Op Ed

NDTV Gadgets - I Have Over 300 Games on Steam and I'm Leaving It All Behind for GOG Galaxy. Thanks Cutter.
It's early days for GOG Galaxy but its creators have the right intentions. Their laissez faire approach extends to Steam as well thanks to a nifty feature called crossplay, which lets you play multiplayer games with your Steam friends. And they aren't stopping there either, with overlays, a game invite system, and notifications to be added, all without infringing on your privacy.

Valve's chains were silky and mostly unobtrusive, but they showed themselves every time I was trying to play offline, or was forced into a humungous 10GB update. So yes, I've been a long suffering PC gamer but I have a feeling that's all going to change very soon - and all it took is a little competition.

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25.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 14:51
25.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 14:51
May 21, 2015, 14:51
 
Verno wrote on May 21, 2015, 10:05:
GOG is cool but Galaxy is way too barebones to use as a primary source of games IMO.

It is still beta, but it does need a lot of improvement. I've only tried it on a few older games on it. Since I already have most of my GOG games backed up on external disks, I installed them from the downloaded installers and imported them. For some odd reason the Galaxy client replaces the game's .exe, so mods that patch or look for the original game.exe don't work. One of the games didn't work at all through after importing it to the Galaxy client, but it worked fine before importing it.

I hope they keep their word and make it optional. Since they're retiring the old GOG downloader, I wish they would add an option to download the game installer through the Galaxy client. I thought I read somewhere that there was an option to keep the installers after installing a game from the Galaxy client, but like I said, I haven't tried installing one yet from the Galaxy client.

Edit: Well damn, I fired up the Galaxy client after posting. It downloaded an update, and my wish came true. There is now an option to download the game, but the extras still must be downloaded one at a time unlike having the option to download them all with the old GOG downloader.

This comment was edited on May 21, 2015, 14:59.
"You can either want something to be true, or you can want the truth. Pick one." - Mr. Diety
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24.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 13:11
24.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 13:11
May 21, 2015, 13:11
 
It's hard to think of GoG as competition to Steam when they only carry a third of what Steam carries. Steam has it's faults, I don't think anyone would disagree with that but when I usually see people bitching about Steam it's because they had some sort of issue or couldn't buy a game they wanted/etc. That's how most people view Steam, in the prism of how has it impacted you personally in your buying and playing games. Yes competition is good but I've got a pretty decent library, been with Steam for 10 years and I never, ever had any issue running any game I ever purchased from them. That's really all that matters to me and I assume the average PC gamer. Can I buy the game and play it now, tomorrow and whenever I want. So far the answer with Steam has been yes.
23.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 11:53
23.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 11:53
May 21, 2015, 11:53
 
The client is a pig, cumbersome and inelegant.

It's pretty hard to integrate all of the functionality Steam has "elegantly" but it does a pretty good job. It's also not a pig on resources.
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22.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 11:08
22.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 11:08
May 21, 2015, 11:08
 
I'm all for competition to keep Valve/Steam honest. Unfortunately it's going to take years of development on Galaxy (and massive amounts of catalog expansion) or any similar service to even make this a remotely viable "replacement" option.

Supporting GOG in their endeavour is fine by me... but this article is just a bunch of rah-rah nonsense to get the anti-DRM crowd riled up.... and it seems to have worked. This article doesn't read as particularly well informed or logical in it's conclusions either (discounting CS:GO increased the number of cheaters? Steams mobile app is worse than GOG's lack of a mobile app? ok...).

For someone that incessantly whines about click-bait articles posted here every day... damn Cutter.
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21.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 10:05
21.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 10:05
May 21, 2015, 10:05
 
GOG is cool but Galaxy is way too barebones to use as a primary source of games IMO.
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20.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 07:36
20.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 07:36
May 21, 2015, 07:36
 
Frags4Fun wrote on May 20, 2015, 20:06:
Do they really not allow us to disable auto-updates? Is this true for all games? What about my modded Skyrim? I haven't been on PC much over the past 6 months so please excuse my ignorance on this.

Steam never, ever, did let you disable updates. The option used to be called do not update this game, but it only disabled auto updating in the background. If a game was patched, the next time you launched it, it would get patched. They finally changed the wording of the options to make it clear.

There is a way to keep Steam from updating a game though. You have to move it out of the SteamApps directory. You won't be able to run it from the Steam client, you'll have to run it from the game's .exe or a shortcut. If it's a Steamworks game, it will still require Steam to be running and if it's not running it will launch it. Steam will still recognize the game launch, provide the overlay, achievements, etc. just as usual, only now it can't patch it.
"You can either want something to be true, or you can want the truth. Pick one." - Mr. Diety
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19.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 06:32
19.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 06:32
May 21, 2015, 06:32
 
GOG has always been superior to Steam with the DRM free stance. Glad to see them put the boots to Steam even more.

The DRM loving publishers will eventually have to come kicking and screaming towards DRM free the more gamers put their money behind GOG.
18.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 02:42
18.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 02:42
May 21, 2015, 02:42
 
I like Steam. It's convenient. With that said I did buy the Witcher3 through GOG, and I avoid using Steam wherever possible for one simple reason. Competition in game distribution services is GOOD!

People saying "GOG is the best!" or "STFU STEAM RULES!" are clueless. These companies don't give a shit about you, they want to make you their bitch. So instead of doing your fanboi shit, wake the fuck up and do what's best for you THE GAMER, look for the best deal and spread that money around, in the end thats what benefits us gamers best.
I have a nifty blue line!
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17.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 21, 2015, 01:45
17.
Re: Op Ed May 21, 2015, 01:45
May 21, 2015, 01:45
 
Jerykk wrote on May 20, 2015, 22:57:
Steam certainly has its faults but it's still the best distribution platform out there (Galaxy included). For every bad feature, there are five good features. Galaxy is pretty barebones right now and has the potential to be good, but the DRM-free stance means it will never have anywhere near the selection of Steam. If you play a lot of games and many of those are AAA games, using Galaxy exclusively just isn't viable.

Exactly, and neither is using anything else "exclusively".
If you are a gamer, as in, someone who plays games as hobby, then you are where the games are. And they are on Steam and Consoles.. so monopoly this or console garbage that, if there is a good game and you are not playing it, then this ain't your hobby, now is it?
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16.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 22:57
16.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 22:57
May 20, 2015, 22:57
 
Steam certainly has its faults but it's still the best distribution platform out there (Galaxy included). For every bad feature, there are five good features. Galaxy is pretty barebones right now and has the potential to be good, but the DRM-free stance means it will never have anywhere near the selection of Steam. If you play a lot of games and many of those are AAA games, using Galaxy exclusively just isn't viable.
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15.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 22:35
15.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 22:35
May 20, 2015, 22:35
 
Frags4Fun wrote on May 20, 2015, 20:06:
Do they really not allow us to disable auto-updates? Is this true for all games? What about my modded Skyrim? I haven't been on PC much over the past 6 months so please excuse my ignorance on this.

All games, you have 3 options under Updates

"Auto Updating"
"Only Auto Update when I start the game"
"High Priority Auto Updating"

(paraphrased ;p)
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14.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 21:23
Quboid
 
14.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 21:23
May 20, 2015, 21:23
 Quboid
 
It's not a great article but I agree with the point about Steam almost being a monopoly, and that this is a bad thing. There's no aspect of PC gaming that they're not in: sales, mods, achievements, trading, reviews, forums, screenshot sharing, streaming, Linux, Mac, big screen gaming, controllers, and undoubtedly more. They're holding a hell of a lot of cards and we might not like how they play them.

The paid mods situation is the sort of thing I have feared so it was interesting to see that play out and for our reaction to get a good (IMHO) result. Paid mods will be back but that doesn't have to be bad thing and I hope Valve have and will learn a lot before doing this again.

I bought a game a while back via IsThereAnyDeal.com and was annoyed to discover that it wasn't a Steam key as I had assumed. That was messed up and I realised then that I was too dependent on one platform and one company's whims, even if I do find it very convenient.
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13.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 20:33
13.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 20:33
May 20, 2015, 20:33
 
I've yet to read a more petty, whiny & entitled "article" dissing Steam.

It reads like a scorned 12 year-old, angry at the shitty Moba community and deciding to blame Daddy Steam. And because he is "suffering" so much, referenced thesaurus.com and spent an evening searching keywords "steam sucks", then intentionally tried to sound like an entitled whiner shilling GoG.

I printed Rishi's face on my White Cloud 3-ply, so there's that...
Yours truly,

Axis
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12.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 20:06
12.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 20:06
May 20, 2015, 20:06
 
eRe4s3r wrote on May 20, 2015, 19:39:
HoSpanky wrote on May 20, 2015, 17:52:
eRe4s3r wrote on May 20, 2015, 17:37:
So the author only plays decade old games and a few INDY titles? (Next to Witcher 3..)

That's pretty much what I got out of it.

His complaints about Steam are....pretty weak, honestly. "I have to be online to set offline mode!" and "It updates my games without asking me!" (which you can turn off, but he apparently doesn't care to look into things like that). I'm assuming this is a guy with a laptop who travels a lot, and wants to be able to play games when he's on the road. That's fair, but even then, he could hotspot to his phone to set Steam to offline mode.
And, as already stated, the only recent game he'll have to play is Witcher 3. Considering his apparent lack of internet connectivity, A huge solo RPG is likely right up his alley, but once he DOES finish it...then what? It honestly feel more like this was cooked up by GOG themselves, considering how excited he is over a barely-functional games portal.

Addendum: You can't turn auto updates off anymore, only pause them, which prevents your game from starting if one is queued.

Do they really not allow us to disable auto-updates? Is this true for all games? What about my modded Skyrim? I haven't been on PC much over the past 6 months so please excuse my ignorance on this.
“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.” William Casey, CIA Director 1981-1987
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11.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 20:01
11.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 20:01
May 20, 2015, 20:01
 
Cutter wrote on May 20, 2015, 18:20:
His complaints about Steam are spot on and phrased mildly at best if you've ever had to deal with their shitty, near non-existent CS. The client is a pig, cumbersome and inelegant. It's a reflection of Valve's indifference, nay, contempt of their customer base. I too am one of the many that will be going GoG - and any other service or developer trying to go that route as well. And the nore support GoG gets the easier it will be for them to unseat Steam and power can start to swing back to consumers where it belongs.

Many as in less that will take to VR? When you like something "its the many", when you don't "gimmick, niche".

I would love to see GoG be an alternative place to buy games, competition good. But they need to work on their library.
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10.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 19:39
10.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 19:39
May 20, 2015, 19:39
 
HoSpanky wrote on May 20, 2015, 17:52:
eRe4s3r wrote on May 20, 2015, 17:37:
So the author only plays decade old games and a few INDY titles? (Next to Witcher 3..)

That's pretty much what I got out of it.

His complaints about Steam are....pretty weak, honestly. "I have to be online to set offline mode!" and "It updates my games without asking me!" (which you can turn off, but he apparently doesn't care to look into things like that). I'm assuming this is a guy with a laptop who travels a lot, and wants to be able to play games when he's on the road. That's fair, but even then, he could hotspot to his phone to set Steam to offline mode.
And, as already stated, the only recent game he'll have to play is Witcher 3. Considering his apparent lack of internet connectivity, A huge solo RPG is likely right up his alley, but once he DOES finish it...then what? It honestly feel more like this was cooked up by GOG themselves, considering how excited he is over a barely-functional games portal.

Addendum: You can't turn auto updates off anymore, only pause them, which prevents your game from starting if one is queued.
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9.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 19:11
9.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 19:11
May 20, 2015, 19:11
 
[VG]Reagle wrote on May 20, 2015, 19:00:
GOG can bite me. Their anti DRM stance is bullshit. DRM is great as it keeps cheaters from stealing games that publishers work hard to make. I have 100 games on steam and NONE of them have DRM problems. So there is no real DRM issue just alot of people that way to steal things.....

So basically GOG is selling that they offer stolen games easier then steam. No wonder you all like it....

I decided to stare at your avatar until I starting zoning out. The mouth starting moving and it spoke the words of this post in Vin Diesel's voice, and it all made sense.
8.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 19:08
8.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 19:08
May 20, 2015, 19:08
 
[VG]Reagle wrote on May 20, 2015, 19:00:
GOG can bite me. Their anti DRM stance is bullshit. DRM is great as it keeps cheaters from stealing games that publishers work hard to make. I have 100 games on steam and NONE of them have DRM problems. So there is no real DRM issue just alot of people that way to steal things.....

So basically GOG is selling that they offer stolen games easier then steam. No wonder you all like it....
What the hell is this comment.
7.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 19:04
nin
7.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 19:04
May 20, 2015, 19:04
nin
 
[VG]Reagle wrote on May 20, 2015, 19:00:
GOG can bite me. Their anti DRM stance is bullshit. DRM is great as it keeps cheaters from stealing games that publishers work hard to make. I have 100 games on steam and NONE of them have DRM problems. So there is no real DRM issue just alot of people that way to steal things.....

So basically GOG is selling that they offer stolen games easier then steam. No wonder you all like it....

You've gone borderline fredrickson.

6.
 
Re: Op Ed
May 20, 2015, 19:00
6.
Re: Op Ed May 20, 2015, 19:00
May 20, 2015, 19:00
 
GOG can bite me. Their anti DRM stance is bullshit. DRM is great as it keeps cheaters from stealing games that publishers work hard to make. I have 100 games on steam and NONE of them have DRM problems. So there is no real DRM issue just alot of people that way to steal things.....

So basically GOG is selling that they offer stolen games easier then steam. No wonder you all like it....
DON'T LIKE MY COMMENTS?!? THEN STOP RELEASING GARBAGE.
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