I have my criticisms of Steam, but I see no sign of it marching toward some kind of big anti-customer explosion as suggested in this article. Unlike most others, it’s run by a privately owned company, so it doesn’t have investors pressuring toward enshittification. We can see the result by looking back at the past decade or so: Steam has been operating more or less the same.
Meanwhile, the author offers for contrast Epic Games, a major source of platform exclusives and surveillance software (file-snooping store app, client-side anti-cheat, Epic Online Services “telemetry”), all of which are very much anti-customer.
AFAIK, only one of the other stores listed is actually better for customers in any significant way: GOG. (For the record, I mostly like GOG.) But it was mentioned so briefly that it feels like the author only did so in hopes of influencing GOG fans.
Overall, this post looks a lot like astroturfing. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be sponsored by Epic or Microsoft.
Edit: I forgot something that has changed in the past decade:
Valve has spent the past five years investing in open platforms: At first by funding key parts (often the most difficult ones) of the open-source software stack that now makes gaming great on linux, and more recently by developing remarkably good and fairly open PC hardware for mobile gaming. No vendor lock-in. No subscription fees. No artificially crippled features. This has already freed many gamers from Microsoft’s stranglehold, and more of us are reaping the benefits every day.
This is the polar opposite of what the author would have us fear.
Hello everyone, I hope your holiday period passed peacefully. The status page is ready, and I'll soon put it online. I've also made some improvements to the new project website, which will be replaced shortly. Today, by the end of the day, two moderators will also appear, more about which will be in a separate post. You can...
Over the next few weeks, we're facing another server change. I'm doing everything to optimize costs and prepare the instance for long-term operation. More details are available on the status page I'm currently working on....
Good morning, last week we managed to address pressing issues related to infrastructure. Thank you once again for your assistance, Piotr. I will continue work in this area, but it will be less invasive and cumbersome. I have restored the test environments and am slowly getting back into coding....
I'm slowly catching up with backlog tasks and cleaning up instances, but there's still quite a bit to do. Day by day, I'm managing to work longer hours, but I still need some time to ramp up the intensity of work. Just wanted to let you know that there might be brief downtimes in instance operation over the weekend. I aim to...
I'm feeling a bit better. Starting today, I'll be returning to work as much as possible. This week will likely be spent catching up on tasks, replying to emails, reading overdue comments, etc. I also need to work with Piotr on instance infrastructure. I'll be more actively handling spam as well, but it's clear that we need...
Warner Bros. Discovery is telling developers it plans to start “retiring” games published by its Adult Swim Games label, game makers who worked with the publisher tell Polygon. At least three games are under threat of being removed from Steam and other digital stores, with the fate of other games published by Adult Swim...
I check in here quite often, but for now, I'm just focusing on clearing spam and keeping the instance alive. In January, I was working on the AP module, and there has been significant progress in the work, which hasn't been publicly published yet. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the year, I developed a skin condition that...
Sony is working on official support for using PSVR 2 on PC. Here’s exactly what Sony said today in a blog post announcing upcoming PlayStation VR2 games: “Also, we’re pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to...
We recently chatted with two of the devs involved with Bonfire. Honestly, they have some really amazing ideas about building a modular Fediverse platform that developers can build on for their own apps.
kbin.social is being overrun with spammers. Can we disable registrations on this instance so they can't keep creating new accounts? Every day I log on, I have to spend the first 20-30 minutes, reporting and blocking a bunch of new accounts....
This month, I managed to wrap up many overdue matters. It seems to me that I responded to the majority of lingering emails, and a few issues turned out to be so important that they took a few extra days. I also dealt with [a certain aspect related to the project, about which I'll be able to share more in a few weeks....
There's also an alternate script if you want to talk with a Republican senator, and you don't feel they'll be swayed by the language in the linked site.
Last week, I dealt with formalities related to the project and a few personal matters associated with the new year. Unfortunately, there was quite a lot to handle. Today is the last day I'm dealing with this, and I'm returning to the code for the regular devlogs. I'll also take care of current matters on the instance. On Tuesday...
eBay’s harassment campaign against the couple, David and Ina Steiner, stretched for 18 days in August 2019 and was led by the company’s former senior director of safety and security, Jim Baugh. It started when then-CEO Devin Wenig and then-chief communications officer Steven Wymer decided to “take down” the Steiners...
Lately, I've been dealing with a slight fever associated with the beginning of the year. I'm trying to ensure that everything runs fairly smoothly. Today and tomorrow, I need to focus on planning finances for the upcoming year and handle formalities related to the project. In the following days, I'll implement changes to fix...
The main issues with the improper functioning of the instance have been resolved, but it led to additional complications. Currently, using the instance should be quite comfortable, but I will continue to work intensively on a comprehensive solution for the next few days. Therefore, occasional interruptions or errors may still...
Steam is a ticking time bomb (www.spacebar.news)
Stop Killing Games — An initiative to stop publishers & developers killing games (www.stopkillinggames.com)
also see the creator’s youtube video about it: https://youtu.be/w70Xc9CStoE
Quick April Update
Hello everyone, I hope your holiday period passed peacefully. The status page is ready, and I'll soon put it online. I've also made some improvements to the new project website, which will be replaced shortly. Today, by the end of the day, two moderators will also appear, more about which will be in a separate post. You can...
/kbin next March update
Over the next few weeks, we're facing another server change. I'm doing everything to optimize costs and prepare the instance for long-term operation. More details are available on the status page I'm currently working on....
No Man's Sky: Orbital Update (youtu.be)
/kbin another quick update
Good morning, last week we managed to address pressing issues related to infrastructure. Thank you once again for your assistance, Piotr. I will continue work in this area, but it will be less invasive and cumbersome. I have restored the test environments and am slowly getting back into coding....
/kbin quick March update
I'm slowly catching up with backlog tasks and cleaning up instances, but there's still quite a bit to do. Day by day, I'm managing to work longer hours, but I still need some time to ramp up the intensity of work. Just wanted to let you know that there might be brief downtimes in instance operation over the weekend. I aim to...
/kbin March update
I'm feeling a bit better. Starting today, I'll be returning to work as much as possible. This week will likely be spent catching up on tasks, replying to emails, reading overdue comments, etc. I also need to work with Piotr on instance infrastructure. I'll be more actively handling spam as well, but it's clear that we need...
Warner Bros. is now erasing games as it plans to delist Adult Swim-published titles (www.polygon.com)
Warner Bros. Discovery is telling developers it plans to start “retiring” games published by its Adult Swim Games label, game makers who worked with the publisher tell Polygon. At least three games are under threat of being removed from Steam and other digital stores, with the fate of other games published by Adult Swim...
OC Lemmy's Image Problem (wedistribute.org)
The popular Reddit alternative's user count has grown a lot over the past year. One problem, though: users and admins can't delete images.
RE: Is Ernest still here?
I check in here quite often, but for now, I'm just focusing on clearing spam and keeping the instance alive. In January, I was working on the AP module, and there has been significant progress in the work, which hasn't been publicly published yet. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the year, I developed a skin condition that...
Sony Plans To Make PlayStation VR2 Officially Work On PC (www.uploadvr.com)
Sony is working on official support for using PSVR 2 on PC. Here’s exactly what Sony said today in a blog post announcing upcoming PlayStation VR2 games: “Also, we’re pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to...
Petition: make WMR open source (www.change.org)
Microsoft has stopped supporting WMR....
OC Bonfire Offers Framework for Next-Gen Fediverse Platforms (wedistribute.org)
We recently chatted with two of the devs involved with Bonfire. Honestly, they have some really amazing ideas about building a modular Fediverse platform that developers can build on for their own apps.
Can registrations on kbin.social be disabled to stop spammers
kbin.social is being overrun with spammers. Can we disable registrations on this instance so they can't keep creating new accounts? Every day I log on, I have to spend the first 20-30 minutes, reporting and blocking a bunch of new accounts....
Thunderbird's Devs: Rust Is Coming (linuxiac.com)
Planned work for the 2024 release of Thunderbird.: developer.thunderbird.net/planning/roadmap
RTR#52 Busy month
This month, I managed to wrap up many overdue matters. It seems to me that I responded to the majority of lingering emails, and a few issues turned out to be so important that they took a few extra days. I also dealt with [a certain aspect related to the project, about which I'll be able to share more in a few weeks....
Stop KOSA - Old-but-moving-forward-again internet censorship bill (www.stopkosa.com)
There's also an alternate script if you want to talk with a Republican senator, and you don't feel they'll be swayed by the language in the linked site.
Interstellar testers needed (kbin.earth)
Hello everyone,...
OC Combating spam on kbin - some thoughts
Have been thinking about what kbin can do to combat spam accounts, which are currently on the rise again on kbin.social....
RTR#51 End of a short break
Last week, I dealt with formalities related to the project and a few personal matters associated with the new year. Unfortunately, there was quite a lot to handle. Today is the last day I'm dealing with this, and I'm returning to the code for the regular devlogs. I'll also take care of current matters on the instance. On Tuesday...
eBay agreed to pay maximal possible fine of $3 million after employees harassed, intimidated, and stalked a Massachusetts couple in retaliation for their critical reporting of the online marketplace (arstechnica.com)
eBay’s harassment campaign against the couple, David and Ina Steiner, stretched for 18 days in August 2019 and was led by the company’s former senior director of safety and security, Jim Baugh. It started when then-CEO Devin Wenig and then-chief communications officer Steven Wymer decided to “take down” the Steiners...
RTR#50 Plans for the upcoming week
Lately, I've been dealing with a slight fever associated with the beginning of the year. I'm trying to ensure that everything runs fairly smoothly. Today and tomorrow, I need to focus on planning finances for the upcoming year and handle formalities related to the project. In the following days, I'll implement changes to fix...
[UPDATE] Issues with the functioning of kbin.social
The main issues with the improper functioning of the instance have been resolved, but it led to additional complications. Currently, using the instance should be quite comfortable, but I will continue to work intensively on a comprehensive solution for the next few days. Therefore, occasional interruptions or errors may still...