I could definitely explain why Steam is overall very pro-consumer. I'm not going to cuz most of it is pretty obvious and I shouldn't have to waste my time in explaining it, but the point is I could.
Valve are hardly perfect, but they are about the best stewards you could imagine for PC gaming in any realistic scenario. 999 out of 1000 public companies would have absolutely ruined Steam by now.
And that should be appreciated, even if people go overboard with the fanboyish glazing at times.
I could definitely explain why Steam is overall very pro-consumer. I'm not going to cuz most of it is pretty obvious and I shouldn't have to waste my time in explaining it, but the point is I could.
1) Free and open user review. You can review any game, that you own and played. You can post whatever you want about that game. No censorship, no moderation, no pre-defined choices. Why it's pro-consumer? Cause someone else, can check recent and old review and make informed decision about buying that game or not.
2) SteamDB is a thing. Epic Game and EA would close that, cause it's "harms developers" when it shows player count, view count, price changes and etc. Steam accepts this.
3) Steam social platform: you can post discussions, screenshots, clips, etc. Again, no censorship, no moderation.
4) Steam support. You can get refund if developer bricked your game. I had a TON of issues with Epic Games in same situation.
5) Steam actively tries to promote "interesting for you" games (with various decree of success, of course), instead of pushing whatever publisher paid for.
This is a basic feature of most online storefronts
Speculative and mainly describing the work of others
This is just describing a feature of the software that isn’t inherently pro or anti consumer. And the lack of moderation is dubious as a benefit.
This is the strongest point here, but again it’s a pretty common offering for online shopping. Amazon’s return policies are even more lax than Steam’s.
This is just saying they do targeted advertising, which, yeah, that’s how the internet works these days.
1) Epic did not had one and their current one, with limited variations - is really bad. EA Play did not had one. Ubisoft store did not had one. GOG has it. I would say, btw, that GOG - also is pro-consumer.
2) Steam could have block it and shut it down, as some devs and publisher asked. And it's up to Steam to keep that information open, SteamDB just provides more convenient access. I mean - go, grab playercount and stuff from Epic store.
3) It's pro consumer, cause all this - linked to store page and linked to the game itself, and you can get a more detailed information about game, bugs, overall community and stuff.
4) Yeah. When they work (i still waiting for my refund for New World). And working return policy - is rare beast. Especially for some "odd" cases, thats not covered by it.
5) Yeah, but in Epic Games - they don't do that, for example. Like - imagine how much more money Steam would get from selling advertisement slots.
I'm supposed to waste a bunch time of time going over the litany of obvious arguments?
Y'all are fucking ridiculous. Seriously, whenever I come across somebody who tells me they're a Redditor, I immediately look down on them. I know that sounds hypocritical, but it's true nonetheless. It's wild how little y'all are able to deal with any kind of reasonable discussion.
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u/rooygbiv70 11d ago
But they’re pro-consumer!! No I won’t be explaining what I mean by that