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Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

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Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#201

Post by nozzlegear »

surgical_fire wrote: post #52
greenish_shores wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are prison, and it has nothing to do with either regulation or using the laissez-faire approach. You are being sold a computer which is controlled by someone else, even after the sale takes place. That's essentially it. Maybe it would even require no additional regulation, just interpretation of current regulation (the essential basics of civil law, that is) which would make a contract of sale of such device inv…

> You are being sold a computer Videogame consoles are typically not marketed as general purpose computers. Out of the box, the only thing I can do on my Nintendo Switch is play videogames.

I don’t think iPhones are marketed as general purpose computers either, yet here we are with the EU now regulating iOS and soon iPadOS.

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#202

Post by piafraus »

tietjens wrote: post #119
boesboes wrote: post #90

I find the support for Arrowhead surprising. They went into business with Sony and allowed this. The CEO tweeting "We just want to make gaaameeees" is such a weak ass excuse. Take some responsibility for your choices.

The economics of games are complex. I don’t understand why Arrowhead should take the blame here.

Why shouldn't they?

Arrowhead are literally saying that requirement was always there, it was just temporary not enforced/supported. It's not Sony that suddenly introduced that new requirement.

Arrowhead were the ones having this delayed-change-of-contract. Arrowhead allowed their game to be sold in countries where you will not be able to play.

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#203

Post by bluefirebrand »

hiccuphippo wrote: post #185
bluefirebrand wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two things: 1) This dialog only showed one time, the very first time you launched the game 2) This dialog was skippable If you skipped it one single time, it let you play for months now without ever seeing it again. If they wanted to make it clear it was mandatory eventually then the wording and behavior should have made this clear every single time you open the game Allowing to skip means it's not mandatory, regardl…

Yes, how is it a technical difficulty to remove a skip button? Players from countries that can't legally acquire a PSN account, or don't want to get one, would have been able to return it ASAP. I guess it was easier to inflate their numbers.

The technical difficulty was that PSN was not integrated correctly so the skip button was put there so players could play without doing it

In their defense there is a sentence on that Modal that does say that a PSN account is required to play. It was also included on the Steam store page that it requires a PSN account. The issue I have is that the functionality of the Modal is at odds with the messaging. In this sort of case, I strongly believe that the Functionality should be taken as the fact, not the message.

If the messaging had been more clear that the Skip function was only temporary and a PSN account would absolutely be mandatory in the future then that would be different

As it stands, the message just seems like a Dark Pattern to try and get users who do not notice the skip button to link a non-mandatory PSN account.

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#204

Post by bluefirebrand »

gambiting wrote: post #186
twixfel wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK but by that point it is too late, you need to be informed before you purchase the game, not after. > Not to mention it's mentioned on the Steam store page. On the sony online store it's stated that it is not necessary.

On the steam page it says it is. I wasn't aware that Sony's page says otherwise.

Sony's FAQ previously (on May 3) stated that a PSN account is optional for playing games on PC

On May 4, the day after this shitstorm happened, the FAQ was updated to say that some games on PC may require a PSN account

This was rolled out in absolutely amateurish fashion from start to end. Sony should absolutely be taking heat for this, and no one should be going to bat for them over it.

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#205

Post by kohbo »

jebby wrote: post #176
sigmoid10 wrote: post #4

This really sucks for some people, but the true impact may be overreported and is definitely blown out of proportion by the review bombing. While all this is hugely controversial on reddit, if you look at steam charts, the player count did not take any obvious hit. In fact it follows the natural trend after every content release. So at least on steam the delisting seems to have affected almost no active players. It's…

Not if you consider the point of a review is to either alert people to an awesome game that could make them happier, or warn them that they shouldn't waste their time or money. The latter applies here. The enforcement makes this game a waste of time and money for 170 countries.

Don't waste your time or money because of a minor inconvenience?

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#207

Post by thefz »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #146
sunaurus wrote: post #16

I've always found it ridiculous that Sony is allowed to sell their consoles and games in my county without allowing me to create a PSN account. They even sell the digital PS5, which REQUIRES a PSN account to get any games. And then, even if you break their TOS and create an account in another country, you're still constantly inconvenienced - you can't pay for games using your local payment method, for example, and a…

A game is just a game. There is nothing vital to it. It's the easiest thing in the world to boycott. And yet, players consistently fail to make the editors pay for their bad behaviors. EA is still craping on their clients. Blizzards fails forward. Loot boxes, DRM, crippling anti-cheat mechanisms, buggy games with expensive DLC and micro payments are everywhere. Sony even infected their customers with a rootkit once.…

Well in this case things changed AFTER the game was bought, so people got screwed.

Besides, you make one of the dumbest point I have ever read on this website. Gas prices going up? Pfeh, I heat my house with a bonfire, wake up sheeple.

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#208

Post by anonymousab »

flohofwoe wrote: post #9
sigmoid10 wrote: post #4

This really sucks for some people, but the true impact may be overreported and is definitely blown out of proportion by the review bombing. While all this is hugely controversial on reddit, if you look at steam charts, the player count did not take any obvious hit. In fact it follows the natural trend after every content release. So at least on steam the delisting seems to have affected almost no active players. It's…

> ...in favour of tightening the online service to make future development easier. I really doubt that there is a single technical reason behind the decision, it's more likely that it has been enforced by Sony business peeps.

Most of the reasons reported are around moderation. I think it's simply much easier for Sony to ban an account on their system (and revoke all of its content licenses as punishment) than it is to manage and wrangle steam account bans.

PSN accounts are subject to their own, malleable ToS whereas they are somewhat limited in their reprisals against a steam account, beyond simple bans.

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#209

Post by anonymousab »

kohbo wrote: post #205
jebby wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not if you consider the point of a review is to either alert people to an awesome game that could make them happier, or warn them that they shouldn't waste their time or money. The latter applies here. The enforcement makes this game a waste of time and money for 170 countries.

Don't waste your time or money because of a minor inconvenience?

If you are in the majority of the countries in the world, it's not a minor inconvenience; the game straight up will not work for you, because PSN is not supported in your country.

The devs have explicitly warned those users to not create an account in a different region to get around this, as it is an explicit ToS violation.

Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries

#210

Post by thefz »

Biganon wrote: post #190
henry_viii wrote: post #65

> in over 150 countries In 177 countries to be exact. For context, there are 195 countries in the world.

The list used by steam contains like 250 countries, because they split some countries in different regions, e. g. Mayotte is listed as a separate country despite being part of France

Same with Italy and Sardinia
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