Steam’s voice chat/partying functionality is garbage. Discord is widely used for a reason. Remote Play is hit or miss, but I’ve largely resorted to using Moonlight instead on my Steam Deck because it’s more reliable and stable. The guides on Steam vary wildly from game to game, just depends on the community support for it. It is nice when there’s good stuff available, as it is somewhat convenient (though I wished it saved my spot on the page, I constantly have to scroll to where I left off on guides whenever I do use them). Lutris and NonSteamLauncher makes running Epic on Linux a non-issue.
I get it, Epic is a lackluster launcher. No one’s arguing otherwise. But it’s hardly a huge barrier to playing games.
My steam profile is 18 years old. I am using all the above features for many years and they are perfectly functional.
Your solution is to use different third party apps for everything is the opposite of convenience in my opinion. If you prefer the better software for these features, why not the better launcher/storefront for games?
Epic gives no added value to the user experience (IMO) and does not inspire competition to do better, other that the free games extravaganza to try to expand its userbase, while steam does not have to prove anything anymore, yet still investing more money in new features, technologies.
The steam users are used to a certain level of service and have a perfectly valid reason to dislike less functional competitors.
If you are just here to grab the weekly free game, download and play then go for it, Epic will 100% serve its purpose , just don’t put it on the same level when talking about everything else.
Steam’s voice chat/partying functionality is garbage. Discord is widely used for a reason. Remote Play is hit or miss, but I’ve largely resorted to using Moonlight instead on my Steam Deck because it’s more reliable and stable. The guides on Steam vary wildly from game to game, just depends on the community support for it. It is nice when there’s good stuff available, as it is somewhat convenient (though I wished it saved my spot on the page, I constantly have to scroll to where I left off on guides whenever I do use them). Lutris and NonSteamLauncher makes running Epic on Linux a non-issue.
I get it, Epic is a lackluster launcher. No one’s arguing otherwise. But it’s hardly a huge barrier to playing games.
My steam profile is 18 years old. I am using all the above features for many years and they are perfectly functional.
Your solution is to use different third party apps for everything is the opposite of convenience in my opinion. If you prefer the better software for these features, why not the better launcher/storefront for games?
Epic gives no added value to the user experience (IMO) and does not inspire competition to do better, other that the free games extravaganza to try to expand its userbase, while steam does not have to prove anything anymore, yet still investing more money in new features, technologies.
The steam users are used to a certain level of service and have a perfectly valid reason to dislike less functional competitors. If you are just here to grab the weekly free game, download and play then go for it, Epic will 100% serve its purpose , just don’t put it on the same level when talking about everything else.
I was tired last night, toddler hasn’t let me sleep much.
I think I poorly conveyed that I do prefer Steam, and do think Epic’s launcher is lacking. My point is, getting into the gaming retail business has a crazy upfront cost, so if GOG closes shop (which isn’t so crazy to speculate: https://cdaction-pl.translate.goog/publicystyka/wielkie-zwolnienia-w-gog-u-pracownicy-naswietlaja-wewnetrzne-problemy-firmy-tylko-u-nas?_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true the original article was in Polish, thus the google translate link), that leaves only Epic competing with Steam. If epic eventually concludes they can’t pull enough marketshare to continue justifying the crazy money they’ve spent trying to attract users from Steam with all their sales, that’ll leave zero competition to Steam. I for one don’t condone monopolies.
Alternatively, studios could just start releasing physical media again, but we all know that’ll never happen…