EA does something alright...closing studios, inserting microtransactions, killing Single Player campaigns
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Businesses are businesses. By and large they will always try to seek maximum profit by doing the least work possible (cause work costs money!) in the most efficient way, just because of how it's structured. Everyone has someone to please, right up to the CEO. And companies like this are a large chain of individual people just trying to do their job. We always see companies as "one" figure (fuck EA!). Which is fine, but it really does set ourselves up for disappointment (and unfair treatment to a lot of innocent workers).
The only situation where you should realistically expect companies to care about your opinion and hopes is if you're an big $$$ investor or have influential power (which with the internet, more and more people have today to be honest). Companies like Steam will try really hard to make it seem like they care and are "down to earth", but that just goes back to point 1 of seeking maximum profit in the most efficient way; appearances are cheap. Don't be fooled. If a company can get away with something/the risk to reward ratio isn't too high and they'll save money; 9 times out of 10 it will (especially if they have a monopoly like Steam) because that would make their business more efficient and more attractive to those that really matter. And to the one or few individuals making that choice; they just see it as part of their job/doing a good job.
Sorry for the ramble. I'm not saying you shouldn't get angry or upset of course. If more people got mad at stuff like this, it would no longer be a route many companies would/could take. Just don't be disappointed. It shouldn't be a surprise, it should (sadly, and privately,) be what you expect.
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bought a ps4 this christmas.
aware i'm never paying for a plus subscription, thus never playing online that device, using cloud saves and whatnot.
realising how convenient is to have the steam ecosystem and that valve business is sane, in order to keep it alive as much as possible.
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I was amazed that you need It a subscription for playing online with the PS4 considering how popular It is. The "hook" are the monthly games but I still feel like this is a really dirty move from Sony considering the PS3 has free online in games like COD (I see this with my nephew). At least there's some F2P games with free online servers on the PS4 but yeah, Steam seems like a good boy compared with the actual consoles.
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i guess sony has to get the money somewhere to make the wheel roll: basically the cheap and successfull hw and the subscription service.
the same with valve: their old games and all the cosmetic bs they trade on their store.
the servers and features are not paid alone, it's normal to me they have to get money for them.
my doubt is how is paid a service like android play, that also permits online and cloud saves; i guess it's connected to google business model i.e. ads.
resume: i'm happy that people who trade hats, keys and cards pay my steam service.
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Well, If the business model works why change It right?. Told my nephew that maybe when the next gen consoles arrive, the PS4 could have free online service and he replied to me "It wont". Guess he knows more from the console market than me.
We both know the PS4 is a capable machine for creating a "listen" server but that´s not gonna happen either.
Price/Performance/Benefit of the PS4 here is not that good. I´ve told him several times that a PC for the same price is way better but he is eager to keep with the PS4, he just bought COD WWII for 50 bucks and he´s trying to get that PS Plus.
Sony knows his market. Same goes for Activision.
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i'm a computer guy, never had a console and i admit i'm struggling with mobile gadgets (i feel old now).
nevertheless i admit that the ps4 of my son is somehow nice.
it's visual impact in the dining room is next to none, it's quick to start up and, to borrow an old Jobs slogan, it just works.
it's impossible to have a large library of games, if console bundles don't start, but what it does it does good. and with that thing called black friday i got it for cheap.
atm i am viced by gran turismo sport, which i enjoy more than my racing games on pc.
at the end of the day i perfectly live without online and i already clarified with my son i'll never pay him any subscription service. ;P
(i also have cod wwii with the black friday pack, but i didn't even open the plastic bag...)
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Sorry to let you down, but I don't get the reference. :P
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Minor spoiler for Star Wars The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker says to Rey "Every word in that sentence was wrong" or something similar
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Yeah, I was sure it was related to Star Wars, which is why I said sorry to let you down, because I've never watched Star Wars movies. :P
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You didn't let me down, don't worry. I just tried to find the princess at the wrong castle :)
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Quick robin, to the fap cave!
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I'm not a Valve white knight, but:
Developing new games?
They are developing new games, even though Half-Life 3 most likely isn't being developed.
Fixing the bugged discovery queue?
How is it bugged? I'm using the discovery queue every single day and besides getting a message that the preferences couldn't be saved once in a while, everything is working as expected.
Finally finishing the promised new Steam client?
They are finishing it, it's better to not rush it.
Being more available in support?
The support is a lot faster now, and they still are improving it.
See to quality control when it comes to games?
Well, this is correct, but unlike GOG, they don't reject good games like Opus Magnum. Nowadays the quality control comes from the Steam users, games which are being bought a lot (which means they are better than shovelware games) have a higher chance of being displayed on the Steam store and on the discovery queue.
Actually responding to reports whether it may be about games or players?
This is partially correct, user reports and store reports could be handled better, but Valve would need dozens of new moderators.
Banning a lot of Linux users because of false assumptions?
This has been proven false, the cheaters were lying.
Releasing new CS:GO skins and stuff so they can make more money?
Why wouldn't they? They have to pay their employees. Besides that many CS:GO players actually want new skins, it's not like Valve is releasing skins and no one buys them.
Selling the data of hardware surveys to appropriate companies for more Shekels?
I'm not sure about this, but unfortunately dozens of big companies do this nowadays.
Entering their fap caves to laugh about people being helpless and not getting any support?
Of course.
About the other bugs: Maybe the other bugs have low priority because they will be fixed with the release of the new Steam client? Who knows...
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I don't understand those people "boycotting" Valve/Steam, still buying keys and using their services.
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Nobody is boycotting a damn thing that's for sure.
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One thing that has me confused... Well I am confused about several things... but in regard to Valve... I had been away for awhile and I now see that I can't buy a game on Steam to store in my inventory to send later (unless I am completely confused which is possible...)
So how are people getting around this for gifting now? I can't understand why Steam would do this. Sometimes I wonder how they make any money, with games being cheaper elsewhere with less hassle...
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"Sometimes I wonder how they make any money" Oh, I think they manage to scrape by......
Gabe Newell Net worth: 5.5 billion USD (2017)
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I don't doubt it. I have no mind for business. He definitely does manage to scrape by. And I am sure I have contributed to that net worth... :) But I contribute way less than I used to, I think... Not that he would miss the money I spent, if I stopped buying, with that net worth.
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Most of Valve's money comes from the CS:GO/TF2 and Steam market transaction fees. Some items sell for over a thousand dollars and that means 150-300 dollars for doing nothing for Valve.
Of course 30% fee after all games sold on Steam is a pretty penny too.
On the other side of the equation, Valve is infamously stingy when it comes to spending any kind of money and keep as minimal staff as possible, so most of their income turns into net profit. To the point where they bragged that they have one of the highest profit/employee rate in a market that has Apple in it.
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Not much that can be done considering while there's other things out there, there's nothing that has an all around selection like steam.
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See to quality control when it comes to games?
No.
agree with this,2017 is lots of bad game than 2016.
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Well, you forgot to add another thing - they killed sales, or, to put it in better way, they killed the spirit of sales.
Now it's like that:
- wait an hour untill Steam dealing with heavier load,
- then a couple of hours to go through your wishlist,
- then 1 minute for purchase,
- bam, 3 hours later sale is over for you regardless of the fact that it just started 3 hours ago
The most important thing - Steam simply doesn't look like a platform whose owner worth 5.5 bln USD.
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GUYS!
So what are they doing?
Developing new games?
No.
Fixing the bugged discovery queue?
No.
Finally finishing the promised new Steam client?
No.
Being more available in support?
No.
See to quality control when it comes to games?
No.
Actually responding to reports whether it may be about games or players?
No.
So what are they actually doing?
Banning a lot of Linux users because of false assumptions?
Yes
Releasing new CS:GO skins and stuff so they can make more money?
Yes
Selling the data of hardware surveys to appropriate companies for more Shekels?
Yes
Entering their fap caves to laugh about people being helpless and not getting any support?
Yes
/rant over.
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