I stand outside, waiting for someone to create a digital distribution vehicle that is actually decent and does not kick me in the balls every time I consider using it.
Poll: Origin v Steam with battlelines drawn, where r u?
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EA is and has always been deaf to the pleas and wants of its consumerbase. It continually fucks us over, and while it's hard to boycott a company that is just so damn big, I really and truly hope people will remember how EA has screwed us over in the past and not buy from Origin just because of the tricks it's pulling.
What they're doing now shouldn't be seen as added benefit for using Origin, it should be seen as another way they're screwing us over.
What they're doing now shouldn't be seen as added benefit for using Origin, it should be seen as another way they're screwing us over.
This. EA seems to have become one of those evil corporations of the gaming world (see Extra Credit's episode on EA's marketing), which is a shame. But I'm not about to jump ship from Steam just because of Dragon Age/Mass Effect when I could just buy those games else where. And if I'm required to activate on Origin, than I'll probably just play my mate's console version.Amphoteric said:
This is why digital distribution is evil.
It's going to be about each publisher getting their own ways of distribution so they can get every cent and control every product.
The consumer is the only suffering here.
As for the winner? Their won't be one. Both will continue to exist because PC consumers will stop at nothing to get games such as Mass Effect and Battlefield while at the same time Steam is the one place where you can get every indie game in the world for $4.99
It's going to be about each publisher getting their own ways of distribution so they can get every cent and control every product.
The consumer is the only suffering here.
As for the winner? Their won't be one. Both will continue to exist because PC consumers will stop at nothing to get games such as Mass Effect and Battlefield while at the same time Steam is the one place where you can get every indie game in the world for $4.99
I see the logic of big publishers wanting their own distribution network, I'd even say it makes more sense than a single on-line store. Except for one thing, I don't want multiple Steam-like applications running in the background all at once.
I also realize from EA's perspective people won't try their service if they're already using Steam, so it makes sense to restrict their most popular games to their service.
However I personally think this is going to backfire, and I think EA is making a bad move restricting games this early on. When Steam was first released a lot of people had problems with it and it took Valve quite some time to iron these out - I suspect Origin will have a similar period of sorting itself out, so why force people to use it before it has been refined?
If they waited until Origin had some following, and then started to restrict games, at least people biting the bullet and trying it out would be likely to stay with it. I know several people who got Half Life 2 when it was released and have completely avoided Steam since, and several others who still have accounts but rarely use them and are still wary of it.
EA should also know better. Many people avoided popular games a few years ago, like Spore, when they heard it had invasive DRM. People are likely to do it again with Origin - I know I will be.
I also realize from EA's perspective people won't try their service if they're already using Steam, so it makes sense to restrict their most popular games to their service.
However I personally think this is going to backfire, and I think EA is making a bad move restricting games this early on. When Steam was first released a lot of people had problems with it and it took Valve quite some time to iron these out - I suspect Origin will have a similar period of sorting itself out, so why force people to use it before it has been refined?
If they waited until Origin had some following, and then started to restrict games, at least people biting the bullet and trying it out would be likely to stay with it. I know several people who got Half Life 2 when it was released and have completely avoided Steam since, and several others who still have accounts but rarely use them and are still wary of it.
EA should also know better. Many people avoided popular games a few years ago, like Spore, when they heard it had invasive DRM. People are likely to do it again with Origin - I know I will be.
>sees the poll
damn, that is pretty brutal
and if its a glimpse of what is to come then my prediction is right
damn, that is pretty brutal
and if its a glimpse of what is to come then my prediction is right
Let's compare, shall we? EA is giving us its own games, most of which are crap. (Those that aren't are made by Bioware, which I fear is getting bogged down by the sheer number of projects getting piled on as EA realizes they're the only dev house they've got left who's worth their salt except for DICE, which has only ever done multiplayer FPSs well anyway.
Meanwhile, Valve takes its sweet time giving us really, incredibly good and atmospheric titles like L4D and HL2 (with attending episodes) and gets us to spend our time on other peoples games while they make more, and treat their customers like people instead of boxes of money and (Entirely male) hormones.
It's going to be fun to watch the fireworks. I predict Origin will flame out once the whole TOR thing blows over and people go back to WoW. EA will realize they don't have the catalogue to make a Steam-style service work on their own, fold their cards, and quietly put all of their products back on Steam. (And hope everyone forgets Origin existed.) On the off-chance Origin actually proves to be better than Steam, I'll gladly jump ship. I don't judge companies subjectively, I evaluate based on past behavior. EA stands to regain a lot of lost customer trust by making themselves out as the "other Valve" even if they aren't really.
Meanwhile, Valve takes its sweet time giving us really, incredibly good and atmospheric titles like L4D and HL2 (with attending episodes) and gets us to spend our time on other peoples games while they make more, and treat their customers like people instead of boxes of money and (Entirely male) hormones.
It's going to be fun to watch the fireworks. I predict Origin will flame out once the whole TOR thing blows over and people go back to WoW. EA will realize they don't have the catalogue to make a Steam-style service work on their own, fold their cards, and quietly put all of their products back on Steam. (And hope everyone forgets Origin existed.) On the off-chance Origin actually proves to be better than Steam, I'll gladly jump ship. I don't judge companies subjectively, I evaluate based on past behavior. EA stands to regain a lot of lost customer trust by making themselves out as the "other Valve" even if they aren't really.
I haven't used origin (and probably wont as I'm more of a disc based console player) and I've used steam a couple times to get in on some good sales but honestly their service sucks. Yes the program/market are great but I had a problem getting access to my account because i didnt have a validation code and i kept asking them to send it but they didn't. I tried calling them, but steam does not have a support service to call (or at least its not easy to find I ended up calling valve but they wouldn't help), so I emailed them for a reply...I'm still waiting for that reply...its been a couple weeks now.
Steam has ALL the goodies. Indies, free games, and new games.
Steam is like a triathalon winner for the last 14 years and counting. Origins is the fat kid that slows down every 10 minutes and always finishes the race in last. Origins says he'll try harder next year but he's too busy admiring his enormus ego.
In my opinion atleast.
Steam is like a triathalon winner for the last 14 years and counting. Origins is the fat kid that slows down every 10 minutes and always finishes the race in last. Origins says he'll try harder next year but he's too busy admiring his enormus ego.
In my opinion atleast.
I'm surprised ANYONE voted for Origin. From what has been released, it sounds like a train wreck just waiting to happen.
If I were to modify my single player game with a disc could the publisher stop me? If I told the publisher to go fuck themselves and accused them of legitimized copywrite infringement and piracy could they stop me from using the purchased disc or invalidate the data on disc? Can the publisher prevent me from selling the item at my discretion? There is an astronomical world of difference between physical possession and digital licensing.sheic99 said:
However I was not even discussing the merits of physical vs digital media. I was discussing the difference between a subscription license such as what one gets with Steam and a License of property such as one gets with say GoG or Gamers gate. The problem is ignorance abounds because people assume Steam is a benevolent benefactor and are completely oblivious to the fact that in their discretion steam can invalidate every purchase youve ever made through them and give you absolutely nothing in return because you have bought a subscription and individual licenses within that subscription, you OWN absolutely nothing. People buy into this without understanding exactly what they are doing or what can possibly happen. This is why this generation has made the old adage "A fool and his money are soon parted" so unbelievably relevant because people are perpetuating a system like this like it is a golden god, when its actually hurting the customer, and hurting the industry.
Steam is NOT the only one guilty of this. Origin is no better (and in fact they are worse because they proactively "retire" licenses) So I reassert, as far as I am concerned I hope both of them annihilate each other into oblivion because the gaming world would be better for it, even if its too thick to realize it or comprehend why.
I'm fine with whatever service works (I'm looking at you, GfWL, EA, Ubisoft, basically most of them)
What I'm not fine with, however, is memorizing multiple clients, account names and passwords. This is the only reason I play many titles just once, because after half a year, I don't remember how, or where I need to log in to play it.
I have alot of games on Steam, it's handy and it works.
What I'm not fine with, however, is memorizing multiple clients, account names and passwords. This is the only reason I play many titles just once, because after half a year, I don't remember how, or where I need to log in to play it.
I have alot of games on Steam, it's handy and it works.
Rooting for Steam. But I kinda did speculate on this kind of future (i.e. individual publishers setting up digital distribution and trying to compete with each other like car dealerships). And if Origin is what it takes for me to buy ME3, then I'd rather wait for the reviews and buy it retail off Amazon or something.
STEAM! Woo! Love my Steam. It's fantastically convenient. I don't want to have to change. I don't need to think by this point. All comfy.
It's funny how EA pulls all of their products off Steam, but Left 4 Dead GOTY edition and Left 4 Dead 2 are for sale on Origin. I mean, yeah, it's the disc format that EA publishes, but, come on.
You don't see Coke and Pepsi having some kind of decisive showdown, and one crumbling afterwards.
It's commerce. Competition is good, it means lower prices (hopefully). I'm going with either one, depending on the games, I have an EA account anyway.
It's commerce. Competition is good, it means lower prices (hopefully). I'm going with either one, depending on the games, I have an EA account anyway.
Lets see, should I back in unethical, sleazeball corporation that's been directly responsible for the elimination of several talented studios, or the guys who made Half Life, Left4Dead and Team Fortress 2?
Not a hard choice for me.
Not a hard choice for me.
There needs to be an option which says "we don't have enough information on what's happening to make a good call."
Competition is frankly good for the market - as more people make the transition towards digital distribution, it's going to be crucial to keep competition so no one distributor gets strange ideas in their head. But the problem here is that Valve has been entirely silent on the matter and EA is putting the blame on Valve's head, saying that Steam's new TOS dictates that you can't have a competing DLC model unless your game uses Steam as its integration. But given the fact that a bunch of other non-EA games on Steam use other pricing models and still remain on the service, this claim by EA goes out the window.
So we don't know anywhere near enough to figure out which side is in the right - assuming either of them are. Everyone is going to make a choice based on their love or hate of Valve and Steam, which is disappointing. People need to be more savvy with their consumption and start paying attention to what's actually going on instead of blindly following brand names.
Competition is frankly good for the market - as more people make the transition towards digital distribution, it's going to be crucial to keep competition so no one distributor gets strange ideas in their head. But the problem here is that Valve has been entirely silent on the matter and EA is putting the blame on Valve's head, saying that Steam's new TOS dictates that you can't have a competing DLC model unless your game uses Steam as its integration. But given the fact that a bunch of other non-EA games on Steam use other pricing models and still remain on the service, this claim by EA goes out the window.
So we don't know anywhere near enough to figure out which side is in the right - assuming either of them are. Everyone is going to make a choice based on their love or hate of Valve and Steam, which is disappointing. People need to be more savvy with their consumption and start paying attention to what's actually going on instead of blindly following brand names.
Steam will win, but it's a shame. There should be competition for it, otherwise it's a monopoly.