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[Creamium]

Even on normal you can die pretty quickly in Killer is Dead. Against the bosses I need at least one revive. Fun game, but the Suda51 surrealism/formula is getting kinda predictable. Just reminds me of all his previous games.

I think of all his games I still liked Killer7 the most.

 

[Dr Dogg]

Brexit simulated in Football Manager 2017.



Looks very in depth, really impressive stuff to be honest, especially in a bloody football game. But Football Manager has been the best simulator around for quite some time, so it's not really a surprise to see them attempt to simulate something like this, with all the huge ramifications for football.

Saw that on the BBC's website earlier.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37692481

Is it bad that this might be the feature that sucks me back to FM?

 

[Dragon1893]

Dragon's Dogma is so tempting but I have so much on my plate.
Problem is it's only going to get worse next year.
Q1 is just fucking insanity.

 

[Uzzy]

Saw that on the BBC's website earlier.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37692481

Is it bad that this might be the feature that sucks me back to FM?

Probably better than me getting back in just to kick Jose out of my beloved United.

Still, it's nice that at least someone researched some possibilities for Brexit!

 

[madjoki]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/534600/

Looks like actual videos aren't up yet, hopefully soon tho.

 

[Leon Belmont]

What time does the Steam Maintenance is scheduled?

 

[jshackles]

You have to imagine that if they go after Valve on those kinds of grounds (ie liability due to indirectly profiting from third party actions), they would need to have an air tight case or else it will almost certainly end up in court. Which I'm sure is something that Valve does not want.

My understanding of the way most of the gambling sites operated is that they used the trading system and never used the Steam Marketplace (for reference I used one of the Dota 2 item betting sites several years ago - I am of legal gambling age before anyone asks). Maybe the CS:GO stuff is different though, I'm not sure. If Valve could somehow definitively say these third parties never used the marketplace to conduct these things (this seems doubtful, but I have no idea what kinds of logs are kept on Valve's side), then there would be no grounds for the commission to recoup money since Valve never profited. But without being able to definitively say what has occured -- Valve's letter even admits that it happens outside of their knowledge most of the time -- then it feels like really murky waters to me. The kind of waters that a state comission looking for money might try to test in court if they see big $$$ in it for them (which it seems like they do in this case).

The next developments will remain interesting if nothing else. Some tighter regulation on the gambling side of the video game industry might not be a bad thing overall for the players. Especially as regards mobile games but, sadly IMO, none of that is at issue here.

The issue with marketplace transactions as it pertains to gambling is it gives users an outlet to "cash out" their winnings into credit that can then be used to purchase additional items to place bets with, or to exchange for video game purchases. Obviously this is especially true of items who's market value is less than $500 (the limit Valve places on wallet funds). In addition to Valve getting a cut of that transaction when the item is sold, they're also receiving additional financial benefit because the credit is locked into their ecosystem. If a user decides to "cash out their winnings" and then spends that wallet money on a video game, Valve gets an additional 30% of that transaction. So as I said before, even though they're not directly engaged in any illegal activity they are certainly profiting from people using their service in unintended ways.

I wouldn't think that Valve would want to get into any legal scuffles with the state gambling commission, as that might bring other practices of theirs to light - such as the gambling system that is built into and operating on Valve's own system in the form of crate / key gachapon in various games where Valve controls an item's rarity and thus it's marketplace value. Again, this could be seen as gambling under state laws, and would be further exacerbated for the same reasons as above (namely, that Valve profits greatly from this, is targeted towards minors, etc). Some people would argue against this, saying it's no different from mobile F2P games or even Magic: The Gathering cards, but I think it's a fundamental shift that the high-value items you're trying to get from the gacha hold an intrinsic value that can be cashed out for credit by selling it to other players. These practices are expressly forbidden by the state's gambling laws, but Valve feels like they don't apply to them because of reasons.

TL;DR: The next developments will certainly be interesting. Valve could potentially face huge fines (sanctions) if they choose not to comply, which upon non-payment could result in court battles and/or arrests. Valve has always been at the forefront of fair consumer practices in gaming, so it's disappointing to me personally to see them take such a nonchalant stance towards these gambling sites. Either way, I don't think we've heard the last of this issue.

 

[Deleted member 98878]

I definitely got my money's worth out of it. Really enjoyed the story (Donovan is a great sidekick) and the soundtrack was amazing. But there were way too many bugs and freezes. I still recommend it, but get it when it's on sale.

 

[Nzyme32]

I definitely got my money's worth out of it. Really enjoyed the story (Donovan is a great sidekick) and the soundtrack was amazing. But there were way too many bugs and freezes. I still recommend it, but get it when it's on sale.

I was enjoying the game, until I reached two game breaking bugs where I couldn't progress, and lack of saving meant doing big chunks again. Will probably try again in a week or two

 

[Salsa]

its 2K i'll buy it soon on sale for $10

 

[spindoctor]

Valve never directly benefited from gambling. They benefited indirectly because more people bought keys to open chests, prices of skins remained high which increased their cut from market transactions and I'd imagine it got more people to buy CSGO as well. The thing is, you can't even make an airtight link from gambling to these indirect benefits.

The only thing I think they can be held liable for is inadvertently facilitating underage gambling. Even that would be up in the air because you'd have to prove that they specifically knew underage gambling was going on. Which is common sense but proving it in a court of law is a different matter.

And honestly, the fix to this problem is so simple I don't know why Valve hasn't already done it. Just delete every site's openid authorization token and then let them back in after manually verifying what they intend to use it for. You wouldn't even have to ban bots or figure out ways to keep ahead of them if gambling sites can never access the API to begin with. It's weird that they'd go with cease and desist letters to gambling sites (which they have to know won't work) when they can just turn off the tap whenever they want to.

I definitely got my money's worth out of it. Really enjoyed the story (Donovan is a great sidekick) and the soundtrack was amazing. But there were way too many bugs and freezes. I still recommend it, but get it when it's on sale.

Yeah. The game has crippling flaws in the game design department and technical issues galore but everything else about it is pretty great. The game world, atmosphere and soundtrack were the highlights for me. The Mafia franchise has a history of good but flawed games and this one is no different. I was fairly irritated at the state of the game when it just came out but after finishing it all I can say is that I hope it isn't a catastrophic failure for the studio.

 

[Nzyme32]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/534600/

Looks like actual videos aren't up yet, hopefully soon tho.

Bah, no vids. I find the talks quite fascinating so want to watch them eventually. I saw the opening speech for this year's, and really like the direction they took vs everything else being so markety and kind of fake in the way people present; something I've always hated about many conferences and keynotes in lots of industries.

 

[jshackles]

Valve never directly benefited from gambling. They benefited indirectly because more people bought keys to open chests, prices of skins remained high which increased their cut from market transactions and I'd imagine it got more people to buy CSGO as well. The thing is, you can't even make an airtight link from gambling to these indirect benefits.

The only thing I think they can be held liable for is inadvertently facilitating underage gambling. Even that would be up in the air because you'd have to prove that they specifically knew underage gambling was going on. Which is common sense but proving it in a court of law is a different matter.

And honestly, the fix to this problem is so simple I don't know why Valve hasn't already done it. Just delete every site's openid authorization token and then let them back in after manually verifying what they intend to use it for. You wouldn't even have to ban bots or figure out ways to keep ahead of them if gambling sites can never access the API to begin with. It's weird that they'd go with cease and desist letters to gambling sites (which they have to know won't work) when they can just turn off the tap whenever they want to.

In addition to disabling the open API and requiring whitelisting / manual intervention, they could also create a small team that could - you know - search and destroy the accounts associated with these sites. It's not difficult to imagine that in order for a gambling site like this to stay online and profitable it has to become somewhat well-known. Just have a sting team at Valve that hangs out in the usual haunts to find out what the newest skin gambling sites are, sign up to bet, then get that site's owner account or bot ID then blacklist them. If you do that to enough sites on a regular basis, you can a) prove unequivocally that you're actively working against the problem and b) discourage future sites from investing in building these sites in the first place. Bonus points if the sting team also has the power to reverse trades, as this would prevent the notion of "hit and run" gambling sites from taking a one-time large payout then disbanding.

There are a lot of creative ways Valve could solve this problem, but first they have to want to. We can only assume they don't want to because they've chosen not to. Presumably, there is too much money at stake here.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

Slowly making my way through Rise of the TR. The completionist in me is trying to explore every nook and cranny before proceeding.

 

[Deleted member 98878]

I was enjoying the game, until I reached two game breaking bugs where I couldn't progress, and lack of saving meant doing big chunks again. Will probably try again in a week or two

That sucks. I always feared the worst when the game froze while it was saving.

Yeah. The game has crippling flaws in the game design department and technical issues galore but everything else about it is pretty great. The game world, atmosphere and soundtrack were the highlights for me. Mafia has a history of being good but flawed games and this one is no different. I was fairly irritated at the state of the game when it just came out but after finishing it all I can say is that I hope it isn't a catastrophic failure for the studio.

They should've delayed it for a couple of months but 2K wanted to release it by any means, I guess. It has the potential to become a good game once most bugs are fixed but it's nothing more than mediocre for now.

 

[jshackles]

For people that don't care about having a Steam version of the game, GMG has The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition for $26.79 if you're logged in. Includes the 4 DLC packs + the horse mount, but can't be redeemed on an existing account.

The Steam version literally just runs the launcher that updates/patches/launches the game, so you're not missing out on any features doing it this way.

 

[bbd23]

is just cause 3 a fun game for 20 canadian dollars ?

 

[Original Famous Ray]

Steam down for anyone else? Its being a butthead at the moment (connection error).

 

[Nzyme32]

Kojima was at Valve today

https://twitter.com/PrologueVR/status/788483541168369664

 

[Ucchedavāda]

I see that Mike 'Mike Ross' Ross has left Twitch, so there's no more Capcom Pro Talk and free Twitch Turbo's for everyone. Tragic, though maybe now 4th place at EVO 2017 awaits.

Such a shame. The Capcom Pro Talk shows were a delight.
But perhaps now the poor souls crafting Turbonite for Mike Ross' giveaways can finally get a moments rest.

 

[AndyB1974]

Steam down for anyone else? Its being a butthead at the moment (connection error).

Yeah, down for me. Getting connection error.

 

[Pepiope]

Steam down for anyone else? Its being a butthead at the moment (connection error).

Maintenance every Tuesday at this time.

 

[Atraveller]

Amazon just went full anime:

32 GB Kindle Paperwhite, exclusive for Japan.

Still waiting for Kindle Voyage 2, Oasis is kind of ugly.

 

[Rked]

anyone having issues connecting to steam in ohio...

 

[spindoctor]

They should've delayed it for a couple of months but 2K wanted to release it by any means, I guess. It has the potential to become a good game once most bugs are fixed but it's nothing more than mediocre for now.

I think it needed more than two months but yeah. The thing is, patches can fix the performance issues and glitches but they can't actually patch the repetitive nature of the mission design. So that's never getting fixed. It's perfectly fair to think the game is mediocre as it is. I just wanted to point out that the game still does have a lot of merits but they get suppressed by it's problems.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Steam goes through maintenance every Tuesday around this time.

 

[Nzyme32]

Steam goes through maintenance every Tuesday around this time.

They really need to have a fat sign explaining this. I've used the thing for years and even I forget it's Tuesday and thus maintenance. At least now I've learnt to always think of that being the first issue if there is no connection

 

[Kaleinc]

Kojima was at Valve today

https://twitter.com/PrologueVR/status/788483541168369664

I see he liked steam controller.

 

[Original Famous Ray]

Steam goes through maintenance every Tuesday around this time.

I've been on Steam for over 10 years and didn't know this. lol How I've avoided this is beyond me.

 

[Tellaerin]

Valve has always been at the forefront of fair consumer practices in gaming, so it's disappointing to me personally to see them take such a nonchalant stance towards these gambling sites. Either way, I don't think we've heard the last of this issue.

How would you have suggested that they address the problem? I mean, if Valve acknowledges the Commission's contention that they're complicit in what people do with these items, whatever measures they take to comply would potentially extend to all content that drops randomly and is purchaseable and tradable. (If it meets those criteria, someone can "gamble" with it, and if they do, that's apparently Valve's responsibility?). None of the attempted fixes I can think of seem very satisfactory. (Why should legitimate users - the vast majority - have to suffer the consequences because a handful of profiteering assholes are determined to scam the system?)

Personally, I think the stance Valve is taking with this (terminating accounts associated with gambling sites, offering to work with the Commission to identify other such accounts and shut them down) seems like an adequate response to the issue. I'm hoping.

(EDIT: After I posted this, I saw that you had posted again. I was under the impression that what you described in your last post is the sort of thing they were talking about when they mentioned terminating accounts associated with gambling sites and working with the Commission to identify such accounts.)

 

[Dusk Golem]

I've been on Steam for over 10 years and didn't know this. lol How I've avoided this is beyond me.

It usually is quite brief, like less than 5 minutes, sometimes less than even a minute or two. But this one is a bit longer than usual, no doubt because of the big steam updates that are supposed to hit within the next week.

 

[Tizoc]

So I've been playing Alter Ego and I hope to finish it in the next few days-

It's not a long game and is a straight forward PnC game.
Visuals are brown and fugly but it's a decent game set in 1890s Britain.
Oh and contrary to what the Steam page image looks like, it isn't really a horror game :V

Kojima was at Valve today

https://twitter.com/PrologueVR/status/788483541168369664

Hopefully he doesn't get infected with Valve Time, else his new project would release in the year 3,333 :V

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

In general, how long does the Tuesday Steam maintenance last?

 

[BoosterDuck]

In general, how long does the Tuesday Steam maintenance last?

as long as it takes for GabeN to finish polishing his knives

 

[jshackles]

How would you have suggested that they address the problem? I mean, if Valve acknowledges the Commission's contention that they're complicit in what people do with these items, whatever measures they take to comply would potentially extend to all content that drops randomly and is purchaseable and tradable. (If it meets those criteria, someone can "gamble" with it, and if they do, that's apparently Valve's responsibility?). None of the attempted fixes I can think of seem very satisfactory. (Why should legitimate users - the vast majority - have to suffer the consequences because a handful of profiteering assholes are determined to scam the system?)

Personally, I think the stance Valve is taking with this (terminating accounts associated with gambling sites, offering to work with the Commission to identify other such accounts and shut them down) seems like an adequate response to the issue. I'm hoping

While I agree that from a legal standpoint Valve would not want to admit to being at-fault, I personally think they should be doing more to actively discourage these user's accounts from participating in gambling. If they don't, it's like everything else in the world where "a few bad apples spoil the batch", and we could potentially lose functionality like trading and selling or (in the worst case scenario) Steam itself. As someone who works in government, I can tell you that the gambling commission will not be satisfied with Valve's response.

The issue goes back to Pachinko gambling, which is something the US hasn't ever really had to deal with. The Pachinko parlor owner claims ignorance of any wrong-doing, while all the while trading tiny balls for tickets that can be exchanged down the road for money or items of value.

 

[Nabs]

is just cause 3 a fun game for 20 canadian dollars ?

I paid about that much and didn't really care for it. The gameplay loop wasn't that interesting or fun.

That's just one opinion, I know some people in this thread love it.

 

[Vlad]

is just cause 3 a fun game for 20 canadian dollars ?

Parts of it are really fun, parts of it are less so. They really nailed the movement around the world. The wingsuit/parachute/grapple combination is really fun to use, and it's actually difficult enough to get a feel for that there's a learning curve to it. The game has some of the best explosions I've seen in a game, and there's more diversity to the bases compared to what there was in JC2.

That said, I'd still have a tough time recommending it. I don't know the actual numbers, but the world map feels a lot smaller than JC2's. This could very likely be because you get the wingsuit about ten minutes into the game, and even without upgrades, you can cover a lot of ground fast. Not only that, but while the bases and towns are a more varied, there seems to be a lot less of them.

Basically, there's a really neat core mechanic there, but there isn't enough of the actual game that utilizes it effectively.

 

[BosSin]

Just started playing Sleeping Dogs: Nightmare at North Point for the first time.

Thought it would be fitting given that United Front is dead and it is almost Halloween... It's actually a really good piece of dlc

 

[jshackles]

This is new:

Anyone notice anything else that got changed/updated with this maintenance?

 

[SunDimension24]

Hopefully he doesn't get infected with Valve Time, else his new project would release in the year 3,333 :V

I think Kojima and valve are secretly having a challenge of who will have what release first: Half-life 3 or Death Stranding. I don't think either will release before the year 3649.

 

[zkylon]

brian fargo's reply wasn't super cool (it was funny tho) so i'm withdrawing my pledge heh

i think giving your voice to gg sites is a really sucky thing to do for the games industry in general, so even if i dislike punishing employees for their employer's actions, it just sours up the game to me

ok so between withrawing from this and not buying dragons dogma i'm like half way there to disho2 lol

 

[jediyoshi]

This is new:



Anyone notice anything else that got changed/updated with this maintenance?

Huh, recently viewed is odd. Looks like it only counts if you were led to a game from the front page. Maybe that makes sense since if you landed on a page from elsewhere, you were probably already aware of it.

 

[Anustart]

Get my new 1060 tomorrowith, Yaya. Looking forward to seeing how many more fps I get in star dew valory since it's all I been playing lol.

 

[mp1990]

brian fargo's reply wasn't super cool (it was funny tho) so i'm withdrawing my pledge heh

i think giving your voice to gg sites is a really sucky thing to do for the games industry in general, so even if i dislike punishing employees for their employer's actions, it just sours up the game to me

ok so between withrawing from this and not buying dragons dogma i'm like half way there to disho2 lol

What a mess of a interview. He wants to do a scifi/post apocalyptic game but doesn't want to "push political agendas"? A bit contraditory, to say the least.

 

[Adnor]

So off-topic question here, but after reading the thread where someone ask why other persons playing a game early should affect him, and giving Early Access games as an example of a trend that affects him I started to wonder...

Does Dwarf Fortress counts as an early access game? I mean, it's free, but Toady's getting donations to continue developing it as his main job and it's still in alpha.

 

[Nzyme32]

This is new:



Anyone notice anything else that got changed/updated with this maintenance?

Might be wrong, but the side menu bar on the left when using mobile seems a bit slicker, but may be that is because I haven't used it in ages

 

[FiveElementNinja]

This is new:



Anyone notice anything else that got changed/updated with this maintenance?

I noticed all the regular cards seem to have the silver background that the foils used to have and the foil cards now have a blue background.

Edit: Seems to only show that way on the badges page, not in inventory.

 

[Tellaerin]

This is new:



Anyone notice anything else that got changed/updated with this maintenance?

Is "Recently Viewed" a new thing, or have I just never registered that it was there before now?

 

[White Wolf]

No RDR2, No humble what do we have to live for????

maybe it's time for me to end it all

Spoiler

and get a console

 

[spindoctor]

What a mess of a interview. He wants to do a scifi/post apocalyptic game but doesn't want to "push political agendas"? A bit contraditory, to say the least.

I presume this is the interview in question. What he's saying is that he doesn't want his writers to sanitize the game to avoid bad things like rape or murder happening in it. They present a post apocalyptic game world where morality and the rules that govern civilization and society are dead. So for example you might go to a settlement, lock up all the inhabitants in a room and then burn them alive because you want to steal their supplies and the game will let you do this. Depicting horrible things should not be off the table because it might be offensive to some people.