Is there a way to block all Free-to-Play games from the Steam client? My only problem with free to play games is that I hate all of them. More and more of them seem to be popping up on Steam and the view has gotten unsightly, like a copse of ragweed popping right up in the middle of your elegantly manicured scrotum. Any suggestions would be deeply appreciated.
see also: iOS, iOS store, all things gaming a few years from now.
Yes exactly this topic might as well be titled “How do I avoid the inevitable future of mainstream gaming?”
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I was watching John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight about the death spiral of journalism today. The very probable future of rampant local corruption and the decay of “news” everywhere was very depressing. It was depressing because all of the economic factors push it to be so. Folks like free. So far the only thing that pays in free is clicks, likes, and social tags. Silly cats and puppies win every time in that (this) world. It became even more depressed as he got to the line and I was called out for watching even his story that moment on YouTube (but not on WiFi) for free.
Games are like this too. Folks like free. The only way to make money off of free is freemium and FtP. It murders or at least compromises game design in nearly all cases. And the fans of games are the ones strangling their own source of entertainment.
How long until nearly all “true” games are saddled with either extreme DLC ripped bloat as they stand in a freemium dystopia? It doesn’t seem that long from now.
As a fan of sentences that have likely never been uttered or written in human history, I have to give this a thumbs up.
Yes BUT the Daily Show, Full Frontal, and John Oliver’s show are living proof that entertainment can be political – and effective. Aren’t they?
I was right along with you, but during the story he points out, in montage fashion, how much those shows (and everything else) really relies on quoting and siting the bedrock foundation of traditional journalism. He makes a strong case that it is an ecosystem.
Amazon has a music store and there are a few lists that pretty easy to navigate. Top Paid Album/Songs, Top Free Albums/Songs and Prime. I don’t know why steam can’t cater to those of us who will focus on paid games and those that are free.
Really though, I think the Steam Store in general is piss poor in sorting, searching… anything useful like that. That’s probably why everyone seems to get upset if their game doesn’t make front page at some point or the highlight of some sale week.
I don’t think it’s inevitable, but it might be for some genres.
I think a F2P backlash will come at some point as devs abuse customers too much , and there will always be companies that go with the honest approach out of necessity, and there will always be an honest market.
Total agreed. Look how horrible team fortress 2 and DOTA 2 are. And don’t get me started on Tribes or Smite. Just horrible games.
I mean it’s possible I actually think DotA 2 is horrible but mostly because all MOBAs are horrible ;)
The Blizzard one was fun a for while.
It’s interesting to me that this thread is actually a lot more gloom and doom than I intended. My observation is that while the percentage of games choosing the Free to Play model are increasing, the overall number of games being made seems to be greatly increasing, such that I never feel like I have a lack of traditionally priced games to enjoy. I find that nearly every time I go searching on Steam I find a game I’d be genuinely interested in playing, which is amazing to me.
I just find that the rising number of FtP games tend to make it relatively tougher to find what I am interested in, so I’d like to get rid of them (from my view). I wasn’t making a general commentary on the state of the gaming industry.
I think this is by design as it inherently raises the value of whatever Valve decides to promote/showcase. Store promotion and visibility becomes a bargaining chip/value-add in Valve’s dealings with publishers. It also allows their algorithm to ensure a whole bunch of stuff is in rotation at all times and their entire catalogue is on display.
If their store was perfectly manicured for the user experience, it would devalue part of their differentiation.
I don’t even think it will just be customer abuse. It seems to me the F2P market concentrates success and market visibility across a small number of titles while a huge ocean of lesser known titles quietly disappear in the murky depths or struggle to harpoon a few whales from the bigger titles. Just look at the F2P MOBA scene. F2P seems like a huge gamble for devs where you are one of the lucky few that make it big or your effort gets lost in the bottom shelves of me-toos.
Differentiation from who/what? I use Steam because it holds my largest library of games. If Amazon offered the same with a better service, I would use them. I know everyone has failed to compete with Steam directly so far but that won’t always be the case.
Path of Exile has made me grab my ankles a time or two, that’s for sure! Despicable.
It is true that I dislike three of the four games you listed (I’ve never tried Smite). But I think that’s more to do with disliking that genre, not the specific game designs that involved free to play. They’re horrible games to me because they’re MOBAs or arena shooters, not because they’re free.
(And yes, I get that you were trying to make the opposite point, but just happened to pick games I hated).
Yes, give in to your hate.