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The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

Peachcurl

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"GOGfags own their games" is false.
If you don't believe me, try selling "your" games. Last time I checked, being able to sell something was a pretty important part of owning it.

You're licensing the games.

Fair enough. But since you can't really sell torrented games either, we're shit out of luck.
 

Hirato

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Codex 2012 Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I had purchased Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon back in 2013, and ubisoft's dogshit launcher actively prevented me from playing it.
I had sought a refund, which steam would not do at that time, even though I had yet to activate the key.

It was not until October 2017 where I could finally play the game.
I still hold a grudge over it.
Fuck ubisoft.
 

Tacgnol

Shitlord
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Grab the Codex by the pussy RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
I had purchased Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon back in 2013, and ubisoft's dogshit launcher actively prevented me from playing it.
I had sought a refund, which steam would not do at that time, even though I had yet to activate the key.

It was not until October 2017 where I could finally play the game.
I still hold a grudge over it.
Fuck ubisoft.
Ubi are always at the cutting edge of anti-consumer actions and generally doing everything possible to enrage their customers.

EA is always taking notes.
 

Grim Monk

Arcane
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
Messages
1,217
I personally view Steam/GOG/(Other Stores) simply as way of giving money to developers who I consider worthy of patronage.

That is really the only good reason to "Pay for Product".
"Fair pay for GOOD WORK."

That said it would be preferable for them have a direct option rather then sticking with DRMed Storefronts.
Using DRM is sign of cowardice and an admission of holding your own work to be of little value.

Due to this reason I have always had a moral disagreement with Valve.
I understand that pushing the traditional publishers to realize the that digital distribution was viable probably required pandering to their paranoia.
But consistently DRMing their own works (Half Life/Portal) and not pushing a option within Steam for willing developers to distribute DRM free backups is moral failure.
 
Last edited:

Hirato

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But consistently DRMing their own works (Half Life/Portal) and not pushing a option within Steam for willing developers to distribute DRM free backups is moral failure.
While Valve will insist that products on steam use steamworks, using it does not necessarily tie it to steam or even DRM it.

If the developers don't insist on it, you can easily run it standalone; SteamAPI_Init() will fail however, which means the steam api functions will be unavailable and it might hit paths that crash (e.g. the game doesn't do a null test when you unlock a cheevo).
it's no different to running SDL_Init() and encountering a failure because you wanted DirectX on Linux.

However, I believe most devs make use of the SteamAPI_RestartAppIfNecessary() function, which will ensure it goes via steam, primarily to ensure that features like the overlay, matchmaking, and cloud saves are available.
But that is trivial to bypass through replacing the dlls with a stubbed version.
 

Peachcurl

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:positive:

https://www.gamesradar.com/four-more-ubisoft-games-affected-by-delistings-on-steam/

"Only DLCs and online features will be affected by the upcoming decommissioning," Ubisoft elaborates. "Current owners of those games will still be able to access, play or redownload them. Our teams are working with our partners to update this information across all storefronts and are also assessing all available options for players who will be impacted when these games’ online services are decommissioned on September 1st, 2022."
 

Infinitron

I post news
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/35143931/view/5833861856894612379
Experiment 14: Discovery Queue Update
Making it even easier to discover games on Steam, from top-sellers to new titles

Today's new Steam Labs experiment launches an updated format for the Steam Discovery Queue, creating a more focused experience that makes it easier to explore the games that Steam recommends for you.

You can give the new queue experience a try right here, or you can always find it on the Steam Labs page.

Open The New Discovery Queue

What is the Steam Discovery Queue?
Originally launched in 2014, the Steam Discovery Queue gives players a way to step through a personalized set of recommended games one at a time. To date, 115 million players have used the Steam Discovery Queue, viewing a combined total of 18 billion game store pages.

What is new about this experiment?
Today's update makes it easier to see key details about each game, and to flip through a queue of games faster than before.

250d6756f15c4c81c0f41ec4370f7cd0c0461a19.png


Here are the highlights from this update:
  • Launch into the queue without leaving the page you are on
  • Simplified presentation of key details about each game to give you a taste of what that game is about
  • See why each game is being recommended specifically to you; maybe it's because you have friends who play it, or it's similar to other games you play, for example
  • Add a game to your wishlist with the click of a button or view the game's full store page for a more in-depth view
  • Ignore games that just aren't your jam. We'll make sure to hide them in the future.


This update brings a whole new presentation to the discovery queue, but we're not done yet. We're launching it in Steam Labs because we'd like your feedback to help shape this new format and the features it includes.

A couple of things still under way that we plan to roll out in the future:
  • Coming soon... new queue display on the Steam homepage
  • Coming soon... launch the new queue from any store page
  • Coming soon... optimized for all screen sizes from desktop to mobile to tablet
  • Coming soon... full support for gamepad UI on Steam Deck


Why now?
We've been working on updating various areas of Steam to work better across a growing range of devices including desktop, mobile, tablets, and now Steam Deck. For the Discovery Queue, we found that we needed a new approach to how it works so that it can be more easily navigated on a variety of devices and to make for a better experience overall.


About Steam Labs
Every year, we create new experiments around discoverability, video, machine learning, and more. You know who we thought might enjoy seeing them? Everyone.

With Steam Labs experiments, you can try, share, and break potential new features, while we figure out what to keep and what to scrap. Share your feedback with the developers and designers working on these features and help shape the future of Steam.

Check out all experiments on the Steam Labs page or drop us some feedback in the Steam Labs discussion boards
 

somerandomdude

Learned
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May 26, 2022
Messages
650
I don't bother buying games directly from steam anymore, and buy keys off 3rd party websites and activate them on steam, because Valve doesn't get 1 cent from the transaction. Steam moderators are a bunch of pedophile scum, and I'd say that likely extends all the way up into Valve's upper management. They're a bunch of woke faggots based outside of Seattle. Valve can go to hell along with Facebook, Twitter, and all the other hyper woke tech companies.
 

somerandomdude

Learned
Joined
May 26, 2022
Messages
650
I finally decided to pull the plug on steam, and it's something I've considered doing for years now, so this wasn't a spontaneous/rash decision, but a well considered one. There's basically nothing in my library that I'd even care about replaying, it's all stuff that's one-and-done games.


deleted.jpg
 

somerandomdude

Learned
Joined
May 26, 2022
Messages
650
Anyone here who's "based" who has posted on steam already knows what the deal is, so it shouldn't need to be explained, but is for the browsing woke retards where I channel my inner Vatnik + Wumao.

(This is from way back in April)

garbomoderation.jpg


Political discussions aren't supposed to be allowed, but it's OK to criticize woke politically approved groups without moderation, but the moment you challenge their bullshit, it's "inappropriate" and censored. The moderation on Steam is at least as bad as facebook, twitter, gamefaqs, youtube.

And this isn't just one case, I literally got dozens and dozens of examples of stuff like this. At first I was like fuck it, I don't care, I'll just stop buying stuff off the steam store, and get 3rd party keys (100% confirmed steam doesn't make a dime here), but eventually I started questioning whether I actually needed their services any longer. And maybe some of you should as well.
 

Sentinel

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Ommadawn
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/6232436041608114695
New Rules For Graphical Asset Capsules
What can and cannot be included on your graphical asset capsules in the Steam Store and Library
It's our goal to make it as clear and straightforward as possible for customers to find games to buy and play on Steam. Recently, we've noticed more text, award logos, and even review scores being included by game developers in their graphical asset images. This made us realize our guidelines haven't been as clear as they should be. As a result of not having clearly-defined rules, we've seen additions to graphical assets that are creating a confusing and sometimes even inaccurate experience for customers.

For example, some game logos themselves have become so small that it's hard for players to tell what the name of the game is. In other cases, graphical asset images are so cluttered with award logos and ratings that it is distracting and hard to read. Some capsules include review scores that are no longer accurate. We also see that in most cases this additional text on assets is presented in English language only, isolating much of the Steam audience that doesn't speak English.

01715a0a7a3463ea4f77e651d6aa63ec13bb4c1e.jpg


We understand that developers want to communicate with their players about the quality of their games, and Steam already has spaces on game store pages to present most of this information. Press review quotes, press review scores, and special awards each have dedicated spaces on Steam store pages where it can be presented consistently and where customers can expect to find that information. You can check out our Store Page Accolades documentation for details.

We want to make sure our guidelines are as clear as possible for what should and shouldn't be presented on graphical assets, so today we're clarifying some existing rules and
adding some new rules that will go into effect Sept 1
. The complete rules can be found on our official Graphical Asset Rules page.

We've also included a copy of the rules here for your convenience:

Store Graphical Asset Rules
NEW!

Store graphical assets are the banner images (called 'Capsules' in Steamworks) that represent your game throughout the store. You can find detailed specifications and templates in our Store Graphical Assets documentation.

  1. Content on base graphical asset capsules on Steam is limited to game artwork, the game name, and any official subtitle. For clarity, this means:
    1. No review scores
      of any kind, including Steam reviews or external news sources
    2. No award names
      , symbols, or logos
    3. No discount marketing copy
      (eg. no "On Sale Now" or "Up to 90% off" text)
    4. No text or imagery promoting a different product
      . This includes no marketing of sequels or other titles in the same franchise.
    5. No other miscellaneous text
      .
  2. We understand that partners are excited to talk about large updates and seasonal events, and customers are often excited to see these reflected in the game capsules. While this content is not allowed in base capsule assets (see rule #1 above), we do support this use case through Capsule Artwork Overrides with the following constraints:
    1. Must use Artwork Overrides
      - When including text on a graphical asset, this MUST be uploaded as an Artwork Override with a length limit of one month.
    2. Must localize any text
      - Any text included on a graphical asset MUST be localized into at least the same set of languages supported by the game.
    3. Only to describe new content
      - The only acceptable additional text on a game capsule is words describing a major update to the game content, a new seasonal event, battle pass, DLC, or similar new content for the game.

Library Graphical Asset Rules
Library graphical assets are the set of images that represent your game within the Steam library. These are comprised of a vertical capsule, a hero image and a logo. You can find detailed specifications and templates in our Library Assets documentation. Each of these assets has slightly different content and uses:
  1. Library Capsule
    - this image must include your game logo. It can also include your game's subtitle if appropriate. No other text should be present on this capsule.
  2. Library Hero
    - this image should only contain artwork. There should be no words at all in this asset.
  3. Library Logo
    - this image is only your game's logo on a transparent background. There should be no other words in this asset.

General Graphical Asset Rules
In addition to the above specific rules, all capsules on Steam must adhere to these basic rules:
  1. Capsule images must contain a readable product logo/name and have accurate dimensions.
  2. All capsule images (store and library) must have PG-13 appropriate artwork.

Example
What is appropriate use of text on store capsules? Tastefully promoting your recent update or new content is okay on store capsules, as long as you use a Temporary Artwork Override to do so and localize the text into languages supported by your game. See rules above for details.

1d023ccfcc6dbc3ee1103a18fcf35e57612ff97d.jpg


Rules Effective Sept. 1, 2022
As a reminder, these new rules go into effect September 1, 2022and we ask that all game developers review their graphical assets and make any changes to bring them inline with these new rules.

You can review your set of graphical assets by visiting 'edit store' for your game and click the 'graphical assets' tab. Note: check if you have any active Artwork Overrides, as you may need to update those as well.

Any game not adhering to these rules may have limits to visibility within the Steam store and will be ineligible for featuring in official Steam sales and events.
 

Syl

Cipher
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
744
New Rules For Graphical Asset Capsules
Great news. I was becoming increasingly annoyed with these shit game logos.

I never stop to be amazed by Steam for "doing the right thing", quite rare for such a big company in the current times.
 

Ezekiel

Arcane
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
5,371
It's so irritating that Steam has no way to remember VPN locations, so that when you switch from your country to another, you don't have to enter your password again. I don't even know my password. Too many passwords to remember nowadays, so I usually open a password-protected zip archive and copy them. Most platforms and websites don't disable the automatic sign-in when you switch locations.
 

pakoito

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Messages
3,086
It's so irritating that Steam has no way to remember VPN locations, so that when you switch from your country to another, you don't have to enter your password again. I don't even know my password. Too many passwords to remember nowadays, so I usually open a password-protected zip archive and copy them. Most platforms and websites don't disable the automatic sign-in when you switch locations.
Real grognards use a password manager
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
It's so irritating that Steam has no way to remember VPN locations, so that when you switch from your country to another, you don't have to enter your password again. I don't even know my password. Too many passwords to remember nowadays, so I usually open a password-protected zip archive and copy them. Most platforms and websites don't disable the automatic sign-in when you switch locations.
highly recommend you start using a password manager, not even just for remembering your password but so you never use the same one more than once. You just need to remember your master password.
https://keepassxc.org/ is a great one
not using a password manager is dangerous to security, but so is using a cloud-based one like lastpass or whatever. You can keep your password file from keepassxc backed up on a cloud service because it's encrypted btw.
 

Ezekiel

Arcane
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
5,371
It's so irritating that Steam has no way to remember VPN locations, so that when you switch from your country to another, you don't have to enter your password again. I don't even know my password. Too many passwords to remember nowadays, so I usually open a password-protected zip archive and copy them. Most platforms and websites don't disable the automatic sign-in when you switch locations.
highly recommend you start using a password manager, not even just for remembering your password but so you never use the same one more than once. You just need to remember your master password.
https://keepassxc.org/ is a great one
not using a password manager is dangerous to security, but so is using a cloud-based one like lastpass or whatever. You can keep your password file from keepassxc backed up on a cloud service because it's encrypted btw.
How does keeppassxc work with programs like Steam? I only see a place for a URL. Do you have to figure out the system path to the right Steam file and put it in the URL place?
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
It's so irritating that Steam has no way to remember VPN locations, so that when you switch from your country to another, you don't have to enter your password again. I don't even know my password. Too many passwords to remember nowadays, so I usually open a password-protected zip archive and copy them. Most platforms and websites don't disable the automatic sign-in when you switch locations.
highly recommend you start using a password manager, not even just for remembering your password but so you never use the same one more than once. You just need to remember your master password.
https://keepassxc.org/ is a great one
not using a password manager is dangerous to security, but so is using a cloud-based one like lastpass or whatever. You can keep your password file from keepassxc backed up on a cloud service because it's encrypted btw.
How does keeppassxc work with programs like Steam? I only see a place for a URL. Do you have to figure out the system path to the right Steam file and put it in the URL place?
you just copy the password to your clipboard

it does more than passwords btw, it supports 2FA authorization which includes steamguard: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/how-to-setup-2fa-on-your-desktop.139952/
since the last part about steamguard in the post I've added it to my keepassxc and it works fine
 

J_C

One Bit Studio
Patron
Developer
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
16,947
Location
Pannonia
Project: Eternity Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
I finally decided to pull the plug on steam, and it's something I've considered doing for years now, so this wasn't a spontaneous/rash decision, but a well considered one. There's basically nothing in my library that I'd even care about replaying, it's all stuff that's one-and-done games.


deleted.jpg
Manners maketh man.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/3335498663100828299
New Steam Mobile App in beta now
Today we’re starting a limited beta of the updated Steam Mobile App. We’ve rebuilt the app on a new framework and modernized the design. (2015 called and wanted their app back.) You’ll still be able to browse the store, get Steam Guard codes, and confirm trades, but now the app comes with QR code sign in, smarter notifications, an improved Library, and multi account support.

Why are you doing a beta?
The sooner we get your feedback on a product, the better. So when we’re far enough along, we ask invested Steam users to try something out and provide feedback. This helps us test our assumptions, learn what you like and don’t like, and find things that need to be fixed. This is especially important when the app can be used on so many different phones and devices.

Who should join the beta?
You should join the beta if you already use the Steam Mobile App and you’re willing to provide your feedback on the update. Join this Steam group for instructions on how to install the update and how to tell us what you think. Per Apple guidelines: iOS participants will be limited to 10,000 and will need to install TestFlight.

What if I can’t join the beta?
If the beta slots are full, you can still join the group and chime in. We’d like to hear from you!

What’s coming next?
We’ll continue adding people to the beta and improving features until we’re ready to push the update out to everyone.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth


We have new art from Half-Life 2: Episode 3, Half-Life 3, Let 4 Dead 3, and Stars of Blood, recovered from Valve's offices when they were moving from the largest collector of Valve memorabilia.

More information on this find will be published as soon as possible. If you are interested, feel free to subscribe to the channel. Thanks.
 

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