41–50 of 88 posts
It's a bit strange to me to read these complaints about Steam/Valve, then have the author... switch to Microsoft Store and advocate for Game Pass?
He seems a bit unhinged and has a personal vendetta here. Misplaced outrage. Microsoft has done more damage to the industry than good
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But why? What specifically is awful about it compared to Steam?
Steam has Comprehensive library management with categories, tags, and collections, Built-in screenshot/video capture and sharing, Steam Workshop for mods and user-generated content, Robust review system, Steam Cloud saves with reliable sync, Family sharing and parental controls, Active discussion forums for each game, Stable, well-tested interface refined over 20+ years, Offline mode that actually works reliably, Big…
For the rest of the stores some are better than others but at the end of the day they're "better features" rather than fundamentally better, like GOG is. Because ultimately what I'm doing is buying a game, not a forum or a review (as useful as those are), and definitely not renting a game.
>Games you purchased on a Windows 98 machine later had their system requirements bumped up to Windows XP, then to Windows 7, then to Windows 10... >Because the Steam client patches itself and because Valve was lying about contingency plans, their DRM prevents running Windows 98-era games on original hardware. What about Linux? Steam has supported Linux since 2013, and is notably the only big store that does. Personal…
Don't get me wrong, I love their games (when they bother to make one) and my Steam Deck. But lets not pretend that Valve is our friend either and their main goal is anything but to make money.
While I think that going so far as to delete my Steam library is a fairly extreme situation, I do think supporting a diverse marketplace and actually using other stores is a good idea. I have games on Xbox App (on PC), GOG, Epic, EA, etc. It really isn't that big of a deal to have alternatives installed, and if you are worried about the software there are alternatives like Heroic Launcher.
The controller situation is an interesting one though that I will need to do my own reading on, I knew that Steam tried to manage controller settings itself (which just further encourages you to only use Steam...) and has caused me to have issues with buttons registering twice. I was not aware that sometimes games had different controller functionality on different stores. Is there some requirement of this on Steam?
There is no "Game Ownership" on pc or elsewhere. you purchase a license. That license is always obscenely limited, whether or not they enforce it with DRM.
The only real control of a game worth mentioning is piracy, then open source.
Essentially, you can't run your Steam games without also being able to run the Steam client, and the Steam client will drop support for old versions of Windows after they are end-of-life'd. The author describes this as a violation of freedom, but to me it's totally understandable: when Windows 98 gets end-of-life'd, users have to upgrade anyway because security patches won't keep coming. Most people have, by that point, upgraded years earlier. Their Steam keeps working, and so do most of their games.
I'm not sure what kind of changes would satisfy the author. Should Steam still devote a small team to maintaining Windows 98 compatibility to satisfy him personally (as I doubt anyone else cares)? Should they do away with DRM entirely and just ship unlocked exe's (and have every major publisher bail on them)?
And, more broadly on the subject of game compatibility: the pre-internet method of shipping CD-ROM's also did not ensure that your games would run forever. You'll eventually replace your computer, and your Win98 CD-ROM games will generally not work if you try to install them on your new Win11 box.
> I buy games from Epic Games Store , Microsoft Store and GOG precisely because those stores have no bloated features unrelated to DRM crammed down your throat. Absolutely unhinged opinion.
>Games you purchased on a Windows 98 machine later had their system requirements bumped up to Windows XP, then to Windows 7, then to Windows 10... >Because the Steam client patches itself and because Valve was lying about contingency plans, their DRM prevents running Windows 98-era games on original hardware. What about Linux? Steam has supported Linux since 2013, and is notably the only big store that does. Personal…
I've collected so many free games on the Epic store, but almost never play any of them due to issues with them running on the SteamDeck. With some persuasion they can be made to work, but I don't want to be tinkering when I just want to play a game for 5-10 minutes.
The most problematic was Deathloop, which flashed up some messages about it being an unsupported APU but ultimately worked fine. Occasionally some games crash after waking from a suspend.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point is that when using a subscription service to access a game, like Microsoft's gamepass, you explicitly know that what you're paying for is temporary access to a game. Where as when you buy a game on many of these store fronts it doesn't seem like like you are only buying temporary access, but it is in fact what you are getting just with possibly a slightly longer timeframe.
I mean... Maybe? He's talking about games that no longer work on windows 98. But how many games are on microsoft's gamepass that are from 25-30 years ago? Does Microsoft support old games like that? Or is this an apples and oranges situation where microsoft doesn't "break trust" because they dont even offer you the ability to play the game. Also I would love a example of a game that no longer works at all.
I must admit that the Steam client is quite slow and bloated. Having used it for many years, I often avoid launching it. Epic has replicated these same issues. Consequently, I end up using GOG instead.