PC Gaming Client: Which do you have? Tell us about your experience with them

gorfias

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The PC Gaming Client I use most and have had the longest is Steam. I have a ton of game with them, especially from the website Humblebundle.com. I've mostly had positive experiences with it but do find since the recent remodel of the interface, I'm having trouble finding things that used to be easily accessible (Right click a game and see what DLC you already own with it). I'm sure it can be done, just have not figured it out yet.

Uplay from Ubisoft isn't bad. For some reason, some of my Steam Games show up there as well. Some good sales on occassion.

GoG I deleted. I kept buying games from them that really did not run on modern PCs. Worst was Saboteur: supposedly there is a way for me to (and for it to work I need to..) shut of some of my processing cores!??!? Madness!

EA's Origin used to offer up free games. I haven't seen a new one in ages. Still, I had some DVD games that Origin was able to send a message "do you want to add that to your library?" so I did (Alice Madness Returns and Dragon Age Origins).

Newest is Epic Games. I got it to play WWZ. I got it about 1/2 off and, honestly... Left4Dead 2 is still a better game. I got that for like $5 years ago and it holds up. BUT, they are still giving away free games. The most AAA free games are ones I already have but today their sort of Bioshock er... homage... "Close to the Sun" is free. Not bad for a free game.

What are you all using? What are your experiences with them?
 
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votemarvel

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Currently installed on my PC are Steam, GoG Galaxy, UPlay, Origin, and the Epic Launcher.

Most of my games oddly enough are on Steam but that is simply because that tends to be where I can find the best price on a game when I want to buy it.

GoG I use when I can because I like that the games are all DRM free. Sadly most publishers would rather punish the paying customer than the pirates.

Origin actually has the interface I like the most, it's quick, clean, and uncluttered. EA support has always been exceptional when I've contacted them.

Uplay I like because achievements can give you UPlay points which can be used for discounts on Ubisoft games. 20% off the Deluxe Edition of Assassin's Creed Odyssey for 100 UPlay points I'd earned on my Xbox 360, thanks very much.

Epic is bare bones feature wise but the design of the launcher is actually pretty nice. I hope as they develop it that it doesn't become as cluttered as many of the other launchers are. I've not actually bought a game on there yet, I'm just grabbing the freebies. I could rant about World War Z for a while but this isn't the thread for that.
 
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Chimpzy

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Well, Steam, of course, because is there anyone who's seriously into gaming on PC who doesn't? Not really sure whether I like it or not. It has the advantage of being the first afaik and the longest time to add and refine features, so that kind of makes it the benchmark client by default, tho that does not mean it's the best at everything. Far from it. But it does everything I need a client to do.

However, the last 5 years or so I mostly choose to buy a game from GOG if that's an option (if not, I usually check if there are Steam keys on Humble). Cuz DRM-free is neat. I download and store the game installers from the site, so I don't use their launcher.

The only other launcher I have installed is the one from Epic, tho solely for the free games. I also have accounts for basically all the major players (Bethesda, Uplay, Origin, ...), again solely for the freebies, and I don't install the launchers unless needed for my Freebie Info threads. The exception is of course Battle.net, because Activision afaik never does giveaways. At very least, I've never come across one in the time I've been keeping track of giveaways.
 

gorfias

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GoG I use when I can because I like that the games are all DRM free.

Epic is bare bones feature wise but the design of the launcher is actually pretty nice. I hope as they develop it that it doesn't become as cluttered as many of the other launchers are. I've not actually bought a game on there yet, I'm just grabbing the freebies. I could rant about World War Z for a while but this isn't the thread for that.
I may have to upgrade my external drive to 8 TB and get GoG. DRM free and downloaded so I don't lose it? Interesting.

Another problem with Origin I run into: it very often doesn't recognize that I have an Xbox controller hooked up to my PC. No other client has this issue. Any suggestions?
 

09philj

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Steam has an expansive library, frequent sales, a range of useful features like curation, and works well offline, but the UI is often archaic.
Epic I only use for free games. It's slickly laid out but doesn't have the same range of features as Steam.
uPlay and Origin work fine as Ubisoft and EA storefronts, I guess.
 
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Chimpzy

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I may have to upgrade my external drive to 8 TB and get GoG. DRM free and downloaded so I don't lose it? Interesting.
Yup. One of GOG's core tenets is "you buy it, it's yours to do with as you please".
 
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gorfias

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Yup. One of GOG's core tenets is "you buy it, it's yours to do with as you please".
Any advice on why my EA Origin client often cannot see that I have an Xbox controller on my PC? I have not run into that on any other client including Uplay (some consider the weakest).
 

Elfgore

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I got Steam, GOG Galaxy, Origin, and Epic. I don't really think I've had too many negative experiences with any, minus some occasional technical issues with Steam, GOG, or Origin.
 
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votemarvel

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I may have to upgrade my external drive to 8 TB and get GoG. DRM free and downloaded so I don't lose it? Interesting.

Another problem with Origin I run into: it very often doesn't recognize that I have an Xbox controller hooked up to my PC. No other client has this issue. Any suggestions?
How are you connecting?

I'm using the official Xbox One wireless adaptor to connect an Xbox One S controller to my PC running Windows 8.1 and Origin games are seeing it fine.

My advice if you are using a Windows 10 PC would be to grab the Xbox Accessories App from the store and see if your controller has the latest firmware.
 

gorfias

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How are you connecting?

I'm using the official Xbox One wireless adaptor to connect an Xbox One S controller to my PC running Windows 8.1 and Origin games are seeing it fine.

My advice if you are using a Windows 10 PC would be to grab the Xbox Accessories App from the store and see if your controller has the latest firmware.
Thanks, I'll see what I can upgrade. I have some PC Xbox 1 controllers but I typically use 360 controllers with official Xbox adapter plugged into the PC. Again, works fine on EVERYTHING except Origin. 1st world problems :)
 
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EvilRoy

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I have battle.net, steam and epic. They all work pretty well I feel - only truly bad experience I've ever had was with Uplay, and it was crappy enough that I basically dumped any hope of playing the copy of Farcry and Blood Dragon I bought again.

I also remember having some issues with games for windows live but honestly I can't even remember what I owned on it. Did Dark Souls start there?
 

gorfias

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I have battle.net, steam and epic. They all work pretty well I feel - only truly bad experience I've ever had was with Uplay, and it was crappy enough that I basically dumped any hope of playing the copy of Farcry and Blood Dragon I bought again.

I also remember having some issues with games for windows live but honestly I can't even remember what I owned on it. Did Dark Souls start there?
I largely re purchased anything I wanted to continue playing on Windows Live. Batman Arkham City, Bullet Storm. GTA IV, I deleted and re-added on Steam and it worked on their new app that got rid of WL and allowed me to DL my DLC in a single package.
 

The Eupho Guy

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In order of use, I have accounts with Steam, GoG, Uplay, Origin and Battle.net. I don't think I've had any major issues with any of the clients. The worst thing that has happened is I couldn't access one of the Anno games from my Uplay account, but that's because I apparently made 2 accounts and the one that has all the keys assigned to it is the email account I don't use very often.
 
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Sassafrass

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Gaming clients you say?

But the ones I use the most are Steam, GoG, the FF XIV launcher and Epic Games. I've got no real issue with any of them, except that the downloads speed seem to vary wildly between them but eh, I just set it up to download over night as I tend to have terrible internet anyways.
 
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laggyteabag

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I have pretty much all of them installed. Steam, Origin, uPlay, B.Net, GoG, Xbox, Epic, and even the Bethesda launcher.

I never really understood the kind of person who would actively avoid buying a game, just because it isnt on the launcher of your choice - especially when all it comes down to pressing button B instead of button A, and if it really bothers you, you can just add the game's .exe into Steam, and launch it from there.

As for how the launchers are, im pretty familiar with all of them, and they are all more of less completely fine in terms of functionality, aside from a couple of exceptions.

The Xbox launcher apparently really tries hard to hide the games that you actually own. The bar on the left side only shows the games that are installed. If you want to download a game that you already own, you either have to find the game's store page, or go into your profile settings.

For the Bethesda launcher, all this seems to be is a page full of web links. Want to buy RAGE 2? The "Buy" button just opens up Chrome, and takes you to the Bethesda website. It is literally just a place to launch your games, and shares more in common to a folder full of .exes, than a fully fleshed out launcher like Steam. I cant quite get over just how pointless this is. So yeah, thats Bethesda for you - putting in the bare minimum, like always.
 
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SckizoBoy

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I'm an ambivalent gamer at best (across all platforms I use, there are only a few dozen purchased games, most of which were bought as franchise bundles *shrug), so I don't bother with certain game launchers more out of laziness than any particular principled reason. Except Epic, as a platform it pisses me off because of their exclusivity contracts which is pretty much it. And none of their freebies have tempted me, so there's nothing in it for me. Big eh... I'll get over myself soon enough just to find out I'm too lazy to get/use it. Bethesda haven't made anything compelling so there's no reason for me to get it, and the same applies to most others. And I hacked the EAOrigins requirement in ME2. Another big eh...

And in general, most games I want to get/play are available on Steam or GoG. And the Steam keys for the Assassin's Creed series requires UPlay, so I got that, leaving me with three.

They're functional, let me play the games with no issues (occasional bugs notwithstanding) and that's all that matters to me.
 
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Elfgore

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I never really understood the kind of person who would actively avoid buying a game, just because it isnt on the launcher of your choice - especially when all it comes down to pressing button B instead of button A, and if it really bothers you, you can just add the game's .exe into Steam, and launch it from there.
I kinda get it mostly from an annoyance standpoint. It would be nice to have everything in just one convenient launcher instead of several. I don't get the brand loyalty though. That stuff is weird.
 

SupahEwok

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I kinda get it mostly from an annoyance standpoint. It would be nice to have everything in just one convenient launcher instead of several. I don't get the brand loyalty though. That stuff is weird.
My main objection would be being forced to use launchers of poor quality. I wouldn't even call Steam a good platform, its got a lot of stuff in it but most of it is unpolished (still no browsing tabs, Gabe?), but at least it works decent as a storefront and has a long history of competitive sales. Most other platforms are somehow worse than Steam, despite 15 years to learn from Steam's mistakes. I hear that Epic didn't even launch with a shopping cart function, which in this day and age is a matter of a programmer spending a day implementing a turnkey solution.

That said, my response to timed platform exclusivity is "I don't buy most games new anyway and I have plenty of backlog to play through, waiting a year to pop up on Steam isn't a big deal." Probably another factor for me is that my memory goes back far enough to remember a time not that long ago when a PC port would take 6-12 months, on average, to make its way to any platform from a console release.

Another thing is I've heard that, at least at the beginning, Epic was paying indies who did timed exclusivity deals for the entirety of their development costs. Shit, I can't hate on the devs for that.
 
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