June 2024 Game Discussion Thread

[Pifanjr]

Gaming giant Steam accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers

Steam owner Valve accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers

Legal claim alleges Steam's market dominance means consumers are paying too much for video games.

www.bbc.com

It seems a similar case, but for Booking.com, is going to be judged by the CJEU:

CURIA - Documents

curia.europa.eu

 

[Pifanjr]

I decided to take a look at GOG Galaxy to see if there were any games I could be motivated to start and ended up trying out Marvel: Midnight Suns. I was worried for a moment when the game stuttered while starting up, but luckily the game runs very smoothly, though on the lowest graphics settings.

So far I'm really enjoying it. I like Marvel stuff, so I'm enjoying the story and dialogue, and the combat is good as well. My only complaint is that I couldn't start the game on a harder difficulty, the game is very easy so far.

EDIT: apparently I'll be able to up the difficulty after 3 missions, which isn't too bad.

 

[Colif]

Does steam set prices?

Those activities are likely everywhere if it gets proven in UK.

 

[neogunhero]

@neogunhero you got young kids playing vampire with your energy?

No kids yet, I’m the only one sapping my own energy😂

 

[ZedClampet]

Gaming giant Steam accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers

Steam owner Valve accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers

Legal claim alleges Steam's market dominance means consumers are paying too much for video games.

www.bbc.com

Suit is misguided nonsense. Valve in no way restricts pricing on other platforms. You can frequently find better prices all over the place, including on Epic and occasionally the Windows store. Do you really think Valve is telling Microsoft they can't charge whatever they want for their games on the :Windows Store or in the Xbox app? It's a ludicrous notion.

What Valve tries to do is to say that you can't ask for a bunch of free Steam keys and then undercut their pricing somewhere else for Steam's keys. No one pays any attention to this, though. Just go to any bundle site and you'll find Steam game keys listed for far less than on Steam. They don't enforce this at all. Just ask Valve for as many game keys for your game as you want, and they'll give them to you. It's really very generous considering they have to manage these games forever.

Edit to point out I haven't read this agreement myself. This information comes from an indie developer I talked to when the Humble guy filed his lawsuit a few years ago.

Does steam set prices?

I've seen the backend, and Valve does not set prices. The publisher can sell the game for whatever they want to sell it for so long as it's at or above the minimum price of 99 cents. Or they can give it away for free. It's their choice.

 

[Brian Boru]

Following is all assumption based on knowledge of similar industries—I've never sold thru Steam.

Does steam set prices?

No, that's one of the publisher's jobs.

Do you really think Valve is telling Microsoft they can't charge whatever they want

It's not MS they're telling, it's the game publishers. MS can run sales and promos off their own bat, but they won't be the ones setting MSRPs.

These suits are tough to prove and very long drawn-out and therefore very costly—ref the EU cases v MS, Google et al. The practice Valve is accused of is typical of behavior I've experienced first-hand from other quasi-monopolistic entities.

Just ask Valve for as many game keys for your game as you want, and they'll give them to you. It's really very generous

That is exceptionally generous, and contrary to entertainment industry norms as far as I know. I've known first-hand of zero freebies for equivalent of pubs or devs, or at best a small number like 5 or 10.

 

[Colif]

No, that's one of the publisher's jobs.

i thought that might be case based on prices of some AAA games. I wasn't sure about indie though. I guess there are free games on steam that aren't demos or NFT traps. I haven't looked.

 

[Hveðrungr]

My only complaint is that I couldn't start the game on a harder difficulty, the game is very easy so far.

EDIT: apparently I'll be able to up the difficulty after 3 missions, which isn't too bad.

Yep, so long as you keep doing well on missions it'll keep inviting you to up the difficulty. What I liked best was that there was very little gameplay incentive to do so, it's nearly all for buying kewl new costumes for your dolls party members. I eventually settled on Ultimate II as my happy place. Ultimate III is doable but it's so much effort, so many restarts. And you'll probably find it too much like a puzzle at that point rather than feeling like reactive fighting.

 

[Pifanjr]

Yep, so long as you keep doing well on missions it'll keep inviting you to up the difficulty. What I liked best was that there was very little gameplay incentive to do so, it's nearly all for buying kewl new costumes for your dolls party members. I eventually settled on Ultimate II as my happy place. Ultimate III is doable but it's so much effort, so many restarts. And you'll probably find it too much like a puzzle at that point rather than feeling like reactive fighting.

I just unlocked the first difficulty level. It feels like I'm still very much in the tutorial part of the game and I'm hoping it won't take too long. I want to be able to do more deck-building.

However, I'm not going very fast as I'm actually enjoying running around the abbey and going through all of the dialogue. Though I have stopped waiting for the voice actors to finish talking.

 

[ZedClampet]

It's not MS they're telling, it's the game publishers. MS can run sales and promos off their own bat, but they won't be the ones setting MSRPs.

But they do sell for less during sales, and it isn't coming from MS. This isn't speculation.

Also, if this rule were a real thing, Tim Sweeney would already have ranted about it and likely filed a lawsuit.

Look, it is absolutely not common practice across industries. In any industry other than digital sales, it would be illegal price fixing. It doesn't exist in brick & mortar retail, for instance. Walmart can't tell Charmin what to charge in Target. They can try to tell Charmin what to charge Target, but Target can still price it whatever they like. The only place it can exist is in the digital marketplace. Given what the dev told me, I don't believe it exists in Steam, either, except as I outlined above, and if it does exist it isn't enforced.

However, I'm bowing out of this and won't read/discuss further.

 

[Zloth]

Also, if this rule were a real thing, Tim Sweeney would already have ranted about it and likely filed a lawsuit.

That's more proof that it's legal in the USA.

But yeah, if this court case had merit, there wouldn't be websites telling you the best place to buy a game right now.

 

[Colif]

Funcom, the makers destroyers of Age of Conan are making a new Dune Survival Game, and they have swapped the gender of Paul. In fact, its the entire plot of the game... what if he was never born?

Now if you know Dune, that doesn't produce an all powerful being and just means his mother did what she was supposed to do, and didn't disobey orders. It would have led to a very different series. The Bene Gesserit plan wouldn't have been disturbed. The outcomes are completely unknown as never written.

A Kwisatz Haderach would be a male Bene Gesserit who would have access to the memories of both his male and female ancestors as well as an ability to bridge space and time with prescient ability.

Kwisatz Haderach

Kwisatz Haderach was a term used primarily by the Bene Gesserit. It was an old Chakobsa term that translated literally as "Shortening of the Way." The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam tells Paul when she first meets him that the spice melange allowed the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother to unlock...

dune.fandom.com

True, game wants to change the outcome but I don't think I care as they don't understand it wouldn't make any sense in terms of the actual story.

Why call it Dune if you not even following the book? Make your own game and see if it sells based on merit... but who am I kidding... this is Funcom, they already broken some games I used to play...

 

[Colif]

\
Makers of Frostpunk

watching someone play it, he isn't far into it so its true self hasn't revealed self to him yet... from what i can see from trailer.

 

[neogunhero]

\
Makers of Frostpunk

watching someone play it, he isn't far into it so its true self hasn't revealed self to him yet... from what i can see from trailer.

I played the demo for that a bit last night. So far it’s pretty cool but I’ve barely scratched the surface. Main characters voice acting is really good. Movement feels a bit weird when out away from your base, I was expecting Death Stranding type movement for some reason, but it’s really restricted and the sprint animation looks a bit wonky. That’s just a nitpick though. Moving around inside the base is surprisingly smooth. I’m wanting to get further and hopefully beat the demo tonight.

 

[Colif]

tired tonight, I might watch more of it tomorrow. Didn't feel like watching an hour of someone still working game out. That starts to irritate me... prefer watching someone who knows game. Obviously hard to do with a new game.
Game looks interesting enough to watch a play through off... later.

 

[ZedClampet]

Played Soulmask. It's fine. but after playing some extraordinary survival games this year, I'm not sure this one is going to hold up to the rest. I sort of put it on fast-forward near the end by bumping up the XP to 5x.

 

[Brian Boru]

The Indian games industry's storytelling trailblazers

India's games industry is dominated by mobile sports titles, but a growing movement is pushing creativity.

www.bbc.com

 

[ZedClampet]

People crack me up. The House Flipper devs run a contest at least twice a year for you to design and build a home with a specific theme. For instance, the current contest asks for a fairy tale house. After you build your house, you upload it to a website.

Well, you wouldn't believe the number of off-topic entries. They'll say something in the description like: "I decided to reimagine fairy tales and ask the question, 'What if the fairy tale house were a Malibu container house?'

You can upload any house at any time. You don't have to participate in the contests. The devs aren't going to pick your container house, buddy. This contest only had a single rule, and you ignored it.

 

[ZedClampet]

You know what annoys me? Yes, everything. But something specific is that updated Steam reviews don't get bumped to the front. If you reviewed the game 6 months ago and then edited it this morning, it's still going to be near the back.

This makes no sense as people who bother to update their review are generally providing very useful information, like on recent updates.

 

[Hveðrungr]

You know what annoys me? Yes, everything. But something specific is that updated Steam reviews don't get bumped to the front. If you reviewed the game 6 months ago and then edited it this morning, it's still going to be near the back.

This makes no sense as people who bother to update their review are generally providing very useful information, like on recent updates.

Oh, really? I thought that it counted them towards the recent reviews.

 

[Johnway]

so Deep rock galactic is having a free weekend and everyone was singing high praises for it, so i decided to try it. not sure i like it tbh, granted i was playing it solo and part of the fun is with people, but meh its like a coop version of minecraft but with guns. i found it somewhat tedious, but again, its because i was playing it alone. Will i try it with other people? meh not sure tbh. i don't need another multiplayer game to add as a burden.

On other news shin megami tensei iv. last week, i thought that i messed up my game and locked myself out of the neutral ending. i crunched the numbers to figure out where my alignment was and where i needed to be. i came to the conclusion that i might be able to pull it off. So i loaded my last save, speed ran the area and by the grace of god i got the neutral pathway. My game was saved, sure i might have wasted 3 hours and some of the demons in my roster but screw it, i can with it. I can always get stronger demons later in the game.

 

[BeardyHat]

Just saw that Fallen Aces went into Early Access yesterday; it's been one of my most anticipated for over a year now (I think), so I'll probably be picking it up as soon as I return to my hotel room today.

Fallen Aces on Steam

The A.C.E.S, watchful guardians of Switchblade City, are being taken down, one by one. Now it's up to one man, with two fists, to get to the bottom of it all. Fallen Aces is a crime noir FPS that plays right out of the '90s and looks like it's right outta the comics.

store.steampowered.com

Went to Vintage Computer Fest Southwest today and... Well, it's a thing. Wandering around the halls, I realized vintage PCs aren't really my thing. They're neat, nostalgic and I understand them as a hobby, but I'm realizing that PCs are a means to an end for me, that end being gaming and dicking around on the Internet.

I could understand them from a retro gaming standpoint, but anything I want to play already works or is ported to a modern operating system and I don't have to deal with old hardware oddities and issues. The puzzle solving aspect of that stuff could be interesting, but aside from a curiosity, I don't feel like building skills in problem solving old operating systems and hardware is of much value.

All that said, it was neat to see Half-Life running on original hardware, displayed on a CRT; it was actually pretty visually stunning in a way I don't think is the case on a modern display (though I'll put that to the test when I'm able). It was also neat to see some YouTube personalities in the flesh.

At any rate, I'll keep watching retro PC YouTubers to get my fix, but I'll need to periodically remind myself that it really isn't my hobby.

Edit: just realized I put this in the wrong thread. Maybe to go to June General. Oops

 

[BeardyHat]

so Deep rock galactic is having a free weekend and everyone was singing high praises for it, so i decided to try it. not sure i like it tbh, granted i was playing it solo and part of the fun is with people, but meh its like a coop version of minecraft but with guns. i found it somewhat tedious, but again, its because i was playing it alone. Will i try it with other people? meh not sure tbh. i don't need another multiplayer game to add as a burden

Don't disagree here, it's decidedly "fine". I've played it with friends, with pubs and solo and it never really grabbed me after the 17 hours I've put in, I'm pretty well done with it.

I support what the Devs are doing, the game is just not that interesting or fun to play.

 

[Colif]

Edit: just realized I put this in the wrong thread. Maybe to go to June General. Oops

this one?
i moved it already, just confirming

 

[BeardyHat]

this one?
i moved it already, just confirming

Perfect, thank you Colif.