Thank god

  • @ampersandrew
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    1182 months ago

    Hallelujah. I don’t know why so many companies went down this route, particularly when it’s not the likes of Ubisoft or whatnot with their own desire to half-ass the attempt at making their own Steam. My guess for its removal is to better support Steam Deck, perhaps?

    • Scrubbles
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      472 months ago

      Keeps users in their wallet garden. Marketers love shoving shit in users faces whenever they launch the game. Inside the game it’s bad for. To advertise whatever other garbage there is, on their launcher they try to grab your attention for their other crap

      • @ampersandrew
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        162 months ago

        But see, that’s the thing. They’re just as capable of putting those ads in game too. I definitely would have more visibility on the ads just at the title screen than I would on a launcher I’m clicking through as fast as humanly possible.

        • @[email protected]
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          92 months ago

          Then they’d have to update the actual game, as opposed to just updating the launcher when a change needs to be made.

          Updating the launcher is quicker and cheaper.

          • @thedirtyknapkin
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            52 months ago

            yeah, plus there’s only one launcher, and possibly thousands of games.

        • @Wrench
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          22 months ago

          If they can convert purchase within their launcher, they don’t pay Steam their cut. That’s it.

          • @ampersandrew
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            42 months ago

            That’s against Steam’s TOS, and Valve doesn’t take kindly to that.

      • @Lost_My_Mind
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        62 months ago

        …wallet garden? So…like a garden where they grow wallets for you to eat?

        I mean, if that’s in your taste palate, bone apple tea, I guess…

          • SharkAttak
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            122 months ago

            Now wait, it’s an interesting typo, the double meaning fits so well.

          • @Lost_My_Mind
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            72 months ago

            :D

            I knew what you meant. I was just really proud of tying it to “bone apple tea”.

            I’m only here to amuse myself.

    • @aksdb
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      262 months ago

      Even CD Project Red added such shit. Instead of directly launching Witcher or Cyberpunk I now have to go through a(nother) launcher now. Pointless.

      Baldurs Gate 3 needed one from the beginning as well.

      I don’t get it.

      • @[email protected]
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        36
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        2 months ago

        use --launcher-skip start argument for CDPR games

        BG3 also has the slightly different --skip-launcher

        • @aksdb
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          22 months ago

          Ah, good to know. Thanks!

      • Cethin
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        292 months ago

        Some games include launchers for practical reasons. Launchers allow you to change settings before having the game up, for example, which can be nice. They also sometimes can do mod management, though this is less common. Paradox does mod management through the launcher, for an example of that.

        Usually the launchers suck though and only slow things down, but you can also usually use an argument to skip them.

        • P03 Locke
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          12 months ago

          Launchers allow you to change settings before having the game up, for example, which can be nice.

          Or you can change options after the game launches, like a normal game.

          • @Psythik
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            32 months ago

            A lot of times I just want to make a quick change for later without actually having to fire up the game. Even if I’m not interested in playing it anytime soon.

            Weird, I know, but I have ADHD so if I don’t do something the moment an idea pops into my head, within seconds I forget and the thought is lost forever. It’s so bad that I’ll often finish a sentence without having any idea how or why I started it.

      • @ampersandrew
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        172 months ago

        What data? Surely the game itself would be just as capable of transmitting that.

        • @[email protected]
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          152 months ago

          Having a launcher open in the background is less conspicuous of having the game open in the background.

      • @[email protected]
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        102 months ago

        The game can collect data, if that’s what they’re after.

        My theory is that it’s all about advertising. It’s another point of contact with the consumer, and another opportunity to make sure every new release is presented to every potential buyer.

    • slazer2au
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      42 months ago

      At last we won’t have a repeat of mass effect legendary.

      Launch steam to play. Which launches Origin, which launches the mass effect launcher which is where you decide which game to play.

      So damn annoying, I think I made shortcuts to the exes to bypass most of that shit.