You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
I think a more applicable comparison would be to ask why don't all multiplayer and massively multiplayer games have text chat, i mean, WoW has had text chat for well over a decade, so why can't some of the newer games also have it?
But for me personally better pricing is what will lure me to use their store. The only reason I logon samsung galaxy store is because they give better pricing. I could care less how their storefront is.
It's new(ish), it's barebones, and its from a company I don't really know well. They've made a butt load of cash from Fortnite, a game I dislike and view as just the latest fad. I don't know what other money they have.
This means that in my eyes, I'm not willing to trust their store. Not yet. I don't want to start sinking money into their store, only to have it shut down in a years time because they couldn't stand up to the competition. I've already lost access to maybe £150 worth of games that I bought through digital stores, either due to technical fuckups (looking at you EA) or the company ceasing business.
<snip>
Epic have been around longer than Valve actually. Their most well known product is the Unreal game engine and most of their revenue up to now has been coming from it rather than from direct game sales. What they are doing with the store is expanding the cut they already receive from the game developers using their engine. For Epic developers are their primary customers and players are basically the customers of their customers. Which actually explains quite a lot about why the store was launched in the state it was launched.
that really doesn't explain anything. It'd be understandable if Epic was some startup that didn't have the resources to create a game launcher with a good portion of the bells and whistles found on the steam launcher. I thinks its probably safer to assume that epic didn't want to invest a lot of resources in to a launcher that had the potential to fail. Instead they decided to go for something a bit more barebones so it could be rolled out to the general public faster. Then shifted resources around to get exclusivity deals and increase their chances to successfully compete with Valve while programmers worked in the background to improve the launcher.
It is safer to assume that Epic didn't want to invest a lot of resources so instead of slowly developing their engine with a small internal team for a year that would have cost them about half a million USD they went ahead and paid several millions for games exclusivity right out of the gate?
The reason EGS was launched barebones is to comply with the developers that were in the talks with Epic about game exclusivity before the store was even announced. If those games were to release exclusively on Epic they had to be released without delay in peak Fortnite popularity when people would have a reason to flock to the store and be exposed to these exclusive games and there should be financial guarantees that the exclusive games would not be financial failures hence the money for x amount of sales guarantee that Epic is offering. A couple of Epic's exclusives launched on Day 1 of the store announcement - Ashen and Hades, and there were a few others that came out soon after.
Developers have vested interest for EGS to be successful apart from the money that Epic is giving to the developers. For most of them this payment is mostly symbolic anyway and what they are looking forward to is having the revenue share model set by Epic to be the standard for the future. Even if Epic were not offering money upfront for future sales some developers would still have gone with the exclusivity deal especially the big ones. For example - Control devs Remedy were given 10.5 million as sales guarantee upfront from Epic. That might seem to be a big number but in fact this is less than 250000 copies sold on Steam that the game would easily have sold in any case considering that Quantum Break sold more than a million on Steam and it was released years after the initial hype. I would guess that Control would sell at least as much. At about 840k copies sold on steam Remedy would get 80% of the revenue share and they would still receive about 4 million usd less from Valve for that amount of sales then they would receive from Epic. And those 4 million are not just money upfront but pure profit. In the long run if those numbers increase when you consider the standard changing for the long-time sales of Control and every future game that Remedy would ever create.
@op ; They did it this way because that is how a smart business would do it when competing versus a monopoly like Steam. They NEED exclusive rights and are very much in the right to do so since they offer a better deal to their providers than what Steam/Valve is willing to offer.Why shouldn't Epic gain something from offering a better deal,i mean you want Epic to give better rates competing versus Steam and get nothing?
I think we should realize that Steam being established for a lot of years and would have a MUCH bigger audience would mean that NOBODY could compete with them.So the only avenue Epic has is to BOTH give better rates,meaning less profit doing the same thing Steam is doing but also gaining some exclusive rights.
Then more importantly,this decision of where to sell still falls on the game studio,they can sell their game wherever they want,this has NOTHING to do with Epic.So if for example Blizzard chose to sell it's games with Epic,that is THEIR choice,Epic doesn't force any studio do what they don't want to do.
Yet Steam is not a monopoly. Origin, UPlay, GOG and sooooo many other launchers/stores exist.
I've always felt that if you "half-ass" anything, you get a "half-ass" return. This concept has been forgotten in today's gaming industry as a whole. The Epic Game Store cut corners and released "half-assed."
How do you define monopoly? It has never meant 100% market share. Google controls 92% of online searches - surely you consider them a search engine monopoly?
How many non-exclusive games are sold through a online PC distribution platform should dictate if it is a monopoly or not. Or how many games are exclusively on a specific platform. Steam is certainly a monopoly in both cases, with overwhelming market control in both cases. I don't have modern numbers but numbers were given for sales of games on three platforms two years ago, and Steam had over 90% in two cases and close to 90% in the third. They are the exclusive online distributor of more games than you can shake a stick at. I have no numbers on this, but since I stopped supporting steam I haven't been able to buy a ton of games I want because they are only on steam (I'll just stress the word buy).
Healthy competition is great for consumers, and the really only way to make a new entertainment focused platform viable and/or penetrate a market is through exclusive content, Epic has no choice but to chase exclusive content (and give away content, etc.). Exclusives aren't anti-consumer. They are very pro-consumer.
I really can't understand why people are so against a healthy, competitive market when it comes to tech companies. That is the truly the anti-consumer aspect to all this. I just don't understand it.
Google is not the only search engine, just the most popular. They have no "exclusive webpages" that only Google can link to and DuckDuckGo, Bing, (Is Yahoo still a thing?), and other search engines can not. Popular does not make a monopoly, just like Steam. It's certainly popular, but I get my games elsewhere, with a few exceptions (like Bethesda games now). Steam does have their own exclusivity, but at least they give value in their storefront to many people.
On the other hand, my area has one cable internet service provider. The phone company is also one. Now there is satellite service providers, too, but I consider the cable company a monopoly because they have the fastest service (no one else comes close in my area) and no valid competition. If you want above 25MB/s, the cable provider is the only choice.
Don't get me wrong, I hate Steam with a passion. I want competition for them. I just wondered why Epic did such a half-assed job at it. I am all for healthy competition and exclusivity is NOT healthy competition (on any side). It is the opposite of that.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
A shopping cart is a basic store function, either in real life or online. Epic has none. Want multiple games? Buy each one separately. That is the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
But for me personally better pricing is what will lure me to use their store. The only reason I logon samsung galaxy store is because they give better pricing. I could care less how their storefront is.
That's cool. I don't disagree. But a majority of people want a good shopping experience. Steam gives many that experience and EGS could have.
I'm like you, though. I go where my money does me the most good
PS: PCGamer doesn't like my ad blocker so I could not read the article.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
I asked myself: why couldn't EGS have taken longer and simply "recreated a Steam experience".
My first thought was: maybe some of the features on Steam are maybe bloat and not needed. Then I asked myself what is needed and rethought what you actually need. Initially I thought 3 things but then added a 4th:
- 1. An interface - 2. Potential customers - 3. Games - 4. Reputation.
1. An interface is what they released. It had some features, other features are being added etc.
Clearly Epic has (2. Customers) via Fortnite and other games. And they have (4. Reputation) - been around a long time and done some good stuff etc. Both of which they have had for a while and would still have if they delayed launching the interface until today.
3 though ... that would require co-ordination with developers. And - maybe - the message from some was "sure we will take the plunge and release on your brand new store platform but ..... our game will be finished next month not in 6 months time". Or whatever.
So I suspect there is more to the timing of when EGS launched than simply the design of the interface.
Google is not the only search engine, just the most popular. They have no "exclusive webpages" that only Google can link to and DuckDuckGo, Bing, (Is Yahoo still a thing?), and other search engines can not. Popular does not make a monopoly, just like Steam. It's certainly popular, but I get my games elsewhere, with a few exceptions (like Bethesda games now). Steam does have their own exclusivity, but at least they give value in their storefront to many people.
On the other hand, my area has one cable internet service provider. The phone company is also one. Now there is satellite service providers, too, but I consider the cable company a monopoly because they have the fastest service (no one else comes close in my area) and no valid competition. If you want above 25MB/s, the cable provider is the only choice.
Don't get me wrong, I hate Steam with a passion. I want competition for them. I just wondered why Epic did such a half-assed job at it. I am all for healthy competition and exclusivity is NOT healthy competition (on any side). It is the opposite of that.
How do you define monopoly. It keeps seeming you believe it means 100% market share. Again, this has never been true. The monopolies teddy broke up and have been broken up since in the US didn't have anywhere close to 100%.
It doesn't matter if there is search engine alternatives if Google controls 92% of searches. That, by every single legal definition of the word in every country I checked, means monopoly. Overwhelming market dominance (also included in some definitions is to the point you control the market and can compete in unfair practices, which can be seen in the case in Europe where Google was charging large amounts of money for competitors to have their engine show up as an option in android devices. Or how MS gave Apple tons of money in the 80s and 90s to avoid complete market domination and be subject to monopoly rulings).
Again, without you telling me what specific definition you are using, from which country, etc, saying Google or Steam aren't monopolies isn't furthering the discussion. By every 1st world's nation definition both are. It seems the definition most people saying they are seem to be operating off of is an unwritten super laissez-faire linertarian one where even if you have near 100% market share as long as there is a "competetor" you aren't a monopoly. This defition isn;t written down anywhere, and isn't on the LP website, nor is it their working defition, or a defition I have ever heard about or know anyone uses.
You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
A shopping cart is a basic store function, either in real life or online. Epic has none. Want multiple games? Buy each one separately. That is the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
A shopping cart is a nearly useless feature to have in a store with not a lot of games but it actually requires far more work in the background than you would expect. Unless you want to half-ass it that is.
You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
A shopping cart is a basic store function, either in real life or online. Epic has none. Want multiple games? Buy each one separately. That is the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
A shopping cart is a nearly useless feature to have in a store with not a lot of games but it actually requires far more work in the background than you would expect. Unless you want to half-ass it that is.
Absolutely, because shopping cart technology is an industrial secret that is jealously guarded and never shared under any circumstances! Its not like you can acquire it 'off the shelf' is it.. oh wait.
You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
A shopping cart is a basic store function, either in real life or online. Epic has none. Want multiple games? Buy each one separately. That is the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
A shopping cart is a nearly useless feature to have in a store with not a lot of games but it actually requires far more work in the background than you would expect. Unless you want to half-ass it that is.
There's a whole industry of people making plug-and-play tools for websites, including shopping carts. I can't see how such a fundamental function of an online store was any kind of excessive workload for a company the size of Epic. They didn't think their web store through, making it almost half-assed by definition. They could have done much better.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
I use it to grab the free games just in case i get bored one day and need something to play. But its just so bad for a store front. For whatever reason atm i can't even open my own library let alone the store front, its just presenting me with a blank black screen lol.
You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
A shopping cart is a basic store function, either in real life or online. Epic has none. Want multiple games? Buy each one separately. That is the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
A shopping cart is a nearly useless feature to have in a store with not a lot of games but it actually requires far more work in the background than you would expect. Unless you want to half-ass it that is.
There's a whole industry of people making plug-and-play tools for websites, including shopping carts. I can't see how such a fundamental function of an online store was any kind of excessive workload for a company the size of Epic. They didn't think their web store through, making it almost half-assed by definition. They could have done much better.
If Epic had only a shopcart to implement - sure. Still they have quite a few things to implement to bother with something that doesn't really provide much functionality at all. A shopcart is not a fundamental functionality - it is a minor convenience. And plug-and-play shopcart for a major company product? Are you serious? This is not your friend Raph's PC components re-seller business where you buy the merchandise beforehand or order it from a catalog manually based on demand. When you deal with millions of potential customers daily you would better release your features fully functional and tightly integrated into your system - you cannot rely on some random third party web component that is barely tested. Yes, EGS has barebones functionality but the functionality that is there actually works pretty well so actually no, it is not half-assed.
I use it to grab the free games just in case i get bored one day and need something to play. But its just so bad for a store front. For whatever reason atm i can't even open my own library let alone the store front, its just presenting me with a blank black screen lol.
Shut down the client, then go to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\EpicGamesLauncher\Saved\webcache and delete everything inside. Relaunch the storefront and it should be fine.
You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
A shopping cart is a basic store function, either in real life or online. Epic has none. Want multiple games? Buy each one separately. That is the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
A shopping cart is a nearly useless feature to have in a store with not a lot of games but it actually requires far more work in the background than you would expect. Unless you want to half-ass it that is.
There's a whole industry of people making plug-and-play tools for websites, including shopping carts. I can't see how such a fundamental function of an online store was any kind of excessive workload for a company the size of Epic. They didn't think their web store through, making it almost half-assed by definition. They could have done much better.
If Epic had only a shopcart to implement - sure. Still they have quite a few things to implement to bother with something that doesn't really provide much functionality at all. A shopcart is not a fundamental functionality - it is a minor convenience. And plug-and-play shopcart for a major company product? Are you serious? This is not your friend Raph's PC components re-seller business where you buy the merchandise beforehand or order it from a catalog manually based on demand. When you deal with millions of potential customers daily you would better release your features fully functional and tightly integrated into your system - you cannot rely on some random third party web component that is barely tested. Yes, EGS has barebones functionality but the functionality that is there actually works pretty well so actually no, it is not half-assed.
You seem highly tolerant of inferior products. I'm not. Doesn't make either of us better than the other, just different. A shopping cart is a fundamental part of every online store I've ever seen; that's where the commerce happens. I'll even agree that off-the-shelf components are a shortcut. Large companies can afford to reinvent every wheel, so why didn't Epic?
I use it to grab the free games just in case i get bored one day and need something to play. But its just so bad for a store front. For whatever reason atm i can't even open my own library let alone the store front, its just presenting me with a blank black screen lol.
Shut down the client, then go to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\EpicGamesLauncher\Saved\webcache and delete everything inside. Relaunch the storefront and it should be fine.
Case in point. A more complete development effort would have "adequate" garbage collection routines and things like @Mykell's issue wouldn't happen. If an application doesn't find a "known state", it should proceed to create that "known state".
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
How do you find out what your store is doing wrong? By putting it in front of a bunch of people and letting them tell you what you're doing wrong. Because gamers are very willing to tell you that you're doing everything all wrong, and some of us will even offer some details of particular things that you're doing wrong.
Weren't most of you talking about how features don't matter and people who care about features are being extra or dumb?
N-E WHO, Game Store/Clients are mostly built using a cross platform encapsulated HTML/CSS/JS frameworks aka they're glorified websites but by all means continue to make excuses about how tough it is for a billion dollar company to put those together to functionally compete against competitors.
Post edited by FlyByKnight on
"As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*"
You make it sound like epic are only selling exclusive but not working on their storefront. They most likely are doing both at the same time.
As for exclusive I think it is necessary. People won't jump to epic if they aren't incentive to do so. Regular free games, promotion, exclusive to make people a habit to use their store.
As a consumer, I wish epic and steam go to a price war. But don't look like it at the moment.
What I'm talking about is why not offer a better (or at least as good as) service than Steam offers,
instead opening a half finished storefront, then working to finish while
offering exclusives?
I don't think they are purposely doing a bad job on their storefront... They are most likely trying but just haven't done a good job yet...
My point is weather they sell exclusive or not have no effect on how well their storefront is.
Your argument sound like people saying why mmorpg developer purposely make bad games. Why don't they just make their game better.
A shopping cart is a basic store function, either in real life or online. Epic has none. Want multiple games? Buy each one separately. That is the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
A shopping cart is a nearly useless feature to have in a store with not a lot of games but it actually requires far more work in the background than you would expect. Unless you want to half-ass it that is.
There's a whole industry of people making plug-and-play tools for websites, including shopping carts. I can't see how such a fundamental function of an online store was any kind of excessive workload for a company the size of Epic. They didn't think their web store through, making it almost half-assed by definition. They could have done much better.
If Epic had only a shopcart to implement - sure. Still they have quite a few things to implement to bother with something that doesn't really provide much functionality at all. A shopcart is not a fundamental functionality - it is a minor convenience. And plug-and-play shopcart for a major company product? Are you serious? This is not your friend Raph's PC components re-seller business where you buy the merchandise beforehand or order it from a catalog manually based on demand. When you deal with millions of potential customers daily you would better release your features fully functional and tightly integrated into your system - you cannot rely on some random third party web component that is barely tested. Yes, EGS has barebones functionality but the functionality that is there actually works pretty well so actually no, it is not half-assed.
You seem highly tolerant of inferior products. I'm not. Doesn't make either of us better than the other, just different. A shopping cart is a fundamental part of every online store I've ever seen; that's where the commerce happens. I'll even agree that off-the-shelf components are a shortcut. Large companies can afford to reinvent every wheel, so why didn't Epic?
I use it to grab the free games just in case i get bored one day and need something to play. But its just so bad for a store front. For whatever reason atm i can't even open my own library let alone the store front, its just presenting me with a blank black screen lol.
Shut down the client, then go to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\EpicGamesLauncher\Saved\webcache and delete everything inside. Relaunch the storefront and it should be fine.
Case in point. A more complete development effort would have "adequate" garbage collection routines and things like @Mykell's issue wouldn't happen. If an application doesn't find a "known state", it should proceed to create that "known state".
I have had more problems in the last year with Steam than I have had with EGS so it is very arguable if EGS is the inferior product. As to why they didn't "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to a shopping cart - I've already answered that - priorities.
A cache problem happens when there is a previous known state that has been cached not when there isn't one. An improperly cached state is actually a bug and yes, bugs do come through QA testing without being detected from time to time. As it is a bug with the web cache it is most likely caused by the embedded Chromium browser that the store uses - a third party component.
I use it to grab the free games just in case i get bored one day and need something to play. But its just so bad for a store front. For whatever reason atm i can't even open my own library let alone the store front, its just presenting me with a blank black screen lol.
Shut down the client, then go to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\EpicGamesLauncher\Saved\webcache and delete everything inside. Relaunch the storefront and it should be fine.
Thanks for saving me having to look for a solution. I remember when Steam was buggy but guess i'm to used to it working for me now i kinda expect Epic's to do the same.
How do you find out what your store is doing wrong? By putting it in front of a bunch of people and letting them tell you what you're doing wrong. Because gamers are very willing to tell you that you're doing everything all wrong, and some of us will even offer some details of particular things that you're doing wrong.
Same principle as to why you should have a starter/practice wife.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
How do you find out what your store is doing wrong? By putting it in front of a bunch of people and letting them tell you what you're doing wrong. Because gamers are very willing to tell you that you're doing everything all wrong, and some of us will even offer some details of particular things that you're doing wrong.
Same principle as to why you should have a starter/practice wife.
My wife is a trained professional, has been telling me what I do wrong for over 36 years.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I use it to grab the free games just in case i get bored one day and need something to play. But its just so bad for a store front. For whatever reason atm i can't even open my own library let alone the store front, its just presenting me with a blank black screen lol.
Shut down the client, then go to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\EpicGamesLauncher\Saved\webcache and delete everything inside. Relaunch the storefront and it should be fine.
Thanks for saving me having to look for a solution. I remember when Steam was buggy but guess i'm to used to it working for me now i kinda expect Epic's to do the same.
I'm glad I could help. It seems to be a rare problem so I'm not really sure if the solution is posted anywhere so it is probably a good idea to share it wherever applicable.
That's cool. I don't disagree. But a majority of people want a good shopping experience. Steam gives many that experience and EGS could have.
I'm like you, though. I go where my money does me the most good
PS: PCGamer doesn't like my ad blocker so I could not read the article.
I don't get this either. I don't think either Epic or Steam have a good shopping experience. Neither does gog, origin, humble, ubi, MS store, or any other place I've been to. Gog is probably the best with the most sensible genre sorting, the least amount of trash, and easiest to browse.
The worse for me is Steam. Its just endless pages of rubbish, every game is listed as every genre making genres utterly useless, and its near impossible and not worth the hassle to find games I am interested in. The genre-busting, hippy redefinition of genre is the worst. I'd rather have no genre tab like Epic, then the nonsense steam has. Their labels are a true atrocity.
And it all went to shit around the same time. Achievements are for little kids and no adult actually cares about that feature. What was neat was the trading cards and I could sell them. I have no idea how you get them, or why people would spend actual money on them, but for a while I could just sell them. Then they came up with an update that made you jump through 20 hopes to put one up for sale, making that feature to much of a hassle and useless. Right around that time is when they started making the things I actually like about steam not function in offline mode, like workshop, locking content and files in offline mode, etc. This is also when they started suppressing speech and locking threads in feedback for no reason. Also when they genre's went to complete shit and became useless and cat picture puzzle games started showing up in rpgs, or adventure games with no rpg elements at all, and thousand of trash games showed up making it impossible to find the few actual games, and even more impossible to find the few rpgs in the few actual games that all were labeled as rpgs.
Can you fix the sorting? No. Can you filter out games with no English support? No. Can you filter out non-rpgs? No. Can you post in the feedback about issues you are having? Nope, it will get locked and they will give you warnings for providing feedback and there is no way to get an answer on how to provide feedback without getting warnings. Do they allow devs to ban you from their forums for no apparent reason and then not allow you to get a refund? Yes. Is steam the only platform that restricts content and makes games not function when you try and play offline? Yes.
Steam is great for kids, especially kids that have no idea what genres are or are only interested in hot games being streamed. For adults that are actual gamers with set tastes that just want to play games without a huge hassle, or find games without getting a brain seizure sorting through endless pages of shit - its a nightmare.
I honestly don't see how an rational adult would not want a solid competitor just to push steam to improve and fix the platform they ruined and have a much healthier market.
Comments
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-ceo-the-only-way-to-displace-steam-is-with-exclusives-good-prices-and-better-revenue-sharing/
But for me personally better pricing is what will lure me to use their store. The only reason I logon samsung galaxy store is because they give better pricing. I could care less how their storefront is.
The reason EGS was launched barebones is to comply with the developers that were in the talks with Epic about game exclusivity before the store was even announced. If those games were to release exclusively on Epic they had to be released without delay in peak Fortnite popularity when people would have a reason to flock to the store and be exposed to these exclusive games and there should be financial guarantees that the exclusive games would not be financial failures hence the money for x amount of sales guarantee that Epic is offering. A couple of Epic's exclusives launched on Day 1 of the store announcement - Ashen and Hades, and there were a few others that came out soon after.
Developers have vested interest for EGS to be successful apart from the money that Epic is giving to the developers. For most of them this payment is mostly symbolic anyway and what they are looking forward to is having the revenue share model set by Epic to be the standard for the future. Even if Epic were not offering money upfront for future sales some developers would still have gone with the exclusivity deal especially the big ones. For example - Control devs Remedy were given 10.5 million as sales guarantee upfront from Epic. That might seem to be a big number but in fact this is less than 250000 copies sold on Steam that the game would easily have sold in any case considering that Quantum Break sold more than a million on Steam and it was released years after the initial hype. I would guess that Control would sell at least as much. At about 840k copies sold on steam Remedy would get 80% of the revenue share and they would still receive about 4 million usd less from Valve for that amount of sales then they would receive from Epic. And those 4 million are not just money upfront but pure profit. In the long run if those numbers increase when you consider the standard changing for the long-time sales of Control and every future game that Remedy would ever create.
On the other hand, my area has one cable internet service provider. The phone company is also one. Now there is satellite service providers, too, but I consider the cable company a monopoly because they have the fastest service (no one else comes close in my area) and no valid competition. If you want above 25MB/s, the cable provider is the only choice.
Don't get me wrong, I hate Steam with a passion. I want competition for them. I just wondered why Epic did such a half-assed job at it. I am all for healthy competition and exclusivity is NOT healthy competition (on any side). It is the opposite of that.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Steam has their own exclusives, too, but at least their storefront is consumer friendly. This is the part I'm curious about: Why didn't Epic Game Store (EGS) work on a more functional store before opening it up. There have been some good and interesting ideas here
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
I'm like you, though. I go where my money does me the most good
PS: PCGamer doesn't like my ad blocker so I could not read the article.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
My first thought was: maybe some of the features on Steam are maybe bloat and not needed. Then I asked myself what is needed and rethought what you actually need. Initially I thought 3 things but then added a 4th:
- 1. An interface
- 2. Potential customers
- 3. Games
- 4. Reputation.
1. An interface is what they released. It had some features, other features are being added etc.
Clearly Epic has (2. Customers) via Fortnite and other games. And they have (4. Reputation) - been around a long time and done some good stuff etc. Both of which they have had for a while and would still have if they delayed launching the interface until today.
3 though ... that would require co-ordination with developers. And - maybe - the message from some was "sure we will take the plunge and release on your brand new store platform but ..... our game will be finished next month not in 6 months time". Or whatever.
So I suspect there is more to the timing of when EGS launched than simply the design of the interface.
It doesn't matter if there is search engine alternatives if Google controls 92% of searches. That, by every single legal definition of the word in every country I checked, means monopoly. Overwhelming market dominance (also included in some definitions is to the point you control the market and can compete in unfair practices, which can be seen in the case in Europe where Google was charging large amounts of money for competitors to have their engine show up as an option in android devices. Or how MS gave Apple tons of money in the 80s and 90s to avoid complete market domination and be subject to monopoly rulings).
Again, without you telling me what specific definition you are using, from which country, etc, saying Google or Steam aren't monopolies isn't furthering the discussion. By every 1st world's nation definition both are. It seems the definition most people saying they are seem to be operating off of is an unwritten super laissez-faire linertarian one where even if you have near 100% market share as long as there is a "competetor" you aren't a monopoly. This defition isn;t written down anywhere, and isn't on the LP website, nor is it their working defition, or a defition I have ever heard about or know anyone uses.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
N-E WHO, Game Store/Clients are mostly built using a cross platform encapsulated HTML/CSS/JS frameworks aka they're glorified websites but by all means continue to make excuses about how tough it is for a billion dollar company to put those together to functionally compete against competitors.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
A cache problem happens when there is a previous known state that has been cached not when there isn't one. An improperly cached state is actually a bug and yes, bugs do come through QA testing without being detected from time to time. As it is a bug with the web cache it is most likely caused by the embedded Chromium browser that the store uses - a third party component.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The worse for me is Steam. Its just endless pages of rubbish, every game is listed as every genre making genres utterly useless, and its near impossible and not worth the hassle to find games I am interested in. The genre-busting, hippy redefinition of genre is the worst. I'd rather have no genre tab like Epic, then the nonsense steam has. Their labels are a true atrocity.
And it all went to shit around the same time. Achievements are for little kids and no adult actually cares about that feature. What was neat was the trading cards and I could sell them. I have no idea how you get them, or why people would spend actual money on them, but for a while I could just sell them. Then they came up with an update that made you jump through 20 hopes to put one up for sale, making that feature to much of a hassle and useless. Right around that time is when they started making the things I actually like about steam not function in offline mode, like workshop, locking content and files in offline mode, etc. This is also when they started suppressing speech and locking threads in feedback for no reason. Also when they genre's went to complete shit and became useless and cat picture puzzle games started showing up in rpgs, or adventure games with no rpg elements at all, and thousand of trash games showed up making it impossible to find the few actual games, and even more impossible to find the few rpgs in the few actual games that all were labeled as rpgs.
Can you fix the sorting? No. Can you filter out games with no English support? No. Can you filter out non-rpgs? No. Can you post in the feedback about issues you are having? Nope, it will get locked and they will give you warnings for providing feedback and there is no way to get an answer on how to provide feedback without getting warnings. Do they allow devs to ban you from their forums for no apparent reason and then not allow you to get a refund? Yes. Is steam the only platform that restricts content and makes games not function when you try and play offline? Yes.
Steam is great for kids, especially kids that have no idea what genres are or are only interested in hot games being streamed. For adults that are actual gamers with set tastes that just want to play games without a huge hassle, or find games without getting a brain seizure sorting through endless pages of shit - its a nightmare.
I honestly don't see how an rational adult would not want a solid competitor just to push steam to improve and fix the platform they ruined and have a much healthier market.