• otp@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    Do you really want to support a company

    I don’t think getting freebies from them counts as supporting them

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        Of course it’s part of the equation.

        It’s part of the equation on Steam and GOG, too.

        So unless you bought a physical copy of this game and kept it off the internet (not sure if anyone is collecting any data through FO3 itself), or got it gifted to you through GOG and you don’t have an account there, you’re in the same boat. Except you paid for the game with money in addition to data.

        • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, but the argument was “does taking a free game help them or not” not shifting goalposts to whether Valve does it, too.

    • ono@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      I don’t think getting freebies from them counts as supporting them

      I do. Some examples off the top of my head:

      • giving them access to your stored data, by letting their code execute on your computer
      • giving them access to your behavioral data (a form of biometrics), through the same
      • giving them access to your system fingerprints, through both code execution and account creation
      • giving them legal influence over you, by agreeing to their terms
      • giving some of their legal arguments greater weight, by increasing their market share
      • giving them greater sway with publishers, such as when seeking exclusivity deals, by bolstering their user count
      • giving them greater value to investors, by the same

      There are probably other ways in which it supports them. Those are just the first ones to come to mind.

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        Ok, but they give free games so it’s cool. They’ll surely make a lot of money off of my “never pays us” behavioural data

    • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I was going to say. This is probably the opposite. Unfortunately once epic goes down. Because of their awful launcher you won’t actually be able to use it

      It’s not a free game. It’s a license to access a file through the epic launcher. They really shouldn’t be able to sell it as a game. It’s inaccessible without epic.

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        But it’s not a sale. It’s a game, and it’s provided for free, and as of right now there is no end date where your access to the game will expire. No money leaves your wallet.

        I still don’t understand.

        Is this some sort of coping mechanism by people who paid for the game 10 years ago?

        … because unless you bought it from GOG over Steam (which is my preferred place to buy digital games, not Epic), you’re in the same boat: Haven’t bought a game, you’ve bought a license. Except with Epic, it’s $0.00 today.

        • bridge_too_close@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          Ultimately, if you want a free game and have no issues with Epic, then hurray, you get a free game. Some of us don’t like Epic and prefer to give them nothing (including our data), even if it means passing up on free games. I have no shortage of games to play, so I won’t be missing a free copy of FO3 or whatever else they decide to offer up.

        • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Mate I got it. I have all the free games from epic.

          My point was that it’s not a “game” in the traditional sense. Anything online that requires a launcher is a licence.

          Similar to me “purchasing” a film on prime. I don’t actually purchase the film, I purchase a license to access the file solely through their system.

          They can revoke or lose that license and I lose access. Different to me buying a DVD and I can use it whenever I want as long as I have a DVD player.

          I agree. I was just following on the point from above. It is shit that we can’t buy from company. I bought the game 10 years ago. Bit of double dipping. I’ve rebought a bunch of older games.

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
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            11 months ago

            It’s definitely a game in the modern sense. If you want games in the traditional sense, your choices are pretty much GOG and physical copies. And even those aren’t a guarantee, with things like…

            • “Physical copies” that are really just download codes or a DRM key on a disc
            • Day one patches
            • Patches that make the game drastically different than it was on launch, particularly when the game was drastically different (aka. shittier) on its unpatched launch
            • Games that require proprietary servers to run the game properly, and won’t be kept alive after a certain date because they won’t release the required code for fans to run their own servers

            For a lot of gamers, “licenses to games” or any of the above cases make up the majority of the games they play. Yet we still call them gamers, we still call them games, and we still call it gaming.

            • Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Again I don’t disagree. I think untill gamers or consumers lobby the industry, we will keep getting shafted. None of those things listed help the consumer. Maybe patches and new updates but not if it doesn’t ship with a completely unbroken game

            • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              11 months ago

              Tell me you don’t understand business terms like “license” without telling me you don’t understand business terms like “license.”

              Also:

              1. Valve has made clear that if they ever go out of business, they will transfer a copy of each game you have a license for to you (providing they still have distribution rights).

              2. This isn’t even a problem with GOG because they still distribute games in the old way where you can download a standalone installer and keep that copy of the game in perpetuity.

              3. Epic has no such plans or guarantees.

              Make of that what you will.

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
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            11 months ago

            That doesn’t seem to be a contingency plan; just a claim that there will be one.