The Steam Deck

[Melooon]

it shouldn't be there in the first place if I'm paying for the damn game instead of streaming it.

This definitely bothers me too and quite often if I see a game that I really like and own on Steam pop up at a good price on GOG I'll buy it again to make sure I have a DRM-free installer and generally I try to buy games first on GOG.

I suspect if Valve didn't have DRM then their store would not have nearly as many games due to publishers being picky, but that's also no reason not to be much more open about the DRM.

It seems to me that Valve going bad is a delayed certainty; it's a private company owned by one man, and he's not getting any younger - as far as I know, his son is lightly to inherit the company; I don't know much about his son, but I suspect a lot would change under his ownership and prob not for the better. Steam is potentially one of the biggest time bombs in 21st-century culture!

All that said, there is a silver lining. Old games get cheaper, so if Steam crashed in 10 years; all the games you'd actually want to play again from now will only be a few euro by then; I also think laws surrounding DRM, ownership and the right to repair hardware will start to bleed into software in the coming years - laws love ownership and they will catch up eventually, it wont be the wild west we've known forever.

Right now though Valve is doing a huge amount to break games away from the Microsoft monopoly they've been stuck in for 20 years; I'm sure it's in Valve's interests to do this, it's not purely altruistic (nothing is), but it's still good for everyone (Except Microsoft!)

[virtue]

This definitely bothers me too and quite often if I see a game that I really like and own on Steam pop up at a good price on GOG I'll buy it again to make sure I have a DRM-free installer and generally I try to buy games first on GOG.

I suspect if Valve didn't have DRM then their store would not have nearly as many games due to publishers being picky, but that's also no reason not to be much more open about the DRM.

It seems to me that Valve going bad is a delayed certainty; it's a private company owned by one man, and he's not getting any younger - as far as I know, his son is lightly to inherit the company; I don't know much about his son, but I suspect a lot would change under his ownership and prob not for the better. Steam is potentially one of the biggest time bombs in 21st-century culture!

All that said, there is a silver lining. Old games get cheaper, so if Steam crashed in 10 years; all the games you'd actually want to play again from now will only be a few euro by then; I also think laws surrounding DRM, ownership and the right to repair hardware will start to bleed into software in the coming years - laws love ownership and they will catch up eventually, it wont be the wild west we've known forever.

Right now though Valve is doing a huge amount to break games away from the Microsoft monopoly they've been stuck in for 20 years; I'm sure it's in Valve's interests to do this, it's not purely altruistic (nothing is), but it's still good for everyone (Except Microsoft!)

Haha there's certainly a lot to be said for the positive impact Valve/Steam have had on the gaming industry, that is absolutely undeniable. I just don't think its worth letting them make their own monopoly just because its likely to be better than a Microsoft one. Its still deeply problematic the way they operate, both for customers and employees, and I'll probably never stop being as loud as I can about that. Feel free to use steam, but I always recommend simultaneously supporting better storefronts like Itch, Fireflower, and GOG, for the health of the gaming industry and the safety/integrity of your personal collection!

[shevek]

I spent yesterday evening modding it with a custom backplate

Ah nice, I considered getting the JSAUX one too but wanted to wait for a whole clear shell. I now know a company who does them, but now that I may wanna upgrade to the OLED in the future, I am not sure I wanna mod the existing one anymore :0

[Melooon]

Lutris for launching my games and GOG/Itch

This is a great suggestion thank you! I was really struggling to get GOG Galaxy to play nice on the deck and installing GOG games was proving to be a massive pain; Lutris works really well and its a nice clean interface (and it even seems to install unofficial fan patches to games??) - on the deck, once you've installed your games via Lutris you can run a script called BoilR, this automates adding your games to steam and getting artwork for them, so you can launch them from the normal steamdeck UI like any other game.

It's still annoying that you need to exit game mode and use a desktop to install new GOG games, but at least it works well when you know the steps.

[grubbyfox]

I like the idea of it, and I would love to get one (I think you can play rdr2 on it?). Would be so nice to be able to bring my rdr2 game with me, haha.

But it's just a device I cant bring myself to purchase due to the cost. Not that I think it's overpriced, it's just not something I can defend using money on, especially because I'm the type to play like 1 or 2 games only for years and years, so buying a whole new handheld console to play a game I already own and play on PS4 just..yeah 

I'm also afraid it'll give me hand cramps. My hands cramped up so fast when using the PSP for example, (and a little bit when using my 3DS), I remember seeing the Switch and just going yeah that's cramp city for me, I can tell haha. 

Cant imagine it would be any different with the Steam Deck. Either way, I think the concept is very cool, and if I had more disposable cash, I'd prob get one 

[Melooon]

(I think you can play rdr2 on it?

From my brief time with it I would say getting a steamdeck for AAA games like Red Dead 2 is not the best plan; it CAN play them, but its still a mobile computer and its not the best way to enjoy them. Its much better for older games (Pre 2016) and less heavy indie games - it's great for emulation too, but that requires lot of setup.

Iv really been enjoying American Truck Sim, Stardew Vally, SSX Tricky and FAR on it. Those are mostly games that are nice to play in the evening when your relaxing and don't wanna be sitting at your desk.

Its much bigger than a switch, the controls are just a little smaller than an ps4 controller, but you still might get cramps if you are prone to it.

If you're still curious though there are SO MANY LCD model ones in my local used electronics store; you might be able to find a second-hand one cheaply!

[Bone-A Lisa]

Steam's general shady business practices are certainly a large concern but I'm kind of surprised that none of those links in teatime's post went over the single greatest reason that I personally refuse to purchase games on Steam, which is their habit of baking in DRM so that you can practically only indefinitely rent games you "purchase" on their platform. When you buy games on Steam, by default, Steam bakes into the executable DRM that makes it only possible to run when Steam is installed, open and usually when its up to date. It's kinda undocumented exactly how its done under the hood, but its clear that its technically possible to turn this "feature" off and a few (usually indie) developers have done this, but the problem is that its not possible from the storefront to tell before you buy if its on or off, and its on most of the time anyway. There are also ways around it sometimes as mentioned in the article I just linked, but they don't work properly on all systems, and in my opinion, it shouldn't be there in the first place if I'm paying for the damn game instead of streaming it. I totally understand not caring, but I'm just not willing to give money to companies that violate my ethical boundaries when there are alternatives that don't; its the same reason I refuse to buy monster energy. The obvious "intended purpose" here is to "prevent piracy" which is literally already going to happen anyway since people cracked the code for this ages ago, but what it MEANS is that when you buy the game, just like on the PlayStation store, you're merely indefinitely renting the games, and if Steam feels like banning your account, you are effectively powerless to do anything about your library of games that you 'own'. Fun fact; if you happened to receive/inherit your account from somebody else (much like me, it was originally my fathers account), that is a ban-warranting TOS violation. That means any game I buy on Steam could be taken away from me spontaneously and retroactively if a Steam employee happened to stumble upon this post.

I definitely agree with this to a certain degree. Steam having DRM is not the best, and does all the things you say above. But for me, Steam is the only place I can have a Windows-like gaming experience.

Ive been full-time gaming on linux for about 2 years now, in the past like year and a half the experience has improved DRASTICALLY, and that is mostly in thanks to the resources Valve dumped into the wine, DXVK, and Proton projects to make the Steam Deck Happen. Valve pushed linux gaming from "something that you can do if you hate yourself", to "90% of things work no questions asked, 8% require a little bit of tweaking, and the last 2% are borked". Their platform is the only linux native storefront that I can buy my games and have them natively wrapped with Proton. I would love to buy from GOG, but they refuse to port their launcher to Linux, and seem to treat linux as a 2nd class citizen. Sure, I could use lutris or Heroic Launcher, but ultimately I am going to spend my money on a storefront that actively supports and develops for my platform.

its the same reason I refuse to buy monster energy

As an aside, what ethical boundaries does monster energy violate for you?

[virtue]

Their platform is the only linux native storefront that I can buy my games and have them natively wrapped with Proton. I would love to buy from GOG, but they refuse to port their launcher to Linux, and seem to treat linux as a 2nd class citizen. Sure, I could use lutris or Heroic Launcher, but ultimately I am going to spend my money on a storefront that actively supports and develops for my platform.

That's fair, I just don't need my storefront to also be my launcher. I'm used to those being separate things and certainly satisfied by it. There are a LOT of reasons to use steam at the moment, and a lot to be thankful for as far as their investment into the Linux ecosystem goes. In this particular case its just a matter of what you prioritize. For me, being anti-DRM is more important than being pro-linux; but that's just a me thing. I totally understand being the other way around. Frankly, its really infuriating how GOG refuses to acknowledge the everlasting and constant outcry from their community to engage with linux, especially given their greatest competition is being widely praised for their embracing it. Its nonsensical that they aren't investing in at least porting their launcher to like, at least ubuntu. This reminds me, I recently went to check out the Ankama launcher and it turns out they natively support linux EXTREMELY well!! I've never seen such a small corporation with no incentive go so far out of their way to support linux with their projects! Massive props to Ankama, that launcher is AMAZING! 

As an aside, what ethical boundaries does monster energy violate for you?

Monster energy has a noted history of doing this shit. They primarily target small business that they think wont be able to handle the burden in hopes that they just cave. Maybe I'm wrong about my perception of them for doing this but based on my current understanding I find it unacceptable, especially as someone who already holds copyright as an institutional concept in very low regard.

[Seraphim]

Wow, turns out Monster is really a monster. Such clown behavior. This reminds me of when Nintendo tried to patent *checks notes* moving forward while on a vehicle.

As for the Steam Deck and putting all your eggs in the Steam basket, it really saddens me. I should look into alternate methods on saving your steam library, if there even are any. But at the moment, I want to use the tools I'm given to circumvent other obstacles. I got my Steam Deck a couple of months ago and have been loving it. Family sharing is really wonderful on it, and it's the ultimate emulation machine for me. I have gotten to experience so many wonderful games that I didn't have the chance to previously. Shout out to Tales of Symphonia and Pokemon Gale of Darkness. I especially leaned in after what happened to Yuzu and Cintra.