Comment on GOG apologizes for emailing people Nazi symbols
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 2 days agoThanks for showing up. And yes you’re correct, “doing nothing” is a meme, dervied from the fact that Epic, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony are all outwardly very anti-consumer, while Valve is simply less so. Yes they have done some shady things over 20 years, however they have also done wonders in the field of Linux game compatibility, helping (credit to the non-Valve developers) break Microsoft’s monopoly on operating systems for PC gaming. In contrast, GOG has done little besides provide the occasional script, Linux version of their official library manager is only now in development after 10 years of begging for it.
Yes, you can still play DRM-free games, FOSS games and get some games directly from the publisher, but in terms of distributors, you’re essentially left with itch.io (unless the time they removed nsfw games from CC processor pressure is also a bridge too far for you).
cybernihongo@reddthat.com 2 days ago
Which company was it that popularized the lootboxes so bad that Notch made a parody of their game in Minecraft’s earliest April Fool’s version? Oh it’s Valve. Which company has been extremely instrumental in killing the ownership of games, making the idea of having to be online and connected to an unaccountable corporation based in the USA to play a single player game so much more palatable? Look, it’s Valve again. Even their quaint “”“wonders”“” for Linux are such a naked embrace, extend and extinguish effort going very smoothly because they’re not Microsoft, despite being quite literally of Microsoft origins, down to the anti-trust saga.
Valve isn’t doing nothing. You think so because like you’ve noted, itch.io went into this payment processor kerfuffle, despite Valve also going into it but nobody else. Plus, GOG themselves aren’t helping matters with their own actions, not just the double sig runes and their strange and ineffective apologies, but also the obsession with LLM generated art among countless moments of getting caught with their pants down. Meanwhile, Zoom-Platform is relatively quiet, for better or worse, and I never hear anything from Fireflower Games.
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
It’s easy, if Neverball and Super Tux Kart are the only games one plays, nobody can claim they support monopolists, anti-consumer practices or billionaires.
I checked out the zoom platform, seems nice, majority are Windows games though.
I acknowledge that it’s important to raise awareness of bad practices, demanding change and highlighting alternatives where available. However, if you tie yourself in knots over every debacle, and permanently hold it as a grudge long after it’s addressed positively, then I’d start thinking your hobby is grudge-holding rather than gaming.
cybernihongo@reddthat.com 18 hours ago
Why yes, this is what I already do. But instead of it being seen that way, it’s instead seen as
All I ask is for one corporation, working in the capitalist hellscape that is the US, to be held to the same standards as the rest within its same field. That’s apparently a bridge too far, equal to the strawman of suggesting one play only Super Tux Kart.
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 17 hours ago
I think you misunderstand, there’s two parts to this discussion that are being conflated together.
Valve’s involvement with lootbox gambling mechanics deserve a lot of criticism and it is ongoing, and is part of why Newell can own many yachts. They are under suit in many jurisdictions for it and imo rightly so. Reports of hate and the like deserve investigation also.
The Linux thing I think you are getting backwards, their efforts are bringing bringing an open computing ecosystem to the mainstream, their launcher hasn’t changed but the ability to run games (including non-DRM ones from Valve’s competitors outside of Valve’s platform) on a not locked-in operating system has gotten much easier. Your genuine criticism of one seems to be clouding your analysis the other. Why I give the example of Neverball even if it sounds like a strawman, if every controversy leads to a full boycot you would be left with very few options. You can allow yourself to praise one thing an entity does while criticizing another.
Also, you talk about holding different companies to the same standards, a noble thing I’d agree, but in a previous reply you were sharing articles you stated that you haven’t read. While I appreciate the honesty, is this part of your standardized approach to judgement?