Do you ever miss epic games freebies? Do you care?

[kiyip]

Welcome to the forum

Create a spreadsheet with a column for preference—one-time setup and then you're all set if you maintain it each time you get a game.

It only took me ~3 hours to grab the data from those 6 stores, so it's doable in one evening. If you don't have or don't like a spreadsheet, then a text file could work—start each game name with a number to signify your preference for it, and then it's always sortable in a useful way.

I made a post here a while back explaining how to grab the data in each place, but can't find it right now—so much for a prime use of forums, huh



My weird inability to play with TPP for long is a major cause of that—Control, Hitman, Tomb Raider etc.

DANNNNNGGG dude, that is a crazy amount of games!

 

[Brian Boru]

crazy amount of games

Been playing ~35 years

A few hundred are not 'real', ie separate lines for variations of the same game, and also duplicates across the stores is over 100 That's not all senility tho, a lot is due to freebies and bundles where I already had the game.

Also, at least ½, maybe ⅔ of the BigFish are my SO's games, she uses my account.

My guess is there are max 250 of 'em all that I'll play again—I replay my best ones a lot, in preference to sampling lots of 'em once, I like improving at games I like and customizing them to how I want to play.

 

[mjs warlord]

IMHO i think epic freebies are geared up to actually get you to spend money.
Here are a few examples

1. a plagues tale was free but at the same time its showed the second part available to buy.
2. darksiders 2 was free but the others were also shown for you to buy.
3. freebies are also listed with lots of dlc's to buy.

I think the idea is that you are supposed to feel as if your missing out on something if you dont have every game in a certain series or all the dlc's and thats when they know your going to start spending money.

I think i might have mentioned this on another posting ..... the only free epic game that made my day was when they gave STUBBS THE ZOMBIE .... it made my day because i have the original on disc and even after finding all the patches it still would not work on windows 10 even on compatibility mode.

So you can imagine my surprise when the freebie worked and never crashed.

 

[Brian Boru]

i think epic freebies are geared up to actually get you to spend money

Well of course, what other reason could there be—Epic is a capitalist company

All freebies from for-profit companies, like every other marketing initiative, are geared towards making them money either short- or long-term. My company gives freebies regularly, and we even have one perma-free product—we wouldn't do it if it didn't help sales.

 

[Zloth]

Been playing ~35 years

Steam has only been around for 20!

Hmmm, "just" about 300 more and you'll be l33t.

 

[Hveðrungr]

Well of course, what other reason could there be—Epic is a capitalist company

All freebies from for-profit companies, like every other marketing initiative, are geared towards making them money either short- or long-term. My company gives freebies regularly, and we even have one perma-free product—we wouldn't do it if it didn't help sales.

And importantly, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just one of those little mutual win-wins that is the hallmark of the capitalist system.

 

[Hveðrungr]

Nice, my spreadsheet only shows 392 games played since I started using digital game stores that track my time in-game, of which 150 were demos or betas.

That's a bit over 12,500 hours. Other than old games from before such things, the main loss is that it can't record the vast amount of time I have spent playing Terraformers on the Prime Gaming app lol.

 

[kiyip]

Been playing ~35 years

A few hundred are not 'real', ie separate lines for variations of the same game, and also duplicates across the stores is over 100 That's not all senility tho, a lot is due to freebies and bundles where I already had the game.

Also, at least ½, maybe ⅔ of the BigFish are my SO's games, she uses my account.

My guess is there are max 250 of 'em all that I'll play again—I replay my best ones a lot, in preference to sampling lots of 'em once, I like improving at games I like and customizing them to how I want to play.

Damn dude, that is awesome! What are your top games of all time?

 

[kiyip]

Well of course, what other reason could there be—Epic is a capitalist company

All freebies from for-profit companies, like every other marketing initiative, are geared towards making them money either short- or long-term. My company gives freebies regularly, and we even have one perma-free product—we wouldn't do it if it didn't help sales.

The classic free hit.

 

[kiyip]

And importantly, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just one of those little mutual win-wins that is the hallmark of the capitalist system.

Agreed! Definitly wins for me, I have a near endless backlog because of free games. Granted most of the time I just look through them and don't want to play 99%

 

[kiyip]

Nice, my spreadsheet only shows 392 games played since I started using digital game stores that track my time in-game, of which 150 were demos or betas.

That's a bit over 12,500 hours. Other than old games from before such things, the main loss is that it can't record the vast amount of time I have spent playing Terraformers on the Prime Gaming app lol.

Do you manually keep this up to date? That seems like a TON of work

 

[kiyip]

IMHO i think epic freebies are geared up to actually get you to spend money.
Here are a few examples

1. a plagues tale was free but at the same time its showed the second part available to buy.
2. darksiders 2 was free but the others were also shown for you to buy.
3. freebies are also listed with lots of dlc's to buy.

I think the idea is that you are supposed to feel as if your missing out on something if you dont have every game in a certain series or all the dlc's and thats when they know your going to start spending money.

I think i might have mentioned this on another posting ..... the only free epic game that made my day was when they gave STUBBS THE ZOMBIE .... it made my day because i have the original on disc and even after finding all the patches it still would not work on windows 10 even on compatibility mode.

So you can imagine my surprise when the freebie worked and never crashed.

100%, they almost got me to buy the hitman trilogy, I loved the first game in the remastered series!

 

[Brian Boru]

What are your top games of all time?

I wouldn't necessarily play these much now, but in the context of their time:

Civilization 4 Beyond the Sword
Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour—Generals Challenge mode
Far Cry 1
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2
Portal
Royal Envoy 3 Collector's Edition
Far Cry 6
Crysis Warhead—first half
The Talos Principle
Lemmings
No One Lives Forever
Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

 

[Hveðrungr]

Do you manually keep this up to date? That seems like a TON of work

It's really not. Every few days I copy across my updated times for the games I've played into my spreadsheet and re-order the list, and I add a new row any time I get a new game. It takes up more time during Next Fests and similar because there are so many games being played in such a short time, but it is even more more useful in such cases because it helps me remember which games I liked and which I've tried and disliked.

I started doing it as a way to make sure I was getting reasonable bang for my buck when I was short of cash. Not that pounds-per-hour is or should be the only metric, but for those of us who are buying our own games and have a constrained budget for them it is a useful metric. It has been very useful in helping me identify genres of game that are good value and times when I am being reckless and should dial it back.

It helps that I am a freelance analyst so I do this kind of thing for my day job anyway lol. For example, in 2022 I even added an inflation metric, but it was easy because I had already done so for my invoice tracking spreadsheet so I could copy the functionality across and update the timeframe.

 

[neogunhero]

The only one I missed that made me slightly bummed out was the Saints Row reboot. I really want to check it out but don’t want to pay even $10 for it, based off the terrible community feedback.

 

[kiyip]

I wouldn't necessarily play these much now, but in the context of their time:

Civilization 4 Beyond the Sword
Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour—Generals Challenge mode
Far Cry 1
Command and Conquer Red Alert 2
Portal
Royal Envoy 3 Collector's Edition
Far Cry 6
Crysis Warhead—first half
The Talos Principle
Lemmings
No One Lives Forever
Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

I LOVE red alert 2!! Such a good game. My brothers and I used to play that all the time, no better feeling than having like 100 zeppelins and just slow-rolling, or taking over everything with desolators

 

[kiyip]

It's really not. Every few days I copy across my updated times for the games I've played into my spreadsheet and re-order the list, and I add a new row any time I get a new game. It takes up more time during Next Fests and similar because there are so many games being played in such a short time, but it is even more more useful in such cases because it helps me remember which games I liked and which I've tried and disliked.

I started doing it as a way to make sure I was getting reasonable bang for my buck when I was short of cash. Not that pounds-per-hour is or should be the only metric, but for those of us who are buying our own games and have a constrained budget for them it is a useful metric. It has been very useful in helping me identify genres of game that are good value and times when I am being reckless and should dial it back.

It helps that I am a freelance analyst so I do this kind of thing for my day job anyway lol. For example, in 2022 I even added an inflation metric, but it was easy because I had already done so for my invoice tracking spreadsheet so I could copy the functionality across and update the timeframe.

Thats awesome that you tracked pounds-per-hour, that is the kind of thing that would make it worth it for me. I get super distracted though so I wouldn't remember to do it enough then it would just get kindof useless. I tried to do something similar with stocks and fell of quick. What is your lowest pound/hour ratio, lowest as in cheapest per hour. Other than free games obviously lol

 

[kiyip]

The only one I missed that made me slightly bummed out was the Saints Row reboot. I really want to check it out but don’t want to pay even $10 for it, based off the terrible community feedback.

The Saints Row games have never really done it for me.

 

[Hveðrungr]

What is your lowest pound/hour ratio, lowest as in cheapest per hour. Other than free games obviously lol

Here's my current Top #10 sorted by Inflation-Adjusted (to 2009 baseline using the Bank of England's inflation calculator) Cost per Hour. All of them happened to be bought on Steam. The list includes games bought in a Humble Bundle (Ticket to Ride, Sentinels of the Multiverse) and TESIV: Oblivion, which is just the replays on my Steam version rather than my original untrackable CD plays:

Game​	Date Bought​	Hrs Played​	Cost (£)​	Cost/Hrs​	Inflation Cost ('09 £)​	Inflation Cost/Hrs​
Mini Metro	2021-Oct	310.9	£3.49	£0.011	£2.67	£0.009
Ticket to Ride	2018-Aug	23.9	£0.26	£0.011	£0.21	£0.009
Fallout 3	2014-Jun	149.2	£3.74	£0.025	£3.24	£0.022
Sentinels of the Multiverse	2018-Aug	6.7	£0.26	£0.039	£0.21	£0.032
Football, Tactics & Glory	2022-Nov	81.5	£3.89	£0.048	£2.69	£0.033
Pictopix	2020-Dec	82.3	£3.49	£0.042	£2.75	£0.033
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	2015-Jun	170.9	£6.79	£0.040	£5.88	£0.034
Dragon Age: Origins	2014-Dec	119.8	£4.99	£0.042	£4.32	£0.036
Fallout: New Vegas	2013-Dec	104.8	£5.09	£0.049	£4.45	£0.042
Deus Ex: Human Revolution	2014-Dec	66.5	£3.28	£0.049	£2.84	£0.043

If you were to exclude TtR and SotM on the valid grounds that they are there only because they were so stupidly cheap in a Humble Bundle, the next two properly bought games to round out the top ten are: Mass Effect [bought on Origin, now EA Play], 40.1 hours for £1.99 in 2015, £0.043 i£/H; and Crookz - The Big Heist, 46.4 hours for £3.19 in 2023, £0.045 i£/H.

 

[neogunhero]

The Saints Row games have never really done it for me.

I’m a huge fan of the whole series, especially 1 and 2 on my Xbox 360. 3 and 4 are totally different games than the originals, and this reboot was critically panned by players and critics. I guess it’s like a morbid curiosity as to why I want to play the reboot, but that’s also why I wouldn’t want to pay for it haha.

 

[BeardyHat]

IMHO i think epic freebies are geared up to actually get you to spend money.

Definitely, though it's up to us not to fall prey to it. I've definitely been there with many games on Steam that go on sale when DLC comes out, but I figure, if it was a good enough game that people loved it without the DLC before, I'm sure it'll be plenty fun now.

Only game I did but DLC for on Epic, that I got for free, was Kingdom Come: Deliverance. But that was partially to support the studio, because I adore that game.

 

[neogunhero]

Definitely, though it's up to us not to fall prey to it.

That’s exactly it. I redeem the free game every chance I get, but never feel pressured to buy anything. The only time I have bought something in Epic was around when it first came out, they had a really great coupon where you got $10 off a game $15 or more. I bought Chivalry 2 which was $20 I think, so with the coupon I only spent $10 which is cheaper than it’s ever been on sale.

 

[Brian Boru]

The only time I have bought something in Epic was around when it first came out, they had a really great coupon where you got $10 off a game $15 or more

Same here, fairly sure that was their first XMas holiday sale. They had 75% off a lot of $60 games—which made them $15—to which you could apply the coupon. I bought ~5-6 of those games for ~$40 total.

 

[Pifanjr]

Same here, fairly sure that was their first XMas holiday sale. They had 75% off a lot of $60 games—which made them $15—to which you could apply the coupon. I bought ~5-6 of those games for ~$40 total.

I bought one game at that time because the deal was so good, but I haven't even played it yet. I learned from it though, I haven't bought a game just because it was on sale since.

 

[kiyip]

Here's my current Top #10 sorted by Inflation-Adjusted (to 2009 baseline using the Bank of England's inflation calculator) Cost per Hour. All of them happened to be bought on Steam. The list includes games bought in a Humble Bundle (Ticket to Ride, Sentinels of the Multiverse) and TESIV: Oblivion, which is just the replays on my Steam version rather than my original untrackable CD plays:

Game​	Date Bought​	Hrs Played​	Cost (£)​	Cost/Hrs​	Inflation Cost ('09 £)​	Inflation Cost/Hrs​
Mini Metro	2021-Oct	310.9	£3.49	£0.011	£2.67	£0.009
Ticket to Ride	2018-Aug	23.9	£0.26	£0.011	£0.21	£0.009
Fallout 3	2014-Jun	149.2	£3.74	£0.025	£3.24	£0.022
Sentinels of the Multiverse	2018-Aug	6.7	£0.26	£0.039	£0.21	£0.032
Football, Tactics & Glory	2022-Nov	81.5	£3.89	£0.048	£2.69	£0.033
Pictopix	2020-Dec	82.3	£3.49	£0.042	£2.75	£0.033
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	2015-Jun	170.9	£6.79	£0.040	£5.88	£0.034
Dragon Age: Origins	2014-Dec	119.8	£4.99	£0.042	£4.32	£0.036
Fallout: New Vegas	2013-Dec	104.8	£5.09	£0.049	£4.45	£0.042
Deus Ex: Human Revolution	2014-Dec	66.5	£3.28	£0.049	£2.84	£0.043

If you were to exclude TtR and SotM on the valid grounds that they are there only because they were so stupidly cheap in a Humble Bundle, the next two properly bought games to round out the top ten are: Mass Effect [bought on Origin, now EA Play], 40.1 hours for £1.99 in 2015, £0.043 i£/H; and Crookz - The Big Heist, 46.4 hours for £3.19 in 2023, £0.045 i£/H.

This is why gaming is the best hobby, where else can you get this kind of entertainment for so damn cheap! Mini Metro must be pretty sweet to have so many hours played!