So play the game, not the launcher. For singleplayer game devs, depending on the steam overlay for things YOU should be doing like a screenshot keybind is lazy. The community stuff can run in steam without latching onto the game in such a way that launcher and game are inseperable "'till death do them part."
In short, bad arguement. Steam also REMOVES easy version control and patch reversion.
-Raymond Beehler, once Indie Game Dev for GlacialSoftware.net's project "Beyond" 2D space game, now hosting the shuttered remains of what once was. So yeah, I'm a game dev. Sorta. Roast me.
It's not just the overlay, that's just part of it. See, everyone that wants to argue against it always picks one thing and says "is that one thing worth it?" It's not just one thing, its the entire package. The fact is, I use MSI Afterburner for screenshots and recording, but it is nice to have the option to use the built in Steam screenshot option for the random time I don't have MSI Afterburner running, or when I'm using in-home streaming. But, again, that is just one of the many benefits I enjoy from Steam.
Why, praytell? Does the "add non-steam game to steam" option no longer work or something?
Sure it works, but saying that means you see it as just a game launcher, because when you add a non-steam game, you don't get any of the steam benefits with that game. You don't get cloud saves, in-home streaming rarely works(I've never actually successfully got it to work, but others report they have), etc.
Overlay, so your first point that improves the game play experience is being able to get out of it? Great start....
Yep, because believe it or not, some of us will hop out of a game to do something like chat with a friend, or say look up hints for the game or skip the next music track. The game not crashing because I alt+tabbed is nice. This greatly improves the gameplay experience.
Friends list, that's there.
I never said it wasn't, I said it wasn't easily accessible while playing a game.
Screenshots and cloud storage for them. Ok again nothing to do with playing the game.
Really, so when I sit down at a computer, fire up the game I want to play, only to find out all my saves aren't there and I'm staring at a blank fresh game instead of having 300 hours of playtime that I should have has nothing to do with playing the game? Yeah, that definitely doesn't affect the enjoyment I get while playing a game. I love starting over from scratch just because I decided to play the game at work on my lunch hour instead of at home.
Music player. So I guess this is but from my point of view if you need to remove the soundtrack from your game that's a failing of the games. The soundtrack plays a big part of setting the tone for the game. Creating the atmosphere and helping set the scene.
It can, but some games just don't have a soundtrack, or have a generic soundtrack that really means nothing. I'm playing Rimworld right now for instance, just under 300 hours of play actually, no sound track at all and it really doesn't need one.
Workshop. Not all games have modding. I would guess it adds replayability to a title but again it is changing the game from what was originally conceived. For many modders it has made sharing their work much easier, even formed many groups who have gone on to make games. But if a game needs mods to fix the gameplay experience, again I see that as a failing of that title.
Then your view of mods is wrong. Mods add enjoyment to an already great game. Yes, the game is good without them, it isn't about fixing the gameplay experience it's about enhancing it. And the games that live the longest, the ones that still have a huge player base years after they are released, are almost always good games that also support mods.
And that brings up another point that I forgot to mention, and that's easy control of DLC. Which is really kind of like mods, but by the original devs. Sometimes I actually like to disable the DLC and just play the vanilla game, Steam makes that easy. Just one click, and the DLC is enabled or disabled.
Cloud game saves. It locks you into their system and is not cross platform friendly. Other, better suited options are available and for less than you would save in valve tax.
There is nothing stopping a game dev from including their own cloud save function. Games aren't locked into their system. GTA:V, for example, uses their own cloud save function. Steam just provides a very easy to implement tool that devs can use if they want.
Easy to join betas. How many people want to volunteer for testing unfinished games? I can see a benefit but again broke games are their own fault.
Wow, and you said you were an indie dev? You really don't know your customer base, do you? I mean, that who early access concept was a real failure I guess...
Streaming. Is a good point, and other hardware providers offer more flexibility on the cross platform front.
There have been some attempts, but I have yet to see anything that provides what Steam in-home streaming does. Remember, Steam in-home streaming is 100% free. There is no extra hardware to buy, no extra setup, nothing. You just get to use it, with every game in your library, just by having Steam installed.
Most of what you speak of is the community aspect, not the gameplay experience. The rest is really niche things that only matter to a tiny % of the pc gaming market.
Other than that you seem to be happy paying valve tax on games or even waiting for timed exclusives to play them. Yet other in house launchers have forced total exclusives. This is all over timed exclusives.
You are only seeing things from your point of view, as a pc gamer. The rest of the gaming market only shares a couple of your concerns, at best. Sorry.
Nope, the community aspect I didn't even talk about, all of what I listed affects my enjoyment of the gameplay of the game. And judging by the backlash, I'm not the only one that enjoys the benefits of Steam. You are obviously looking at it from the viewpoint of only a dev, and obviously didn't even realize that Steam is more than just a game launcher. You also don't seem to really understand your customer base, and what they want.
if its really a problem to you in this way, I'd say tackle it in a way that you are truly in control, and not Valve and its offering on Steam. I'm sure you've seen my Playnite link come around, that is another example of an application that is free to use, and truly independent, to replace the 'library'.
