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I don't use mods (besides CKII and Skyrim) but this sucks for obvious reason you already said, it could have been done, but it needed to be done differently in order to work. I agree with everything you said, but where to go? GOG has small collection and Origin sells only their games(or small amount of others). I think Steam will soon go through some drastic changes, I hope for the better, it is not like they are horrible, its just that they are lazy, they know what they can do better and they understand on what field they lack, but they just don't fix it. For example New Vegas is totally broken and I needed to do bunch of stuff, including some fan made mods, my own playing around, even asking you for some help, and there is no option to get your money back like on Origin and GOG, even if there is it would take you so much time that its simply not worth it anymore. But let's be honest, overall, they are still the best.

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“By definition, you have to live until you die. Better to make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible, in case death is shite, which I suspect it will be.”

Once GOG has their client running (GOG Galaxy) I'll probably buy everything from there if it's offered. The only complaint I have about GOG right now is that updates are clumsy - The new client should eliminate that.

Steam used to be cool. Now it's an App store.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Valve was once this friendly company, but now...I'm with you on getting games on GOG when there is a choice, but as I said, problem is they don't have a lot of games, from my wishlist of 120 games they have only 2, Baldurs Gate I and II (maybe few more). My brother just bought Fifa on Origin and reading all things they offer if you dislike the game or if something is not working is just amazing, I mean we are at that time when EA offers better service than Valve, Twilight Zone it is.

Edit: They also have Legacy of Kain games.

Origin used to be a joke but it's a good solid client now and EA's customer service (yep, you read that correctly) is miles ahead of Valve's. The only deal in EA (and a few other) games though.

Uplay is still a joke.

I'm really happy Moonpath mods for Skyrim stayed free, I still didn't have a chance to play them. It is unfair to say those people who create mods don't deserve to get payed, because they do, but Steam dose not care about that, because they are taking 75% of everything. Also, there will be bunch of mods that suck, as you said, Apple store, people will start copying each other just to earn some money. Option to donate would be fantastic, but not this. Free mods with option to donate would be best, or just give those people jobs in the industry instead of complaining how they need to earn money... There was developer from Valve that talked how mods need to be payed, so people that make them can earn money, that is ton of crap, then give them job if you want them payed, if they can on their own make mod for 5/10/15 euro's then they can work for a company. Then at the same time, what if Bethesda for example decides to say you can't earn money from mods anymore and they shut it down? Or something in that manner, Steam won't give you anything back for sure.

I just started playing Oblivion again. I like it more than Skyrim actually, but man the character creator is hard to use.

Yeah my biggest fear with this was rip-offs. It's a brave effort but it needs to be curated really carefully. Steam seem to have a success story under their belt with Team Fortress add-ons paying out to contributors, so maybe that's their thinking. I kinda applaud the sentiment, but it's definitely open to abuse.

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

In sillier news, Garden Warfare is actually pretty fun



If you like semi-simplified cartoony online shooters that is! And it turns out I do It's got that team-coop aspect that I look for, with lots of healing & rezzing, and interesting map layouts, so you don't have to be king of the hill with a gun, you can strategise a bit and play more of a support role.

Sure it attempts to slip some monetised nonsense in, but it doesn't feel 'pay to play'. The style is also kinda lovely. And who wouldn't want to be a goofy rocket jumping zombie? (Alright, I mainly play as the hippy healing sunflower )

*EDITEDIT* The tower defence riff on the original isnt bad either in offline, looks like it would work pretty well with a team. There seem to be quiet a few modes in online, but I'm still just happy unlocking skills in the straight up team death match. It's just really cheerful & colourful, but seems pretty nicely balanced and the shooting mechanics are pleasingly accurate for all the glowy bloom and general sparkle.

*EDITEDITEDIT*

It's still going for a song on Humble Bundle if anyone fancies joining me in some online silliness

One of the many nice redux/accesibility things that GW has done is provide 'learning servers', where you can still rank up but only play with vanilla characters. Hardcore shooters could still do with this to keep the game accessible to new comers. I thought I was ready for full mutant mode, but nooo. I'm back in the training pit

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Interesting, and brave, AMA by Newell on mods. Lots of genuine worries remain, like exclusivity etc, but think his points about Valve being stocked with modders show their heart prob is in right place.

Certainly the appeal to me as an occasional content creator is being able to set a modest price, rather than rely on advertising pittance. A mechanism doesn't really exist right now. Possibly a standalone pay-for-this-download site or plugin would be the answer, rather than Steam being the sole marketplace and gatekeeper. But hey, there's nothing to stop alternate sites

I've got no problems paying a few quid for a mod if it's guaranteed by the seller to work with the latest version of the game but I can really see this withering on the vine in terms of Bethesda games.

No one who's serious about modding Beth games uses Steam Workshop. It's a terrible tool.

Fallout 4 will be the real test. Bethesda have long since had the shelf life of their games extended by the modding community and have it written in the SDK's ToS that they can take any mods made with it and use the ideas in future games, no questions asked and no citation (or payment) to the initial author. That's the way it has been - Use their tools to make a mod but don't be surprised if it turns up later in a game.

Presumably the ToS hasn't changed but now Beth want a 45% (which seems to be the figure floating around) cut of mod sales as well as the above option, with the creator getting just 25% and no option to withdraw earnings until it reaches a certain figure, which I think is $400. The 'try before you buy' thing is also badly done - Even if you pay by credit card you'll be refunded by Steam credit, which you can't put back into your bank account.

The whole thing's been mucked up so badly I wouldn't be surprised if paid for mods get killed stone dead before they've even had a chance to thrive in an open market.

Yep Beth are def acting on the sharkish end of the scale from the owner perspective. Didn't realise the mods had to be tied to Workshop either, that does sound limiting.

I think mod longevity is in the modders hands, and you get what you pay for in that sense.

I believe that modders can suspend sales at any point, and can still host elsewhere, so don't think those T&C are game killers just yet.

Poss I'm just driven by greed, as I'm dreaming of dollar-a-download for my MC map, rather than dollar per thousand

I can't blame any modder for taking that route and unfortunately the Steam community reaction has been as nasty and as entitled as we've come to expect and may well drive a few modders from the scene entirely. Those who are still left are back peddling - The guy who made Wet & Cold (a great mod I'd happily pay a couple of quid for) is now saying that the new version (earlier ones were free on the Nexus) will be released for general download in 60 days.

I'm sure he's only done that to try and stop the abuse.

Finished the story mode in Mortal Kombat X. It's shorter than IX's and full of maddening quicktime events but still continues MK's recent history of having the best campaign mode in fighting games.

The game itself is great fun - Much more accessible than something like Street Fighter but with enough combo, break and cancel moves to satisfy the hardcore crowd. It's one of the best looking fighting games I've ever seen although the level of graphical fidelity has seen Ed Boon and company go to the max with Fatalities.

They're grimly funny if you find gore grimly funny, I suppose. Inventive too, but a bit dull once you've seen one for the 20th time.

Elsewhere there's a great variety of single player modes, an online compartment which is either great or awful depending on whether you catch the servers in a good mood or not and a 'faction' mechanic where you align yourself with an aforementioned faction to brutally kill and gain points in the name of ... something.

I hated Mortal Kombat in the arcades and always had more time (and more 10p pieces) for Street Fighter and the other Japanese games. In fact MK IX from a couple of years ago was the first one I actually enjoyed on any platform. X is a continuation of that and gets a recommendation from me if you're thinking about getting into the genre. The game controls as well with a pad as it does with an arcade stick too, so you'll not need to be an eejit like me with half a Pac Man machine sitting on their lap while playing.

I'd suggest MK IX even more strongly, though, if you see it in a sale. It's bound to be pretty cheap now and only loses out to the new game in terms of graphical polish.

Looks like Silent Hills won't happen, Capcom and Konami can start a club, we were great, now we suck.

Just won the 2022 World Cup... With England... On penalties.

Sadly it wasn't against the Germans, but it was Italy, so it's fairly close.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Aaaand, that's that for Beth games then...



(Although that character looks like the Black Night to me. This beast has more limbs... )

Mortal Kombat has an actual storyline in game?? I thought it was just two players fighting each other.

You'd like to think that they listened to the sane, rational arguments against but in reality they saw the utter bile, threats etc directed at themselves and the mod makers and figured that the community was full of Gamergate-style nutters.

They could have avoided a lot of this by simply forewarning us, not dropping it from the (HD, only 49p) sky one morning.

Cool new SpyParty characters just revealed:

This made my day.



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