"What's the problem with DRM?" "What's the problem with always online DRM?" "It doesn't really affect me, I can still play my games just fine!"

I often hear people say.

Well this. This is why it's not cool.

Anyway, for those who may or may not care.. shameless plug:

https://www.defectivebydesign.org/ [External Link]
https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v13/ [External Link]

:tongue:

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: NerdNoiseRadioIt seems to me that he wasn't blaming Linux, but blaming Steam Deck - which to be fair, is the buggiest game system I've ever played on a whole host of fronts.

Not really a deck specific issue from what I understand, it also doesn't work on "regular" Linux computers. Though I can neither confirm nor deny that, I haven't updated my copy yet (it's the GOG version, not steam, so I'll be running lgogdownloader at some later time.)

Quoting: NerdNoiseRadio2) in terms of Valve issuing a steady stream of fixes, reducing the impact of bugs, Steam Deck has come a LONG way since I first got my device in April, and I have confidence that it will only continue to further improve and hopefully still at the same quick speed with which it has been happening so far.

Agreed.

Quoting: NerdNoiseRadio3) Even with all the above standing, I still regard the Deck as my favorite (or certainly at the very least, my "most esteemed") system of all. I've purchased something like 100 new Steam games since April, while purchasing zero new games for XBox Series X, or Switch (which had been my main system prior), and -maybe- one game for PS5 (can't remember if this game was purchased just before or just after I got the Deck). I've also produced an episode of the podcast from it in desktop mode. I love the thing!

But even so, ein's point, which I will [hopefully faithfully] paraphrase as "the bugs will eventually erode esteem, then confidence, and finally willingness, leading to an eventual die-off for the device", I think rings 100% true!

I also have a Steam Deck, and was also one of the people who pre-ordered it July last year! :grin:

I agree with you with regards to it being a great gaming device :grin:

I'm not claiming the Steam deck is "bug free" by any shade of the imagination, it's simply not true. But it's got a lot better than it was when I first got it :grin:

Quoting: NerdNoiseRadioEven with as highly as I regard it myself, I will confess to having found multiple instances where I ended up deciding against a quick play session because of anxiety over whether or not that quick play session would be spent futzing with dropped (or scrambled) controller connections while docked, or a frequent game-breaking blinking screen issue while docked, or a game just deciding not to load....or hell, even something so simple as a game I've set to run in 1080p or higher while docked just "automagically" deciding to run in 800p for no good reason and not letting me kick it back up without having to reboot the device...and so on, and so on, and so on.

With a grabby, budding gamer of a toddler, I don't get much opportunity to play undocked unless I'm out of the house or it's after his bedtime, and so for that reason, plus an "I would just prefer to play docked in a vacuum anyway", I do most of my Steam Decking docked, which has been a joy when it works right, and a nightmare when it doesn't...and I've experienced more than my fair share of both.

With issues with the Deck itself, ie operating system issues, interface issues and those you mentioned etc. Yes absolutely Valve should be the ones to fix these things. It goes without saying :smile:

I personally haven't had issues in docked mode however. I did have an awful time when I thought it would be a "cool" idea to remotely play a game from my desktop computer (also linux) instead of installing it on my steam deck.. just.. bad idea.. never again. :unsure:

In any case, issues such as those.. yes they need to be fixed by Valve to avoid giving a bad impression.

Quoting: NerdNoiseRadioMy enthusiasm for the thing, and all its myriad freedoms and potentials leaves me with a huge bank of goodwill towards it. But if that bank continues to only deplete a little each and every time I go to use it (or decide not to even try for those same reasons), it will eventually, inevitably run out, where the Switch, for all the ways that it's outclassed, and outshined by this thing, and for all the ways I outright hate the evil corporate entity behind it....always "just works"...may someday lead to a situation where I just start reaching for that controller again instead.

In short, I think ein is 100% right. If it's impacting even someone like me who is so passionate about the thing, it'll certainly impact the people so much less passionate than me. And this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Linux.

Of course, the saving grace here is that I still do not believe this eventuality to be "inevitable", or even necessarily "likely", as Valve already has a tremendous track record of improving all these issues as we go, and at least at this juncture, I still maintain a healthy optimism that this trend will only continue. It sucks that the glory has been smeared coming out of the gate, but I'm still reasonably confident that we'll get there before it manages to kills itself off, or turn people like me off to it.

Cheers!

I perhaps read his post with the wrong intent. Lately there's be no end of posts on the net saying Linux can't do this or that correctly etc, despite the fact it can and I took it as "another one of those". Perhaps incorrectly, in which case I apologise if that is the case.

I'm not saying Linux can't improve, in fact there are several areas I think it really needs to. On the other hand it's also improving in many ways each and every day!

In the improvements department, Wayland has finally got to the point I am now able to run it as my daily instead of using Xorg on my main computer, just a year ago I wouldn't have even tried to! Heck I'm even considering moving over to Fedora Kinoite (KDE Silverblue version) as my primary OS!

Anyway, my original point was that it wasn't a "Steam Deck" nor "Linux" (proton) update which broke the game in question, it was the game itself. And sadly, if the devs don't test it before release, well there's just not much we can do with that and we simply can't blame Valve, Steam Deck, nor Linux or anyone other than the game studio for that.

So long as we're "playing catch up" by having to fix it after release, things will always get a bit broken and the only way to resolve that is for the game devs to test it and/or work with Valve to get it resolved if it is a proton issue.

With all that said though, I personally think that Linux gaming has come miles ahead since the Deck was announced, we're in a far better position now than we ever were before.

There is further good news in that the Deck is getting some serious industry attention with game studios aiming for Deck compatibility, it's a very good sign for Linux gaming in general.

It's almost unbelievable in some ways, after all the years where we were straight up ignored by the game industry. Even Valve started talking about it in 2012, it was a big shock then and I honestly doubted it at the time.

But now.. well we're just in a far far far better position than back then!

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: einherjarIt worries me a bit, everytime I read "how to get xy to work again on Steamdeck".

If it does not become a "just works" experience, it will fail over time.

You can't really blame Linux for this. If a game was updated and it stopped working on windows, would you respond "Windows will fail if it doesn't become a just works experience"? No. You'd say the game devs need to test their game more and fix it.

My point here is that we shouldn't be so quick to blame Linux, it's perfectly possible the game is doing something weird which is breaking the compatibility. The fact is, this was just working, but the devs updated it, which has broken it.

We're not physic and we don't have access to the next update, so we can't "fix it" before it's released. Only the game devs could do that.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: jensYeah, my personal preference is still to always enable the firewall (also in a home setup) and I still recommend to do so, but I guess it is no longer a sin to not do so.

There's nothing wrong with that :grin:

In fact, I do the same. I was merely explaining why some may or may not use a firewall. My biggest complaint is that ssh is activated by default on new installs with password authentication and some distros then open up port 22. It's basically asking for trouble.

(If there's one thing everyone absolutely should do is disable ssh password authentication and if using ssh, switch to key based authentication :tongue:. If not using it, disable the service.)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: jens

Quoting: TerracePop really has it turned off by default, and is the default setting of the distro, it's not me honest! :whistle:

No worries, I'm not doubting your honesty :)

Reading a bit on the subject, Ubuntu seems to do the same, ufw is installed, but not active because there are no open ports by default. So apparently I'm slightly out-of-date on this subject, so apologize for my strong wording.
That said, Fedora e.g. has firewalld activated by default so it's not that black and white.

It's one of those "per system" subjects.

In a home setup it may not be strictly necessary because a home user may have no services running, for example no sshd, no cups etc that listen on a public interface - thus said services that are not running cannot be exploited.

But without the firewall you do run a minor risk, that is third party software you install as a user; what happens if you install something and you are not aware that it opens a listening port? In this instance a firewall would protect you.

Typically home computers sit behind a firewall already, in the form of your routers built-in firewall. Thus protected from the outside world unless you forward a port on that device.

Firewalls are also useful if for example you want to enable ssh access while connected to your home WiFi but disable it on other WiFi networks.

They're also useful in the case of server systems where said systems do not sit behind any other firewall where services may get activated, not configured correctly, and forgotten.

For both, you may wish to only enable access to a port from a limited range of ip addresses, or perhaps through a specific interface etc. Again, firewall is preferred here.

(Yes, you can bind a service to a particular IP address of using a firewall, or even have do both. But I'm talking about firewalls here)

PS: Apologies if this doesn't make sense! In a bit of a rush :tongue:

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Shocking, this turned into a distro war.. whoda thunk it? lol :grin:

Anyway, you're all wrong. Obviously, the best linux distro for gaming in 2023 is Windows 11 with "Windows Subsystem for Linux" enabled. :woot:

Spoiler, click me

Yes, I am just being silly. Don't take this post seriously.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: oberjaeger

Quoting: DebianUserThis game just makes me remember one thing...

Sure we will release TW3 on linux, you can even preorder it !
Some months later : "Sorry, we will not release under Linux, why ? Simple, the Linux users were pretty harsh with us on TW2 Linux release, so we don't release for them anymore"

Fun fact : they still release For Playstation and Windows even if the players were harsh with them after the release of CP2077 (I think way more than for Linux TW2 release)...

Oh and the rage for TW2 must be around 2014, and they were working on TW3 for Linux on 2015, and then cancelling it in 2016...

Yeah i'm a bit embittered, but it happens when i think someone is lying to me.

I wonder where this love for Linux comes from lately. I also stopped buying from CD RED/GOG after that "mishap".

Follow the money :smile:

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Ironically, this is one game I've yet to play. I don't have it on steam yet, but I do have it on GOG. :grin:

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: ElectricPrismIf only Nintendo was smart enough to take consumer interest in their products and convert it into money.

You know... like Valve when they took HL2 Mod Remake of HL1 Black MESA [External Link] and literally brought it on to their store, sold it and reinvested the money into making it better.

I havent played a Nintendo game or purchased a Nintendo console in many years -- their IP should have "grown" with me/us as we got older -- and they didn't.

They really are out of touch with their market and have thrown out 30 -50 year old manchilds with disposable income able to buy $2,000 Graphics Cards to cater exclusively to 12 year olds.

Their fiscal market logic makes ZERO cents.

While I personally don't support Nintendo for numerous reasons; I think one point you're missing here is that Nintendo was never entirely aimed at children.

If you consider early Nintendo, the games may seem childish to some; but a very large portion of their customer base was in fact adults who were enjoying those games even if some of whom may have found said games childish. It should be noted also that a portion of said customer base were children of course and said children still play Nintendo games.

Having games that may appear childish is what defines the "Nintendo" style. To clarify, my point here is that Nintendo's largest customer base enjoy said "childish" games, and for them it is not a problem.

This can easily be observed simply by their sales numbers; the switch being of poor quality (even for a Nintendo console) still outsold the PS5 and Xbox X.

Thus, while their method may be different than most, it certainly seems to be working for them.

What's not working however, is their constant tactics of turning against their core customer base turning them away with actions such as what this article mentions.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Did they remove Denuvo yet? :neutral:

View this comment - View article - View full comments