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ampersandrew

@ ampersandrew @lemmy.world

Posts
94
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1754
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • Why do you need a launcher? (asking older gamers actually)

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  • Hitman was quickly pulled from GOG for being too big of a compromise on their values. Their only exception to DRM-free is multiplayer that uses GOG Galaxy services.

  • Steam Owner Valve Faces $900 Million Lawsuit Over PC Monopoly Claims, Following UK Tribunal Ruling - IGN

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  • It happens all the time. Sometimes it's a disclaimer on the store page, or sometimes they just list "multiplayer", and I have to find out via forums if the game is actually DRM-free or if they're using the equivalent GOG multiplayer service. And the reason it's there is to entice those developers who rely on the equivalent Steam services, but I wish those API calls could somehow be co-opted into actual DRM-free multiplayer.

  • Steam Owner Valve Faces $900 Million Lawsuit Over PC Monopoly Claims, Following UK Tribunal Ruling - IGN

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  • It's strange, because if I buy an expansion for a board game, I don't have to shop at the same store that I bought the base game from.

  • Steam Owner Valve Faces $900 Million Lawsuit Over PC Monopoly Claims, Following UK Tribunal Ruling - IGN

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  • An extremely similar API exists in GOG, for better and for worse, because it functionally is the only DRM in GOG. And of course Epic offers the same thing, too.

  • Steam Owner Valve Faces $900 Million Lawsuit Over PC Monopoly Claims, Following UK Tribunal Ruling - IGN

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  • If that happened, that would mean you'd be able to buy DLC for all of your free EGS games on Steam as well. Selling DLC for those games is probably just about the only money that store brings in outside of Fortnite.

  • Steam Owner Valve Faces $900 Million Lawsuit Over PC Monopoly Claims, Following UK Tribunal Ruling - IGN

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  • I'm going to nitpick the controller stuff too, because they could have done it in a way that was store agnostic, but of course, they benefit if they don't do it that way.

  • Steam Owner Valve Faces $900 Million Lawsuit Over PC Monopoly Claims, Following UK Tribunal Ruling - IGN

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  • You can start shopping on another store, like GOG. But also, the add-ons thing feels like these folks have never shopped for video games anywhere else, because everyone does that.

  • Why do you need a launcher? (asking older gamers actually)

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    1. Games get updates far more often than they did back in the 90s and 00s. If your game is installed, it's pushed to you automatically. If it's not installed, the next time you install it, you'll be on the latest version.
    2. Installing a game is passive compared to inserting the next disc, fishing out the serial key, etc. You just click download and walk away for 5 minutes. Likewise, as games are very large these days, you can easily uninstall and reinstall games on limited drive space very easily from the same UI.
    3. Cloud saves. They're always nice to have. You can rig up something like it if you've got the networking and scripting know-how, but once again, it's just passive through a launcher like Steam.
    4. There's a lot to be said about the longevity of network multiplayer games that allow you to self host and port forward, but Steam and its ilk mean that the average person never has to learn how to do that ever, and it's more secure for the end users for Steam to take on the burden of facilitating the connection.
    5. With things like Steam's Big Picture Mode, you can navigate an entire library and jump from game to game with nothing but a controller.
    6. Launching a game via Proton, whether in Heroic Games Launcher, Lutris, or Steam, is just easier and more automatic than not using a launcher.

    All that said, there's a lot of value to GOG for never requiring the launcher (but they make an annoying exception for network multiplayer games).

  • GOG is seeking a Senior Software Engineer with C++ experience to modernize the GOG GALAXY desktop client and spearhead its Linux development

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  • Which games have they removed from libraries? Typically, these storefronts (including GOG) will remove games from sale, but not from the libraries of customers who already bought them. For instance, they deep discounted WarCraft 1 and 2 before Microsoft requested their delisting, but I've still got them in my library.

  • GOG is seeking a Senior Software Engineer with C++ experience to modernize the GOG GALAXY desktop client and spearhead its Linux development

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  • Have you tried Heroic Games Launcher and found it to be a hassle?

  • Highguard | Official Launch Showcase

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  • You can dig through This Week in Video Games episodes on SkillUp's YouTube channel from back just before the game released. That's where I got it from. Live service games are looking for the hockey stick shaped graph in order to take off, and it was quite clear that even when the game was free, it didn't have the juice to make that happen. And even the lower bound of $200M is a tough bar to clear, but Concord was funded at a time when borrowing money was cheap and every asshole with a war chest thought they'd make a fortune by following the same formula; the problem with that is that everyone else thought they could do that too. And that's not even to say Concord was the worst game ever made or anything. It was just a game that cost way more to make than it was ever, ever going to make back.

  • Highguard | Official Launch Showcase

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  • But after they revealed it? Yes. From their reveal to their beta test, it seemed clear the game was not going to find an audience; definitely not enough to recoup $200M-$400M.

  • Highguard | Official Launch Showcase

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  • Concord didn't have any advertising because the data was showing them beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would have been throwing good money after bad.

  • Highguard | Official Launch Showcase

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  • I just watched 3 friends play it, and they were miserable.

  • Congress members voice 'serious concern' over Saudi-led EA buyout

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  • Their concern isn't that people are getting laid off but that they'll be laid off here and replaced with people abroad; and the executives benefiting from the cost-cutting are no longer Americans in this case.

  • Congress members voice 'serious concern' over Saudi-led EA buyout

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  • Nothing will come of this unless it also concerns Republicans, but it doesn't, because the President's son-in-law helped make this deal happen and personally benefited from it.

  • Why medieval city-builder video games are historically inaccurate - Leiden Medievalists Blog

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  • You can do all sorts of things with video games, even when sticking to realism, if it helps you achieve your goals.

  • New Fable game removes feature core to franchise's DNA

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  • If only more people had heeded her message, we wouldn't have ended up with the "morality" system of Infamous, where it was such a hard choice to either save these people or harvest their energy for your own gain. Decisions, decisions.

  • New Fable game removes feature core to franchise's DNA

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  • One might argue that KOTOR semi-ruined a generation of video games with morality systems. I'm one. I would argue that.

  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Ubisoft has cancelled 6 games, including the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake | VGC

    www.videogameschronicle.com /news/ubisoft-has-cancelled-6-games-including-the-prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-remake/
  • Selfhosted @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Help getting started with self hosting Jellyfin via NAS?

  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Life is Strange: Reunion officially announced, will conclude the Max and Chloe saga | VGC

    www.videogameschronicle.com /news/life-is-strange-reunion-officially-announced-will-conclude-the-max-and-chloe-saga/
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    The Latest Monster Hunter Wilds PC Perf Drama Explained | Digital Foundry

    www.digitalfoundry.net /news/2026/01/the-latest-monster-hunter-wilds-pc-perf-drama-explained
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Valheim player keeps building Dollar Generals despite friend begging them to stop: 'I do not want to play Valheim with Greg anymore'

    www.pcgamer.com /games/survival-crafting/valheim-player-keeps-building-dollar-generals-despite-friend-begging-them-to-stop-i-do-not-want-to-play-valheim-with-greg-anymore/
  • Fuck Cars @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Congestion pricing after one year: How life has changed.

    www.nytimes.com /interactive/2026/01/05/upshot/congestion-pricing-one-year.html
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System

  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Did Obsidian Master the Art of the Efficient Epic? | NYT

    www.nytimes.com /2025/12/22/arts/outer-worlds-avowed-grounded-obsidian.html
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    The Knightling Did Everything Right - It Still Struggled to Sell | Beyond the Pixels Podcast

  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Vince Zampella, video game developer behind 'Call of Duty' franchise, killed in mountain road crash

    www.nbclosangeles.com /news/local/video-game-developer-vince-zampella-crash-call-of-duty/3819576/
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Video Game Physical Software and Hardware Sales Just Had the Worst November in the U.S. Since 1995 - IGN

    www.ign.com /articles/video-game-physical-software-and-hardware-sales-just-had-the-worst-november-in-the-us-since-1995
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ Maker Promises ‘Divinity’ Will Be ‘Next Level’

    www.bloomberg.com /news/newsletters/2025-12-16/-baldur-s-gate-3-maker-promises-divinity-will-be-next-level
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    A Gaming Tour de Force That Is Very, Very French

    www.nytimes.com /2025/12/11/arts/clair-obscur-expedition-33-sandfall.html
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Evo Japan and Las Vegas 2026 lineups announced

    evo.gg /events/evo2026
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world
    from Cellar Door Games makers of Rogue Legacy

    Neath - Announcement Trailer

  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Wreckreation maker Three Fields Entertainment puts whole studio on redundancy notice

    www.gamesindustry.biz /wreckreation-maker-three-fields-entertainment-puts-whole-studio-on-redundancy-notice
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment

    www.bloomberg.com /news/articles/2025-12-02/creator-of-hit-game-shovel-knight-is-at-make-or-break-moment
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    LET IT DIE offline version announced

    www.gematsu.com /2025/12/let-it-die-offline-version-announced
  • Games @lemmy.world
    ampersandrew @lemmy.world

    Valve Addresses Steam Machine Anti-Cheat Concerns, Says It's Working Towards Support

    thisweekinvideogames.com /news/valve-addresses-anti-cheat-steam-machine-concerns-and-is-working-towards-support/