Quoting: TheSHEEEPSix seconds is not enough to explain fundamental mechanics of even simpler strategy games like Civilization, for example. What can you show there? A unit moving a tile, the purchase of a building, a glimpse of the tech tree, a camera movement over the map. That's about it, it has to be slow enough that people can still grasp what they are looking at.
That will tell you a tiny bit about the game, in some cases enough to tell you "this isn't for me", in others enough to pique interest.
But it also opens the door to not showcasing a part that someone might have liked, cause you just can't fit everything in there. And that person would then - based on those six seconds - decide to not give a further look.

It should not explain mechanics. It is not a tutorial.

But you can see that it is a tile-based game, with large world maps, city management, a complex tech tree, historical theme. Probably enough to see that it is a 1 unit per tile, turn-based, "I go you go" style of game. Enough to differentiate it from a tactical RPG with instanced combat in a small map, or a fast-paced real-time game with many units moving in coordination, or a province-based operational level wargame, or a "we go" style of game where you plan your movements and then execute, or a card based strategy game... You can get a good idea of scope, complexity, and of course theme and art style.

Obviously, it is not enough for a purchase decision. But for a quick look and first filter, it is useful - and then you can click on it and see the longer videos, more images, the list of features and developer description and so on.

Personally, a quick glance at the trailers for the "Builder" category allows me to distinguish games with more of a "first person survival game" vibe from those that look more like tower defense from the more management-like games and so on... and that is taking games that are already pre-selected and presumably somewhat similar. For a more general list - the new releases or the discovery queue, for example - it could make a lot of difference.

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Quoting: Duncthe original of which is definitely one of my top 5 360 games.

Wow, that's a lot of games. :D

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Quoting: BrisseA problem with the recommendations presented by the ML feature "Interactive Recommender" is that some of my best gaming experiences have been from short and focused interactive experiences which didn't take as much time to go through as some of my top games by hours played. Seems these games are not treated fairly by this algorithm. The recommendations makes sense in comparison to my most played games, but most hours played does not always mean most compelling game, and some of those most played games I'm actually done with and I'm burned out on those genres.

I think a partial solution could be to look at the average playtime for the entire user-base for a game, and then see how my time compares to that of the average user. If I spent more time than average, then I probably found it compelling. Some games are intentionally short, others can be huge time sinks. By looking at a ratio compared to an average instead of absolute playtime we can ensure the former category isn't treated as unfairly as it currently seems to be.

Yeah, using time played as a metric for preference is deeply flawed. But I don't think looking at averages instead is a solution, for some of the same reasons: maybe you put more hours than average, but it doesn't mean the experience is better than that from another game where you put less hours than average.

Ultimately, the ideal metric is asking users "do you want more games like this or not".

Edit: it looks like they already normalize for time played like you suggested.

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I quite like the 6-second trailers. Better than regular videos, that I never watch, and they could make for an interesting discovery queue or something (though I would like to have some text to help as well).

The machine learning part is... not ideal. I have the opinion that, if my personal data is going to be used to generate recommendations I should be the one controlling that. Which means it should run locally, with no one else having my data, and I should be able to change the parameters as I wish - granularly remove any data I don't want to be used, filter what games can be recommended (by price, OS, DRM and etc), and so on.

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Hmm, the message was a bit unclear. Do I need to redeem my key before it is released in order to get the update? I was waiting until they actually released something that worked on Linux before getting it.

I guess I'll do it anyway, not much point in waiting now that we have a set date.

And by this point, my expectations for inXile are low enough that even this exceeds them.

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: eldakingI will argue that DRM are only the software restrictions that enforce this policy. If you are technically able to make back-ups, but are not allowed to do it by an agreement, it is not DRM.

It's not DRM from the standpoint of "breaking measures" i.e. violating anti-circumvention. But it's DRM from the standpoint of placing a restriction. For the lack of better term, DRM-free implies no such restrictions, and that means legal ways of backing up your purchases, not ones that violate the terms of use, while technically not breaking any software barriers. I.e. saying that game is DRM-free but to back it up you need to violate the TOS is not helpful. I don't call such stores DRM-free.

Yeah, it is not helpful at all. But I think it is an important distinction for several reasons. The TOS may not be legally binding in some jurisdictions, or this part might be contested in court, or just the law could change. But once you put DRM to enforce the TOS, it doesn't matter if you have the legal right anymore, and it becomes much more difficult to change or contest. You need both legal means and a technical way of circumventing the protection. If DRM is Digital Restrictions Management (or Rights, if you prefer), the TOS is just the Restrictions being managed digitally (or not being, in the case of DRM-free.

But it is a big pet peeve of mine: different TOS or EULAs are a big difference between various platforms, but people often dismiss it. "Just use this alternative, it is the same" - no it's not, this one has a binding arbitration clause and shares my data with advertisement partners and uses the law of this other country. (Not that I am knowledgeable enough to make perfectly informed choices, because those contracts are bullshit in many ways).

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: scaineIt's literally renting vs owning.

No, DRM is about restrictions. I.e. whether you are restricted in your usage after the purchase or not. Steam requires you to use the client to install the game. I.e. they don't sanction backups according to their terms of usage (except for using their own backup method, which again involves their client and etc.).

Whether they enforce it or not is already secondary. DRM-free store should not stop you from legally making backups. And they provide downloadable packages for such use case. DRMed stores quite explicitly avoid that, because they don't want you to back anything up.

I will argue that DRM are only the software restrictions that enforce this policy. If you are technically able to make back-ups, but are not allowed to do it by an agreement, it is not DRM. For example: copy protection in a disk is DRM; a label telling "it's illegal to copy this disk" is not. A law that prevents you from uploading a video file or a DRM takedown aren't DRM; encrypted media extensions are DRM.

But no, it's not renting vs owning, not even figuratively. It is about enforcing restrictions through invasive means, regardless of whether it is either "rented or owned" (neither is technically correct).

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Regarding the Steam DRM argument: if you can just copy the various game folders and the game works without requiring you to be logged into Steam, that's DRM free. You don't need an installer available if you can just copy and use the software. Even if you need to copy some libraries or files from the Steam client or something, so long as it is also possible that's ok.

If it prevents you from using the copy in another machine, or requires you to log in, or prevents you from making a working copy at all, or have a regional lock, then it is DRM.

If you can't download a new of the game after you downloaded it the first time, that is not DRM. The service of having an online back-up where you can download new copies is separate from the software itself. Or if you need an account to make the purchase and download the first copy.

And, strictly from the DRM point, it doesn't matter whether it is legal or not. It only matters that there aren't built in measures to restrict your use of the software - whether it is restricting legal or illegal actions is immaterial. I very much think that several of those copyright laws and contracts are bullshit, but the point of being DRM-free isn't to circumvent those.

So, Steam has truly DRM-free games. That isn't necessarily the point, of course; people can simply disagree with Steam's policies (including their offering of DRM for other games, but also many other things), or prefer features in GOG. It is just a different store. (Edit: regarding the use of steamcmd, having a more convenient/more user friendly method of installing/copying/making back-ups of DRM free games is also a possible motive to prefer the store, even if the alternative isn't DRM itself).

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This is just a PR disaster. He could just say "sorry, it would be too much work and because it is already DRM-free on Steam I have chosen to prioritize other things for now". He could even mention that the intersection of Linux and GOG users is even smaller than both, it is a point that makes sense.

But no need to be dismissive towards any users - neither with their motivation ("against mainstream just for the sake of it", this doesn't even make sense) or their value as customers ("no sales to be made"). No need to feel defensive when people ask for something - it is because they are interested, just answer politely. And don't attack people posting about it, of course. (I'm also not sure if it is a good practice to bash the quality of your own work, but honest self-deprecation is the least of the problems here).

You don't need to give people canned non-committal responses, but you do need some common sense when managing your professional social media. Like "don't antagonize people".

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Really pretty and great soundtrack. Looks to be a bit on the short side for a visual novel, but I'm not sure whether that is good or bad - might be easier to finish it and get a fulfilling experience; it's been a while since I have gone through one of those big 40+ hour VNs.

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