Community MetaSteam | May 2021 - Wallets Gone

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gabbo

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Fair warning, I think we agree. It's just that it really is not rocket science. This is really, really basic engineering and ergonomics. The answers are out there on the PCGamingWiki, I can't possibly believe knowing what an option menu ought to contain is an unknown to the gaming industry, not today.

If this is rocket science to them, it is because of incompetence or lack of willingness to care. Not because it is hard. Making a game is hard, not this.

I'm guessing this is what you meant but I still balk at the idea of acknowledging or rewarding the gaming industry for deigning make a proper port for PC games. They don't deserve recognition for doing a good enough job. Sales and user reviews are enough.
It probably comes down to cash and time. I'm pretty sure I've read an article that talks about this very thing, and when it comes down to it, there likely are devs working on menus and control ui until the very last minute, but the ones in charge of money don't want to spend that money on the time required to implement/QA those changes instead of saving money and shipping as is.

When it comes down to it, UI changes < other bugs/features
 

Gamall Wednesday Ida

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Fair warning, I think we agree. It's just that it really is not rocket science. This is really, really basic engineering and ergonomics.
Fair warning, we do agree.

If this is rocket science to them, it is because of incompetence or lack of willingness to care. Not because it is hard. Making a game is hard, not this.
Yes.

Consider DS2. Even the more recent SOTFS version.

Somebody thought it was a good idea to wait 300ms before acknowledging a mouse click, in case you actually want a double click. By default I believe normal attack is bound to single click and strong attack to double click. That would feel terrible in any game, but in a game where precise timings are required, it is sheer lunacy. It becomes almost unplayable. It beggars belief that anybody actually tested the game with such controls.

And it does not stop there. You can disable that behaviour by toggling a setting... and the toggle persists when restarting the game... but its effect does not; you have to turn it off then on again each time you start a game. I ended up making an AHK macro for that.

That's just one example. And although I haven't played many ports, my general impression is that this clusterfuck is representative of their general level of shittiness, pardon my French.

So when, in the last two years or so, I start seeing ports that look like someone with nonnegative IQ, who actually played on PC at least once in his life, gave the problem some genuine thought, and even translated the result of that meditation into a decent implementation, then I am willing to award medals and pats on the back as encouragement.

It may not be rocket science in absolute terms, no, but it's significant progress given where we were only a few years ago.
 

Gamall Wednesday Ida

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It probably comes down to cash and time.
Sure. Then again, is there anything that doesn't ? :p

there likely are devs working on menus and control ui until the very last minute, but the ones in charge of money don't want to spend that money on the time required to implement/QA those changes instead of saving money and shipping as is.
Yeah, but why do Evil Money Guys think they can get away with it ? In the case of M&K support, it's because they don't understand PC gaming, so from their POV it looks like it's not important to sweat the "details". And stuff still sells anyway.

If Evil Money Guys start getting a clue that stuff might sell more if they paid more attention to PC-specific features, their priorities may shift. I hope that's what's happening.
 
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gabbo

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Sure. Then again, is there anything that doesn't ? :p


Yeah, but why do Evil Money Guys think they can get away with it ? In the case of M&K support, it's because they don't understand PC gaming, so from their POV it looks like it's not important to sweat the "details". And stuff still sells anyway.

If Evil Money Guys start getting a clue that stuff might sell more if they paid more attention to PC-specific features, their priorities may shift. I hope that's what's happening.
But would it sell enough to justify the extra cost associated with X amount of development time? Not likely
Until someone can point to an uptick in sales for PC specific UI (or customizable UI i suppose if you use controllers to), it gets lowest priority
 

Gamall Wednesday Ida

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But would it sell enough to justify the extra cost associated with X amount of development time? Not likely
Depends. In the case of DS2, not implementing the double click "feature" would have saved dev time.

The only cost would have been to hire someone savvy enough to instantly recognise that when you click attack, you expect your toon to attack now. Any 8 years old with some PC gaming experience would meet that threshold, I hope. Shame the studio could not afford one.
 
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Swenhir

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Fair warning, we do agree.


Yes.

Consider DS2. Even the more recent SOTFS version.

Somebody thought it was a good idea to wait 300ms before acknowledging a mouse click, in case you actually want a double click. By default I believe normal attack is bound to single click and strong attack to double click. That would feel terrible in any game, but in a game where precise timings are required, it is sheer lunacy. It becomes almost unplayable. It beggars belief that anybody actually tested the game with such controls.

And it does not stop there. You can disable that behaviour by toggling a setting... and the toggle persists when restarting the game... but its effect does not; you have to turn it off then on again each time you start a game. I ended up making an AHK macro for that.

That's just one example. And although I haven't played many ports, my general impression is that this clusterfuck is representative of their general level of shittiness, pardon my French.

So when, in the last two years or so, I start seeing ports that look like someone with nonnegative IQ, who actually played on PC at least once in his life, gave the problem some genuine thought, and even translated the result of that meditation into a decent implementation, then I am willing to award medals and pats on the back as encouragement.

It may not be rocket science in absolute terms, no, but it's significant progress given where we were only a few years ago.
I never played DSII, and... Wow. This is a horror story. And they kept it for SOTFS? I'm not sure if it gave them an opportunity to change but it still seems crazy.

I still refuse to give in to Stockholm Syndrome though :p. And I am a bitter and angry enough person that I will not award them medals for doing what is normal. But point taken, and again, wow at that crappy port.
 

Wok

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Apple Leaks Steam "effective commission rate". Can this be used to estimate profits? (All previous documents have had this censored).

That eonden must be Epic's expert. :tired:



vs.





I guess Microsoft's evaluation of Valve is likely correct, including their "operating profit". So, for third-party games:
  • 11% net profit margin (498/4541),
  • 69% profit percentage (498/(1226-498)).
 
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eonden

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Apple Leaks Steam "effective commission rate". Can this be used to estimate profits? (All previous documents have had this censored).

Not really unless we have revenue. At best it would be possible to create a map of where the distribution of revenue comes from Steam by using 2 equations to define it:

x- % of revenue from 30% cut range
y- % of revenue from 25% cut range
z- % of revenue from 20% cut range

x + y + z = 1 (Total revenue has to be 100%)
0.3*x + 0.25*y + 0.2*z = 0.268 (effective cut works based on the % of revenue)

If we had another data point to be able to convert "% of revenue of the cut range" to actual money, then Yes. But I dont think we have an idea how much money Valve made in (for instance) the 30% cut range.

That eonden must be Epic's expert. :tired:



vs.




I guess Microsoft's evaluation of Valve is likely correct, including their "operating profit".
Technically, MS evaluation of the efective cut is 26.99% but yeah, I guess MS was not too far off.


My main curiosity on this case is if they are using any data from "third party" sales. I assume not, as the easiest way to calculate effective cut would be:
"Valve Revenue" / "Total Customer payment"
Using key activations would probably involve a ton of math (adding the price of the key activation as "lost revenue" at current Steam-price when activated that is included into "Total customer payment") which I assume is waaay too much work for Valve. to do for this shit.
 
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Amzin

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Not really unless we have revenue. At best it would be possible to create a map of where the distribution of revenue comes from Steam by using 2 equations to define it:

x- % of revenue from 30% cut range
y- % of revenue from 25% cut range
z- % of revenue from 20% cut range

x + y + z = 1 (Total revenue has to be 100%)
0.3*x + 0.25*y + 0.2*z = 0.268 (effective cut works based on the % of revenue)

If we had another data point to be able to convert "% of revenue of the cut range" to actual money, then Yes. But I dont think we have an idea how much money Valve made in (for instance) the 30% cut range.


Technically, MS evaluation of the efective cut is 26.99% but yeah, I guess MS was not too far off.


My main curiosity on this case is if they are using any data from "third party" sales. I assume not, as the easiest way to calculate effective cut would be:
"Valve Revenue" / "Total Customer payment"
Using key activations would probably involve a ton of math (adding the price of the key activation as "lost revenue" at current Steam-price when activated that is included into "Total customer payment") which I assume is waaay too much work for Valve. to do for this shit.
Does this also factor in things like Steam keys sold via Humble / GMG / Dev websites / etc.? If not then it's actually likely notably lower than this.
 

eonden

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Does this also factor in things like Steam keys sold via Humble / GMG / Dev websites / etc.? If not then it's actually likely notably lower than this.
As I said:

My main curiosity on this case is if they are using any data from "third party" sales. I assume not, as the easiest way to calculate effective cut would be:
"Valve Revenue" / "Total Customer payment"
Using key activations would probably involve a ton of math (adding the price of the key activation as "lost revenue" at current Steam-price when activated that is included into "Total customer payment") which I assume is waaay too much work for Valve. to do for this shit.
Even then, I doubt in total revenue (which includes mtx!) that would account for an equivalent of 5% of Valve Revenue.
If that were the case, the effective cut rate would be 0.268 / 1.05 -> 0.255
If it were 10% -> 0.2436

Mind you, if we are talking about 10% of Steam revenue, we would be talking about the equivalent of 400M+ $ being sold on third party places in total a year. Much higher than anyone would actually think is realisitc.
 
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Tizoc

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Come on y'all, pick the subtitle for the next thread

MetaSteam June 2021 | StrIVing for your attention and money
MetaSteam June 2021 | Now with 85% more season appropriate licensed games
MetaSteam June 2021 | Alex Kidd in Monetary Mishandling Management DX
 
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Wok

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Copons

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Copons Im just now learning it and have found it the most lightweight and efficient of all Ive learned haha, so that is at least my impression, but I don't have experience to know really.
So for personal experience React apps tend to bloat very, very quickly.
It doesn't have to be this way, but even the best-intentioned devs end up like that. 😄

This said, IMHO React is a joy to work with, it changed my career, I love it, and it's most often the best tool for the job!

React may not be the most lightweight or efficient on its own, but compared to say, a certain other launcher built in a 3d game engine, it might as well be feathers
That goes without saying!

Although, to be fair, EGS (the store I mean) is a React app, while Steam (again, the store) is a mix and match of different technologies, React included.
I mean, it's totally reasonable, considering that EGS was created at peak React, whereas Steam began roughly 10 years before React was conceived. 😄
But then again, I'd really love a nice Steam redesign with consistency in mind, rather than adding new stuff to the decade old frame (easier said than done, I'm well aware).
 

mastemas

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Does this also factor in things like Steam keys sold via Humble / GMG / Dev websites / etc.? If not then it's actually likely notably lower than this.
i want to also point out that Valve gets a lot of money from the updates they do to their already-lasting games

even a game like tf2, and a small case like a community halloween case (where community creators know how much Valve takes for themselves, and how much they get of the cut, which is where i get to know how much they get) they get like a lot (a lot), can't really say the exact values because of that red text saying "Sales data is displayed for your personal use, and you have agreed to keep this data confidental (see: Workshop - Legal Agreement)."

by a lot (a lot), i'm really kinda saying all i can so i don't break this little agreement
 

Swenhir

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One thing led to another and I find myself quite interested by Deathwing Enhanced Edition, on account of power armor and atmosphere. One thing I am unsure of is whether it truly is a good idea, given that I intend to pick it up on sale whenever that happens. Has anyone played it?
 
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Li Kao

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Doom flashbacks. :sweaty-blob:
Cuphead, too. Poor journos, ‘insert joke, I’m waking up at 2pm with an headache’.

One thing led to another and I find myself quite interested by Deathwing Enhanced Edition, on account of power armor and atmosphere. One thing I am unsure of is whether it truly is a good idea, given that I intend to pick it up on sale whenever that happens. Has anyone played it?
For what it’s worth, Deathwing has the rep of a skunk carcass rotting in the sun. Didn’t play it, though, so...

Life is trolling me at this point.
I just barely see the end of W2 in sight, have the temptation to play W3 soon against my better judgement (it would be too soon after 2), and now this.
That being said, I don’t know how this will work, but if it’s classic dumb game industry implementation, aka ‘just replay the game’, I would be pretty peeved if I already did it. Thinking about The Outer Worlds here.
Why an option to continue playing after the ending, and thus having the opportunity to easily play any xpac, is not a common thing, I will never know.
 
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