Community MetaSteam | December 2021 - All I want for Christmas is a SteamDeck.

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DeejayDoom said:
Please SE, i can only laugh so much:

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But wait:

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Seems people are also using VPN to buy cheap games in Europe.
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I really i cant.. fucking damn i just want chrono cross and forget about S-E. they really sucks, was checking prices in my country and nope, more expensive that physical games...
 
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I still wonder how Epic coupons are allowed legally. It is really unfair competition that damages market. And while Steam will be fine i really can see GMG, Fanatical and other smaller stores really getting destroyed because they can't compete.
 
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dex3108 said:
I still wonder how Epic coupons are allowed legally. It is really unfair competition that damages market. And while Steam will be fine i really can see GMG, Fanatical and other smaller stores really getting destroyed because they can't compete.
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Uhm. What.
 
dex3108 said:
I still wonder how Epic coupons are allowed legally. It is really unfair competition that damages market. And while Steam will be fine i really can see GMG, Fanatical and other smaller stores really getting destroyed because they can't compete.
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It may be deemed market distorting (predatory pricing) if Valve did it but since Epic isn’t the dominant storefront it is “ok”. I do think it’s problematic because as we’ve seen with tech companies and limitless venture capital, this type of strategy can drive out competitors as long as enough money is invested. It reads to me as market distorting because it just becomes a race of who has more money to spend rather than which model is healthier.
 
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dex3108 said:
I still wonder how Epic coupons are allowed legally. It is really unfair competition that damages market. And while Steam will be fine i really can see GMG, Fanatical and other smaller stores really getting destroyed because they can't compete.
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Not a lawyer, but it is a high bar to demonstrate costing that benefits the customer as illegal. Epic would have to clearly state intents that they would never state (or at least the company wouldn't, who knows what Tim would do on Twitter) and it would have to be shown that there is harm to the market. It would also likely have to be shown that Epic controls a significant portion of the market or will control a significant portion of the market.

www.ftc.gov

Predatory or Below-Cost Pricing

Can prices ever be "too low?" The short answer is yes, but not very often. Generally, low prices benefit consumers.
www.ftc.gov www.ftc.gov

I won't say anything more here and keep it in the other thread, but suffice to say it is likely something like this would never been seen as illegal.,
 
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NarohDethan said:
Uhm. What.
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Lashley said:
Yeah, not sure I agree Dex

Epic suck booty still
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Anything below like 30$ has price on Epic Store that can't be matched by GMG and other smaller stores. And what Epic is doing is technically illegal (predatory pricing) but it is notoriously hard to prove it at court so it is getting pass for the most part. These low prices benefit customers in a short run, but they are can be really damaging in the long run if competition gets out of the business.
 
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dex3108 said:
Anything below like 30$ has price on Epic Store that can't be matched by GMG and other smaller stores. And what Epic is doing is technically illegal (predatory pricing) but it is notoriously hard to prove it at court so it is getting pass for the most part. These low prices benefit customers in a short run, but they are can be really damaging in the long run if competition gets out of the business.
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This is ridiculous. Epic isn't nearly as big to do so.

A better example would be Amazon. They bully small companies because they can, and more importantly, because Amazon has permeated the day to day life. Epic is not even in the same universe as that.
 
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dex3108 said:
Anything below like 30$ has price on Epic Store that can't be matched by GMG and other smaller stores. And what Epic is doing is technically illegal (predatory pricing) but it is notoriously hard to prove it at court so it is getting pass for the most part. These low prices benefit customers in a short run, but they are can be really damaging in the long run if competition gets out of the business.
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What they can say is that GMG primarily competes with the Steam store (and other sites selling Steam-enabled games) for sale of games in that specific ecosystem, whereas EGS exists outside of that dynamic and so has limited bearing on it. This is only partly true of course.
 
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NarohDethan said:
This is ridiculous. Epic isn't nearly as big to do so.

A better example would be Amazon. They bully small companies because they can, and more importantly, because Amazon has permeated the day to day life. Epic is not even in the same universe as that.
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Amazon was small, how do you think they got this big? And other smaller stores like GMG already run at questionable profitability so any lost sales can be damaging to them.
 
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dex3108 said:
Anything below like 30$ has price on Epic Store that can't be matched by GMG and other smaller stores. And what Epic is doing is technically illegal (predatory pricing) but it is notoriously hard to prove it at court so it is getting pass for the most part. These low prices benefit customers in a short run, but they are can be really damaging in the long run if competition gets out of the business.
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Continuing on what beep boop said above, I think the law has not caught up with how to handle companies that have been operating on runaway speculation allowing those companies to operate on unimaginable losses and operate in ways that more established companies cannot without incurring more risk (i.e. a start-up company is likely leaner than an company that has been operating for decades).
Really though, this gets into more a talk on the issues within capitalism, and specifically investing.
 
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dex3108 said:
Anything below like 30$ has price on Epic Store that can't be matched by GMG and other smaller stores. And what Epic is doing is technically illegal (predatory pricing) but it is notoriously hard to prove it at court so it is getting pass for the most part. These low prices benefit customers in a short run, but they are can be really damaging in the long run if competition gets out of the business.
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Epic IS trying to drive competition off the market, they were never explicit about, but its pretty obvious from how they operate, but they can't, they don't have enough of the market to do so.

While Steam Keys are added value to the consumer and the defacto way to easily sell games in multiple stores on PC for pubs/devs, and the fact that great number of people are not stupid enough to sabotage the whole PC gaming scene by falling for Epics bullshit, Epic has hit a hard ceiling to where they can grow.

3rd party key sellers should not worry much for now, but when the final desperation hits, and Epic decide to try 1 last time before closing the store, that's when shit will get dangerous.
 
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NarohDethan said:
Amazon is convenient. EGS is not.
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I think the general point is relevant in that Amazon cultivated expectations from consumers that were unrealistic given the losses it operated under for years and years. Then, when it had amassed a large enough customer base, it is able to finally turn a profit while individual smaller online stores can't operate at the thin margins Amazon does because they don't have the sheer scale to compensate or the amount of online presence.

It's certainly not 1:1 but this type of behavior s undoubtedly shaping purchasing patterns and value perceptions through the availability of free games and massive discounts. Over the long term, subscription services and such will do the same. The value of purchasing a game is slowly being eroded. (The current questionable model of technically just buying unilaterally forfeitable and nontransferable licenses to digital games isn't great for consumers either, to be fair.)
 
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beep boop said:
I think the general point is relevant in that Amazon cultivated expectations from consumers that were unrealistic given the losses it operated under for years and years. Then, when it had amassed a large enough customer base, it is able to finally turn a profit while individual smaller online stores can't operate at the thin margins Amazon does because they don't have the sheer scale to compensate.
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Yeah, but how many people are buying from EGS?
 
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NarohDethan said:
Yeah, but how many people are buying from EGS?
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That's exactly it. They have a pretty large userbase who don't buy much; people who don't have to buy anything and can be set for years just redeeming free things. The longer it goes on, the more skeptical you'd look at buying something new (assuming a degree of rationality), especially at full price, if you expect to get free things or heavily discounted games.
 
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Ah, look at all these anime games coming! Mary Skelter 2 and more Senrans!! (hometown represent!) :love:

Guess I can delete Mary Skelter off my Switch wishlist thankfully. Better to keep majority of my library centralized on PC when i can.

Hektor said:
I genuinly haven't played enough games this year to do that. :H02blush:
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Not to worry. I only played 2 2021 games. Outriders and DDLC+. I voted for DDLC+ and for ongoing I picked FFXIV. Even just one vote is okies.

C-Dub said:
Hi everyone.

Fantomena reached out to me last month to ask how I was getting on and to see why I'd left Metacouncil. I explained that I had a new job, the adjustment to the new role was taking its toll on me, and I was overwhelmed with social media and communties, so I decided to take a break from all but Twitter. I hope he passed on the message, though I trust that he did.

Sorry to worry some of you, and I appreciate the concern.
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Glad you are doing okies and welcome back!! :blobhug:
Hope your new work is going A-okies and not too stressful now you're settled in.
 
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prudis said:
huh the top section is interesting with titles ripe to get bordgame and boardgame IPS to get console game :unsure:
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Ah, finally, a digital version of Android Netrunner ! 10 years too late when nobody will give a fuck.
 
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Game companies doing focus testing to the moon to maximize mass market appeal: "We are making sure the game is the best it can be and is enjoyed by the most people"
Game companies doing NFT's: lol, fuck market research. We just want to make money until this thing fizzle out.
 
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Dinjoralo said:
Was there some good turn-based RPG that came out recently and slipped my mind? Or am I thinking of Temtem...
Though, Temtem seems a fair bit better now. Difficulty is way less bullish.
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Maybe Ruined King? Even after the initial excitement people still seem to like it
 
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Other Forum has the beginning of a new "just asking questions", "why is it so bad", "it's just another cosmetic" battle brewing with NFT's.
People posting books worth of explanations and the next post from an NTF bro is "But why is it so bad, I don't see the issue"
 
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EdwardTivrusky said:
I have 5 mechanical keyboards, they're ace. I haven't gone batshit crazy expensive build-my-own yet so there's still hope for me.
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Dude, if you own 5 of them you are already well on your way to mechanical keyboard hell. Soon you'll join a couple of group buys for some keycaps you like, then you start small with something like a hotswappable keychron or the GMMK Pro, and next you know you are swimming in expensive 500$ boards, with lubed stabs, custom foams, and just generally over-modded to get just that perfect sound and colour matched keycaps, casing, cables and desk mats.
 
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I only had ( or have, I still use it) one mechanical keyboard from Corsair and I don't really like it. Maybe It's the switches or maybe how overall mechanical keyboards function. The issue is that even tho I have it for the past 3-4 years, I still do a lot of mistakes by miss clicks. I only need to press the button with a tiny force and it already registers. I also died a ton because of it in Apex ( for example deploying a healing bot with lifeline, which takes an eternity, while strafing, instead of simply strafing and shooting).
 
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beep boop said:
Here's my secret PC sin: I vastly prefer laptop style, super flat keys.
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Here's my secret open issue : I am mistyping more and more on my flat Logitech Illuminated, drives me crazy, but the basic as fuck Logitech keyboard I bought for my mother feels horrible, too.
So I have no idea what to buy :so-good-blob:
 
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thekeats1999 ISO Standard Enter Key Club unite!
I hate the stupid slim ANSI Standard Enter Key, it's stupid.

Gimme that BIG ol' ENTER key everyday!

Also, being in the UK makes massdrop etc a nightmare even more than simply joining a group buy for keycaps and waiting 18 months for them is as standard so i don't bother. Just don't go to GeekHack if you're interested in Mechanical Keyboards. It's hell.
 
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Li Kao said:
Here's my secret open issue : I am mistyping more and more on my flat Logitech Illuminated, drives me crazy, but the basic as fuck Logitech keyboard I bought for my mother feels horrible, too.
So I have no idea what to buy :so-good-blob:
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The issues with flat keyboards I have, is, that when I want to "pull" the keyboard nearer to me with the arrow keys, I will slip up and press the left or right arrow and fuck up the video I am watching or more likely, the story I am reading (when websites have the feature to jump to the previous or next chapter with the left or right key)
 
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ezodagrom said:


Oof :toucan:
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I said before, and I will say it again, because of the EGS exclusivity, devs/pubs has no incentive to make a good port, they already got paid, the best thing for them is to delivery a minimum viable product and maybe flash it out a bit for a multi store release when the exclusivity expires.

In the case of FF7R, SE knows how much the game will sell based on the Kingdom Hearts data, they know that making FF7R the best possible is a waste of time and money.

People have to understand, they already got paid!
 
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TioChuck said:
I said before, and I will say it again, because of the EGS exclusivity, devs/pubs has no incentive to make a good port, they already got paid, the best thing for them is to delivery a minimum viable product and maybe flash it out a bit for a multi store release when the exclusivity expires.

In the case of FF7R, SE knows how much the game will sell based on the Kingdom Hearts data, they know that making FF7R the best possible is a waste of time and money.

People have to understand, they already got paid!
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Yeah...

On another note, it gets worse, forced dynamic resolution.
 
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EdwardTivrusky said:
thekeats1999 ISO Standard Enter Key Club unite!
I hate the stupid slim ANSI Standard Enter Key, it's stupid.

Gimme that BIG ol' ENTER key everyday!

Also, being in the UK makes massdrop etc a nightmare even more than simply joining a group buy for keycaps and waiting 18 months for them is as standard so i don't bother. Just don't go to GeekHack if you're interested in Mechanical Keyboards. It's hell.
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Yeah, also I have a shorter shift key on the left. By the looks of it I would have to buy 2 or 3 different sets to make one keyboard.

Thinking of going for just coloured letter keeys to be safe.
 
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Don't give SQEX money for their EGS exclusives and bad ports. I would recommend buying them on key store.

Also the Gunk is pretty underwhelming. Absolutely gorgeous but the gameplay is hollow. I can see why some people outright say that it is a boring game. Somehow Image and Form failed to utilize their expertise on metroidvania in this game.
 
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Square Enix is really trying to speedrun themselves into irrelevancy on PC, huh.
I find this all quite fascinating. I'm gonna have my popcorn ready when Babylon's Fall and Forsaken underperform. Also super curious how Kingdom Hearts will be received on Steam.
 
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fantomena said:
Alex on ERA about FVIIR PC

www.resetera.com

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade releasing on EGS in December 16 (Up: Coming to Steam eventually)

Wow, the game is big. Had to uninstall a couple of not-so-old games to download it. Hopefully it's good.
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com

Goddamn Im happy I decided to just play it on my PS4. Just gonna wait and cross my fingers that the Steam version will be more fixed.
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Definately a case of taking the money and running with it. They have had 3 exclusivity deals on this (Initial 1 year, Intergrade and EGS) and this is what they shit out for us and then have the cheek to ask for £65.

Pathetic.
 
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fantomena said:
Alex on ERA about FVIIR PC

www.resetera.com

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade releasing on EGS in December 16 (Up: Coming to Steam eventually)

Wow, the game is big. Had to uninstall a couple of not-so-old games to download it. Hopefully it's good.
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com
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EGS has no user reviews or forums, so nobody will know this until they actually bought it.

As I've said earlier: we aren't Square's customers for this game, Epic is. And it's God damn sad that some people are still supporting or even defending this. 😔
 
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