[The Outer Worlds won't launch on Steam]

1) If there are DRM free games on Steam, there are also DRM free games on EGS. In reality neither is DRM free (and no, a fan wiki does not count for anything) as both require a proprietary app for download and install; and you can't just decide to ignore that form of DRM because you like Steam. And no Galaxy ain't DRM since it's optional and all you need for GOG is a browser and an account.

 

2) GOG is inarguably better than steam, even if you go by the incorrect definition of DRM free only about 1 in 20 Steam games don't require steam running- 99.95% of GOG games don't require Galaxy (with the one exception being always online by its nature). Centralised MP makes drm irrelevant, as you have to be online and connected to the company's servers, that's just how it works- ie you cannot be offline to play centralised MP. DRM on LAN or direct connection etc would be a valid complaint though.

 

3) You own games on EGS exactly as much as you own them on Steam, ie you don't. It's the same everywhere, hence End User License Agreement rather than End User Ownership Agreement. In some cases the licensing cannot be enforced- physical media, GOG installer downloads, local law saying something is a good not a service- but you only own them practically, not legally.

 

4) They are induced exclusives, they're just bought in kind rather than as a guaranteed minimum sale figure. All those 'free' features steam offers are inducements to exclusivity every bit as much as a lump sum, they're just a different approach to it.

 

...and that's what's happening if people don't read:

 

1) Exactly! I was replying to: "[Epic] already have a better product [...:] no DRM"

 

2) Okay, I'll give you that. They are clearly better in terms of DRM, although not perfect. Thanks for completely misreading my argumentation, though.

 

3) Exactly. I was replying to: "[Epic] already have a better product in that you actually own the games you purchase"

 

4) Not my point. OP used a tu quoque and your points don't change the fact that Valve, as far as we know and in all likelihood[1], never paid any publisher money not to offer their game on a competing platform. Doing so is a foul move in my opinion. Doubly so if you do it at the last minute.

 

[1] Because they never had to, of course.

[The Outer Worlds won't launch on Steam]

With Steam having a monopsony, mostly being the sole provider, on PC games Epic is trying to gain a foothold through exclusivity. They already have a better product in that you actually own the games you purchase, no DRM, and offering free games; they just lack the user base.

Steam forces DRM and you are basically "renting" every single game you've bought, and Steam also has exclusives (Total War, previously Bethesda, the Civilization series, etc).

 

If the end result changes any of Steams anti-consumer policy then this is great, if it doesn't then hopefully EGS will take over.

 

You don't know what you are talking about:

 

1) Steam has DRM-free games: https://steam.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games

 

2) It is publishers who push the DRM crap, and they do it on EGS as well Metro Exodus for example uses Denuvo: https://www.epicgames.com/store/de/product/metro-exodus/home

There is only one store that is arguably better in regards to DRM and that's GOG[1]. This is also why so few AAA titles are available there. Go figure.

 

3) You don't own EGS-Games, you are merely granted a license. Like you said, basically "renting": https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/eula

 

4) Total War, Bethesda Games titles Civ etc. are not bought exclusives. They aren't games Valve snatched away from other platforms at the eleventh hour. Those games were published on Steam because that's where the players are.

 

[1] Even GOG has games with DRM'd multiplayer: https://www.gog.com/forum/star_wars_battlefront_ii/i_have_had_enough_of_gogs_pushing_of_their_drm_platform/page1

[The Outer Worlds won't launch on Steam]

I'm not going to buy this for EGS. I hope they won't release this game for full prize on Steam, one year after.

[Can I trust Obsidian with PoE:Deadfire?]

 

 

Seems the extra time for bug squashing didn't do any good for the game

On the contrary, it seems the extra time was needed. Besides, I didn't see a really bad bug yet.

[Chris Avellone: The Final Frontier]

I don't get why Avellone is posting his accusations in an alt right forum and his language is beyond undignified.

I have a feeling that much of what he says is true, but if someone working for me would write things like this I would be very hesitant to continue working with him.

For every serious accusation Avellone seems to post three stories that are merely intended to embarrass the people involved.

But most of all he is embarrassing himself. 

[Evil Companions]

 

Durance is very, very close to flat out evil.  His hands are super not clean.

Depends on how you characterize evil. That's the whole point of the companions; pretty much all of them are doing--or have done--only things that *they* felt were good, necessary, and required to be moral at that moment. And they all have good reasons for thinking and feeling that.

 

Durance, the Devil, and Eder are the easiest examples. All of them did super wrong things--building a weapon of mass destruction that needed human sacrifice to work, serial murder, and traitorous sedition and helping a foreign enemy to invade their homeland.

@Eder: What an American thing to say. Seriously.

Also, evil characters usually think they're in the right. Those "Evil League Of Evil"-characters might be a dime a dozen in comic books, but very few people actually embrace "EVIL" in this way. It's 99% lazy writing, born out of cultural narratives we usually use against enemies.

[UI Scaling - blurry font]

@AndreaColombo: You are right that text doesn't need to be scaled up, but we don't know how Obsidian implemented this. It might be very hard to change the game in such a way that fonts are always rendered in the native resolution. I'm surprised they didn't implement this in a more sensible fashion, but here we are. It's 2015 and Pillars of Eternity is not ready for resolutions beyond 1920x1200.

[Is it worth updating to 1.05 if you are about to finish the game?]

1.05 merely *upgrades* saves, so you can't go back easily (the game keeps a backup, though).

[UI Scaling - blurry font]

The upscaling is fixed for the most part for 1920x1200 in the current Beta (1.05, Steam). Only minor problems remain.

 

There doesn't seem to be proper text scaling for resolutions higher than 1920x1200, though.

[And now a sneek peek at the Making of PoE Documentary]

Why is everyone using Facebook's player now?! I can't see the video without enabling flash. What year is it? 2006?!

[1.05b Negative XP for completing Trials of Durance.]

The quest log claims that I earned -492 XP for completing the quest (Total XP for the quest: 9000).

[[1.05b] "HUD does not upscale until 1920x1200" - small visual glitches]

First of all, I'm very glad that you included this fix. I don't have to reduce the desktop resolution anymore.

I noticed two small visual glitches, though:

 

1) The main menu still does upscale, as indicated by the blurry font.

 

2) The loading screen border is now discontinous.

[1.05 beta]

From the patch notes: "HUD does not upscale until 1920x1200" - I have been looking forward for a fix like this. Finally, I can play the game without lowering the desktop resolution (lowering the resolution ingame lead to a whole bunch of problems with the UI).

Apart from that, the game is perfectly playable for me.

[The reason why a lot of va isn't voiced?]

1) It is the same in the old IE Games, therefore PoE is "true to its roots".

2) Contrary to what some people believe, $4+ million is not that much money for a game in 2015. They had to cut corners somewhere and voice acting is actually pretty expensive.

[Patch Betas on Steam]

Therefore, nerfing classes in single-player only frustrates people playing those classes, without any corresponding benefit for people playing other classes. In fact, these other people are also negatively affected, because the nerfed classes may include their favourite NPCs/adventurers.

 

Not necessarily. If the game is too easy for you on highest difficulty settings because you picked the wrong class then you will welcome a nerf.

[1.03 Hotfix: Doors not opening due to Fog of War]

@Arctic: Apparently that is a problem with Steam and Unity (the game engine). The GoG-Patches are much smaller.

[Maps to "square"]

Well, it's exactly like the old Infinity Engine games, which is the main selling point of this game. It's not supposed to be Skyrim in 2D.

[Request to remove my name from backer credits]

1. You didn't state your name

2. You posted this in the wrong place

3, Obviously, you are trying to push *your* GG-agenda on other people.

[No EXP from killing MOB?]

It's awesome that you don't get XP for killing. It allows you to role play, to freely decide wether to kill someone without having to care about the XP.

[Perfect game unattainable due to backer achievement?]

There are certain tools to activate Achievements. Other than that, what sort of solution do you expect, honestly?!

[Can 1 party member go stealth?]

It is one of the things that stop me playing this game, half finished.

Are you serious? Why?!

[UI Scaling - blurry font]

thanks for the tip. I was very disappointe by the bluriness of the whole UI, not just the text.

 

Setting the resolution to 1080p fixed that for me, unfortunately I see the windows mouse icon when I move the cursor outside of the game content. The "cage cursor" option doesn't help.

 

This also makes scrolling with the mouse tedious because I have to keep the cursor just inside the game content to be able to scroll.

 

Also, which is a lot more annoying, the Steam Overlay gets "stuck" in the black bars at the top and the bottom of the game. Alt-tabbing out of the game fixes this temporarily.

 

(I am using a Radeon graphics card with the newest drivers).

[Steam vs GoG redemption ?]

I went with Steam because of the achievements and because I can still buy the DRM free version at a later date if I want.

[Are there going to be achievements in PoE? Should there?]

I'll be honest, I like achievements. Not the really tedious sort like "Start the game 1000 times", of course. But all in all, I think they'll make me want to play PoE more.