Octopus Overlords

Now I have a purpose in life... install each of those games and download all the rewards

Im playing Origins now so it might be something neat. Haven't looked.

So, another game going to Steam, Surviving the Aftermath sheds its Epic exclusivity and launches on Steam. Of course it doesn't matter much to me as I used one of my $10 Epic coupons and bought it there in Early Access .

Eurgh, Epic sellouts and published by Paradox? That's a no from me.

While we're back on the topic of Epic exclusives, did we know already that Darkest Dungeon 2 was set to be another example? Devs are calling it the early access period, but it's basically an exclusive. It was all over my news feeds yesterday, so it felt like "new" info.

I like how it's still billed as Early Access. It's as if they didn't have enough customers via Epic to properly develop the game.

Not to mention the exclusivity bribe, too.

It has happened, the Uplay client on my PC is now Ubisoft Connect . And Uplay+ is to become Ubisoft+. I didn't even know they were owned by Disney .

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:33 pm It has happened, the Uplay client on my PC is now Ubisoft Connect . And Uplay+ is to become Ubisoft+. I didn't even know they were owned by Disney .

The mouse ears hat in Wildlands was kind of a dead giveaway.

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:33 pm It has happened, the Uplay client on my PC is now Ubisoft Connect . And Uplay+ is to become Ubisoft+. I didn't even know they were owned by Disney .

Mine just updated too, and...it's the exact same client. What's the point?

Paradroid wrote: ↑Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:41 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:33 pm It has happened, the Uplay client on my PC is now Ubisoft Connect . And Uplay+ is to become Ubisoft+. I didn't even know they were owned by Disney .

Mine just updated too, and...it's the exact same client. What's the point?

I believe it will allow cross platform play.

Pretty much.

Ubisoft Connect is the ecosystem of players services for Ubisoft games across all platforms. It aims at giving the best environment for all players to enjoy their games and connect with each other whatever the device.

Ubisoft Connect is a free service available on all devices. You can access it on your PC, through a mobile app, or even directly from your games. All you need to login is a Ubisoft Account!

Whether you play on PC or console, you'll be part of a global network of Ubisoft players with access to all the same services. Regular updates will provide you with more ways to interact with an ever-growing community.

Find friends on all platforms, see what they're playing, and check their achievements.

For our newest releases*, all your game progression is saved within Ubisoft Connect, so you won't lose a step if you change consoles or switch to PC.

*Hyper Scape, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Riders Republic

That's nothing, Origin is rebranding as EA+ Premium. The subscription service will be EA+ Pro Premium Plus, or EA+P³.

That's quite a mouthful. So they went from a catchy enough name to something that can't be pronounced or typed up quickly without an acronym.

So, I don't have a problem using multiple gaming platforms. I use shortcuts on the desktop and it opens what it needs to open. But holy shit what I went through today was pure agony.

I have a PS5 (one of the few who didn't sell it for 3 times the value) and being the cool dad that I am, I let my kids use it. My son received Star Wars Squadron for Christmas (by design). Plan was to be able to cross play. I went to set it up only to realize that this isn't going to work as I originally thought as both my PC and PS5 uses the same Origin account.

So I tried creating a child account but it wouldn't let me so I just made an account with an adult birthday (I FOOLED YOU ORIGIN). Except when trying to do that it kept autofilling my account details even though I had typed in his info. So the account would never get created. Until I went in incognito mode.

Finally got the account created, but there's nowhere inside the game itself to log out of the origin account and put in a different account.

Only way to do that is unlink your existing account and then log in with the new. But to do that, you have to reach out to customer service for them to do that...

So off I go to support chat. I tell him exactly what I want to do. He insists that swapping the email addresses will accomplish that. So I approve. He makes me reset the passwords on both accounts and to log in to verify. Well all that accomplished was transferring my game library to my son's new account and left mine empty...

I told him that's a no go, and that's not what I had asked.

Again I tell him, all I want to do, is to unlink my account on the PS5 and replace it with my son's new account.

He then puts me on "hold" on chat (is that a thing?) and tells me he has to check with his team.

He comes back stating..

I appreciate your patience. Let me tell you that we don't have option to move the Origin ID's. We have an option of moving the email of from one account to another one and vice versa.

No buddy, we did that before. Not what I wanted.

ME: EA doesn't seem to think there's more than 1 person in a family who games
EA: I can help with removing PSN from your game account as well.
ME: then i could use my son's?
EA: No. Origin ID's aren't moveable. We can swap the email.

ME: if you remove the PSN from my account. Then the ps5 wouldn't be registered to EA. Then I could link my son's to the ps5
EA: You can link the PSN id to any other account.
ME: that's what i want to do, but how. In the game itself there's no option to log out
EA: I can remove the PSN ID linked to your game account and you need to link it yourself.

Sigh, he finally gets it. It only took an 1.5 hours.

By then, everyone is begging for dinner, and Ethan still needs to do his nebulizer treatments and wants to play Fortnite. I was able to link his account but couldn't' send out friend requests. But I did that via the PC so we'll see if that works.

There was more to the story but this is already too long. Lets just say I typed in the pw wrong too many times and it wanted me to select a spiral galaxy. It kept saying I was wrong, so I opted to do the captcha via audio. It wanted my to download a .wav sample, but it opened up like 50+ tabs and every time I close the save dialoge
box up, it would open up another. I had to restart.


Why can't they just make it where you can have multiple ea accounts on a device and you can choose between them.

EA is never not a nightmare to deal with. I'd take Epic's flaws any day over EA. Ubisoft is a close second.

You guys have problems with services but not games and I have problems with games but not services. Steam always refunded me before the days of refunds and EA gave me an entire game library when I couldn't register 1 game with them. But you are right at things should be a LOT easier and simple.

My brother had a similar issue with Rocket League. He wanted to have one account for the PS5, one for the computer, and one for the Switch so that he, his kid, and his kid's friend could play together. The issue was that his PC and Switch accounts were linked and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get them unlinked. Eventually he got it to work by creating a new Epic account, uninstalling RL from this computer, and the reinstalling it with the new account. Was a serious hassle but now it all works well.

Microsoft reducing its cut of PC sales to match Epic Games Store

Microsoft is changing its revenue split on the Microsoft Store to give developers a greater share of sales of Windows PC games, the company announced Thursday. Starting Aug. 1, developers will receive 88% of the revenue for any game sold on Microsoft’s PC storefront, up from the current 70%.

This increase in revenue share is beneficial for developers, but it’s also a play by Microsoft to entice game makers to its store. An 88% revenue share is what the Epic Games Store offers developers, and it’s part of why fans see so many exclusives go to Epic on PC.

With Microsoft matching the Epic Games Store, this move puts the most pressure on Valve’s Steam, a platform on which Microsoft also publishes its PC games. Valve’s revenue share is now significantly behind the times compared to Microsoft and Epic. Microsoft referred to its new policy as a “no-strings-attached revenue share,” which is good news for developers but also a shot at Valve’s revenue share plan.

Valve starts by taking a 30% cut of game sales on Steam, the same percentage that Apple and Google take from their mobile app stores. (Microsoft’s own policy change affects only PC games; it will maintain its existing 30% cut of digital Xbox games.) After a game racks up $10 million in sales, Valve’s cut drops to 25%. If a game hits the $50 million mark, the cut drops again to 20%. In a recent survey of thousands of game industry professionals, 97% of developers said they feel that the 30/70 revenue split is unfair.

If Microsoft is copying Epic's developer cut, I wonder if we'll see them copy Epic's penchant for buying exclusives from 3rd party developers.

Microsoft's style wouldn't be in buying 3rd-party exclusives, but in buying the 3rd-party developer itself. It fits the theme going way back to Rare, Bungie (Even though Halo was originally going to be cross-platform, the exclusivity caught the developers by surprise as they were previously a cross-platform developer) and more recently with Obsidian and Bethesda, netting them both the Elder Scrolls, Fallouts, and Doom & Quake all in swoop. Heck, I'm surprised they haven't made a go at Epic themselves considering how much of a close relationship they've had with them through Gears of War exclusivity.

Microsoft has a game store?

Max Peck wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:47 amIf Microsoft is copying Epic's developer cut, I wonder if we'll see them copy Epic's penchant for buying exclusives from 3rd party developers.

And giving away very solid, free games on the regular!

Sudy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:40 pm Microsoft has a game store?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/g ... ndowsGames

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 4:43 pm

Sudy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:40 pm Microsoft has a game store?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/g ... ndowsGames

Yes and it makes Epic Games Store look great by comparison!

Figured this should be shared as I suspect some of you get...creative with your STEAM purchases - they're changing the rules of engagement:

Ever since Valve began selling Steam games with different prices for different markets, people who live in the more expensive regions have been trying to find ways to get cheaper video games. Ways that Valve knows about, and is continuing to quietly crack down on.

As SteamDB recently discovered, Valve has “added a limit on how often you can change your Steam account’s country,” with users now only able to switch them once every three months.

And you can't set up a 'gifter' account, as Steam won't let you gift games between markets with significant price differences.

To be honest, none of this really bothers me. Gaming the system is gaming the system - a risk with benefits if you can get away from it, but not an affront if you can't.

(Side note - I'm very careful not to fiddle with Steam's rules. I have a lot of my stuff sitting in their garage, and I won't risk them changing the keys on me.)

Now EA is targerting GoG - on Monday GoG will no longer be selling some EA classics:

We’d like to inform you that, on publisher's request, Ultima Underworld 1+2, Syndicate Plus and Syndicate Wars will be delisted from our catalog on Monday, June 28th, 1 PM UTC.

For everyone who purchased the titles prior to delisting, they will remain in their GOG library.

According to Kotaku:

Once Monday arrives it will only be legally possible to buy these games on EA’s own Origin store. However, Syndicate Wars in particular doesn’t currently seem to be available on Origin or any other digital storefront, so soon it will become near impossible to obtain and play through official channels.

There is still a chance EA will re-release these titles elsewhere, perhaps Steam or the Microsoft Store. Heck, maybe EA gets real wacky and puts them out on Ubisoft’s Uplay storefront. But the lack of word from EA about why these games were taken down or when or if they’ll return to other stores leaves the future of these classics, especially Syndicate Wars, up in the air.

All three are currently on sale for $1.49, in case you're interested.

FOMO, bought, will probably never play.,..

Syndicate Plus and Ultima Underworld 1+2 have been sitting in my GOG wishlist since... why, since GOG first introduced the wishlist feature. so i guess now, over a decade later (and multiple decades since these titles first came out), is the time to re-get them. (though i have the original CDs right here!)

also threw in Syndicate Wars - never played it, but why not.

What does EA have to gain from such things?

LordMortis wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 8:30 am What does EA have to gain from such things?

EA gain from people doing this:

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 6:01 am Syndicate Plus and Ultima Underworld 1+2 have been sitting in my GOG wishlist since... why, since GOG first introduced the wishlist feature. so i guess now, over a decade later (and multiple decades since these titles first came out), is the time to re-get them. (though i have the original CDs right here!)

also threw in Syndicate Wars - never played it, but why not.

There have been rumours that EA will be announcing the revival of a dormant IP next month at the EA Play event. If they are pulling old titles from 3rd party storefronts, it may be due to them being related to whatever is coming.

Victoria Raverna wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 9:07 am

LordMortis wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 8:30 am What does EA have to gain from such things?

EA gain from people doing this:

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Sat Jun 26, 2021 6:01 am Syndicate Plus and Ultima Underworld 1+2 have been sitting in my GOG wishlist since... why, since GOG first introduced the wishlist feature. so i guess now, over a decade later (and multiple decades since these titles first came out), is the time to re-get them. (though i have the original CDs right here!)

also threw in Syndicate Wars - never played it, but why not.

they got their $2, to be sure, but i'd rather GOG got their percentage than all of it going to EA

(just remembered i have Syndicate Plus on EA's service, but that was an on-the-house giveaway)

This is the kind of stuff that makes my eye twitch:

Last month, Ubisoft decided to end online support for a bunch of older games, but in doing so also brought down the DRM servers for Might and Magic X - Legacy, meaning players couldn’t access the game’s singleplayer content or DLC.

As Eurogamer report fans were not happy, having to cobble together an unofficial workaround to be able to continue playing past a certain point in the singleplayer, but instead of Ubisoft taking the intervening weeks to release something official to fix this, or reversing their original move to shut down the game’s DRM servers, they’ve decided to do something else.

They have simply removed the game for sale on Steam. If you visit the game’s Steam page now, you’re greeted with the message:

Notice: At the request of the publisher, Might & Magic X - Legacy is no longer available for sale on Steam.

I saw "Might and Magic" and figured it was something from 1997, but no, that title's from 2014. I know we shouldn't expect Steam et al. to be an indefinite archival service for all publishers, but stuff like this is so frustrating. At this point I think we've accepted that multiplayer servers will die, sometimes quite soon. But losing single-player content is another matter. I've only knowingly experienced this once so far, with whatever Amazon's games service used to be. But I'm sure there would be many more if I actually looked through and tried to access my entire digital collection. Thank goodness for mods and cracks etc., but folks shouldn't have to mess with that if they don't want to, not for a game that's under 10 years old IMO. Not in this era.

I lost a few when Stardock sold their game service to GameStop,who promptly ran it under.

/Edit- it was called Impulse.

HA!!!
Thank goodness I decided to go back and wrap up that game a couple of months ago.
It had been something like 6 years or so since I had last played it........

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:39 pm I lost a few when Stardock sold their game service to GameStop,who promptly ran it under.

/Edit- it was called Impulse.

I recall the sale, but not what happened to the Gamestop client. Were all licenses lost? I don't think I had more on there than some GalCiv stuff and a few freebies, but difficult to recall.

I was amused to find my Direct2Drive licenses still exist and most seem to work.

Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:00 pm
I recall the sale, but not what happened to the Gamestop client. Were all licenses lost? I don't think I had more on there than some GalCiv stuff and a few freebies, but difficult to recall.

I was amused to find my Direct2Drive licenses still exist and most seem to work.

They bought it in 2012, and they shut it down completely in 2014. All licenses were lost, save for any games made by Stardock if you have the same login info for Stardock (or something - Stardock can be a pain at times.)

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 12:39 pm I lost a few when Stardock sold their game service to GameStop,who promptly ran it under.

/Edit- it was called Impulse.

I've lost a few games to impulse (Elemental, one of the Cal Civs, and en economy builder whose name escapes me are the ones that comes to mind) and a few others to othere independent small time stuff going under. Seeing all the small empires without a reasonable way to know I could still get to my games from machine to machine, I became pretty loyal to Steam. The idea that publishers can gimp games on Steam comes as a bit of surprise to me and I might start moving more and more to GOG.

Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:00 pm I was amused to find my Direct2Drive licenses still exist and most seem to work.

I was the opposite when I went to look for some of my old Romance of the Three Kingdom's stuff and D2D licensing was dead and there were like trio of sites pointing in circles with email only contacts that go off to the ether when you try to follow up with them.