Quoting: GuestI think a big problem with that is Valve's case, it's just not practical at all for quickly playing on the bus. When I was still commuting, I got a backpack that was designed for the Switch, but which also fits the Deck. Just sliding it in and out of the bag is so much more elegant than getting the official SD case out of your bag, unzipping it, putting it away, and then finally turning on the Deck, ugh.

Hmm, I never found the case to be that much of an issue myself. It's more that with any handheld there really isn't any easy way to put it away; I'm not the type to just "throw" something in my backpack. If I need to get something out on the bus, like my phone, it's not practical to hold any handheld in one hand and there isn't anywhere to put it down. Anything bigger than a phone is a challenge to lug around on any form of transport.

Quoting: GuestI use my Deck docked most of the time and have considered selling it, but I just can't part with SteamOS and its immediate suspend/wake-up. Not sure what I'd replace it with.

Yeah it's a great feature if you need a handheld. Otherwise in my case, I don't miss it so much when I'm on my PC. Case in point, I was playing on my Steam Deck earlier but instead of putting it to sleep with a game running, I turned the game off and picked it up on my PC (I have a game running on my other screen as I type this :happy:)

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Quoting: d3Xt3rbecuase the Win Mini allows me to comfortably game from my bed and couch, which I prefer over sitting on a chair. Like, I work in IT, and after a full day of sitting in front of a PC at work, I really do not have the energy or motivation to do it again at home

I also work in IT, and when I play on my Steam Deck, I do it in my chair usually. The same chair that is right beside my PC :tongue: I used to play my Steam Deck in bed but that had a major negative impact on my mood. Gaming in bed is something I was looking forward to doing with my Steam Deck and then I realised I just ended up spending my whole day in bed instead of on my PC!

I also tried taking my Steam Deck out with me a few times, but I don't have any commutes longer than 15-20 minutes, and using my Steam Deck outside felt about as good as using a laptop outside. It was an inconvenience to lug around. That said, I have some bigger travel plans coming, and I plan on taking my laptop and Steam Deck, and I could see it fitting in well there, but I still count that as an accessory.

To me, with respect to the screen thing, the Steam Deck is the same as using a PC or a laptop, the screen location and dimensions are just different if that makes sense.

Quoting: d3Xt3rI used to back when I was still young, but not any more

Maybe when I'm not as young my mind will change. I mean the thing that gets me through the work day is getting back to using my Desktop usually. I spent all day in front of a computer long before I ever started working :grin:

Quoting: d3Xt3rThe only time I actually use my desktop is when I'm playing multiplayer games and I need to be my best and take it seriously

Indeed, I don't do voice calls, so typing messages in real-time on anything but my beloved mechanical keyboard is nigh-impossible. I've gotten pretty quick with the Steam Deck keyboard thanks to some years with the Steam Controller and the typing experience is great when you have to search for things, but it's no replacement for a full Desktop PC keyboard.

Quoting: d3Xt3rjust like how the Switch brought me back into gaming when it first came out.

Heh, I actually don't like using the Switch handheld, and most people I know have theirs permanently docked. It was the same when a couple people I knew with Steam Decks but they all sold theirs in the end.

Quoting: d3Xt3rSo props to Valve and all these handheld device makers for bringing PC gaming to the couch.

Agreed! It's very nice to be able to show family a game without being tied to my PC. They certainly have uses for many people, and I also have my own uses. But I don't think anything will dethrone my PC. It isn't about performance, it's about having gaming on top of the regular Desktop experience. The Steam Deck is probably the best experience it could be, but for me, nothing tops sitting in front of my PC to play games.

For me, a box in a corner surrounded by screens to me will always beat a handheld in the living room.

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Quoting: HighballYou can run multiple applications at the same time while in game mode. I do it all the time. You just hit the steam button and switch to the Discord window.

You can for sure. But for me it's not as convenient or as nice of an experience as tabbing into a window on another display. Plus Firefox doesn't work so good in GameScope (I will never use the Discord "app"), and typing messages and replies on a virtual keyboard (even a phone keyboard) isn't as nice as using my mechanical one on my PC. Even my laptop keyboard is mildly frustrating to use. Sure, I can hook up my keyboard, or even get some Bluetooth adapter, but then you lose the portability aspect of the Steam Deck, and I try to avoid using Bluetooth where possible because I also find it quite frustrating.

You also can't keep an eye on your game this way. You can use multiple displays in Desktop Mode but then you don't get the performance controls, and GameScope embedded doesn't support multiple displays at the moment so you can't do it from Game Mode. Plus the Steam Deck is still using X11 so adjusting the overscan is not as convenient as it is on Wayland, which would be necessary if I wanted to use a TV instead of one of my PC monitors.

I think that's overall my thing with the Steam Deck, it's great for the pick-up-and-play, but everything else feels like a lesser experience compared to my Desktop.

For what it's worth, I have the same gripes with laptops, my phone, tablets, and other consoles.

I'm not saying the Steam Deck is bad, I'm saying for me and how I use a computer, it's an accessory. For people on the go a lot it's absolutely a game-changer and I'd rather game on my Steam Deck over my laptop (I don't use an external mouse with my laptop, and KB/M controls work a trackpad aren't as good as the Steam Deck, but the Steam Deck just isn't as good for me as a keyboard and dedicated mouse). But when I want to play a game, like really sit down and experience something, I boot up my PC before I reach for my Steam Deck.

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Although I still like my Steam Deck and use it a few times a week, after the initial honeymoon period wore off (which admittedly took a good year) my Arch Desktop PC has certainly dethroned it. There's something that is just so much nicer for those long 8hr+ gaming sessions on a Desktop versus my Steam Deck. For short bursts the Steam Deck is nice but when I want to play a game I don't reach for my Steam Deck by default anymore.

Plus being able to tab out of my game and use Discord on one of my other screens is nicer than grabbing my phone to do the same. At this point I am too used to my 4-monitor setup and multitasking that the Steam Deck ends up feeling restrictive after some time.

When it's warm though it is nice to grab my Steam Deck and stream from my PC to a TV in a cooler room. It's easier to put a controller down and grab my phone than to put my Steam Deck down and grab my phone.

But although I do like my Steam Deck, to me it's an accessory more than anything else. Like a phone or a laptop, nothing can replace my everything-PC for my use-cases.

Actually at time of writing, I haven't charged my Steam Deck in over a week...

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Unfortunately this is not usable on the Linux Desktop, at least on Arch with Plasma 6.1, as the Steam Overlay does not work.

EDIT: Running Steam from the commandline does allow the Steam Overlay to function again. But the Game Recording Timeline has issues interacting with the UI (depending on the display it is on, only certain sections can be interacted with). Both of these issues have already been reported upstream at ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux [External Link].

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Quoting: EssojeEAC isn't protecting you from just cheaters, but also hackers with access to RCE.

This points back to the issue being on FromSoftware for improperly implementing multiplayer (RCE exists, but gets patched). The ideal, again, would have been to remove multiplayer entirely.

Also, EAC is not immune to RCE attacks either. Companies that put invasive anti-cheat in their games deserve to be called out (some even call out the players, although I am not so extreme). Invasive anti-cheat is a solution to vulnerabilities, but if you need to use malware to fix your multiplayer component, you should not have a multiplayer component.

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Quoting: EssojeI don't think FromSoftware had much of a say on it after the RCE vulnerability appeared, as it was necessary to protect players of older Souls games, and ER was close to release.

Cutting the multiplayer temporarily (or my preference, permanently) like they did for Dark Souls would've been better, and allowing EAC to be disabled for single-player.

Quoting: EssojeIf anything, going for EAC isn't nearly as egregious as some other anti-cheat software that is out there.

It's better than something like nProtect, sure, but that doesn't make EAC acceptable. I would rather no anti-cheat and cheaters than invasive anti-cheat, if that was the choice.

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Quoting: StalePopcornBut they stated that they're aware of the situation and are working on a hotfix

I meant for including EAC in the game, period.

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Screw you, FromSoftware.

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Given that the recent updates to SteamOS 3.6 Preview have been quite small, perhaps we're getting close to the stable release now.

I don't think so, 3.6 Preview is still fairly unstable, the most unstable Preview has ever been for me since I got my Steam Deck. Not a discredit to Valve at all, it is normal to expect major bugs, and Preview is still usable (a credit to Valve that the most unstable state Preview has ever had still keeps the device usable), but the Steam Client still crashes a couple times a day in Game Mode and still doesn't start automatically when switching to Desktop Mode.

The audio drivers also still has some kinks with the built-in speakers where session switching still borks it, and the volume is too low by default and you have to keep switching audio sources until it works (external speakers and headphones work fine).

The CEC features still don't quite work correctly (I've tried various HDMI cables with different hubs and the official Dock, still no dice) and Valve in the previous release just fixed the system crashing when unplugging it from a display (broken since SteamOS 3.6.0). The device still crashes once every dozen or so disconnects, and will crash if you connect and disconnect in rapid succession (plugging and unplugging like a crazy person).

To my understanding these are all known issues on the SteamOS issue tracker, but when I encounter any I don't see reported, bug hunting is a big reason why I like staying on Preview :happy:

I'd say we're still at least a month out from 3.6 being in Stable given all the critical issues that still need fixed before it could be considered stable. Not critical for everyday use on a channel that you accept is expected to be unstable (it wouldn't be called Preview if it was going to be rock-solid all the time, or even most of the time), but these are issues that would prevent a Stable release imo.

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