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[Memorabilia]

I take the free games but the store sucks ass.

 

[brian0057]

I've never used it and never will, even for the free shit.
Also, it's such a shame that every game announced as exclusive to the store is suddenly delayed or cancelled.
It's so strange.

 

[Tragic Denial]

the kickstarter stuff irked the fuck out of me
don't like the paid timed exclusives
if/when they're gonna fund/publish games I'll use it without issues
and from the look of it Alan Wake 2 is gonna be like that

 

[Graciaus]

I would never buy anything or even download the free games. Provide a better service then the competitors instead of buying exclusives.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I enjoy all the free games. Bought a couple fortnight things on it, would consider buying other games too.

I don't play on pc much though

 

[johntown]

Why would want to support something that has become a cancer to the PC gaming market? I will never support that store even if it was the only option......I would turn to piracy.

 

[Chupanibre]

I still find this whole thing funny. I remember when steam started, I was one of the few that defended it and now it's the best thing to ever happen. It had nothing but hate and vitriol directed at it for the longest time. Anyone remember the gifs?

 

[LazyParrot]

I still find this whole thing funny. I remember when steam started, I was one of the few that defended it and now it's the best thing to ever happen.

Have you considered that this might be because Steam has actually gotten significantly better over the past 15+ years?

 

[Kenpachii]

Just another PC client.

 

[Kataploom]

I HATE the way they're managing their PC business and won't support, nor install their store, not get their "free" games either. But have no problem with their things on consoles and, if not because I store sensible data from my work on PC or because I have not a dedicated PC for gaming, I would at least install their store for RL (which I already play on Switch pretty well).

It's the way they're managing the PC market store exclusivity that I'm mostly mad about.

 

[Chupanibre]

Have you considered that this might be because Steam has actually gotten significantly better over the past 15+ years?

Exactly.

How many of those years did it take to get close to what it is now?

 

[Nigel]

They got a shopping cart yet?

 

[theclaw135]

Have you considered that this might be because Steam has actually gotten significantly better over the past 15+ years?

People have a collective memory void. Steam launched in a crappier state than Epic ever was.

 

[LazyParrot]

How many of those years did it take to get close to what it is now?

Is this another variant of ye olde "It took Steam X years to stop being shit, so cut Epic some slack" argument?

If you're releasing a new product it'll be measured against what your competitors are doing right now, not 15+ years ago. Can you imagine a car company releasing a new model with early 2000s features and technology and then going "But Brand X's cars weren't any better 20 years ago!" when they inevitably get shit on for being behind the times?

I mean, Epic doesn't even have to come up with any of that crap on their own. Just copying all the shit Valve has added to Steam over the years would be enough. Fucking shopping carts have existed since the mid 90s, for fuck's sake. There's no excuse for them still not having one.

 

[Derktron]

It’s okay, it’s not a big deal, I can care less for achievements or having friends on there, or any other feature Steam offers, that’s what Steam is there for. But I do think it’s missing a feature, and that is mod support for some games that support it. Other than that I can give a fuck about using the Epic Games, if the game is on sale I’ll get it on there, and if it’s exclusive that is timed I’ll get it on there because I don’t want to wait a damn year just to play the game. I’ll use Epic Game store if I have to do so.

 

[vpance]

A competitor to Steam was going to pop up sooner or later, it was inevitable. I’ll take all their free shit for as long as it lasts since it's only a minor inconvenience to have it installed.

 

[Sean Mirrsen]

People have a collective memory void. Steam launched in a crappier state than Epic ever was.

Yes. Because Steam launched as a DRM platform for Half-Life 2. And when it failed as DRM, and Valve (or GabeN) realized why and started making Steam what it is now, nobody had a damn clue what a digital games distribution platform should look like. Now that people know what an online storefront should look like, you can order one made for peanuts and have it hosted within a day. You can't use the argument of "look how long it took the other guys to get good" if the other guys were figuring out how the entire thing worked all the way through, and all you have to do now is copy them.

 

[tylrdiablos]

I've purchased exactly 2 games on EGS: Metro Exodus and Satisfactory. (Both of which had a £10 coupon applied.)
My EGS library tells me I own 195 titles.
So whilst I like freebies (such as WarZ, GTAV, Just Cause 4, Yooka-Laylee, Transistor, The Long Dark, Rocket League, Rage 2 etc) it's their buying of exclusives that's the major reason I don't use their store.
I really enjoyed Alan Wake (fantastic soundtrack by the way).. but I can wait for it to hit Steam. (Where it'll probably have DLC included, bugs fixed and maybe a cheaper price.)

Keep trying Epic... I look forward to the day when the EGS is a real competitor to Steam. Ideally without buying exclusives.

 

[justiceiro]

I bought games there because of the cupom + discount applying even in newer titles.

I like how it proves that is not features that make a store successful, but exclusive games.

 

[Kataploom]

nope. i'm not assuming anything. i'm just telling you why epic is doing something you don't like. it may not work for you. but it's the best thing they can do to compete with steam. the kind of stuff you respect is not what moves the needle

What about GOG, GMG, Humble and other smaller stores? They can say whatever about steam, yet they're competing against them too, which are also being affected by all this.

 

[Sentenza]

I still find this whole thing funny. I remember when steam started, I was one of the few that defended it and now it's the best thing to ever happen. It had nothing but hate and vitriol directed at it for the longest time. Anyone remember the gifs?

I also remember when Steam started and especially what replaced: the dreadful Sierra (in)Utilities.
I also remember having to HUNT DOWN patches one by one queuing like a poor bastard on Fileplanet and similar shitty services.

Frankly Steam was a net improvement from the start. The people who used to bitch about it were mostly two types: angry kids with a 56K dial-up internet connection that claimed "everything was slow" because they were the ones living in a technological purgatory on Earth and pirates that weren't happy about requiring an original HL copy to play CS.
The service improved over the years, but in reality the main reason certain people stopped bitching about it is that their God-forgotten little towns finally were reached by broadband over time.

 

[Sentenza]

People have a collective memory void. Steam launched in a crappier state than Epic ever was.

Comparatively to its timeframe? No, it didn't.

And what nonsense is that, anyway? That's like arguing that you can put on the market a shitty car in 2021 and use as excuse that the Ford T didn't have certain features more than a century ago, either.

 

[Rival]

I pick up the freebies and have purchased a few games when I can get a really good deal. I don’t give a shit about any of the other stuff I just want a good deal when I’m buying games.

 

[Reallink]

Good Guy Valve's $300 Index VR controllers have RROD scale failure rates, and their response to out of warranty customers to buy another $300 set. They do not offer paid repairs or sell a single unit if only one hand fails.

 

[MeatSafeMurderer]

Never touched EGS, never will. They brought console style third party exclusivity to PC, and for that they can suck my left nut. I'd even rather pay for a game I can get free on EGS so that I don't contribute to their marketshare. I don't even use Steam as my main launcher anymore since I tried GOG Galaxy 2.0, though I do run it through Steam so that I can pass Steam Input through to non-Steam games launched through GOG.

I hate being the "akshually" guy, but you never own the game, you just purchase a license, no matter the store and no matter the distribution method.

Yeah, but with GOG it's a license that they have literally no way of revoking. If you have the files there's nothing they can do because there's no DRM to enforce the license. Get yourself banned somehow? Your games are safe. GOG gets nuked from orbit? Your games are safe. They'll even let you refund and just trust that you'll be a good little boy and delete the files (though if you do it too much they will start refusing refunds it because...yeah, they're not stupid).

 

[Shai-Tan]

The app is a piece of shit. More competition is good if it actually benefits developers (and consumers) but at the end of the day they’re still competing to rake in $$ far disproportionate to their effort so imagining they are some kind of heroes is silly. Yeah Apple and Valve are mostly idle landlords that have been complained about since at least Rome but a more “virtuous” landlord (who has really shitty facilities) is not going to change much.

 

[Sean Mirrsen]

I bought games there because of the cupom + discount applying even in newer titles.

I like how it proves that is not features that make a store successful, but exclusive games.

I like how its exclusive games brought in less revenue over the year when everyone was sitting at home buying and playing games, than a single good indie game made on Steam.

 

[carlosrox]

It's just my Fortnite launcher for now.

Gotten 2 free games off there but have yet to install them. My backlog on Steam is already large enough.

If a game releases on it that I really must have then I may consider getting it on there but for now I'm fine with waiting til games release later on Steam if that's what's happening.

 

[BusierDonkey]

EGS relies on "free games" and exclusivity. I don't like either.

Free games - Nothing is free. If you didn't have to pay for something it's because you are the product. The reality of modern times is that everyone is buying and selling you all the time but I don't actively choose to participate in it.

Exclusivity - It's one thing when MS, Origin and Uplay do it with their own games, but moneyhatting devs to force me to install this kind of shit on my PC to play a new release is a no-go for me and it's one of the reasons I stopped buying new games.

The PC platform has always been about being open and being able to do things however you want. Requiring people to install spyware from a Chinese-owned corporation on their PCs to play games (that would have been available on multiple stores five years ago) shits on that idea and the more people bend over to adopt it the more the platform will fragment over time. Steam isn't run by saints either I'm sure, they are a business themselves and when it first appeared it was met with nothing but disdain just like Epic. The thing is though, they also happened to help improve the PC platform in many ways and Steam itself has been improving over the years outside the odd hiccup. Other than their own software I can cross-shop Steam games with other PC storefronts too so I'm not forced to go to Steam if I choose to try another service. At the same time they offer forums, mod utilities, ratings, constant updates on even old software and community features that EGS does not.

In fact in two years they have not made as many additions and improvements to EGS as Steam did in their fist two years despite Steam at the time being a small business pioneering the concept. EGS has had their homework done for them and they still constantly shit the bed on things even I could have implemented by now. I'm starting to think EGS was never actually going to implement even a fraction of their roadmap. EGS is run on a shoestring budget with the majority of their expenses being paid exclusivity arrangements. Do they even have their shopping cart working yet? Nope, but it's for sure coming some time this year...

 

[harmny]

What about GOG, GMG, Humble and other smaller stores? They can say whatever about steam, yet they're competing against them too, which are also being affected by all this.

? What about them?

 

[Kataploom]

? What about them?

Tim talking about justifying dirty tactics against a behemoth, but what about the smaller players? They get very negatively affected too, and not because of something players get benefited from...

 

[Craig of War]

I have it for the free games it worth it.

 

[harmny]

Tim talking about justifying dirty tactics against a behemoth, but what about the smaller players? They get very negatively affected too, and not because of something players get benefited from...

justifying dirty tactics? you sound like he is bombing villages with white phosphorous.

he's just paying developers for exclusivity. that's the market for you. competition. the small playes know that.
and don't you thing players benefit from hundreds of free games?

 

[Brofist]

People have a collective memory void. Steam launched in a crappier state than Epic ever was.

You can't be this naïve. EGS doesn't get a pass because Steam has improved a ton and they basically have that as a base to copy off of and they couldn't even do that.

 

[theclaw135]

You can't be this naïve. EGS doesn't get a pass because Steam has improved a ton and they basically have that as a base to copy off of and they couldn't even do that.

Make that the other way around. I'm the only person who doesn't give a pass to how rubbish Steam was.

 

[Kataploom]

justifying dirty tactics? you sound like he is bombing villages with white phosphorous.

he's just paying developers for exclusivity. that's the market for you. competition. the small playes know that.
and don't you thing players benefit from hundreds of free games?

One thing is to fund the game development as they're doing with Alan Wake 2 and another is to pay devs to not put the game in other stores... In one case you're giving players value on something that otherwise would not exist, in the other you're just putting a barrier on consumers that woldn't be there otherwise... See the difference?

 

[LazyParrot]

Make that the other way around. I'm the only person who doesn't give a pass to how rubbish Steam was.

How do you know?

For the record, I didn't give Steam a pass either. I refused to use it. But that was in 2004. You know, back when it actually sucked?

The thing is, it hasn't sucked in well over a decade. It's not perfect, but it's still better than any of its competitors, especially the EGS.

Again, Epic doesn't even have to come up with any of this stuff on their own. Valve did all the heavy lifting for them. From the very start all they had to do was copy the features Steam already had. It's been two years and they failed to do even that. At this point, it's clear that they're not even interested in trying.

 

[Larxia]

Exactly.

How many of those years did it take to get close to what it is now?

This argument is totally invalid, I don't even understand how people can say this.
If a new console, TV, or whatever device brand appeared, and they made it like what existed 15 years ago, you wouldn't want it, and you wouldn't compare it to other brands by saying "well these brands weren't as good as they are right now 15 years ago either!".

It's stupid, you have to compare it with what is existing right now. They want to be a competition to 2021 Steam right? Not 2005 Steam.
And that's without even mentionning the obvious fact that steam paved the way for it and Epic have a clear example of what is doable, unlike Steam 15 years ago.

 

[theclaw135]

How do you know?

For the record, I didn't give Steam a pass either. I refused to use it. But that was in 2004. You know, back when it actually sucked?

The thing is, it hasn't sucked in well over a decade. It's not perfect, but it's still better than any of its competitors, especially the EGS.

Again, Epic doesn't even have to come up with any of this stuff on their own. Valve did all the heavy lifting for them. From the very start all they had to do was copy the features Steam already had. It's been two years and they failed to do even that. At this point, it's clear that they're not even interested in trying.

I'm saying that Epic, at no point, was as bad as Steam was in 2004.

 

[harmny]

One thing is to fund the game development as they're doing with Alan Wake 2 and another is to pay devs to not put the game in other stores... In one case you're giving players value on something that otherwise would not exist, in the other you're just putting a barrier on consumers that woldn't be there otherwise... See the difference?

sure i've always known the difference. i never claimed epic was funding the development of those games. still not a dirty tactic at all. it might not make hardcore gamers happy. but it does make developers happy. and they also gave away 100+ free games.

 

[BaneIsPain]

Just for free games. May buy there if Sony wants to make EGS exclusive only.

 

[Sean Mirrsen]

I'm saying that Epic, at no point, was as bad as Steam was in 2004.

In 2004 Steam was the world's first digital game distribution system. It merged DRM, patching, and mod distribution all in one. It was cutting edge for its time, and it was only for Valve-made games. Nobody else had anything close. Steam as we know it began forming in 2008-ish, when Steam Community and Steamworks were created. By 2009, it was already better than EGS is now.

Valve took five years to go from "fancy DRM and update platform" to "full-fledged storefront". Epic has spent two years going from "2009-ish Steam" to "2009-ish Steam".

 

[Heisenberg007]

Epic > Steam for me because they give me free games + a better share to developers.

It's missing store features? Yeah, but that doesn't bother me as much.

 

[tvdaXD]

Only used it to play around with Unreal Engine and grab assets from Quixel Megascans to use in Blender. Other than that, I almost always already owned the game they gave for free, and just didn't bother.
Also having another client just sucks, wish it could be all Steam because that's where most games I own are.

Sidenote, can somebody kind explain to me why I am unable to vote? Or am I missing something because I am in dark mode... HOW CAN I VOTE?!

 

[greencoder]

I read somewhere that Epic (or Tim Sweeney himself, don't remember) pays for all free copies, so I grab the free games from their website, but will not buy anything on EGS.

 

[packy34]

It's still a pretty bad and barebones storefront/network/launcher.

I won't have any issues using the thing if and when they decide to add basic user-facing features instead of endlessly moneyhatting exclusives.

 

[Stuart360]

Ignoring all the negativity and scummy tactics by Epic, the Epic store (and all the launchers barring Steam) is a literal game launcher, a game launcher that also has a store. Steam on the other hand, is a community. There is so much more to Steam than just a launcher with a store front. Its the reason why its so successful and so popular.
I think i spend just as much time on Steam as i do this forum.

 

[Zug]

I grabbed almost every free game since EGS exists just for the sake of it, but I never installed their client and never will.
Even if there was a game in the lot that interested me, i'd still buy it on Gog, or if not available, on Steam.

I just don't like Epic lately, and I don't want to install more intrusive garbage on my computer.

 

[Ryu Kaiba]

Competition is good.

 

[Wunray]

If a game is cheaper on there than anywhere else I'll buy it there.