They started offering DRMed stuff only lately. Originally they gained the user base on DRM free games specifically, and even claimed it's against what HB are, to sell DRMed games. See http://www.gamingonlinux.com/uploads/drm-free.png

Now they exploit the gained popularity to proliferate DRM. Many users feel betrayed by them. HB definitely diluted their values which they used before to grow their service.

I'm too lazy to even follow any other bundles besides Humble Bundles. The main problem for me normally is that the various bundles on different sites are full of (indie) titles that are completely unfamiliar to me, probably the first time I've even heard about the games. So it would be also quite hard for me to tell how much I want to pay for the games, as I have no idea whether I even like them at all.

That actually goes to most Humble Indie Bundles as well. I am unfamiliar with most of the games, and as the bundle is time-restricted, I have to decide pretty fast how much I consider the games worth for me. And it may take quite awhile before I even try any of the games. When I get around to finally playing them myself, 80% of HiB games are "Uh, ok...", while sometimes I see games like Awesomenauts that seem worth much more alone.

As for this Origin bundle, I considered the BTA ok, especially as they were all with DRM, and none of the money went to publishers/developers. I couldn't care less about the (US) charities, I already give lots of money to all kinds of charities through the high income taxes I have. I always consider with the DRM prices that I probably would want to buy the game again later, in case it is ever released DRM-free, or if the current DRM ever becomes a reason I can't play the game anymore. That's why I try to pay the bare minimum for DRM games.

And before some pro-DRM freak claims that is just a excuse to pay as little as possible for games, I am no stranger to happily pay "DRM-free extra" for e.g. GOG releases, e.g. the full or near-full price I paid for Witcher 2, Riddick, Alan Wake games, Telltale games etc. on GOG, and not feeling bad at all even when their prices later came crashing down.

One more thing with the DRM bundle releases is that quite many of the included games seem to be "hooks", ie. games without DLC that you have to buy separately. Or, offering only Mass Effect 2 (without DLC), with the expectation that you'd want to buy Mass Effect 1 and 3 separately anyway (with their DLCs) to get the full trilogy, as I don't believe there were many people who already had Mass Effect 1 and 3, but not ME2. :).

So in my eyes those cheap "hooks" utilize the same model and free-to-pay games, which give you a restricted version either for free or for a cheap price, but expect you to start paying for it (either through micro-transactions or DLCs) if you like the game. The same old shareware model, get the first episode for free, pay for the rest.

So, yeah, I got Titan Quest base game as part of the THQ bundle... but since I wanted the full Titan Quest game experience, I went ahead to buy the missing expansion pack separately anyway from Steam. The expansion pack alone cost already more than the BTA for the whole THQ bundle, even when discounted.

Depends on the bundle I suppose. For a wholly DRM-free bundle (with or without Steam keys) I'll generally spend between $15 and $25. For Steam key bundles I usually pay pretty much near the minimum. I would usually throw in an extra few dollars if I'm going to give away Steam or Desura keys, but as I don't actually give away keys any more, I just discount the price of what I would have paid for the game out of what I contribute.

Besides, an Origin bundle isn't exactly humble, is it?

Bundle (or a part of bundle I'm interested in) is Steam-only - minimum requirement.
Bundle is DRM-free - I usually tip same or more than average Linux user.

The first category applies only to Telltale Games Bundle because of Steam exclusive TWD afaik. I haven't bought full DRM bundle yet.

LOL. Nice catch.

EDIT: I forgot the "Leaving aside" part :). My average is probably $7. A bundle often contains games I own, sometimes multiple times, or I don't find interesting at all. I paid the most for V ($10). It had the best ratio own/never/maybe/do-want.

I'd otherwise agree, but instead of "care" (at all), I'd say "don't care enough to pass the possibility to get recent AAA games for a few bucks". After all, I very much do care about DRM, yet I bought both the THQ and Origin bundles (I mean, even the mere Dead Space 3 for $1? Come on.). Heck, I even tried to participate in the OnLive's $1 offer a long time ago (but couldn't as it was apparently US-only), even though I definitely do not wish to see streaming gaming to become the norm.

But I agree with your assessment that the main pull of Humble Bundles (indie or not) has always been how you can get lots of games very cheap, even if they have DRM. For me personally, the second big reason was to be able to get DRM-free Android games.

Putting less than 1$ for each game offered makes me feel a little bush, so i usually go for that, which puts me above average in most cases.

Also, since i've also a huge backlog i feel also bad on spending money on new games (no matter the amount), so if i'm not really, really sure that I'll play most of them, I tend to skip many bundles even if i could get them for just one buck.

1 to 10 USD, depends on the bundle and the games.

$1 or BTA. I can't afford more right now...

Depends. If its all DRM-free I tend to pay what I assume is the "suggested" price as the default price of $25.00 or higher.

Recently I had most of the games and there was DRM so I paid $5.00 just for a couple of the soundtracks.

I used to pass completely on all DRM bundles... but now I'm starting to lean towards buying them very cheaply (BTA or less) as the soundtracks alone are worth more than that to me.

I have this line to go 11.11 $ every time.

Don't ask.

Popularity of the service is not gained in one day. The more users the service gains, the more potential it gets, since they spread the word and etc. What I'm saying, is that initially the service attracted a lot of those who appreciated the DRM aspect of it. I.e. they used it for promotion, and later dropped being strictly DRM free when the user base already grew. It's practically going against one's own words about having certain values. Essentially it's not just unpleasant that HB went along with DRM, but that they lied to their users. Compare it to GOG, who also claims that their DRM free stance is solid. So far GOG didn't break their words, and they claimed in the past they care a lot about users' trust.

If that's the case, such people are making a big disservice to the DRM free gaming, since they endorse DRM with their wallets. If they would really care, they'd ignore these bundles, AAA or not.

Not really.

At the time of THQ bundle, that was 2 years old already and I have never seen any other mention of this. If I were held accountable for everything I ever said, I'm fairly sure some sort of mafia would locate and murder me. Now, shmerl, let me see everything you've ever said, I know you're close to being perfect, but I'm sure there will be some very slight discrepancies here and there.
I'm sorry, but dropping the site for a few days because of a bloody PR stunt, thus cutting my access from the games I have purchased, all of that just to gain popularity as opposed to actual issues, that seems pretty damn shady to me. Definitely way more shady than a sentence said on discussion boards years ago.

And let me not get out the bit where the mother company of GOG started suing people over accusation of piracy...

Fenixp: I wasn't on GOG during the stunt time, butI think GOG made a major mistake doing it. They learned since, and didn't repeat such stuff. HB definitely positioned themselves as being DRM free more than once. It's the impression they created. And then they diluted it with DRM, saying they are excited to deal with EA and the like. It's going against their words. Showing that their stance on DRM was never sincere to begin with. Not comparable to GOG stunts in any way. CDPR by the way quickly learned on their mistakes and stopped this piracy hunt stuff.

HB can learn also, many users commented that they don't like their recent direction with DRM. HB however didn't pay attention to that at all.