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[Steam] April showers bring May Birthdays

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Posts

  • Pixelated PixiePixelated Pixie They/Them Registered User regular
    edited March 2019
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong I love competition and Steam really needs competitors but I'm with Pixie, fuck exclusivity. All exclusivity means is we see shittier sale prices and games stay at full price longer. This is especially true of epic as they aren't handing out third party keys to online retailers.

    But without exclusivity, people tend to stick with the platform they have an already established presence on. Without a need to move over, people just won't. I've seen that behavior over and over again with Origin, Windows Store, Uplay, whatever.

    I mean, sure, it sucks as a consumer...but to develop a platform, exclusives are kinda needed. Sure, you can toss in bundled extras to try to incentivise people to your platform (the GOG method), but it all comes back around to people still leaving their already developed library and community.

    Want me to switch over? Build a better store. Don't do it by trying to strongarm me with exclusives. Especially with a store that's nothing but featureless spyware.

    Pixelated Pixie on
    ~~ Pixie on Steam ~~
    ironzerg wrote: »
    Chipmunks are like nature's nipple clamps, I guess?
  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Iolo wrote: »
    Obviously for this exact purpose, I have already stockpiled a lifetime's worth of games and can wait these knuckleheads out!

    I'm about 19 hours into CrossCode. I've just entered my second "city" and my third "zone."

    I can wait.

    Goddamn, this game is most of the bits I used to love about WoW, but without the asshats ( :biggrin: ); and without the friends ( :bigfrown: )

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong I love competition and Steam really needs competitors but I'm with Pixie, fuck exclusivity. All exclusivity means is we see shittier sale prices and games stay at full price longer. This is especially true of epic as they aren't handing out third party keys to online retailers.

    But without exclusivity, people tend to stick with the platform they have an already established presence on. Without a need to move over, people just won't. I've seen that behavior over and over again with Origin, Windows Store, Uplay, whatever.

    I mean, sure, it sucks as a consumer...but to develop a platform, exclusives are kinda needed. Sure, you can toss in bundled extras to try to incentivise people to your platform (the GOG method), but it all comes back around to people still leaving their already developed library and community.

    Want me to switch over? Build a better store. Don't do it by trying to strongarm me with exclusives.

    I've heard this before (and not just in relation to Steam competitors). Define what would make "a better store," please. Because that's always been the rub: people say "build a better store" but never specify what they mean by that requirement.

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong I love competition and Steam really needs competitors but I'm with Pixie, fuck exclusivity. All exclusivity means is we see shittier sale prices and games stay at full price longer. This is especially true of epic as they aren't handing out third party keys to online retailers.

    But without exclusivity, people tend to stick with the platform they have an already established presence on. Without a need to move over, people just won't. I've seen that behavior over and over again with Origin, Windows Store, Uplay, whatever.

    I mean, sure, it sucks as a consumer...but to develop a platform, exclusives are kinda needed. Sure, you can toss in bundled extras to try to incentivise people to your platform (the GOG method), but it all comes back around to people still leaving their already developed library and community.

    Again, people complain endlessly about Steam. Most people have issues with it, in my experience. Epic could have tried to provide a service that attacked those flaws. They instead chose to compete solely by throwing money around instead of doing badically anything else. The Epic Store is not competing with Steam. Epic's checkbook is competing with Steam.

  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong I love competition and Steam really needs competitors but I'm with Pixie, fuck exclusivity. All exclusivity means is we see shittier sale prices and games stay at full price longer. This is especially true of epic as they aren't handing out third party keys to online retailers.

    But without exclusivity, people tend to stick with the platform they have an already established presence on. Without a need to move over, people just won't. I've seen that behavior over and over again with Origin, Windows Store, Uplay, whatever.

    I mean, sure, it sucks as a consumer...but to develop a platform, exclusives are kinda needed. Sure, you can toss in bundled extras to try to incentivise people to your platform (the GOG method), but it all comes back around to people still leaving their already developed library and community.

    Want me to switch over? Build a better store. Don't do it by trying to strongarm me with exclusives.

    I've heard this before (and not just in relation to Steam competitors). Define what would make "a better store," please. Because that's always been the rub: people say "build a better store" but never specify what they mean by that requirement.

    Considering us crazies in this community, the basic ability to gift a game to another user would be a nice starting point. They don't even know when they're thinking about getting around to that though. Too busy writing checks I guess.

    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    I'm a linux gamer, so the second any of these Steam competitors want to build a linux client for their store I'm game to try it, until then they can fuck off.

    Twitch: Thawmus83
  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited March 2019
    Raiden333 wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong I love competition and Steam really needs competitors but I'm with Pixie, fuck exclusivity. All exclusivity means is we see shittier sale prices and games stay at full price longer. This is especially true of epic as they aren't handing out third party keys to online retailers.

    But without exclusivity, people tend to stick with the platform they have an already established presence on. Without a need to move over, people just won't. I've seen that behavior over and over again with Origin, Windows Store, Uplay, whatever.

    I mean, sure, it sucks as a consumer...but to develop a platform, exclusives are kinda needed. Sure, you can toss in bundled extras to try to incentivise people to your platform (the GOG method), but it all comes back around to people still leaving their already developed library and community.

    Want me to switch over? Build a better store. Don't do it by trying to strongarm me with exclusives.

    I've heard this before (and not just in relation to Steam competitors). Define what would make "a better store," please. Because that's always been the rub: people say "build a better store" but never specify what they mean by that requirement.

    Considering us crazies in this community, the basic ability to gift a game to another user would be a nice starting point. They don't even know when they're thinking about getting around to that though. Too busy writing checks I guess.

    Origin is right there doing this. And, to this day, I still hear people bitching about Origin is far, FAR worse than Steam "in every conceivable way."

    EDIT - although, I will concede that it's done in such a way that you can't readily gift to strangers (AFAICT, you can gift to people on your friend's list).

    Erlkönig on
    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • KetarKetar Come on upstairs we're having a partyRegistered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong I love competition and Steam really needs competitors but I'm with Pixie, fuck exclusivity. All exclusivity means is we see shittier sale prices and games stay at full price longer. This is especially true of epic as they aren't handing out third party keys to online retailers.

    But without exclusivity, people tend to stick with the platform they have an already established presence on. Without a need to move over, people just won't. I've seen that behavior over and over again with Origin, Windows Store, Uplay, whatever.

    I mean, sure, it sucks as a consumer...but to develop a platform, exclusives are kinda needed. Sure, you can toss in bundled extras to try to incentivise people to your platform (the GOG method), but it all comes back around to people still leaving their already developed library and community.

    Want me to switch over? Build a better store. Don't do it by trying to strongarm me with exclusives.

    I've heard this before (and not just in relation to Steam competitors). Define what would make "a better store," please. Because that's always been the rub: people say "build a better store" but never specify what they mean by that requirement.

    Give me most of Steam's features for community and an equivalent workshop. I can take or leave a market, but others may want that. Make it easy to sort my library in any way I desire. Make it easy to search the store with a wide range of filters. Give me curators and discovery queue equivalents as well, probably. And a system for leaving feedback for verified purchases that has some manner of policing against review bombing. Give me discussion forums for all games sold.

    Give me those things, with actual moderation of the forums and reviews. Curate the games sold in such a way that it's not overly cumbersome for an indy dev to get a game reviewed and put up for sale, but toxic content never sees the light of day. Ditto for asset flips, games that exist only to sell cards or award a zillion achievements, and anything else you think belongs in there.

    Mostly just give me Steam with actual human moderation and curation of content in pretty much all areas.

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    User reviews
    Curated reviews and forums
    Some semblance of a discovery queue NOT relying on randomness
    A chat client that works on a modern platform
    A chat client with a corresponding app for mobile
    Some sort of friend "discovery" or friend-of-friend system

    That's about all I have from 3 minutes of thinking while I'm on the phone with tech support.

  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong I love competition and Steam really needs competitors but I'm with Pixie, fuck exclusivity. All exclusivity means is we see shittier sale prices and games stay at full price longer. This is especially true of epic as they aren't handing out third party keys to online retailers.

    But without exclusivity, people tend to stick with the platform they have an already established presence on. Without a need to move over, people just won't. I've seen that behavior over and over again with Origin, Windows Store, Uplay, whatever.

    I mean, sure, it sucks as a consumer...but to develop a platform, exclusives are kinda needed. Sure, you can toss in bundled extras to try to incentivise people to your platform (the GOG method), but it all comes back around to people still leaving their already developed library and community.

    Want me to switch over? Build a better store. Don't do it by trying to strongarm me with exclusives.

    I've heard this before (and not just in relation to Steam competitors). Define what would make "a better store," please. Because that's always been the rub: people say "build a better store" but never specify what they mean by that requirement.

    What's something that sucks about Steam?

    Do that better.

    Make a curation system (run by actual people) that allows smaller developers to get on the service, but also keeps asset flips, scam games and other less savory horseshit from entering the serivce.

    Make a discussion board system with some actual damn moderation, instead of doing what Steam does and letting it be a haven for trolls, harrassers and other garbage people. (Hilariously, Epic is so lacking on this front that people are routinely going to Steam discussion boards to get help with their Epic Store purchases)

    Put more than 3 people and a hamster onto their tech support.

    Seriously, 99% of Steam's problems come from believing crowdsource and algorithms are better than employing actual human beings. Epic literally has cash to throw at things willy-nilly, so why not employ some people?

  • ZetxZetx 🐧 Registered User regular
    edited March 2019
    I feel like I'm the odd one out on these discussions. I read forums/reddit/discord groups for the reviews and game talk/chat and then chat in those same places. I just need a store to buy the games from.
    Is there anybody on Epic who is also on Steam?
    Pre Epic Games Store: Anyone who did dev on Unreal Engine, played the UT Alpha, they also released Shadow Complex there, and of course, Fortnite. (I feel like this was rhetorical, but :P )

    Zetx on
    76561197966849367.png
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    I assume he meant games.

    A lot of the free Epic games have also been on Steam.

    steam_sig.png

    3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
    Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
  • ZetxZetx 🐧 Registered User regular
    edited March 2019
    Ah, Super Meat Boy's the only dupe I have between Steam and Epic's free offerings, so that's been good for me, too (not that I've installed any from EGS either...) Thought I had Axiom Verge, but maybe that was a Twitch/Humble thing

    Zetx on
    76561197966849367.png
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    Another nice feature of Steam that the epic store could use.

    Fucking ASK before taking a hardware snapshot of my PC and installed apps. That'd be REAL nice.

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Mugsley wrote: »
    User reviews
    Curated reviews and forums
    Some semblance of a discovery queue NOT relying on randomness
    A chat client that works on a modern platform
    A chat client with a corresponding app for mobile
    Some sort of friend "discovery" or friend-of-friend system

    That's about all I have from 3 minutes of thinking while I'm on the phone with tech support.

    Yours and Ketar's are literally the first time I've heard a list of things that would make for a "better than Steam" situation (I just have issue when people say "Like X but better" and then don't offer up what satisfies their definition of "better"). And for your list there Mugs, short of the mobile chat app, GOG Galaxy is pretty much the only one (that I can pull off the top of my head) that fits the criteria. Personally, I'd like to see more options that are like that too...but, I'm also fine with there just being more competition in general (maybe less fine with exclusives, as a principle, but I understand why it's being done and won't drag companies over the coals because of it).

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • SudsSuds Registered User regular
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Well I hope these companies enjoy their diminished sales in the first year and probably longer when people lose interest of the game.

    Can't wait to hear Borderlands 3 get announced as a pure epic store exclusive.

    Metro: Exodus apparently sold 2.5x the amount on the Epic store than Metro: Last Light did on Steam.

    A lot of people are really keen to see Steam taken down a peg.

    2.5x over what period? At launch for each? Are we comparing Feb 2019 to Feb 2019 for both games? The statement means nothing without concrete numbers and dates. You can literally compare any two periods of sale to each other and make a 2.5x sale increase.

    camo_sig2.png
  • KetarKetar Come on upstairs we're having a partyRegistered User regular
    Suds wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Well I hope these companies enjoy their diminished sales in the first year and probably longer when people lose interest of the game.

    Can't wait to hear Borderlands 3 get announced as a pure epic store exclusive.

    Metro: Exodus apparently sold 2.5x the amount on the Epic store than Metro: Last Light did on Steam.

    A lot of people are really keen to see Steam taken down a peg.

    2.5x over what period? At launch for each? Are we comparing Feb 2019 to Feb 2019 for both games? The statement means nothing without concrete numbers and dates. You can literally compare any two periods of sale to each other and make a 2.5x sale increase.

    Metro Last Light was released on May 14, 2013.

    Funny thing I saw when looking for the release date: "The game was a commercial success, with its first-week retail sales in the US surpassing the lifetime retail sales of 2033."

    Sounds like the jump from 2033 to Last Light saw a much larger increase than that from Last Light to Exodus. Interesting.

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited March 2019
    Suds wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Well I hope these companies enjoy their diminished sales in the first year and probably longer when people lose interest of the game.

    Can't wait to hear Borderlands 3 get announced as a pure epic store exclusive.

    Metro: Exodus apparently sold 2.5x the amount on the Epic store than Metro: Last Light did on Steam.

    A lot of people are really keen to see Steam taken down a peg.

    2.5x over what period? At launch for each? Are we comparing Feb 2019 to Feb 2019 for both games? The statement means nothing without concrete numbers and dates. You can literally compare any two periods of sale to each other and make a 2.5x sale increase.

    Personally, I'm in that pool of folks who would like to see Steam taken down a peg...but I also want comparisons to be apples to apples comparisons. Which, y'know, is kinda hard when it's comparing a game (and the gaming market as a whole) from 6 years ago to a game (and the gaming market as a whole) released this year...in an undefined period of time.

    Also, comparing the sales performance of the second game (in a series) to the third game (of that same series), after the second game has the opportunity to cultivate a larger audience (edit-of the series) over a longer period of time that feeds into the third game, is a bit...disingenuous.

    Erlkönig on
    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • Gear GirlGear Girl More class than a state university Registered User regular
    edited March 2019
    I just don't feel like me being able to buy a game on only one platform is competition. It benefits me in no way. People act like Epic is going to just buy exclusivity long enough to establish themselves and then they'll let the market be free again.

    This will only result in the Steam vs EA vs Epic 3 way exclusivity battle that will result only in more expensive games.

    Gear Girl on
  • Gear GirlGear Girl More class than a state university Registered User regular
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    At some point over the last year I've kind of stopped caring about the online stores I get my stuff from. I was pretty grumbly when EA opened Origin, but I ended up getting the client anyway. Ubisoft too? Well, at least I could still get their games on Steam. Blizzard? Eh, I play(ed) World of Warcraft and it's not available any other way, so whatever.

    I got the Epic Launcher when they put out Shadow Complex for free. The game didn't run well on my aging PC, so I sorta forgot about it. I only reinstalled the launcher last year. I've been happy to take all these games they've been giving out for free lately too, but I have yet to buy anything from there. If anything, I might buy Super Meat Boy Forever when it comes out.

    Nothing about the Epic Store really bothers me....except those recent revelations about it possibly scanning user info on my PC without my consent. If that pans out, that's kind of fucked and neats to be fixed. Aside from that, I can certainly understand developers wanting to try another storefront. I've read plenty of tales from indie developers about how hard it is to get noticed on Steam now due to algorithms that favor either bigger developers. And then there's all the hentai slider puzzles.

    It's a huge difference from years ago when a Steam sale kept Introversion Software from going out of business (I linked an old article about that in here a few weeks back). I do hope Valve can fix whatever is wrong with Steam, but I have a feeling the problems will only get worse. And I'm not confident that developers going to Epic will fix these sorts of issues in the long run either, but eh.

    Anyway, maybe i'm just not as passionate about Steam anymore because I've been spending the last year mostly playing old games. Sorry for my rambling!

    In conclusion,

  • Pixelated PixiePixelated Pixie They/Them Registered User regular
    In other news, @Karoz is a jerk, confirmed.

    Thanks for Equivoque, When Our Journey Ends, A Winter Daydream, Empty Horizons, and Oppaidius Summer Trouble.

    <3<3<3

    ~~ Pixie on Steam ~~
    ironzerg wrote: »
    Chipmunks are like nature's nipple clamps, I guess?
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Look I’d be happy to make another Epic account and use their launcher.

    If it wasn’t owned 49% by Tencent, wasn’t using my PC to spy on Steam and Unity, and I didn’t get a ‘hey someone requested a password change because they think it’ll let them access your Fortnite account even though you don’t fucking have one’ email every day.

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited March 2019
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    EDIT - oh, and just saw the edit in your previous post...you left out a few other outlets:

    It's already: Steam vs. Epic vs. EA vs. Ubisoft (and then there's the soft competition with GOG).

    Erlkönig on
    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    Epic already got The Division 2 permanently. However, Ubisoft’s games run through their launcher anyway. Even buying them on Steam or Epic launches uPlay before it runs.

    So I just buy them on uPlay.

  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    Hit Bit had a post about 5 pages back.

    It’s literally using your machine to spy on their competitors.

  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Mugsley wrote: »
    User reviews
    Curated reviews and forums
    Some semblance of a discovery queue NOT relying on randomness
    A chat client that works on a modern platform
    A chat client with a corresponding app for mobile
    Some sort of friend "discovery" or friend-of-friend system

    That's about all I have from 3 minutes of thinking while I'm on the phone with tech support.

    Yours and Ketar's are literally the first time I've heard a list of things that would make for a "better than Steam" situation (I just have issue when people say "Like X but better" and then don't offer up what satisfies their definition of "better"). And for your list there Mugs, short of the mobile chat app, GOG Galaxy is pretty much the only one (that I can pull off the top of my head) that fits the criteria. Personally, I'd like to see more options that are like that too...but, I'm also fine with there just being more competition in general (maybe less fine with exclusives, as a principle, but I understand why it's being done and won't drag companies over the coals because of it).

    I feel like Steam has a fairly robust feature list. I haven't compared to Epic recently (in the last two or three months, I think), but at that time I think the following were all things Steam had that Epic didn't:

    In-home streaming
    Online broadcasting
    Global controller rebinding
    Built-in mod distribution and installation
    Gifting
    Wishlists and sale notifications
    User-defined tags
    Account balances and gift cards
    A shopping cart
    Remote access
    DLC
    VR support
    Family sharing
    Family view restrictions
    Adding non-Steam games
    Cloud saves

    I get that you don't have to have everything at launch, but currently Epic's store just seems utterly anemic. Like, I feel I'd have to be stupid to buy any non-exclusives from them. Oculus' store launched in a similar garbage state (didn't even have a refund policy), and by the time they were in a competitive condition, I'd already decided to have most of my VR library on Steam.

  • Gear GirlGear Girl More class than a state university Registered User regular
    edited March 2019
    Also, in other news I think Origin is fine. It gets the job done, has a friends list, downloads are pretty quick, customer service is pretty good.

    Their sale prices are getting a bit better lately too.

    Gear Girl on
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    edited March 2019
    Orogogus wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Mugsley wrote: »
    User reviews
    Curated reviews and forums
    Some semblance of a discovery queue NOT relying on randomness
    A chat client that works on a modern platform
    A chat client with a corresponding app for mobile
    Some sort of friend "discovery" or friend-of-friend system

    That's about all I have from 3 minutes of thinking while I'm on the phone with tech support.

    Yours and Ketar's are literally the first time I've heard a list of things that would make for a "better than Steam" situation (I just have issue when people say "Like X but better" and then don't offer up what satisfies their definition of "better"). And for your list there Mugs, short of the mobile chat app, GOG Galaxy is pretty much the only one (that I can pull off the top of my head) that fits the criteria. Personally, I'd like to see more options that are like that too...but, I'm also fine with there just being more competition in general (maybe less fine with exclusives, as a principle, but I understand why it's being done and won't drag companies over the coals because of it).

    I feel like Steam has a fairly robust feature list. I haven't compared to Epic recently (in the last two or three months, I think), but at that time I think the following were all things Steam had that Epic didn't:

    In-home streaming
    Online broadcasting
    Global controller rebinding
    Built-in mod distribution and installation
    Gifting
    Wishlists and sale notifications
    User-defined tags
    Account balances and gift cards
    A shopping cart
    Remote access
    DLC
    VR support
    Family sharing
    Family view restrictions
    Adding non-Steam games
    Cloud saves

    I get that you don't have to have everything at launch, but currently Epic's store just seems utterly anemic. Like, I feel I'd have to be stupid to buy any non-exclusives from them. Oculus' store launched in a similar garbage state (didn't even have a refund policy), and by the time they were in a competitive condition, I'd already decided to have most of my VR library on Steam.

    Epic have actually said they can’t and don’t intend to compete on features. They will compete by buying exclusives. They see it as the only way.

    -Loki- on
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    I mostly avoid Origin because I avoid EA games for the most part. (Titanfall 2 and the Mass Effect trilogy being the only exceptions in the past few years.)

  • SpoitSpoit *twitch twitch* Registered User regular
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    Also, in other news I think Origin is fine. It gets the job done, has a friends list, downloads are pretty quick, customer service is pretty good.

    Yeah, for as much as people complain about it, Origin's customer support is really helpful, especially if you use it during US business hours so you actually get an american cs rep.

    And TBH, origin access isn't that bad a deal. If I actually cared more about sports games and yearly MP shootmans, I'd probably go for it

    steam_sig.png
  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    Hit Bit had a post about 5 pages back.

    It’s literally using your machine to spy on their competitors.

    So basically what the PCGamer article reported on. Got it. I'll repeat the end of my previous post with a slight caveat: it doesn't sound nearly as bad (to me, at least) as some are making it out to be.

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    Hit Bit had a post about 5 pages back.

    It’s literally using your machine to spy on their competitors.

    So basically what the PCGamer article reported on. Got it. I'll repeat the end of my previous post with a slight caveat: it doesn't sound nearly as bad (to me, at least) as some are making it out to be.

    My primary concern on top of it is they are 49% owned by a Chinese company. If they’re already okay doing this, I don’t want my personal or financial details anywhere near a Chinese company already spying to this degree.

  • ErlkönigErlkönig Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    Hit Bit had a post about 5 pages back.

    It’s literally using your machine to spy on their competitors.

    So basically what the PCGamer article reported on. Got it. I'll repeat the end of my previous post with a slight caveat: it doesn't sound nearly as bad (to me, at least) as some are making it out to be.

    My primary concern on top of it is they are 49% owned by a Chinese company. If they’re already okay doing this, I don’t want my personal or financial details anywhere near a Chinese company already spying to this degree.

    As of this moment, that's not anywhere near the top of my concern list. Once we cross that last 2% threshold...well, we'll cross that bridge if we get there.

    | Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    Hit Bit had a post about 5 pages back.

    It’s literally using your machine to spy on their competitors.

    So basically what the PCGamer article reported on. Got it. I'll repeat the end of my previous post with a slight caveat: it doesn't sound nearly as bad (to me, at least) as some are making it out to be.

    My primary concern on top of it is they are 49% owned by a Chinese company. If they’re already okay doing this, I don’t want my personal or financial details anywhere near a Chinese company already spying to this degree.

    Uh... you may want to reconsider what you're trying to say, and what it looks like you're trying to say, because on the surface level these are some xenophobic-ass statements.

  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    Hit Bit had a post about 5 pages back.

    It’s literally using your machine to spy on their competitors.

    So basically what the PCGamer article reported on. Got it. I'll repeat the end of my previous post with a slight caveat: it doesn't sound nearly as bad (to me, at least) as some are making it out to be.

    My primary concern on top of it is they are 49% owned by a Chinese company. If they’re already okay doing this, I don’t want my personal or financial details anywhere near a Chinese company already spying to this degree.

    As of this moment, that's not anywhere near the top of my concern list. Once we cross that last 2% threshold...well, we'll cross that bridge if we get there.

    Sure. Once they cross that final 2% then they’ve got your details. Deleting your account then is too late.

  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Gear Girl wrote: »
    What happens when a CEO of ubisoft or square enix or capcom decides that paycheck is enough that all future titles are exclusive to one platform for a 5 year period or some bullshit.

    As long as it's on PC, meh? Between all the launchers that are on my desktop, what's one more as long as it's not surreptitiously using my system to mine bitcoins (or whatever) or pulling my data for third-parties.

    Epics Launcher is doing this. It’s mining your PC for any information on Unity and your Steam account and sending it to Epic constantly.

    Not to mention they’re owned 49% by Tencent. Wouldn’t like to think what will happen to your personal and financial details when they manage to buy that last 2%.

    Aside from the localconfig.vdf file, what else is it pulling? I'm just going by the stuff in this article, but it really doesn't sound nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

    Hit Bit had a post about 5 pages back.

    It’s literally using your machine to spy on their competitors.

    So basically what the PCGamer article reported on. Got it. I'll repeat the end of my previous post with a slight caveat: it doesn't sound nearly as bad (to me, at least) as some are making it out to be.

    My primary concern on top of it is they are 49% owned by a Chinese company. If they’re already okay doing this, I don’t want my personal or financial details anywhere near a Chinese company already spying to this degree.

    Uh... you may want to reconsider what you're trying to say, and what it looks like you're trying to say, because on the surface level these are some xenophobic-ass statements.

    I apologise. Replace ‘a Chinese company’ with ‘Tencent’.

  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Orogogus wrote: »
    Erlkönig wrote: »
    Mugsley wrote: »
    User reviews
    Curated reviews and forums
    Some semblance of a discovery queue NOT relying on randomness
    A chat client that works on a modern platform
    A chat client with a corresponding app for mobile
    Some sort of friend "discovery" or friend-of-friend system

    That's about all I have from 3 minutes of thinking while I'm on the phone with tech support.

    Yours and Ketar's are literally the first time I've heard a list of things that would make for a "better than Steam" situation (I just have issue when people say "Like X but better" and then don't offer up what satisfies their definition of "better"). And for your list there Mugs, short of the mobile chat app, GOG Galaxy is pretty much the only one (that I can pull off the top of my head) that fits the criteria. Personally, I'd like to see more options that are like that too...but, I'm also fine with there just being more competition in general (maybe less fine with exclusives, as a principle, but I understand why it's being done and won't drag companies over the coals because of it).

    I feel like Steam has a fairly robust feature list. I haven't compared to Epic recently (in the last two or three months, I think), but at that time I think the following were all things Steam had that Epic didn't:

    In-home streaming
    Online broadcasting
    Global controller rebinding
    Built-in mod distribution and installation
    Gifting
    Wishlists and sale notifications
    User-defined tags
    Account balances and gift cards
    A shopping cart
    Remote access
    DLC
    VR support
    Family sharing
    Family view restrictions
    Adding non-Steam games
    Cloud saves

    I get that you don't have to have everything at launch, but currently Epic's store just seems utterly anemic. Like, I feel I'd have to be stupid to buy any non-exclusives from them. Oculus' store launched in a similar garbage state (didn't even have a refund policy), and by the time they were in a competitive condition, I'd already decided to have most of my VR library on Steam.

    Epic have actually said they can’t and don’t intend to compete on features. They will compete by buying exclusives. They see it as the only way.

    That just seems strange, since 1) it's not as if I can't think of ways to improve on what Steam is doing, and 2) there's just no incentive to buy anything that's not exclusive from them. So as regards consumers, Epic's not planning to complete at all - they're only competing for developers. It seems to me that as soon as Valve decides they want to play that game, giving sweetheart deals to developers who already have a following, Epic has nothing.

This discussion has been closed.