Epic Games Store - the console war comes to PC

[Zboj Lamignat]

Playing the game yourself is hardly a foolproof method for checking the quality as well. What if you play a game and like it, but your are a raging Internet dumbfuck with absolutely shit taste and the game is, in fact, horrible? Ever think about that?

That's what makes epic so good, nothing there, it's owners and fans are very upfront about their disdain for gamers, you won't use it because there's no point, it's absolutely risk free.

 

[cvv]

What if you play a game and like it, but your are a raging Internet dumbfuck with absolutely shit taste and the game is, in fact, horrible? Ever think about that?

And this thread is back to normal.

 

[Black Angel]

I refused to buy Dark Souls for years based on claims of a broken, unplayable port. Then I bought it and sure, the port was broken AF but it was still the best videogame experience I've had in my entire life.

I agree with you that it's definitely one of the best videogame experience to be had in one's entire life, but it still doesn't excuse the fact that it's an utterly broken, unplayable port. At least, if you have experienced much better port (Dark Souls 2 SofTS for example), I'm pretty sure no sane mind would ever be able to stand DaS: PtDE without DSFix.

EDIT: Oh and as for the original point of how useful game scores on Epic would be?

Except, in the context of comparing Epic and Steam, Steam doesn't even have 'game scores' on its game reviews. People might be putting their own scores on their reviews itself, but what Steam does is just a simple Recommended/Not Recommended verdict.

Look, the point is, at least in general usefulness reviews is the most direct way of knowing if a game is broken and, most importantly, how long time has passed since the game's release, brokenness found, devs promises, and if the game is ever fixed at all. The most prominent example I can give you in recent times is Insomnia: The Ark. You should go to the codex thread and see it for yourself. While you and I have the luxury of checking the Codex regularly, and thus able to keep tabs on crucial information like this most of the time, your average joe doesn't really know or perhaps don't even care about looking up about this stuff online other than, you guess it, Steam reviews (and additionally, game's forum itself on Steam). And what do we know, the general sentiment as can be seen observed in Steam reviews and discussion for the aforementioned game echoed that of the Codex's.

And as Rahdulan pointed out, it's also important to know if the reviewers background is more 'in-line' with your general taste. This is simple enough in the Codex, and also on Steam with a single click on a user's account (if it's not private).
Delving into a new genre is probably more difficult, but researching on Google is one way to start, or if there exist any other forums out there like Codex, but for other genres, you ask around there instead.

I hope everybody in this thread understands EVERY SINGLE GAME on EGS would have a "Terribru!1!!1" score, including the non-exclusives? Nobody has any illusions about that right?

I think you're the one who has illusions here.

 

[Dexter]

Steam has saved me a lot of money thanks to user reviews.

A review is what someone else thinks of a game. Why the eternal fuck should I care one tiny iota about that? Aggregate scores like Metacritic or Steam are just aggregates of irrelevant shit. The only valid way to check if a game is to your personal liking is to watch a gameplay video or download a demo, and even that is not super reliable. Trusting someone else's opinion has always been a mark of dementia and that's even notwithstanding shady shit like review bombing or review planting.

Steam reviews are some of the most informative aggregate scores for games available, some other systems like iMDB for movies are generally useful and helpful when it comes to sorting out stinkers and some general "watch if you like" or similar. But the problem with said systems (and especially the likes of MetaCritic, where user score is generally a lot more helpful than "critic" scores anyway, since no product will baselessly get low scores) is that anyone can post reviews.

This isn't the case for Steam where only verified customers can post their reviews along with time played and their opinion, and it's a lot closer to Amazon Verified Purchaser reviews. You can ignore the guy that is trying to tell you that a company changed the recipe of some foodstuff and added sugar and removed nuts and it doesn't taste anymore or the guy that bought a pair of clothing or electronics, made use of the warranty twice within a year and it still broke again, but you'll most likely be the fool for it. You can choose to take the advice or not. If something is Overwhelmingly or Mostly Negative there's usually a good reason. On the other hand if something is Overwhelmingly Positive, it usually did something right. Even if some games can get into the Mixed areas with some people complaining about things that are either stupid or not personally relevant and the games can still turn out great, nobody is forced to follow their advice.

Obviously nothing beats Personal Recommendations/Word of Mouth and Gameplay videos or Let's Plays.

On the other hand, I feel like we've been over this already and it kinda feels like Groundhog day all over again: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...e-war-comes-to-pc.125953/page-22#post-5989703

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Guys, don't you love the sheer thrill and risk of skimming through user reviews for a product you're potentially interested in? Whenever I scroll down on a steam store page, the hair on my head magically disappears and reappears on my chest, arms and back.

Personally, I have adventure running through my veins, but through my masculine empathy I'm glad that epic offers safe space for those of us who are more vulnerable.

 

[V_K]

Even facts don't matter.

What matters is how relevant are those facts FOR YOU. And the only way to determine that is actually play the game.

Normally, there are such useful things as experience and extrapolation. And the market is too saturated to care about missing out on something anyway.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

Steam has saved me a lot of money thanks to user reviews.

A review is what someone else thinks of a game. Why the eternal fuck should I care one tiny iota about that? Aggregate scores like Metacritic or Steam are just aggregates of irrelevant shit. The only valid way to check if a game is to your personal liking is to watch a gameplay video or download a demo, and even that is not super reliable. Trusting someone else's opinion has always been a mark of dementia and that's even notwithstanding shady shit like review bombing or review planting.

Steam reviews are some of the most informative aggregate scores for games available, some other systems like iMDB for movies are generally useful and helpful when it comes to sorting out stinkers and some general "watch if you like" or similar. But the problem with said systems (and especially the likes of MetaCritic, where user score is generally a lot more helpful than "critic" scores anyway, since no product will baselessly get low scores) is that anyone can post reviews.

This isn't the case for Steam where only verified customers can post their reviews along with time played and their opinion, and it's a lot closer to Amazon Verified Purchaser reviews. You can ignore the guy that is trying to tell you that a company changed the recipe of some foodstuff and added sugar and removed nuts and it doesn't taste anymore or the guy that bought a pair of clothing or electronics, made use of the warranty twice within a year and it still broke again, but you'll most likely be the fool for it. You can choose to take the advice or not. If something is Overwhelmingly or Mostly Negative there's usually a good reason. On the other hand if something is Overwhelmingly Positive, it usually did something right. Even if some games can get into the Mixed areas with some people complaining about things that are either stupid or not personally relevant and the games can still turn out great, nobody is forced to follow their advice.

Obviously nothing beats Personal Recommendations/Word of Mouth and Gameplay videos or Let's Plays.

On the other hand, I feel like we've been over this already and it kinda feels like Groundhog day all over again: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...e-war-comes-to-pc.125953/page-22#post-5989703

I usually also look at "time played" when looking at user reviews. You're always going to get the "0.45 hours played" review but I ignore those. I make my own mind up what I buy. But the user scores do help.

I mean if you listen to critic scores then I would never have played any Piranha Bytes games. Same goes for The Technomancer. "Games journalists" gave it shitty scores. But I loved it and still think it's an amazing game.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Even if they say "game's buggy af", how do you know you it's not just buggy for this particular dildo because he hasn't updated his Winblowz since the invasion of Kuwait, his card is overclocked to all fucks and he's running a dozen unsupported mods? And even if the game is glitchy how do you know you'd care or not? Maybe you could tolerate a few glitches bc the gameplay is grate. And maybe you wouldn't.

You can't take one review, positive or negative, as the gospel's truth but if the review section is painted red and most reviews bitch about bugs and glitches and the score is under 70%, well, there's a good fucking chance the game is buggy and glitchy.

 

[Tacgnol]

Even if they say "game's buggy af", how do you know you it's not just buggy for this particular dildo because he hasn't updated his Winblowz since the invasion of Kuwait, his card is overclocked to all fucks and he's running a dozen unsupported mods? And even if the game is glitchy how do you know you'd care or not? Maybe you could tolerate a few glitches bc the gameplay is grate. And maybe you wouldn't.

You can't take one review, positive or negative, as the gospel's truth but if the review section is painted red and most reviews bitch about bugs and glitches and the score is under 70%, well, there's a good fucking chance the game is buggy and glitchy.

Yeah, a single review calling something buggy? Take it with a pinch of salt. Whole review section? It's probably buggy as shit.

Besides, won't people just go back to posting '0' reviews on metacritic (and similar) if services like EGS don't have reviews?

 

[cvv]

You can't take one review, positive or negative, as the gospel's truth but if the review section is painted red and most reviews bitch about bugs and glitches and the score is under 70%, well, there's a good fucking chance the game is buggy and glitchy.

Even if they say "game's buggy af", how do you know you it's not just buggy for this particular dildo because he hasn't updated his Winblowz since the invasion of Kuwait, his card is overclocked to all fucks and he's running a dozen unsupported mods? And even if the game is glitchy how do you know you'd care or not? Maybe you could tolerate a few glitches bc the gameplay is grate. And maybe you wouldn't.

 

[Tacgnol]

You can't take one review, positive or negative, as the gospel's truth but if the review section is painted red and most reviews bitch about bugs and glitches and the score is under 70%, well, there's a good fucking chance the game is buggy and glitchy.

Even if they say "game's buggy af", how do you know you it's not just buggy for this particular dildo because he hasn't updated his Winblowz since the invasion of Kuwait, his card is overclocked to all fucks and he's running a dozen unsupported mods? And even if the game is glitchy how do you know you'd care or not? Maybe you could tolerate a few glitches bc the gameplay is grate. And maybe you wouldn't.

Why have any info on a game page then? After all, by this logic, it might not apply to you.

 

[Tehdagah]

Installed Epic store just now for Alan Wake since it is free and i always wanted to play it.
Games run when you press play. Don't see what this rage is all about.

Hipsters are upset because devs are accepting exclusivity deals with Epic. Devs aren't allowed to profit with the wrong* ways.

*something that existed for decades and nobody ever complained until now

 

[BlackAdderBG]

The devs are actually the retards in this situation, Epic will get their money back sooner or later. They are basically a publisher without actually risking money. I expect the indie shit to start complaining when after years on steam all their sales will go to Epic's pocket.

 

[Silentstorm]

Installed Epic store just now for Alan Wake since it is free and i always wanted to play it.
Games run when you press play. Don't see what this rage is all about.

Hipsters are upset because devs are accepting exclusivity deals with Epic. Devs aren't allowed to profit with the wrong* ways.

*something that existed for decades and nobody ever complained until now

Or, and this may come across as a shock to you, EGS is lacking features, no Linux support, accepts less payment options and also currencies making it so that some PC gamers genuinely can't buy games on EGS when they could in every single other store.

And the way EGS handles prices means some games just end up being more expensive on EGS than they would on GOG and Steam, like Ooblets, where a Malysian fan went to Discord to complain that as a Patreon supporter, he would now have to pay more money than he expected with the dev telling him to quit with his sob story because they won't give him a free copy...when the guy didn't ask for a free copy, wasn't insulting them, still said he was going to get the game and was just a bit annoyed they moved to a store where he would have to spend more than he had expected to pay since he became a Patreon supporter.

Then again, the Ooblets people have shown they have remarkable lack of PR skills.

 

[Drakron]

You can't take one review, positive or negative, as the gospel's truth but if the review section is painted red and most reviews bitch about bugs and glitches and the score is under 70%, well, there's a good fucking chance the game is buggy and glitchy.

Also its important to read the reviews, I always look at negative reviews because they will highlight problems were most positive will gloss over then.
The argument that reviews are pointless because they arent critical is a very loaded argument because that goes for both negative and positive reviews and removing then is saying "its better to be ignorant" because this is removing our ability to process information and reach a decision.

And I dont trust "professional reviews" not because of possible shilling but the fact developers are gaming the system like what happened with Morrowind were they set up a starting area with some unique quests that dont ever appear in the game again because they know most "professional reviewers" will just pay 1-3 hours of the game and write the review.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Or, and this may come across as a shock to you, EGS is lacking features, no Linux support, accepts less payment options and also currencies making it so that some PC gamers genuinely can't buy games on EGS when they could in every single other store.

And which of these affect you exactly?

I don't know why you can't just say you hate Epic because it's not Steam or because they're evil or whatever, but have to come up with some bullshit reasoning.
Waaah waaah Linux support (nobody cares) waah waah some PC gamers can't do this or that and I'm such a good person I'm losing nights over what some random PC gamers can or can't do.

And the way EGS handles prices means some games just end up being more expensive on EGS than they would on GOG and Steam, like Ooblets, where a Malysian fan went to Discord to complain that as a Patreon supporter, he would now have to pay more money than he expected with the dev telling him to quit with his sob story because they won't give him a free copy...when the guy didn't ask for a free copy, wasn't insulting them, still said he was going to get the game and was just a bit annoyed they moved to a store where he would have to spend more than he had expected to pay since he became a Patreon supporter.

And how is a retarded dev Epic's fault?
Ah well, right, of course, Epic is to blame for devs accepting money for exclusives, so Epic is to blame also for devs being morons.

 

[Zombra]

There's a difference between taking everything you read as the word of God and being able to discern useful information from it.

And how exactly are you doing that?

By using the human ability to recognize and respond to patterns. You have it too, my friend, whether you admit it or not.

Do you have a reliable way to divine if person XYZ is full of shit or not?

Again, information does not have to be an ironclad certainty to be useful.

You're already drowning in all sorts of uncertainties

You mean like with every single decision we make every day of our lives? Welcome to Earth, pal.

 

[Alienman]

And I dont trust "professional reviews" not because of possible shilling but the fact developers are gaming the system like what happened with Morrowind were they set up a starting area with some unique quests that dont ever appear in the game again because they know most "professional reviewers" will just pay 1-3 hours of the game and write the review.

I want to know more about this!

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

Epic is good so reviews are useless arguments ITT.

 

[Alienman]

The drama continues!

 

[Perkel]

They should troll the fuck out steamtards.

 

[Black Angel]

And still the Epic cucks insists on the narrative that anybody who don't condone Epic's bullshit are just haters and/or Steam Fanboy™

 

[DalekFlay]

It should be clear from Schreier's other galaxy brain comments in that twitter thread that he has no interest in broadening the market (he's spouting "Hi twitter I just learned about socialism what is this?" anti-capitalism nonsense right now).

Like a lot of far-left internet bullshit his opinions are all sourced in emotion. "Indie devs are entering a crowded market and often fail, this gives me a sad, we should alter things to make them all successes!" Same reason they want open borders, free stuff for all, no more debt, etc. etc. etc... it's all emotion, not realism or fact-based at all.

 

[Perkel]

And still the Epic cucks insists on the narrative that anybody who don't condone Epic's bullshit are just haters and/or Steam Fanboy™

Because they are. Watch epic store get updates to get more or less same features as Steam and faboys will still rage like nothing happened. Judging by rate of improvement Epic store will have same features by next year.

Butthurt isn't about Epic signing exclusives or lack of features. Butthurt is about Steam losing its monopoly which rustle fanboys jimmies. They fear Epic because Epic right now sleeps on money so they have real shot of removing Steam as default.

And the butthurt is delicious to watch Watching steam die is like best kind of present you can get for all those fucking years when you tried to play games and Steam shat the bed.

 

[Tehdagah]

Steam won't die though.

Or, and this may come across as a shock to you, EGS is lacking features, no Linux support, accepts less payment options and also currencies making it so that some PC gamers genuinely can't buy games on EGS when they could in every single other store.

Well, it took 9 years for Steam to implement my country's currency and payment with bank slips. Epic Store isn't as terrible as Steam was.

And the way EGS handles prices means some games just end up being more expensive on EGS than they would on GOG and Steam, like Ooblets, where a Malysian fan went to Discord to complain that as a Patreon supporter, he would now have to pay more money than he expected with the dev telling him to quit with his sob story because they won't give him a free copy...when the guy didn't ask for a free copy, wasn't insulting them, still said he was going to get the game and was just a bit annoyed they moved to a store where he would have to spend more than he had expected to pay since he became a Patreon supporter.

Link?

Epic is good so reviews are useless arguments ITT.

Steam reviews? They are almost as terrible as Metacritic reviews, especially when they have a consensus. Most of the reviews are just two or three lines of shallow compliments.