Mechwarrior 5 - Epic Games Store Exclusivity

[Neoiceman]

Maybe you shouldn't use the term platform in this context. It is miss leading, neither Steam nor Epic are platforms. PS4, PC or XBOX are platforms, the term platform in a IT context is used for Hardware (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing_platform).
And there is a huge difference between Platform exclusivity and Shop exclusivity. In terms of games one prevents you to play it on any hardware you own (PC, PS4 etc.) when it was exclusivly released for another platform. The other "just" forces you to use a certain shop but you could still play without paying for new hardware if you used another shop before.

Both is exclusiv but with completly different consequences for you as gamer.
Borderlands 3 is a nice example for this, it's Epic exclusive but not platform exclusive. So if you own a PC you are forced to buy it at Epic but can still play, if you own a PS4 you also can still play.
Horizon Zero Dawn would be another nice one. It was platform exclusive for PS4 so there is no legal way you can play it on your PC, you can't even buy it for PC.

When you still say both is the same, then i really don't know whats going on in your head. Because for me both are completly different exclusivity deals, one of them makes me angry, the other just annoys me. Guess which one makes me angry.

Console Wars were fought with platform exclusive stuff, again completly different then the stuff happening with Epic and Steam. Basically the same, but hugely different consequences for a PC gamer. No one prevents you from playing anything, as it happened when Sony and Microsoft went to war with all their exclusive stuff.

Aerm you are not right.
Steam = the ultimativ online gaming platform - thats what steam says
Origin = platform packed with great PC Games - thats what EA says
Uplay = details for this plattform - thas what Ubisoft says
EPIC = the games you buy on this platform ......... - thats what EPIC says

PS4 and X-Box in the first place are hardware and at the second an console or an platform to game or interact with others.
PCs in the first place are Hardware and in the second an plattform to use different softwares.
Steam, Epic and the others are in first place an software and at the second an platform to buy, download and play games or interact with others.

The therm platform has an wide area of definitions.

 

[Neoiceman]

Funny, most of those you mention I bought somewhere other than Steam..


For those that are their own games (Valve; Half-Life/Counterstrike/Portal/Team Fortress), they at least have been available from other places than Steam since they first released.


I'm not saying Steam is "the good guy", I'm saying Epic is boycott-worthy, because their tactics are anti-consumer. Steam at least does not prohibit developers from publishing on other platforms.


"The Steam platform is the largest digital distribution platform for PC gaming" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service))

You are right, you can buy them in so many places but you still can only play them on steam, in the end it dosent even matter, you are forced to play it on an specific platform and both systems are bad.

 

[smurfopax]

I come from IT, and i really don't care what marketing thinks it is called. A computing platform has a definition in the IT world, which i linked. When you can link me a definition which kind of platform their marketing is referring to you are back in the game. In the statements you linked platform is interchangeable with marketplace, shop etc. without changing the meaning of the sentence. That's not really a hard definition like i would call it. PC and PS4 are different computing platforms. It's harder in this sentence where the word platform actually has a defined meaning.

 

[stjobe]

You are right, you can buy them in so many places but you still can only play them on steam, in the end it dosent even matter, you are forced to play it on an specific platform and both systems are bad.

You can definitely play e.g. Half-Life without Steam; Steam didn't even exist when Half-Life was originally released.

PC and PS4 are different computing platforms.

And Steam and Epic Game Store are different distribution platforms, as are e.g. Playstation Network and XBox Live.

 

[smurfopax]

Ok as so often .... Flash isn't always a guy with a red pyjama , as technical guy i biased towards technical meaning. . But still distribution platform exclusive isn't really comparable to computing(hardware) platform exclusive, one is inconvenient the other stops you cold.

 

[Neoiceman]

Ok as so often .... Flash isn't always a guy with a red pyjama , as technical guy i biased towards technical meaning. . But still distribution platform exclusive isn't really comparable to computing(hardware) platform exclusive, one is inconvenient the other stops you cold.

What system is Stadia then?

 

[Neoiceman]

You can definitely play e.g. Half-Life without Steam; Steam didn't even exist when Half-Life was originally released.

Yes you are right, Steam came with CS not Halflife.

 

[smurfopax]

Stadia is the same category as a console just that Stadia comes without physical hardware. You can't use any of your existing games on it and have to rebuy them for Stadia. Other Streaming Services like Geforce Now at least let you use your existing games if supported, so in the context of games that's still the same platform. Google doesn't do much different from a technical view but decided to close their system up so by all means you could say Stadia is just another console without physical hardware or another computing platform in the context of gaming.

When you look at Stadia without games. It's just a Linux based hypervisor on standard hardware that can run a virtual computer which can run software (games) and present them to a remote device. Sure it's a little bit more complicated but in the end it's just that.

 

[Neoiceman]

Stadia is the same category as a console just that Stadia comes without physical hardware. You can't use any of your existing games on it and have to rebuy them for Stadia. Other Streaming Services like Geforce Now at least let you use your existing games if supported, so in the context of games that's still the same platform. Google doesn't do much different from a technical view but decided to close their system up so by all means you could say Stadia is just another console without physical hardware or another computing platform in the context of gaming.

When you look at Stadia without games. It's just a Linux based hypervisor on standard hardware that can run a virtual computer which can run software (games) and present them to a remote device. Sure it's a little bit more complicated but in the end it's just that.

There is one big problem on the one side you say consoles and PC are Platforms because "Hardware" and Steam and the others are not and yet you say Stadia is an Console without hardware. Hmm i think an console without Hardware is only Software and nothing more or less is Stadia for the consument, you dont need the Controller only the Googleaccount to play it on your Phone or you use K+M to play it.

 

[smurfopax]

It gets difficult when there is no physical hardware anymore. But we are discussing concepts.

 

[SpectralThundr]

There was a reason I did as well, as an Elite MechWarrior backer if that matters. It was because the money went to HBS. The money you pay EGS goes to EGS and not PGI. PGI has already sold "your" copy of the game to EGS, and have gotten paid for it. That's how EGS exclusive deals work; EGS buys a number of copies before release in return for exclusive access to the sales of the game for a period of time.

If it matters, I also helped fund MWO back in 2012, as a Legendary Founder. Because that money went to PGI and not to some publisher wanting to corner the market.

Now, I don't care if you buy the game from EGS or not (it's not as if I could stop you even if I wanted to), but I want you to do it with open eyes. You're not helping PGI here, or the greater cause of BattleTech gaming; you're helping Epic, and Epic alone.

Edit: Well, possibly you're helping yourself as well; you get to play the game sooner, after all

Higher sales means Microsoft might actually not sit on the IP for another 17 years again. That's not a bad thing. Are people really that upset over clicking a icon on their desktop that has it's target path tied to the EGS rather than Steam? What difference does it make?

 

[stjobe]

Are people really that upset over clicking a icon on their desktop that has it's target path tied to the EGS rather than Steam?

No, that's really, really, missing my point. Completely and utterly.

 

[SpectralThundr]

No, that's really, really, missing my point. Completely and utterly.

From the Mechwarrior 5 FAQ:

""Epic Games store plans to release modding support, including product-specific storefronts for mods, in early 2020."

LOL , this is the store that still hasn't got basic features like a shopping cart & proof of purchase (i.e. e-mailed invoices).....yet we're meant to believe they'll have Mod support within the next 8-9 months? Not unless they're prepared to take some of their overworked staff off of Fortnight.

I think some people forget how craptastic Steam was for a very long time and that they helped put the nail in the coffin in regards to PC retail releases existing. Why people praise Valve the way they do makes zero sense to me. A digital store front is a digital store front. For me I'm clicking an exe on my desktop to run a game, I couldn't care less which digital store it came from.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Sometimes a game is only a game, with no larger issues, considerations, concerns or other baggage to weigh it down...

...a complete escape. And Lord knows some of us need just that all too often. :bow:

 

[stjobe]

I think some people forget how craptastic Steam was for a very long time and that they helped put the nail in the coffin in regards to PC retail releases existing. Why people praise Valve the way they do makes zero sense to me. A digital store front is a digital store front. For me I'm clicking an exe on my desktop to run a game, I couldn't care less which digital store it came from.

I don't know why you keep quoting me when you completely ignore the point I've been making.

I do not care about how crappy or not-crappy Epic Game Store is as a store and launcher, that's not why I'm boycotting them. I am boycotting them because of their anti-consumer tactics of buying exclusive deals. PC gaming has been mostly spared these monopolistic tactics before EGS, and I really don't want to give them money because that only reinforces that exclusive deals are a good idea.

With Steam, the developers are free to put their games up on any other distribution platform from day one if they want to, with EGS they are contractually prohibited from doing this.

With Steam, devs approach Steam and say "We'd like to use your platform to distribute our game", and Steam says "Sure, we'll take 30% of sales".
With EGS, Epic approaches the devs and say "Here's X dollars if you sign this contract to not allow any other distributor to carry your game for Y months. Oh, and we'll take 12% of sales after Z sales, and 100% before that".

The difference should be obvious to anyone.

 

[Jade_Rook]

I see the difference, it just doesn't matter to me.

• Can I still get the games I want when they are Epic exclusive? Yes.
• Do I need to spend any extra money for them? No, Epic's market power isn't nearly strong enough to demand higher prices and there is no difference in hardware to worry about.
• Can I get in the same place that I have the majority of my games? No, and that is an inconvenience.
• Is that inconvenience substantial? No, I already have several games there (initial transition would likely be worse than my current situation. YMMV).
• Does Epic have all of the features that Steam does? No.
• Do I care about the features that Epic is missing? Pre-loading would be nice, but not essential and I don't care about the other missing features.
• Do I have a compelling reason not to use Epic? No.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

With new car sales we accept that to buy a Chevy, you go to a Chevrolet Dealer. For a Ford, you go to a Ford Dealer.

Such branding and sales practices are the norm and perfectly acceptable.

Steam’s share of the new PC Game Market is unprecedented and has been so for years and years. But because of its convenience I’ve come to accept it and largely refrain from commenting on it these days.

And while studios like HBS had the option to pay Steam their demand of 30% or not...


...but was “not” meeting Steam’s demand really a viable option for HBS?

Could HBS have legitimately done without Steam?



I don’t think so.
Steam has done well for itself. So well that it has positioned itself astride the game market like the Colossus of Rhodes. By virtue of its market share, Steam has made itself indispensable to all too many studios all too often over the years.

Given this, I don’t have a problem with games being sold exclusively on Epic for their first year.

I now have Epic Games Store and Launcher on my gaming laptop. And just as has proven true with our move here to Paradox forum with my purchase of Paradox titles, I am quite likely to buy additional Epic titles in the future.

Paradox Launcher.

Epic Launcher.

Steam.

Contributing toward a future where game studios have better options to bring their game to market, is IMO the Greater Good here.

 

[Beagá]

3 days using the thing and I already miss Steam.

While in Steam updates are VERY easy to check, in Epic it sucks, at least for MW 5. A bigger than 1gb patch. What is on it? Only God knows.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

3 days using the thing and I already miss Steam.

While in Steam updates are VERY easy to check, in Epic it sucks, at least for MW 5. A bigger than 1gb patch. What is on it? Only God knows.

They posted it immediately to the MW5 discord... brb


EDIT:

 

[Camicon Dachass]

They posted it immediately to the MW5 discord... brb


EDIT:
View attachment 531868

Which is fine for people that check in on the MW5 Discord, not so much for anyone that doesn't.