Lagamorph wrote:Jazzem wrote:Lagamorph wrote:When it comes to features, what features does EGS really lack that Steam has?
Big Picture Mode - Whilst this is useful, it's far from stable on Steam. And other launches also don't have anything like this. Don't single out EGS for not having it.
Chat features - What would be the point? If Epic went to the time and effort of making an equivalent of Steam chat, would people really use it when there are services like Discord already available and massively used? I don't see the point in spending time and money developing a feature that only a tiny portion of the userbase will ever bother with and that isn't a necessity like accessibility features are.
Cloud Saves - EGS is making progress on this from what I gather. And again, Origin is pretty poor at Cloud Saves sometimes, with only some games seeming to support them.
Linux Support - I don't think "EGS doesn't support Linux" is a very valid criticism unless you're also going to level the same criticism at pretty much every other launcher out there.
Achievements - Would definitely be nice to have, but a lack of an achievement system is again not a reason to level the pure hatred EGS gets at it. I don't see people foaming at the mouth to call Nintendo scum because the Switch doesn't have an Achievement/Trophy system.
I don't see Origin, uPlay or Battle.net Supporting Linux, nor do I see them having many of the features Steam has. Yet those platforms don't get the vitriol that EGS gets.
Accessibility features are absolutely something launchers should be criticised for not having, but it's not at all fair to single out just one of them for literal hatred.
I wouldn't say I'm "Going to bat for Epic", but I am saying that Epic and the EGS do not deserve the reaction they get when everyone else in the market is up to pretty much the same tricks.
I'm afraid Epic has to be singled out for not having features, even if other launchers don't have them, when it's the only option for exclusives. I'm not forced to use single launchers unless for first party support (fair enough really, you never really see complaints of Fortnite being elsewhere for one). I'm not going to like not having access to features simply because a monolithic company wants to grow even larger while giving no strawberry floats about its workers or end user choice.
Enough of those features, even if minor on their own, have added up to make Steam my preferred way to play on PC (though god yeah I wish Big Picture was more stable D:). In particular, dualshock 4 is my controller of choice for the moment and it's a pain to get working with other clients.
I obviously have no intention of emboldening any especially hideous remarks coming out of the whole mess, of course deeply personal insults and harassment are never okay and I hate that there's been many of them, especially aimed at smaller developers...regardless, I don't think people being very critical of a large conglomerate encoraching a marketplace monopolistically and taking away user choice is unreasonable.
But Steam is the only option for some exclusives. Origin is the only option for some exclusives. uPlay is the only option for some exclusives. Battle.Net is the only option for every single title on it. So the argument that "Epic has to be singled out because it's the only option for exclusives" doesn't hold water at all. You either have to level the same criticisms at every launcher where they're valid (Aka virtually all of them), or not at all. You can't just go "Well yeah Origin doesn't have a Big Picture mode or support Dual Shock 4, but Epic Game Store is the one we should all strawberry floating hate because it's strawberry floating scum!!!!!111"
I don't really agree you can say "Epic are taking away user choice" when if they weren't around the titles would likely just end up as Steam exclusives. Where's the user choice in that scenario? Yet nobody was complaining about that before EGS came along.
Like I said, that's for first party exclusives. In all the cases of these Epic exclusives, they were games that were otherwise coming out and near to completion. People have miscredited them for bringing stuff like the Quantic Dream games to PC for instance but those were happening anyway. And none of these games would end up as Steam exclusives because Valve doesn't pursue that, these always end up on GOG and such unless the publisher themselves doesn't bother.
First party exclusives aren't ideal but they're far less egregious than games that actually had a chance to be everywhere before Epic sniped them for their own gain. It's a big enough difference, I get that the games wouldn't likely exist without their funding source, similar to how I wish Bayonetta 2 was everwhere but I get it wouldn't have happened without Nintendo. I'm not massively keen on using the other launchers but accept it more in those cases, and at least Origin and Uplay are far better then EGL. Even if, as I say, I wish controller support was better.
Also, maybe it's because I have less patience these days because of lifelong depression and my dad hanging himself in the garage recently, but:
You can't just go "Well yeah Origin doesn't have a Big Picture mode or support Dual Shock 4, but Epic Game Store is the one we should all strawberry floating hate because it's strawberry floating scum!!!!!111"
strawberry float off with that, okay?
I don't appreciate being mischaracterised as some raving lunatic, cheers. I've not raised my tone in a similar manner regarding you to this point so I don't appreciate it in turn.