• WFH@lemmy.zip
    0·
    2 days ago

    Valve should go with the Rolex model instead. You can’t buy the sexy Steam Frame that’s reserved for valuable consumers unless you’ve bought a Steam Deck, Steam Controller and Steam Machine beforehand.

    /s

    • warm@kbin.earth
      0·
      2 days ago

      Hey, but something similar to that would actually work best.

      They have data to see that someone has bought Valve hardware and used it in the past. It would stop most scalping, obviously impossible to stop it completely, but that would feel more fair than a lottery that a scalper could win anyway. Any accounts that bought a Valve Index and then never even used it would be immediately blacklisted.

      • restingOface@quokk.auEnglish
        0·
        2 days ago

        That would certainly reduce the kind of scalpers who do that like it’s their job, running bots and everything to buy as much stock as possible, which is indeed the worst kind of scalper to try to compete against. But some scalpers are more just… “opportunistic scalpers” or whatever. The genuine Valve customer who has no interest in VR, but understands that if they make one $1000 investment quickly enough, they can turn around and resell the item for $2000. There are enough of those customers that the lottery makes sense.

        • warm@kbin.earth
          0·
          2 days ago

          Yes, that’s why you cannot ever stop scalping. However I believe there’s enough data for Valve to prioritise real customers, the first batches could be quietly sent that way.

          I also don’t think scalping is that big of an issue here, the lottery system is mainly to stop the first come first serve FOMO and panic, rather than scalper protection. It’s just blown out of proportion because the products are in high demand and low stock, so people wanna point fingers somewhere.

  • America@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    2 days ago

    I don’t generally buy anything that would require a lottery. How do they work? Wouldn’t it be pretty trivial to just swap IPs and accounts like 60 times for 60 accounts?

    • Davel23@fedia.io
      0·
      2 days ago

      I believe the account needs to be over a certain age plus have at least one previous purchase.

  • Thorry@feddit.org
    0·
    2 days ago

    I’ve seen assholes create dozens of accounts to get this stuff to scalp. Why can’t we ever have nice stuff?

      • Thorry@feddit.org
        0·
        2 days ago

        Scalpers have been preparing for launch for a long time now. And most already had account for the Steam Machine ready to go for the Frame.

      • 2fm@lemmy.world
        0·
        2 days ago

        Sort of. Needs to an unlimited account with at least one purchase before April 27, 2026 and be of one of the noted countries/regions (i dont remember exactly which but basically NA, UK). Check the sale terms for all eligibilty notes.

        • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 days ago

          how much do you have to spend to enter the lottery get an unlimited account?

          you can do legitimate math to figure out how many accounts it’s worth making.

          • warm@kbin.earth
            0·
            2 days ago

            $5. Not that costly at all. They do filter a bit anyway:

            The longer timeframe also allows us to do some extra validation on the signups to make sure they’re real accounts, with only one per household.

            Not giving away criteria for this is a good thing.

            • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.worldEnglish
              0·
              1 day ago

              Yeah, what they do for the extra validation, I wouldn’t give that info away even after doing it for valve. Some trade secrets are worth keeping