Quoting: Ehvis

Quoting: MohandevirIs it TCP/IP, UDP or something I haven't heard of? Isn't UDP faster but prone to packet loss thus reducing the quality of the stream?

TCP includes the control mechanism to deal with packet loss (detection and resending). For UDP it is up to the application to decide whether to detect it and what to do if something is lost.

And still be faster than TCP? Or is it better to go with TCP, in that case?

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My knowledge of network traffic is limited but isn't the protocole used for game streaming involved? Is it TCP/IP, UDP or something I haven't heard of? Isn't UDP faster but prone to packet loss thus reducing the quality of the stream?

Sorry if I'm totally off topic, because there must be a reason why it's never mentionned. Please enlighten me.

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... Like, let's say AT&T decides to launch it's own game streaming service and begins throttling all traffic going to and from Google Stadia. This is what Net Neutrality is worried about.

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Quoting: NatedawgI get the sense that SteamOS itself isn't really Valve's end goal otherwise they would have killed it off, but rather it's part of a "Big Picture"... pardon the pun :D

It's already been mentionned a couple of times, but SteamOS is probably the solution that will be used in the prospect of a Steam streaming service. Isn't Valve at GDC today? Might have news about it?

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: MohandevirWhat is much more plausible is an all access subscription plan for the streaming service doubled with a buying option if you want to download and keep the game. You could do both at the same time. Steam is probably much inclined to offer such a thing and I'd find that awesome.

Exactly, as described above:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/google-announce-stadia-their-new-cloud-gaming-service-built-on-linux-and-vulkan.13792/comment_id=150924

I.e. there can be three options. One to buy a DRM-free game, two to stream the games you bought (for a monthly fee), and three to stream any game in the store without buying (renting, for a higher monthly fee). Such kind of store should be sustainable and DRM-free.

As of now, Stadia just offers #3.

Sorry! This thread is too short... Missed your previous comment. :)

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Quoting: eldaking

Quoting: MohandevirBut Stadia doesn't rent you games. It sells a monthly access to their game library. You totally have the right to think otherwise and not be interrested in that kind of service, but sorry, I just don't get your point.

Where does games with subscription services like WoW or EQ stands, in your logic? Might help me figure it out.

I'm completely fine with "monthly access" so long as you can download the game and run it on your computer, with all the implications: you can make a backup, you can play offline, you can modify the game, you can stop it from calling home using a firewall, etc. After the month ends, you no longer can download the game, you can't play it on the cloud, you can't get any other games. You might even be legally/contractually obligated to uninstall and not play after this time (though this is obviously unenforceable, I'm fine with doing it); I would not be ok with "destroying all copies", for preservation reasons.

Subscriptions are not a problem per se. In an MMO, or a multiplayer game in general, it makes sense that you would pay to use the game servers and the associated social environment. You don't even need DRM in this case - you could theoretically run the game at home DRM-free, but it makes sense to pay for a subscription to gain access to this feature. (I mean, in an ideal world where games are FOSS, you would also have access to the server software and you could self-host a game server instead of the developer's subscription being the only option, but this is ok enough.)

What is much more plausible is an all access subscription plan for the streaming service doubled with a buying option if you want to download and keep the game. You could do both at the same time. Steam is probably much inclined to offer such a thing and I'd find that awesome.

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: MohandevirAnd I'm pretty fine with the concept.

I'm not saying the concept itself is useless. It's a problem when it's the only way the store offers access and there is no alternative to buy something in that store (DRM-free), which essentially makes this store totally DRMed.

Quoting: MohandevirIf I want to replay it again, I get it at Steam after that. :)

And that's the catch. You'd need to find such game in another store, and nothing guarantees it will be there. Didn't Google want to make their own studio just for Stadia? What if their games will be Stadia exclusives? Which shows that Stadia itself already has a flaw, in contrast to offering a DRM-free purchase option alongside renting one.

Quite sure it's going to be Stadia's exclusives. In fact, it was specified during their keynote. On this you are right, but what I mean is that these stores and services can be complemantary. It's never going to be 100% Google. What you don't get on a store, you'll get it elswhere, unless they are inhouse games, just like PS4, Nintendo, Xbox, Epic (Grrrr!), Origin, UPlay, etc... Unfortunately, that's the name of the game. At least we don't have to buy a whole new set of hardware to get it.

Edit: Game streaming new phenomena... Subscription hopping. :)

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: MohandevirBut Stadia doesn't rent you games. It sells a monthly access to their game library.

Which essentially means it rents you all of their games, for a month. So, renting :)

And I'm pretty fine with the concept.

Edit: If I don't like the game lineup, I just cancel my subscription. And if there is only a game that I like, I subscribe for a month, play the game and be done with it. If I want to replay it again, I get it at Steam after that. :)

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But Stadia doesn't rent you games. It sells a monthly access to their game library. You totally have the right to think otherwise and not be interrested in that kind of service, but sorry, I just don't get your point.

Where does games with subscription services like WoW or EQ stands, in your logic? Might help me figure it out.

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This is all hypothetical, of course, but sure thing, if performances are good, I'd be more than happy to play AAA titles on a toaster, for a resonable monthly fee (10$) if it gives me access to all the gaming catalog (just like Netflix) and save the 1000$ my PC costs every 2 or 3 years. I might go ARM all the way and save on my electricity bill at the same time, be it on "Steam streaming" or Stadia. I may even run all of that on a Raspberri pi 4, integrated into Recalbox / Retropi... Who knows?!

Yes! I'm a casual gamer. :)

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