How fast after starting a game do you go idle? Do you make it to the title screen?
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STEAM | May 2014 - every time improve protection Steam Guard
- Thread starter MRORANGE
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How fast after starting a game do you go idle? Do you make it to the title screen?
More often than you'd think! "Do you make it past the title screen?" is a more interesting question.
oh! it was screenshot, then it makes sense!
In this exact context, where a retailer sells the digital half of a copy to one customer and the physical to another, then action must be taken to protect the customer and unfortunately only the physical one has a leg to stand on. However, this doesn't cover the entire spectrum of what Valve and publishers are trying to do, nor does it excuse them just yanking Justin's copy with zero word about it. That's putting the blame on the customer. On top of that, they want to use these systems to stop things like importing cheap copies from, say, Russia and selling them in the UK (without selling 1 copy to 2 customers), because they want to maximize their profits. They also want to stop the used market (and pretty much already have done so). I'm against this because that's not how commerce works for anything but software!
Can you imagine the massive public outcry if your local furniture shop couldn't import from China, or if the grocer couldn't get a cheap shipment of apples from Poland? What if you suddenly told people that it's illegal to sell that kitchen table they want to replace? Or how about some thugs just showing up at your house to take that kitchen table without even speaking to you as they carry it out? It's all absurd and it's abusing the fact that software is a new frontier that doesn't have several hundred year old laws in place, and it is certainly anti-consumer.
To clarify in general: I am not upset because I just found out about this, or something, I understood what I was getting into when I installed the client and I understand how all of this works. I will play by these rules because I pretty much have to, but that doesn't mean that I have to be in love with it!
I can and will sue you for emotional trauma due to brainwashing me with pictures of Soreshoe Rayman! I am haunted by her face at night.I was joking, by the way: you can't sue me because I did nothing illegal. I thought that would've been obvious considering the context.
You're making a distinction where there isn't one. The physical copy is functionally useless without the "digital half", which is why they're considered one whole -- a physical copy with a key is still a copy of the game.
There was word about it. Granted, it wasn't perfectly clear, but the notion that the copy was yanked without any explanation is patently false.
I'm not seeing how the key revocation policy is supposed to curb importing. The key wouldn't have been revoked if SCDK didn't dispute it.
Replicant! I knew it!
JustinJ004
Banned
Just to be clear I don't think that simplycdkeys sold the retail copy but more likely emailed my key out to someone else by mistake - at least I hope that's what happened!
I still think Valve should not revoke an in use key that they have checked and accepted without contacting the buyer first if the seller disputes it and I hope they rethink their policies soon.
Anyway further to all this I have tired calling simply games around 5/6 times this morning and they appear to completely ignore their phone. On the first 2 attempts it rang for a while first but now it goes directly to answer phone, I'm actually interested if it does this for just my number but I can't check as I'm at work.
I've passed it onto PayPal now so hopefully I'll get a refund in 10 days at worst but regardless I won't be using simply again after this.
arts&crafts
Member
I am probably late to the party, just woke up but
https://gamesrage.org/# new bundle
$1+ tier
Earth 2160
Knight Shift
X-Blades
ChickenShoot
$BTA ($2.32 ATM)
Two Worlds Epic Edition
Two Worlds II
https://gamesrage.org/# new bundle
$1+ tier
Earth 2160
Knight Shift
X-Blades
ChickenShoot
$BTA ($2.32 ATM)
Two Worlds Epic Edition
Two Worlds II
PandaPedinte
Member
So the fix to the DW8XLCE infinite loading screen is running the game in Windows 98 compability mode.
Yeah, I know. I'm the one who brought that possibility to your attention.
Well, the alternative is that you're locked out of the game until the dispute is resolved, which is, in practice, practically the same -- in either scenario you've lost access. Again, though, I don't agree that Valve is at fault for yanking a retail key due to a dispute filed by the party with all the retail proof of purchase information, and even if Valve did act as an intermediary you've no way of proving that you bought the key from the disputing party because they're not going to be stupid enough to file the ticket with the account name "That Key Distributor". From Valve's perspective it has one user claiming ownership to a key, with all the necessary physical proof, while the secondary party just has a receipt pertaining to a retailer that is not recognised as an authorised seller by the publisher -- naturally it's going to assume the key was stolen.
Going to bookmark Justin's post for posterity.
It wouldn't be an issue if Valve had revamped the front page to allow for better sorting options.
Right now, people have the new releases tab to discover new games. This has been made effectively broken by the stream of garbage onto the store.
Valve knew this was an issue, but just made the top sellers tab the defaut tab, which doesn't fix anything.
Being on the front page of steam is a massive boost for any game. Whether it be new releases, featured game, or a daily deal, games get a massive exposure boost from the front page.
Currently, games are pushed off the new releases section in a matter of hours in the best case. Valve needs to create more information tabs quickly in order to help people discover new games.
Create a tab for best selling new releases, to help players find quality games.
The iOS store is very similar to this. The stream of garbage is so severe, with no way to actively sort the information. Games have raced to the bottom in terms of price in order to get noticed on one of the top download sections. Good games are missed under piles of trash.
It wouldn't be an issue if Valve had revamped the front page to allow for better sorting options.
Right now, people have the new releases tab to discover new games. This has been made effectively broken by the stream of garbage onto the store.
Valve knew this was an issue, but just made the top sellers tab the defaut tab, which doesn't fix anything.
Being on the front page of steam is a massive boost for any game. Whether it be new releases, featured game, or a daily deal, games get a massive exposure boost from the front page.
Currently, games are pushed off the new releases section in a matter of hours in the best case. Valve needs to create more information tabs quickly in order to help people discover new games.
Create a tab for best selling new releases, to help players find quality games.
The iOS store is very similar to this. The stream of garbage is so severe, with no way to actively sort the information. Games have raced to the bottom in terms of price in order to get noticed on one of the top download sections. Good games are missed under piles of trash.
arts&crafts
Member
We don't need Greenlight if Valve would put cool indie games on Steam without it
I'm not so sure about it. Who would decide which games are cool?
JustinJ004
Banned
I've proof enough in as much as I have emails from simplycdkeys confirming purchase and payment being complete as well as the money being with them from my PayPal account.
I don't have any idea why simply would open a dispute at all. I think they either had a hot batch of keys that Namco asked to be removed or they sent out dups and the other person complained.
Nothing else makes sense to be honest.
If Valve kept curating every game that passes by Steam, they wouldn't have the time to give us HL3.
arts&crafts
Member
So true, but think about games like FullBore and such, I would never have bought if it wasnt on steam.
Yes, and as I explained that's not sufficient when you're dealing with a dispute pertaining to a physical copy of the game. Think about it like this: would you agree with the result if it turned out someone had stolen your physical key and sold it to someone else and Valve sided with that party simply because they had a receipt whereas you had an abundance of proof that shows beyond reasonable doubt that it was you who bought the physical copy to which the key belongs?
ashecitism
Member
Valve should just swallow their pride and hire normal people to do normal, "boring" jobs. Leave the T-shaped people for their games and let dedicated people to the grunt work, whether that's regarding servers, the storefront, QA or CS.
Or just hire Jshackles.
The have money, it's mind-boggling how they're not investing it in their service to improve it.
Or just hire Jshackles.
The have money, it's mind-boggling how they're not investing it in their service to improve it.
It's not like they have much competition.
ashecitism
Member
That shouldn't be an excuse. They're a service provider, they should offer better service for the customers and partners.
Finished Bound By Flame, that was underwhelming to say the least.
The games gives a good first impression, with interesting premise and combat, but as I go further into the game the combat system begins to show it repetitiveness. Flame sword/dagger, attack, attack, dodge/parry, attack, attack and repeat.
What's most disappointing is how the game alludes to 7 main bosses, but you only get to fight one of them in the end, which was a pushover btw before facing the predictable last boss that pretty much quadruple the difficulty and actually the only encounter that shows that the combat system might work and can be quite fun if the game isn't as short as it is since it forces you to use all of your available arsenal that are at your disposal.
I feel 15 hours of game time in an RPG like this one isn't enough for a good character development or a deep plot or combat system. I don't know, maybe because Spider is a small studio or they have a limited budget or there's pressure to be the first ARPG released for the PS4? I felt the game have potential at first but in the end it's just disappointing and in the latter stages felt rushed. I recommend you wait for a sale if you're interested in this game at all.
The games gives a good first impression, with interesting premise and combat, but as I go further into the game the combat system begins to show it repetitiveness. Flame sword/dagger, attack, attack, dodge/parry, attack, attack and repeat.
What's most disappointing is how the game alludes to 7 main bosses, but you only get to fight one of them in the end, which was a pushover btw before facing the predictable last boss that pretty much quadruple the difficulty and actually the only encounter that shows that the combat system might work and can be quite fun if the game isn't as short as it is since it forces you to use all of your available arsenal that are at your disposal.
I feel 15 hours of game time in an RPG like this one isn't enough for a good character development or a deep plot or combat system. I don't know, maybe because Spider is a small studio or they have a limited budget or there's pressure to be the first ARPG released for the PS4? I felt the game have potential at first but in the end it's just disappointing and in the latter stages felt rushed. I recommend you wait for a sale if you're interested in this game at all.
Servizio
I don't really need a tag, but I figured I'd get one to make people jealous. Is it working?
I don't think Valve can afford to curate the Steam store in a practical manner. They're just a distribution platform now, a fat pipe for folks to use. If they limit themselves, they leave the door open for someone else to deliver whatever titles they can't or won't.
I imagine so long as Valve can prevent proactive malware from being uploaded, they'll be fine.
Now, if they'd just integrate a good way to sort all this bundle garbage I can't help but drown myself in...
I imagine so long as Valve can prevent proactive malware from being uploaded, they'll be fine.
Now, if they'd just integrate a good way to sort all this bundle garbage I can't help but drown myself in...
arts&crafts
Member
Thanks for the review, I will wait for sub 10$ and I am a sucker for Wrpg
I fail to see the problem really. You go to a Walmart/Harrods and of course you'll see crap you don't want everywhere and the stuff you do want, you will have to search for it.
arts&crafts
Member
Can't they hire a few people to completely revamp the market / store front? I mean they are worth billions and Steam navigates like an n64 menu.
JustinJ004
Banned
Anyone can steal a box from somewhere and claim it's theirs. Personally I'd ensure my checking and confirmation systems for adding keys was water tight and stick with the person who registered (and I accepted) first.
No way is it right that they take my game away after 10 days in my opinion.
but that's what steam does worst, I feel like broken record by now, but search system by genre? doesn't work in the slightest, by tag? sometimes, by price? sometimes.
That's what needs to be done first and foremost. Finding anything on steam store is just painful, be it new games or old, good or bad.
Would a 2 tier Valve work? Say have a Steam team with a more traditional structure with certain people allocated positions of responsibility and be a more target driven environment and then have a Valve we all know and love where they're free to experiment and flex their creativity driving their game, hardware and other bizarre ventures.
I'm sure there would be 100's of thousands of people just willing to do a mediocre run of the mill 9 to 5 job working on Steam out there.
I'm sure there would be 100's of thousands of people just willing to do a mediocre run of the mill 9 to 5 job working on Steam out there.
ashecitism
Member
I don't necessarily mean just the visibility issue, but rather the overall package. Poor customer support, bad, inconsistent server performance, shitty client etc. These are issues which can be fixed if they hired more people. I've been getting this impression for a while now from interviews and all that Valve are spread too thin. Compared to the big guns they're a small to medium sized company, yet are serving 10s of millions of people, plus employees are encouraged to work on whatever they feel like. Yeah....
I'd separate Steam from Valve. Make it a hierarchic entity where people know what their job is and are encouraged to do it.
I'd separate Steam from Valve. Make it a hierarchic entity where people know what their job is and are encouraged to do it.
Seems like you may have jumped the gun here. I may have missed something, but shouldn't you wait back for a response from them?
Often times with this, the games were bought with a stolen credit card, then sold to the reseller.
I've always thought that Valve should just absorb or start a separate company that is not under their flat structure.
CS, servers, client updates, etc. Whatever jobs need to be done.
Yeah, it solved it for me. Posted that fix in the thread for the game and it seemed to fix it for others too.
Categorization for an ever evolving entertainment medium such as Video Games is not easy. It's easy to complain. But even when you did self categorizations in your own Steam Library, even you guys were stumped there. In the end you just grouped them to personal opinion subs. But finding a proper solution for all categories is highly improbable. You can see that Valve at least tried to give us to power to use Tags into further sub categorizing their games and sure it has its hitches but at least they are trying something.
I mean, the way I see it, getting mad at Valve for taking away a second-hand key is tantamount to getting mad at the police for taking possession of a stolen TV you bought from a pawn shop. Sure, you have proof of purchase, but if the original owner can produce something more pertinent then it's only natural that you're going to lose out. There's a small distinction to be made in that in the case of SCDK, you know that the key wasn't stolen and the company is just being a dick, but Valve doesn't and can't be expected to know this -- it has to make the call with the evidence it's provided and it's going to choose physical evidence over a digital receipt.
Edit: To be perfectly clear, I'm not blaming you for getting into this situation, just disagreeing with what Valve's role should be. As I said before, most resellers try their best to make their stores seem as authentic as possible, and rarely does a day go by where someone doesn't ask if [some reseller] is an officially-recognised retailer, plus in the case of SCDK in particular it's a reasonable assumption that there situations wouldn't arise since it's affiliated with an actual retailer that ships physical goods.
Tizoc
Member
KOEI TECMO confirmed to using old ass software to cut costs.
I agree that tags help, at least it's a step to right direction.
And finding some perfect system might be hard or even impossible, but Valve employs one of worst I have ever seen. You are free to prove me wrong by showing example of even worse one. (><)
MMBosstones86
Member
god it's so bad. Ship mode is fine, but when you transform the camera just becomes a shit show. I find myself just holding down the missile button and throwing the camera around. Then watching hate happen.
....That is almost never the case. Competition drives improvement. Look at a lot of the 'monopoly' service providers in the US that don't improve due to no competition : Comcast, Verizon, etc.
arts&crafts
Member
ashecitism
Member
300 (un)dedicated employees for 75 million customers. This is not normal.
Riot are 3 times bigger than Valve, Wargaming.net are 5 times bigger, and Blizzard are 10 times bigger.
So why? Why are Valve reluctant to expand properly? They're handicapping themselves for no damn reason. It's like Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, with how everyone is saying the current situation is not healthy, yet he stubbornly continues do his own thing.
What the hell are they doing with their money? Laundering it? :lol
Riot are 3 times bigger than Valve, Wargaming.net are 5 times bigger, and Blizzard are 10 times bigger.
So why? Why are Valve reluctant to expand properly? They're handicapping themselves for no damn reason. It's like Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, with how everyone is saying the current situation is not healthy, yet he stubbornly continues do his own thing.
What the hell are they doing with their money? Laundering it? :lol
arts&crafts
Member
to be fair Blizzard does a lot more "work" than valve. "work" being actual coding, game design, ect ect.
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
Thanks a ton for this write-up. I think I'm gonna pick up KiD now since your description was more intriguing.Well it's a bit if a tricky one as they've both got things I like about them both. Though I'm not quite done with Child of Light and I bailed on Killer is Dead due to the tearing doing my nut in here's a brief overview of both.
Child of Light
Well without a doubt the game looks stunning, really good use of the UbiArt engine with some nice parallax effects as the different levels of the background slide over each other creating a distinct look to the environments. The battle system is just the right mix of action and tactics (I've heard it compared directly to Grandia).
Battles play out across a unified time gauge which is separated in to 2 areas, turn time and cast time. Different attacks and spells have different casting speeds so while you might get to the cast bar quicker than your enemies they might use an action of spell that casts quicker than you. Luckily there's a member of your party that you control with the right stick that acts as support to the 2 characters in your battle line up. You can slow down enemies, heal and regenerate MP for you characters as well and helps mix things up.
One point a few people in the OT brought up that they didn't like the quirk used to tell the story. All the dialogue lines are derived in a rhyming style so might be an acquired taste as some do feel a bit forced but I'm sure you've read worse here on GAF
Killer is Dead
Now this is a bit tricky as all GHM games tend to be an acquired taste. While you're not going to find much depth in the mechanics compared to a Devil May Cry or Metal Gear Rising it's very close to the combat in No More Heroes. You have some basic one button sword combos as well as a dodge mechanic that with correct timing slows down your opponent, a perfect block which grants an auto counter mechanic and specific QTE finishers. You also have a sub weapon which is Mondo's robotic arm, the Musselback. This starts off as a gun type weapon that is good for situational encounters and headshot kills and a similar burst style mechanic but as you play through the game you unlock the much talked about Gigolo missions which are kind of pervy peekaboo mini games with "Mondo's Girls" where the reward for not getting caught staring is a new weapon. There's no new guns but variations and things like a drill arm. There's also upgrade paths to all of these mechanics as well from the items your collected in the levels.
Really though what drew me to the game was the whacky story and visuals associated with Grasshopper games. The story plays out through cutscenes (which are now replayable in the PC version) and does drop you in the game and at first is a bit ambiguous as to who these people are and how you got here. This though does reflect on the main character Mondo Zappa as he doesn't remember his origin either but this slowly unfolds with the story. The game starts proper with him receiving a letter that he has been accepted in to the government sanctioned assassins bureau. You also have a sidekick, a girl named Mika who's... a bit whacky. Anyway you both get to meet your bosses and they task you on contracts to help out your clients needs.
I would say more as it's quite unique in a way only Suda 51 can do but it's best experienced for yourself first hand to do it any justice.
One thing to bear in mind seeing as you do quite well with Family Sharing is that Child of Light being Uplay enabled is exempt while Killer is Dead is part of the programme.
Though are you sure about family sharing with child of light? Ass creed lib and trials fusion both work over family sharing.
Interfectum
Member
Probably because if they expend too much, too quickly they lose what makes Valve, Valve, to begin with. Do you want Valve to become like Blizzard? I don't. I like them being a scrappy company that sometimes makes odd, unpredictable decisions. They are unique.
ashecitism
Member
As other and I have said before, subsidize Steam. Make a group that's large enough and dedicated to the service. Valve the game company can stay as they are and do whatever they want.
(well, improving their communication wouldn't hurt
)Family Sharing works with it. You just get the "Blah blah third-party service" pop-up.
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
Great, my friend already has my uplay login so that's non-issue. It bodes well for watch dog too!
No probs. you deserve a medal trying to read it
Ooooh I didn't know that changed. Nice I might have to jump on Trails before picking it up then. Cheers.
Dusk Golem
A 21st Century Rockefeller
All I know is I am going to buy it to support future Grasshopper games on Steam, if it does well they may be more interested in developing for the platform in the future.
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