Are you ditching Steam in favor of Epic Store?

Epic has been giving away free games every two weeks. Division 2 is exclusive to Uplay / Epic, excluding Steam. The writing is on the wall.

https://www.polygon.com/2019/1/9/18174375/division-2-pc-epic-games-store-steam


Valve's "Artifact" release was Valve's biggest trainwreck to date.



The forums were so over-moderated and censored that you couldn't even crack a joke without getting banned. Valve as a company has gotten so big that they need a GPS to find their own asses.


Epic is preferring to defer reviews to third party sites like Reddit. I'm fine with that. When Steam started its Steam reviews I thought, "Great, now we can get decent reviews rather than people posting fake reviews on Metacritic".

It didn't take long for Steam to devolve into:

"Thumbs down. Game gave me cancer 10/10 GG."

So you have to wade through heaps of trash reviews.


Look at the numbers...

https://variety.com/2018/gaming/opinion/epic-game-store-by-the-numbers-1203089336/


I'm using both Steam and Epic games.

I love all the hearts and flowers that people have for Valve it's cute. It took an Australian lawsuit just to get refunds in Steam store. Get real people.

Why was Steam Greenlight removed? It worked perfectly fine. People got to vote on games that looked promising. There's so many trash games on Steam now.
 
The problem for sure is that Steam grew too large and too quickly. They've created a monster that they can't control. Of course there are a ton of issues with the platform. I'm not ignorant to that fact. But the thing is that it's the most popular platform and most people I know are still on it. Valve has already been tweaking the split for games that sell large quantities.

Let's not kid ourselves though Greenlight was not perfect. It turned into brigades of people voting on games because they'd get a free copy in the process. It eventually became a sea of garbage and you'd have to wade through it to find anything good.
 
My feelings on Valve are mixed. They were once a great company and a hero in the PC space. They made great games and they were passionate about serving their community. Then Steam got huge and things slowly changed. Valve today is only a shadow of its former self, though they are a substantially larger company. I'd blame it on wealth, but Gabe was a millionaire when he helped found the company. I think, it was a combination of HL3 falling apart in the midst of a changing gaming industry, the toxicity that followed that, Steam exploding (as already mentioned) and the advance from "millionaire" to "Billionaire".

No matter the cause, I think most of our old heros have faded away and we must look to new ones.
 
I've heard concerns that Epic is being partly owned by a Chinese company.
It doesn't really bother me.

What bothers me and the reasons why I'm going to change are:

1) Valve takes 30% cut, Epic takes 12%. I would rather support developers than Valve/Steam because:

2) I'm disgusted by Valve. Not that they only have gotten very lazy as a company, they also release games that clearly have no place in the gaming community. Atlas is a paid card game in the sea of free card games that are much better. Atlas should have been a free game for Steam users.

I have 611 games on Steam and I'm pretty sure that number won't increase.
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Steam has a far more friendly game store environment towards linux users. It is even more so with the beta of proton and the native linux games. I will take the free games on epic store but for my main it will be steam until something comes along that completely out classes it and makes the ecosystem change worth it.
 
All steam has to do is give the same or undercut epic by a litle bit and steam would win. I don't mind steam. Never had a problem with it. I do hate having like 6 different GD platforms for stuff and/or the I have the game on steam but it launches someone else's launcher and then that thing launches the g ame.

I seriously don't care if Valve makes a new game or not. I suspect they would ABSOLUTELY fucking suck at making games now. they don't need to make games and honestly I thought HL2 sucked balls. It was a huge let down and I don't get why it is considered so amazing. Last thing I liked from them was L4D2.

Just be the all in one platform. Been a steam person since beta for it when it absolutely sucked.

Like any of the big winners, they get all the hate but eventually even Epic will end up with the same problems as steam if they get big enough.
 
The problem for sure is that Steam grew too large and too quickly. They've created a monster that they can't control. Of course there are a ton of issues with the platform. I'm not ignorant to that fact. But the thing is that it's the most popular platform and most people I know are still on it. Valve has already been tweaking the split for games that sell large quantities.

Let's not kid ourselves though Greenlight was not perfect. It turned into brigades of people voting on games because they'd get a free copy in the process. It eventually became a sea of garbage and you'd have to wade through it to find anything good.
Too quickly? It was 6 years before they started doing seasonal sales. It was nearly 11 years before the number of games sold on Steam broke 4 digits. There was a 4 year period when the number of games on the Steam store didn't grow at all, stuck around 300.
All steam has to do is give the same or undercut epic by a litle bit and steam would win. I don't mind steam. Never had a problem with it. I do hate having like 6 different GD platforms for stuff and/or the I have the game on steam but it launches someone else's launcher and then that thing launches the g ame.

I seriously don't care if Valve makes a new game or not. I suspect they would ABSOLUTELY fucking suck at making games now. they don't need to make games and honestly I thought HL2 sucked balls. It was a huge let down and I don't get why it is considered so amazing. Last thing I liked from them was L4D2.

Just be the all in one platform. Been a steam person since beta for it when it absolutely sucked.

Like any of the big winners, they get all the hate but eventually even Epic will end up with the same problems as steam if they get big enough.
And what problems do you believe Steam has?
 
Too quickly? It was 6 years before they started doing seasonal sales. It was nearly 11 years before the number of games sold on Steam broke 4 digits. There was a 4 year period when the number of games on the Steam store didn't grow at all, stuck around 300.

And what problems do you believe Steam has?

i dont think it has problems but other people apparently do.
 
That's the first Metro game I won't own.

Buy it now while you can on Steam or wait until next year when it comes back to Valve's platform. Goes off sale shortly on Steam.

If you were waiting to snag it for 50% off you're not really missing anything really. A year from now it will be reduced in price anyways when it comes back to Steam.
 
i hate the epic client. spam and spam of friend requests. fortnite has just ruined that platform.
 
Ugh. Loaded up the Epic client and all those free games I 'bought' are no longer in my library. Checked my purchase history under my account and they're listed. Used the built in troubleshooter and apparently their servers are fubar. To make sure, I uninstalled the client and when I went to grab a fresh installer, no dice. The link doesn't work for me. I can't complain too much as I haven't actually bought anything, but this doesn't bode well.
 
I wont be ditching any of my game launchers but if it means I have to have another due to exclusives then it is what it is. Same thing with PSN or Xbox or Nintendo store if the games I want are there then I will use it.
 
Buy it now while you can on Steam or wait until next year when it comes back to Valve's platform. Goes off sale shortly on Steam.

If you were waiting to snag it for 50% off you're not really missing anything really. A year from now it will be reduced in price anyways when it comes back to Steam.

Honestly, I wasn't waiting for a sale. I've gotten pretty patient these days for games though, and usually wait a bit. I was excited to pick this one up though pretty close to day one, but it's not a must either. Most of my game time is spent on indies or Nintendo stuff. The PC is still my primary platform, but I'm at a point where I don't have to jump on every little thing day one or pre-order. I hear you on just waiting for it for its timed release, but I really don't like the way this Epic store thing is headed. I also don't like that this dev/pub decided that this was ok to do in the first place. I kind of get larger companies that own several studios opening up their own launchers. I HATE it, but I do get why they do it. That's fine. But trying to force people's hands with big exclusives like this? I'm just not ok, and that's the line that I will draw where my money is concerned. I just won't be buying Metro now. I usually scoff at the vote with wallet thing, but even I have my limits. This was one of them. I don't begrudge anyone else jumping on Epic's new exclusive. By all means, buy the game if you don't mind this. I know many people don't mind having 50 launchers, storefronts, etc. I just personally won't fragment what I've got in this way if I can help it. Bethesda's launcher is what's really pushing my buttons right now though. (because obviously I won't be skipping id, Arkane, and certain Beth games as they're basically what I live for on the PC)

If Epic chose to compete more like the way GOG does, I might be more apt to at least not vomit over it. :D This was pretty slimey IMO though.

It's also not that I'm the biggest Valve fan in the world. It's just that when I jumped on digital, they were it, and I've put too much into their ecosystem to branch out now. I've grown accustomed to having all my PC things in one place (or at least 98% of it). My friends are there, my games are there, they've treated me well, and really since they were first, they really defined what current PC gaming is in my mind. They aren't by any means my favorite company, but it's undeniable that they've done a lot to get things where they are now. The other funny thing, barring of course the argument over the developer/store cut on profits, I would bet that 90% of the indie industry on the PC wouldn't be here right now, or at least making any real money if it weren't for Valve in the first place. They gained a voice, representation, and a huge push due to Steam. It's funny that some of them were so easily lured away from something that defined their existence. Whatever. All of this is what it is. I'll just keep on truckin' the way I have been. :D
 
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Honestly, I wasn't waiting for a sale. I've gotten pretty patient these days for games though, and usually wait a bit. Most of my game time is spent on indies or Nintendo stuff. The PC is still my primary platform, but I'm at a point where I don't have to jump on every little thing day one or pre-order. I hear you on just waiting for it for its timed release, but I really don't like the way this Epic store thing is headed. I also don't like that this dev/pub decided that this was ok to do in the first place. I kind of get larger companies that own several studios opening up their own launchers. I HATE it, but I do get why they do it. That's fine. But trying to force people's hands with big exclusives like this? I'm just not ok, and that's the line that I will draw where my money is concerned. I just won't be buying Metro now. I usually scoff at the vote with wallet thing, but even I have my limits. This was one of them. I don't begrudge anyone else jumping on Epic's new exclusive. By all means, buy the game if you don't mind this. I know many people don't mind having 50 launchers, storefronts, etc. I just personally won't fragment what I've got in this way if I can help it. Bethesda's launcher is what's really pushing my buttons right now though. (because obviously I won't be skipping id, Arkane, and certain Beth games as they're basically what I live for on the PC)

If Epic chose to compete more like the way GOG does, I might be more apt to at least not vomit over it. :D This was pretty slimey IMO though.

It's also not that I'm the biggest Valve fan in the world. It's just that when I jumped on digital, they were it, and I've put too much into their ecosystem to branch out now. I've grown accustomed to having all my PC things in one place (or at least 98% of it). My friends are there, my games are there, they've treated me well, and really since they were first, they really defined what current PC gaming is in my mind. They aren't by any means my favorite company, but it's undeniable that they've done a lot to get things where they are now. The other funny thing, barring of course the argument over the developer/store cut on profits, I would bet that 90% of the indie industry on the PC wouldn't be here right now, or at least making any real money if it weren't for Valve in the first place. They gained a voice, representation, and a huge push due to Steam. It's funny that some of them were so easily lured away from something that defined their existence. Whatever. All of this is what it is. I'll just keep on truckin' the way I have been. :D

Doesn't Valve allow for 14 day refunds for pre-orders? Assuming you haven't activated it. Makes pre-ordering, waiting for reviews and then refunding (without playing) pretty simple if it ends up being a Just Cause 4. Wouldn't make it a habit, but would've been a good idea in this instance. You'd have it day one (or five) on Steam after checking reviews. If it was trash, no real loss to you.
 
Doesn't Valve allow for 14 day refunds for pre-orders? Assuming you haven't activated it. Makes pre-ordering, waiting for reviews and then refunding (without playing) pretty simple if it ends up being a Just Cause 4. Wouldn't make it a habit, but would've been a good idea in this instance. You'd have it day one (or five) on Steam after checking reviews. If it was trash, no real loss to you.

Good point. I'll consider that actually. I've used the refund system maybe 2-3 times total, so it's not in the forefront of my mind. That might be just the thing here though. ***scratches chin***
 
Too quickly? It was 6 years before they started doing seasonal sales. It was nearly 11 years before the number of games sold on Steam broke 4 digits. There was a 4 year period when the number of games on the Steam store didn't grow at all, stuck around 300.

And what problems do you believe Steam has?

Are you going to completely ignore the last five or six years? Steam has experienced explosive and continuous growth. I am not saying that's a bad thing but Valve/Steam has not kept up with things like they could have. Here's an article detailing the jump in users: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-10-24-steam-reaches-90m-monthly-active-users

The pertinent bits here:
Presented at Melbourne Games Week, it was revealed that Steam now has over 90 million MAUs, compared to 67 million last year.

Valve has also seen its daily active users grow to 47 million, up from 33 million last year; it's peak concurrent users have yet to exceed the 18.5 million record set in January, during the height of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' popularity

My main problem is store curation. There's just too much junk out there and asset flipped games. It's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in the current state. I don't know about you but I don't have the chance to check whatever 50+ things (and note things, not games) that are released every day. Granted I don't buy as much as I used to buy but the fact still stands. I don't even know how you begin to fix this problem since steam, since about one year ago, had almost 16,000 games about. Steamspy has given us amazing data as well. 38% of all steam games were released in 2016. 7,672 games were released in 2017. That's more than double my Steam library.

Another one of my issues is Steam features. There was a time when Steam was quite the platform to organize groups, chat rooms, and communities. Valve sat on this so long that Discord came out and ate its lunch. Only after Discord established itself did Valve finally got off their rear and create their own discord-like chat with inline images and all of that good stuff. Too late though since just about everyone I know still uses Steam but uses Discord to chat and organize. Sorting through players for games is a pain in the rear too. Valve separates users into three groups: Players that have played the game, players that own the game, and players who want the game. It sorts players that've recently played the game by game time and not alphabetical which is real fun when trying to go down a friends list and inviting them to your session. Give us some sorting options for goodness sake.

Managing users of a large Steam group used to be a pain as well. I used to help moderate a group of almost 9,000 users and the interface to ban group chat users was complete trash. I don't know if it's still this way but it was terribly frustrating to manage chat users since you had to do it from the group chat user list and not from the Steam Community group user list where you could search for names. It's been a while since I've helped with any of this so I don't recall exactly how it was done but I do remember it was a lot more effort than it should have been.

And let's not forget that only slightly less than four years ago did we get refunds. I know we have poorer consumer protection laws in the US but Australia and the UK at least have powerful laws to protect buyers. I'm glad Valve extended this to everyone but they were running afoul of the law in the UK and Australia with their lack of refunds.

With all of this said, Steam is still the platform I will call home. I use other launchers and stores as well but my number one choice is still Steam granted I don't get a game somewhere for much less (read: uplay codes). What Epic Games Store is doing for consumers is absolutely terrible. I get it. The splits are head over heels better than Steam but give me choice. I think it's horse crap that two weeks before the game is supposed to come out it's suddenly an Epic Games Store exclusive.[/quote]
 
Good point. I'll consider that actually. I've used the refund system maybe 2-3 times total, so it's not in the forefront of my mind. That might be just the thing here though. ***scratches chin***

I think its no longer sold on Steam as of now. You can probably look on Green Man Gaming or similar as they may still have Steam keys left, but obviously there is no refund option there once the keys go out. Personally that is what I would do.

I wasn't going to get Metro at full price (wait & see for me) and I have no interest in Epic's launcher personally. I'll still play it when I can and just grab it when it comes back to Steam eventually. ;)
 
I think its no longer sold on Steam as of now. You can probably look on Green Man Gaming or similar as they may still have Steam keys left, but obviously there is no refund option there once the keys go out. Personally that is what I would do.

I wasn't going to get Metro at full price (wait & see for me) and I have no interest in Epic's launcher personally. I'll still play it when I can and just grab it when it comes back to Steam eventually. ;)

I wanted to buy Metro Exodus off Steam but it looks like I will not now. I dont want to put Epic loader on all my home computers. (i have it on my racing rig). I might just wait till it goes on sale. I am having too much fun playing Insurgency Sandstorm anyways to pick up a new FPS

Robert Jordan
Winnsboro Texas
 
I think its no longer sold on Steam as of now. You can probably look on Green Man Gaming or similar as they may still have Steam keys left, but obviously there is no refund option there once the keys go out. Personally that is what I would do.

I wasn't going to get Metro at full price (wait & see for me) and I have no interest in Epic's launcher personally. I'll still play it when I can and just grab it when it comes back to Steam eventually. ;)

Yeah, it was something I thought about grabbing soon before I heard this, but I'm not in any real hurry anyway. This sort of situation makes me want to "send a message" :D but you know... by the time it ends up properly on Steam, at a lower price, if I'm still thinking about playing it at the time, I'd probably grab it then too. I will definitely not buy anything off the Epic store though. That's that line I spoke of before. I really wouldn't have had a problem paying full price on Steam right now either, but jumping through hoops to do it kind of negates that. :D
 
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