not.)?
            Keep also in mind that many people look at posts, actually use the deal but do not vote. There are many deals that have say 300 clicks and only 7 upvotes. If only 10% of those clicks took advantage of the deal then the deal is worth it.
            As I said, there is a solution to your problem; just change your settings so that the digital stores are ignored and you are golden. There are not many stores selling physical discs so it should be easy: Big W, HN, JB, EB Games, Amazon, Gamesmen, Good Guys, Target.
            Believe it or not but there are many people who actually like to get a daily Switch deal posted here. Sure, they could sift through gaming sites themselves but getting it here is more convenient and it is somewhat "curated" as I only post deals with their all time lowest prices (with very few exceptions).
            Your point about scrapers/bots is valid but I am the wrong addressee there as I do not use any of them. I find ALL my deals manually - no scrapers, crawlers, or bots involved whereas other user do use those.

      • payton on 23/02/2021 - 22:55

        You can get notification emails from ITAD about game giveaways happening at various sites - Steam, GOG, Twitch Prime, Indiegala, Epic Games' weekly deal and so on. In gmail I whitelisted ITAD's domain name and it hasn't skipped a beat, shows up in my Inbox every time and really easy to claim them all in one go.

  • Lysander on 18/02/2021 - 14:10
    -5

    You already recognised the main problem: who defines what a good deal is and what a game is that people care about?
    Just because you care about a game, does not mean someone else does and vice versa.
    In fact, the above would bring Ozbargain close to a curated site (which then throws up other questions about impartiality and diversity) which I think will not be good.
    If you want a site that primarily caters to your tastes, you have to make your own.
    To be absolutely honest, I think your problem is really not a problem. Surely it is not too much effort to read through a few titles.
    There is also a simply solution: change your settings that you will not get deals involving Steam, Fanatical, Gamebillet, GMG, GOG, PS Store, Nintendo eShop, MS Store etc.
    That way you will only get the physical deals from the likes of EB Games or JB Hifi.

    But I can guess why you will not want to do that as then you would miss out on some digital freebies from Steam, GOG, Ubisoft etc.

    Oh, and if you want a site where only freebies are posted (so high votes are achieved) as the user starting with p (who seems to put in a lot of effort criticising others who contribute but does not contribute himself or herself - nasty and non-constructive comments are not a contribution) seem to advocate then please do block all other deals - it is possible to just see freebies. If you want diversity and acknowledge that other people might enjoy something you don't then maybe just accept that you cannot have your ideal bargain site tailored to your specific tastes.

    I can also see you really dislike digital games: "but a digital game to me has a zero value in my mind"
    Maybe that attitude is also factoring in to your request?????

    • Odin on 18/02/2021 - 14:44
      +1

      No I think you've misunderstood my basic catalyst for starting this discussion:

      • Essentially, it's become a chore to go through pages of junk deals in the gaming section because of the large volume of digital 'deals' being posted. Either I'm on ozbargain basically all day every day keeping a look out, or I have to trawl through pages of accumulated garbage deals to find an actual worthwhile deal [and I don't consider this purely my opinion, I think the number of votes that the other users place on these deals back this up].

      miss out on some digital freebies

      Again, not my main point, I mean, sure, I don't have a problem with these, but I also don't care about them much either. They don't factor in to my post or current opinion.

      change your settings that you will not get deals involving Steam, Fanatical, Gamebillet, GMG, GOG, PS Store, Nintendo eShop, MS Store etc.

      Again, this isn't a great solution like I outlined in my original post.

      There are occasionally 'good deals', things like:

      Conversely:

      I don't want to be told the solution for me is to block either you, or the store pages, because I think that's the wrong way to go about it. You post good deals sometimes, you just post a lot of junk too.

      Further, there are digital deals like:

      • Playstation plus subscription - that's a good deal, even though I buy physical only, I still pay for PS+, so I don't want to be blocking everything and missing out on this stuff.

      I guess bottom line is I could change this to a simple request - if all the posters could please just post genuinely good deals and cut down on the junk it would be much appreciated.

      and if you want a definition of "good deal" - I guess look at the previous postings and look at how little 'vote ups' the junk mobile games and other obscure stuff gets. If you're posting deals for (for example) - Steam-Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom ~$3.79 - it's got two 'vote ups' and zero comments. Obviously nobody is interested in junk like that. There's just no need to post so much.

      • Lysander on 18/02/2021 - 15:07
        -6

        The fact Shiness only got 2 plus votes does NOT mean it is junk or a garbage game.
        If tomorrow this was posted as a freebie on Steam or Epic, it would reach 300+ votes. Plus out of the 78 people who clicked on it, maybe 10 bought the game. That is 10 people who would have missed out otherwise.
        The problem is that many people now expect things for free - it is clear also from comments for other games where people say a game is too expensive completing disregarding work hours to make such game and forgetting how games and their prices were 15 years ago. Look at the comments for HB bundles. If anybody had offered 10 games for $18 10-15 years ago people would have burned down such store.

        Your example above indicates that we would need very heavy curation. Only people who are heavily into those games would know every little thing about this.
        Your example also shows that your taste seems to be niche and that the number of upvotes does not indicate whether a game or post is garbage.
        GUILTY GEAR XX ACCENT CORE PLUS R only got 12 upvotes but for people into these games it is a fantastic deal. I could be like other users and watch my vote average but I choose not to as I want to promote as wide a diversity in gaming as possible. I post games I do not personally play or like because I know others do.
        This does lead to game posts you are not interested in but others are.
        Also, re https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/603409: Have you ever considered the possibility that some people do not want all DLCs or upgrades but simply play the base games (I am one of them)? So to them it is a good deal as DLC cost etc. does not matter as they do not want or need it.
        If you do not want to block stores or posters then I think your only option is to read through the titles. In all honesty, you can block my posts as I only post digital games anyway. I am okay with that and won't hold it against you.
        I am just not happy with certain people who just criticise (and that in a nasty way) and do not contribute anything. Again, that is not you.
        See, I wish I could block these people completely too, from everything but that is not possible. So I have to live with that and ignore them. For that, for example I changed my settings so that I am not subscribed to anything, even my own posts. Not ideal but better than being harassed.

        Re definition of a good deal: for example, you thought this was one: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/572952 and it probably was for people who looked for this. For me personally, it was not but I would never get the thought of saying to you "It is not a good deal so please do not post those anymore". But of course I am not looking for that type of thing either so what do I know?!
        Or this one: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/526548
        For me that would even be a bad deal if they gave those away for a $1 or free as that brand and type of shoe is pretty bad for your feet. But again, other people love them and for them it was a great deal.
        I hope I could illustrate the point.

        • Odin on 18/02/2021 - 16:54
          +2

          I post games I do not personally play or like because I know others do.

          I think this is the crux of the problem.

          Why are you posting things you admit you don't know anything about? How can you post a deal when you don't know much about the game?

          One of the most important life lessons is learning that just because an item has "SALE" written on it - doesn't mean it's a deal.

          The only deals I ever post on here are deals that I've personally bought myself, or items that I've bought in the past and know they are good, and now they are at some great discount.

          I think that's how we define what a "good deal" is - is this a deal you'd personally recommend to other people? Or are you just posting for the sake of it?

          • Lysander on 18/02/2021 - 17:15
            -3

            @Odin: Just because I do not play them does not necessarily mean I do not know about them. You are making assumptions and I think this is the real problem here. Not everybody here has your standards, guidelines etc. that you have made internally for yourself. People have different standards.
            I do not play Minecraft or GTA 5 but still know plenty about it.
            I do not like Tesla but if I found a deal where a Tesla is sold at 50% off I think I should post it as that is a good deal, regardless of my personal opinion.
            You clearly have very specific likes such as the type of game you quoted as an example, and the fact you think digital games have zero value. That plays into your assessment.
            And you mention the key: YOU THINK something is a good deal but that will not be the measure stick for everybody else. They can disagree and that is fine. Of course it works the other way around.
            But that does NOT mean that other you or they should have the power to stop you from posting deals YOU THINK are a good deal even if they do not think so. And it also does NOT mean that your deal is not great or that the other people are wrong. Different people make different judgments and have different beliefs and opinions - it really is that simple.
            Be assured though that the very large majority of things I post I have bought and tried myself as gaming is an area I deal with for work on a regular basis.
            Just out of interest: did you buy each item you posted deals for?
            Oh, and to the neggers: please continue to waste your negs. Just a hint: megs do not effect change but polite, civil conversation might do. ;-)

            • Odin on 18/02/2021 - 19:20

              @Lysander: I'm just replying to your posts with quotes from your own posts.

              The only things I know about you are from your posts, I'm trying my best not to make assumptions and quote specifically the parts I'm replying to so it all makes sense. Like I said, it's nothing personal, but I honestly think the best practice for posting bargains here would be first asking yourself: "Would I tell my friends and family to buy this?"

              Just out of interest: did you buy each item you posted deals for?

              ??? Yes, I just said that directly in the post above. Line 5.

              In the end, I sort of get where you're coming from, but I do think you're treading the line really closely.

              I think we'd all agree that if someone setup a bot to scrape websites like camelcamelcamel, dekudeals, IsThereAnyDeal, etc. etc. and that bot posted anytime ANY game hit an all time low - that bot should be banned because it's just going to cause a complete mess. There are millions of digital games being sold and the 'deals' posts would become unmanageable.

              Now I know you're a real person posting real deals that you found yourself.

              But I'm saying you shouldn't just be posting deals for the sake of it.

              You said yourself that you post games that reach all time lows - OK, but that doesn't really mean that it's a good deal

              The worst game in the world doesn't become a "good deal" because it dropped from it's usual price of $1 to $0.50c an all time low, it's still a crap game and shouldn't be posted because it's basically just spam.

              Imagine if we had hundreds of individuals like yourself, well intentioned, but basically competing to submit the most "deals" on the site, instead of simply sharing what they as an individual believe are true good deals.

              I do not like Tesla but if I found a deal where a Tesla is sold at 50% off I think I should post it as that is a good deal, regardless of my personal opinion.

              See this is where I get hung-up. If you don't like Tesla, that's fine, and IMO that's independent of the assessment of whether deals are good or not. You can dislike Tesla (say for example because of their staff working conditions) but still recognise that the car they produce is good quality and when it is $XXXXX it's a "good deal".

              What I don't get is when you post games that are so obscure and niche and you yourself admit you know nothing about them other than "it has good reviews and is now at an all time low price" - it's like - OK, but WHY are you posting it? You have zero connection to this deal? You admit so yourself? Again, imagine hundreds of other people doing similar things, the site would become unmanageable.

              (also please note my opinion applies to literally every poster here, this isn't specifically directed at you Lysander)

  • payton on 23/02/2021 - 23:36
    +1

    Now I know you're a real person posting real deals that you found yourself.
    But I'm saying you shouldn't just be posting deals for the sake of it.
    You said yourself that you post games that reach all time lows - OK, but that doesn't really mean that it's a good deal

    Much of what Lysander wrote about himself are either exaggerated or hilariously fake - cannot be taken at face value - e.g. dreaming he has the clout to make the owner of ozbargain approach him and pay for some dubious 'legal advice'. Unironically asking the Ozb Head Admin if he had ever banned himself crumbled the "16 years legal experience" fiction he was busy crafting.

    Notice how he almost never give credits to where he sourced the deal from? Would you really believe he personally 'discovered' all these deals himself ; and not a shred of it are from info generously posted by others eg r/GameDeals or Hot UK Deals?

    He'd been trying to sabotage his gaming-deal rival for many months. The cherry is when he shamelessly wrote to the other person "Please just disregard the haters - it is is just a reflection of their own issues" - knowing full well he is the hater that had been undermining them all along. Fake gestures mixed with low cunning, and waving the victim card now that his playbook is out.

    When someone posted a GOG deal that needed a Russian VPN, he was all 'danger! danger! my friend got banned by GOG!
    After seeing it got 711 votes, he started imitating gog + vpn deals anyway and downplaying the supposed 'account ban risk' because screw it, I want my 700+ votes

    Following on from the Russian VPN deal for Cyberpunk which was so well received, here is another

    Wanna bet if this 'friend' was another imaginary creature much like his life experiences? :)

    • Lysander on 26/02/2021 - 12:40
      -3

      Another "stalking" and harassment post by you.
      You are aware that there are several other people on here that notify me of your behaviour because they find it unacceptable, too, right?
      You believe what you want. I find my deals myself and do not use scrapers, bots, and crawlers and on the odd occasion when I found out through friends they actually do not want credit as they could care less about it - they just want the freebie or deal. Do you really think it makes any difference to anyone in real life if a deal says "Credit to ghanagirl765" or "Credit to DILIGAF"?
      And you make your own story as you like it. You have proven again and again that you do not take criticism and opinions differing from your own very well and also do not think reading things precisely and distinguishing fine points is necessary - it definitely is not your forte. ;-)
      Take a book out of Odin's book for example as he voices constructive criticism while staying civil and nice.

      Show us how it is done with the deals please - instead of wasting your energy"stalking" and "bad-talking" me here (and getting yourself into trouble in the process), find us deals please. Deals, deals, deals! That is what it is all about.

      And here is another official request:

      Please stop following me around on Ozbargain.
      Please stop harassing and "bad mouthing" me and spreading lies and untruths.
      I do consider this behaviour harassment and stalking and you clearly know this through the many requests I have made for you to stop.

      • payton on 26/02/2021 - 13:24
        +1

        You believe what you want
        And you make your own story as you like

        What I quote were your exact words, your own behaviour on display. You have no qualms about casually telling lies to ozbargain's audience. I quoted your own posts - and this is a problem because you don't want people to know about the nasty and predatory side of you? They're not meant to see that?

        Take a book out of Odin's book

        Take a book out of a book? Bookception? See below. Odin was being 300% nice to you and you pounced on him anyway.

        Re definition of a good deal: for example, you thought this was one: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/572952

        I post deals on things I personally buy and vouch for, I don't have the kind of inflated ego that drives someone to copy & paste dubious deals from other sites every few hours, and try to harm their rival and at the same time be envious enough of their success to start imitating them.

        (and getting yourself into trouble in the process),

        Another threat? This is the third one coming from you

        "send me your name and address to make it easier for the police."
        "do not make such loud noise and maybe stay away."

        .
        Do you ever think about apologising to dealbot, instead of writing fake insincere gestures to him and trolling his posts every week? You could just compete with him on a positive basis without resorting to shady things.

        Do you really think it makes any difference to anyone in real life if a deal says "Credit to ghanagirl765" or "Credit to DILIGAF"?

        It tells people that you are not so hungry for glory that you would withheld sources and falsely attribute everything to yourself. How has this concept eluded you?

        • Lysander on 26/02/2021 - 19:00

          And you know from what source how I find my deals???
          And you are the arbiter to decide what is sincere and insincere?
          Why are you talking about rivals? I think you watched too much GOT.
          Threat? That was a comment, not a threat at all but of course you see anything and anybody not agreeing with you as a threat. I am concerned about your well-being as I am sure people in real life would not put up with your aggression for long so please don't do that.
          I give you thst you are very good at taking things out of context but most people are too smart to fall for that.
          What about you apologizing for stalking and harassing?
          Trolling dealbots post? How is doing what 6 other people did before trolling? That alone shows your hate and negativity is not objective but merely relates to your unhealthy obsession with me.
          Again, stop harassing me and stalking me. Please.

          • payton on 27/02/2021 - 01:38
            +1

            @Lysander: Need the context? Sure I'll just link the page where you posted that, here. Whoops, according to you that's "harassing" and "spreading lies and untruths" about you.

            I noticed you tried your best to repeatedly pin accusatory labels on me, there's five words each of "stalking" and "harassment" just from two comments. Yep, you've done that before. Nice try (again) on trying to weasel out and turn the focus on someone else.

            Guess you finally realised that your behaviour and comments in the linked pages are indefensible so you resort to these highly derogatory accusations. Do you really take ozbargainers as fools born yesterday that can't see what you're trying to do? It tells people (and the Mods) what kind of vicious person you really are, so the joke's on you. And just one comment ago you were doling out smug "life advice" 🤣 O.M.G.

            And you are the arbiter to decide what is sincere and insincere?

            See those plentiful negative numbers attached to most of your troll comments? Thats your clue that people see right through your bullshit and flimsy lies.

            https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/9317217/redir
            https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/8774068/redir
            https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/8815893/redir

            anything and anybody not agreeing with you as a threat.

            Coming from someone proudly boasting of calling the cops on ozbargainers, that's rich
            oh, and that was another example of you posting heaps of troll comments on Dealbot's epic game deal, lol

            • Lysander on 27/02/2021 - 15:25
              -3

              @payton: Stop the harassment and stalking, please. I have asked you many times.

              • payton on 28/02/2021 - 23:32

                @Lysander: Your claims are absolutely bogus. Reading and linking your troll comments (all of them on dealbot's Epic Games threads which made front page on ozbargain every week) is not stalking you contemptible person. Another example of you being deceptive as usual.

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