Quoting: JarmerAs a follow up to my own comment LOL:

https://bsky.app/profile/zen-browser.app/post/3ma4y3npgjk2e [External Link]

So Zen is safe (for now). So seems like we have:

librewolf
zen
waterfox

as the privacy focused - fuck you ai - alternatives.

There are also tor-browser and thus mulvlad browser.

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Quoting: ChrisznixAnother one percenter (new releases) here. Guess i am an old man of habit. :)
I really lile this feature. While i get that this is a bummer for people that only play offline, it shows that they don´t collect any data then. Which is something i really like. They easily could have snuck in a service that tracks things offline.

or at least they don't share it publicly, which still is a great improvement.

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Quoting: vic-baythankfully steam controller 2 is around the corner, so i will be looking to that as my next controller.

wtf is firmware update in xbox controller? how and why it breaks any compatibility?

xbox controller should be a braindead simple device with design that has practically no changes for three decades, it is a dualshock 1 with dpad and left stick swapped. what firmware updates can it possible have?

i know what these updates do. they are made for the sole purpose of breaking compatibility with non-windows machines. although microsoft only shoot themselves in the foot with this decision.

at this point whatever they do just makes everyone hate them more.

I assure you that compatibility breaking frimware updates can have reasonable cause.
Things like EU cybersecurity laws, anti-cheat compatibility and cummulative memory corruption.
I do suspect you're right in this case though.

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Quoting: lilovent

Quoting: tpauThe question is how can we keep the almost monopoly of Steam in check and balance it out?
I buy my games only on Steam if there is no other option.

The answer is simple: provide competitive good enough services and shopping experience that are on par at least with Steam.

If any other game shop does not want to provide that or cannot do that, they won't get better market shares.

For example, Epic is still burning Fortnite money and any of their underhanded tactics did not work out, instead of treating customers better.

Steam does exactly that, that is providing in comparison to other stores the best services.

Steam's behavior is so interesting.
They behave themselves as a monopolist that fears anti-trust law, which is such a weird situation.

You know Valve's reputation of "winning by doing nothing".
That's how you win as a legal monopolist.
Let the economy of scale and ages of product refinement carry you, because a reaction would by definition be anti-competitive(quite literally you take actions to minimize the amount of competition you face).

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Quoting: scaine

Quoting: LoudTechie

Quoting: LestibournesI wonder, since Valve is now the OS vendor, if it can't implement its own kernel-level anticheat and let the game devs or anticheat devs make use of it.

It could, but the devs wouldn't trust it, because under the gpl they would be forced to release the source code defeating the security through obscurity kernel anti-cheat relies on.

That might be a strength in the long-run though, because if you're relying on security through obscurity, we all know how that ends. But if you implemented an open-source anti-cheat tool that was actually robust? That would be a huge win.

I agree.
I've done quite some research on how to do this and posted in great detail about it on this forum, so I will avoid geeking out again and making my post too long.
I'm just not as optimistic as you're and I don't think Valve is going to be that much of an innovator.
I'm blistering with ideas how to achieve it and even published a little bit of code for it, so I really really hope you're right and I'm wrong.

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Quoting: Eike

Quoting: LoudTechie

Quoting: LestibournesI wonder, since Valve is now the OS vendor, if it can't implement its own kernel-level anticheat and let the game devs or anticheat devs make use of it.

It could, but the devs wouldn't trust it, because under the gpl they would be forced to release the source code defeating the security through obscurity kernel anti-cheat relies on.

Couldn't it attach the same way the closed source Nvidia driver does?

No.
A. Nividia's behavior is already of questionable legality, but nobody has yet had the guts to figure it out.(look up dynamical linking exception if you want to read more about this)
B. It wouldn't be an interface to something external, but it would be a feature on itself, so its not actually part of the dynamical linking exception.
C. Even if they manage to weasel it in, they would still be relying on an open source interface whose meaning can be arbitrarily changed.
D. The really good anti-cheat vendors also make certain their surroundings are closed source, so it's harder to find their anti-cheat logic.
EDIT:
They already did it with VAC and the devs didn't trust it and were right.

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Quoting: mylkahow much is VALVE contributing?
since the steam deck and soon steam machine, both with KDE they should have a strong interest, that KDE is as good as it can get

i mean 300k is nothing for valve

According to KDE no more than 67000$ straight to KDE, [External Link] which isn't unexpected Valve is rich enough that it can afford to spend the money it spends straight on developers who make just improvements that suit them.
Also Valve is a notoriously opaque organization.
They don't publish investor reports, due to their private cooperation structure.
They don't really talk to the press.
They tend to hire subcontractors to do the dirty and visible work for them. Yes, I'm looking at you Codeweavers.
In KDE's case they hired Igalia to carry the blame for contributing to KDE, but how much of that time is bought by Valve and how much by others is unknown to me.

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Quoting: chrI haven't donated this year to open-source, since I've been unemployed for almost 2 years and family keeps borrowing from me as well. But I really hope I can give something again next year.

You managed to hit my pity point.
Have you already tried applying for tech support jobs(yes, I just assumed that because you frequent this forum you know english and your way around team viewer)
Like this one? [External Link]

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Quoting: chr

Quoting: Tethys84I've heard nothing but bad things about this game. That the monetization is predatory, and that it's totally a P2W game. I see this and World of Warships get mentioned together a lot as games to avoid.

I, too, have been playing WT for more than a decade. I'm essentially a free(-loader) player 😄. And to a new player I wouldn't actually recommend it - unless you are into games with military vehicle simulation (especially non-modern), online pvp or high skill ceiling.

It is more predatory ("modern game monetization culture") than anything else I happen to play. If Fortnite, Roblox and other top mainstream games are too unethical or predatory for you, this is too, probably 🤷‍♀️

As for P2W: There are many small advantages to someone who pays. While you technically can get everything for free with enough grind, I'm nearing 2.5k hours in the game and this year I've had at least a full work-week of playing, every week, for more than 6 mo (unemployed 💀) and I still have zero max-level crews and only 2 bushes. I unlocked my first top-tier vehicle a few days ago 😂. But I have gotten very good at the game. Even though (high-)paying players have advantages over me - strategy and skill matters way more. The game has a very high skill-ceiling (in many situations). Very few premium vehicles are actually slightly "broken". And given enough years, luck, and grind, even those may be attained 💀.

So if it is both predatory, has many small P2W mechanics, and impossibly long grind - why as a person with high intelligence and morals [citation needed] have I played this games for more than 10 years? I enjoy the game play and I don't care about unlocking any of the high tier vehicles (more modern vehicles). As a game without skill-based match-making - I can adjust the level of challenge (with vehicle line-up tiers) depending on how tired I'm feeling or how desperately I need to feel competent at something. And even then any opponent might be highly capable or just get lucky - that really keeps me on my toes and coming back for it.

TL;DR: 10/10 - would not recommend. Unless (see above).

PS: if anyone wants to play WT GRB or GSB together in EU/CIS, add me: Marder III H

And this is why the WT fora are so filled with classified vehicle specs.
Willingness to pay, enthusiasm for (old) military vehicles, deeply entrenched in skill building, highly competitive and way too much time on your hands just happens to describe a large percentage of retired combat veterans and volunteer soldiers.

Also impressive how they managed to create a functioning "hardness" slider in a pvp setting.

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Quoting: eggroleWhen people say stuff like "gaming is dead", usually referencing the crap quadruple A's, I point this out.

If even 1% of those games are "good enough", that is 190 good enough games. Even the most hardcore gamer isn't playing 190 games a year!

At 0.1%, you still have 19 good (and at this level probably 19 great) games.

Then consider how many classic/old games you missed. I suspect some 6-year-old that is starting to play games right now could reasonably never play anything made after 2025 and have a literal lifetime of amazing games to play.

If anything gaming is closer to saturated than dead.

Quoting: eggroleWhen people say stuff like "gaming is dead", usually referencing the crap quadruple A's, I point this out.

If even 1% of those games are "good enough", that is 190 good enough games. Even the most hardcore gamer isn't playing 190 games a year!

At 0.1%, you still have 19 good (and at this level probably 19 great) games.

Then consider how many classic/old games you missed. I suspect some 6-year-old that is starting to play games right now could reasonably never play anything made after 2025 and have a literal lifetime of amazing games to play.

If anything gaming is closer to saturated than dead.

Even the large AAA games are anything, but dead.
Since they switched to more subscription and microtransaction bussiness models large releases par year aren't how you measure their engagement.
The games have switched from individual products to product brands.
It's their willingness to improve the old products is now what people are paying for, which still happens massively

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