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Comment by masterzora | Hacker News Reader

I like the new twist where you only get the extra games if you beat the average. It's always pained me a little bit to see how low the averages have been on these things for some quality games. I understand that the participants in these bundles are willing to accept those prices or they wouldn't do this so it's not as if they're unfair or anything, but I'd hope that people would have given better value judgments. I hope this new twist helps!

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I have bought all humble indie bundles so far. I was always paying below average.

I didn't have time to play any of the games though so I have probably not exploited anyone's hard work (yet).

May I ask why you were paying below average? The average has always been what I would call "ridiculously low" and, except for some form of financial hardship, I don't understand what good reason there is for not ponying up a more respectable amount.

This will probably offend some people but I grew up in a culture of not paying for information. Piracy was for long time the only way to obtain interesting software in my country.

If I'm hitting some paywall while searching for something crucial for me I always go extra mile to find the thing I need (or equivalent) without paying.

I sometimes pay when acquiring software but I don't view it as paying for but rather as voluntarily supporting a cause.

That's the case with Humble Indie Bundle. I think the idea of "pay what you want" is worth the support.

While the average price may seem low, I was under the impression that everyone involved with these bundles considered them wildly successful.

Of course they're wildly successful: they're selling a number of copies they otherwise wouldn't and make a good chunk of change for the devs and for charity. But that doesn't mean I can't be sad at the low averages as well.

It's a great incentive to pay more than average but it's nothing new. The 2nd bundle already included the 1st one if you paid more than average. Source: http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/12/Your-Humble-Bundle-just-doub...

It's kind of new. The second bundle included the first one by default for a while and eventually the added the "pay more than average" trick. It's an entirely different game to start it that way from minute one.

I don't remember that it was included by default. When they decided to add it, they offered it to existing customers and made it available for new customers if they paid more than the average price. They made it clear: "For all ~180,000 customers, this is complimentary." and "For new customers, we're trying an experiment: to unlock the Humble Bundle #1 inside of your bundle, just choose a price that is above average"

But I agree, it wasn't from minute one.

From what I remember, what I got (I think it was the second bundle) was only the second bundle. Then, after a few days, they emailed me to say "since you paid more than average, here's the first bundle as well, free of charge!".

I might be mistaken, though.

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