[Techspot] The State of PC Gaming 2019 ---interesting read---

[Space Lynx]

The State of PC Gaming in 2019

In 2019, more games flowed between PC and other platforms than ever before and we saw the titanic clash between Valve and Epic. PC gaming retains its...

www.techspot.com

Just a recap of all the interesting things in PC gaming. I found it to be an interesting read so I just wanted to share it here.

 

[64K]

There's a lot to discuss in this article but I will just mention 2 of the things that were touched on for now.

Steam marking review bombings as off topic. This is a good idea and necessary or otherwise it takes away the credibility of legitimate Steam User Reviews. Metacritic has the same problem. Some people get mad and review bomb a new game that they haven't even played like Metro Exodus for example because it was an Epic Exclusive. I don't even pay any attention at all to user reviews on Steam or Metacritic for this reason.

The game Rape Day removed from Steam. First of all there's no reason why a game about raping people during a Zombie Apocalypse should ever be made, much less Steam allowing it on their site to begin with. I'm not a prude. I have no problem with nudity in games, nude mods and sex in games but a rape game is just sick.

 

[Vario]

If Steam wants to retain customers in the wake of Epic Game Store Exclusives, they need to allow the old UI. After they changed the UI, my desire to use Steam dropped dramatically. Everyone I game with also hates that UI. I don't care about patiently waiting for the exclusivity period to end out of some misguided loyalty to steam, if the UI is this bad.

 

[Space Lynx]

If Steam wants to retain customers in the wake of Epic Game Store Exclusives, they need to allow the old UI. After they changed the UI, my desire to use Steam dropped dramatically. Everyone I game with also hates that UI. I don't care about patiently waiting for the exclusivity period to end out of some misguided loyalty to steam, if the UI is this bad.

I just use Small Mode, you can find it under "view". Very simplistic.

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

If Steam wants to retain customers in the wake of Epic Game Store Exclusives, they need to allow the old UI. After they changed the UI, my desire to use Steam dropped dramatically. Everyone I game with also hates that UI. I don't care about patiently waiting for the exclusivity period to end out of some misguided loyalty to steam, if the UI is this bad.

As someone who rarely uses the Steam app unless purchasing and wasting money on the marketplace and workshop, I want to understand what's the biggest gripe for you people?

 

[Space Lynx]

As someone who rarely uses the Steam app unless purchasing and wasting money on the marketplace and workshop, I want to understand what's the biggest gripe for you people?

For me, Steam is outdated. Steam backup has a long wait time on massive files. Where as if I just copy and paste a pre-downloaded game from say Uplay, to an offline HDD. When I do a clean install of OS someday, I can simply copy paste that folder back to the SSD quite fast, even 60-70gb files are almost instantly restored on Uplay, where as Steam just sits there for 10 minutes going "discovering files" sure I could do Steam backup, but that also is more time consuming than this Uplay way. so eh. Just feels outdated.

I do clean installs more often than most people though, so this is really a user specific complaint than an actual problem. I just think Steam is overrated as far as being ahead of the curve tech wise.

I also like that Uplays achievements let me unlock ingame stuff that money can't buy, like an outfit or a weapon, and my points accumulate across all games and let me be spend on any game I want. It's the first time in my life I have actually ever enjoys achievements, cause the rewards can actually be pretty cool sometimes if you save your points for the right game. Also nice that rich people can't just buy these unique unlocks. Makes it feel more worthy. Steam could do a volunteer based program, so companies are already required to create Steam badge images, etc etc... those that want to participate could have something they enroll in within Steam itself to make achievements more meaningful.

 

[erixx]

What makes me worry, apart from the unlocking, player (pardon, avatar) looks sections, and monetarization trend that interests me zero, is the inter-platform MP and inaccurate gaming. The other day in CoDMW the player list showed more console players (or is it gamepad players?) than PC (or mouse) players. I get busted over and over by them. Heresy! Must be aiming helpers!

 

[Deleted member 67555]

What makes me worry, apart from the unlocking, player (pardon, avatar) looks sections, and monetarization trend that interests me zero, is the inter-platform MP and inaccurate gaming. The other day in CoDMW the player list showed more console players (or is it gamepad players?) than PC (or mouse) players. I get busted over and over by them. Heresy! Must be aiming helpers!

This drives me nuts on CoD MW...
I could be wrong but it seems to me that console players get a 1/4 second advantage along with Aim Assist (aimbot).
I've watched many kill cams that show console players jumping and auto aiming around corners and getting kills before the PC player sees them come around the corner...
However aim assist doesn't help them in every game mode such as Search and Destroy and Cyber Attack

Also compared to Steam Battle.net's servers are absolute garbage.

 

[Frick]

As long as we're writing about Steam I have found a new hatred for it: If you connect to a local network without internet access and start steam offline mode will stop working. You enter into the endless loop where when choosing Offline mode at launch it'll just restart. Effectively killing Steam until you go online again. As I don't have internet at home this absolutely sucks. The idea was to use my desktop as a local media server but if Steam will just die whenever it finds a network connection that doesn't end up on the internet... Add to that the entirely diabolical behaviour of when having a network connection it locks down the games until they are updated even if you set the game to only update at launch.

I'm very much over Steam at this point, but for the games I already have on it I need it. Thinking about buying them on GOG and send an invoice to Valve, because they can buck all the fuckets in the world.

 

[c2DDragon]

No words about Shenmue III in this article which was a kickstarter advertising steam keys but turned to be an Epic Games Store exclusive game, fooling many fans including me. It's pretty bad to deal with consumers like hostages for profits. I know companies don't make games only by passion but for money too but sill !
The division 2 is a Ubi game so there was no point to talk about it, it's stupid I think to use a launcher to then use the Uplay launcher so...Steam or not, the idea is just stupid in the first place, if you want to play a Ubisoft game you buy it on Uplay
I don't like the idea of review bombing but I don't think consumers really care. They can read the real user reviews so it's not a big deal I think. People are not sheeps, I mean, not all, at least that's what I think.

The Epic Games Store miss many things. When there is a game update, you can't find any info, no forum. Time goes and it's still a borring market place.

About aim assist, in Red Dead Redemption Online you can turn the aimbot OFF switching the gamepad aim from normal to free on foot and on horse, making the players log into free aim lobbies, like in GTA Online. Rockstar can be seen as a poor little company sometimes with server lags like if they don't have money and all but they know to please PC gamers.

 

[kapone32]

It is interesting that they did not mention some of the biggest carrots for PC Gaming.

1. Epic: I see no mention that every Friday you get a new game.
2. I see no mention of Humble anything including Monthly
3. Steam is great but still has no live support for Steam issues.
4. AAA games are more expensive than ever.
5. Cyberpunk 2077 has an official release date.

 

[Vario]

About aim assist, in Red Dead Redemption Online you can turn the aimbot OFF switching the gamepad aim from normal to free on foot and on horse, making the players log into free aim lobbies, like in GTA Online. Rockstar can be seen as a poor little company sometimes with server lags like if they don't have money and all but they know to please PC gamers.

My understanding is they changed RDO so there are no free-aim lobbies regardless of that setting. The aimbot turned me off greatly, I played an hour and then never touched RDO again. Can you imagine emulating a controller with your mouse: you'd have super aimbot.

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

For me, Steam is outdated. Steam backup has a long wait time on massive files. Where as if I just copy and paste a pre-downloaded game from say Uplay, to an offline HDD. When I do a clean install of OS someday, I can simply copy paste that folder back to the SSD quite fast, even 60-70gb files are almost instantly restored on Uplay, where as Steam just sits there for 10 minutes going "discovering files" sure I could do Steam backup, but that also is more time consuming than this Uplay way. so eh. Just feels outdated.

I do clean installs more often than most people though, so this is really a user specific complaint than an actual problem. I just think Steam is overrated as far as being ahead of the curve tech wise.

I also like that Uplays achievements let me unlock ingame stuff that money can't buy, like an outfit or a weapon, and my points accumulate across all games and let me be spend on any game I want. It's the first time in my life I have actually ever enjoys achievements, cause the rewards can actually be pretty cool sometimes if you save your points for the right game. Also nice that rich people can't just buy these unique unlocks. Makes it feel more worthy. Steam could do a volunteer based program, so companies are already required to create Steam badge images, etc etc... those that want to participate could have something they enroll in within Steam itself to make achievements more meaningful.

Hear hear about ease of file discover in uPlay. That's the only thing I like about uPlay tbh. Played AC Origins recently from Humble Bundle that's uplay only key. I really wished it was Steam and had Steam achievements tbh. The uplay club things you can buy with the coins were very mediocre and ultimately I bought only the Ezio outfit and the extra Pyramid DLC.

I also frequently reinstall windows. Only time I had to mess with backup was... never. I format C drive, reinstall windows, reinstall steam, set steam game folders in D, E (ssd) and G, H partition (hdd) and the games automatically get detected and updated. If I need to wipe the whole SSD and HDD, I just reinstall the games with the 100 Mbps Steam CDN cache speed I get.
Otherwise my only issue is how horrendous it is to navigate through Steam inventory and trying to buy things from the marketplace. Plus the badges section should be tied with inventory imo.

As long as we're writing about Steam I have found a new hatred for it: If you connect to a local network without internet access and start steam offline mode will stop working. You enter into the endless loop where when choosing Offline mode at launch it'll just restart. Effectively killing Steam until you go online again. As I don't have internet at home this absolutely sucks. The idea was to use my desktop as a local media server but if Steam will just die whenever it finds a network connection that doesn't end up on the internet... Add to that the entirely diabolical behaviour of when having a network connection it locks down the games until they are updated even if you set the game to only update at launch.

I'm very much over Steam at this point, but for the games I already have on it I need it. Thinking about buying them on GOG and send an invoice to Valve, because they can buck all the fuckets in the world.

Just turn off internet adapter through control panel. Seems like a niche case scenario. My another gripe with Steam (and also other launchers) is that it can't go online if internet comes back in the middle of playing. I always use the built-in browser to pass time during long load or unskippable boring cutscenes.

Speaking of too much gripe, EGS lost my Control installation. Meaning the game's installed, takibg up space. But EGS wants me to install it again to play. Luckily for some reason you can play Control even if EGS is turned off. Is it gog lite or gog supercharged? (since gog has so little AAA games)

 

[c2DDragon]

My understanding is they changed RDO so there are no free-aim lobbies regardless of that setting. The aimbot turned me off greatly, I played an hour and then never touched RDO again. Can you imagine emulating a controller with your mouse: you'd have super aimbot.

Sorry for the delay but if you switch your gamepad settings from normal to free aim on foot and on horse you will play RDO in free aim lobbies, don't hesitate to do so. It seems weird cause you have to switch the controller settings but you will use a mouse. It really works and sends you in free aim lobbies.

Red Dead Online: How To Play On Free-Aim Lobbies & Why You Should | PC Multiplayer Guide - Gameranx

Change the way you play and access a secret lobby in Red Dead online.

gameranx.com

 

[FordGT90Concept]

If Steam wants to retain customers in the wake of Epic Game Store Exclusives, they need to allow the old UI. After they changed the UI, my desire to use Steam dropped dramatically. Everyone I game with also hates that UI. I don't care about patiently waiting for the exclusivity period to end out of some misguided loyalty to steam, if the UI is this bad.

I have to agree. I'm finding myself...uninterested at Steam's sales. I mean, that's not new...it's been a growing snowball over the years:
1) Publishers wised up to sales events so sales are slow and cautious rather than bombastic like they were in 2010-2012. Steam sales events now, my first thought isn't what to buy, it's how is Steam going to annoy me now?
2) Valve is never ready for opening day of sales events.
3) Valve's customer support is only one notch up from non-existant.
4) The fact the Publisher only gets 70% of a sale on a completely digital platform, while fantastic in 2005, is robbery today. The world has enough starving developers; Steam went from being part of the solution to part of the problem.
5) Changing Friends UI. Now it pops up in the game overlay ALWAYS. There's no way to be rid of it.
6) Valve screwed over indies in response to EGS and they "fixed it" by screwing them over more. Starving devs apparently aren't starved enough, according to Valve.
7) New UI is slow and clunky with a library of 100s of games. It scores a D, at best, on usability. Something pratical, like a context link to browse game folder still doesn't exist. That said, every launcher UI is pretty crappy when you get a library of 100s of games. I don't like any of them.

The UI definitely wasn't the worst thing Valve did but it might as well be the final straw that broke that camel's back. I just don't want anything to with Steam any more unless I must because it's exclusive.

I think the next game I will buy is probably Rebel Galaxy Outlaw on EGS. I don't love EGS but the game is exclusive to that store front, EGS is offering a $10 coupon, it's indie, I want to support them, and EGS only keeps 12% of what I pay. All those facts considered, I'll get over the fact that I don't really care for EGS either.

The only reason why these stores and publishers exist is to connect gamers to developers.



I found the TechSpot article pretty good. There's a lot of indie PC exclusives they're overlooking though (like Rebel Galaxy Outlaw). Sure, they aren't AAA but AAA can only turn a profit if they cast a wide net. They excessively talk up the Nintendo Switch and VR. VR isn't going to "take off" just because there's a Half-Life spin off released. Steam's own data says less than 1% of machines have a VR headset and unless their costs--but not quality--plummets, it's not going to see mainstream use. That fails basic economics tests so yeah, wishful thinking today as much as it was the day Rift debuted. VR is a novelty and it will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Luckily for some reason you can play Control even if EGS is turned off.

The good news for you is if the majority of the games I have bought on EGS are any indication, many of the games only require EGS for install and update. You can play those games just by the executable.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Yeah...EGS has no inherit DRM. Steam doesn't either. In both cases...and especially Steam games, the developer puts hooks in the game to check that EGS/Steam launched the game and that SteamAPI is logged in. What Remains of Edith Finch does this on EGS so even though EGS shouldn't be required to run the game, the game makes a stink if it wasn't launched from EGS. It's a primitive DRM but acts like a DRM anyway. Games on Steam can be coded to work without Steam as well (like Consortium) but in practice, most need Steam running because of the hooks.


I hate that this thread is digging up old crap about EGS and Steam that have been thoroughly hashed in other threads. The topic of the OP's link covers a lot more than that. That said, I still can't get over how many times the author mentioned Switch...in an article about PC.

Games flowed in the opposite direction too, with the Nintendo Switch opening its doors to countless indie games that traditionally would have been PC-only affairs.

Author apparently didn't know about Xbox 360 having games like Super Meat Boy and Braid. Almost every PC indie game ended up on there too. Switch is not new. Hell, I even have World of Goo via Wii Store on my Wii. That was an indie PC game turned-indie too. PC-only...tends to be a prototyping playground now: games that aren't ready or unable to get published by anyone.

The Switch was a second home for many of the year’s best indie PC games, such as Baba Is You and Untitled Goose Game.

They're right on "Baba Is You" but "Untitled Goose Game" is on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well. It is no way unique to Switch...just catching a wide net. Nintendo doesn't deserve praise for a decision developers/publishers made, do they? Everyone is trying to make money and the more platforms you're on, the more money you make. Presence, impressions, and exposure.

 

[Liquid Cool]

I'm not sure about pc gaming in 2019....but I'm going in to 2020 100% Steam free. I've decided to forego the future use of any software that carries an End User License Agreement. For some reason...I feel better when I live this way. My conscience feels clearer...I'm running with it and frankly I've never been happier.

Best Regards,

Liquid Cool

 

[Vayra86]

Nice article! Im a bit surprised how people think things change overnight or how they think customer demand changes overnight... it really does not. PC has been declared dead how often now? And then came esports and minecraft and fortnite.. pubg... we have had a spree of killer apps on PC lately. Streaming... PC leads the charge and consoles get the low res budget version of it. VR, same thing. Social connectivity and reach and integration? PC has the best set of cards.

The innovation of the open PC platform will always be unstoppable because its merit based by design; create sonething nice and people want it - and WILL get it, direct or indirectly. Modding for example. They also break every commercial trick in the book. A great and necessary counterweight to keep corporate on its toes.

Another few examples: game keys and price competition. Steam vs EGS and all the free content you can play through it... name me one console or even mobile OS that has ever offered so much wealth in entertainment...

What makes me worry, apart from the unlocking, player (pardon, avatar) looks sections, and monetarization trend that interests me zero, is the inter-platform MP and inaccurate gaming. The other day in CoDMW the player list showed more console players (or is it gamepad players?) than PC (or mouse) players. I get busted over and over by them. Heresy! Must be aiming helpers!

Its CoD what the hell do you expect, get the memo already... its a kids shooter long past expiry date and overloaded with monetization BS, which includes a yearly reset in the shape of a sequel.... they dont give a shit about level playing field all that matters is maxing the player count for year one, and on to the next one. It really is a culmination of all the bad things on console infesting the PC, trying to sell a new normal. Battlefield is similar. Cash cows.