Steam Trading Cards discussion

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:01 pm

As much as I'd like to spend more time in Half Life 2 -- which is hilarious to play in the year 2013 -- I just remembered why I stopped playing the last time nostalgia struck. Can't adjust FOV and after about 30 minutes of playing I'm ready to hurl all over the monitor. The fact that the game induces motion sickness should make the trading cards more valuable...

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:58 pm

I got stuck in the zombie city and haven't been back to try and walkthrough my way out of it. I've never finished HL2.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:30 pm

Funny. I still enjoy Half-Life 2, and I rarely replay games.

When I saw Smoove playing it, I figured it was for cards.

Teggy · Post by **Teggy** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:49 pm

Smoove_B wrote:As much as I'd like to spend more time in Half Life 2 -- which is hilarious to play in the year 2013 -- I just remembered why I stopped playing the last time nostalgia struck. Can't adjust FOV and after about 30 minutes of playing I'm ready to hurl all over the monitor. The fact that the game induces motion sickness should make the trading cards more valuable...

You can adjust the fov greater than 90 with a console command.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 12:47 am

To be specific, I made $3.60 today off of two games I already had, playing less than 3 hours. By comparison, They Bleed Pixels and Strike Suit Infinity are each less than that (on Amazon and Steam, respectively, at the moment) and they both drop cards themselves. I'm not buying them right now, but that's the idea.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 6:56 pm

Teggy wrote:You can adjust the fov greater than 90 with a console command.

I thought I read somewhere that for HL2 enabling the console commands was considered a cheat...which disables achievements and trading card drops. I was pretty dizzy when I was searching for an answer yesterday, but I swear that was my conclusion.

Teggy · Post by **Teggy** » Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:34 pm

Smoove_B wrote:
Teggy wrote:You can adjust the fov greater than 90 with a console command.
I thought I read somewhere that for HL2 enabling the console commands was considered a cheat...which disables achievements and trading card drops. I was pretty dizzy when I was searching for an answer yesterday, but I swear that was my conclusion.

Nope, I did it a couple of weeks ago and got achievements and cards.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sun Jun 16, 2013 4:29 pm

Good to know, thanks. And to that end, I think I've made about $8 off of the trading cards and TF2 hats. The big sell was a foil card for Faerie Solitaire -- $4! But the other cards that dropped I made another dollar or so (in total) with the rest coming from the other random cards I've collected so far. I'm definitely encouraged to buy more cheap games that come with cards based on my experiences so far.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:54 pm

Oh my GOSH, people getting indignant over the worth/not of these things is cracking me up. Over at Groupees, one guy was like, I've got 14 of these things, that's like 7 euros right? Do people still pay for this sh*t? And this other guy was all I think NOT, that TF2 sh*t is only worth like $0.30 a piece, dude.

Hilarious!

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:59 pm

I signed up and think Im in because I got some cards now. Mine are Borderlands ones. I have no idea how to use these cards though. Do I just keep collecting them for some reason?

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:23 am

You won't get all of the cards for one game. You have to get more from another game to trade for the rest, or just sell what you have if you don't care about crafting the badge.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:53 am

I paid $6.48 for and Strike Suit Infinity and A.R.E.S.+DLC+OST (fun little arcade side-scroller, like a modern MegaMan), and in about 2 hours and 15 minutes earned back $3.82. Two games for $2.66 makes me happy.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:29 am

Yeah, I'm trying to earn all my cards now before the upcoming sale when I am guessing the market will be flooded (as I expect them to unlock more drops) -- which will be a great time to buy themes.

I have to say, the market is a low-stress easy to use environment. I'm up to about $9 now -- way more than I ever expected and money that I know will go right back into more games. Their clever plan is working...

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:36 pm

Five more games added today:

Serious Sam 3: BFE
Anodyne
Super Meat Boy
Blocks That Matter
Brütal Legend

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:53 pm

I sold a beta invite for a nickle. Looks like some asian gold farmer bought it. He's either make a fortune reselling it or give it to a fellow worker to make even more.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 8:15 am

My own unofficial observation is that trading card prices on the market seem to be slightly higher first thing in the morning (EST) and drop to their lowest after 8pm (or so) at night. We're talking a difference of around $0.05 or so, but every penny matters.

I've sold 34 items over the last 3 weeks -- without question the reason I keep coming back is to try and get those damn foils. However, now that they've unlocked the booster packs, earning all the card drops for a particular game gives you a chance of earning a booster -- which is like free money. I was given one for Don't Starve and it turned into about $2.00 worth of cards.

After the Diablo 2 marketplace, I had no expectations for this. But I've managed to earn about $15 now -- which I will definitely put to good use.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:02 pm

Five new games announced today:

Guns of Icarus Online
Jagged Alliance - Back in Action
Zombie Driver HD
Offspring Fling!
Magicka

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:20 pm

Smoove_B wrote:My own unofficial observation is that trading card prices on the market seem to be slightly higher first thing in the morning (EST) and drop to their lowest after 8pm (or so) at night. We're talking a difference of around $0.05 or so, but every penny matters.

I've sold 34 items over the last 3 weeks -- without question the reason I keep coming back is to try and get those damn foils. However, now that they've unlocked the booster packs, earning all the card drops for a particular game gives you a chance of earning a booster -- which is like free money. I was given one for Don't Starve and it turned into about $2.00 worth of cards.

After the Diablo 2 marketplace, I had no expectations for this. But I've managed to earn about $15 now -- which I will definitely put to good use.

How are you pricing your cards? I put them up at a penny or so under whatever the current mean but I never get filled. I figured it would just be list-and-forget like TF2 stuff but the cards don't sell. Maybe prices are just on a steady march down?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:27 pm

If they don't sell within 5 minutes, something is wrong. I use the price-trend graph to see what the latest sales were for and then yes, price mine either at that level or a penny below. I then usually travel over to the marketplace and browse to verify I'm the top listed seller with the lowest price. If not, I cancel the listing and re-list appropriately.

The Don't Starve, Borderlands 2 and Counter Strike cards seem to hover in the $0.75 range. Faerie Solitaire and Serious Sam were in the $.30 to .50 range, with Half Life 2 and LFD2 hovering closer to the $.50 range. It's a battle of quarters, but it was all worth it for that one silver foil pack.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:44 pm

Yes, that's what I do.

And between the new games added and booster packs, I now have more to do than I can do.

I like Steam wallet funds.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:49 pm

I'd love to be in the data analysis portion of Valve corporate at this point because it's like I'm their monkey. They keep adding more trading card support, and I keep playing to get pocket change.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:53 pm

Wait, do I even have to play the games to get booster packs?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:58 pm

No, I don't believe so. All you have to do is log into STEAM. The wording is weird, making it sound like as long as other people in the world are still making badges for the game, anyone that has no drops left will be eligible for a random Booster Pack drop. If you go into your badge section, you can look under each game and see if you are eligible:

You are now eligible for a booster pack
Once you have received all of your card drops, you become eligible for a booster pack containing 3 additional cards. Booster packs are granted randomly to eligible users as more badges are crafted by members of the community. Make sure you log in to Steam each week to maintain eligibility.

What I think is interesting is how they tied your level to the % chance of earning a booster:

Once eligible, your Steam Level increases your rate of receiving a booster pack drop:
Level 10: +20% increase in your drop rate
Level 20: +40% increase in your drop rate
Level 30: +60% increase in your drop rate
Level 40: +80% increase in your drop rate
Level 50: +100% increase in your drop rate (i.e. the rate has doubled)
Etc.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:26 pm

Dang, well this really is just dropping me money, ain't it. I figured they'd set those levels high, though. I did just jump up to 15.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 1:05 pm

I'm not sure the $1.25 I made off of Meat Boy was worth having to play that stupid game.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 1:21 pm

I look at those endeavors as though I'm earning money to fund another game. I've really tried to get into Magicka -- really, really tried. But I find the controls unpossible. I am too hard-wired at using WASD to move, which invariably ends up killing me in about 30 seconds every time I try to play. Sadly, those cards might need to go unclaimed on my end - which bothers me. I fought through severe nausea to get the HL2 cards (even with the FOV adjustments) but I can't overcome the control scheme for Magicka.

What I'm curious about is whether or not you earn booster packs for games where you've already crafted a badge. Inexplicably now that I'm just about to make $20 in trading card profit, I'm suddenly filled with a desire to actually craft badges. I fired up TF2 this morning for the first time in over a year and was given all sorts of promo items from other games that I never claimed. So do that if you haven't -- made around $3 for doing nothing but claiming what I already had available to me.

Regardless, this whole project has forced me to go back and play FTL, a game I enjoyed but stopped playing because there weren't any STEAM achievements. I really have become a trained monkey.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:02 pm

I did that and had some new stuff, but of course none of it was marketable. In fact the only items I have that are even tradable are the hat and pan from Left 4 Dead, and apparently nobody wants them.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:16 pm

Really? I just sold a bunch of Magicka stuff (emoticon, theme) for like $.05 -- there's always someone buying at those prices.

I wasn't going to play through Portal 2 again, but I'm glad I did -- dropped a foil card. Not sure if it will sell at the market low price of 3.22, but I'm hopeful.

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:16 pm

How do I find the Steam Trading Card group? I tried searching the groups but I don't see anything that looks like an official one.

/edit: Ok, found it. Never mind.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:02 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Really? I just sold a bunch of Magicka stuff (emoticon, theme) for like $.05 -- there's always someone buying at those prices.

What's the benefit of selling the theme items after crafting a badge? They go for so cheap that I'd rather keep them. Otherwise all I got for the loss of cards was the badge. Now that I see cards as credit, I don't want to throw away theme items for the $0.20 or less they bring.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 9:09 pm

I just did it to make my inventory uncluttered. The theme I created was meh, so I sold it. And I doubt that I'd ever use a yellow wizard head to emote my feelings. I figure, somebody in the community wants it - might as well share, right.

The big mystery now is whether or not having multiple games without card drops increases your chances of earning a booster pack at any given time. I'm still finding this whole experience fascinating, though it's been a busy few weeks trying to clear out the drops.

Oh, and the booster pack drops can happen at any time. It doesn't matter if you're playing a game, sitting idle or even logged in to STEAM. All they require is that you log in once a week and that makes you eligible.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:42 am

Smoove_B wrote:I've really tried to get into Magicka -- really, really tried. But I find the controls unpossible. I am too hard-wired at using WASD to move, which invariably ends up killing me in about 30 seconds every time I try to play. Sadly, those cards might need to go unclaimed on my end - which bothers me.

I don't have that problem with Magicka, but I'm seriously considering "accidentally" falling asleep with the practice mode of Guns of Icarus running.

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:00 am

/edit: Found the games list. Never mind, move along....

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:13 am

Well last I looked, the list wasn't updated, so you had to flip through the announcements on the group's page.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:48 am

...and done. All drops have been collected, though in fairness I only own six participating games so it wasn't that much of a effort to collect all drops. For some reason my Serious Sam card progress disappeared under my badge status. I'll just chalk that up to wonky trading card beta. I thought I owned Zombie Driver HD, but apparently they re-released it as the HD version - I apparently own the low-rent original. I am surprised they didn't offer a free upgrade to owners, but maybe I missed something somewhere.

I have another three or four trading card enabled games to watch for during the upcoming sale, but now I can just sit back and wait to see how long it is before booster packs start magically appearing in my account.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 1:48 pm

JetFred wrote:...I'm seriously considering "accidentally" falling asleep with the practice mode of Guns of Icarus running.

Okay, I did this and made like a buck. I can uninstall it again now.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 11:13 am

Saw this on Blues -- a post in the official forums last week suggests the Trading Card beta ends this coming Wednesday, possibly opening up for everyone.

And of course this gem:

Making trading cards available to all Steam users is a step towards an event we think everyone can be excited about...

Prepare thine wallets...

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 11:47 am

So I repriced all my cards at like 4 cents under the mean and sold them all. I kept my TF2 ones, I'll do that badge. All other cards I'm selling.

Also having trouble parting with my Vintage Tyrolean although it looks like I can get $5 for it. I assume that all vintage TF2 items aren't dropping anymore and thus are finite?

In buying TF2 cards, I noticed that some people must be flipping cards. One of the cards, I think it was the engineer, had one guy with like 50 cards at the low price (I'll call that the ask). There were others sprinkled in from other sellers at the same price but this guy has most of the first 3 or 4 pages. Again, all at the low ask price. I can only assume that he snaps up anything under this (presumably 4 cents or more below to cover Steam commission?) and then reprices them at the ask, effectively setting the market.

I have to wonder wonder how difficult it would be to manipulate prices, since it allows you to select from any seller. Theoretically someone could overpay and throw off the mean on less liquid items.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:05 pm

I don't pretend to understand the hat-based economy forTF2 so I can't help you there.

I too wondered about manipulation as I noticed for quite a few of my sales the people buying them were ranked at STEAM level 30+, one person was level 60. I also saw a bunch of vendors selling the same exact item in 10+ listings, which seemed strange, though maybe your observation is true. Seems like a risky gamble though as the market is quite...robust with offerings. I don't know if they're hording inventory in anticipation of the market being opened to everyone this week or what, but if smarter people have figured out something I can only hope STEAM is on the case.

All I know is at the end of the day, I made $24 selling imaginary items to various people. Truly, I'm living in the future.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:17 pm

Smoove_B wrote: I don't know if they're hording inventory in anticipation of the market being opened to everyone this week or what, but if smarter people have figured out something I can only hope STEAM is on the case.

My guess is that they're flipping in volume. Make a few pennies after commission enough times and you have a dollar. I'm sure some people are hoarding but they probably have their items priced higher or not listed yet.

Smoove_B wrote: All I know is at the end of the day, I made $24 selling imaginary items to various people. Truly, I'm living in the future.

And when you spend that $24 on packages of digitial bits so you can farm more imaginary items you will have evolved.

I sold virtual paint (A Color Similar to Slate) for ~$1. Virtual fucking paint that you use to paint virtual fucking hats grey.

I also love that sales results are in the currency of the buyer. Somewhere there's a guy in Russia who dropped 21,01 pуб on a my Don't Starve Willow card. Shit is worldwide!