And Crysis 2 and DA2 came out before either of em. So, uh, their contract should be far more grandfathered than any of those.
I already stated my theory in that regard though. Over the last year or so, EA has waited until the last minute to put their games on Steam because they (dickishly) didn't want to sell their pre-order bonuses on there. Whereas, unless Valve only write up their contracts on release, Codemasters and the Section 8 guys could've done it whenever. Just like when Sony enforced trophies in PS3 games but there were still a few that came out without them, because those games were signed before Sony made the changes.
I'm not saying this is exactly what happened but it makes a hell of a lot more sense than EA coming up with a super convoluted evil scheme to discredit Valve and relying entirely on Valve not saying a thing.
I'm not saying this is exactly what happened but it makes a hell of a lot more sense than EA coming up with a super convoluted evil scheme to discredit Valve and relying entirely on Valve not saying a thing.
You have far more faith in EA than I do, then. Masters of the 'buy download insurance for your games' policy.
And the fact that this all coincided with free-to-play games appearing on Steam (where DLC will be Valve's only source of revenue).
See, I find this a weak argument - you can have separate contracts for separate situations. F2P games have contracts that require a portion of all sales made in the F2P game, other games dont have this requirement because Valve gets its cut when the game is initially sold. While its important for Valve to keep its customers happy, its also extremely important for Valve to keep its suppliers happy (since thats what keeps its customers happy), and by requiring companies to give it a portion of proceeds from sales that Valve is not involved in is just going to upset its suppliers. Im pretty sure there are very few companies (if any) that are completely dependent on Valve for online distribution, and based on that assumption I would expect other companies to stop selling their games on Steam. But thats not whats happening. Its just EA, and theyre only pulling their big titles, which leads me to think that this has something to do with Origin.
Why then would both Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2 be pulled from the store straight after their DLC came out? Why wouldn't EA pull all their games from Steam (and other online stores for that matter) if this had something to do with Origin? Sorry but I find the idea that EA have some convoluted evil plot behind this utterly ridiculous, especially since it depends entirely on Valve saying absolutely nothing about it.
On the other hand, the idea that Valve are trying to leverage their marketshare to get a cut of all DLC actually makes sense.
This is why I started out on Valve's side when this debacle started but reconsidered once Dragon Age 2 was pulled as well.
I dont consider pulling AAA titles from your main (only real) competitor in the digital market and evil plot. I see that as a sound business decision. While I agree that Valve trying to leverage their market share to get a greater cut of DLC money makes sense (and is again a sound business decision), its a riskier one than EA's and thus less likely (EA can rely on its AAA titles to get people to use its service while Valve has to rely on 3rd party developers to create content to sell on their distribution network, Valve products aside). EA doesnt have to pull their older titles from Steam since a majority of the sales theyll see from those games have already occurred, and keeping them on Steam will increase those sales while making them Origin only will not do anything for the service (nobody is going to sign up for Origin solely to play a game that came out in 2007) while reducing the avenues through which people can purchase their games.
Its possible (and this is total speculation) that EA pulled the games as a PR stunt, with EA banking on most people not actually giving a fuck about where they get their games as long as they get their games. People huff and they puff but its usually just hot air (see that pic of the MW3 boycott with like 2/3 of the people playing MW3). Plus, should they put these games back on Steam theyll get even more PR coverage. Creating false crises is an excellent way of getting attention for both the faux problem and the faux solution with very little risk (when you control the information, which EA does).
I'm not saying this is exactly what happened but it makes a hell of a lot more sense than EA coming up with a super convoluted evil scheme to discredit Valve and relying entirely on Valve not saying a thing.
I think it's entirely more likely to be both reasons are true. EA semi intentionally pulling their games from steam both because they want to make origin more attractive AND because they want more control than Valve allows. EA has always sought out more control with services, look at their relationship with xbox live where they choose to run their own separate servers (that they periodically shut down). I don't think it's purely coincidental that their games started vanishing from steam right when Origin became a thing but I also don't think they're lying about their dispute over steam's TOS. They aren't saying their full motives, but why would they? I think it would be very easy for them to work around those steam TOS, but it would likely interfere with their origin promotions and they see this as a very clean win-win for them.
They aren't nefarious insidious schemers, but I don't think they're innocent victims of mean ol Steam either.
Remember when EA stopped being dicks for a while? I heard their profits went down and thats why theyre dicks again. Is that true? I find it hard to believe since when they stopped being dicks they started actually making good games.
Hey, so I've got $25 worth of steam credit, and I was going to try and get some games for my laptop. It's not amazingly powerful, although it was able to run Limbo really smoothly. I've got Limbo and VVVVVV, and I was wondering if anyone could recomend some other good indie games. Also, my internet connection is non existant when I have time to play games, so anything that doesn't require an internet connection is good. I quite like platformers, but any recomendations are good. Cheers.
With the caveat that supposedly having a gamepad makes the game an order of magnitude more fun.
I think I completed the first level or two with my KB&M and then walked away from it. Not that it was super intensely frustrating, but I just didn't find it all that enjoyable during those early 'hook me in' moments.
To be honest though, I've never been really into super hardcore platformers, so I'm not crapping on the game, just thought it was worth mentioning in advance.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
With the caveat that supposedly having a gamepad makes the game an order of magnitude more fun.
I think I completed the first level or two with my KB&M and then walked away from it. Not that it was super intensely frustrating, but I just didn't find it all that enjoyable during those early 'hook me in' moments.
To be honest though, I've never been really into super hardcore platformers, so I'm not crapping on the game, just thought it was worth mentioning in advance.
I'm gonna say that's bullshit and that Super Meat Boy is just as playable on keyboard as with a controller. SMB has a grand total of four controls, with none of them being analog: left, right, run and jump.
Someone might prefer one over the other, but both are valid control schemes.
Erin The RedThe Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered Userregular
Welp, I went $15 over my budget.
Bought DoW2: Retribution, and then felt all nostalgic and ended up buying the DoW2 gold pack. Now I own all of the Dawn of War games again. Fuck.
I'm gonna say that's bullshit and that Super Meat Boy is just as playable on keyboard as with a controller. SMB has a grand total of four controls, with none of them being analog: left, right, run and jump.
Someone might prefer one over the other, but both are valid control schemes.
Fair enough. I was just passing on what seems to be a common sentiment amongst many of the vocal SMB fans, but can't personally say one way or the other.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
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HiT BiT🍒 Fresh, straight from Pac-man'sRegistered Userregular
There's The Sims 3. While the expansions are on Steam, there's also the Sims store.
EDIT: Oh, and Section 8 Prejudice had DLC released on GFWL recently.
Also the Guild Wars series: You can buy any of the chapters or the expansion directly through NCsoft and also other ingame stuff like costumes, character slots or extra bank slots.
Hey, so I've got $25 worth of steam credit, and I was going to try and get some games for my laptop. It's not amazingly powerful, although it was able to run Limbo really smoothly. I've got Limbo and VVVVVV, and I was wondering if anyone could recomend some other good indie games. Also, my internet connection is non existant when I have time to play games, so anything that doesn't require an internet connection is good. I quite like platformers, but any recomendations are good. Cheers.
I really like Trine, Capsized and Eversion. The first two may not be the most fun without a mouse though, for aiming purposes. Also Trine and Capsized aren't so much platformers as 2D Action Physics games with platforming elements. Trine definitely has more traditional platforming than Capsized though. I really like Gish, but it seems to be a divisive game, and I don't think it's much fun at all without a controller due to the jumping mechanics. Once again physics plays a large role in its gameplay. Aquaria is pretty awesome if you like Metroidvania type games. And Yet It Moves seems like an interesting Puzzle-Platformer but I haven't spent that much time with it.
Other stuff that would probably be pretty great on your laptop is World of Goo, Plants vs Zombies, Atom Zombie Smasher, and possibly Flotilla.
May I recommend a puzzle game or two? If so, check out Tidalis and SpaceChem. Both are great puzzle games with meaty demos that you can check out. Tidalis may look like a Match 3, but outside of some superficial similarities it really is its own thing, with tons of modes, multiplayer and custom game options.
For some reason I thought my crappy laptop couldn't handle Trine but it does seem to run Limbo well enough. Will have to (re?)try the demo...and then cry while I wait for the next Steam sale :P
@Lalabox: Speaking of HB, you still have time to pick up the latest bundle for potentially 11 new games (not including VVVVV)
Edit: First time I've noticed that user shortcut link...neat.
Hey, so I've got $25 worth of steam credit, and I was going to try and get some games for my laptop. It's not amazingly powerful, although it was able to run Limbo really smoothly. I've got Limbo and VVVVVV, and I was wondering if anyone could recomend some other good indie games. Also, my internet connection is non existant when I have time to play games, so anything that doesn't require an internet connection is good. I quite like platformers, but any recomendations are good. Cheers.
Trine and Braid for platformers that work well with a keyboard. Plants vs Zombies and World of Goo if you never want to get anything done again ever. Also see if you're capable of running Torchlight.
I don't know the prices on any of these but they should be reasonable.
"Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination."
Descendant XSkyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered Userregular
I just picked up all the DLC for New Vegas for $15!
I hope it'll run on my laptop. I like sitting on my couch in the living room so much more than sitting in my basement.
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
So should I just get Painkiller Black, or is there $15 of value in the whole package? Metacritic did not leave favorable reviews of the later games - but I never played the games at all and I'm really digging the look/vibe I'm getting from the screenshots. So, do I spend $5 or $15? You have 2 hours to answer, go!
So should I just get Painkiller Black, or is there $15 of value in the whole package? Metacritic did not leave favorable reviews of the later games - but I never played the games at all and I'm really digging the look/vibe I'm getting from the screenshots. So, do I spend $5 or $15? You have 2 hours to answer, go!
JUST get black. The other games are not worth the extra ten dollars.
So should I just get Painkiller Black, or is there $15 of value in the whole package? Metacritic did not leave favorable reviews of the later games - but I never played the games at all and I'm really digging the look/vibe I'm getting from the screenshots. So, do I spend $5 or $15? You have 2 hours to answer, go!
JUST get black. The other games are not worth the extra ten dollars.
Would you say Overdose or Redemption are worth $2.50 each? I see the only "expensive" one is Resurrection at $10. But in the end, I probably should only grab Black because I have a million games that I never play anyway.
Redemption MIGHT be worth 2.50, as it's not as bad as the other two, but overdose is not. Really, the best option IS to just stick with black.
M A G I K A Z A M
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LibrarianThe face of liberal fascismRegistered Userregular
Noone willing to trade me a New Vegas for some other games?
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FiggyFighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered Userregular
See, if Steam's policy wasn't in place, devs/publishers could take advantage of that.
Having your game on Steam is more than just a delivery method, as evidenced by this thread. It is fantastic advertising, and you've also got the possibility of huge revitalization sales in x months (or even years) with the ever-popular Steam sales. You think a game as old as Vampire would have such a huge sales boom if it were just a sale at Walmart or something?
With that in mind, suppose a game comes along that is heavy on the micro-transactions. A card game, we'll say. $4.99 at release, but a ton of DLC, only available from the dev's own site. They get all the benefits of Steam to promote/sell their game, but Valve is effectively cut out of the real profit.
I imagine that's one of the main reasons the policy exists.
Hey, so I've got $25 worth of steam credit, and I was going to try and get some games for my laptop. It's not amazingly powerful, although it was able to run Limbo really smoothly. I've got Limbo and VVVVVV, and I was wondering if anyone could recomend some other good indie games. Also, my internet connection is non existant when I have time to play games, so anything that doesn't require an internet connection is good. I quite like platformers, but any recomendations are good. Cheers.
Torchlight is a good one. Others mentioned are good games, but not that laptop friendly (Trine and Capsized). Most of the other stuff probably good. Check out Frozen Synapse. The Humble Indie Bundle also has several low performance games, as well as couple that have "netbook" modes. I'd also compare your specs against the upcoming Bastion, as it has relatively low requirements (provided they are accurate). Dungeons of Dredmoor, Terraria, and Recettear are other good ones.
Anyone think that with the success of F2P TF2, and the assumed success of F2P DOTA, we'll probably see a F2P L4D as well? Hats hats hats, guns, costumes, servers can buy special zombie skins, etc.
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
I should keep in mind that 2D and 2.5D don't necessarily mean Laptop Friendly. I just don't use laptops so it's easy for me to forget.
I've been playing Dungeons of Dreadmore on my netbook. I have a EeePC 1015 PEM w/ 2GB ram. Gets a little choppy at a monster house, but otherwise runs smooth and is a lot of fun.
I fell asleep last night close after my post. There's about an hour left if anyone is interested in the Bethesda pack for $54.99.
I believe maddoc left a post expressing his desire for that a page or two ago
I think he was asking for chocobolicious, who has to go to work. In any case, I'd just get it and keep the email, there's guaranteed to be someone who wants it. And if no one claims it by tonight, I'll take it off your hands.
I've never done the e-mail thing, how does that work? I'd send an e-mail to myself and it will contain a code?
Yup. Buy as a gift and rather than send it through Steam just fire it off to your email address. You can in turn forward that email to someone else and they can collect it.
Edit: What Ketar said too, I was more thinking in case they weren't on your Steam list, but I suppose for most people that's easy enough to rectify. After a few friend adding sprees through Borderlands, Killing Floor and L4D, I'm honestly surprised when I have less than 100 of you guys online at once.
Forar on
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
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KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
Chocobolicious got it from someone already.
As far as the email thing, you gift it to your email address and will get a link. You can ignore that, and just re-gift it from within Steam later, as long as it hasn't been redeemed.
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KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
Also, apparently I can buy the Quakecon pack for $39.99 since I pre-ordered both Skyrim and Rage. Woah.
Posts
I already stated my theory in that regard though. Over the last year or so, EA has waited until the last minute to put their games on Steam because they (dickishly) didn't want to sell their pre-order bonuses on there. Whereas, unless Valve only write up their contracts on release, Codemasters and the Section 8 guys could've done it whenever. Just like when Sony enforced trophies in PS3 games but there were still a few that came out without them, because those games were signed before Sony made the changes.
I'm not saying this is exactly what happened but it makes a hell of a lot more sense than EA coming up with a super convoluted evil scheme to discredit Valve and relying entirely on Valve not saying a thing.
You have far more faith in EA than I do, then. Masters of the 'buy download insurance for your games' policy.
I dont consider pulling AAA titles from your main (only real) competitor in the digital market and evil plot. I see that as a sound business decision. While I agree that Valve trying to leverage their market share to get a greater cut of DLC money makes sense (and is again a sound business decision), its a riskier one than EA's and thus less likely (EA can rely on its AAA titles to get people to use its service while Valve has to rely on 3rd party developers to create content to sell on their distribution network, Valve products aside). EA doesnt have to pull their older titles from Steam since a majority of the sales theyll see from those games have already occurred, and keeping them on Steam will increase those sales while making them Origin only will not do anything for the service (nobody is going to sign up for Origin solely to play a game that came out in 2007) while reducing the avenues through which people can purchase their games.
Its possible (and this is total speculation) that EA pulled the games as a PR stunt, with EA banking on most people not actually giving a fuck about where they get their games as long as they get their games. People huff and they puff but its usually just hot air (see that pic of the MW3 boycott with like 2/3 of the people playing MW3). Plus, should they put these games back on Steam theyll get even more PR coverage. Creating false crises is an excellent way of getting attention for both the faux problem and the faux solution with very little risk (when you control the information, which EA does).
They aren't nefarious insidious schemers, but I don't think they're innocent victims of mean ol Steam either.
Steam // Secret Satan
With the caveat that supposedly having a gamepad makes the game an order of magnitude more fun.
I think I completed the first level or two with my KB&M and then walked away from it. Not that it was super intensely frustrating, but I just didn't find it all that enjoyable during those early 'hook me in' moments.
To be honest though, I've never been really into super hardcore platformers, so I'm not crapping on the game, just thought it was worth mentioning in advance.
Steam // Secret Satan
I'm gonna say that's bullshit and that Super Meat Boy is just as playable on keyboard as with a controller. SMB has a grand total of four controls, with none of them being analog: left, right, run and jump.
Someone might prefer one over the other, but both are valid control schemes.
Bought DoW2: Retribution, and then felt all nostalgic and ended up buying the DoW2 gold pack. Now I own all of the Dawn of War games again. Fuck.
Fair enough. I was just passing on what seems to be a common sentiment amongst many of the vocal SMB fans, but can't personally say one way or the other.
🖥️Steam Profile
I really like Trine, Capsized and Eversion. The first two may not be the most fun without a mouse though, for aiming purposes. Also Trine and Capsized aren't so much platformers as 2D Action Physics games with platforming elements. Trine definitely has more traditional platforming than Capsized though. I really like Gish, but it seems to be a divisive game, and I don't think it's much fun at all without a controller due to the jumping mechanics. Once again physics plays a large role in its gameplay. Aquaria is pretty awesome if you like Metroidvania type games. And Yet It Moves seems like an interesting Puzzle-Platformer but I haven't spent that much time with it.
Other stuff that would probably be pretty great on your laptop is World of Goo, Plants vs Zombies, Atom Zombie Smasher, and possibly Flotilla.
May I recommend a puzzle game or two? If so, check out Tidalis and SpaceChem. Both are great puzzle games with meaty demos that you can check out. Tidalis may look like a Match 3, but outside of some superficial similarities it really is its own thing, with tons of modes, multiplayer and custom game options.
@Lalabox: Speaking of HB, you still have time to pick up the latest bundle for potentially 11 new games (not including VVVVV)
Edit: First time I've noticed that user shortcut link...neat.
I don't know the prices on any of these but they should be reasonable.
I hope it'll run on my laptop. I like sitting on my couch in the living room so much more than sitting in my basement.
Would you say Overdose or Redemption are worth $2.50 each? I see the only "expensive" one is Resurrection at $10. But in the end, I probably should only grab Black because I have a million games that I never play anyway.
Having your game on Steam is more than just a delivery method, as evidenced by this thread. It is fantastic advertising, and you've also got the possibility of huge revitalization sales in x months (or even years) with the ever-popular Steam sales. You think a game as old as Vampire would have such a huge sales boom if it were just a sale at Walmart or something?
With that in mind, suppose a game comes along that is heavy on the micro-transactions. A card game, we'll say. $4.99 at release, but a ton of DLC, only available from the dev's own site. They get all the benefits of Steam to promote/sell their game, but Valve is effectively cut out of the real profit.
I imagine that's one of the main reasons the policy exists.
Torchlight is a good one. Others mentioned are good games, but not that laptop friendly (Trine and Capsized). Most of the other stuff probably good. Check out Frozen Synapse. The Humble Indie Bundle also has several low performance games, as well as couple that have "netbook" modes. I'd also compare your specs against the upcoming Bastion, as it has relatively low requirements (provided they are accurate). Dungeons of Dredmoor, Terraria, and Recettear are other good ones.
Anyone think that with the success of F2P TF2, and the assumed success of F2P DOTA, we'll probably see a F2P L4D as well? Hats hats hats, guns, costumes, servers can buy special zombie skins, etc.
I believe maddoc left a post expressing his desire for that a page or two ago
Check out the Penny Arcade World of Tanks thread to join us in some fun times.
I think he was asking for chocobolicious, who has to go to work. In any case, I'd just get it and keep the email, there's guaranteed to be someone who wants it. And if no one claims it by tonight, I'll take it off your hands.
Yup. Buy as a gift and rather than send it through Steam just fire it off to your email address. You can in turn forward that email to someone else and they can collect it.
Edit: What Ketar said too, I was more thinking in case they weren't on your Steam list, but I suppose for most people that's easy enough to rectify. After a few friend adding sprees through Borderlands, Killing Floor and L4D, I'm honestly surprised when I have less than 100 of you guys online at once.
As far as the email thing, you gift it to your email address and will get a link. You can ignore that, and just re-gift it from within Steam later, as long as it hasn't been redeemed.
I did a while ago, didn't notice it had gone down that low.