this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2023
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John Deere brags about sabotaging competitors & customers on hot mic - they're PROUD of it!

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[–] [email protected] 111 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Meanwhile, Valve: Here's how you can rip apart our handheld computer, we don't recommend it, but it's yours so who gives a shit?

[–] [email protected] 47 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Also, here's our distribution platform where you can buy your games but have no physical medium, so if the game gets pulled you could lose access to it even though you won't get your money back.

Valve might be better, but they are far from perfect.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If your favorite game gets pulled, so long as it's not a requirement to be connected to the internet to use it, just pirate it. There is no better option if you purchased a game and it gets removed than to just flat out pirate it instead of buying a new copy, if you ask me. Just save your money in that case instead of going to another platform selling it.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, but that misses the point. Mine was a criticism against the illusion of property Steam (and other platforms) create. I know i can pirate stuff, but still Valve has the power to delist or remove stuff from their platform at any time, without need to reimburse.

It ain't digital property, it's just long term online renting.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You're not wrong. But... these tough moments are where I tend to lean on Voltaire's, "don't let perfect be the enemy of good" to paraphrase

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

valve might be better, but are you actually whining about digital distribution? it's saving gigatons of co2 emissions on physical delivery alone.

PAY ATTENTION: PUTTING 1s AND 0s ON PLASTIC DISKS SO THEY CAN GO TO A STORE AND SIT ON A SHELF FOR MONTHS BEFORE SOMEONE BUYS THEM AND DRIVES THEM HOME IS A MIND NUMBINGLY STUPID WAY TO DISTRIBUTE 1s AND 0s.

You want a physical copy? Kickstart the physical edition. Complaining that valve setup a digital distribution system that actually works is so fucking dumb it makes my brain hurt.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

You’re not wrong, but they also don’t make it easy to print those 1’s and 0’s to physical media once you have them.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Has a game on steam ever been withdrawn from people who have bought it? I've certainly heard of cases where a game gets pulled from the store and people can no longer buy it, but never where already purchased things have been revoked.

In addition there are games on steam that you can just copy to make a backup of it and it will run fine (I know kerbal space program was like this for example). In those cases you have exactly the same amount of control as you would have for owning a disc, but with all the benefits of digital distribution.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In my experience this happened with a game called Rochard. It’s no longer for sale, but I can download it from Steam whenever I want.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Steam games gets pulled all the time which is perfectly fine. They were talking about cases where the people who bought it would lose access to it, which I haven't heard of either so I don't really see why some are bashing steam for something they could do but haven't done yet.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

They've already stated that if they were to ever go out of business they would remove the DRM from their games so you can just download them and have them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

They stopped carrying a few games to buy but because I own them I can still get them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah yes the games that I have stored on my PC that mostly don't have DRM and that I can play in offline mode even while running another game on a different PC. Yep those are the ones that I can lose access to?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Do you have any games from Steam which you can play without Steam installed?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yup. Plenty. I haven't proven it for every game I own but I know it works for Titan quest and other random ones I've tried.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

That's cool to know, thanks.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I already wanted a Steam Deck, but was saving up for one of the higher tiers. Then I found out how relatively easy it is to buy the cheap one and add an nvme drive. So, now my savings goal is a lot closer.

EDIT: Fixed some typos

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Damn right, I haven't bought a console since the PS1 but I bought a Steam Deck just because of its hackability. I have plans for it beyond just gaming. Robotics control and FPV streaming is one thing I have in mind.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Also Valve: we'll make some proprietary components that have major failure points, and then not offer replacements for sale (and if we do, at exhorborant prices).

I'm talking about their VR headsets.

Don't get me wrong, I love them as a company. But while they're pushing new industries, hardware is an after thought.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

proprietary components

ridiculously stupid take. There are no open standards and commodity components for new inventions to adopt because the damned tech is new.

absurd.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

There are no open standards and commodity components for new inventions to adopt because the damned tech is new.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Source_Virtual_Reality

There's been open source VR hardware/software since at least 2015. Development is slow, but still active.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Where did I say I was complaining that they use proprietary components? My complaint is about the availability of said components, which is made much worse by how badly they wear.