I started with the Black Widow fallout 3 perk figuring there world be more male characters than female when fighting.
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Widow_(Fallout_3)
EFFECTS
+10% damage against male opponents
Additional dialogue options with certain male characters
It stuck after that.
I just don’t use Epic myself but do use Gog and Steam (with the ultra shitty EA launcher and Ubisoft Connect bundled with some of my games) and Playnite has changed everything unifying it all into that single launcher.
Full screen mode in Playnite works fine on my HTPC and as a launcher it does consolidate all of them into one place easily. Worth trying if you use multiple stores.
As for why I’m not using Epic, the whole paying for exclusivity with third parties really didn’t appeal to me at all.
If the free offerings from Epic do appeal to you, or if they do better deals on localised currencies (especially if you do struggle to pay for things), don’t worry about using their services. I wouldn’t want you to deny yourself some entertainment just because other people have issues with them as a business.
I feel sorry for the people that are exposed to this shit by Google, especially those that are less tech savvy that aren’t blocking ads.
Educate as many people/loved ones as you can folks about this to protect them and to fuck Google.
Sadly I lost interest in the game once they decided to remove content I’d paid for.
Gutting to see the developers suffer like this as I doubt they’re the ones making the shit decisions but are the ones taking all the hits with the layoffs.
I don’t even think Sony’s MFN is an issue as Alan Wake 2 is $10 cheaper than on consoles, a boon for the consumer and something I could get behind, but no.
Vbucks aren’t even lower cost on pc where 100% of the sale goes to Epic. No 30% cut there but prices are the same.
I’m all for supporting the message that Tim is trying to portray but they’re so inconsistent with the way they manage the business I can’t for the life of my accept that they’re being honest.
They briefly cut the price of vbucks on mobile when they pulled the stunt and could easily do the same on pc permanently. PC Vbucks aren’t transferable to Playstation wallets so they should be able to do something.
Not that hard to compare to be honest when games launch at price parity with console launches despite the lesser cut.
Borderlands 3 launched on Xbox, PlayStation and EGS, each at $59.99
PlayStation and Xbox had a 30% cut and cost the same.
0 benefit to the consumer.
Fuck them. It’s all bullshit.
Even on EGS exclusives? No such clause should affect the price if it’s not on sale on another store.
Not one single EGS exclusive has been sold at less than standard prices afaik.
The whole thing is bullshit.
Who is they?
The publishers could already set the prices lower on EGS by default with the 18% difference being put in consumers pockets making EGS a more enticing place to buy games for now, instead, they want to sell games the same price on EGS vs all other stores they offer titles on pocketing the difference.
EGS Exclusives even launch at the standard pricing despite the money they used to receive up front from Epic and the lesser cut. None of this grandstanding is a benefit to me as a consumer and I won’t give a fuck in supporting Epic/Tim until it is.
On top of all this, Apple also sell their own hardware alongside their own App Store, just like Sony and Nintendo do.
The Apple model is extremely similar to the way the console manufacturers operate albeit with a few more freedoms on Mac.
30% fees are insane. Those cost are passed down to us the consumer. We get shittier game because a third of the profit goes to these marketplaces.
Whilst that may be the case, every single day one launch on EGS and other stores (GOG, Microsoft, Steam) launch at exactly the same price on Epic despite the lesser cut. Not one single title I’ve seen launch at a lower price on EGS.
I feel it’s naive to think that is, the consumer would ever benefit from a lesser cut, the fat shits at the top would just keep more.
My HTPC is on windows 11, set to auto log-in and launch steam big picture. Disabled as much of the Microsoft BS as I can, including the nags to use Onedrive or sub to Office 365 every major update.
Using Unified Remote to control things with my phone and also Parsec/Moonlight for game streaming to other devices.
My media is served from my Unraid server to my devices both locally and remotely.
All working well so far. 👍
That’s this weekends project, moving to Jellyfin with all the discover together fuckery they’re pulling. Fuck Plex.
Currently using a Roku Streambar for all of our streaming needs but if they pull this crap, everything we consume will be downloaded, served on my Plex server and streamed using the gaming PC I have under our TV.
Getting beyond sick of these companies using every measure and device they can to shit ads into our eyes.
My main concern is for DigitalFoundry - genuinely one of the best, most entertaining, and in-depth spin off channels out there.
DF Direct is my podcast of choice when driving to/from work. Their video content and analysis is always my number one watch.
I’d be gutted if they ruined DF.
Oh no, this won’t end well will it?
Another vote for wildlands. I just couldn’t get into breakpoint as much as I did wildlands.
My Safari extension of choice for iOS YouTube ad blocking is vinegar.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/vinegar-tube-cleaner/id1591303229
Combined with Banish extension to stop the annoying “open in our app” nonsense when browsing the web.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/banish-block-open-in-app/id1632848430
No, I don’t want privacy exploiting app syphoning my personal data when the website will do.
I’ve pinned the YouTube website to my Home Screen in Safari and combined with those extensions I have a lovely experience with them.
Started playing Starfield and it really made me want to revisit fallout 4, I’m now deep back into a new play through of Fo4 with 22 hours played in the last 2 weeks. Really enjoying it again.
Anyway, another settlement needs my help….
I’m going to fully assess what actual windows software I rely on any more and migrate all of my systems to a Linux based os this weekend I think.
The amount of games that I play that work on my Steam deck already confirms that I’ll be fine there.
I probably spin up a windows vm that I could remote into from my homelab if I’ve missed anything I do need to run.
The names of their support agents is truly odd. I’ve seen people post complaints about their support that is little more than this:
Hilariously bad.