As was announced prior to the Halloween sale, the end of year Steam sale will be approaching on the twentieth of December, right before the end of the world. So, let's use this thread to discuss our hopes and aspirations, our dreams and reveries, our deepest darkest secrets regarding the upcoming sale.

Personally, I'm hoping for the return of sale achievements/ticket system, the one that they has last year.

BTW, Some useful tips from @Rhaknar:

1 - The most important Rule of Steam Sales...ONLY BUY DAILY / FLASH DEAL GAMES, these are the ones that show up prominentely on the main page, with a timer. On recent sales Steam has had "Flash Deals" which usually last for less than the 24hours that the daily deals do, but offer the same sort of discounts, so go ahead and buy those. There are exceptions tho, as follows:

2 - The "75% off" Rule. Common sense people, if a game is already 75% off (like many indie games usually are during the whole sale) go ahead and buy them, they will NOT get daily/flash deals for bigger discounts. Never happened, never will. The ones at 66% off, a number Steam is using more and more, is more ambiguous, as it might go a bit lower. the 50% ones do NOT buy, and use rule number 1 for those.

3 - The "surely this is a mistake" Rule. This is a big one that a lot of people miss, if a game's price is too good to be true... thats because it probably is and you should snatch it up quickly before they fix it. Capcom used to be famous for this, they had DMC4 for 5 bucks for a few minutes before changing it to 10, and they had SSF4 75% off mere months after it was out (with further discount if you owned SF4 too lol), and it was quickly changed to 50% back then. So yeah, if you think a game shouldnt be so low because its too new or a big seller or whatever, its probably a mistake so ACT ON IT.

4 - The BIG BUNDLE Rule. If there are huge bundles with tons of games, like a 2K pack, a Valve Complete pack...a Nancy Drew pack (come on Valve gimme it!), go ahead and buy those if you want, they are NEVER going to be lower than that during the sale. The individual games inside the bundles might get daily / flash deals, but the bundle itself is a fixed price.

5 - The "This game is too new or sells too well" Rule. Again, common sense, if a game is either too new or has been selling like hotcakes (like Far Cry 3 for example, which fits boths categories), or every latest Call Of Duty ever, will NOT get a big discount during the sale, so dont get your hopes up only to be crushed when you see 33% off or something. These games might / usually are daily or flash deals, but like I said, for lower discounts. There are examples of games being 2 months old and getting 75% off discount, and that means it bombed HORRIBLY in its initial run :) Duke Nukem Forever for example. Or if its a mistake, as pointed in Rule #3

I hope Steam brings the deals this year; ever since last December, Amazon has been consistently kicking Steam's ass and the way Amazon is set up, it's somewhat irritating to buy from them if you are outside the USA.

Not too many games left for me to buy, but I'm on the lookout for a good deal on Hitman: Absolution and Assassin's Creed III.

If the sale starts the 20th then I hope they do something silly for the 21st.

I'm buying Fall of Cybertron if it's more than 50% off, other than that there's nothing in particular I want.

my goal shall be to trade all of my stupid TF2 stuff for Dark Souls

I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN

I hope to get Dishonored and Rayman Origins, maybe Torchlight 2. But I got most of what I wanted in the Autumn sale.

EDIT: And Dark Souls

Having just bought a capable PC, I'm just kinda hoping to see just how crazy these sales get and buy as much as seems reasonable.

I will probably not buy much cause I already own most things I want :/

@Animasta: I tried trading my TF2 stuff and was laughed at last year.

However last year they were doing that Coal gift event thing.

A friend got Dota 2 key (much rarer then than now.) people were fighting for it, my friend simply gave it to me and I traded it for Blood Bowl at £20, someone was so depserate for it they bought Blood Bowl and we gifted each other. I don't regret it and I hope they don't either.

So if they do such things maby luck can be in your favour too.

@JackSukeru said:

If the sale starts the 20th then I hope they do something silly for the 21st.

I'm buying Fall of Cybertron if it's more than 50% off, other than that there's nothing in particular I want.

Maybe all post-apocalyptic games will go on sale that day.

I've gotta go through the catalog and add some stuff to my wish list. That's usually what I go from to keep myself from buying things wantonly. Hitman is really the only game I'm looking for.... But, I feel that'll be a 33%er at most...

EDIT: Well, hitman absolution is 20 bucks now for download on amazon. Steam most likely won't beat that.

@Kidavenger: what's the workaround for buying from amazon outside of the US anyways?

Only real AAA game I'm looking for this go-round is Far Cry 3...not hoping for a huge sale but 20-33% off or something would be nice.

Looking out for deals on FarCry 3, Dishonoured and Borderlands 2. Seeing as I skipped some big games this year I actually have some stuff to appreciate in the sale. :D Wouldn't mind getting Deus Ex: Human Revolution too.

@Kidavenger: You'll be happy to Know Hitman is up for $20 on Amazon

I'm just hoping Dishonored goes below $30.

Hoping to get a good deal on Darksiders 2, played through the first one I got in the THQ Humbebundle and I'd like to play some more of that.

@BeachThunder said:

Personally, I'm hoping for the return of sale achievements/ticket system, the one that they has last year.

Because of that, my Steam library is cluttered with games I'll never play again but I didn't spend more than $5 on any of them.

That said, I had a ton of fun trying to collect as many achievements as I could.

@killacam said:

@Kidavenger: what's the workaround for buying from amazon outside of the US anyways?

I haven't done it, but you basically have to setup a fake account with a fake US address, if it's a steamworks game they just email you the code and you plug that into steam, otherwise you have to use a VPN service to disguise your location so you can download from Amazon.

Anyone who hasn't played XCOM I would urge you to keep an eye out for that being on sale. Seriously worth your time and money at full price, don't miss it during a sale.

I think the only thing I'll be getting during the sale is FTL.

The Xbox Live 'Countdown to 2013' sale is pretty good tomorrow. Fez, Mark of the Ninja and Trine 2 are all on sale.

@Kidavenger said:

@killacam said:

@Kidavenger: what's the workaround for buying from amazon outside of the US anyways?

I haven't done it, but you basically have to setup a fake account with a fake US address, if it's a steamworks game they just email you the code and you plug that into steam, otherwise you have to use a VPN service to disguise your location so you can download from Amazon.

No you won't. You only need to give a fake address to buy stuff, you can download from wherever you are in the world.

@AlexW00d: Not directly from amazon's servers unless something major changed in the last few months. Amazon.com blocks all streaming and downloading services to Canada and I assume the the rest of the world.

@Lumley: I was going to let you know that FTL is currently 5 bucks on GoG. That is a pretty great deal and I don't know if it will drop much lower during Steam's Winter Sale.

@Kidavenger said:

@AlexW00d: Not directly from amazon's servers unless something major changed in the last few months. Amazon.com blocks all streaming and downloading services to Canada and I assume the the rest of the world.

I bought my first not Steam game from them back in May and was able to download it directly from them. I live in England.

My only must-buys this year (if / when they go up on daily / flash sales) is Sleeping Dogs and Just Cause 2. I pretty much have everything else I want right now, but who knows what flash sale will show up and prove me otherwise?

@JackSukeru said:

If the sale starts the 20th then I hope they do something silly for the 21st.

I'm buying Fall of Cybertron if it's more than 50% off, other than that there's nothing in particular I want.

Would be funny if they did a sale on post apocalyptic games saying that they a will be great training material for the coming days. So the Fallout Games, Rage, and Stalker games. Actually, it would probably be even funnier if they didn't bring attention to it and just put all those games on sale without hinting at what they are on sale for.

Any who, I will be interested to see what goes up. The last few sales I haven't gotten anything as I already got the games I want. Will see if they have some good DLC bundles on sale.

@Raven10 said:

I'm just hoping Dishonored goes below $30.

Couldn't you get Dishonored for $23 from GMG during its Thanksgiving sale?

Yeah, that's one thing. Don't just look at Steam, people. Look at GOG (they had The Witcher 2 for $8 just last week), look at GMG, look at Gamer's Gate, and look at Amazon as well.

@iBePeRFeCT: Ah, so it is, thanks! I doubt it'll go any cheaper during the Steam sale so I think I might get that now - which will give me enough time to know if it'll be on my GOTY list.

I'll look for Mark of the Ninja (I hear this game is great, and I usually like stealth games), Dishonored, and maybe Hitman if the prices are right.

Everyone who hasn't should look for XCOM, easily the best game released this year and Dota 2 keys. Dota 2 is by far the game I played the most, and my personal GOTY, but it isn't techincally released yet.

I kinda fancy playing skyrim again with some mods so I hope that goes on sale.

@JackSukeru said:

If the sale starts the 20th then I hope they do something silly for the 21st.

I'm buying Fall of Cybertron if it's more than 50% off, other than that there's nothing in particular I want.

I always start out like that too, then i end up buying like 15 games by januari :(

I was going to do a official xmas sale thread like I used to back in the day, but Im lazy and tired and generally bummed these days so I didnt, but here's the Steam Sale Rules from a "veteran" so to say, feel free to add it to the op if you want:

1 - The most important Rule of Steam Sales...ONLY BUY DAILY / FLASH DEAL GAMES, these are the ones that show up prominentely on the main page, with a timer. On recent sales Steam has had "Flash Deals" which usually last for less than the 24hours that the daily deals do, but offer the same sort of discounts, so go ahead and buy those. There are exceptions tho, as follows:

2 - The "75% off" Rule. Common sense people, if a game is already 75% off (like many indie games usually are during the whole sale) go ahead and buy them, they will NOT get daily/flash deals for bigger discounts. Never happened, never will. The ones at 66% off, a number Steam is using more and more, is more ambiguous, as it might go a bit lower. the 50% ones do NOT buy, and use rule number 1 for those.

3 - The "surely this is a mistake" Rule. This is a big one that a lot of people miss, if a game's price is too good to be true... thats because it probably is and you should snatch it up quickly before they fix it. Capcom used to be famous for this, they had DMC4 for 5 bucks for a few minutes before changing it to 10, and they had SSF4 75% off mere months after it was out (with further discount if you owned SF4 too lol), and it was quickly changed to 50% back then. So yeah, if you think a game shouldnt be so low because its too new or a big seller or whatever, its probably a mistake so ACT ON IT.

4 - The BIG BUNDLE Rule. If there are huge bundles with tons of games, like a 2K pack, a Valve Complete pack...a Nancy Drew pack (come on Valve gimme it!), go ahead and buy those if you want, they are NEVER going to be lower than that during the sale. The individual games inside the bundles might get daily / flash deals, but the bundle itself is a fixed price.

5 - The "This game is too new or sells too well" Rule. Again, common sense, if a game is either too new or has been selling like hotcakes (like Far Cry 3 for example, which fits boths categories), or every latest Call Of Duty ever, will NOT get a big discount during the sale, so dont get your hopes up only to be crushed when you see 33% off or something. These games might / usually are daily or flash deals, but like I said, for lower discounts. There are examples of games being 2 months old and getting 75% off discount, and that means it bombed HORRIBLY in its initial run :) Duke Nukem Forever for example. Or if its a mistake, as pointed in Rule #3

I think that covers everything you need to know to successfuly conquer a Steam Sale, hope that helps.

There's not much I'm actually looking to pick up this time around. Already have most of the games I want. Mainly just going to keep an eye out for a slightly discounted Far Cry 3 deal. Maybe AC3, but thats a big maybe. Would have to be a hell of a deal for me to pick it up before next year's sales. Good luck to everyone else! May your wallets live to see the new year.

I really want Dishonored and Far Cry 3, so I'm hoping to see some great deals on those. Other than that, there isn't much else I want. Maybe Dark Souls if it's a really good deal.

@peritus said:

@JackSukeru said:

If the sale starts the 20th then I hope they do something silly for the 21st.

I'm buying Fall of Cybertron if it's more than 50% off, other than that there's nothing in particular I want.

I always start out like that too, then i end up buying like 15 games by januari :(

Oh, I'm fully expecting to end up with more than I bargained for, so to speak. Always happens.

@Cerevisiae said:

@Raven10 said:

I'm just hoping Dishonored goes below $30.

Couldn't you get Dishonored for $23 from GMG during its Thanksgiving sale?

Yeah, that's one thing. Don't just look at Steam, people. Look at GOG (they had The Witcher 2 for $8 just last week), look at GMG, look at Gamer's Gate, and look at Amazon as well.

Hhmm. Must have missed it. Oh well. We'll see what Steam can do.

Hitman, Dishonoured, X-COM and FTL are my hopes to pick up, but only if they're super cheap, I haven't played any of the games I bought at the summer sale, so I'll be playing them when I get back home after Christmas.

I'm not sure, I really hope (but don't expect) Valve will lower the prices on some of the stuff in the Dota 2 shop, or do some pay for $20 and get $10 free Dota 2 credit or whatever. The polycount contest just ended and they have some items for some heroes I actually PLAY, so I want them. Also I might buy Bioshock 1 and 2 since it's $5 for both of them on amazon. Half minute hero I want, also VVVVVV, Secret of the Magic Crystals, and possibly Alpha Protocol of the three of those go super cheap.

Sleeping Dogs, XCOM, Dark Souls and Assassins Creed 3 are the big ones I'm waiting for. Held off on buying them because I knew they'll show up much cheaper here.

If Sleeping Dogs is reasonably priced, I may think about getting that.

This may actually be the first sale I don't buy anything in...

I'm just hoping to pick up Endless Space for the cheap! I also hope the quest/achievement system comes back.

I hope to get a lot of the smaller, indie games that I didn't get a chance to pick up.

Bioshock would be nice, never played the first one but I want to get into it now that I've seen Infinite.

@Snail said:

@JackSukeru said:

If the sale starts the 20th then I hope they do something silly for the 21st.

I'm buying Fall of Cybertron if it's more than 50% off, other than that there's nothing in particular I want.

Maybe all post-apocalyptic games will go on sale that day.

I think, if they really want to push that joke, they should do it the 22nd. Since then it truly will be post-apocalypse.

@Akyho: well some guy was already willing to trade a bunch of my stuff for a 15 dollar game which hopefully dark souls goes down to so we'll see!

• Mark of The Ninja
• XCOM
• KOTOR 1 & 2

That's what I'll be looking for, I still have a few games from last years sale I need to play..

I've been saving up all my money specifically for this sale, Steam know how to bring out the impulse buyer in me with their flash sales. I hope to see Dishonored and Borderlands 2 on good sales.

Mark of the ninja and Blands 2 are at the top of my list. I have a 20 dollar steam card in my wallet and I am determined to stretch that thing as far as possible

I'm hoping Aquaria and Sleeping Dogs get some hot discounts. Aquaria was never even marked down from 10 bucks during the summer sale though, so I don't have much hope for that one.