Lfrith

I'm waiting to get a new phone until the EU battery requirements go into effect in a few years to see if replacing battery becomes easier to comply than it is now.

Must have gotten an update since I last used it. That's a nice change.

Yeah it's like for Gamepass if you decide to play mainly old games it's not worth it. If you don't finish new games fast enough it's not worth it.

But, if you play new games and finish it fast enough it is worth it. Or for people who usually buy COD and Fifa annually because stuff like player base dies next new release or roster goes out of date so already like a subscription model.

Gamepass is like one of those things where unlike the Netflix model it can be hard to consume that much content to make it worth it. Much easier to watch a lot of TV shows and movies. And being a PC gamer it's not like I need gamepass to play multiplayer so can view it like an add-on the way PS+ people do with their subscription.

And I guess enough people feel that way since I'm always amazed to see newly released gamepass games be top sellers on Steam. They decided they'd rather pay a one time $60-$70 to play at their own pace for however long the "steam subscription" lasts versus a month to month subscription approach of Gamepass.

I'd rather buy a new AAA game than play it through Gamepass, since usually you can get those from like GMG for 10-20% off. And even if there was no discount I just don't finish games fast enough.

AAA titles that I'd even be interested in are ones like Red Dead Redemption 2, which take me half a year or longer to get through. So paying $12 a month for it would end up being more expensive for me. And I don't even keep access once the subscription ends. Would have to subscribe again and pay again.

Reason I put "own" in quotes was in response to people like you who say it isn't buying. It was to point out that one time payment for much longer extended access is still something I consider way better than monthly subscription terms of agreement.

But that's another thing isn't it? If games like Yakuza aren't worth it than it make much of the library not a good value if people aren't only playing newly released AAA title. It's wasting money to be paying games that aren't newly released on Gamepass.

Anyways I haven't bought a game at full price in years because playing at launch just isn't important enough to me, so I'm just not the demographic for Gamepass. So for me trying to sell gamepass as some monetary savings just doesn't apply to me.

Yeah, I set up heroic launcher to play some games from GOG, but achievements didn't work when I tried it and save sync was kind of buggy. So for GOG just stuck to playing on Windows, since I do want my achievements and time tracked.

I wish other big platforms tried more in trying help escape Windows instead of just being bystanders and not even bothering with Linux launchers themselves.

I also disagree about the value of Microsoft's game rental service, but I also see the value in saying "if I don't actually own my games anyway, why not take it to it's logical conclusion of just renting them."

Yeah, monetarily it doesn't even make sense, since it's just cheaper to buy the game then rent them through gamepass lot of the times. Like I got Yakuza 0 steam key through a humble bundle that included other games and it took me a year to finish. Renting that on Gamepass to playthrough would have cost me 12 times the cost of what it cost to buy the Humble Bundle monthly that had Yakuza 0, and unlike Gamepass it is still in my steam account and not continued payment to retain access.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/yakuza-0/yakuza-0-the-division-humble-monthly-bundle

Why would I spend more renting and something that just stops working immediately once my subscription is up even if I don't "own" the game on steam? Just bad money mangement.

They immediately lost me with props to the Microsoft store with what a pain it was to even access the game directory in the past. And even if it is improving is something that just locks you into having to use Windows OS as opposed to being able play the purchased game on other OS.

Hell with stuff like recall and Windows moving to trying to force OS online accounts compared to how clean Winows 7 used to be they just lose credibility for whatever they are trying to argue.

Technically it would be the same case for GOG too if that happened, since the average consimer doesn't back up all the games they pay for.

In the end when it comes to digital most consumers rely on convenience and trust than taking the extra step to back up stuff so they remove the dependency.

That's why the actual back up for lot of people is piracy as the final line of defense and archiving.

If steam shutdown it would probably mean PC gaming itself is dead and the industry is in really big trouble.

Next challenge is trying to make Linux more popular outside of enthusiasts for desktop use.

There's people who will explain why it is done, and use it as an excuse why it is okay because that's the rules of the game. Seen it way too many times from apologists. Heck the comment I responded to went about how they give this guy credit and can't blame the guy for doing it.

That goes from explanation to excuses once they started providing an opinion on the behaviour. So that no one is making excuses isn't right.

So it shows other companies are short term thinking focusing more on quarter profits, and also explains why they missed put on two console generations worth of time to make a dent in the PC space when the industry was claiming PC was dying.

It's always excuses and lack of willingness to take risks on plans that might not pan out immediately. Then when it becomes successful from another company excuse is what is the market share in the present.