Lightning Deals advertised 90% off, discounted 80%. Not cool Unity.

Most likely you would by something, which you not going to use anyway. And just because number says 70-90% deal off. Typical psychological move from sellers, to lure customers. Deal seems OK, only if you wanted particular asset for long time. Otherwise it is just shopping spree, for what we don't need.

 

Surely this is all targeted at hobbyists or tinkerers who are buying this stuff for fun, anyway? Anyone wanting it for professional use would just buy it when they needed it.

 

It is fairly simple (and not a "lie") it says there are a total of 400 @70% of which 396 are still available.
If it were a 90% sale bar will be 20:

 

The whole thing is a common practice in holiday/black friday sales. The base sale is a good deal. If you move quickly you can get a great deal. KS works like this, amazon, etc. Yea, it is a tactic. scarcity drives interest. There are couple I may go for, if I can get 90...cool! But 50 will be decent deal too.

 

I think anyone waiting for the clock to strike a particular time on the internet in order to jump onto something is always going to find themselves disappointed. Be it ticket sales, or, as it turns out, discounts on game engine tools and art assets.

I only got 50% off myself, but I'm still glad to get the tool (PEEK) and shader pack (Toony Colours Pro 2) I'd been eyeing for a while.

Maybe we should talk about the cool stuff we bought and bring up the mood a bit.

 

I bought grabbit, fun editor placement tool. Sadly it's not really working right on my version of Unity so I'll roll my own when I need to. Was for fun anyway. I like little tools.

Nothing else catches my eye.

 

Excited for Atavism! Hoping I can get for at least 70%. I bought a shat ton of other packages though. 20 year hobbyist still refusing to go professional

 

The problem was the initial burst, the clocks are not synced and they use the client side to show the timer, not a server side, not initially, I do not know if they fixed that bug, but the first night of this sale, the timer was actually client side, not server side, so the back end charge they did was against the server date/time and the clock was on the client, so example, your purchase you wanted was at 90% in the first 20, the "BUY NOW" button is enabled for you, when you click it, Unity code did not lock in your click, so say 100 other people also click it, since the code didn't lock your copy, by the time you finished the purchase, they charged 100% of the full price of people in the 20 block since it didn't "LOCK IN" your copy, so you ended up paying FULL PRICE, personally I am fine with 90/80/70 etc, but what I am not fine with is the inability for have this timer server side and the inability to lock in your click which is what caused the first batch of issues, now, if they can determine the queue for the first clicks and determine if you are in fact one of the first 20 or not, then notify you of the type of refund, whether it is based on the 90% or 80% etc, that is also acceptable, the question then becomes not what you will be refunded, but rather how much you will be refunded. This is all coding problem on the flash sale page issue, not our fault, its a programming issue with the store. Now, since the servers are stable, I have yet to see 1 90% item show up and I have paid around the 70% range for everything, which again, I am fine with, just hope they figure out and honor the first nights purchases or give a full refund if they can't figure out how to refund the sale differences. That's all I am asking as a consumer.

 

Agreed!
I got Atavism for 90% off so pretty stoked

 

Well, maybe someone (Unity?) can explain this (if the first 20 gets it for 90%): "393 of 400 left" "-70%"

 

@zombiegorilla already explained it here: https://forum.unity.com/threads/lig...80-not-cool-unity.1198045/page-2#post-7661218

It's a new range for each discount stage.

 

Here is the "BUG" in action, this time I recorded the problem using Camtasia, the second the buy now was available, I clicked it, by the time it got to paypal this time, it has the full price, last night was a different issue for me, it showed the sale price then upon finishing it charged me the full price, not sure what was up with that, but here you go, the evidence for the quantity 20, it doesn't LOCK IN your item, I lost out on this at 90%, when it finally refreshed it was at 70% so I got it at 70%, still a great price, but this is just the proof to the pudding per say.

Last night I literally clicked the button the second it showed, this i waited like 2 seconds so you could clearly see it, so 20 could be gone in 2 seconds, but that button shouldn't go to the purchase if the quantity is gone, it should say "sorry you missed it" or something, this is flat poor coding.

 

From what people were describing earlier (and maybe zumwalt's video, but I can't see it because no cookies) I suspect that the real issue is that there's no extra confirmation step when prices change after something is added to the cart?

Even when there's not a flash sale, in other stores I occasionally see messages such as the following: "The price of this item has changed since being placed in your cart. Do you wish to continue?" Is there anything like that here?

Something along those lines is pretty much essential customer service if you're running a "lightning" sale, because you're actively encouraging people to click through in a rush.

 

That may not be good. I waited for one, clicked buy at 90%, when I got to the check out, it clearly said 80%, when I completed my purchase it was down to 70% (in the store, I still got it at 80%). If things are moving that quickly, an extra popup notice would have likely lost me that additional 10%. Kickstarter is an example of extra UI/interactions killing deals or opportunities. Extra boxes and notices slowed my backing on a printer recently losing me quite a bit over the one I selected. Sucks, but if KS and amazon encounter frustrations for users this way, I don't expect Unity to outperform them. No disrespect to Unity staff, but I was quite impressed that it was functional at all. (web stuff isn't their strength)

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I mean, I get it, there are always ways things like this could be a bit better, but at the same time... welcome to buying things! This has been done since there has been advertising. Literally the same thing is done in physical stores. The price may change quickly, but the price shown when you click buy is the price you will pay (unless the purchase is cancelled by the system.) Putting it in your cart won't lock the price, that would just lead to other abuses.

 

Looking at this, I kinda wonder if I should grab final ik for half the price. When does the sale end?

 

December 4

 

I wanted to order something today at 9:01 (local time) and here are the screenshots. I don't want to complain a lot but I still feel that Lightning deal is some kind of fraud and unfair to us customers. Not because of still generous discounts, but because of false advertising -> 90 % discounts.

 

I wouldn't say it's exactly false advertising, but it's really bad practice. -90% is there, but only for first 20 who manages to be fast and gets the product before the site crashes. And they don't really mention that on the site beforehand. They really should't do this again. -50% now and then works pretty well and they could do those daily -75% offers, but it should never be about who manages to grab something first when planets and internet tubes are in right position. Meow.

I was lucky and got the asset I wanted for -90%, but it was quite a mess. I'm only on the buying end, but I can't see this kind of thing being good for asset developers either.

 

Not fraud, as it is more like a drawing/sweepstakes. The deals are all good, but if you are quick/lucky enough, you may get them very, very cheap. With only 20 at that price, the popular ones may have a couple hundred folks trying for it. You can't call it unfair, as everyone has the same chance.

 

What could totally make this work out the next time around, make the timer SERVER SIDE, the code is client side, clearly, next, when people click on the "BUY NOW" button, first check to see if they were on of the 20 in the rush list, if not, do NOT open the cart to purchase, literally send them to the page again or give them a notice, like "SORRY", if it redirects them back to the page where they clicked the button, that allows them to at least attempt a different item, if available, the best option is back to what zombiegorilla had, it shows a different amount but was still at a discount, as you can see from my video, its 100% price, not 80% or 70%, in my case above in that video, it should have been at 80% at the very least or drop to 70%, don't really care which, just not 100%. There has to be better control next time, not much they can recode on the web page right now for the timers, this is in full swing, although they could hire a web coder who can do server side coding and correct post back events with good async calls, they have the money to hire someone with those skill sets. This could always be made better.

 

I'm going to respectfully disagree on that one. Something as simple as a queue would fix it.

The fact that other stores get it wrong isn't really an excuse, either, considering that there's a clear conflict of interest for the online store. From a customer perspective there are clearly better potential implementations, but from the business's perspectives the described implementation isn't broken, it's beneficial: having people blindly clicking their way through the checkout as fast as they humanly can almost certainly increases sales. So what incentive do they have to "fix" it?

 

From what people are saying, it is misseling. Companies, auctions, shops, exchanges, etc aplly queues and timers, for which given selected offer is valid, if in shoppong cart. Just as @angrypenguin mentioned. And it is not equal to everyone. Seems network latency may have critical play, to get chance for a good deal.

In my view the discussion is no about if 90, 80, 70% is good deal or not. But about how discount has changed unknowingly, or leading customers to missel. Basically misleading buyers. Such actions are illegal in many countries. In the end, customers may have consider to buy something else for equally higher price.

 

But you do get to confirm final price before purchasing. I always double check what the price is before proceeding with the actual transaction.

 

To be honest this whole thing is likely something that the marketing department went, "Web engineers, we have a sale idea and need you to make the website do this!", an idea of which all the engineers knew was a terrible idea but didn't say otherwise because they can't be assed explaining that to idiot sales people.

I know this first hand making EDM's at my work and having to remind our sales guy what is and isn't legal in regards to email campaigns.

 

The price changing at the final step of check out is a first for me, I haven't seen it anywhere else. Most places honor the price you got when it got to the cart even if it changes right after you put it into the cart.

This would be a non issue if the asset store had a decent refund policy, but sadly its refund policy is abysmal.

 

On related note, unity's habit of adding a tax later and only printing it at checkout bothers me a lot.

 

Something weird is definitely happening. I just tried to get a 90% deal. I had the product page up, and hit the Buy Now button as soon as it 0:00 and refreshed the price. Easily within 2 seconds... probably within 1. Then the checkout page listed it as 80% off.

Oddly enough, I got four 90% deals so far, three in the initial batch (somehow... I was even close to 10 minutes late because of the crashes), then another the next day. For that last one, when the clock hit zero, the page refreshed, but didn't have the proper price listed. I hit Buy Now anyway. When it took me to the checkout page, it listed it as 90% off.

I guess I've been quite fortunate so far. But it does feel like I got auction sniped with how fast I was on the last attempt

 

I really don't get this sale. Besides what was already stated, why is Polaris 2021 a flash sale right now and in 6 hours there's a flash sale of Polaris 2020? What's the point of selling the older version after the new one?

Also, am I to understand that I could buy a -50% asset now and in a few days it goes on sale for -90%/-70%? That would just keep me from buying anything that's not a flash sale.

 

KS doesn't. It actually does it worse. If you attempt to back a project at a tier that is limited and the project is popular you can get completely screwed. It takes a long time to resolve (on a fast moving project) and then tells you have missed out. And have to start over, while things are still slow. If you lucky, the creator may add more similar tiers right a way. The upshot of the Unity version is that it falls through on the same deal to the lower one. It doesn't force to start over and miss out, you keep your place in line.

 

Hello, look at my first screenshot. 400 of 400 left, price is at 70 % off. The second is 399 of 400 left, price also at 70 % off. If there would be 380 of 400 left, I would understand your comment, as it is now, I don't.
P.S:: I'm still satisfied with discounts, but I stay by my statement that it is a false advertising. Also that nowhere on the site is explained, how the system works is also not a fair legal statement.
Edit: I have found FAQ -> https://assetstore.unity.com/lightning-deal-information
But as explained in under this question "How many licenses are available at each discount tier?", there are at least 20 licenses at 90 % discount, where my sreenshot prooves that is not the case.

 

While the deal is at -90% it shows that only 20 are available. Then the discount drops to 80% and it shows that 40 are available (not sure on the number for 80 anymore). Only after all these have been bought the discount drops to 70% and it will start again with 400 of 400 available.
So your screenshot has absolutely nothing to do with the 90% discount. You were simply to late for the first 2 discounts.

 

Kickstarter is not a store, but in any case, that you can come up with an example (that isn’t a direct analogue even) that is worse that Unity, means that Unity isn’t the absolute worst implementation.

Is that the bar for Unity these days? “Unity is not the absolute worst, good job Unity!”.

The way they have setup this sale is sloppy at best, illegal at worst.

Good job Unity?

 

Well... honestly, it kinda is. Again, no disrespect to the web/store team, but the fact that is working is a win. The communication was weak sauce at the start, but they have added more info, fairly quickly. You've been here long enough to know, this isn't exactly the worst thing that has happened. It's just poor communication. And that they have corrected it shows that it was a mistake, not underhanded or illegal. With promotions / sales gimmicks, they have to be pretty extreme to be against commerce laws. The closest would be false advertising / bait and switch, but those aren't always illegal, and don't apply, as the advertising (even the first ones) were clear that it was a mechanic of the sale, and focused on the 50%. For it to actually be illegal, they would have to either hiding the price at purchase (or obscuring it), or be actually rigging the sale, like only selling 1 at 90% and claiming they are selling 20. I don't believe Unity would do that. I just think the initial messaging was terrible, and credit to them for addressing it quickly.

 

I feel like at this point maybe they should change the name of the engine to this

 

I'm not convinced. Play dumb. Oldest trick in the book.

Of course the engineers are honest people. They work for a living. The people who come up with schemes like this must know the technical limitations and potential problems. And even if they didn't, the result is the same. Rich takes from poor. Those who have too much take from those who have too little.

Here's how I think of it: we have a massive corporation that has so much power and so much money. And here they are doing bottom feeder BS.

They could be doing good. They could be finding ways to add more value. Instead they doing stuff that smells really fishy. And in the end, who gets hurt? The noobie game developer who doesn't know anything yet. The type of person who probably is already having trouble making ends meets and can just barely support their fledgling dream.

Its rich taking from poor to get richer. It's not strong helping the weak. It's ugly, greedy capitalism - the bad kind not the good kind - and just because others are doing it doesn't make me view it with any less contempt.

Its the worst thing a company can do in this day and age. Ethics is mainstream now. If unity brands themselves as low-value bottom feeders, that's bad. If you are going to be slimy, you at least need to cover it up better. This is too obvious. Gimmicky sales like this detract from image. It makes the company feel untrustworthy.

 

https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company

Code 17500 BPC is a California statute that prohibits false or deceptive advertising to consumers about the nature of a product or service. This covers false or misleading statements in print, digital, or any other advertising media

The goal isn't to sue but to send a message to Unity's new overlords - don't go in this direction.

 

Christ almighty, this isn't the act of some evil overlord. Just a none too sensible idea from some marketing manager.

 

The motivation and intention doesn't matter. This isn't a matter of hurt feelings.

Dumb and evil are meaningless words.The result is the same either way. People tricked, duped, confused - in the end they didn't get what they paid for.

Griping publicly about every tiny infraction is just about the only way to keep service based corporations in any sort of check. The government can't do it. If people don't cry foul about every single thing that even has a hint of a scam, in one generation children will be dying in coal mines again. Don't take polite society for granted.

 

Then sue.

 

Ok, closing for getting argumentative, hyperbolic and and rude. If you believe you have a complaint, contact Unity directly, or a lawyer. Arguing here resolves nothing.