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Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

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Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#131

Post by j_maffe »

jvanderbot wrote: post #126
nananana9 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also nickel and dime the adults, but only the ones who make the games. It's fine though, because they're nice to players and they've brainwashed them into giving their money to Valve instead of to the developers who actually make the games they fucking play.

Without steam, I'd still be playing my CD version of Homeworld 2. I have paid $10 for every $1 of game I play, perhaps as high as $100:$1. A 30% cut of that seems totally reasonable. I have hundreds of games I keep just in case, and have played 10s of games I'd never have considered because they dont appear in Game Informer, PC Gamer, GoG, Twitch, Youtube, or other channels. They just are magically brought to me by s…

Of course 30% seems reasonble to you, you're not the creator of the games. It's quite confusing to me that you're endorsing the side that has an insane ROI instead of the side that is sufferring greatly to make ends meet.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#132

Post by throwaway314155 »

drakythe wrote: post #84
Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kinda. SteamOS is open source, so it's not really walled. It's possible they deferred making generic drivers to release faster and those will come out later,kinda like steamOS windows drivers came out later

As someone else said, the driver is in Steam, not SteamOS. Even on a Steam Deck you have to run Steam in desktop mode to have the buttons on the deck work.

> Even on a Steam Deck you have to run Steam in desktop mode to have the buttons on the deck work.

That's not true. You get a reduced functionality controller with trackpads that can still be used to start steam back up.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#133

Post by j_maffe »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #77
Hikikomori wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about charging for services rendered based on cost to produce them rather than some arbitrary number. Some effective competition would be good, but likely outcome is publishers taking more.

I feel like that just becomes another situation where bigger organizations get more bargaining power and get better deals, so you’re just kind of shifting problems. I’m not saying a flat percentage like they have is necessarily the best solution, but I’m not sure trading problems is a good idea either. Just seems like a different way for smaller developers to get screwed.

> bigger organizations get more bargaining power and get better deals

This is exactly how it's setup right now.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#134

Post by beart »

nananana9 wrote: post #56
benoau wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We let kids gamble so much money in games that they don't have to nickel and dime the adults.

They also nickel and dime the adults, but only the ones who make the games. It's fine though, because they're nice to players and they've brainwashed them into giving their money to Valve instead of to the developers who actually make the games they fucking play.

My understanding is the tools that Steam provides as part of it's developer platform are top notch. And there are a lot of integration points such as cloud saves, social, match making, achievements, store, and so on. There is also a robust CD pipeline.

I can easily see this providing value above and beyond most other retailers that would sell video games. For example, Best Buy takes a 30% cut for physical merchandise, without providing any of the above mentioned features.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#135

Post by foresto »

legitster wrote: post #83
hatsunearu wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve wasn't always like this. They were infamous for never allowing refunds, but due to EU regulations they just did a complete about face and has one of the friendliest refund policies in the ESD business. Probably just behind Costco or something.

The introduction of the refund made them get rid of their deep discounted flash sales though. Real OGs remember that you could get fairly new AAA games for a song on, like, a random Wednesday. It was part of the initial appeal of Steam. Those explicitly went away because of the refund policy. https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/4pnd4p/psa_yes_there... (People were really upset at the time) Their new refund policy…

> Their new refund policy is great,

The "played for less than two hours" refund policy is more of a compromise than great, IMHO.

It works well for games that are quick to run and enjoy. However, quite a few of the games I've played will easily burn two hours on loading, compiling shaders, watching unskippable branding animations (splash screens), tuning graphics settings, setting up key bindings, and working past miscellaneous bugs.

Steam's "play time" clock starts when the game executable is launched, and keeps running during all of that nonsense, even at title screens and menus. Some games have run past Valve's return window before I got even a minute of play time.

It would be nice if one of Steam's widely used APIs (Steamworks?) included a way for a game to register when it is actually being played, as opposed to loading or setting up or sitting at a pause screen. I think this would help with the return window problem, and finally make the played hours count on our Steam profiles somewhat accurate.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#136

Post by 3form »

BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #106
bluetidepro wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't fully understand this narrative that is going around about scalpers and the controller. So many people online are claiming it was only scalpers who were able to purchase one. I am also not a scalper (as someone else said), and was able to purchase one. We don't know how many they actually had in stock in total but let's say it's around 30K, from what I have searched on eBay and other reselling sites it would…

It's also very important to understand that Valve has 100% control of the marketplace. They don't have to hope that Best Buy or Walmart or whatever secure their system against scalpers. They can enforce account history requirements and rate limiting or what ever they please. I'd be extremely surprised if they didn't do that.

From what I've read the limitation was having a "premium" account (spent at least $5 on Steam) and maximum controllers was 3 per account.

EDIT: I see others here mention 2 max. Haven't heard that before, but that makes more sense to me.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#137

Post by dghlsakjg »

vablings wrote: post #81
wvbdmp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He’s going to die in a fucking scuba diving accident, I have nightmares about it constantly

I highly doubt it for a number of factors. - Most of his dives look to be rec depth - He isn't running any crazy gear like a CCR - He has instant access to a chamber, so any DCS worries are virtually zero - There is no go-itis for him. If weather is bad, he just packs up and sails to somewhere nicer Out of all the rich people hobbies, scuba is about the safest

Scuba diving is a pretty risky activity on the scale of things that rich people do in their everyday life. Golf and cycling are a lot safer.

Scuba fatalities fall into a few buckets, the big two are inexperience/bad decision making, and older folks with health issues (underwater heart attacks/respiratory distress, basically).

As a former dive pro, an overweight 63 year old is someone that I would keep a very close eye on while diving.

The odds are pretty low, but there is a reason that many life insurance companies exclude scuba divers from their coverage.

That said, I'm happy to let him live as dangerously as he wants, he deserves it.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#138

Post by legitster »

mghackerlady wrote: post #111
legitster wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The introduction of the refund made them get rid of their deep discounted flash sales though. Real OGs remember that you could get fairly new AAA games for a song on, like, a random Wednesday. It was part of the initial appeal of Steam. Those explicitly went away because of the refund policy. https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/4pnd4p/psa_yes_there... (People were really upset at the time) Their new refund policy…

They still have absolutely massive sales, they just aren't random anymore. At least personally, I'd prefer having to wait a few months and having a good refund policy over more sales

50-75% off of AAA games from that year were not uncommon. I don't think the sales have ever really been comparable ever since. There are people who have put together Wayback machine compilations to compare - I just took a look at the 2014 and 2015 deals (refunds were ~ 2015) and there was a remarkable drop-off in the sales and variety of games at deep discount.

I think more importantly for Valve though - the daily flash sales were incredibly important to drive engagement and grow their presence.

I think the "why didn't Valve offer refunds before" is kind of revisionist. It wasn't clear that refunds were even a necessary component of cheaper digital games at the time.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#139

Post by j_maffe »

bsimpson wrote: post #54
poisonborz wrote: post #29

Even if Valve and Steam is great and overall a blessing for the PC space, I don't like the direction they take with this controller. It only works with Steam, it can't work on a desktop OS without it, despite standard layout. It is a subtle move towards a walled garden.

I'm not sure that's Valve's fault. Windows is designed for gamepads to emulate an Xbox controller. All those Steam Deck competitors are implemented as an Xbox controller with a partial keyboard grafted on. That's why you need Legion Space or Armoury Crate to make them usable - they tell the controller firmware what keybindings to send for those rear paddles. InputPlumber serves this purpose on Linux. Without it, you…

> Considering Steam is the launcher most people use for most games, that's a totally reasonable tack.

That's exactly how you create a walled garden. You build a garden. Get people in. Then wall it up.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#140

Post by jvanderbot »

j_maffe wrote: post #131
jvanderbot wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without steam, I'd still be playing my CD version of Homeworld 2. I have paid $10 for every $1 of game I play, perhaps as high as $100:$1. A 30% cut of that seems totally reasonable. I have hundreds of games I keep just in case, and have played 10s of games I'd never have considered because they dont appear in Game Informer, PC Gamer, GoG, Twitch, Youtube, or other channels. They just are magically brought to me by s…

Of course 30% seems reasonble to you, you're not the creator of the games. It's quite confusing to me that you're endorsing the side that has an insane ROI instead of the side that is sufferring greatly to make ends meet.

I'm endorsing my side. Not Steam's side, or the creator's side.

Maybe their business model is awful, but I love what they do, and what they have done. They have made my linux machine a top tier gaming option, freeing me from the only use of windows left. They have brought me the steam deck, which has a thriving accessory market due to their creative commons licensing. Etc etc. They are pro consumer.

I want steam to continue largely as is. In an ideal world all artists would be better compensated for the joy they bring to the world, but I'm quite happy as a consumer of art. Not to be too harsh, but frankly, the existence of struggle for recognition does not entitle artists to a penny of my money or a second of my time beyond the transaction they propose, nor does it entitle them to anything that Valve does or makes. That we can all work together well is a function of a local solution to the tension of conflicting interests. Valve is seeking a balance. It could be much worse for both sides.

But if you want, think of it this way - all of Steam's profits, billions of dollars, are only 30% of the sales they have brought. They made 17 Billion in rev last year, so nearly 25 Billion went to game makers / publishers. This is 2-3x what spotify paid to artists in the same year.

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