Okay, that is 100% fair. If you have a linux machine, then Epic doesn’t work on your platform. But, you have to agree, the platform isn’t Epic, the platform is Linux.
If you use Linux, Epic sucks the big one. And any time you want to complain about how much epic sucks because of that, I would completely support you @Perky_Goth. It’s a true shame that it doesn’t work, and its completely rationally to be pissed off that it doesn’t. I will not try to defend Epic at all because I see that as a really strong argument for hoping that Epic will fail.
In my defense, I like free games, and I run Windows on my desktop. This has never caused me any issues, but I will try to be more empathetic to the Linux Community as a whole.
KevinC
5496
Along with cloud saves, until recently (yay!!). As someone who bounces frequently between two computers, it was definitely an issue for me. Really glad they’re rolling out the functionality.
CraigM
5497
Man, the Steam Workshop really does a lot to make modding more accessible for the wider gaming community.
I’ve fiddled with various mod loaders over the years, but truth be told Steams integration really is a game changer.
I mean, it is cool as long as Steam doesn’t try to create paid mods again.
No, it just makes it stupid to complain about. It may injure your sense of fair play, but that’s not a rational counterargument.
Yes, they’ve never rudely, checks notes, offered more favorable business terms to a partner in a business environment that changed over the course of years…
Heh, now there’s something I can’t understand the problem with.
(Well, I get the hate on their ill-advised choice of game to try it on)
Probably a thread for that somewhere around here, though.
LockerK
5501
I’ll let Brad field this one:
There are arguments that it helps fund the games too, but yeah, I don’t think they hold up to real life either.
Actually, I’ve read they do have payed mods for CS:GO, with every predicted problem.
They never promised it either. If Tim is paying people to break promises, how much is their word on their share worth and for how long?
What, so now you’re implying that because Epic has offered exclusive deals to games that previously announced presumptive releases on Steam, they’re also secretly planning to jack up the price of being on the EGS? And you people wonder why I say people treat Epic/Tim like they are evil…
I’m implying that, because their word is wind and they’re a middleman, anything that isn’t in a contract or covered by estoppel is subject to potential change as soon as its profitable.
It’s not that doesn’t apply to Steam or anyone else these days, they’re just less trustworthy.
Alstein
5505
That’s the big thing with Epic. Steam has a decade where they’ve proven they’re about as trustable as a middleman can be, at least for consumers.
Epic has gotten off to very bad start with consumers, and there’s plenty of evidence of them being untrustworthy. I’m going to assume the worst out of just about any decision they make.
A decade ago, I was very anti-Steam, but in that case, it was mostly a concern over Steam DRM and just not liking Valve’s service as much. Valve earned my trust slowly over the past decade. It was helped by Impulse imploding. Maybe Epic will earn my trust in a few years, but it’s unlikely- they’re not making consumer-friendly moves at all.
Matt_W
5506
Anyone been playing Ancestors? It’s a really interesting and unique game. I’m not sure it works, but I like its ambition and the thought process behind it.
Aceris
5508
I’m not sure attacking a dev trying to make a living who tries to grab a bit of publicity after being referenced in a twitter conversation qualifies as “defence”.
It’s not like he was aggressive - he just expressed his frustration that epic will only carry games if they can get an exclusive, or if they are big titles. The ooblet’s post, which you approved off, was insulting and dismissive of the concerns of many gamers. The dark post was a mildly joshing one about the conduct of a multi billion dollar multinational. I dont like the give the money to charity thing either, it seriously it’s not a big deal.
It’s not the pro steam folks here who seem eager to divide this into us and them and then be relentlessly critical of anyone in the them category. Claiming you are playing defence is disingenuous nonsense. You are in the minority here, certainly, but you are the one playing offence.
Aceris
5509
Epic does actually satisfy the definition you posted, you realise? You’ve misunderstood the second paragraph.
PC is a platform for running software. Steam is a platform for selling, delivering, updating and modding games.
By that logic, when I bought directly from Alliance of the Sacred Sun and installed it using their software, I was using the Alliance of the Sacred Sun platform. Which seems like the biggest stretch.
There is nothing magic or unique about the code used to run games purchased from Steam that makes it an Operating System on par with Windows, Mac, Playstation or Nintendo. The fact that you can run games purchased from Steam or Epic without actually needing the store to be open or running shows that it neither Steam or Epic is truly necessary to run the code at all and is only necessary to , purchase and download the games.
There are exceptions that do require Steam or Epic to run in the background, but in those cases, it’s either for Multiplayer purposes (and that suggests that any game that has an MP Solution is a platform) or use Steam or Epic as part of the developers DRM solution (suggesting that any DRM solution might also be considered a platform. After all, a game won’t run without it).
So again, I think you are mistaken to think that Steam or Epic is anything but a highly advanced storefront with added features.
jsnell
5511
That’d be much more of a stinger if anybody had been claiming that Steam was an operating system. But nobody has. You’ve defined the word platform in a very narrow manner, and then try to draw conclusions from that. But these days, platform has a much wider meaning than “hardware + OS”. The web browser is a platform. Chrome is a platform, partially overlapping with the browser platform. Whatsapp is a platform. Even something like Spotify is considered a platform.
Consider substituting the word “platform” with “ecosystem”. In modern tech parlance they have basically the same meaning, but maybe it’ll help you not get stuck with one specific dictionary definition. It should be pretty obvious that Steam is an ecosystem. And a game outside that ecosystem has less value to me than one inside it.
People use the term ‘platform’ since many PC stores sell Steam keys so just using ‘Store’ doesn’t quite work since a bunch of stores are essentially 3rd party extensions of Steam or Uplay for instance. So it does make some sense to describe Steam as one platform and Epic another. We all know they run on the same hardware, no one is confused by that.
Going on and on about Platform versus Storefront will win one a linguistic or definitional argument at best. It is kind of missing the point though. Yes, there is no financial barrier to having multiple ecosystems or platforms on one PC but people clearly do care about other aspects of the difference such as feature set and business practices. Now it is also fine to disagree with those sentiments.
It is simply incredible how the pro-Epic posters really bend over backwards and warp reality on behalf of their Epic masters.
I wonder what color the sky is in their world.
Can you sound more like an asshole? I am just curious.
