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[BennyBlanco]

I used to sub to gamepass PC and PS+ back in the vita era. It was always in the back of my head that these games on gamepass will go away at some point with little warning. So putting a ridiculously long game like dq11 on gamepass is useless to me. I’m not gonna start a 90 hour game and feel like I have to finish it before it gets yanked then either start over on Steam or buy it on the goddamn Windows store. PS+ is the same issue where you simply lose access to everything if you’re not currently subbed.

Bundles are simply better. Keep the games and they’re on Steam so you can play them on Steam Deck. Some of the best games I played in the last few years like Lunacid were not on my radar at all but I got them in bundles and loved them. Getting Spyro Collection and Crash remakes for $12 when they were still pretty new was crazy and it’s still paying dividends years later because I can play them with my daughter on Deck.

I’m so done with these lame subs.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Easily the best deals in gaming outside of free PC game giveaways that are ours to keep, and not rentals in disguise.

Also having the ability to trade, sell, or give away unwanted keys from said bundles is big.

 

[GHG]

Yep, I'd say at least 70% of my steam library is thanks to bundles from humble and fanatical, even if not directly. For example I just got starship troopers terran command for $2 because it was an unwanted code from someone else who got this months bundle.

The best bit - no ongoing fee to maintain access.

For gaming humble is my only sub and if I don't like what's on offer for a particular month I simply skip it, no sweat.

That's ultimately why sub services on PC such as gamepass, ubisoft+, ea play, etc face an uphill battle. They are competing against these bundles, epic giving games away for free on a weekly basis, year round sales on 3rd party key sites and the subset people who quite literally refuse to pay for anything on the platform. That's why they don't dare fuck with the PC gamepass pricing and packages in the same way they have on console.

 

[bender]

It's too bad their quality has really fallen off a cliff the last few years.

 

[BennyBlanco]

It's too bad their quality has really fallen off a cliff the last few years.

Humble Choice has been hit or miss but still a few good months. Hi Fi Rush alone for $12 was worth it. But most of the ones I posted in the OP are from this year and were great like that EDF bundle and the dungeon crawlers one.

Then like GHG said Fanatical has been killing it.

 

[El Muerto]

I buy bundles all the time. There's usually a decent game in a bundle and the rest is filler, and that decent game costs more than the bundle that it is in. Fanatical seems to be the best, especially after IGN bought out Humble Bundle. Indie Gala is another good one too. And check out https://isthereanydeal.com/#/ for deals and bundles.

 

[bender]

Humble Choice has been hit or miss but still a few good months. Hi Fi Rush alone for $12 was worth it. But most of the ones I posted in the OP are from this year and were great like that EDF bundle and the dungeon crawlers one.

Then like GHG said Fanatical has been killing it.

Fanatical kind of sucks now. I usually struggle find enough games for the bare minimum of their bundles tiers, they recycle a ton, and their pricing also isn't great as it was often cheaper just to buy games a la cart via a Steam sale (which aren't great in the first place) or via key resellers. We also have other bundle makers that have completely fallen off like IndieGala. Bundles aren't a bad option today, but they've certainly fallen off. And once your Steam library is of a certain size, you are mostly better off just buying the games you want from key resellers as forced bundles will likely contain duplicates and/or games you are interested in. Humble is probably the most appealing to me these days as their Capcom bundles are great (I picked up the MonHon and Capcom Arcade bundles) but gone are the days when it was easy to be a yearly subscriber.

Much like Steam sales, the Golden Era have bargain shopping via bundles is in the rear view mirror. That's not to say you can't find good deals but the marketplace has evolved for one reason or another.

 

[GHG]

Humble Choice has been hit or miss but still a few good months. Hi Fi Rush alone for $12 was worth it. But most of the ones I posted in the OP are from this year and were great like that EDF bundle and the dungeon crawlers one.

Then like GHG said Fanatical has been killing it.

Yep there are always more than enough bundles to go around at various times.

Best way to track them is to just look at the bundles section on gg.deals:

Game bundles - Track indie bundles from Humble, Fanatical and more

Looking for news about the best game bundles that are currently available? GG.deals has got you covered! Click here to see the details.

gg.deals

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

As with any other product or service, it all comes down to personal taste. Out of all those bundles you posted, I saw maybe a few classic titles I might play some. And plenty of people say the same thing about sub services and that’s fine.

 

[Killer8]

It's a better value proposition purely because you actually own what you buy and it isn't just a glorified digital rental service.

 

[Kupfer]

ABRISS looks like fun!

 

[BlackTron]

It was always in the back of my head that these games on gamepass will go away at some point with little warning. So putting a ridiculously long game like dq11 on gamepass is useless to me. I’m not gonna start a 90 hour game and feel like I have to finish it before it gets yanked then either start over on Steam or buy it on the goddamn Windows store. PS+ is the same issue where you simply lose access to everything if you’re not currently subbed.

Yeah this is why I really always treated GP as a demo/rental service. I had the exact same mentality. Didn't want all my progress to be held hostage if the sub ran out -feels playing into their game to get ensnared long-term. And once the ending of a sub is affecting my time management or what I choose to play, I feel crazy.

Fine alternative to walking into Blockbuster, though.

 

[ReBurn]

I love buying bundles

 

[Quasicat]

I love bundles, but after the latest price increase on GamePass helped me realize that I have a bunch of Xbox games that I bought on sales over the years and have never played. I have a Steam Deck and take advantage of the occasional bundles, but wish that I could get them on consoles as well.

 

[Holammer]

It's going to remain a PC only thing too, MS or Sony will never allow developers to generate free keys to sell on third party stores.
I like the pick and mix style bundles they have on Fanatical. Great for people with huge libraries where bundles usually turn into a pile of dupes.

 

[Magic Carpet]

This place is hostile to me who pays for a Gaming Sub.
Am I seriously not welcome around here?

 

[bender]

It's going to remain a PC only thing too, MS or Sony will never allow developers to generate free keys to sell on third party stores.
I like the pick and mix style bundles they have on Fanatical. Great for people with huge libraries where bundles usually turn into a pile of dupes.

Oddly enough, Humble had a Playstation bundle at one point.

 

[GHG]

This place is hostile to me who pays for a Gaming Sub.
Am I seriously not welcome around here?

Nobody forced you to enter this thread. Stop being a snowflake.

 

[cireza]

They are a different proposal. Them being better is a personal opinion. Some people might get more value with a subscription that includes day-one games than with bundles that include 10+ years old games only.

 

[IAmRei]

Especially for the dev, in the long run. Industry will kept away smaller devs to be able to keep survive in this way. They only got some portions, unless they make bunch a lot that hit. Not sustainable in the long run. And the product could lost their value overtime faster because the price is smaller. Like music, the game is often forgotable because the platform holder will keep rotating the featured. Fierce competition will kept away smaller or lesser titles. As creator, i dont like subscribe model... It might better for GaaS though. And making GaaS is not cheap or sustainable, for smaller company...

 

[Magic Carpet]

Nobody forced you to enter this thread. Stop being a snowflake.

So to the answer to my question is 'YES". I'm not welcome around here.

 

[bender]

This place is hostile to me who pays for a Gaming Sub.
Am I seriously not welcome around here?

The ownership argument is a bit strange but I could probably lose 75% of my Steam library and not be bothered, so maybe that's just me. I also don't downplay rental services as they are inexpensive and have advantages, like being able to play just released titles. Both options have value and their own merits.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Anything you own, its backlog. A dreadful thing.

I enjoy constantly moving library. No attachment. If everything aligns, i will be able to play the game. Else will check out newer releases.

 

[Wildebeest]

If the bundles are so great, then why do people just dump all the steam keys on key resellers?

 

[BennyBlanco]

This place is hostile to me who pays for a Gaming Sub.
Am I seriously not welcome around here?

If you like them that’s great. I don’t begrudge you. I have subbed to multiple sub services over the years. Personally I’m just done with them. The deal keeps getting worse and more expensive.

 

[poppabk]

It's a better value proposition purely because you actually own what you buy and it isn't just a glorified digital rental service.

Why is that a better value proposition?

 

[Archaic101]

And Epic Game store is a better deal than either. I have 90+ games there, probably 30 of which I would have bought anyway (everything from Marvel's Midnight Suns to the Shadowrun Trilogy to Ghostrunner to Dying Light to Kerbal Space Program), all of which I paid nothing for. Sure, there's some total garbage every so often, but since I don't have time to beat even half of the quality stuff I download (Midnight Suns alone has taken me 20+ really fun hours), it's no problem at all.

 

[GHG]

If the bundles are so great, then why do people just dump all the steam keys on key resellers?

Because it can be profitable.

Often selling the games individually will net you more money than what you paid for the bundle, and that will scale linearly if you manage to buy hundreds of these bundles at a time (which some people do).

Most regular people will just sell or give away the individual games they don't want or already have in their libraries.

 

[BennyBlanco]

And Epic Game store is a better deal than either. I have 90+ games there, probably 30 of which I would have bought anyway (everything from Marvel's Midnight Suns to the Shadowrun Trilogy to Ghostrunner to Dying Light to Kerbal Space Program), all of which I paid nothing for. Sure, there's some total garbage every so often, but since I don't have time to beat even half of the quality stuff I download (Midnight Suns alone has taken me 20+ really fun hours), it's no problem at all.

And remarkably they got Suicide Squad before any of the sub services.

 

[reinking]

This place is hostile to me who pays for a Gaming Sub.
Am I seriously not welcome around here?

 

[near]

Good value for money if you're not specific about the games you play. I've never purchased a bundle. If I want to save money I'll wait for a particular game to hit a sale and then buy it. Most bundles I see often have games in them that I don't want. I personally don't see the benefit of adding games to my library to save a few extra bucks on a specific game within the bundle when I know I'll never play the complimentary game(s). But I agree bundles are a way better value proposition than sub services, especially if you're not specific about your gaming preferences.

 

[digital_ghost]

And Epic Game store is a better deal than either. I have 90+ games there, probably 30 of which I would have bought anyway (everything from Marvel's Midnight Suns to the Shadowrun Trilogy to Ghostrunner to Dying Light to Kerbal Space Program), all of which I paid nothing for. Sure, there's some total garbage every so often, but since I don't have time to beat even half of the quality stuff I download (Midnight Suns alone has taken me 20+ really fun hours), it's no problem at all.

I had a hacker take control of my epics games account. Recently got it back and I discovered lots of games he must have bought. His loss lol. Thats what he gets for using my account.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

This place is hostile to me who pays for a Gaming Sub.
Am I seriously not welcome around here?

You’re free to spend your money as you please

 

[Leonidas]

And the best value in games is Epic Games Store weekly givaways. They have been giving away free games weekly for years now.

I had a hacker take control of my epics games account. Recently got it back and I discovered lots of games he must have bought. His loss lol. Thats what he gets for using my account.

Probably a bunch of games given out for free.

 

[West Texas CEO]

I freaking love Wario64.

 

[digital_ghost]

And the best value in games is Epic Games Store weekly givaways. They have been giving away free games weekly for years now.

Probably a bunch of games given out for free.

 

[analog_future]

I'm currently on Game Pass for another year as I purchased 3 years worth with the XBL Gold -> GPU trick, but as someone that's primarily on PC, I'm seriously thinking that once my remaining year expires I'm just going to buy a month of Game Pass here or there as new titles come out, and rely on deep discounts and bundles to acquire games outside of that.

 

[Guilty_AI]

And the best value in games is Epic Games Store weekly givaways. They have been giving away free games weekly for years now.

Honestly not even 1/10th of those games were something i wanted to play. Same issue gamepass has in the sense you can't pick what you want to play, but at least it is free i guess.

 

[yet_another_alt]

Gone are the days where a buck gets you a lot of indie games but occasionally there's still some real winners. I just bought the Muv-Luv bundle from Humble. Everything from the series that has been translated into English for less than the price of a single release.

 

[Leonidas]

Honestly not even 1/10th of those games were something i wanted to play. Same issue gamepass has in the sense you can't pick what you want to play, but at least it is free i guess.

I can easily pick out games to play, I am interested in most genres of games. I never had issues finding games in PS+ Extra and Game Pass either. I subbed to both of those in the past and with PS+ Extra most recently I think I beat 30 games in a year, I did similar in Game Pass one year as well.

I do see the massive games list like Game Pass and PS+ Extra, except the 430+ (and counting) Epic Games were free and won't go away after a set period time and will never cost anything... I will probably never sub to those services again since I have years worth of games in Epic alone (not to mention my 1000+ Steam library and mountains of un-redeemed bundle codes.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I can easily pick out games to play, I am interested in most genres of games.

I am too, from shooters to rts, dungeon crawlers, racers, point'n'click, VNs, city building, RPGs, classic stuff and on and on.

That doesn't mean i can just pick anything and play it though. Even the actual good ones they handed out like the Shadowrun series is stuff you can buy for pennies or have been in giveaways before

 

[digital_ghost]

I am too, from shooters to rts, dungeon crawlers, racers, point'n'click, VNs, city building, RPGs, classic stuff and on and on.

That doesn't mean i can just pick anything and play it though. Even the actual good ones they handed out like the Shadowrun series is stuff you can buy for pennies or have been in giveaways before

Instead of digitally renting. Why don't you physically rent and you can pick out anything and play it. Even reserve the new games before they come out so you get them guaranteed at launch?

Sure you have to wait a few days for a game in the mail. But the trade off is worth it. It is the same price as the new gamepass price.

I will be playing Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, Metroid Prime 4, Alan Wake 2, Astro Bot, AC Shadows, Visions of Mana, Star wars outlaws, Dragon Quest 3 2D HD, etc. I get them at launch. All in one monthly subscription without buying a single one.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Instead of digitally renting. Why don't you physically rent and you can pick out anything and play it. Even reserve the new games before they come out so you get them guaranteed at launch?

Sure you have to wait a few days for a game in the mail. But the trade off is worth it. It is the same price as the new gamepass price.

I will be playing Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, Metroid Prime 4, Alan Wake 2, Astro Bot, AC Shadows, Visions of Mana, Star wars outlaws, Dragon Quest 3 2D HD, etc. I get them at launch. All in one monthly subscription without buying a single one.

A) I don't do digital rental. And if you mean in the sense that "every digital game is rental", that is simply not true as long as you know what you're buying and where you're buying it.

B) A lot of the games i play don't have physical versions, let alone are available in some rental place. Especially considering i don't live in any of the main markets like US or UK so even if they exist they aren't necessarely available close to me.

C) The amount i pay for a lot of these games is often the equivalent of somewhere between 1 to 10 dollars, with rare exceptions. I wouldn't get much better deals by rental anyway, especially if i factor in things like dislocation costs.

D) I like coming back to certain games from time to time. I also like playing them at my own pace and would hate having to binge through one before the rental date is due.

 

[digital_ghost]

A) I don't do digital rental. And if you mean in the sense that "every digital game is rental", that is simply not true as long as you know what you're buying and where you're buying it.

B) A lot of the games i play don't have physical versions, let alone are available in some rental place. Especially considering i don't live in any of the main markets like US or UK so even if they exist they aren't necessarely available close to me.

C) The amount i pay for a lot of these games is often the equivalent of somewhere between 1 to 10 dollars, with rare exceptions. I wouldn't get much better deals by rental anyway, especially if i factor in things like dislocation costs.

D) I like coming back to certain games from time to time. I also like playing them at my own pace and would hate having to binge through one before the rental date is due.

Im sorry i misunderstood. I thought you said you have tried gamepass and didn't like it cause you couldn't choose the game.
Game pass is digitally renting games. As in you only have access if you pay monthly.

I also assumed you lived in the US or UK. My apologies. Thats a good point.

To your last 2 points. There is no due date with gamefly game rentals. You can keep the same game for as long as you want. They mail you the game. Also they have budget plans starting at $8.99 a month. Well within what you pay for 1 game.

Its an incredible deal for me as I have no desire to replay a game once beating it. And i have thousands to choose from.

Sorry for misunderstanding.

 

[StereoVsn]

If you like them that’s great. I don’t begrudge you. I have subbed to multiple sub services over the years. Personally I’m just done with them. The deal keeps getting worse and more expensive.

Yep, I am the same way now. I do still have Nintendo Online but that’s for the kids stuff.

Got rid of my PS+ and GamePass subs. Hell, I got rid off a lot of my TV subs as well and been buying more physical blu-rays lately.

 

[Three]

Anything you own, its backlog. A dreadful thing.

I enjoy constantly moving library. No attachment. If everything aligns, i will be able to play the game. Else will check out newer releases.

At least it's a backlog that doesn't disappear and cause you to miss out.

 

[Fahdis]

Bundles are definitely better. But Subs where you can play Classic do have a redeeming factor to them. Hence I like PS+ Premium as long as Im not paying for it my go to is GeForce Now and Steam Bundles.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

At least it's a backlog that doesn't disappear and cause you to miss out.

I prefer to miss out on some titles rather than getting to each and every one of them.

Allows me to play games thoroughly, the ones I am playing currently.

When I used to have a backlog years ago, I had a tendency to rush through games so I could check mark them and reduce my backlog.

One of the most pointless exercise and a scourge on gaming.

 

[Three]

I prefer to miss out on some titles rather than getting to each and every one of them.

Allows me to play games thoroughly, the ones I am playing currently.

When I used to have a backlog years ago, I had a tendency to rush through games so I could check mark them and reduce my backlog.

One of the most pointless exercise and a scourge on gaming.

I dont get it. What was causing you to rush through vs a sub where a game you're playing can leave the service at a given date?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I dont get it. What was causing you to rush through vs a sub where a game you're playing can leave the service at a given date?

Concept of backlog makes you rush.

I don’t have a backlog anymore. It simply means I will miss games worth playing. Which is fine by me.

Sub service is helpful cause you have games but you don’t own them. Its not a backlog.