Epic Games Store now open!

Len Dananey · 23 Sep 2019 at 17:49

Tombstone said:
I'd like Steam a lot more if they got rid of all the ridiculous "indie" titles. You know the ones...stuff like..

https://store.steampowered.com/app/395910/Get_Rich_or_Die_Gaming/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/860190/Vietcong/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/773640/Colony_On_Mars/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/891620/Berry_couple/

Yes you can , to a degree, filter these things out but there are just thousands of them. Far too many. There needs to be some degree of quality control to what goes on there, cant just shove any old crap on it.

Wish my beta for Galaxy 2.0 would come through !

I defo agree with the quality control for Steam, but at the same time I like to see Indie developers given a chance. It can get a little annoying with the small crappy games but I just ignore them now. I have over 2000 games on Steam or there abouts and I do have a few bad indie games from bundles and such.

Spook187 · 23 Sep 2019 at 18:05

All the freeloaders foaming at the mouth like a rabied dog for batman, if you were a real gamer you would have had these games already :rolleyes:

Len Dananey · 23 Sep 2019 at 18:10

Spook187 said:
All the freeloaders foaming at the mouth like a rabied dog for batman, if you were a real gamer you would have had these games already

I am not a freeloader and already had these games on Steam, collected them for Epic anyway...There is simply zero reason not to mate. Anything free is good.

Tombstone · 23 Sep 2019 at 18:12

Spook187 said:
All the freeloaders foaming at the mouth like a rabied dog for batman, if you were a real gamer you would have had these games already

You and I have different definitions of "real gamer"

uncle_rufus · 23 Sep 2019 at 18:22

Len Dananey said:
I am not a freeloader and already had these games on Steam, collected them for Epic anyway...There is simply zero reason not to mate. Anything free is good.

Many years ago I was out about the town with my group of mates, all heavily intoxicated... when we suddenly came across a Pizza box on the floor. One of the lads kicked the lid open with his foot and to our surprise there was an entire pizza inside, untouched! "Holy **** free pizza!" exclaimed one friend as several dove into the pizza and started wolfing it down. I said no thanks and cautioned them that it seemed odd that someone would throw away an entire pizza unless something was wrong with it but nobody seemed to care

There's no moral coming unfortunately, I wish I could say they all spent the next day on the toilet, but I still think you shouldn't just assume that something free must be good and have no downsides whatsoever

bobboberts · 23 Sep 2019 at 18:29

We don't really know what the long-term impact of having top-rated games given away for free is yet. Could it further devalue new titles if there's a hint it'd be free at some point?

Or perhaps it won't have any impact whatsoever. We just don't know.

Tombstone · 23 Sep 2019 at 18:32

bobboberts said:
We don't really know what the long-term impact of having top-rated games given away for free is yet. Could it further devalue new titles if there's a hint it'd be free at some point?

Or perhaps it won't have any impact whatsoever. We just don't know.

As you say, its too early to say. How many people for example got Subnautica for free on Epic games, played it and loved it so much that they will now open their wallets for Subnautica 2 and may not have done so had they not got Subnautica for nothing (assuming its not a title they would have paid for normally).

Its early, perhaps in a year or two we will better understand the impacts, for now, just revel in all the free hours of gaming

bobboberts · 23 Sep 2019 at 18:38

Tombstone said:
As you say, its too early to say. How many people for example got Subnautica for free on Epic games, played it and loved it so much that they will now open their wallets for Subnautica 2 and may not have done so had they not got Subnautica for nothing (assuming its not a title they would have paid for normally).

Its early, perhaps in a year or two we will better understand the impacts, for now, just revel in all the free hours of gaming

Yeah, that's true too. Things like this, Game Pass, possible re-selling of steam games In France are all developments to keep an eye on, for sure.

TNA · 23 Sep 2019 at 19:28

Are you guys who love all these free games retired or something? Do you not find that you only have so much time per week for gaming and use that to play games you really want? I mean if you wanted to play the Batman games, would you have not done so by now? They have been available for less than a fiver for years now. Maybe I am missing something?

Tombstone · 23 Sep 2019 at 19:41

TNA said:
Are you guys who love all these free games retired or something? Do you not find that you only have so much time per week for gaming and use that to play games you really want? I mean if you wanted to play the Batman games, would you have not done so by now? They have been available for less than a fiver for years now. Maybe I am missing something?

To be honest, I probably wont have time to play them (I already have Asylum as I bought that one when it came out), but time isnt really the point is it. Its some games for nothing, so thats only a good thing, maybe I will get around to playing them, maybe I wont, who cares, point is that if I do then they havent cost me anything and if I dont then they havent cost me anything. Its a win win.

For me its a bit like Amazon Prime tv..I pay for prime, not for the tv shows but because I use the prime deliveries a lot. So in effect, I'm getting all those Prime tv shows and movies for nothing (as I'd be paying the subscription for the deliveries anyway). Now theres A LOT of shows and movies on there I probably wont get around to watching, but they are there and not costing me a penny more, so do I want them all removed just because I may not get around to watching Justified or Vikings one day, nope because who knows what I might flick on one rainy winter night or week when I'm off ill.

bobboberts · 23 Sep 2019 at 19:59

Tombstone said:
To be honest, I probably wont have time to play them (I already have Asylum as I bought that one when it came out), but time isnt really the point is it. Its some games for nothing, so thats only a good thing, maybe I will get around to playing them, maybe I wont, who cares, point is that if I do then they havent cost me anything and if I dont then they havent cost me anything. Its a win win.

For me its a bit like Amazon Prime tv..I pay for prime, not for the tv shows but because I use the prime deliveries a lot. So in effect, I'm getting all those Prime tv shows and movies for nothing (as I'd be paying the subscription for the deliveries anyway). Now theres A LOT of shows and movies on there I probably wont get around to watching, but they are there and not costing me a penny more, so do I want them all removed just because I may not get around to watching Justified or Vikings one day, nope because who knows what I might flick on one rainy winter night or week when I'm off ill.

That's not a good analogy because in the case of Prime you are still paying something for the service, whereas with Epic you aren't contributing to it at all by taking the freebies.

Not saying that is wrong, mind, just that it is different.

Tombstone · 23 Sep 2019 at 20:09

bobboberts said:
That's not a good analogy because in the case of Prime you are still paying something for the service, whereas with Epic you aren't contributing to it at all by taking the freebies.

Not saying that is wrong, mind, just that it is different.

I guess it depends, its not strictly a perfect analogy but I am not paying anything for the tv service, I pay for the delivery service each month and still would, the tv in effect, if not technically, is free for me, at least until such time as I decide to stop paying the monthly Prime delivery part of it. Either way, that doesnt negate the rest of the post I made.

ZombieFan · 23 Sep 2019 at 21:30

A couple of days ago I read a post somewhere which speculated on Epic's strategy when it comes to the free games.

Epic have a massive player base in the form of Fortnite gamers. A large percentage of these gamers are new younger gamers whose first game was Fornite and whose first game launcher is EGS. They have build their gaming friends around this launcher, and since Fornite is F2P they haven't had to spend any money up-front.

How could Epic introduce these gamers to the wider PC gaming landscape and therefore turn them into paying customers of the future? First they have to give them a wider pool of games to enjoy for free. Hence the giveaways. Once this group discover what PC gaming has to offer, they will then naturally stick with EGS for future purchases since that's where their friends are (as most older gamers have stuck with Steam for the same reason).

Steampunk · 23 Sep 2019 at 21:45

bobboberts said:
We don't really know what the long-term impact of having top-rated games given away for free is yet. Could it further devalue new titles if there's a hint it'd be free at some point?

Or perhaps it won't have any impact whatsoever. We just don't know.

A long time ago, when we all had Amigas and Atari STs, and even before that Commodore 64s and Sinclair Spectrums, there was a significant number of magazines that gave full games away on the front of their covers. This eventually stopped because the publishers and devs begged them to.

It turned out that people only had so much time to play games, and if they were playing a free game, they didn't have time or inclination to buy games. If they did, they expected to get it cheaper some time down the line when it had been out a while. Or appeared free on the front of a magazine.

So while it was great at promoting a magazine, it ended up devaluing the games product given away, and filled what available time the magazine buyer had, meaning he was less likely to buy a new, full price game.

Obviously gaming is bigger now than it ever was then, and there was no internet back then, but I suspect that human nature is mostly the same. I think there's more people than ever that have a massive library and not enough time to play, and they've mostly checked out of having to buy the latest titles, when they can wait for the bugs to be fixed and all the DLC to be out, and buy it cheaper too. They've got plenty of other things to play in the mean time.

uncle_rufus · 23 Sep 2019 at 21:46

ZombieFan said:
How could Epic introduce these gamers to the wider PC gaming landscape and therefore turn them into paying customers of the future? First they have to give them a wider pool of games to enjoy for free. Hence the giveaways. Once this group discover what PC gaming has to offer, they will then naturally stick with EGS for future purchases since that's where their friends are (as most older gamers have stuck with Steam for the same reason).

And that is undeniably a great strategy - it's competitive, it's consumer friendly, it all makes perfect sense and supports PC Gaming... I don't think many of the detractors of EGS are annoyed about the free games in and of themselves... It's just a shame they can't stick to that strategy and let the market share they build up from the Fortnite kiddos prop itself up and instead have to contribute to fragmenting that same PC Gaming community...

In the process are they going to set a precedent that shoots themselves in the foot also though, whilst also being terrible for us all? If they prove that all you need to do is smash millions of dollars at publishers to grab exclusivity and create a platform, will we see another even wealthier company pop up and steal their market? Where does that all end?

AWPC · 23 Sep 2019 at 23:00

Arkham Knight has now been updated to include the DLC for nothing as well!!

bobboberts · 23 Sep 2019 at 23:25

Steampunk said:
A long time ago, when we all had Amigas and Atari STs, and even before that Commodore 64s and Sinclair Spectrums, there was a significant number of magazines that gave full games away on the front of their covers. This eventually stopped because the publishers and devs begged them to.

It turned out that people only had so much time to play games, and if they were playing a free game, they didn't have time or inclination to buy games. If they did, they expected to get it cheaper some time down the line when it had been out a while. Or appeared free on the front of a magazine.

So while it was great at promoting a magazine, it ended up devaluing the games product given away, and filled what available time the magazine buyer had, meaning he was less likely to buy a new, full price game.

Obviously gaming is bigger now than it ever was then, and there was no internet back then, but I suspect that human nature is mostly the same. I think there's more people than ever that have a massive library and not enough time to play, and they've mostly checked out of having to buy the latest titles, when they can wait for the bugs to be fixed and all the DLC to be out, and buy it cheaper too. They've got plenty of other things to play in the mean time.

Yep, I remember those days well so the strategy is not unfamiliar to me. The landscape is changing, certainly.

m4cc45 · 24 Sep 2019 at 09:24

Steampunk said:
Snip.

It didn't actually stop. Commodore Format and Zzap 65 gave away free games, demos, indie games (I know a lot were but they gave away games like Slap and Tickle made on SEUCK) up until the last magazine. I know, in the past, I've played games given free on the magazines and have bought games because of it. It may not be a genre that I was immediately interested in or a game I didn't think would be any good but then I've bought because of it. It's the same principle with Epic. People complaining about multiple launchers really have very little to complain about. You probably load them on Windows startup anyway. Steam you can add games to same with GOG so, whilst some will require the launcher to be loaded it's not really a massive issue.

Giving away good games for nothing is always going to gain a lot of interest. I can't remember the last Steam sale I saw anything good in - I'm certainly not interested in the gems, cards and all that rubbish.

As a platform I prefer Steam, though I wish they had accessibility features such as bigger fonts, etc. but giving away free games to promote your platform is a good move and certainly one they can't be criticised for.

M.

bigmike20vt · 24 Sep 2019 at 09:43

Spook187 said:
All the freeloaders foaming at the mouth like a rabied dog for batman, if you were a real gamer you would have had these games already

Some people really are having to get silly to some how make these givaways either rubbish, or failing that try to paint people who "dare" to like these deals in a bad light.

There are so many high profile games out there now, it is impossible (impractical) to own them all

FWIW I have Batman AA and AC GOTY already, and have lego Batman 1.

getting AK and lego batman 2 and 3 were nice additions however. Will I ever play them? possibly, possibly not - my lad will likely play batman in a few years..... But either way, even if you dont like some of Epics practices do people really have to try so hard to rubbish EVERYTHING they do and to have a go at users for daring to use their service?.

I wonder how many people will really vote with their wallet and boycott every game using unreal engine? My guess is not that many.

AHarvey · 24 Sep 2019 at 12:11

bigmike20vt said:
...

What makes me laugh is that they whine about it when the games are old or unknown indy games. They then whine when they are top rated games.

Some people just need to get a girlfriend that isn't their hand

My only issue with Epic is the price of the games on there, they seem to have a large markup on some games that are available elsewhere. If that was sorted I'd buy there just as a "thanks" for the free games.