I just want to remind people that the amount of free games that have been given out on Steam is quite significant. That's not to diminish Epic giving them out as well, but it's often something that's never mentioned when Steam is talked about, but is when Epic is. I'm not sure exactly how Valve plays into covering for any of it though.
Epic Games Storefront - A Good Incentive for Piracy
- Thread starter Wintermute
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Fight
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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This is my feeling exactly. If a new games service popped up out of nowhere tomorrow, I would hope they would be doing it like the Epic Store. I don't see what there is to even criticize at this point.
Free, no strings attached, top-tier quality games? No hassle service? Fast downloads? Cheaper or equal prices to everywhere else? Knowing that more of my money is going to the people that actually make the the games?
Take China out of the equation and it is pretty much a win across the board for everyone.
gshurik
Tranny Chaser
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If we're talking price point only, last time I checked a lot of the games on the Epic Store aren't even cheaper in GBP. Granted not many people on this forum care about that, but it's one less reason for me to use it personally.
And Steam has free games pretty often.
When it comes down to it, Epic are trying to bully people into using their store instead of enticing people with a good product. Sure the game launcher doesn't matter, but the features that Steam have are definitely a reason I'm reluctant to leave it for another store with no features at all. Joining games through Steam is seamless and having groups that are easily joinable for pubs is super handy.
All Epic offers me is timed exclusives, which is a shit practice in itself.
And Steam has free games pretty often.
When it comes down to it, Epic are trying to bully people into using their store instead of enticing people with a good product. Sure the game launcher doesn't matter, but the features that Steam have are definitely a reason I'm reluctant to leave it for another store with no features at all. Joining games through Steam is seamless and having groups that are easily joinable for pubs is super handy.
All Epic offers me is timed exclusives, which is a shit practice in itself.
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StJesuz
Graybeard Lurker
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We'll see if they are still around in a few years, then maybe. Competition is welcome but exclusivity is shitty. Why not offer it on both platforms for different prices?
Jeremy did a bit on this one yesterday.
TLDW:
Jeremy did a bit on this one yesterday.
TLDW:
- Metro is doing a 1 year exclusive with Epic store
- Perhaps developers like Epic store because they don't have user reviews
- Nothing memorable about journalists, possible clickbait title.
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Vorph
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Am I supposed to care about that? I buy from GOG if the game is there, Steam if it isn't, because they are pro-consumer stores. Epic is the exact opposite, as bad or worse than Uplay or Origin.
There is no such thing as a corporation that isn't money grubbing. Ones that make the lion's share of their profits from MTX I'd say are among the worst.
Anti-consumer policies + bringing exclusive faggotry to PC gaming + China = they are already the villains right now.
As much as I possibly can, yes. I still play PoE, and only quit Warframe recently for reasons unrelated to their Chinese investors, but I won't be spending any more money on them.
Didn't watch the video, but there were quite a few articles yesterday criticizing Valve for calling the move "unfair" to Steam customers because the game had been up for preorder for so long. Kotaku's #1 retard even referred to Valve's pro-consumer policies as "toxic".
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Ravishing
Uninspiring Title
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All I pray for are tons more exclusives so I can watch you cry more
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Shmoopy
Golden Baronet of the Realm
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Title is a bit over the top but good points about why the current iteration of the Epic store kinda sucks for users. I agree.
Have had Epic launcher installed for years due to work but never purchased a game due to many of these reasons.
Have had Epic launcher installed for years due to work but never purchased a game due to many of these reasons.
- worse security
- worse customer service
- games are more expensive due to epics regional pricing
- cannot play games offline
- no social features like chat
- no screenshots, guides, community content, etc.
- no controller support
- no achievements
- no cloud saves
- no game forums
- they pay for exclusive rights to try and force you to use their store
- refuse refunds even if you meet criteria
- no users reviews,
- no linux support
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There would probably be less people angry about this new exclusivity if it didn't happen 2weeks before release, was marketed on Steam and then people got told that instead they're getting Epic store versions of the game(minus some, digital preorders I believe?), and apparently only after cdkeys said they have to refund keys, while on Twitter the guys pulling out this shit couldn't even get their story straight on wether or not the physical boxes would come with Steam codes or Epic codes.
Like get your paid exclusivity whatever, but don't fuck your customers, including a lot of people who preordered the game in the process. That's just not very smart, better hope the money you get from the deal is going to offset the lost sales(probably) and the angry customers(less likely).
Also the main issue, as before, isn't really the fact it's pulled from Steam to put on Epic. It's the fact that because of this, it's also pulled from every 3rd party websites, which means there's only one source to buy the game. Which btw, is at full price everywhere but the US. But eh, the devs get more money so I'm sure paying more is all good.
Like get your paid exclusivity whatever, but don't fuck your customers, including a lot of people who preordered the game in the process. That's just not very smart, better hope the money you get from the deal is going to offset the lost sales(probably) and the angry customers(less likely).
Also the main issue, as before, isn't really the fact it's pulled from Steam to put on Epic. It's the fact that because of this, it's also pulled from every 3rd party websites, which means there's only one source to buy the game. Which btw, is at full price everywhere but the US. But eh, the devs get more money so I'm sure paying more is all good.
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That is a completely absurd statement - exclusivity prevents competition. In an ideal world we wouldn't even have the agency model (price set by publisher) for digital downloads and stores would pay a wholesale rate so we could have price competition in addition to terms.
Intrusive how? I find it to be the only decent client, others may look pretty but are generally less usable and lack key features like update pausing, bandwidth throttling, etc.
I doubt the free game continues for an extended period, ultimately its just about building their install base. Exclusivity contracts seem pretty money grubbing.
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Ravishing
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Exclusivity is a cornerstone of the free market. Why are patents a thing? It's a model designed to spark innovation. There is a huge debate wether exclusivity is anti consumer or not.
Patents are an entirely different concept and frankly its laughable you'd think that is an apt analogy.
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Harshaw
Throbbing Member
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This is a bullshit excuse because you can get reviews everywhere. It's not like 1993 or some shit where they only reviews we can get was out of PC Gamer magazine or something similar.
I'm curious if people who are OK with the exclusivity would be OK with Valve telling companies that their games had to be exclusive to Steam. Not just to use the system features, just as a "join or die" . Not even in the decade plus that they dragged the PC gaming industry kicking and screaming away from a slow death, but just right now. Would that be OK? Does throwing money at a company differ from using a dominant position? If not, then why is Epic throwing money at Deep Silver and cutting out the little guys like GMG and the rest OK? They can't do the same because they don't have anywhere near the cash Epic does.
I ask this with genuine interest. Where are your lines on the issue? Do you have any? And please consider your consumer benefit concerns if you have any.
I ask this with genuine interest. Where are your lines on the issue? Do you have any? And please consider your consumer benefit concerns if you have any.
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Vorph
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Even if it was a valid analogy, Epic would be a patent troll.
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It's laughable you think exclusivity is anti consumer
Valve could have demanded exclusivity and I doubt much would be different. And I wouldn't hate them for it either.
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This doesn't conflict with your idea of it being anti-consumer? Because heavy-usage of this would literally qualify as abusing a monopoly, which is in-essence anti-consumer.(and illegal)
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iannis
Musty Nester
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At the same time, it's not a major expense, and those direct reviews on steam are actually relevant and sometimes even useful.
This is one of those "similar service but worse" things.
You really might go digging around YouTube and twitch to find reviews. And that's fine, it really is, so this feature would not be relevant to you. It's relevant to me though. Judging by how many reviews games get on that steam service I may be in a minority but it can't be an insignificant one.
I'm not sure epic has the best plan for goliath killing.
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Ravishing
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How would it be a monopoly if devs choose to enter into the exclusivity contract? If they don't like it they could try going it alone, or another store. Valve can't force devs to sell on the platform, no matter how large they are. And then valve loses out on the Triple A titles that wouldn't need valve anyway.
You think valve saved pc gaming but really they saved only a piece of it. You still have triple A games from other companies: NCsoft, Microsoft, EA, Blizzard, and the numerous console ports that wouldn't need valve.
And without steam maybe you see more titles from these other publishers, or titles become more popular than they were simply because steam has flooded the market with so much content.