XCOM 2's multiplayer being removed but will still work on Linux and Steam Deck

That's not really particularly fair here. Someone has to pay for multiplayer servers to run. And the core game itself remains playable here, it's only the MP elements that are going away.

It's not like this is an MMO though. I assume the multiplayer servers exist only for matchmaking not actually running game logic. There are still plenty of games from the 90s where the companies no longer exist and multiplayer is still fully functional because they allow connections by IP or across a local network. It is pretty crappy for companies to shut down servers and never have an alternate means of accessing this feature whether it be privately hosted servers or direct connect options. Heck even if they just added an option in a config file to point to a new ip for the matchmaking service and provided documentation on the protocol, there would likely be people jumping in and developing out their own implementation if for some reason the official one couldn't be publicly made available.

Just shutting down the servers when it's no longer profitable for the company is just giving customers a big middle finger. It's just a calculated decision on their end that the number of people the action will piss off is less than the cost of continuing to run the server.

It not affect native Linux version but affect Steam Deck. StemDeck prefer: "recommended_runtime: proton-stable". So multiplayer on Deck should stop working too.

Did you read the article...?

I have no idea why devs hate dedicated servers.

Money.

That's not really particularly fair here. Someone has to pay for multiplayer servers to run. And the core game itself remains playable here, it's only the MP elements that are going away.

It's not like this is an MMO though. I assume the multiplayer servers exist only for matchmaking not actually running game logic. There are still plenty of games from the 90s where the companies no longer exist and multiplayer is still fully functional because they allow connections by IP or across a local network. It is pretty crappy for companies to shut down servers and never have an alternate means of accessing this feature whether it be privately hosted servers or direct connect options. Heck even if they just added an option in a config file to point to a new ip for the matchmaking service and provided documentation on the protocol, there would likely be people jumping in and developing out their own implementation if for some reason the official one couldn't be publicly made available.

Just shutting down the servers when it's no longer profitable for the company is just giving customers a big middle finger. It's just a calculated decision on their end that the number of people the action will piss off is less than the cost of continuing to run the server.

That's pretty much what I said, right?

That's not really particularly fair here. Someone has to pay for multiplayer servers to run. And the core game itself remains playable here, it's only the MP elements that are going away.

Well, with a FOSS-Game there wouldn't be proprietary, unreleased server-side bits so that nobody is able to host their own server ;)

True. But you missed the part where I pointed out that in a FOSS game you wouldn't have the script, voice, graphics, animations, physics, shaders, textures or the other bits that make a person care about the game in the first place.

I'm all for it. It's just decades away, I suspect.

wait XCOM2 had a multiplayer mode? I have 100 hours in it and I had no idea... has anyone here actually played it multiplayer?

That's not really particularly fair here. Someone has to pay for multiplayer servers to run. And the core game itself remains playable here, it's only the MP elements that are going away.

Well, with a FOSS-Game there wouldn't be proprietary, unreleased server-side bits so that nobody is able to host their own server ;)

I guess not. But there are plenty of proprietary games even today that allow you to host your own server, anyway. Valheim comes to mind immediately.

I have bought this game, but never install it. Maybe give it try? I do not have much time to play and can play too many games. In fact, I do not have drive space to install each game I can play.

I have bought this game, but never install it. Maybe give it try? I do not have much time to play and can play too many games. In fact, I do not have drive space to install each game I can play.

It took me 60 hours I think... On the other hand, it might be suitable to play a round (one fight) and leave it again. For sure a great game.

wait XCOM2 had a multiplayer mode? I have 100 hours in it and I had no idea... has anyone here actually played it multiplayer?

A few posts earlier in the thread:

This time it was. I played it with a Windows friend years ago.

Yeah, can confirm, I played with my brother on Windows some years ago as well.

I remember reading about a funny exploit someone found some years ago, where you make a team consisting of a high-level Specialist and a bunch of Codices. First turn, you grenade all the Codices to make them all split (while not actually dealing much damage to any individual one). Next turn, the Specialist uses the move where the Gremlin flies around and heals every unit on the team to bring your doubled army of Codices back to full health. That got patched out by the time the article I saw about it came out, though.

One of the biggest pitfalls of centralized multiplayer login or authentication servers and not just handling it peer-to-peer or at the local hosts side.

You mean the entire handful of FOSS games that are somewhat on par with commercial games?

Chicken and the egg. If gamers don't support FOSS games how will they ever get to be on par ? Have you actually looked at the finances of most FOSS game projects ? Many gamers here are more than willing to shell out thousands of dollars a year on closed source games but unwilling to give even $1 to a FOSS game.

That's not really particularly fair here. Someone has to pay for multiplayer servers to run. And the core game itself remains playable here, it's only the MP elements that are going away.

I suppose one big advantage that FOSS offers is that the game could re-engineered for LAN play though. That would work with some games, perhaps.

I'm all for FOSS in games, but realistically I suspect it'll be decades before we see any traction in this direction due to the complexity of modern games (art, music, script, voice, animations, textures, AI, physics, shader programming, core programming, plus any other middleware etc).

I notice you say unfair and not inaccurate. Not to mention that this is another example of why having servers run by players is better than by publishers. The cost would be on the players but the game would only die when the last of the players stop playing.

Chicken and the egg. If gamers don't support FOSS games how will they ever get to be on par ?

I don't think that's even possible. FOSS works on timeless products that can be worked on (and used) for many years. Most games are very much a quick turn around thing with a limited lifespan. It requires a lot of effort in a relatively short time which can't reasonably be set up as a FOSS environment.

I notice you say unfair and not inaccurate. Not to mention that this is another example of why having servers run by players is better than by publishers. The cost would be on the players but the game would only die when the last of the players stop playing.

The best games have both, such as Grim Dawn, where there's a league of centrally managed servers providing progression and match-making, but you can also just host a game directly through Steam's multiplayer.

One of the biggest pitfalls of centralized multiplayer login or authentication servers and not just handling it peer-to-peer or at the local hosts side.

There are a lot of benefits to it too, though. But it would be cool if, at least when they're shutting down their official servers, they released tools to let customers set up their own private ones.

Chicken and the egg. If gamers don't support FOSS games how will they ever get to be on par ?

I don't think that's even possible. FOSS works on timeless products that can be worked on (and used) for many years. Most games are very much a quick turn around thing with a limited lifespan. It requires a lot of effort in a relatively short time which can't reasonably be set up as a FOSS environment.

Well you can believe what you want but I believe one can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. If people are angry about a closed source game closing down it's servers but won't try to help support FOSS alternatives that wouldn't have that issue then I have zero sympathy when they whine about it. They continue to give money to the companies screwing them over and want to whine about how they continue to screw them over. Insansity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Well you can believe what you want but I believe one can either be part of the solution or part of the problem.

Sorry, but this overused sentence doesn't tell us - at all - if X is a viable solution in the first place.

Chicken and the egg. If gamers don't support FOSS games how will they ever get to be on par ?

I don't think that's even possible. FOSS works on timeless products that can be worked on (and used) for many years. Most games are very much a quick turn around thing with a limited lifespan. It requires a lot of effort in a relatively short time which can't reasonably be set up as a FOSS environment.

Well you can believe what you want but I believe one can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. If people are angry about a closed source game closing down it's servers but won't try to help support FOSS alternatives that wouldn't have that issue then I have zero sympathy when they whine about it. They continue to give money to the companies screwing them over and want to whine about how they continue to screw them over. Insansity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Wow, your tone. So condescending. No-one is "whining" - not a single person on this thread could be considered to be whining. And what are you suggesting exactly - that we all stop buying proprietary games and only "buy" (presumably, offer support to) FOSS games?? No-one... not a single person... is going to do that.

Because nothing is ever as black or white as you're making out. I buy my Steam games, and I enjoy playing them. Ain't gonna stop doing that. But I'm also a patreon supporter of Godot Engine and Wine-Staging (and Wikimedia, and a handful of other good causes), and I've bought a few games on Steam that are free elsewhere, like Tales of Maj'Eyal.

But what really gets me with your attitude is that I don't even KNOW how to better support FOSS gaming and you've offered nothing specific. Liam maintains a list of free games on this very site, but none of them have particularly well established, obvious ways to support them. Some only want contributors, some might want money, but often don't have an easy way to take donations. Some simply want publicity. Even a super-star FOSS game like SuperTux doesn't take money on its steam page. Pretty frustrating.

It would be great if these projects just spun up an Itch.io page and stuck their games under PWYW. But it doesn't look like many do, so in practical terms, how on earth does someone "support FOSS alternatives".

Chicken and the egg. If gamers don't support FOSS games how will they ever get to be on par ?

I don't think that's even possible. FOSS works on timeless products that can be worked on (and used) for many years. Most games are very much a quick turn around thing with a limited lifespan. It requires a lot of effort in a relatively short time which can't reasonably be set up as a FOSS environment.

Well you can believe what you want but I believe one can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. If people are angry about a closed source game closing down it's servers but won't try to help support FOSS alternatives that wouldn't have that issue then I have zero sympathy when they whine about it. They continue to give money to the companies screwing them over and want to whine about how they continue to screw them over. Insansity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Wow, your tone. So condescending. No-one is "whining" - not a single person on this thread could be considered to be whining. And what are you suggesting exactly - that we all stop buying proprietary games and only "buy" (presumably, offer support to) FOSS games?? No-one... not a single person... is going to do that.

Because nothing is ever as black or white as you're making out. I buy my Steam games, and I enjoy playing them. Ain't gonna stop doing that. But I'm also a patreon supporter of Godot Engine and Wine-Staging (and Wikimedia, and a handful of other good causes), and I've bought a few games on Steam that are free elsewhere, like Tales of Maj'Eyal.

But what really gets me with your attitude is that I don't even KNOW how to better support FOSS gaming and you've offered nothing specific. Liam maintains a list of free games on this very site, but none of them have particularly well established, obvious ways to support them. Some only want contributors, some might want money, but often don't have an easy way to take donations. Some simply want publicity. Even a super-star FOSS game like SuperTux doesn't take money on its steam page. Pretty frustrating.

It would be great if these projects just spun up an Itch.io page and stuck their games under PWYW. But it doesn't look like many do, so in practical terms, how on earth does someone "support FOSS alternatives".

A contributing editor to a Linux gaming website doesn't know how to support FOSS projects. This is the state of Linux gaming. You mention Super Tux for instance, how could anybody figure out how to support them ? If only there was a donate button on the main page of their website. Oh wait there is.

https://www.supertux.org/

I'll let you search for it, if it takes you more than 30 seconds to spot it then that's on you.

https://tuxemon.org/

Donate button at the top of the page.

https://veloren.net/

Donate button at the top of the page

https://www.vega-strike.org/

Donate button at the bottom of the page

https://www.redeclipse.net/

Donate button at the top of the page

Need I go on ? You have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not be able to figure out how to donate to a FOSS project. How about even going to Liberapay or Open Collective and search "FOSS" or "game" and you'll come up with a few hits. I swear humanity is at the stage where tying one's own shoes is a difficult task for many.

A contributing editor to a Linux gaming website doesn't know how to support FOSS projects.

You know, putting aside the fact that this is the "Gaming On Linux" website, and not the "Support FOSS Games" website, you're just being rude now, since I gave many examples of where I did actually support FOSS games. What I said was that doing so needs to be better.

Your attitude is appalling, however, so I'm not arguing further.