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Why I'm not very interested in computer games anymore...


kano

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https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/19/20874384/french-court-steam-valve-used-games-eu-law

 

French court rules that Steam’s ban on reselling used games is contrary to European law

 

Sometimes I do have to remind myself that there really are places in the world where governments don't just metaphorically suck off corporations all day, and on the flip-side, actually stand up for consumers' rights. Sadly, I don't live in one of those places. I think if I did though, I would actually buy more games. Kind of ironic! Over here, they brainwash the masses with superfluous scandals in order to make sure citizens are distracted from the gradual erosion of our rights. "Did you hear what random celebrity/random elected official said/did yesterday?!?!" No, I didn't, and I don't care.

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3 hours ago, kano said:

Sometimes I do have to remind myself that there really are places in the world where governments don't just metaphorically suck off corporations all day, and on the flip-side, actually stand up for consumers' rights. Sadly, I don't live in one of those places. I think if I did though, I would actually buy more games. Kind of ironic! Over here, they brainwash the masses with superfluous scandals in order to make sure citizens are distracted from the gradual erosion of our rights. "Did you hear what random celebrity/random elected official said/did yesterday?!?!" No, I didn't, and I don't care.

You must be a fun person to have on parties...

Mate, if you don't like the country you live in, then move. I can tell from experience though that there will always be something that you don't like in a different country. Take some time off, do some work and travel abroad (Australia and New Zealand are very good in this regard, but obviously not the only options) and try to find a country that suits your specific needs enough. It doesn't have to be perfect, as long as you can live in it and feel at peace.

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On 9/20/2019 at 8:19 PM, jaxa said:

Nah, reselling digital goods that can be infinitely copied doesn't make any sense.

I'll be surprised if this ends up actually benefiting anybody. Steam could just change the way they collect from EU customers.

Usually such rulings lead to new features appearing such as refund for all users in all countries. Fortunately good judicial precedents spread easily. Hopefully used games will be back. Let's be honest, lots of people share their account with other people and / or use the Family mode feature to let someone else play on a different PC. So, it's about time. People who die, Steam never finds out they are dead. Their heirs probably continue to use the library if they know / find out the password.

I'm waiting eagerly for the decision of the EU regarding the illegal nature of region locks to selling/buying games and the setting up of artificial price ranges for different regions (games cheaper in poorer countries (CIS region definitely an example), more expensive in other ones). Before the region lock there was a lot of bargaining on the internet with cd keys' but this time might return if Steam's current policy on region locks gets overturned.

Edited by Anderson
Clarification

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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  • 1 month later...

Games don't differ from cars in that matter. Hypothetically, you could manufacture an infinite amount of cars from a blueprint, and yet none of the users gets right to that blueprint when buying a car. They just own that particular car. The same could be said about digital goods, but the manufacturers push really hard towards changing the wording, meaning, and the perception, especially in legal terms. World's most popular robot CEO Andrew Wilson talks about 'moving from ownership to subscription' at every possible occasion during investor meetings, but that's not something that must happen or it's 'logical'. It's just what companies want and pursue.

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On 9/20/2019 at 6:19 PM, jaxa said:

Nah, reselling digital goods that can be infinitely copied doesn't make any sense.

That argument doesn't make any sense.

Steam games can't be "infinitely copied", they are locked to your account (this is why you can get refunds on games you've bought, even if you've downloaded them and played them for a while). There is absolutely no technological reason why Steam couldn't allow the transfer of purchased games from one account to another; they already have the ability to add and remove games from people's accounts, which is all a transfer requires. They just don't want to do it because they would make less money.

CDs on the other hand can be infinitely copied and we've been able to resell these since they were invented. Clearly whether something can be copied has no bearing on whether it can or should be resellable. I suppose if you're talking about "reselling" a DRM-free MP3 file it wouldn't make much sense, since you could just "sell" the file but keep a copy of it yourself. But this is not what happens with Steam games.

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https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/duu7lg/the_fact_that_i_need_an_internet_connection_to/

 

This discussion gave me a good laugh. I wonder what you are supposed to do when they no longer feel like running the service that you can't play your games without connecting to anymore. But even pointing out a concern like that probably gets one flagged as a hippy/commy/terrorist/whatever.

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You don't need to care that much about games.

You only need to care about TDM. ;):D

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  • 3 weeks later...

Nope, I am not interested in using cracked stuff. The thing is that when A mistreats B for long enough, B eventually gets fed up with A's bullshit and decides to distance himself from A and cut all ties with them and everything that they stand for. And that is where I am now.

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I don't usually play cracked games, but while playing abandon-ware the value cannot be overlooked. Also while testing if the game will work on Linux prior to buying it.

For example I uploaded the game "Scott Pilgrim VS The World" to the Internet Archive. If it hasn't been because of a crack (and emulator) nobody in the hole Internet would be able to play it anymore.

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