An Epic Problem (The Jimquisition)

[@maceson5594]

Jim: We’re going to have an adult conversation Also Jim: *waving around giant red crab claws*

[@fen7662]

I love that this is, generally, his whole business model. Let's surround ourselves with toys and get serious about late-stage capitalism.

[@tyrongkojy]

Lobster. They are lobster.

[@khnopff71]

That's one way to get somebody's attention about a serious subject. You can't do it all the time (repetition begets tolerance) but as a way to make you more easily connect to the topic he wants to bring to your notice, it's pretty good. Epic store backlash = red crab claws. As a means of visual shorthand, I say good for him.

[@vkermodekumav8949]

To be fair... He DID laugh and say that it wasnt going to happen xD

[@koenvandamme6901]

Are you implying fake crustacean limbs *aren't* adult?

[@samwatson-tayler2805]

Jim: Now this video is all about the Epic store, which is a fairly polarizing topic at the moment, so please take a second to consider all of my points before making your responses. Comments: *L O B S T E R C L A W S*

[@jerryc2475]

I see what you're saying but hear me out for a second LOBSTER CLAWS I rest my case

[@pofruin]

??? But these are much better though out and reasonable comments. Bit sad realy. Rad claws though...

[@JimSterling]

The audience knows what the audience wants!

[@Leetgrain]

@@JimSterling I wish I could agree with that statement, but I still don't see nipple tassles!

[@samwatson-tayler2805]

@@JimSterling Holy shit I've been validated. Thank god for Jim.

[@UnfoldGames]

Hi, developer of DARQ here - thank you for sharing my story at 10:15

[@ProbyWaN1337]

Hi, your game is great! Congrats on the release

[@Dusty--]

Thank YOU for sticking by your word, lord knows the industry needs more devs like yourself.

[@pulsar943]

thank you so much for sharing your story about epic , i wish you great success and hope to see how Darq evolves over time . and congrats on a successful release

[@criwall]

Hadn't heard of DARQ before but it looks interesting and with a gorgeous artstyle. Just wishlisted the game and will pick it up later this month.

[@mriloveethanol]

Found your game on reddit, found it quite inspiring. Its difficult to get anywhere these days with honesty, but I wish you all the best. Can't wait to play it!

[@deusex3124]

I noticed earlier today that Oddworld Soulstorm is going to be an Epic exclusive. Oddworld Inhabitants said this is because Epic gave them an "advance" for PC sales and they need the money. They seem to be getting credit for their transparency, even if people are saying they won't be buying the game because of it.

[@VileVamp]

You seem crabby today, Jim. That intro is a claws for alarm. Seems like Epic is in a pinch.

[@KhayJayArt]

BOOOOOO

[@bravo075]

Get out.

[@andrea9751]

Good job Tleps!

[@kaigster]

Stop it, you.

[@Nightmare_52]

this hurt to read, well done

[@capthavic]

Yeah the new Jim Sterling claw skin is pretty sweet but you gotta pay $170 to get it.

[@Blackemperess]

No, that's what you pay to get past the first _tier._ Each tier is $170, to reach the claws you need clear ten tiers to gain permission to buy the claws for 1k. But only on the first three days. After that, the price doubles every few hours.

[@thepassingstatic6268]

@@Blackemperess and each tier requires a lootbox purchase of $35......im sorry 3500 Boglin Points

[@steffanshurkin1123]

@@thepassingstatic6268 But you can only buy Boglin Points in quantities of $10, $20, and $60, and you get the best "deal" on the $60 price point, so you have to spend $40-$60 to get something priced at $35 worth of Boglin Points.

[@markcobuzzi826]

Over $200 to get Lobster’s Pinch.

[@GAMEPRODELTA]

Or enter the promo code "digihom15dead" to unlock the claws for absolutely nothing.

[@waffleswafflson3076]

"You can be exclusive with us or you can not appear on our store front at all" Jesus christ, thats flat out evil. like thugs hitting people up for protection money

[@Vandragorax]

Just shows that Epic don't actually care about providing a good store front to customers. All they want is more exclusives to try to force people into using their store and getting suckered into the Fortnite ecosystem (mark my words, it won't be long before we can all have the privilege to buy Epic Coins from the store to use on in game purchases or some such nonsense!)

[@OlympusHeavyCavalry]

It is legalised extortion that corporations/banks and their political prostitutes have done before hand, and made worse since the signing of the Breton-Woods agreement to legalise it. So, no one has been able to do a thing about this due the monopolising of the governmental system by this greed and those involved. Proper judicial process is out the window too because of the obscene amounts of money changing hands between government(s) and corporations/banks to perpetuate it. Fuck the little people is their motto as they will do anything to hold onto their wealth and power having done so since day dot. The only way around this is to have independence from these companies and release games which will ultimately eat into their profits and wake their political prostitutes up to the fact that, we, as gamer's, aren't going to be fucked over by those bastards ever again.

[@eandlbloodflower6765]

Exclusive or not-at-all. Hah, so much for "It's for the developers.", right EGS?

[@kaollachan]

i just wish more new outlet would talk about that

[@keiskay]

@@kaollachan they're too busy trying to take down the "monopoly" of steam by backing another multimillion dollar company instead.

[@tinman2260]

"why bother being better, when being richer get you what you want quicker" this right here describes the gaming industry as a whole from top to bottom. i mean loot boxes fit this, micro transactions fit this, the whole thing is starting to boil down to this single fact right here

[@meikvincenco1584]

How do micro transactions make money faster by coming from a company that is richer rather than better than its competition?

[@meikvincenco1584]

@Moral Relativism How about you answer?

[@meikvincenco1584]

@Moral Relativism How does that realte to your original comment?

[@meikvincenco1584]

@Moral Relativism Great logic.

[@desmondbrown5508]

Well, yeah. I mean, fuck standards, right?

[@TherapyLizard]

With all this talk about Epic vs Steam, does anyone remember that GOG exists?

[@moebiusjdx7288]

As wonderful as GOG is, The lack of any DRM is a big turn off for both Triple A and Indie developers alike. It's hard to get investors to agree to put their money on the line when definitive data on the consequences of piracy are still somehow unavailable...

[@praetorxyn]

@@moebiusjdx7288 This is false. There was an EU study on the impact of piracy but it was buried because it showed piracy basically had no impact.

[@praetorxyn]

This. I buy from GOG first because no DRM and it's owned by CDPR. Galaxy 2 is a brilliant idea as well.

[@fire2box]

That's the funniest joke I've seen all year. Almost as funny as people buying Witcher 3 on steam vs GOG.

[@jaebeeart3683]

I love GOG to pieces. Also love how amid all this shitstorm, they're just chilling off to the side like "hey guys, here's a sale."

[@SupermassiveGaming]

The claws are out this is gonna be good.

[@hazukichanx408]

Don't think we forgive you for Epic-Storing Hades, Supergi... oh, my mistake, carry on.

[@khorneflake5943]

I'm afraid I cannot subscribe, Jim. I did that long time ago.

[@Colorband]

I'm... I'm already a subscriber, Jim.

[@susihiisi9539]

You need extra accounts. Meow.

[@apachehelicopter9032]

Why is everyone who gamed before say 2009 not subscribed? Why is anyone with a brain who enjoys gaming not subscribed? These are the problems that need study 🤔

[@LucasHalastra]

i unsuscribed for this ;D

[@BlindErephon]

What we need is for Google to hurry up and install those newfangled chips in the brains of KZbinrs and add a button that gives them a dopamine hit when it gets pressed. Then existing subs can be grovelled to for that sweet sweet validation and good brain juice

[@tokyozardoz]

Epic's business strategy is classic rent seeking behavior. Rather than attracting customers by offering better services Epic uses its deep pockets to throttle competition. It's deeply anti-consumer.

[@VladiMatt]

Its deep, Chinese government funded pockets.

[@yasinabid2031]

If you can’t compete GTFO simple as that. Have steam even done anything since epic came round. Have they even tried to take a lower cut nope so...

[@tokyozardoz]

@@yasinabid2031 They can't compete with a so-called business that loses money on every deal.

[@OPRAHRULZ]

Anthony Dolan capitalism is inherently anti consumer

[@bobbobbins2053]

It’s fine tho they give out a free game every week

[@dondoesdoodles9726]

I didn't like and subscribe because you asked. I liked and subscribed because I got to watch a grown man turn offer a pull-string light while wearing crab claws and I found that absolutely delightful.

[@laughnowcrylater3500]

You got a weird fetish my friend

[@diamondmx3076]

@@laughnowcrylater3500 no kinkshaming on this channel ;)

[@SoloDX]

I liked and subscribed because he asked. but also because I scrolled down to like, and it doesnt seem that I was subscribed. Im still not hitting that bell, though.

[@LanceThumping]

I don't like and subscribe because he asked but because he reminded me. I always forget to like videos even for channels I'm subscribed to.

[@JackTheripper911]

Why werent you already subscribed matey?

[@greyjeth]

Also we have consider that if EPIC gains the stranglehold they so desperately crave that 88/12 split won't be long for this world.

[@ksanbahlyngwa1998]

Capitalism 101

[@wisereaper4747]

@@ksanbahlyngwa1998 *communists abusing a fairly free form of capitalism. its ironic how the worst companies in this regard are also the most socialist. Its the reason why I'm against laissez faire but am not against capitalism.

[@ksanbahlyngwa1998]

@@wisereaper4747 Human Nature 101 (the shitty part)

[@megalomaniacalHalide]

@@wisereaper4747 Hold up, communist and socialist are different things, and neither fall under the purview of 'extremely wealthy private industry people get to chuck money at a problem to get more money and control over an industry, while also furthering massive income disparity between workers and owners'. How'd you come to that conclusion?

[@851852093114208513]

@@megalomaniacalHalide How'd he come to that conclusion? Simple. He doesn't understand what communism, capitalism, or socialism are.

[@FreshestSoup]

Tim Sweeney's response to why they refused to sell DARQ was amazing. He claimed that they are still "hand curating" the games and therefore couldn't accomodate for it. You offered them an exclusivity deal ffs. How can you say they don't meet your quality standards? If he's lying about something this blatantly obvious, I wonder how anything he says can still be taken seriously.

[@ORBrunner]

Obviously this game is too complicated for his brain and is made for tight audience circle (players who love games like Turgor or Pathologic) which is a sign for him that the game will not be sell out as much as he expects. So he wouldn't accept this indie game in his EpicFail store

[@eandlbloodflower6765]

DARQ would have been a big seller for EGS if they were able to get it. However, what EGS is after is not just select games that will be profitable for them, they're after select games that will be profitable for ONLY them. And that's why EGS needs to be stopped.

[@rylian21]

It can't. Sweeny is a huckster, and people are so damned stupid today that they just shrug their shoulders when he gaslights them like that.

[@OzixiThrill]

At this point, if Sweeney said that their company is viciously and maliciously trying to corner the market and force Steam out of business while doing not even the absolute minimum to statisfy the people they do rope into being on their platform, I still would at least double check what he said.

[@lol-fd9fj]

Wow they aren't even willing to sell DARQ non-exclusively? Epic says they care about the devs.

[@BewegteBilderrahmen]

They tell so many lies even Todd Howard would blush.

[@elbee2324]

DARQ is also available on GoG. They might be found on other store fronts apart from Steam and Epic.

[@YouPlague]

Now now, that's a bit harsh on Epic

[@Mr.Spongecake]

@@BewegteBilderrahmen Todd Howard or Randy Pitchford?

[@theguywhowentthere3346]

hahaha no they don't.

[@archiemisc]

Buy games on GOG. If it ends up shutting down you can download the DRM free installer and have the game forever. Problem solved!

[@smjaiteh]

Problem not solved. The games people wanted won’t be on GOG, since they’re Epic exclusive.

[@PrypeciowyHovnozer]

Like you can't torrent any of these games lol

[@GummyPants]

If/When GOG shuts down, the distribution servers will go down with it. So no downloading installers out of thin air, unfortunately.

[@1984Brandon]

It's too bad that one can't put PC games on Epic and Apple on Steam or something.

[@criwall]

@@GummyPants They are not going to shut down with no notice. If that where to happen you would most likely get a fair bit of time to download the files for any game you bought. Or if you are worried it would shut down out of the blue, just keep backups on a external drive.

[@Blurgleflargle]

So, basically Epic are running a passive-aggressive protection racket. Also, thumbs up for dressing up as Commander Keen in Shakedown Hawaii.

[@brianedwardmorgan7304]

One could say epic is paying to win.

[@neanderthal1989]

Are all the ultra rich people paying to win too, I wonder?

[@brianedwardmorgan7304]

@@neanderthal1989 They are just cosmetic.

[@neanderthal1989]

@@brianedwardmorgan7304 dear God I hope you're being sarcastic or a troll. If you truly believe that I'll "Ghost Dad" you through the phone. Edit: Oh wait you're the same person that orginally posted this comment. Lol Sarcasm it is, hooray!

[@GamerBoy870]

Brian Edward Morgan you sir get a like for that comment

[@l4dfanatic11]

It would be funny if it werent so painful

[@ArcticWolfGod]

I really wasn't against Epic Store at all at first, but the more I keep hearing from them (shitty store front, shady tactics) the more I'm against it.

[@Szarps]

Me too, when i heard it would get devs better cuts and incentive steam to be on better shape that was really something to be happy about. Even more, im pretty sure people would have been willing to forfeit a few features here and there that may not be all that important to enjoy certain games, but there lies the thing, it had to be up to the consumer to have that choice, the moment WEENEY comes out with his short dick throwing money around and saying "oh no bitch you are buying from ME" it lost me completely. On top of that the fact that reviews would come as optional for the devs to choose already risen some eyebrows that the epic shady store would not come forth for the consumer as did Valve or GOG.

[@aleksandrmeans5162]

@Top Dog lol pretty much. It was obvious from the beginning they were parasites.

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

So, changing your opinion based on gained information. Sounds good!

[@tehpickle1250]

Woah, I had no idea Epic may refuse to sell your game if you refused their exclusivity. That's a whole new level of petiness. What a grotty little company. May it rot.

[@starbird3939]

TehPickle Yeah. I was always asking myself WHY these conpanies just sign on to be Epic exclusives instead of, you know, being available on both Steam AND Epic. I figure you would get more money from both than just one (especially when one of them lacks a shopping cart). Welp, now I know. They can’t. They have to pick one and only one, and it seems that for Indie Devs, there is just more at Epic than Steam. Steam CAN make itself a competitor again. All it needs is to just change the distribution of money (it is 70/30, right? Maybe take it down to 75/25 if it is feasible for both) and cleaned up the storefront of the obvious trash and gave more visibility to these actual Devs. To quote Spaceballs, Steam needs to DO SOMETHING.

[@BainesMkII]

It's not unsurprising. Holding the sale of a product for ransom is hardly an uncommon business practice, with smaller groups of course being hit harder as they have less leverage.

[@Laskvurel]

@@starbird3939 I do agree that they should change their split, maybe not put it down to as much as Epic but a change would be nice for the devs. As for what games they accept, we do see most of the trash get sorted down to the bottom (at least from my experience) but occasionally good games like Underhero just get lost and forgotten. What they should do is start having an approval system at Valve to test run games, mostly to make sure they work and intended and have some sort of entertainment value. However if they start to compete like Epic it is possible they will lose a good bit of their good will but if people keep supporting Epic like they have, exclusives may eventually be their only choice. That's the problem with competing with exclusives in the gaming industry.

[@XShrike0]

The cut Steam takes adjusts based on sales. I think it drops to 25 at $10 million and 20 at $50 million. Then Steam also gives away free keys. Developers could just sell the keys directly and cut Steam out. Steam says that they only have a problem if more than half of sales are off-site. I have not really seen any of the trash that people talk about flooding the storefront. Now I do use videos like Jim does, where he plays trash and use those to ignore games, developers, and publishers. I have wondered if playing all of those adjusts the algorithms to aim for them. I have seen most of the indie games, that claim they are flooded out, on my storefront. I just don't have the time to play them all.

[@otakundan6414]

​@@XShrike0 i've read it works based on the tags of the games you buy(install for f2p games) or put in your wishlist. Edit: You can also blacklist tags now that i checked.

[@jackielinde7568]

Jim, because you asked nicely, I have licked and circumscribed your video.

[@canadademon]

I guess that's better than circumcised.

[@dektarey4024]

@@canadademon Speak for yourself.

[@magnatcleo2043]

Circumscribed, is that like drawing on the foreskin or something?

[@MithrilRoshi]

I want GOG to become a major player. i would gladly move over there with my games etc. Heck they have a system that moves some steam games to their own storefront. THAT is good CS.

[@RK-zf1jm]

They arent in danger of going anywhere if you were unaware GOG is owned by cd projekt red who have mega fuck you money since the smash hits of witcher 2 and 3 plus the hype and pre orders around cyberpunk plus the revenue from gog

[@criwall]

@Dahn They are still pretty small compared to Steam and Epic, mostly because they have few AAA games (apart from their own) and the ones they do have are a few years old at least. But the GoG Galaxy 2.0 launcher looks really promising, and might give them an additioal push, and Cyberpunk will probably help even more. If you havn't heard what it is it will merge all your games from all storefronts (including Playstation and Xbox) and give you access to achievements, friend lists and so on in one client. (Edited for clarification)

[@burningphoenix6679]

MithrilRoshi buy DARQ on GOG

[@SuperJayMax]

@@criwall That sounds amazing, the problem I have is that my steam library is so big that when I want to play a game I go to steam, but that makes me not even think about my other games on the other clients. but having all of my games together in one long list is a godsend.

[@KhabarovVictor]

@@criwall They do have AAA games - Metro series, Mafia series, XCOM series, Dying Light, to name a few. But they are getting them after long delay. Well, I don't mind going high seas until then.

[@KaliKat]

ClawSterling is just us unlocking a new skin so now we're not going to be bullied for not having any cool skins even though we've been playing Jimquisition for years.

[@Plankensen]

Time to buy some Sterloot boxes to get yourself the perfect skin, Kellogs hummonculos,, the Clawinator sterling, or pay five shrimps to get the possibility to get a Gloveless Jim in your Sterloot box

[@ScorpionAndZangief]

@@Plankensen Pfft, yeah if you want to have your face punched in every day. Everyone and their dog has Gloveless Jim, you scrub! If you're not in the Pogfucker meta, you're just asking to get your lunch money stolen!

[@Sonichero151]

@@ScorpionAndZangief oh please get real noob, Pogfucker meta is so 3mins and 22 seconds ago. The new endgame meta is the Sterdust skin plus 15 shrimps for the additional Ursa Major Companion

[@ScorpionAndZangief]

@@Sonichero151 Um, yea I *totally* just got those! I'll show you the screencaps, I just have to, uh, get my phone from my...um, locker! Yeah, that's it! From my locker. *runs home to beg parents for early allowance*

[@Sonichero151]

@@ScorpionAndZangief it's been a year...... You got that screen shot of Sterdust with the Ursa Major Companion?

[@originalscreenname44]

Hey, Jim, as a complete Epic hater I don’t disagree with a single word you’ve said. Keep up the good work.

[@mikhailchuev8715]

*Tencent will remember that*

[@megaalan12]

That's my exact problem with this guy. All you idiots call anyone who associates with Epic the absolute worst things, and then you follow it up by linking Jim's videos. I don't know how he can pretend to absolve himself of responsibility for this mob.

[@Chyror]

You actually think these so called urinalist makes a good pr? probably for woke people but not many lol

[@evillecaston]

Epic: Hello promising indie developer, would you like to appear on our storefront? Just take this cash and forget all the promises you made before! >not interested Epic: Well fine, we don't want you anyways! (Oh but don't worry guys, Epic is still totally the good guys, right? Tim Sweeney said so!)

[@paulinapaola]

Oh my god. Do you know what you've done? You've just described Epic as an r/niceguy. And it kinda _works_

[@mikaneko]

​@@paulinapaola ..LOL I never made that connection but it DOES make sense

[@entitledOne]

Worst part is there are people still defending them even tho everything points at Epic being a manifestation of botomless greed.

[@daemoroth_m]

Accurate, just want to add... Indies: Erm, Valve/Gaben, do you want to make a better deal or improve your storefront? Gaben: Nah, fuck you, we'll give AAA pubs the better revenue split and continue to bury you under mountains of shit because you have no other choice.

[@daemoroth_m]

@@entitledOne At this stage, neither Valve nor Epic are anything but manifestations of bottomless greed (Though EA/Acti do lead that race). Valve could SO easily match the revenue split for indies but don't (Only handing it out to the AAA pubs) and can afford to hire people to stop the avalanche of shit being launched on Steam but don't.

[@boze7180]

Jim, you’re the only person who I can take seriously despite them wearing giant crab claws

[@boze7180]

Corvo Fox-Gray I’ve seen them in my recommended section but never listened. I’ll give them a shot. Thanks!

[@raymondthrone7197]

The crab claws are the secret to being taken seriously, actually.

[@JosieJOK]

Corvo Fox-Gray Yes, but he doesn’t wear crab claws, does he?

[@mikhailchuev8715]

If only all proper journalists wore crab claws, then we would finally be free of fake news and disinformation! But alas...

[@adams3627]

I actually take him MORE seriously when he wears them, honestly.

[@elbee2324]

I feel I need to add the point that DARQ, an indie game that just released and declined Epic's exclusivity deal, is also available now on GoG. It's not a Steam exclusive, and it seems other stores are open to hosting new indie titles. They may be on other store fronts as well.

[@Sonichero151]

Let me sum this up in three words said by a casual PC gamer. "Who is GoG?"

[@antman1672]

Wait, people with legit complaints about the behavior and the ethics of people and companies are getting lumped in with morons who use death threats, and other dogpiling behavior? That has never happened before in the gaming industry.

[@PathBeyondTheDark]

But we who don't do everything possible to separate ourselves from them are doing ourselves no favors. Should we have to? No. But it's the reality of the situation. If we don't show that most of us are civil by denouncing those that are not we'll continue to be ignored thanks to the toxic sub-section in this cause we are fighting for.

[@antman1672]

@@PathBeyondTheDark It doesn't matter. No matter how often you denounce it people will always say your rhetoric is the cause of it. It is just an easy way to attack you without using arguments.

[@PathBeyondTheDark]

@@antman1672 If we believed our actions were in vein every time we're asked to step up, then we wouldn't be fighting a battle against multi-billion dollar conglomerates. One of my favorite quotes ever: "Doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done-or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be-to show it what it can be." If they do not listen, then we can never say we didn't at least try to do it the right way. Don't sink to their level.

[@Xaedroth]

Came here to say this. This video would've been fitting years ago.

[@GlitchedAI]

@@PathBeyondTheDark No matter how much you do that, they'll just use that "toxic sub-section" against you anyway, that's how journalism works these days, they post the stuff that generates the clicks and so that'll be stuff that'll cause even MORE toxicity, not the good stuff about the good people.

[@sabre0smile]

It's a decent community that is shown a divisive topic and just makes endless jokes about claws. Good on you Jim, and good on you community.

[@Kknewkles]

"Oh I left this light on..." _PINCHES THE LIGHT CORD_

[@TK_GX]

"Piracy is a Service Problem" - Gabe Newell Consumers will not be forced to use an anti consumer, and now with this new indie developer being blocked by epic for refusing their deal, anti developer platform.

[@d.b.4671]

"You will have our full support... *when you bend the knee.* " (I know, long past relevant at this point, but whatever.)

[@CrazyYurie]

We do not kneel. :)

[@RAFMnBgaming]

That's right... I'm guessing you're not making a H*R reference.

[@Maniac742]

Well it's either that or, "You'll have no support and we'll take 1/3 of your earnings" on Steam, so bending the knee doesn't seem all that bad.

[@RAFMnBgaming]

@@Maniac742 Looks like absolutely hating UE4 is finally coming up millhouse.

[@Esonar]

@@Maniac742 Boy please, you keep kneeling. Many of us have been wildly successful long before Epics shitty story and ultimatum came along. You keep kneeling though. Not all of us are built the same, that's for sure.

[@galloviking4766]

Epic: Exclusive or GTFO Dev: GTFO then Epic: Wait come back

[@Jinkypigs]

sadly .. they ain't even doing that, despite their spew about supporting indies. thus exposing their hypocrisy.

[@galloviking4766]

@@Jinkypigs They will at some point... A richer team is bound to happen at some point with even better deals and scummier practices, at which Epic will change its store for the best.

[@MelMelodyWerner]

didn't Epic say they were going to open their store up to new devs some time in 2019? if they actually do that, what? are they just gonna blacklist SkateBIRD, DARQ, and other indie games that turned them down? that sounds stupid and petulant, and yet is entirely likely.

[@Jinkypigs]

@@galloviking4766 Yeah right. and I have a prime property on Mars to sell you. :P by that "time", the PC landscape will be as fragmented and unrecognisable as the console. God forbid.

[@atomknight8361]

I use the luke skywalker clip saying "I'll never join you" whenever dealing with the epic games store

[@JnEricsonx]

Glad I'm more of a console player, and right now my PC gaming is of a 2004 MMO that got resurrected.

[@Bancheis]

@@JnEricsonx Color me intrigued. Which one?

[@JnEricsonx]

@@Bancheis City of Heroes. :)

[@gogista]

@@JnEricsonx Well on consoles this exclusivity bullshit is a daily bread, so I would not exacty call that a win.

[@Bancheis]

@@JnEricsonx OMG I loved City of Heroes! Where did it get resurrected? I have been looking for a way to play that game again!

[@tgreaux5027]

Everyone on YT acts like GOG simply doesn’t exist. Lol Jim: “Steam has no competition and we need Epic” GOG: “IM STANDING RIGHT HERE YA KNOW!!??!”

[@jacobsmith4428]

GOG's plan isn't exactly to compete with Steam, but rather to form a mutual symbiotic relationship with it and Epic Games through Galaxy 2.0. That's good for the customer's convenience having it all bundled into one easy to access location, but that kind of symbiosis leaves no room for competition when your competition could just pull their support out from under you if you try to oppose them.

[@BewegteBilderrahmen]

@@jacobsmith4428 so GoG is like Shkler from Futurama?

[@JamesQPurcell]

GOG is great, but GOG is not Steam, its a classic/retro/indie sales platform. Sure, some big ticket games come out through them, but usually only if the publisher is cool with DRM-free files. (which most are not)

[@jacobsmith4428]

@@BewegteBilderrahmen Ehhhh... More like the worm parasites. It's good for improving business for all parties involved, but it's clear the ambition for being its own thing is just not there.

[@BewegteBilderrahmen]

@@JamesQPurcell a lot more devs probably would be happy with it if suddenly much more customers bought on GOG, though. Piracy is after all mostly a service problem.

[@severafan9262]

On point of the whole "Epic Exclusivity " thing I can't help but mention that a lot of people including myself aren't hateful towards the idea that developers want to earn money, too. A game is generally better when people can work on it without fears or discomfort and a good revenue cut helps people who are scared of being homeless do a better job without anxiety. The problem is HOW you justify this move. Borderlands completely harrassed and spit on the players who were displeased with the move, Ooblets decided to try and be philosophical about it, etc. Just do what a normal person would do and get off your high horse if you're a developer in this sort of situation. You're not above everyone else and you're not below everyone else. Be transparent in your decision and don't fuck over people either. If your game is a kickstarter game you have no right to complain about people confronting you when months before you said it would come to Steam and suddenly it's "COUGH COUGH UM STEAM? UHHHH MAYBE IN 2024!". Seriously, how hard can it be to just say "We are sorry to announce to the people who looked forward to the release of our game on [Platform name]. The revenue cut we receive from Epic Games is simply better for our company and really helps us as developers make an affordable living off of doing what we love. It's understandable if most of you are disappointed by this move, but we hope you can understand the reason for our decision."? It's ALWAYS some CEO fucktard going on Twitter being like "YOU KNOW WHAT? FUCK STEAM I LOVE EPIC SUCK MY DICK YOU MAD?" and then everyone is tooooooooooootally shocked that gamers HATE Epic Games. This exclusivity deal brings out the worst in people on BOTH sides and if people treated this decision with more respect for both the customer AND the company it wouldn't even be bad. This is why people who represent a company negatively should be FIRED from said company. COUGHGearboxCOUGH.

[@TheAxeLordOfFire]

Well said. And remember: as Jim undoubtedly said in the past, you simply _can’t_ give these corporations any breathing room; give them an inch, they’ll take the whole fucking _country._ Also, great profile pic! Always nice to meet a fellow Fates fan. ;)

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

Just remember exclusivity is a monopoly according to the US government, with precedent in Paramount V United States, and legislation of anti trust laws could end up putting Indy studios into a complete hell of trying to comply and make their game available on all possible platforms before they can sell it. Imagine needing to develop a 1 to 1 Android/iOS port, a switch port, an Xbone PS4 port, and a Linux and Mac port before being able to sell a single copy... all because studios kept taking the short term payout from epic. I mean, I suppose you can't blame them for taking the deal, but will you feel sorry for these indie studios that die off due to this legislation. I mean, of course some of you will, people feel sorry for the ooblets developers that poked the wasp nest with their announcement and are now getting swarmed by the angry wasps, but in the long term people won't feel sorry for them. Its just a time where all you can say is "oh dear this has all gone to shit"

[@miceandgods4171]

@@SherrifOfNottingham you're taking "exclusives" way out of context and trying to shove a square peg in a round slot to fit your argument. Disagree with Epic or whomever but twisting facts only kills your argument.

[@OlujaDoTokija]

"The revenue cut we receive from Epic Games is simply better for our company and really helps us as developers make an affordable living off of doing what we love." Nobody goes to Epic because of the revenue cut. They accept exclusivity because of the instant up-front money Epic gives them.

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

@@miceandgods4171 except I'm not, or do you not known the precedent I'm speaking of and simply throwing out an excuse

[@salenstormwing]

No Crab Rave, 11/10, would watch again but only in hopes of a crab rave.

[@ArchieGamez]

Say what you want about Steam at least they have REGIONAL PRICING

[@fen7662]

Lol, Epic doesn't even do business in all the regions. 😂

[@dosbilliam]

Hell, say what you want about Steam, at least they have a SHOPPING CART.

[@logirex]

Steam does sell expensive games in all regions!

[@OriginalPiMan]

You're saying regional pricing is a good thing?

[@Zwei_Zwei]

Back when I was living in Chula Vista, California, the Epic Game Store refused to do business with me, saying they don't support my country, I WAS going to pay for the game I wanted to play, but after about two hours of trying and being unable to generate a support ticket since it was redirecting me to the FAQ, I just pirated it.

[@GodOfOrphans]

The problem with Poisoning the Well with discussing topics like this is if the bad actors are allowed to dominate the conversation by other people just giving up because they are afraid of being compared to said bad actors then civil discourse of any kind is dead and people who realize that will start doing false flags to immediately get whichever side they don't like blacklisted, hell I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if those already happen, but those kind of tactics only work if we allow the bad outliers define the conversation, and Jim despite good intentions you are enabling the death of civil discourse by self censoring, we need as many rational voices as possible to stem the tide of bile!

[@deathstrike]

When are the bile spewers ever "rational". Everybody has their point of view including content creators. While a civil critique of a creator goes a long ways, it is hardly the order of the day. And many of the "poisons" in your well are also part of either the "cultural Marxist" and or the "cancel culture" crowds who deem anything that offends their tender sensibilities to be worthy of Lynch mobbing. You cannot have a return to civil and rational discourse until you have 1. A basic respect whether good or bad of a person's point of view. And 2. An end to the plague of extremism. You don't scratch an itch by ripping the flesh off now do you?

[@burnout563]

Metro Exodus wasn't removed from steam a month after release. It was removed 3 weeks before release having had a steam page since E3 2017. Also they snuck in Denuvo two weeks before that.

[@thedarkdragon89]

I played the first Metro game and hated it, while it looked nice and the story was interesting, I just hated the back and forth gameplay and gave up. Now I hate that series and say fuck the devs.

[@Mernom]

@@thedarkdragon89 it's alright if you didn't like the game, you have no moral obligation to like it. But don't miss the target - it's deep silver who are probably responsible for most of those issues.

[@thedarkdragon89]

@@Mernom doesn't matter to me, they're just more China funded scum now.

[@jensaversjo316]

@@Mernom One would think that after Randy trying to push blame to his publisher, that you people would realize that the "DEVELOPERS ARE INNOCENT SAINTS!"-narrative is bullshit.

[@Deadsnake989]

@@jensaversjo316 Not every situation is identical. Occam's razor: the simplest solutions is often the correct solution. People who paid attention already knew Randy Cringeford was a scumbag as far back as 2013. We've also already known Gearbox was a sub-par studio who caught a lucky break making one popular game. 4A games has never shown a history of doing scummy shit until Deepsilver, Deepsilver also has a long history of controversy. The first Metro game was not released under Deepsilver as a publisher, and it was released without controversy. Metro: Last Light was published under Deepsilver and they sold a difficulty mode separately for $10. Now Exodus did what they did. Are the devs completely innocent in this mess? Probably not but it's not some great leap of logic to assume Deepsilver holds the lion share of blame. Deepsilver may not have as much notoriety as EA, but they are every bit as terrible.

[@Detton30]

Honestly, I watch the Jimquisition for all of the great fashion sense that Jim shows off each week. Thank God for Jim!

[@CapucineNighly]

Same here. Very fashionable.~

[@moewzers9136]

Have you seen Respawn Dev talking to the fan base over the cosmetic ordeal? It would make a good follow up video.

[@badfrad1754]

Why are you “freeloading” and not paying for Jim’s Patron. Get out if you don’t. it’s not like most of the people watching him don’t pay.

[@moewzers9136]

@@badfrad1754 I am so sorry 😓 You have made me see the errors of my ways

[@ДаниелНиколов-п1г]

Respawn WERE amazing before Apex Legends

[@badfrad1754]

Revolver Ocelot I think it’s sarcastic when he says that but I’m not sure...

[@markwheeler4245]

Brendan Pulda I'm honestly bewildered why gamers keep buying these items?! I was thinking for the price of a skin or 2 in a game u can find games like God of War on sale in the PS Store for £25 for e.g! 🤔 God of War or 2 skins tough decision... lol. Ppl even stick up for devs and publishers! I had loads of ppl tell me I'm an idiot for complaining about microtransactions in Dead by Daylight

[@KakuEpsilon]

Jim, I do thank god for you and all, but uh... Take care of yourself mate. Admitting that you're too tired on camera suddenly makes me VERY concerned you're Crunching YOURSELF.

[@bigkillkillbig]

he has admitted in the past videos that it is something he does.

[@KakuEpsilon]

@@bigkillkillbig I know that he has, and I'm just putting it out there that I don't want him to make himself sick, that's all. Also, with all of his recentish "Anti-Crunch" videos, I feel like using the term might cause him to reflect on how hypocritical it is to overwork yourself while telling others to unionize to prevent that.

[@alberto8132]

He’s just tired from DDT’ing his opponents from the top turnbuckle.

[@kingoftrolls]

let me guess, you sell herbalife

[@SpectreAdept]

Why not Zoidberg.....I mean Jim Sterling.

[@GhengisJohn]

Jim's love of sweet buffet crab has clearly gone too far. He's more crab than man now... Get the butter.

[@bernardoheusi6146]

He will become the crab monster from One Punch Man at this rate

[@GamerBoy870]

Bernardo Heusi get a bald cap

[@harehak9606]

So.. Steam or Epic? Answer: GOG

[@Bizargh]

itch.io also works. DRM-Free (May even include a Steam Key as LISA: The Painful RPG does), Name Your Price, launcher-free, and game updates are entirely manual (Assuming you prefer to manually apply patches to your games of course). Check your desired game's PC Gaming Wiki article. They often are well informed as to where a game's sold whether it'd be on their own site, Steam, Humble Bundle, etc., and if it comes with DRM or not.

[@CeticWales]

GOG is great, one of my favourite storefronts.

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

And if GOG is not available, piracy :v

[@mikhailchuev8715]

GOG maybe abusing its employees from what I've read so that convinience might come off with a price of someone's sanity. It's better than Epic, sure, but it is a loooooong way from being OK.

[@dawid035]

@@mikhailchuev8715 the question is - how old these articles are? Because let's be honest - it really makes difference if those articles which you read talk about pretty old times because then it's hard to tell that they are treating them bad right now or that they don't.

[@DiscoMouse]

“Like and subscribe” is effective not because it convinces people, but because it reminds them.

[@buruzn09]

“Sensible, calm, rational...” Not holding my breath either.

[@civosborne]

I didn't realize I haven't subscribed in 4 years until he mentioned it.

[@BewegteBilderrahmen]

Classic youtube, not showing you the stuff you actually subscribed to, but showing stuff you're not to like you have.

[@pariswood2236]

The golden rule eh? He who has the gold makes the rules. It's shitty, but it certainly hasn't changed even after centuries huh?

[@Handlelesswithme]

That explains America

[@pariswood2236]

@@Handlelesswithme Doesnt it though

[@Handlelesswithme]

Yep, that is America. Full of blowhards that are nothing more then lapdogs to rich objectivising Neo-Liberals who consider all of us disposable. Heh I like to think that every government is run by rich elitist who only looks out for themselves, but I have never known other governments

[@Handlelesswithme]

The issue is not manpower it is that so many people still have not realized they are being screwed

[@vellathewench]

@@Handlelesswithme It's also apathy. Too many aren't willing to do what it takes because someone else will.

[@yanuarmustika5816]

Lol, steam biggest competitor is The Pirate Bay. All Epic do is force people go sailing.

[@rylian21]

Yeah, I'm not going to buy games that take Epic's deal, but I'm not going to steal from them either.

[@ShaunDreclin]

Yarr harr fiddle de dee

[@shoelessbeats]

@Top Dog Twat

[@Nomilh]

@@rylian21 It's not stealing since they don't lose any money. If you didn't plan on paying for a game that goes Epic exclusive they won't lose money if you pirate it. Is online piracy bad ? Yes and no. It depends in what context you pirate your games. I've bought more games because of piracy than I would've without it, I have around 100 games on steam and 25% of those are games I would've never bought but since I tried them without paying and I loved it I decided to buy it.

[@Torodes23]

@@Nomilh same but I have 600

[@zodd3262]

I despise platforms without a review system.

[@Rem694u2]

@-- Cool story bro. Doesn't mean he has to like it just because millions of other people do. If you noticed he said "I".

[@moebiusjdx7288]

Agreed! Also, as much as I hate how toxic game forums can be, Being able to go there and get game support is great... It's disgusting how epic customers have to run to steam forums for technical support.

[@AnnDVine]

User review systems baked into the platform they're reviewing on are inherently untrustworthy, in my experience. I find general word of mouth is just that much more helpful.

[@zodd3262]

@@AnnDVine Can you give me examples of your experience?

[@GigglingStoners]

@-- Of course they are, because they would throw money at Nintendo even if every game login came with a colonoscopy.

[@DarthTinkles]

Well, I didn't expect the Grandia Fanfare at the end. Jim must be playing the new Switch release.

[@vkermodekumav8949]

I wasnt the only one that caught this! XDDDDD

[@RigeTony]

This is exactly what I was thinking. The nostalgia is real.

[@vkermodekumav8949]

Im playing it right now! Never played the first game before! Its fantastic!

[@DarthTinkles]

@@vkermodekumav8949 It was my favourite game when I was younger, despite not really playing many JRPGs. The sequel is good too, although I connected more with the first!

[@RigeTony]

@@vkermodekumav8949 One of the best JRPGs of all time. I'm really glad you are enjoying it! :)

[@TrashPanda57]

Jim. No joke today? Why are you being so shellfish. Love the outro song.

[@leandroeidi]

It's Grandia's victory theme.

[@CataclysmicCharizma]

@@leandroeidi I nodded off when I was watching and woke up suddenly at the end with a burst of pure nostalgia when the theme kicked in.

[@prinny7963]

The Grandia victory theme at the end was just beautiful

[@2GuitarsPlay]

That got me out of no where

[@keikoandgilly]

Rational criticism is the proper path to take. GoG and Steam are the only platforms I use, and I refuse to use EGS. Devs don’t deserve abuse of person, but do deserve criticism on merit. And this is my personal view: #fuckegs

[@ericbjork3722]

Why all the hate for eggs?

[@trithos7308]

@@ericbjork3722 I know right? They are delicious! I personally like them scrambled, but an omelet is really good too!

[@bradford433]

@@trithos7308 Can't go wrong with a good omelet. But scrambled with salt, pepper, and a dash of paprika? Yum!!

[@daemoroth_m]

Why Steam? If you want to park on the "moral high ground" shouldn't you strike Steam off your list as well? I mean, they offer a comparable revenue split but only to AAA publishers who don't actually need it (Sales over $50 million have Steam take 20% instead of 30%)? They refuse to stem the tide of shit being launched on their platform with proper curation.

[@keikoandgilly]

@DaemorothD Here is the thing: if GoG were as big as Steam, had the same vast library as steam, and all games from the AAA and indies came on GoG drm Free, I’d happily switch. But since it doesn’t, I have to use both.

[@geoshark12]

You wasted an opportunity for a mr Krabs joke in the beginning

[@rustyshackleford3160]

You really couldn't come up with a joke for those gloves, when your past TWO videos were dedicated to sweet casino buffet crab!! Lol great as always

[@megalomaniacalHalide]

"There's a new bubsy game out, but there's no CLAWS for alarm! It's... it's still terrible."

[@samreddig8819]

You are what you eat mabye?

[@saintmayhem9873]

I was half expecting the dancing crab meme in Jim Sterling grunts.

[@shadowmariogalaxy64]

I mean, they're big, meaty claws. Did he ever need an explanation?

[@sensibleGamer]

Those are _CLEARLY_ lobster claws. Get your facts straight you ignorant *_skeleton warrior_*

[@JiangJoker]

I had to fight Epic store support for two weeks because I had bought and installed Hades, uninstalled it to try to reinstall because of an update error, and it vanished out of my library. Epic told me the game dev/Supergiant had to field the issue but Supergiant had nothing they could do for me. I had to rebuy the damn game, since I love it and Supergiant and Hades so much. But I cant get the taste of being scammed out of my mouth.

[@YouDonkeyfu]

hot damn, the EGS sure is amazing. So, how is hades by the way? Could cerebus be petted?

[@BlazeBluetm35]

You shouldn't have caved in, you had a receipt when you bought the game initially. They should have just added it back to your library.

[@guyincognito7188]

yep. you were scammed

[@Silath01]

Same thing happened with me for satisfactory. When they wouldn't do anything I said okay I'll do a chargeback on my card.. the didn't like that and I no longer have an epic account

[@fearsomewarengine8228]

my account is suspended temporarily for idk how many months, cba doing anything about it since all that is on there is shit games they gave away for free anyway, which if i wanted to play i could just browse TPB for 5 minutes

[@daniellado2523]

I despise the way Epic has been trying to go against Steam. Instead of a good marketplace, they just make sure certain games are not available anymore on steam. This does not make a free market but just makes it worse for is consumers who do not want the epic launcher in the first place.

[@Dr.Oofers]

transylvanian Christ you didn’t have your pills today, have you?

[@thezombienerd123]

transylvanian Youre thinking communism with your last few sentences bud

[@BoomBoomBrucey]

I always forget about the Jimquistion and then I see it and Monday isn't so bad anymore.

[@Snairster]

Are you feeling it now, Mr. Krabs?

[@InfectiousViper]

Are you having some faith now, Mr. Morgan?

[@Snairster]

@@InfectiousViper i HaVe A pLaN

[@JaitsuStudios]

@@Snairster goin ta' TAHITI!

[@even1313]

@jim sterling - think about this! The reason epic doesn't have a shopping cart on their store is the same reason why game developers use premium currencies. To obfuscate how much you're actually spending. During a steam sale or w/e think about how sometimes you'll add a bunch of games to your cart and then it comes time to check out you see the total and you're like yeah... I don't need most of this. And so you get rid of some stuff. You can't do that with epic. Not having a shopping cart removes a step in the payment process where you can decide not to buy something. And then when you're buying games 1 at a time you're usually only paying attention to whatever you're looking at currently and not thinking about how you just spent $50 on other games. And with this in mind it paints epics lack of a shopping cart in a completely new and malicious light.

[@svetlanarodriguez7429]

I only buy games on Steam and GOG. Epic can go kick rocks.

[@bobcasale3241]

This is honestly the best tactic if you don't agree with Epic's business model. If we don't buy, they don't succeed. I feel sorry for the small indies stuck in the middle, but not sorry enough to do business through Epic to support them.

[@666Tomato666]

no, that's too good for them, they can go pound sand

[@stuckinthepastproductions4329]

@@666Tomato666 It would be more entertaining if they pulled a David Carradine.

[@0Asterite0]

Just another toxic gamer throwing a tantrum. Steam can go fuck itself.

[@FlipZFox]

By turning down Epic, you essentially turn down Satan's offering. I can applaud any developer who denies it right to Epic's face.

[@Ivan-qf4mt]

Essentially yes. So AAA agreement to go to Epic (such devs as Ubisoft) is obvious.

[@Handlelesswithme]

Hehehe every capitalist decision is a Devil offering

[@turbotimthree]

So they will take the same deal from steam and that’s ok right?

[@None38389]

Indie devs have a much higher chance to get screwed if they go to steam instead of epic.

[@ArchmageOfAnarchy]

The problem with Epic is that in the UK, what they're doing is outright illegal.

[@Ryusuta]

Doesn't matter. They have money. The legal system can be bought.

[@unknowndude9379]

Not only the UK, all of Europe. Not only the monopoly thing, heck they don't even comply to the GDPR last time I checked.

[@jaebeeart3683]

Not entirely sure, but I think what they're doing is against US anti-trust laws, too.Problem is it takes a million years for the law to catch up with shit like this.

[@gogista]

Which law are they breaking?

[@thezombienerd123]

Rooster the Sherman Anti Trust Act

[@SirPreyasThe619]

I just sad about all this. Epic caused such a gigantic mess while dragging all these gaming devs w/ them

[@SuperShyerGuy]

Talk about GOG, Jim. I may not agree with everything those Poles do, but by damn their storefront's the most consumer-friendly.

[@DrDemoman74]

best country in Europe by far.

[@Rakmarok]

@@DrDemoman74 Agreed.

[@ubiquitouspanda4466]

@@matrixbelevard4470 color me uninformed, what does Minnesotan have to do with Poland? Isn't that in America

[@sketchesofpayne]

I have Steam, GOG, and Battlenet. I don't need more storefronts and launchers. It's as simple as that.

[@Solus749]

I like some title series that require uplay so I have a uplay account which allowed me to bypass anno 1800 "exclusivity" on epic but other than that I agree with you. I have steam, gog, uplay and an old battlenet account ( used to play wow long time ago and dabbled in diablo 3 and hearthstone ). Epic....not gonna get that in a thousand years considering how they disregarded european customer/data law practices not to mention their security issues. A friend of mine got a similar situation but have origin rather than my uplay account. You get my gist though and unlike jim sterlin I don't dig through steams every corner for the trash titles which compined with my use of genre filter+ top sellers list means I see 1-2 at most if even that. If you goto latest games without filters though you will drown in less quality releases.....hence the use of genre filters on steam.

[@kastaway-mtx]

You're on PC, you shouldn't even complain about programs at all. The whole point of a PC is to multitask and have multiple options.

[@S0K0N0MI]

@@kastaway-mtx Shut up and play your 70 dollar games, casual drone #32412

[@Solus749]

@Rising Horizon Gaming if said store don't rspect the actual law used in the region you live it becomes an issue mate^^ As an european european customer/data laws kind of matter to us as it garantees certain rights. Protects our data from being missused and traded to third part, the right to dermand most parties to delete ALL data they have on you, DON'T install or interact with parts without concent beforehand ( remind you of a local steam file being copied doesn't it?). The right to return most goods ( aside from opened underwear etc ) if they malfunction/don't follow what were advertized up to two weeks after sale. Digital stores such as steam and GoG usually have a 2-4 hour playtime limit alternativly the product not working as advertized regardless of time used as conditions ( epics first return policy before they rapidly had to rewrite it ring a bell? ). I could go on but you probably get my meaning at this point. Want to know the best part of it all? It can't be signed away with an aula either hence more or less every single american company that utilize aulas have a "if you are from the european union x,y,z don't apply to you" I think Australia have something similar as well.

[@RevanBC]

@@kastaway-mtx I don't even know what games are exclusive because I've never installed Epic once.

[@madhigh-cactus5320]

Epic Games with an Epic problem, that require Epic crab claws to cut out its Epic BS.

[@brosch91]

What digital distribution platforms I used in 2011: Steam, Direct2Drive, EA Download manager What exists now: Uplay, EA Origin, Steam, Battle net, Epic Games Store, Discord, Bethesda Launcher. What Streaming services existed in 2011: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime(?) What exists now: CBS All Access, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Warner Bros, Fox On Demand, HBO GO. See a pattern? I know I do, it's just that the internet is becoming more and more monetized as more and more people use the internet for their entertainment needs. Corporations will take more and more control over time, just watch. It's already happening

[@Spidert4nk]

Right, let's see... I, a dirty south-american scrub, could go into Steam and buy games at a reasonable price for my corrupt, 80% inflationary country... Or I could go into the Epic Store, dodging Fortnite ads, to pay 3-7 times the amounts I pay on Steam.....

[@vixxito]

In which country do you live? Venezuela? Also south-american here and the prices between the Epic Store and Steam doesn't change that much... And keep in mind you are taking part in an expensive hobby, gaming ain't a charity.

[@joaomacabrodeath]

And i can use national "boleto" system of payment? Why not to like?

[@chaossmith3864]

@@vixxito Gaming may not be a charity, but why pay more for the same thing if you don't have to? No one should rip themselves off. It's simple, if Epic doesn't provide a competitive service to a person and Steam does why go with Epic?

[@EzaneeGires]

@@chaossmith3864 agree. International buyers especially have to be very price conscious due to exchange rates and inflation. On PC outside of sales or g2a, steam is the only other proposition. And they do sell games at a better price. Epic is slammed for legitimate reasons but regional pricing is something not many North Americans can empathize with

[@kionashi]

dude...were are you from? Im from Venezuela and Epic Store's games are A LOT cheaper than Steam's games because the regional pricing for some stupid reason give us first world country prices on Steam which is fuking insane, meanwhile in the EGS I can buy Metro Exodus for 20$ and Darksiders 3 for 25$ right now without any kind of discount....

[@ivyfoo502]

I do not condone the harassment the Ooblets team got. They did, however, go about the announcement in a really condescending way which never goes over well on the internet. But it also made one thing abundantly clear. Once devs no longer have to vie for your dollars, they will show their true colors. For that, I thank EPIC, because I'll never buy anything Glumberland makes.

[@frankmario6747]

Yeah, Ooblets devs are like ass*oles insulting you hard in the street for no reasons and then say "c'mon little b*tch, hit me !". They asked for it, even if i dont condone harrassement.

[@crysanthiumvega]

I would be pretty antagonistic too if I couldn't help but think the entire world is out to get me, as most developers feel

[@crysanthiumvega]

The internet is a bunch of bullies, plain and simple. That wears on people, especially when you always have to be at a certain place that you know for certain you'll be attacked at. And you're expected to never fight for yourself either? No wonder EA's CEO sounds so robotic, being the absolute safest possible is the only way to not get a mob thrown at you.

[@19rcooper]

@@crysanthiumvega Boohoo, they can find another career if it's so bad. Otherwise don't be a dick when you're trying to sell something, moron.

[@crysanthiumvega]

@@19rcooper I'm sorry your life has lead to this, friend :/

[@Slash0mega]

anybody remember when jim tried changing the theme song and the old one slowly crept back?

[@blake-81]

What befuddles me most is that ppl seem to think Steam has no competition- GOG anyone? It's been there long since EPIC showed up. Place is DRM-Free, is very well moderated in a way Fake Games and Asset Flips don't last long, has some very good return policies and customer support, their launcher is fully optional, and even the Triple-A guys don't publish there much so they don't take away the limelight from the smaller Indies, not to mention they have a storefront that actually works. GOG is great competition against Steam, and sometimes I wonder if EPIC, rather than hurting Steam, is actually hurting them...

[@TheMichigami]

GOG is also an excellent place to find a lot of older games as well that steam doesn't have and no one else is selling, and that even the original disks are getting hard to find for. GOG has a lot of them updated to work on modern systems, and they have a lot of great stuff in general available through their site.

[@Shawnchapp]

i agree with most except "very good return policies" last time i tried to return something i had to argue with support for like 3-4days that the game wouldn't work no matter what before they even would believe me... then another few days to "clear" the refund... So ya their return polices aren't good.... they fight to much when you try to return anything...

[@desmondbrown5508]

Well, the thing is that's a harder sell. Most people will agree they'd rather have DRM-free content and better return policies. But most people aren't willing to stand up for their principles so hard that they'll stop buying from Steam and Epic long enough for it to matter. People MIGHT strike for like a day or two. But that's literally nothing. We need people to keep it up for like a month or more while saying that they'll NEVER buy games with DRM again while simultaneously making a couple of purchases on GoG. The problem is, good luck getting most people to do that. I have no problem doing that as my principles are almost always more important to me than anything else (of course harm to family or forced situations being an obvious exception). But most people will easily cave just because they want the newest Fallout or newest Epic or Blizzard game. We've seen people scream at the top of their lungs, only to completely go against their screaming with their purchase decisions. It happened with Blizzard... MULTIPLE times. It happened with Call of Duty. It happened with indie devs a few times, too. People need to get a grip and stand up for themselves more often, but It's difficult to imagine that ever happening.

[@ChristianNeihart]

GOG isn't competing with Steam. The bleedover between the two platforms is massive if not total. GOG would rather pursue a symbiotic relationship on PC than compete. That's fine and good and very much needed but it doesn't solve the problem.

[@libaf5471]

@@desmondbrown5508 Bit of a nitpick point here, but you're not buying anything from steam. You're renting. As far as I know, only gog SELLS you games. Yours to keep forever, no launcher needed.

[@CycloneFox]

Damn I forgot how extremely catchy that Grandia victory screen music was. :D Thank you for putting that in there, always love your song-choices, Jim.

[@Kona_chibi]

Finishing on the victory theme from Grandia?! didn't expect that to happen Jim!

[@akaimizu1]

Kona Chibi he’s definitely current. That Grandia HD collection just released a few days ago. So I guess we know what he’s playing between bouts of RE4.

[@FlamendeFlyvefisk]

I was really surprised too! Grandia I and II are some of my favorite games of all time. Happy to see them be represented, however small it might be. :)

[@kainhighwind2]

I really want it, but I can't justify the price atm, when I've had Grandia 2 HD for a couple of years now. I'll get it for Grandia 1 HD whenever it's on sale.

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

The thing with the Ooblets issue is it's a sad cop out to claim the victim. I really haven't kept up on the story but the instant they claimed they were getting hate mail every one circled the wagons to protect them. Even you Jim did so without any kind of research. I don't know if anything came to light yet but when it first came out there was pretty much nothing public pointing to this abuse. Certainly not the thousands of hate they claim. This has led to a problem in where Dev's don't even have to have hate mail, just claim they do and they can get away with anything.

[@SabishiiRyuu]

Been watching your vids for a while. Subbed only because you begged in tears.

[@DarkIrony]

Gotta like for the Grandia Outro music, great choice :D

[@reus3d]

came here to post just that. Perfect Victory!!

[@ItsShatter]

Man I wish I could articulate as well as you can Jim. Nice vid btw, I like your level headed way of looking at things

[@od1401]

If you sat down and focused on writing a well thought out, proof read, researched and edited script you could do it too.

[@ItsShatter]

OD yeah but he’s also just really well practiced. He enunciates, very clear. His insults are spicy as hell. Even doing what you say, I don’t think many could pull of his performance without years of commitment and dedication. Which it seems he’s given it.

[@qty1315]

May I introduce you to Zero Punctuation. He's arguably the best game reviewer at articulating his points and opinions in a succint manner. He just stands out more as Jim publishes 10-minute rants, and Mauler publishes hour-long video essays...

[@od1401]

@@ItsShatter Oh yes I agree Jim is great at this, he is a good speaker, very passionate. It's very hard to force that if you don't have it. Despite the fact I dislike certain things about Jim I am grateful for his relentless consumer advocacy and no quarter approach to the guilty parties.

[@DeadlyYellow]

Funny you should mention Disney when ragging on Tencent, considering the latter also funds the former.

[@AgentLayla526]

disney owns Everything holy shit i did not know that

[@19rcooper]

@@AgentLayla526 Other way round

[@LagrimaArdiente]

I definitely started liking and subscribing after someone explained how that helps content creators manage KZbin's BS at least a little better.

[@ScorpDK]

Tim Sweeney and Randy Pitchford must be bunk buddies. If you insult Epic by not accepting exclusivity deals, you are being ostracized from their ecosystem entirely.

[@shaamaan]

Hmm, interesting. It COULD be the case, but I don't think it really is so. I think they might accept quality titles after a certain period of those titles being already on the market even if they can't have them exclusively for the launch period. After all, they have plenty of titles that aren't exclusive to Epic - it's just that these are all older titles. I also have a feeling that if / once EGS has a more sizable chunk of the market secured then they may be less restrictive.

[@Crossfire12312]

Shaamaan In which alternative timeline do you live in?

[@shaamaan]

@@Crossfire12312 Uhm, check the store? They have titles there that aren't exclusively theirs (and those are small, indie titles as well). Do you hate Epic to the point where you start denying objective reality? As I wrote - those are all older titles, however. My guess is that they don't want to have their new titles compete with Steam, but there's clearly no problem with older titles joining the store.

[@Crossfire12312]

Shaamaan You do realize that Epic is an “invite only” store. All the game devs/publishers on the Epic store have in one way or another signed a contract with Epic. We have no idea what that really entails for truly independent devs... As you can see they clearly outright refuse some developers like spiteful assholes when they themselves offered to have the game on the store in the first place! Dealing with Epic must be a nightmare either way. And they wont ever improve, every promise they made they broke, most of their claims got debunked and they played the victim card on every occasion they could. Not setting a good precedent for future promises and endeavors if you ask me.

[@shaamaan]

​@@Crossfire12312 Care to link any promises they made that they broke? There was one thing where an Epic employee gave his opinion on exclusives, and people took it as the official company position which wasn't the case. Outside of that, I don't think I can recall any promises being made, let alone any broken promises, but perhaps I'm out of the loop. And because there's a lot of poo-flinging and a lot of accusations it's hard to find any credible sources. If you have any, I'll happily give them a read. The "invite only" nature of the store is, after all, what curation is about, for better or worse. This will be very subjective, but as far as I can see the average quality of the games they sell is higher than what's available on Steam. Of course there are worse titles there, but none of the absolute garbage releases Steam is riddled with. In other words; if you got a random EGS key and a random Steam key, then chances are the game you got on EGS would be of a decent quality, whilst the one from Steam... not so much.

[@mattwo7]

5:19 So, basically literally every major internet controversy ever.

[@LessDevoid]

My reaction to Epic exclusives is typically: "Damn, that sucks. I guess I'll just play the backlog of literally hundreds of games which I never took the time to play." I just assumed that this was the normal reaction. As it turns out, the vocal minority now makes threats of violence and such en masse. Stuff like this *really* makes the argument of 'Videogames don't cause violent behavior' seem like utter shit to the general public.

[@dplocksmith91]

They DON'T cause violent behavior. Folks who act like this are ALREADY violent to begin with, and if the general public used the least bit of critical thinking, they would understand that. Too bad critical thinking is an uncommon skill nowadays.

[@LessDevoid]

@@dplocksmith91 You can't rely on the general public or the media to use critical thinking. If it's not a knee-jerk response reasoning, they don't want anything to do with it.

[@TheAntiSanta]

There's more to be said about Internet Communities, leading people to be this way, than there is for video games. Cause this isn't unique to that. This shit happens in all sorts, whether it be about games or anime or cartoons or model airplanes or BTS. And, of course, there's all these bad actors, infiltrating these spaces, to try to recruit people to their radical agendas. Go to any video game forum today, and just look at how many people are bitching about political shit that's nothing to do with video games, or how much of this hate mail for Ooblets has some seriously fucked Racist/Homophobic shit in it. That shit ain't just came out of the ether, it was put there by people that realize there's lots of potential for new recruits in these spaces.

[@falloutghoul1]

@Moral Relativism It's not just radicals being radical. It's radical extremists finding new grounds to recruit people to their ideological causes, and most likely, *parents are unaware of this.*

[@Leonson1]

I consider it the early access period

[@vprjls102075]

You realize the way Epic is playing with devs is exactly like a pay-to-win game operates.

[@jensaversjo316]

No, no he doesn't.

[@Sintra4]

*Slow clap for being genuinely clever*

[@pervyturtle2673]

"we're going to have a grown-up conversation" says the man in lobster claws and a top hat. God I love this channel.

[@RAFMnBgaming]

Kinda reminds me of Lord Buckethead, and other such british political parties. The only grown-ups there are the ones who roll with how childish it is.

[@re11wind]

And the irony is that despite Jim's appearance, he does a better job of holding a grown-up conversation than anyone else on the internet.

[@pervyturtle2673]

@@re11wind Yongyea is pretty good as well but I appreciate Jim's take on things a little more. Yong can be a little dry sometimes and tends to drag out the length of the videos unnecessarily (I dont think any of his are shorter than 20 minuets). Jim tends to get the point across quickly while being entertaining.

[@n16r3d0]

No one knows the dangers of capitalism better than mr. Krabs.

[@lionocyborg6030]

n16r3d0 What about Cyril Sneer? He beat Mr Krabs to the pinch...I mean punch. (That was a genuine iOS autocorrect typo but I spun it into a crappy joke) But Milton Midas from the latter seasons is _even worse_ than Cyril, to the point of of rendering a lush pond teeming with wildlife into a radioactive wasteland in the semi final episode. (No, seriously)

[@ElSoMbRiO19]

* Merchantilism and monopolistyc moves happens* People: CAPITALISM Where is the free market that is the BASE of capitalism in that?

[@RAFMnBgaming]

Mr Lobsters.

[@uros.u.novakovic]

Can't wait for Jim to talk about what Drew from Respawn is typing on reddit.

[@spork8655]

Those guys have been sitting in the middle of a hayfield in drought country, sporting kerosene cologne and huffing butane, asking for a light. ...all acting indignant when they catch fire...

[@juststained]

According to shill IGN he was just reacting to "Toxic" gamer's and the shill comment section mostly agreed. Of course anyone who actually read through the Sub Redditt would see the vast majority of people were not being toxic but hey, who actually reports gaming news these days...

[@uros.u.novakovic]

@@juststained Shills at IGN are the reason I stopped following IGN for a while

[@YBPaladin]

I saw that! Jesus Christ, aren’t there people whose sole job is to stop people like Drew from fucking up their company socimedia?

[@SageofStars]

Just to put this in perspective, the guys who made Rebel Galaxy Outlaw(Shown in the background of the thumbnail image for this video) don't seem to have faced nearly the level of vitriol from their fans after making the unexpected move towards EGS, and it's actually a good case study, as it and Orb's dev took exact opposite approaches. RGO was announced to be exclusive with reluctance, with the devs apologizing for it, but then laying out why they did it(To help add polish to the Console versions of the game, which were then also delayed for that polish), and hoping everyone can understand. And while they probably faced some bad vibes over it, there was in no way the same outpouring of hate that Orb's devs got due their their antagonistic approach(It also helps that RGO was not crowd funded, and thus, didn't lie to steal money).

[@Aziraphale686]

Daily reminder that Epic has not made a single improvement to its storefront since its launch.

[@kionashi]

actually the regional pricing came after launch.......that's an improvement

[@aargut]

Meritocracy in Capitalism... hahahaha! Buy them out and let them eat 🍰!

[@ElSoMbRiO19]

you can trick the sistem with a big amount of money temporary, but it dont last forever, and customers are not brainless wallets. I mean, if you think im wrong, just look what takes first a monopoly from customers. CHOICES

[@Maniac742]

And what system would you propose to ferret out meritocracy instead?

[@ElSoMbRiO19]

@@Maniac742 As i said, customers love choices, and theyre not brainless wallets. Im not talking about the stupid "debate" of "comunisms/socialistas vs capitalism" Im saying that the time will show you all how their "bunch of money tricks" means nothing if you not satisface the customers.

[@Maniac742]

@@ElSoMbRiO19 Was talking to OP.

[@Eunostos]

@@ElSoMbRiO19 You have more faith in the classic "Rational Consumer" (Literally at the core of the theory of Capitalism as put down by Smith) than I do, because I think the science PR has become has undermined that paradigm to such extent that it's meaningless.

[@The_gaming_archaeologist]

Also, yay for Grandia ending battle theme.

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

THANK YOU I was trying to figure out were the music was from, as it felt so familiar and nostalgic, but couldn't remember what game it was

[@The_gaming_archaeologist]

@@nobodyinparticular9640 np. I only remembered because of a few streams and the release of the HD collection.

[@CaptainIcebeard]

I really disagree with the Ooblets devs being exempt from criticism because people threatened them. To be clear, I'd like for people who send death threats to live with that fear for a week, or even a day. Absolute shitheads. But the Ooblets devs did absolutely nothing to win themselves any favors, and to refrain from criticizing them because some people are scum.. I don't see how that works.

[@hadolfitler3316]

Unfortunately, because of the asshats who go too far and harass devs like them, their shitty actions of harassment, deaththreats and slurs overshadow the criticism regarding the dev's dismissive behavior towards their audience. As Jim puts it in the video " it poisons the well". So instead of looking at the devs for their poor PR, people will write off the criticism as " oh those are just those psycho toxic gamers who get mad over everything"

[@jensaversjo316]

Yeah, the Ooblet devs did what they did fully knowing the controversy that would happen and rode the coattails of it to the bank. I'm just fucking angry we always get the threat-crowd. They're making the discussion toxic to even touch.

[@jensaversjo316]

@@NekoDalian Oh, I agree. After the previous controversies though which had people trying to downplay it or go for "It's good for the future of the studio, please understand that." I think "Lololol muppets! Lolol !" was very much a calculated provocation. And the hate-crowd reacted predictably, and people like Jim and the staff at Kotaku, PCGamer etc can jsut wash their hands and go. "Well that means no legit criticism!"

[@helixier6629]

They conducted themselves bad yes, but the day after 3 gaming channels I follow, jim Sterling, Bellular, Yong Yea all have been pilling on them and stirring the flames instead of just saying “the devs tried to be funny/silly about it but ended up annoying people even more”. And instead of making it a throwaway comment they focused 20 minute long videos as their main story for the day.

[@kamillaarzt4559]

The main issue is that this is a game being backed by the people. It was crowdfunded through patreon. If the people that are funding it have an issue with how it's launched, there's something to be said about actively going against one's own consumer base just to prove a point. That'd be like telling people who funded mighty no. 9 that they can't be upset at the final product. The makers of Ooblets are not exempt from critique. It's fair for a community that funded a game to point out that they can no longer purchase it. Siding with Epic was a conscious decision that they made from a business standpoint, made the post directly after patreon made their recurring fee cycle for the month, and whatnot. I completely agree with Grenyn's comment.

[@garbageknights]

I have calmly and rationally decided to be irrationally and harshly angry with everything you said. Claws! CLAAAWWSS!! how dare you. On a real note, exclusives should be illegal.

[@shepergames3734]

I'm ok with first party exclusives like the ones sony produces because they can put tons of time, money, and energy into a single player game no third party publisher would be willing to invest in the interest of selling their hardware. That actually benefits consumers with games we might not see otherwise. Third party games that are purchased as an exclusive to a platform offer us consumers no benefits whatsoever.

[@garbageknights]

@@shepergames3734 even if I grant you that. How do you regulate what is and isn't "first party"? Is it the publisher? Because you can have more then one publisher. If you want an exclusive just tack on another publisher and done, literally will just mean more paperwork and that's all. It's not like movies are worse now that they don't have exclusives.

[@crazyinsane500]

From what I can tell, exclusive dealing by forcing exclusivity from 3rd parties is indeed illegal, if a company hasn't had a certain impact in the production of a product. So, God of War being PS4 exclusive, that's legally fine. Metro Exodus is not, though.

[@TG-ge1oh]

Exclusives won't go away. At least so I feel. At least console exclusives, since they are the very reason why you'd own a console instead of say, a general all purpose gaming PC. Exclusives within a console is kind of messed up... But if it's a natural progression of the current consumerist market, maybe it's us that need to wise up instead? I personally feel if I ever find myself becoming compelled towards buying a game to the extent where it hurts my mind to think my vendor of choice won't sell it till a year after release, I shall check my priorities and seek low-key help, at the very least. But that's just me. I know I don't speak for the masses.

[@garbageknights]

@@TG-ge1oh exclusives have gone away. Movie theaters use to have exclusive rights to playing done movies, but no more. It can be done.

[@SammyDrz]

I think the only thing I can't help but consider against, is the situation with Ooblets. I don't endorse the harrassment and the lies of course. I'm a normal reasonable person, at least I like to think so. But most regular people are understanding towards Indie Devs for taking that deal. It's rather short term in hindsight, but understandable. (Although you can definitly argue that it gives certain devs an out and makes me think they have no faith in their product actually doing well on its own.) But the Ooblets devs set up a lot of this toxicity themselves. From their condecending original announcement, which lumped in genuine critcism with arguements that completely miss the point, to their responses to anyone who supported them via Patreon before this game was a thing. Such great takes like "You're not entitled to a game." Well that's fine. But you're not entitled to an audience and their money either. You're not entitled to instant success because you made something. And such a response to someone asking a genuine question about their country not being fully supported by Epic is just unnesercary, rude and uncalled for. Once again though, I don't endorse the full on harrassment, obviously. But you can't throw stones and not expect some kind of large backlash. They could have just been upfront about their desire and need and that's it. Some people would have been mad and upset, sure. But they brought so much of this attention on themselves with how they acted which ended up bringing the crazies along with them. I just don't think it's fair to claim Ooblets are innocent of this and didn't become the cause of their own shitshow. One they could have easily avoided if they weren't such arrogant assholes about it.

[@YBPaladin]

Tin foil hat time! Gummberland knew full well the hate they were getting in order to play the victim card. Nobody in the “nerdy” hobbies who uses the internet could not have foreseen the hate that was incoming. This was a fucking ruse and everyone, me included, fell hook line and sinker

[@TROBassGuitar]

I've seen the angle tossed around by journalists that "all the ooblets devs did was go epic exclusive and this is how people reacted!" Pretty much ignoring the complete vitriolic drivel the devs spat at gamers

[@crazyinsane500]

You know, if you take a step back and look at the Ooblet's situation, they're just another Kickstarter scammer. They haven't made a game before, are making a VERY cheaply looking made title, have taken YEARS with no visible progress, are collecting funds from numerous sources, are jumping platforms whenever anyone asks for results (like what they did with Double Fine), are hostile to everyone, and hide behind "we're being harassed" to garner sympathy. Aside from not visibly using store-bought assets, what makes the Ooblets devs different from Digital Homicide or the Project Blueline/Police 1013 devs?

[@KABLAMMATS]

No normal reasonable person had time to wrote that comments on yt

[@PathBeyondTheDark]

It's never right to abuse even an abuser. You get the hell away from an abuser. That's the right thing to do.

[@gustavokupcevich7895]

I'd like to know, those who say that "you have to give it time, steam didn't work well from the start!" do they know that origin, while not good, started with the basics working? I don't remember hearing that Origin started without pre-download or a shopping cart, but that might be my lack of memory. Either way, fuck cAAApitalism.

[@ahok1937]

It even started with montly free games ;)

[@demollyon]

You know why I love this man? Because he is dangerous to the cAAApitalism and never minces his words. Hope more people start to think this way.