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Quote of the day by Gabe Newell: "Piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue" — Sony just proved why digital storefronts are broken (www.windowscentral.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 19 points 3 months ago* (13 children)

I personally don't get the fixation on physical media. Like sure, you may put it on the shelf, which can be nice. But realistically digital is the way to go for most people. I just want what GOG is doing, where you gat a real installer that just works without internet connection, without steam/gog installed, same today as in 20 years, even if GOG goes under.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    Thousands of games are distributed in that form on Steam too. It's a publisher/developer choice which DRM they use on Steam if any.

    And if it's Steam DRM they use, the solution if Steam goes offline is... the button that says "Go Offline".

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    That’s exactly the same with Xbox and PlayStation though (the steam offline bit). You can always play your digital games on your designated “home” console as it stores licenses locally on it.

    Steam still suffers the same issue where if steam shuts down and you buy a new PC, you won’t be able to “go offline” on it and play your games. They’ll forever be stuck on the pc that was your “home” PC.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    System images exist, but ok? Assuming most people don't have that technical knowledge, all those non-DRM games still work. I can copy and paste Kerbal Space Program and play it anywhere. The games with DRM I bought, I bought knowing what I was buying. I also bought knowing that what I was purchasing was smooth distribution and streamlined updates and safe and easy network play and not running random Russian .exes with an EDM soundtrack while cracking; but also with trust that those would still exist if Steam didn't.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    System images don’t get around steams home console feature lol.

    People buying digital console games also bought them knowing what they were getting. The number of Steam games that have no drm is irrelevant because it’s all stuff that’s regularly given away for free anyway.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    True. But steam's DRM is trivial. So if you downloaded your games and steam goes dark, you can easily "crack" them. I often do this to circumvent the 2hr refund window and test longer. As many games try to keep you entertained for at least 2hrs 😁

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    “Test longer”

    You can just say you pirate games mate.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (2 children)

    I buy if I like. I won't if I don't. My library is already too big, that loading it takes ages.

    I pirate movies and series though. Without exception AND for convenience.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    Sure, but then why pay for them at all, unless you really want to support the devs?

    It being legal and convenient is the improved service that can help reduce piracy.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    Paying is up to the user of course. It was just meant as a "it's not as bad as others in DRM". Also you could have hundreds of games for 0,- there, too.

    For me it was indeed the convenience. I was pirate since the 80s but steam gave a reason to just buy. Be it updates, workshop, community all around a game, news for that etc.

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