The best one is definitely this.

Probably not for a good reason. I agree. It's best not to get anyone started down this path.

Except when you get two crap games that cost just as much as the pinada and one of them not even running, because of its buggyness.

But I confess this is my own fault. I should have known better, but I also confess that I peeked into the pinada tracking thread and actually saw that people got games I would usually not buy, but would definitely try out in case I would have got those. Aaaaand there was this little voice in the back of my head, whispering "Tyranny! You might get lucky for once and win Tyranny!" So I kinda got hyped, despide better knowledge. :D

OT
Would "You Could Be Mine" or "Paradise City" been out of the question? :P You had to go with that eight minute piece of shit? XD

According to the FAQ, none of the games are as cheap as the Pinata (unless they're on sale, maybe). I also bought it hoping for Tyranny, but i was open to whatever else there was. I ended up getting AVP Classic 2000 (sweet), Capitalism 2 (not something I would've bought myself, but it's got great reviews and sounds like it may be pretty entertaining if I approach it in the right mindset), and Skyshine's BEDLAM Redux! (which has middling reviews, but looks worth a shot, at least).

Then why the technical difficulties?
More than your own fault. This is false advertising.

Yeah, I believe that was the very first one, though I'm not sure.

And that wasn't long after I started being active here I'm sure... so probably three years ago.

I think we had an Easter themed one (eggs?) at some point, a generic mutator one and the Indie Pinata one as well. So that makes five altogether, which is as many (or more) than we've had insomnia sales.
I doubt they've abandoned that, the Fall and Winter sales will likely follow that format to some extent. The inbetween sales like this and the spring ones are usually something a little different though, mutators or insomnia being the common themes.

No complaints here; I've spent about the same amount of money I'd had if I bought games I wanted at the normal sale price - and I got plenty of games I don't want as a "bonus".
However, I really wish I could give/trade games away I am not interested in.
Not becasue they are bad (most of them are at least good), but because of the backlog having games from the genres I am much more interested in, and I know that many of the games I wouldn't play in the foreseeable future would make other players very happy right now - so why not make those people happy, instead of making lots of people to complain?

btw: I am pretty sure the idea of the pinata is to generate some revenue for games that people no longer buy - those are the ones that have the highest chance in the pool.
Adding some games that are more in demand just generates some buzz, but it's not the point.

For me, it pretty much decided which games I got from my wishlist - the rest was "free" (considering the sale price vs the pinata prices I paid in total)
It's just the revenue that got more evenly distributed, so the IP holders would see some income and consequently GOG would get more of their games eventually.

Hmmmm... I can’t agree on that one because even if it’s probably a good deal to try your luck, the logic here is that if you end up with a game you don’t like, for only three bucks you can try again; and if you get a game you like, for only three bucks you could get another one you like as well. So, does the fact that the outcome is still worth it (in terms of economic value because even if you get a 20$ game you don’t like you still won’t play it and I’d argue there’s no value in that) make it less “gamblier”? Maybe it makes it less risky but the issue here could be the potential recurrent behavior of the action rather than the actual outcome someone gets from it.


Lol that’s risky alright.


Well, I’d say that for a non-interesting debate you’ve raised quite a few valid points.

I agree my perspective is biased by the idea I have of GOG. In the end, this is where I’ve invested my time, money and support and where I want to curate the games I love. On my defense, I’ve to say that this relatively resonates with the idea of GOG we were given when it first got released, so you can’t blame me too much (just a bit is ok, no worries) for seeing how that has gotten quite distorted in the name of increasing profit.

I don’t think the free-market logic can be applied here coherently though, ideological debates apart, a marketing practice doesn’t become the right choice just because people are buying in, especially when it’s designed specifically for that purpose, I could come up with many examples but again I don’t want to leave the world of games and think about 2008.

Your points on my statement being idiotic and selfish are quite valid (I thought this could become an interesting debate and it’s turning out to be so). Couldn’t we, after all, partake in the same platform without partaking in all of its aspects (albeit some of them being subjectively despicable)? Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean the question of gambling isn’t worth asking still. It ain’t about psychoanalyzing GOG but about questioning the potential dangers this could entail for some people (as tinyE put it, mess you up like a desert-hot rock in your anus), and maybe raising a tiny voice of disagreement over morally wrong practices. I won’t buy any Piñata but maybe someone comes here and reads all this stuff and thinks twice about buying one, or hell, maybe thinks once about buying twice.

I think gambling is fine, it's a form of entertainment that's been going on for many years in various forms. If some people don't know when to stop, that's their problem not GOG's.

I'm not very fond of gambling so this event is partially off limits for me.

I never engage in any traditional forms of gambling, but I took shot here. Two shots, actually. I got the Guild 2 (a bit disappointing since I already had G2 Renaissance elsewhere) and Skyshine's Bedlam Redux, which to me looks only somewhat decent since that type of art is not really my favorite thing. I'll give it a shot but who knows. Oh, and that free game they're giving away, which I can't play 'cause my OS is too old. So all in all, what a successful gamble! Ha. Fortunately I have no desire for "Just one more.. maybe I'll get something good."

I have no problem with any of it. If you cannot afford to effectively lose $3 on gambling then don't do it. Use your brain. If you can afford to gamble and effectively lose $3, and think it sounds like fun, then by all means do it.

Then, if you cannot afford to lose $3 on gambling and do it anyway, you are a stupid person. And in my opinion, the exploitation of stupid people by smart people is perfectly natural and okay. That's what stupid people are for. But these days most people, whether they think they are or not, are institutionalized socialists and have now come to expect someone else to be always looking out for them and making "safe" decisions for them.

Exactly. None of the piñata games have a full base price of $3 (or regional equivalent), but many of them are currently on sale for exactly $3. I bought 3 piñatas and 2 of them were games currently on sale for the same price (plus, one of them I already had on Humble and I had already beaten, and the other one I'm not interested in at all).

I personally and selfishly love this mystery game sales.
It always works great for me.

As I collector I'll end up buying most of the games on offer in different sales, and this system offers the best prize for the money. I ended up with a piñata with a 50/50 on Tyranny or Shadow Warrior 2. I got Tyranny (better), and I decided to just buy SW2 from the sale so as to not abuse the system THAT much.

I feel it's just silly, but if others want to throw theirm oney away- power to them. I'd rather know what I'm buying. Hell, if I was to spend any money on this sale at all, there are at least three games on my wishlist that cost barely more than that blind swing would.