Be Seeing You,
Fallorn
Be Seeing You,
Fallorn
Be Seeing You,
Fallorn
(Also, I have no problem with Dubstep.)
Be Seeing You,
Fallorn
On my system right now I have games that use the following systems/log-ins:
Steam (as Used by Deus Ex: Human Revolution)
Games for Windows Live (as Used By Arkham City)
Ubisoft uPlay (as Used by Splinter Cell Conviction)
Bioware (as Used by Mass Effect 2)
EA Games (non-Origin) (as Used By Dead Space 2) (These last two may have merged?)
Gamespy (as Used by Command and Conquer 3)
Ironically 4 of those games are all published by EA.
Systems I haven't used yet:
Origin
Desura
And I'm not including things like storefronts (gog.com) or MMO launchers/communities (SWTOR).
ENOUGH.
BY CREATING SEPARATE LAUNCHERS/COMMUNITIES YOU ARE SEGREGATING FRIENDS FROM ONE ANOTHER, AND MAKING IT UNNECESSARILY DIFFICULT ON YOUR CONSUMERS. (caps for emphasis)
What do I want to do: Play Games With My Friends. How much time do I have: not that much.
I really don't have the time or energy after work, marriage and grad school to deal with all of these launchers, when all I want to do is have some fun.
Now, I use Steam. I have a large number of games (200+) invested in Steam, and while I was hesitant at first, it has proven itself time and again, with good sales, innovative features, support for indie games, and reliable stability.
All of the games listed above, I bought on Steam. But, due to publishers segregating communities, I can't just jump into a game of Dead Space 2, or Splinter Cell Conviction multiplayer with my friends. or invite them in to a game. Why? because I have to have a separate log-in, and I have to have a separate username known with each of my friends, and networked via their specific platform. At least with these, I can still use the steam overlay and work out the details of managing whatever mad hoops I have to jump through to get a game going in this system, unlike what it would be with Origin.
The idea of _another_ separate community just makes me nauseous. Dragging my friends into these various launchers, setting up dozens of accounts... ugh. Not to mention that sometimes the systems plain old don't work. Ubisoft's uPlay refused to allow a private match with my friend until we resorted to using random chance by joining random games until we wound up in the same one by accident. Games for Windows Live refuses to let another of my friends log-in, even after multiple re-installs, and getting a new gamer tag... so he can't save any data, so I can't play any games that use that with him. Its... ugh.
In my opinion Steam won about 2 years ago, and you guys weren't even trying. I don't have a problem with competition, competition is lovely. But you need to do so by actually competing! Offer competitive terms, and features, do not keep communities (people who are on Origin) and games (Mass Effect 3, probably Syndicate) hostage.
I like being able to reach all of my friends, invite them to games from any publisher, that I acquired at a reasonable price, having all of my games accessible and installible from one place, with a unified interface I can access at any time, in a stable, unobtrusive way. These are all things that steam does well. Unless you can match these features with an honest level of Parity, you are punishing your consumers every time you use a different launcher.
Looking back I don't know how much this rant made sense, to anybody outside my own head, but I'll go ahead and post it, maybe someone else can clarify my words, I'm just too damn mad now.
Be Seeing You,
Fallorn
Be Seeing You,
Fallorn
If we can extend this into Urban Fantasy:
The Laundry Files, Twenty Palaces, and Sandman Slim should also get some mentions.
Be Seeing You,
Fallorn