I don't see how this change will affect the lineup in any meaningful way. They offered different kinds of games from different genres to captivate the maximum amount of buyers possible and they'll still do that. You'll still get the mandatory multi-player game, the mandatory puzzle game, the mandatory shooter, etc. My gut feeling tells me there weren't a lot of subscribers in the lower tier, the one that got 3 games iirc, most of the subscribers were getting the whole bundle.
The only way to get a cohesive collection of games would be to have thematic bundles but there's no way that's happening in the monthlies, that's what their random weekly bundles are for.
The discount situation is an entirely different subject. There's no defense possible.
I would be well and truly shocked if they don't reduce the number of titles every month. Between the price reduction for all non-classic members (the number of people on the "lite" plan was probably less than I have fingers, more or less) and the expectation that everyone gets everything now rather than that just happening sometimes, the number of games will drop. Now, most bundles have like, 3-6+ games I don't care much for, but there's no guarantee those are the ones they're going to cut. So, if we are going from 12 games to say, 6-7 (which is closer to pre-choice days and what makes logical sense here), having 2-3 "off" games is way more unappealing since that only leaves 3-4 "on" games compared to 6+ previously. They even suggest that they'll be cutting the number of games for "better" games but their quality has always waffled endlessly, and while a lot of it is subjective, they have clearly had flop months.
Using the Choice style where you see everything before you buy, and having a set price, means they both have to conserve costs and make it appeal to as many people as possible, which is probably going to mean fewer underground indies. Maybe more 12 month of big name titles that have already hit 75% off. It's all hypothetical at this point but they clearly have a trend of trying to give less and profit more (over the past 1-2 years especially). That means we all lose eventually.
Again,
I have gotten a lot of value from subscribing since like, Q2 2016. But that's been going steadily down, and every time Humble has said "we're improving something" they've made it worse. The change from Monthly -> Choice was only an improvement for Classic plans really. Before with Choice, they were doing a shotgun approach to try and get enough variety that every bundle would have 3-6 games someone would pay $14 or so for. Now they have to find a way to keep everyone interested in probably have the titles and a lower cost. While I fully expect them to have some heavy hitters lined up for the 1-2 months after the change, I suspect I won't have any reason to renew my annual membership for the first time since I started subscribing.
The fact they are halving the discount (which again, only served to keep them on the same level as other discount sites) and continue to seem to want to cut more and more charity out of their business just makes it all the easier to stop. Fanatical is great for bundles (and some sales), GMG and Gamesplanet have great discounts often, and I can just give the money I save buying stuff elsewhere directly to charity. I'm more disappointed because I know so many people won't, which means all the other customers Humble is driving away just means that much less money for charities.
It's possible they surprise everyone and just nail month after month after month after month, and the discount reduction doesn't matter because everyone stays on forever, but based on historical evidence that won't be the case. I know I'm skipping the current Choice but I believe that won't affect the discount when the new system takes effect in a few weeks. But the reception to these changes (largely the discount, and the new launcher) have been pretty universally criticized so far, so it makes it hard to believe that the system will stand the test of time if they don't overload the bundles for forever. The monthly subscription doesn't justify itself if enough people aren't subscribed (especially with the new DRM games for paying members).
blog.humblebundle.com
