Any gamers around here?

[Hydra009]

Mechwarrior 5 is now an Epic Exclusive, not available on Steam for an entire year after release

The twist of the knife is that they solicited funds from kickstarters with the expectation that it would be released on Steam when complete.  This is no longer the case.

That is why I hereby formerly announce JIHAD on Epic Games.

Brothers and sisters of the Inner Sphere and surrounding states, I call upon you to rise up from your trenches, your bunkers, your factories to unite in the spirit of Aleksandr Kerensky against a great evil.

An evil empire has arisen and tempted our previously honored game developers with timed exclusivity deals.  Such deals are a faustian pact, abomination to the spirit of gaming that beats within all our hearts.  We have watched in horror as such deals have become more and more widespread, forcing players to choose between their games and their souls.  This evil cannot go unchecked.

In the spirit of gaming, I thrice judge Epic Games excommunicate traitoris - by deeds, by beliefs, and/or by associations.  Let all leal gamers who know you now to henceforth know you only in infamy.  Let all devs who work with you to sever ties.  Let not a single dollar enter your coffers again.  Know shame.  Know despair.  And finally, know defeat.

The North will remember your crimes against gaming and those who assisted you.  In time, justice will be meted out upon the guilty.  Until then, be seein' ya.

[Cavebear]

I'm finally having a good game at Emperor Level in Civ2 again.  I was away from it for some years and am relearning the strategies.

This game, I finally started in the center of the map and had some decent terrain to manage.  And I took a chance and didn't initially defend my first cities.  Instead, I went all-out on Settlers and build a dozen cities.  And built several Explorers to just keep circling around my territory to warn me about incoming units.

Where some approached, I built Legions and Pikemen.  The inner cities built the most useful Wonders (Pyramids, Great Wall, Great Library, Marco Polo's Embassy).  Then I spent a few decades establishing caravan routes.  THAT upped the gold a lot!

It's AD 1270 and I have Adam Smith's Trading Company and Leonardo's Workshop.  So I have 3500 gold and every invention any other 2 civs discover.  Every city has 2 Musketeers and a Diplomat.  I'm now working on Seapower.

Things are looking good!

[Hijiri Byakuren]

Mechwarrior 5 is now an Epic Exclusive, not available on Steam for an entire year after release

The twist of the knife is that they solicited funds from kickstarters with the expectation that it would be released on Steam when complete.  This is no longer the case.

That is why I hereby formerly announce JIHAD on Epic Games.

Brothers and sisters of the Inner Sphere and surrounding states, I call upon you to rise up from your trenches, your bunkers, your factories to unite in the spirit of Aleksandr Kerensky against a great evil.

An evil empire has arisen and tempted our previously honored game developers with timed exclusivity deals.  Such deals are a faustian pact, abomination to the spirit of gaming that beats within all our hearts.  We have watched in horror as such deals have become more and more widespread, forcing players to choose between their games and their souls.  This evil cannot go unchecked.

In the spirit of gaming, I thrice judge Epic Games excommunicate traitoris - by deeds, by beliefs, and/or by associations.  Let all leal gamers who know you now to henceforth know you only in infamy.  Let all devs who work with you to sever ties.  Let not a single dollar enter your coffers again.  Know shame.  Know despair.  And finally, know defeat.

The North will remember your crimes against gaming and those who assisted you.  In time, justice will be meted out upon the guilty.  Until then, be seein' ya.

Yeah, I think it's enough of a compromise that I use Steam and GoG. I ain't adding a third platform to the mix, that's just too much.

[Mike Cl]

Yeah, I think it's enough of a compromise that I use Steam and GoG. I ain't adding a third platform to the mix, that's just too much.

I dislike Steam, yet it is what I use.  I still prefer using a disk.  That way, I can play whatever game I want without waiting for the game to download.  I don't have to worry about the Steam cloud with all my games on it drying up--or going out of business--or some other mishap that would wipe that cloud out.  But finding game disks anymore is next to impossible--and aren't there companies that don't even publish them??  Anyway, I use Steam.

Am not aware of GoG--what is it and why use it and Steam together?

[Shiranu]

Apparently Steam takes massive cuts of developers' profits is why so many companies are turning to other services, so I understand their reasoning.

[Hydra009]

Apparently Steam takes massive cuts of developers' profits is why so many companies are turning to other services, so I understand their reasoning.

It's not quite as bad as it's made out to be (by Epic Games)

Everyone loves citing that 30% figure, but that's only for games with less than $10 million sales.  Between $10 million and $50 million, it's 25%. And for games with over $50 million sales, it's 20%.

Whether or not that's acceptable is debatable, but I can you that timed exclusives is definitely not the solution.

[Shiranu]

It's not quite as bad as it's made out to be (by Epic Games)

Everyone loves citing that 30% figure, but that's only for games with less than $10 million sales.  Between $10 million and $50 million, it's 25%. And for games with over $50 million sales, it's 20%.

Whether or not that's acceptable debatable, but I can you that timed exclusives is definitely not the solution.

Shouldn't it be the other way around? The people who can afford it the most should pay the most, not the least.

[Hydra009]

Am not aware of GoG--what is it and why use it and Steam together?

GoG is DRM-free, unlike Steam.  They focus on older games, and work very hard to keep them compatible with current computer technology.

They're useful to get older games or games Steam doesn't have without the hastle of DRM.

[Hydra009]

Shouldn't it be the other way around? The people who can afford it the most should pay the most, not the least.

Absolutely.  And some indie devs do in fact pay less.

But Steam considers the disproportionate influence of massive AAA games and gives them a better deal to keep them happy and not looking to leave.  Given the current predicament, that would seem to be a prudent decision.

[Mike Cl]

GoG is DRM-free, unlike Steam.  They focus on older games, and work very hard to keep them compatible with current computer technology.

They're useful to get older games or games Steam doesn't have without the hastle of DRM.

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[Shiranu]

https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/25/8930718/mechwarrior-5-mercenaries-delayed-december-epic-games-store-exclusive

Yeah, no... I'm really having a hard time figuring out how either Epic or Piranha are the bad guys here. It's a free service, it gives the developers more money, and they are paying refunds out of their own pocket... that seems pretty Good Guy Developer, actually.

[Hydra009]

https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/25/8930718/mechwarrior-5-mercenaries-delayed-december-epic-games-store-exclusive

Yeah, no... I'm really having a hard time figuring out how either Epic or Piranha are the bad guys here. It's a free service, it gives the developers more money, and they are paying refunds out of their own pocket... that seems pretty Good Guy Developer, actually.

The refunds are good, albeit a bare minimum of decency.  It's sad how far expectations have fallen.

Ask yourself why those are necessary from either the dev's or the consumer's pov, though.  That paints a much less rosy picture.

As for Epic Games, I won't belabor that.  You're either aghast at the console-like platform exclusivity or you're not.  And if you're not, there's not much point in conversation.  I don't expect to win those people over.

[Shiranu]

Ask yourself why those are necessary from either the dev's or the consumer's pov, though.  That paints a much less rosy picture.

Maybe it does, but only a less rosy picture in that gamers still like being way too upset over nothing and creating controversy where there is none.

Epic is a free service. The developer makes more money from using it, as well as has the game stand out rather than be released with 10,000 other games that will bury it. I'm sorry, but it doesn't cost anyone a single cent more and it potentially helps them as a company. I despise companies, and even I realise that is just smart business and nothing wrong with it.

You're either aghast at the console-like platform exclusivity or you're not.

If you want to play a console exclusive, you have to buy a new console. You have to shell out several hundred dollars.

If you want to play an EPIC Platform game, you have to spend a few minutes on a free download.

I'm sorry, but that's not remotely the same thing.

[Hydra009]

Maybe it does, but only a less rosy picture in that gamers still like being way too upset over nothing and creating controversy where there is none.

Is it nothing?

Picture your favorite game.  Now picture that the only way you can play it at release is through a single vendor who you don't trust through mandatory software you don't like, for whatever reason.  Does that sound like nothing to you?

Epic is a free service.

Did anyone argue otherwise?

The developer makes more money from using it

Indeed they do.  Hence the decision.  The devs may get a tidy sum should Epic Launcher prove as popular as they think it will be.

What do the gamers get out of this little arrangement?

as well as has the game stand out rather than be released with 10,000 other games that will bury it

You need to re-examine your assumption(s).

If you want to play a console exclusive, you have to buy a new console. You have to shell out several hundred dollars.

If you want to play an EPIC Platform game, you have to spend a few minutes on a free download.

The similarity is obvious even to the daft - the product is artificially restricted to a single platform, a single store.  Why do you think a company would want to corner a market in such a way?  I'll give you three guesses.  Hint: the correct answer does not in any way involve increased consumer choice and happiness.

[Hydra009]

So I finally bought XCOM2 (at a retailer of my choice) and found out that the Earth has been conquered by aliens, despite my exemplary defense in XCOM 1.

I will now spend the next week creating custom soldiers of friends and family and tv characters.