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Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

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Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#381

Post by DanHulton »

BbzzbB wrote: post #293
DanHulton wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really simply? Because it's worth it. Nobody's "bowing to" Steam, they could sell off their own website for free, if they wanted. But Steam offers enough of a marketplace, enough tooling, and enough promotion that it's worth it to sell there. It's what I want for the Apple App store, too. Don't charge any less, just make it worth it.

My wording was probably dramatic there, it's just I don't think a Microsoft subsidiary would lightly take the decision to forgo 20-30% (TIL it's tiered) of their revenue to a third party when they have capabilities to handle such services internally. Building platforms is kind of Microsoft's business, so to me migrating Bethesda to Steam is their acknowledgment that a competing platform has won that space. Seemingly…

Oh, I don't think they do take it lightly! Building platforms _badly_ is kind of Microsoft's specialty, unfortunately. They have lock-in on the Xbox, but any kind of Steam-esque competitor for the PC has always been a miserable experience that nobody ever wanted to use.

That said, I did forget until now that GamePass exists - Microsoft isn't really challenging Steam anymore, they're doing kind of an end-run around them with their games subscription service, and it frankly kinda rocks. But for those who still want to outright purchase games, they still sell on Steam, because, again, Valve have made it worthwhile to pay the 30% to at least get the userbase and marketing bump.

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#382

Post by mywittyname »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #223
mywittyname wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, it's that my 20 year old account has games I bought 20 years ago. I can trust that anything I purchase from Steam will be around for a long time. No other company has demonstrated that kind of reliability, except maybe Apple. Plus, I think Steam is a superior product. That being said, I also try to buy on GoG as much as possible, since I really prefer to have DRM-free games and I want some competition in the…

> I can trust that anything I purchase from Steam will be around for a long time. Unless the publisher pulls it or pushes an update cutting music because of license deals expiring. Or gets a stealthy replacement with a worse remaster. Or your OS drops 32 bit / x86 support.

I still have every game I purchased; even ones that have long been pulled from the store.

The music cutting issue is valid. However, it can be overcome by leaving the game downloaded and turning off updates for it. Plus, the game will always be available, which was my point.

But the flip side to that is Steam also automatically moves games up a tier. So a base game bought at launch might get automatically updated to a special addition which includes all the DLC and/or texture pack updates.

> Or your OS drops 32 bit / x86 support.

I can still download the game, which is all steam promises. From there, I can make it work via VM.

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#383

Post by ceravis »

oAlbe wrote: post #231
throwaway09223 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a couple of highly technical, highly capable game studios. Bethesda isn't one of them. Most game studios produce poorly optimized junk and are barely managing to ship a working product.

> There are a couple of highly technical, highly capable game studios. Which ones are those?

FromSoftware (Dark Souls/Sekiro) Polyphony Digital (Gran Turismo) Santa Monica Studio (God of War) Kojima Productions (Death Stranding) Larian Studios (Divinity Original Sin) Playdead (Inside/Limbo)

Studios who choose/have the freedom to release a game "when it's ready", and/or have Sony/Microsoft backing.

One can hope Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda will change their ways, but having set the release date of Starfield (11/11/22) so far ahead of time doesn't inspire confidence... hopefully they'll have the freedom to push this back if needed.

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#384

Post by [deleted] »

Ekaros wrote: post #96
nouveaux wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A game key could be considered a non-fungible token so this already works on a blockchain. Instead of recording a game key, you record the wallet public key. If you need more privacy, you can use Zero knowledge proofs[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-knowledge_proof

How would you prevent group of friends from sharing a wallet? Which I see as one thing to do, pool your money and buy each new game to new wallet... Then share the wallet's private key between all.

[deleted]

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#385

Post by nouveaux »

Ekaros wrote: post #96
nouveaux wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A game key could be considered a non-fungible token so this already works on a blockchain. Instead of recording a game key, you record the wallet public key. If you need more privacy, you can use Zero knowledge proofs[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-knowledge_proof

How would you prevent group of friends from sharing a wallet? Which I see as one thing to do, pool your money and buy each new game to new wallet... Then share the wallet's private key between all.

The benefit of putting a game key in a public place is to make porting the key easier. So yea, sharing a wallet would be possible. This is definitely not something corporations want.

Back in the day, you can borrow your friends game after they were done. DVDs can be shared. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#386

Post by awill »

mLuby wrote: post #292
awill wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I choose to use Steam because it's good. If you have an iPhone, you don't choose the AppStore. You're stuck with it.

If I want to play a game that's only sold via Steam, I have no choice but to use Steam. It's less bad than the App Store since game devs technically have a choice, but in effect it's often the same.

That's a good point. I guess I do get annoyed when there are epic exclusive games.

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#387

Post by nouveaux »

nouveaux wrote: post #91
Ekaros wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wonder how could duplicating the license key be prevented. First by small group and then maybe just stolen from someone. While also preventing loss of it with let's say device.

A game key could be considered a non-fungible token so this already works on a blockchain. Instead of recording a game key, you record the wallet public key. If you need more privacy, you can use Zero knowledge proofs[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-knowledge_proof

Sheesh being down voted on hacker news for a technical response. If my technical response is wrong, please let me know.

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#388

Post by BuckRogers »

BbzzbB wrote: post #114

Is there a technical reason why Steam is a such a force in the space? People, myself certainly included, often criticize Apple for taking 30% of developer revenue for merely existing in it's walled garden. Right or wrong, they control the ecosystem, so their ability to monopolize and heavily tax the App Store is unsurprising, they're exercising their pricing power as much as they possibly can. But how is it that on P…

Others said it here but it's really the features. Steam Link works perfectly to your TV or tablet. They support nearly every gamepad you may want to use, I use PS4 gamepads and never had an issue. They also had the early mover advantage. I don't really see a good alternative other than perhaps the cloud gaming, and that's if you prefer a subscription and don't have a gaming machine. Which has its appeal in the age of not being able to get hardware at a fair price.

If I were in the market for a PC gaming rig today, I'd either use Xbox Cloud Gaming or buy a gaming laptop. As someone that always maintained a desktop gaming PC for 40 years.

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#389

Post by notafraudster »

account42 wrote: post #366
notafraudster wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, yes, you can add non-Steam games to Steam, which is the analogue here.

That is not really the analogue as non-Steam games only benefit from a tiny part of Steams features wheres almost all Linux package manager let you configure the repositories they pull from and those repositories can (at least theoretically) be used with other package managers.

All of the features of Steam that aren't directly tied to having an authenticated purchase of the game on Steam -- so excluding achievements, leaderboards, multiplayer, DLC -- work via adding non-Steam games to Steam. You can use the game via Proton, you can make use of Steam Input, you can use the in-game overlay, share screenshots, etc.

But of course adding a non-Steam version of the game doesn't magically give you a Steam version of the game absent a key-based import (which Valve supports both technically and a matter of policy).

Re: Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to Steam

#390

Post by mikepurvis »

gpderetta wrote: post #374
mikepurvis wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The siblings mention some good ones, but another for Steam in particular is the console-like experience available via Big Picture mode. Not only is this a significant aesthetic/ergonomic step up from how you launch software directly from the desktop OS, but it's also able to do some niceties like automatically handling controller mapping— for example, presenting your PlayStation or Switch pad to games as an xinput de…

Also steam link!

I was going to mention that, but tbh it's been lackluster every time I've actually tried it. It's possible my computer just isn't up for doing the stream encoding part, but even outside of perf issues, I feel like I've had problems with the controls, it interfering with Window audio devices, and other random headaches. Maybe it's been a better experience for some others though?
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