The biggest controversy this year in PC gaming is undoubtedly the Epic Games Store, but we haven't mentioned it much here.  So, I decided to make a thread.

Epic MegaGames started out in the early '90s as one of the two major PC shareware game publishers, along with Apogee.  (I, of course, always preferred Apogee.) They changed their name to Epic Games in the early '00s, after hitting the big time with Unreal Tournament.  Gears of War in the '00s just increased their prominence.  After that they were in a bit of a downturn, and founder Tim Sweeney left.

But then, things changed for them -- Epic Games made big, BIG money when Fortnite Battle Royale became one of the most popular games in the world.  In response, they eventually decided to turn their previously small launcher, which had Fortnite, their now sadly abandoned (but great!) new Unreal Tournament game, and a few more things on it, into a major PC gaming platform rivaling Valve's Steam. 

Now, that on its own is potentially good.  Steam is a decent to good storefront and platform, but more competition's usually a good thing; things who have no competition usually stagnate, which ultimately isn't great.

No, the problem is how Epic has chosen to go about it.  They decided that just making a storefront won't be enough to get many people to actually use the thing.  After all, there are a bunch of sites and launchers out there competing with Steam -- GOG, EA and Ubisoft's launchers, sites like Gamersgate, and plenty more -- but none are serious competition, Valve still has the vast majority of the market. 

So, to get attention, Epic decided on a two-front approach.

First, they release free games.  Every week or so through much of the year, they have given out a new, often pretty recent, game for free.  They are usually indie games, but not always; some are older major-studio games. Some weeks even have two games or bundles of games.  You have to add the game during the free period to get them, of course, but beyond that I don't believe there are any catches -- they're yours, on the Epic Games Store, for as long as you have the account.  I ignored these at first, but started adding most of them eventually and so now I have a small game library on the Epic Games Store, completely free.  (No, I haven't mentioned any of them in my collection thread.)

And second, they decided to buy exclusivity.  Do you have an indie, or maybe even major-studio, game that Epic likes?  And are you willing to take a bunch of money to release the PC version of the game exclusively on the Epic Games Store for a year, before it will finally be allowed to launch on Steam and other PC gaming platforms?  If so, congratulations, you're in!  If not, the EGS probably doesn't want your game; they have turned away some developers who said that they were interested in being on the storefront, but not in exclusivity.  This, naturally, has caused a great deal of controversy among gamers to say the least, as games people are interested in go EGS-exclusive and they get angry about it.  A lot of PC gamers are very adamant about only playing games on team, and while some of that is foolish Steam partisanship, some of it makes sense -- if you want to play games with people on your Steam friends list, getting a game on Epic's store isn't great, you probably won't be able to play with them, for example.  Each store has its own separate friends list after all.  (Steam is the only PC storefront I have any friends list in at all, really...)

As an aside, like a lot of Steam's competitors, the Epic store focuses on selective game availability, as opposed to Steam's open floodgates of anything.  This means that finding games on the Epic store is easy, which may be good for the developers that get on -- finding anything on the massive flood of terrible stuff that is Steam is quite difficult, and I think I've heard that a lot of games don't exactly sell well on Steam.  But on the other hand, being selective means that fewer games get on your store, which excludes many games which ARE worth a look, so ultimately I think I prefer Steam, even if I admit that it does mean that finding things you are interested in may be impossible at times, good games WILL be buried under all the detritus.

Anyway, meanwhile, Epic's roadmap of features has fallen far behind.  It may be extremely popular and a major branch of this very profitable company, but the Epic Games Store is still very barebones.  For one example of this I ran in to recently, last week when looking around on my hard drives, I realized that some games I'd downloaded though the EGS weren't on the hard drive partition I wanted them on; it'd installed them on my external hard drive, but I'd meant to put them on an internal one.  So you can just move it, right?  After all, Steam added that feature years ago.  I used to complain about how Steam didn't let you set game install paths and I had to fix that problem with Junctions, but Steam eventually fixed that problem and now let you have as many Steam library drives as you want, and you can move games' installs between drives as well.  Well, the EGS does let you set an install path when you are first installing a game... and that's it.  Once installed you cannot move it without some seriously tricky Windows maneuvers, and the Epic launcher won't even show you where they're installed to!  Seriously, nothing in the Epic launcher hints at where games are installed to in any way.  You can't view the folder on your hard drive, view the path, move the install, or anything.  Once you set that path when you installed it that's it, beyond that it's all hidden from the user.  That's a just insane and unacceptable limitation, to say the least!

This is one of just many examples of how feature-light the Epic launcher is.  It, quite intentionally, also has no analog for Steam's forums for every game, for example.  Don't expect a community or community help section on Epic's launcher, because it isn't there.  Etc, etc.  And they are not at all quick in adding any of the many features a major Steam competitor needs.


So, when you combine all of this -- the feature-light storefront; paying for exclusivity, often for games that had been announced on Steam; the connection to Fortnite, a super popular game but more so with casual gamers than core; and such, what you get is a huge, and ongoing, controversy.

Myself... well, I don't hate the Epic Games Store as much as some do for sure, but I have my issues with them for sure, both in their business practices and in their seriously lacking store features.  So far I haven't spent anything on the Epic Games Store but have some games on it thanks to the free ones, and I'll take them, but it's definitely nowhere near Steam in features or content.  If this is their plan to match Steam, so far it's not working I don't think, at least not for me.  I'm sure it is probably growing their store faster than it would otherwise, but is this actually the plan that will create a real competitor to Steam?  I guess in the coming years we'll see, but it's hard to imagine that angering a significant number of core gamers as much as Epic has working out for them... it's really questionable business, I'd think.  And paying for PC store exclusivity is kind of annoying, too.  I get why they're doing it and it might at least in part work, but still, it can cause problems and is artificially limiting on what should be the most open platform.

So yeah, it's an interesting issue, and Epic is one that is definitely an ongoing controversy.

Just found out that the UPS people is richmond lost my power supply for a bit and then today the UPS people in roanoke slammed it on the porch and broke it.
The thought that my supplies would arrive on time and intact must have been to much to bear.

So this guy stepped on to the house floor today and started calling people crazy. WOW
       

I've got a message asking me to approve or deny a recent sign up to our forum, but I can't access that part of the control panel.

Joker is A-MAZ-ing. Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant. You can read whatever political agenda you want into it (having seen it, it seems like a Rorschach test in that regard) but at the heart of it, it's a character study of a man who's already deranged, then pushed over the brink.

I don't think it's much a spoiler (I'm pretty sure it's in the trailer) to reveal that the Joker inspires an anti-capitalist movement without really trying. The protesters have made his clown persona into an avatar, but he feels no connection to it and takes no responsibility. I feel that the movie is the same way: apolitical at its core, but the viewer sees what they want. Is it about oppressed masses confronting their wealthy, corporate overlords? Is it about bloodthirsty, embittered anarchists, who unfairly blame capitalism for their problems? I had the notion that the movie was actually poking fun at the Resist movement at times. Then apparently, someone got incel vibes from it, which... I don't see at all.

Whatever window dressing you get out of it, Phoenix's performance is phenomenal, and worth the price of admission alone. I'll be hearing that maniacal cackling in my ears for a week.

It's a slot machine!

For whatever reason, I scrolled down and remembered we had a comics subforum for 5 minutes. I thought it'd be fun to make another one. The problem is, I can't draw for spit and would probably get too frustrated and bored halfway through the first panel, so you'll have to deal with words instead.

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Obes: sup jerks I'm OB1 and I have an unrelenting obsession with A Brian Falcon and I think it'd be super witty to draw bad sketches of him and make a voice recording of how I bet his stupid dumb nasally voice sounds like lmao amirite Grumbler

Grumbler: SEMNAT LOLOLOL

Falcon: Now OB1 I don't think that's a very appropriate thing to do. It is an irrational thing for a person to see a message board poster and make a comic about them! This troubles me greatly. It reminds me of the seven obscure video games I bought last week because I'm a crazy cat lady but with video games. If you'll consider the narrative prowess of

Obes: omg who cares dude, now here's eight paragraphs splitting hairs about what you just said because my job pays me to stay on TC all day and be a douchebag

Grumbler: Haha you tell'em, OB1! <3

lazyfatbum: hey guys is this where I post porn, anyone see any girls I can creep on, where'd Mapel Girl go

Dark Jaguar: [insert satirical comment here because DJ is un-lampoonable, I got nothing]

Falcon: It's also an important point to note that with regards to Nintendo's relationship with third party Hudson Soft at the time that employees and fanbase were alike dissatisfied with the product that upper management rushed out, so

Bean: You guys I didn't read anything that you said but here's a reply based on what you probably said idk reading is hard, pass the bong, LEGALIZE WEED, one time I was stoned and

Falcon: [insert Charlie Brown trumpet because I haven't yet perfected my Markov Chain of tedious video game trivia, plus Falcon's also kind of unlampoonable, I'm really just spitballing here, wait, okay, I think the Charlie Brown trumpet in the comics kinda looked like] (fill the rest of the dialog bubble with lines)

Dark Jaguar: Glad I didn't get that treatment... *posts youtube video*

lazyfatbum: one time I wrote ideas about action figures and sent them to this company and they stole my ideas >:( Don't get me started on the dozens of scripts I sent out and months later started seeing my plots and characters show up in Hollywood movies. That's why I traveled out there and spent a week sleeping on the floor with 6 other people in a studio apartment and eating peanut butter.

Dark Jaguar: Did you drink the grape juice straight from the bottle?

Bean: GRAPE JUICE AND PEANUT BUTTER, GIMME

Falcon: But then in May of 1999, Nintendo struck a deal with an unlikely partner,

nickdaddyg: hay guiz I lift weights and sometimes I hit myself if I don't do good *

(at the bottom of the panel): * lmao no really he said this once, I wish I knew where the post was, but it was way back in the day

OB1: Guys have you seen my little brother around? I don't want him knowing I'm a douche, please revise history to pretend I wasn't a douche, what if he finds me

Grumbler: You can be Bo Jackson instead lmao this is still funny right?

OB1: LOL!! fuckn' right, kid

Falcon: Guys, are you listening? This is good stuff.

Dark Jaguar: I'm listening. I'm the only one who reads your posts.

OB1: That's because you're the only one who still visits this place except for beanjo and he's functionally retarded

Bean: HAH! But only functionally! I can quit any time I want.

OB1's Little Brother: KONICHIWA, FRIENDS!! That's Japanese for hello ^-^ I was just trawling through random obscure message boards that I found on google-

lazy: GOOGLE has us listed??

OB1's Little Brother: nah fam, I found it in big bro's internet history, holy shit the things I've seen

OB1: Get OUTTA HERE, DEREK!  MOOOMMMM!!!

OB1's Little Brother: AH! Hello, big brother! Genki desu ka? ^-^ I sure hope you haven't been up to any monkey business! Mom's gonna get mad and kick you out the basement!

OB1: It's a FINISHED basement, and it's my room, it has my katanas and shut up I HATE YOU, DON'T LISTEN TO HIM GUYS, I DON'T LIVE AT HOME

lazyfatbum: cool, can I have your old room then, I have a lot of crusty old socks, can your mom wash them

OB1's Little Brother: Oh... oh dear! This is very bad posting, OB1! I am very disappointed in you. YOU HAVE DISGRACED THE FAMILY NAME, DISHONORABLE BUFFOON! COMMIT SEPPUKU LIKE A REAL MAN!

Bo Jackson: He's not the real OB1. I am! He stole my name!

OB1's Little Brother: Whoa! Why are you black now, big brother?

Bo Jackson: AND a four sport athlete

Grumbler: And he's SEMNAT LMAOOOOO!!! SODOMY ENSUES!!

Bo Jackson: shut up kid, trying to impress my little brother here, go play in traffic

Grumbler: WAAAHHH!!!

Bo Jackson: Anyway, that other guy was an imposter, he's white while I've always been black, I had vitiligo and Jesus-by-praised it's gone, how you like having a cool big brother now?

OB1's Little Brother: oh thank god, that last guy was a douchebag, glad the foundation sent a new one, Mom was about to go and raise hell

OB1's Mom: YOUNG MAN!!! What have I told you about dressing up in blackface?!

OB1: fuck, the jig is up

OB1's Mom: Don't call them jigs!

Justin Trudeau: Seriously dude, what the fuck

nickdaddyg: Go easy on OB1, maybe he's not really racist, maybe he just thinks Hitler did some good things for Germany and kind of admires him for that

Laser Link: go shit in your hat, kid

Bean: Holy shit, when did you get here?

Laser Link: I didn't. Jesus struck me dead for proselytizing video game enthusiasts across the internet. Apparently it's some obscure sin. They didn't teach that in Sunday School.

lazyfatbum: *bares nipples* ACK-SHULLY, I DID read my bible, unlike you, and after I got done fapping to Genesis I read that eternal damnation is converting your physical body into pure data and shoving it into the internets, where you're doomed to roam all eternity in old, dead Nintendo message boards with the likes of miscreants like us

Bean: god NOOOO IT'S WORSE THAN THE FIERY PITS OF MORDOR

lazyfatbum: shut up kid, this isn't LoTR

Falcon: Now while the PS2 LoTR game, which I bought for $3 because I am insane, has somewhat clunky controls, if you look closely you'll find Easter Eggs from Peter Jackson in the third cavern to the left about 47 paces past the gate of

OB1: SHUT UP NO ONE CARES BRIAN

OB1's Mother: Son! Stop trying to assert your dominance through a message board, god how did I raise such a goober, you take after your Dad

OB1's Little Brother: Yeah, you take after The Dark Prince!

OB1's Mother: And YOU stop being a little sycophant, other son. No one likes a toolbox.

Grumbler: Yeah! Knock that off! Right OB1? We're still cool, right?

OB1: I swear I don't know this guy

Grumbler: WAHHHH

OB1's Mom: Young man, you're coming home and selling those shitty thrift store katanas and moving out

OB1's Little Brother: Can I have his room?

OB1's Mom: 'Soon as the delousing is done

OB1's Little Brother: That's not lice, that's genital scabies! I walked in on him fapping!

Dark Jaguar: ...ew

lazyfatbum: for real, I don't want that room anymore, even if your mom is kinda hot

OB1's Mom pulls him by the ear and leads him into a portal to hell. Brother skips behind.

Grumbler: Can... can I come with you...?

Laser Link: Alright fuckers, I'm off to Nintendojo, then I'm gonna punch god in the face

Falcon: although minute details aside, what most people don't know about Ubisoft is their brief business deal with Acclaim contained a clause in the contract such that their development split between Sony and Nintendo legally compelled them to

Dark Jaguar: Well, he's better than OB1

Bean: What's that voice? Do I have a tumor?

lazyfatbum: no but come over here and suck my dick while I tell you all about my proto-incel thoughts about women, take this one fucking whore on the beach wouldn't give me her number

~fin~

I didn't want to have to do this, I didn't, but Blizzard made themselves political, so I have no choice.

Activision Blizzard supports oppressive regimes it seems, or at least China.



So.... they can go to hell.  I'm done with them.  That's it.  I may still go back and play their old games from time to time, but well, it's not a hard decision here.  I can live without a few games more easily than I can live without freedom.