Steam Thread

[spatular]

my top tag:

Bullet Hell

[radiofloyd]

I created a group so I could be a curator:

http://store.steampowered.com/curator/6864479/

Please follow.

[DANGERMAN]

following

[Hendo]

My tags are pretty accurate:

Co-Op

FPS

Loot

Multiplayer

Shooter

Although that's the thing that's on the bottom left, there's a different list by "For You" on the Store page.

Co-Op

Action

FPS

Indie

Adventure

Which is more accurate. So I'm guessing that the one on the bottom left is based purely on either the last game you played or the game you've played the most of recently.

[DANGERMAN]

I'm on my phone so I can really post the full details, not that anyone seems to know the full details, but Ubisoft have pulled all their upcoming games from Steam

Their recent stuff has all had uplay tied to it, now it seems like uplay and origin are your only option, even if you're buying from gmg and the like

The general train of thought is that Ubisoft want Valve to take less of a cut, certainly they seem to want as much profit as possible because the games were listed for the same price as the console versions were selling for

[Sly Reflex]

They will sell less, in the long run they will make less money because they won't get the same exposure as what steam can give them.

I hate using uplay, the biggest waste of time. None of it benefits the player, it's absolute fucking rubbish.

[DANGERMAN]

I don't have a huge problem with uplay per se, and I don't begrudge Ubisoft from having their own service like some do, but fuck their pricing

And yeah, the likes of Far Cry 4 not being on steam just means lost sales and revenue

[Sly Reflex]

People will still play it. They'll just pirate it instead. I can't say I'd blame them either, like I said there's no benefits to the consumer.

I understand they want to have control, but it should be done in the same way companies like gearbox do it. The golden keys and other promotions allows you to opt in to a service that looks at how the player plays and can base new tweaks or future designs on how people are playing.

Developer only distribution isn't a good business model for the consumer. It's unlikely that's ever going to chance.

[radiofloyd]

Steam has introduced a new service called Steam Broadcasting that allows players to watch their friends play games with the click of a mouse.

When you see a friend is in a game - either from their profile or your Friends List - you'll see a button that says "watch game." Click it and voila! You can eavesdrop on their good time.

In order to give Steam Broadcasting a go you and your friends need to opt into the Steam Client Beta. To do this, simply go into your settings menu and change your "Beta Participation" to "Steam Beta Update."

Steam users will be able to select who gets to watch their games, with options for anyone, friends only, only friends that you invite, or set it so friends can request to watch but you'll need to accept before they gain access. The first time you get a viewing request you'll be presented with the broadcasting options.

Players will be able to request that their friends watch them, too, should they be so inclined.

Right now the service only includes livestreams, so you can't save your footage. Thus if a tree falls in The Forest and there's no one there to watch, did it really happen?

Steam Broadcasting is currently only supported through the Steam Client on Windows 7 and 8, but Mac and Linux support will be added later.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-12-02-steam-now-lets-you-watch-your-friends-play

This is going to be huge surely?

[Cyberpunk]

I've just made an MFGamers community Steam group, and sent some invites. You can add reviews, recommendations, etc.

[DANGERMAN]

I've just made an MFGamers community Steam group, and sent some invites. You can add reviews, recommendations, etc.

I've moved this post out of the shout thread to here because it's already lost in there.

That said I didn't get an invite

edit: There already is an mfgamers Steam group started and subsequently ignored by Jim

[Sly Reflex]

I wasn't invited either, so I sent him a message and he apologised, but still didn't send an invite. Something's fucky.

[Jimboxy]

I thought I set up one of those.

[DANGERMAN]

you fucking cunt

[Cyberpunk]

OMG LOL. Shall we just ignore it now. I sent invites a couple of times, and sent one to Sly after he messaged me. The light knows whats happening there.

[radiofloyd]

Paid mods removed from Skyrim, that didn't last long.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-28-bethesda-removes-paid-mods-in-skyrim

[radiofloyd]

Refund for any reason within 14 days if you've played the game for less than 2 hours.

Steam now offers refunds on game purchases for any reason, so long as consumers request it within 14 days of purchase and have played the title for less than two hours.

"Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it," Valve noted in its announcement.

This is a major change for PC's most popular gaming distribution platform, which has often butted heads with the EU's Consumer Rights Directive. Previously, EU law stated that consumers are allowed a 14 day return period for digital goods, but there's the stipulation that users can waive this right once its "performance" has begun.

"The trader must first obtain your explicit agreement to the immediate download or streaming, and you must explicitly acknowledge that you lose your right to withdraw once the performance has started," says the law.

As such, purchasing games on Steam involves clicking through a waiver that you accept this termination of your right to a refund. This was a heavily criticised policy because there are numerous reasons why one would feel entitled to a refund, such as a game not running well on their hardware, for example.

Of course, the flipside to this is the concern that people would just use Steam as a library and play games for free by asking for refunds on everything. Hence the two-hour limit now imposed.

Comparatively, GOG gives users a full 30 days to request a refund, but only if the game hasn't been downloaded. EA's Origin policy stipulates that returns can be made "within 24 hours after you first launch the game, within seven days from your date of purchase, or within seven days from the game's release date if you pre-ordered, whichever comes first."

Steam refunds will be made within a week of approval and will be credited either to the user's Steam Wallet or through the same payment method used to make the purchase. It depends on your country and payment method, but you can get more details on that here.

DLC is a slightly trickier proposition, but it usually comes down to whether the parent game has been played for two hours since the DLC was purchased. The exceptions are DLC that irreversibly alter the main game, like increase the level cap. These will be clearly marked as non-refundable purchases.

There are still a few quirks in the system that refunds won't apply to. The main one is gifts. "We are unable to offer refunds for gifts after they have been redeemed by the recipient," Valve stated. So if you're going to gift someone a game, be sure it will run on their kit first (or just gift them the funds and ask them to buy it, so they'll retain refund rights).

Movies will likewise not be refundable, for obvious reasons, and those demanding refunds after being banned by Valve's Anti-Cheat system will also not receive them.

Valve noted that it won't tolerate abuse of this policy and it retains the right to deny a refund if it suspects the user is taking advantage of it. "Refunds are designed to remove the risk from purchasing titles on Steam-not as a way to get free games," Valve stated. "If it appears to us that you are abusing refunds, we may stop offering them to you."

"We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price," Valve added, so you needn't worry about price-matching prior to a sale.

To request a refund, head on over to help.steampowered.com.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-06-02-steam-now-offers-game-refunds-for-any-reason-within-14-days

[DANGERMAN]

Steam controllers are up for preorder (out in October), about £46 to get one (inc delivery). So, not cheap, but then controllers seemingly just aren't any more

[Craymen Edge]

I play almost anything on PC with a controller if it supports it, prolonged KB&M use causes me too much hand discomfort these days. That said, I'll wait to see what people think on how well the controller works, build quality, reliability etc. before I consider getting one.

The Steam link box is more interesting to me at this time.

[Sly Reflex]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-12-25-steam-security-error-leaves-personal-information-exposed

Out of all the services to fuck up on Christmas day, steam would be back of the queue. It's gone and fucked up though, and on a catastrophic level. Lovely stuff.