I was going to buy Resident Evil 4 ... until I learned it had Denuvo (A single player game with DRM WTF)

Hey, they don't want my $59.99 -- that's their loss.

Thankfully, so far, Denuvo hasn't actually caused all that many issues for Linux desktop and Steam Deck gamers, since games protected by it work in Proton.

In the interest of negotiation and fairness I usually am willing to walk back my standards some. But not this time. I'm tired of "buying" things and "not owning them" and I'm tired of being a lawful customer only to get punished with DRM by hostile companies.

If they want to Play the DRM Game out of paranoia -- that's fine -- I will simply spend my money other places.

And that's why I've been buying gift copies of Baldur's Gate 3 -- we simply can't let this hellscape become the new normal. We deserve better than this. A good game will last decades. A bad game is sophistry and bad forever.

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Quoting: Klaas

Quoting: ElectricPrismIf I was a publisher, my respect for EG would have just dropped -- nobody can stay in business working for free.

Fortnite and Tencent can provide a lot of money. And EG saves a lot of money by relying on Steam for features – like Epic exclusive games with a Forum on Steam.

And it's not really completely free. It's a loss leader.

Yeah about that ...

The CCP government recently siphoned all the money out of Tencent (6m-1y) (Which they can do because corporations in china are part of the government by law.)

Again, the problem with paying nothing for something -- is that it creates disparity -- or actual modern day slavery.

Disparity occurs when deals are not fair. Ethically, really bad things happen when one party wins too much at the other's expense. (In this case my empathy is with the foreign workers and employees who just want a living wage.)

Edit: This is really just communism 101 -- drop prices to attempt to drive competition out of business, power companies, baby formula / whatever -- and then once you have a monopoly raise prices to unfair levels. The idea of the state subsidizing failure also comes to mind -- like when a company makes airplanes that have aeronautic defects that cause them to crash -- and the state shows up to pay to keep the company in business when they are on a collision course with bankruptcy.

Anything that is not worthy of staying in business -- and can be destroyed -- should be destroyed. The big players shouldn't be subsidized to continue to fail creating abusive relationships with customers and employees. If they can't make it -- survival of the fittest -- tough luck, they will be replaced with more worthy businesses.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyExclusivity in itself is a cost to developers. A really significant one when it means you're only releasing on a little also-ran store and not on Steam where the people who will actually buy your game are.

Bingo. The adage come to mind -- cutting off your nose to spite your face.

It's like a 6 year old -- you offer them 2 choices -- they can get 6 money (dimes and quarters) or only 1/2 of a $20 bill.

Children will think the 6 money is more, when it's not even comparable.

Quoting: Purple Library GuySure, you get to release on Steam in 6 months, but first, you may have lost a certain momentum by then, you'll have to try to rebuild your "releasing the game" buzz from scratch and you may fail--and worse, some people will be aware of your exclusive and be annoyed about it

To go along with that thought, there are games on EG that people don't even know exist -- like Kingdom Hearts 3.

And to go along with consumer pshycology, once something is no longer a fad, and someone has waited 6 months or 1 year -- what's the difference between waiting even longer for a sale?

Final Fantasy VII signed a exclusivity deal and I think I bought a copy in the bargain bin a extra 6-months or 12-months out.

The 2nd chapter -- still haven't bought. I'll probably wait for it go to on sale again 50-75% off in a year or two.

Same goes for things with Denuvo, DRM, or EAC -- Yeah, no, I don't need to feed the beasts -- why would I pay for something that is not guaranteed to work and comes with no warranty?

There's a lot of fish in the game sea.

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I NEVER do business with people who propose a BAD DEAL.

Especially a BAD DEAL for THEM.

Oh you'll paint my house for $500? -- yeah sorry, no.

If I was a publisher, my respect for EG would have just dropped -- nobody can stay in business working for free.

And who wants to deal with resentful angry "I did it for free" vibes -- the money is exchanged as a assurance that the person will shut the fuck up and do their job providing you with value.

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In the aftermath, after being there in the debates before this was the way.

I gotta say -- we made the right choice.

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ GABEN TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

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Quoting: nitrofuranogreat seeing gnu/linux oem hardware like this around, but that about using intel cpu seems very terrible choice (intel chips are more efficient as home heaters than cpu) - would be really great if they came with amd cpu, or even better, arm cpu (just like apple is doing now)

True, I would prefer AMD, although considering it's running coreboot and System76 offerings on AMD and a open firmware have been lacking in the past it's hard to not be open to it.

Quoting: LoftyWould be interesting to see if a slightly smaller 8" device like this could come with a Sim card + decent camera and then maybe we could have an X86 Hybrid Linux desktop computer smart phone.

Absolutely. In fact -- it's literally possible to modify the SteamDeck to do just this, and with a CPU that can run laps around PinePhone / Librem5 -- although I'm not sure that the touch or screen resolution is as optimal as it could be. My eyes and ears are open for other contenders in this space. To speed up development and save developer time I think it's a good idea for devs to test drive higher power devices at a similar form factor when possible.

--

I saw someone complaining about 3:2 and then ask to make it a second monitor -- makes me laugh because 3:2 is a great aspect ratio for additional monitors in multi-monitor setups -- 16:9 on the other hand _ is _ not _ .

I would be curious to find a way to use SteamDeck and other SBC style devices like the one in this post as additional monitors -- it would be really cool to have 4 of these things all mounted to 3D printed arms with touch controls like the Matrix 1, or even 6 small steam decks next to a big monitor all working as one computer.

--

Back to the StarLabs device though -- there's typically a threshold where I vet new brands and check them out -- I have no knowledge of their Ethos -- where System76 and even Purism (albeit criticized) have declared their missions and values.

It has key features I value, I imagine the battery time and cpu power are matched, and put off less heat. Nice aluminum chassis. sd card slot -- nice. volume buttons, good. magnetic keyboard attachment -- respectable. small enough form factor it could be carried around for work like a clipboard -- nice.

Not really sure about the webcam quality -- if they are fairly good I would consider using this as a sort of "VOIP / Video Phone" or whatever. I would have liked a hardware kill switch for the cameras and mic.

Additionally I would be interested in a SIM slot and card or the ability to connect to cellular phone or satellite phone networks -- as I do intend to completely go 100% Linux on the phone at some future date and am looking for devices to replace proprietary garbage.

You couldn't give me a stack of 50 surface pros -- I would give them away or dump them in the trash -- this really does offer a lot of promise and breaks ground in the Linux space.

Along with System76 and Frame.work there are some really awesome choices for portables depending on your use-case for us right now.

Edit:

I forgot to mention I am not particularly fond of HDMI since it's proprietary. I'm trying to phase it out as much as possible in favor of display port. I realize I am not the average consumer who just wants things to work -- but in my perspective as long as hardware is proprietary we will always suffer at the hands of a behemoth who chooses winners and looser and can give their favor to whoever lines their pockets. Just my 2 cents. (Like ok monitor brands, can you please stop shoving G-Force logos on the startup screens and boxes -- I have ZERO interest, and infact the inclusion of that technology makes me leery to buy -- looking @ you ASUS)

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Quoting: SakuretsuLosing your account with all the things you spent time and maybe even real money on out of the blue without even doing anything wrong looks absolutely unacceptable to me.

Soo true. In the age of the internet as a "new normal" this is not okay.

That's why I reserve my money for games like -- Baldur's Gate 3 -- even bought a gift copy.

Ironic that a game with gate in the name is the opposite of gatekeepers having contempt for their customers.

There's a lot of fish in the steam.

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I got 9 hours on this game, and yeah it's pretty kickass, especially for a marble nerd like me -- obviously Marble Gold is kind of legendary -- this game is well worth the play -- especially on steam deck.

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I don't usually get excited but this looks pretty amazing.

I'll try to hold my hype. If this turns out to be half what I think it could be I'll be a very happy player.

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Regarding Switch, Steam Deck is incredibly versatile as it's a PC.

$319 for a Steam Deck is a total steal.

We need to get these things into EVERYONE's hands.

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