1708

This maybe answers my concern about buying something that could (maybe, who knows) go free?

1709

Unless they changed something in the past 60 days or so, there is currently no way to gift games through the Epic Store, you can only purchase for your own account.

1710

Very cool! Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I love the Epic store.

1711

Ah man, that really sucks. Thanks for the info.

1712

As do I!

1713

There doesn’t seem to be anything unpopular about that opinion, really. Most people like free games and, frankly, don’t care about much else with regards to Epic. I think I’m one of the few around here that’s still never signed up or installed it.

1714

That Fortnite money must be just rolling in.

1715

What’s great about the Epic store is that I have a couple dozen games there, not a couple thousand. In five years, it’ll have all the features of the Steam store and also all the clutter and it won’t be nearly as satisfying to open up.

1716

I’ve still yet to play a single game on the Epic Store despite having dozens on there now, mostly because I keep forgetting about them! But it has come in super handy because I’ve given my wife access to my account, so for the past month she’s been totally addicted to ATWS: Troy, plus there’s a whole backlog on there for her. Thanks Epic!

1717

Good for you Vinny, I like a man who sticks to his principles.

I personally have other hills that I am willing to die on.

1718

Eh, I wouldn’t call it a hill I’m willing to die on at this point (you’ll notice I’m not arguing about what other people should be doing, I’ve long since realized nothing I can say will compete with free games and steep discounts :)). There’s a sort of natural inertia to the whole thing, really, in that if a game is interesting enough that I’d be willing to install EGS to get it, it’s interesting enough that I’d already have paid for it and would have no reason to install EGS to get it.

And anyway, I already have a giant collection of games I don’t remember I own and will never play on Twitch, do I really need another?

1719

Well you are asking those questions to people who are probably moreso game collectors than game players so the majority would answer “yes”. But your perspective is perfectly valid as well.

1720

There’s no such thing as a digital collection, in that nothing you collect is actually yours. I’m constantly having to remind myself of this, mind you, and do a lousy job of living up to it, but it’s still true.

1721

Well it’s yours in the sense that you can use it whenever you want and indefinitely as long as the storefront is not shut down so in terms of substance over form it is technically yours, the same way that if you lease a car it is yours exclusively for the lease period. These games have an indefinite period though as long as Gabe doesn’t pull the plug at some point.

1722

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA…catching breath…HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

K boomer.

1723

I phrased that poorly, let me try again: A digital collection is pointless if its contents aren’t being used, since it lacks permanence or physicality. It’s not an investment because you can’t sell it. It’s not decorative in the same sense as a collection of physical game boxes and similarly not as satisfying (to me, anyway). So, if I’m not going to use a piece of digital content why the hell am I buying it?

I “own” games whose endings gave been changed, games with characters that have been removed or replaced, games that have been patched into something I don’t like and games that have been patched in such a way that I can’t play them at all. It’s not the same as owning something physical, or something with a DRM free backup.

Anyway, the point here is just to discourage myself from pointless digital hording.

The main reason I detest this phrase is that it reads as a deeply unjustified insult to my parents.

1724

I bring you great news! Nearly half the games on Epic are DRM-free!

1725

But not really, because any backed up version still requires EGS for installation. My point here is that DRM-free from developer or from GOG are really the only cases where you can make a real ownership claim, and then only if you’re willing to do the archival work and go to the needed expense.

1726

That’s not necessarily the case. Many of those can likely be dragged and dropped onto a thumb drive and will run fine. Will that be a subset of the 176 games? Yes. How many of them? Neither of us knows! I volunteer you to test it! :)

Legally you’re just licensing everything, of course, including what’s on GOG, and also including everything you have on physical media. But if you can drag-and-drop a DRM-free game, that’s as good as it gets.

1727

Sure, but thats also true of some Steam games, pretty much the same ones I expect. Neither company seems much interested in letting you know when that’s the case, either.

I strongly recommend not holding your breath on that one.