I think difference is EA is more a game company so people see a game they like then judge the monetization because its a full priced game that turns out to have f2p monetization.
But, Valve is more judged for its experience as a launcher and less for its games. So with the launcher itself being the draw things like Valve game lootboxes can be something people are completely unexposed to as they play other games.
But, EA is still at a stage where the products that receive the most visibility are their games, and the launcher and services side so underwhelming to not be bothering with it being a selling point.
Its like Costco versus a company that sells chocolate. Costco is a warehouse store people love going to that happens to sell chocolate and is judged multiple things thar draw them there over other stores. A chocolate company is just known primarily for its chocolate so judgef on the quality of their chocolate.
dukemirage@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
The launcher?! This bloatware is the second worst thing about Valve’s services right after the gamble mechanics.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 10 hours ago
Gambling mechanic is as impactful to me as Costco selling alcohol and junk food. I don’t play those games, so only reason I’m even aware of it is because of people bringing it up. Those who seek it out can get it those who come for other things can avoid it.
And I like the steam launcher when it comes to linux compatibility, steam workshop, reviews, categorizing my games, note function, and gamepad support.
Those who don’t value that can buy from Epic or other launchers the way some people don’t see the difference buying from Costco vs Walmart and see membership fees as a waste of money. Or go over to consoles to be free of launchers entirely.
dukemirage@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
I don’t want to discredit Steam’s features like compatibility layers, but the software itself is a mess. It is an unnessecary RAM-heavy chromium instance, to be fair, just like most other launchers. I replaced it with Playnite which is streamlined, responsive and more feature rich for managing a library (Steam still needs to be installed of course because they don’t offer offline installer like GOG). And I’d argue that console user saren’t free of launcher, they are locked into a very specific one.
But as someone who’s neither been to Costco nor Walmart, what is the difference?
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 9 hours ago
Costco charges an annual membership to shop there. Walmart doesn’t. Both market offering low prices. Costco focuses on good customer support for their customers and good warranty policies and treats their employees better. And prices are cheap with them focusing on bulk and rotating out items that don’t sell well to maintain that. And with inflation Costco has become more popular to try to save money on goods since they sell stuff like food too. Unlike Costco, Walmart has a reputation of entering into new territories cutting prices, putting local stores out of business due to inability to compete with their pricrd, then raise prices once they’ve secured their territory. They are however both stores selling stuff at the end.
Anyways, some don’t care, and a product is a product so membership to them is seen as bloat the way you see the Steam launcher. So it all depends on perceived value. I understand your disdain for steam if you find no value in it, but for me playnite doesn’t meet my needs. Nor have I had issues with Steam being resource heavy. Its iust not a thing that bothers me, but I do understand your point of view and that perceived value on your end won’t change just as mine won’t change. We are different customers with the only similarity being interest in games, but expectations on features being very different.