A challenge to the PC master race

[fix-the-spade]

The worst thing about PC gaming is the rubbish triple A ports.

Also, the DRM, my dear God the DRM it's everywhere.

4. The space the computer itself occupies, it was what drove me from towers as a student to laptops.
But mostly:
5. The expense of keeping hardware up to date to get both good graphical and aural fidelity with smooth gameplay, especially if you, like me, are gaming on laptops due to room constraints.

Dude, ITX!

Granted it's still larger than a laptop owing to separate keyboard and screen, but my gaming PC is the size of a shoebox with a 7970, HDD, SSD and a slot optical drive in it.

Now my work PC, alias Godzilla...

 

[ArcaneGamer]

How about you embrace anyone willing to play more games on the PC, that want to learn more about that aspect of gaming. Perhaps clarify on some stereotypes on the PC Gamers?

 

[Something Amyss]

Or rather, the hilariously overblown system requirements and utterly abysmal performance resulting almost singularly from developers not having the time, caring, or knowing how to optimize for PC, even on systems vastly more expensive and powerful than a console.

Keep in mind this is only a thing because the consumer base will buy it anyway. They'll buy a new video card, processor, or even whole rig to play the new, subptimal but shiny game from the guys who released the last suboptimal but shiny game. Same with DRM. It's often said "vote with your wallet." The consumer has said "yes" to DRM more than any other topic in video games other than video games themselves.

That Arkham Knight had unknown problems is irrelevant. When problems are known, people still line up for the newest shiny. We have a culture where people will complain and then pre-order. Especially baffling in the PC portion of gaming, since it's predominantly a digital service now and pre-orders aren't necessary to secure a game.

And it's no mystery by now that console ports are likely to be poorly optimised, bloated, or even outright broken. But we buy anyway. Well, not me. I can't remember the last PC game I bought new. But enough to drive sales.

 

[Evonisia]

I always assumed this "PC Master Race" shit was meant to be a joke.

It was a joke originally. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/22-The-Witcher

People just seem to either ignore that, or are ignorant of it and use the term unironically, to much pain and disappointment.

 

[Tsaba]

Biggest Complaint? Herding cats on a Arma 3 public server.

 

[BeerTent]

What's shitty about PC gaming?

1. Less technologically adept individuals seem to have more difficulties.
2. You can never say "I didn't do the work, my computer broke down."
3. Tech support has inherent risks when you don't have the resources. Malicious software? Goodbye savegames.
4. Don't meet the minimum requirements? GTAV for $40 turned into a game and a new card for $240.
5. Console ports.
6. Fucking Early Access. Fuck.
7. Consoles are designed to just work. Sometimes, Compatibility issues, or bad setups can cause to problems in social situations.
8. Sometimes, those very mods can cause more problems than they're worth. Though, this is mitigated by Steam.
9. Sharing your work-space, play-space, and social-space is bad for concentration.

That's right off the top of my head.

 

[shrekfan246]

Well, not me. I can't remember the last PC game I bought new. But enough to drive sales.

FWIW, I generally don't either.

But then, my PC is about five years old now and horribly outdated, and I can't afford to upgrade. Poorly-optimized games run even worse than is typical for me, which means that most of the time I might as well not even bother. It's not even just AAA games, either, plenty of indie games come out with rubbish performance that is hilariously disproportionate to their graphical prowess or technical depth.

On that, though, I don't think I touched enough in the "Steam/Origin/uPlay" section that, as others have mentioned as well, PC becoming almost solely digital is incredibly annoying. Fifteen years ago I could go into a store and see a wall dedicated to PC games, now there's just a tiny little rack that will have Blizzard games, The Sims, and maybe one or two really big AAA releases. Even if my internet weren't legendarily terrible, I don't like the added sense of DRM that gets chucked on top by all of the games being tied to proprietary storefronts. If Steam suddenly died, you could just lose every game you've ever bought on it. I try to not be prone to hand-wringing, but I don't think there's enough in place to protect the consumer's interests, and I think people should be speaking out against that.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Couch co-op. There aren't as many fun with friends games on PC. Never really had any problems otherwise, though the hordes of adoring fans worshipping us for our brilliance get a bit tiresome at times.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

My issues with PC:
- More effort to start playing a game
- More error prone and likely to have extra hassle. For example, to get PS3 controller working on my laptop I originally used Motion-in-joy drivers, which went on to royally screw up some of my other drivers and needed a timely manual uninstallation process to clean up everything and get it fixed.
- Way fewer options for local multiplayer
- Bit of a hassle to play on my TV from a couch. I need to set up everything every time I decide to play it. This is with a laptop too, so I have it far easier than I would with a desktop

M$.

I don't get why this is still used, Apple is considerably more expensive and money grubbing than Microsoft. It tries to make everything it can proprietary, everyone I know has burned through at least 3 $100 chargers, and you can't install their OS on non-mac computers, forcing you to buy their overpriced computers which are between 1.5 times to double what you could find on a regular laptop or desktop.

I realize it's still more expensive than Linux, but I haven't spent a cent on anything windows related since I got my laptop which came with it pre-installed.

 

[Dango]

People just really like to fuck us over.

Over-priced crap, poor ports, spyware and other privacy invasion, it's really easy for developers to milk the fuck out of consumers (Friday Night At Freddy's, 95% of early access).

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

1)Keeping up with current hardware is expensive
2)If you encounter an error, it can range from "easily solved" to "your entire system is borked".

And uhh...

Yeah I can't think of anything else.

PC is just plain better imo. It has made TV and consoles redundant to me.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

But none of this matters because I can have a gun that shoots cars in GTA V.

it took me a couple times to realize what you meant here...lol'd when I realized what you meant.

4. The space the computer itself occupies, it was what drove me from towers as a student to laptops.

where do you live, a center for ants?!?!

Even though I do have a monolith full tower that purrs at me when it's awakened, it can fit comfortably anywhere I have a flat spot to set it on (floor/dresser/chunk of wood/etc...)

As mentioned, itx cases can be great for fitting a good chunk of hardware into a tetris like space.

this case here is basically a cubic foot (idk what unit the metric system uses for volumes in your country, so that'll have to do), which is relatively a good size for fitting into lots of spaces.

yay for options! [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133260]

OT:

crappy port opitimization is an easy one, I'm relatively well versed in google-fu and knowing what might be an issue, but sometimes no amount of tinkering with settings in your graphics card or ini files will make a game run like a champ. (most of the time it will work, but as arkham knight just proved, that's not always the case.)

switching OS/hardwawre over time can cause compatibility issues in older games (having your whole library on pc is a positive, but that is the flipside to that point.) such as diablo II.

DRM is a huge one for some people, I begrudgingly accept it when I get the game for 5-10 bucks on steam/gmg/gog sales, so it's not as big of a deal to me.

there are others I'm sure, and it can depend on which dev/pub your dealing with and what games you're into, but can't think of too many more at the moment that bother me usually.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Troubleshooting's a pain in the ass.

 

[Something Amyss]

On that, though, I don't think I touched enough in the "Steam/Origin/uPlay" section that, as others have mentioned as well, PC becoming almost solely digital is incredibly annoying. Fifteen years ago I could go into a store and see a wall dedicated to PC games, now there's just a tiny little rack that will have Blizzard games, The Sims, and maybe one or two really big AAA releases. Even if my internet weren't legendarily terrible, I don't like the added sense of DRM that gets chucked on top by all of the games being tied to proprietary storefronts. If Steam suddenly died, you could just lose every game you've ever bought on it. I try to not be prone to hand-wringing, but I don't think there's enough in place to protect the consumer's interests, and I think people should be speaking out against that.

Apparently, PC gamers have decided this is worth it for the convenience of not having to put on pants.

Which is weird, because with Steam, I can walk to a store and get a disc faster. I can also fill my PS4's HDD in that time.

 

[MercurySteam]

Shitty ports.

Shitty ports

Mostly Shitty Ports.

*Blows whistle*

Foul! 'Shitty ports' is a complaint PC users have against consoles because they feel neglected in the gaming community. Since it's a jab at the console that got the better port, it's not a valid depreciation of the PC.

The problem isn't that the console version is 'better', the issue is that the PC port is the 'same' as the console version. 60FPS lock, lack of different AA options, low res textures, crappy keyboard and mouse controls are usually fair indicators that no thought went into the PC port.

OT: I would like to lodge a complaint about the expense of getting a decent PC for gaming, and then finding out later on that the parts I need to replace hardware may not be available later down the line.

If you're referring to the fact that a part you buy may not be available a year later, that's how the PC market works. We're getting replacements for hard drives, CPUs, GPUs, motherboards, etc on an annual basis. And it's what makes PC master race awesome.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Problem 1: Video game developers

This one comes in a number of forms, but I'll list a couple of the worst (or at least more common) examples. Firstly are the developers who seem to do very little testing before releasing their product. I'm not just referring to the general "we can patch it" mentality that has the industry in general releasing buggy products lately. I'm talking about developers who release a product that, in their offices, ran just fine, but runs like crap on mostly everyone else's computers. The most infamous example of this would probably be Rage, which had a large list of graphical issues when it was released, and all that iD had to say about was that it ran fine on their computers. Never mind that they had custom drivers that they specifically designed to run the game.

The second problem with developers is when we get blatantly half-assed ports, often without even replacing the button prompts from the original version. So I'm sitting here with a mouse & keyboard and being told to click the right thumbstick to aim. Okay, fine, I can just look it up. I'm used to customizing my controls anyway (that's one of the perks of PC gaming, after-all, but we aren't here to talk about those, so moving on). Still, it just smacks of showing how much effort the developer put into their port. Then there's problems where the developer didn't really consider things like UI controls. Borderlands, for example (the first one at least), has terrible controls for a UI that the player often needs to navigate as they get new gear and need to consider upgrades. Compare that to something like Fallout 3 where I can flow in and out of the menus with barely a second thought, and it's clear that one developer sat down and thought, "Okay, so where are my hands when I'm playing this game, and how can I use the keys in that area to navigate these menus," while the other one just lazily copy/pasted the commands from the console to the PC without considering that this would put a number of necessary keys in clunky areas.

Problem 2: Other PC Gamers

This one is a bit more simple that the last one, but it's a definite problem with PC gaming. Heaven forbid that there should be ANYTHING at all that you don't know how to do/fix. If you dare to even hint that you don't know how to fix a problem, then you clearly have no business gaming on a PC. There's a reason Yahtzee coined the phrase "PC Master Race" in one of his earlier videos, and there's a reason that he spent the last 30 seconds of so of a more recent video dedicating the episode to some douche he saw on the Steam forums. Having some problem with the game's shoddy online support? Well, forward your ports. Never mind that this isn't a problem for several online-focused games. Oh, you don't know how to forward ports? Go play on your Xbone, scrub. I know that it isn't every PC gamer, and there are actually plenty of people who are willing to help you with your technical issues (even if only in the form of linking you to a "How to" video), but it still counts because it's a problem I wouldn't have to deal with if I gamed on consoles.

Problem 3: DRM

I think problems with DRM are pronounced enough that I really don't have to go into detail on this one.

Problem 4: Price

For what it costs to build a computer, and replace parts that are going to break at some point, you have to really want to be a PC gamer. Honestly I sometimes wonder why I even bother with it. Maybe I'm used to the notion of needing a gaming PC from back in the day when PC exclusives were more of a thing. Maybe I figure I'm gonna have a PC for navigating the web and such anyway, so it might as well be a gaming rig. Maybe it's just that I love putting them together. Whatever the case though, I just can't see myself ever not having a high-end gaming PC, even if it means that I have to save-up for several months to be able to afford to build a new one when my old one craps-out on me.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Shitty ports.

Shitty ports

Mostly Shitty Ports.

*Blows whistle*

Foul! 'Shitty ports' is a complaint PC users have against consoles because they feel neglected in the gaming community. Since it's a jab at the console that got the better port, it's not a valid depreciation of the PC.

OT: I would like to lodge a complaint about the expense of getting a decent PC for gaming, and then finding out later on that the parts I need to replace hardware may not be available later down the line.

No no, they're right, and I agree with them. The backhanded slams against consoles that you're thinking of is what PC gamers usually refer to as "consolitis", and it isn't about ports being lousy, it's about how gaming is more and more blatantly being designed around a controller, like how most FPS's only let you carry two weapons because it's easier on a controller to just have a "Swap weapons" button than to have to toggle through several options. I could go into detail about what we mean by "shitty ports", but it'd be easier to just scroll up to my post (if you haven't read it already) and read my first complaint about gaming on the PC. To put it simply though, it isn't an indirect slam against consoles, it's about developers being lazy when they bring the game over.

 

[FalloutJack]

Snip

The problem isn't that the console version is 'better', the issue is that the PC port is the 'same' as the console version. 60FPS lock, lack of different AA options, low res textures, crappy keyboard and mouse controls are usually fair indicators that no thought went into the PC port.

OT: I would like to lodge a complaint about the expense of getting a decent PC for gaming, and then finding out later on that the parts I need to replace hardware may not be available later down the line.

If you're referring to the fact that a part you buy may not be available a year later, that's how the PC market works. We're getting replacements for hard drives, CPUs, GPUs, motherboards, etc on an annual basis. And it's what makes PC master race awesome.

I still see it as blaming consoles. It feels like a complaint that the parents are paying too much attention to the other child. The parents might be part of the problem, but you know the PC enthusiast is wishing he was the only child.

As for the parts? No, it still sucks. New and updated parts? Sure, fine. Not compatible or not physically fit-in-able with your system? No good. Laptop keyboards, for instance. I do alot of typing, and as a result the plastic nubs under the keys to make the keyboard work start to wear out. Essential letters for writing anything or playing games become impossible to use. At the moment, my laptop is fine, but they don't make that keyboard part anymore, so I may have to change alot of things. Let's not forget, of course, that you may be put into the position where the replacement of one part suddenly can't be handled by the rest of the computer. So, I do have a good claim on the problems of expense and acquisition.

 

[MercurySteam]

I still see it as blaming consoles. It feels like a complaint that the parents are paying too much attention to the other child. The parents might be part of the problem, but you know the PC enthusiast is wishing he was the only child.

The problems inherent in crappy PC ports are bought up more often these days because it wasn't always this bad. Used to be you'd get a couple of bad ports every now and then but now most games not developed on the PC platform are fair game, which is actually quite sad.

As for the parts? No, it still sucks. New and updated parts? Sure, fine. Not compatible or not physically fit-in-able with your system? No good. Laptop keyboards, for instance. I do alot of typing, and as a result the plastic nubs under the keys to make the keyboard work start to wear out. Essential letters for writing anything or playing games become impossible to use. At the moment, my laptop is fine, but they don't make that keyboard part anymore, so I may have to change alot of things. Let's not forget, of course, that you may be put into the position where the replacement of one part suddenly can't be handled by the rest of the computer. So, I do have a good claim on the problems of expense and acquisition.

I was referring to desktops. Specific to laptops on the other hand, many of them use their own unique parts and can only obtain replacements from the manufacturer, it's a common problem with laptops but I know of a few people that have had luck on Ebay. Once they discontinue the product you're all shit outta luck. Also as far as compatibility is concerned e.g. connectors, ports, sockets, memory types, motherboard sizes, etc all have a standard that they adhere to, which means any idiot with a little bit of help can replace the parts of their PC as they need to.

 

[FalloutJack]

I was referring to desktops. Specific to laptops on the other hand, many of them use their own unique parts and can only obtain replacements from the manufacturer, it's a common problem with laptops but I know of a few people that have had luck on Ebay. Once they discontinue the product you're all shit outta luck. Also as far as compatibility is concerned e.g. connectors, ports, sockets, memory types, motherboard sizes, etc all have a standard that they adhere to, which means any idiot with a little bit of help can replace the parts of their PC as they need to.

Ah, well, that is the venue of my complaint. I have a nice little laptop who has performed excellently during its time as my property and it seems such a shame that the one part that actually fails is something as ordinary as the keyboard.