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Why is PC gaming still considered difficult with too much tinkering?

Fredrik

Fredrik

Member
Pretty much every time there is a console vs PC gaming discussion going on there are a bunch if people saying that PC gaming require too much work compared to consoles.

I used to be a console-only gamer, enough to even get me banned by trying to shut up PC gamers in my console threads.

Then I bought a PC 4 years ago. Windows 7, i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 780ti. Windows preinstalled.

During these past 4 years I haven't "fiddled" with any driver or patches, I've just bought the games on Steam and everything has just worked with zero tinkering. The fiddling is taken care of by Steam without me knowing about it. Quite amazing really. Steam sometimes says that it has been automatically updated and restarts with one mouse click and a 10 second start up time, that's pretty much how far my tinkering has gone. If I want to use a controller I just plug it in and it instantly works and the UI in the games swap to indicate buttons instead of keys. Quite amazing really.

Honestly, PC gaming could be sold with Apple's "It just works." slogan from my point of view.

I swapped out my 780ti to a 980ti 2 years ago though, but even that was surprisingly easy: power down the computer, loosen the cables and screws, pull out the old card, plug in the new card, reconnect the cables and tighten the screws, power up the computer. Done.

Those who complain about how difficult PC gaming is simply cannot have used a modern PC with Steam.

You definitely _can_ fiddle with a bunch of stuff if you want to. But you don't have to if you don't want to, that's the thing. I'm one of those that don't want any hassle, I just want to play games, and that's exactly what my PC has let me to do.

So where does that complexity talk come from? From my point if view it's just as easy to game on PC as consoles.
 
D

Disxo

Member
Well...
They say that stuff out of ignorance.
I would ignore it If I were you, but that circle jerk really brought a stigma to PC's.

Not trying to be agressive here.
 
N

NoblesseOblige

Banned
It still carries the possibility of being more difficult when you stray from more standard cookie cutter builds. I enjoy troubleshooting though so it's never been a significant deterrent.
 
M

Majine

Banned
There are people who considers replacing a GPU to be a scary process, and I don't blame them even if I personally don't think so.
 
M

Mohasus

Member
You have an intel processor and an nvidia gpu.

Now seriously, problems will happen more often with PCs, especially in cheap ones.
 
G

GameAddict411

Member
PC gaming have definitely became more accessible over the years from more stable hardware and better software platforms to more affordable hardware. But the state of poor ports is still alive and well. Triple A games still ship in unplayable states to this day. Games like Dishonored, Deux Ex Mankind Divided, Forza Horizon 3 and Batman Arkham Knight are good examples. I think it's definitely a platform to invest in.
 
PleaseDontBanMe

PleaseDontBanMe

Banned
There's probably plenty of potential issues with your PC and you simply don't know what to look for or even how to diagnosis them if you were to discover it,


The average PC gaming enthusiast is constantly monitoring every aspect for the slightest defect/issue and when they discover it they'll work and tinker with it for hours at a time.


What you don't know.... doesn't hurt you.....for now.


check steam help forums to see the issues people regularly have to deal with
 
C

CecilRousso

Member
Some people are just locked in a certain way of thinking. I mean, there are people who still go on about PC gaming is for RTS and FPS, which hasn't been remotely true for over 15 years.
 
C

Crimsonclaw111

Member
GameAddict411 said:
PC gaming have definitely became more accessible over the years from more stable hardware and better software platforms to more affordable hardware. But the state of poor ports is still alive and well. Triple A games still ship in unplayable states to this day. Games like Dishonored, Deux Ex Mankind Divided, Forza Horizon 3 and Batman Arkham Knight are good examples. I think it's definitely a platform to invest in.
Click to expand...
Half of those performed better at launch and 3/4ths of them still run better than the console versions. So, yeah, idk.
 
M

Mechazawa

Member
The reality of playing on a PC is that you're occasionally going to have to troubleshoot a game that doesn't work or doesn't work properly.

I wouldn't say it's difficult. If you can google, you can generally get along fine most of the time. But despite developers releasing broken games, it's still generally more of a crapshoot on PC than on console.
 
T

texhnolyze

Banned
Because it does. Even installing a new driver update is considered too difficult for some people.

Anyway, some tinkering to get the most out of your gaming experience do exist, though they're optional in most cases.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
The only games that seem to have trouble these days are much older titles... and to that I say, at least BC is possible if fiddly. It's still relatively easy to play most 2000-era PC games on a modern PC immediately or with a quick google search, but trying to do the same with a PS2 or original X-box game without the original hardware....
 
M

Mushroomer25

Member
For the average consumer, building a PC is infinitely more complex than console ownership. Having to pick out parts, settle on a budget, and assemble the entire thing just litters the process with worry and concern.

A huge part of this is the knowledge that your experience could always be better. You could always spend 'just a little bit more', and have a better frame rate, resolution, etc. So no matter what, you're left to consider the experience you could be having - rather than the one you actually are having.
 
O

OfTheOverflow

Member
Been PC gaming since 2011, and it's a right bitch sometimes. Conversely, it's almost therapeutic to just sit down with my PS4 sometimes.
 
Elitist1945

Elitist1945

Member
To an extent it is. I've never had trouble with graphics drivers but holy fuck do my peripherals fuck me in the ass with their drivers sometimes. Spending hours trying to find someone online with a similar issue so I know how to solve it.
 
C

Cookie Dough

Member
If you can dress yourself in the morning then PC gaming isn't too difficult for you. Saying you can't be bothered with it is a fair enough reason, but the days of PC gaming being difficult in some way ended so many years ago.
 
3

345triangle

Member
it's not "difficult with too much tinkering", but it is frequently annoying for the kind of people that naturally gravitate towards macs and consoles. most people that use windows full-time have an extremely high tolerance for fiddly shit.

i've used consoles, macs, and gaming PCs for decades and you're kidding yourself if you don't think gaming PCs aren't significantly less user-friendly than the others. the difference is that a lot of people find that part of the fun.

Fredrik said:
Honestly, PC gaming could be sold with Apple's "It just works." slogan from my point of view.
Click to expand...

i love PC gaming but really this is just an insane statement.
 
H

HashtagLapsed

Member
I think part of it may be seeing the big PC threads for some games, not really knowing that you dont need to tinker on that level. It might seem like there are always issues that require work to fix. Of course, that is very rarely the case.
 
Fredrik

Fredrik

Member
Drillary Clinton said:
People have the misconception that you have to be an engineering major to know how to operate a gaming computer
Click to expand...
Totally, it sounds like this:
"Just bought my console, so happy, no more fiddling with drivers and patches!"

...and I'm like:
"drivers?? patches??"

Steam and Windows has handled it all for me, my PC is always on so I guess the "fiddling" happens while I'm a sleep or something, I'm actually amazed at how easy it has been.
 
T

theultimo

Member
Hardware isn't standardised. You have the most common hardware so it's less of an issue.

I've seen people gaming on more non-standard hardware, it's a crapshoot sometimes.

The benefit and curse of pc gaming though it's endlessly tweakable. You do have many options, but in turn it can become very complicated.
 
S

Skyzard

Banned
95% it's the fine, it's the 5% of the time with PC gaming that requires patience/experience/persistence. 95% of the time though it's plug and play...just when you want to get fancy (usually by having third-party stuff), it can get difficult (googling/problem solving).

If you don't have recommended specs, it takes more tinkering, of course.


--- you get a lot faster at finding the optimal settings with time. After while it's pretty much instant.
 
C

Chalupa Batman

Member
Because you have to keep upgrading it if you want to play the newest games every year with the full benefits that PCs offer. Whether that's the graphics card or memory or monitor, every few years something falls behind and needs to be brought up to speed.

If you don't care about being able to play the best version of a game, in terms of resolution or frame rate, then you are better off buying it on console because 1) it's cheaper in the long run (can be sold back) and 2) you're more likely (basically guaranteed) to get a working copy on day 1 since developers prioritize making sure the console version of their game works 100% since that's where most of the sales come from.

And there are enough things that go wrong with PCs since they perform many other functions that there may not be tinkering for you but there is definitely tinkering for enough people to turn them off from the experience. Being on GAF, you are obviously in the 1% in terms of technical knowledge. The average person doesn't have your computer expertise, even for something simple like configuring Steam.
 
N

NoblesseOblige

Banned
Then there's also the people who really really suck at using the Internet safely or are too impatient to allow a Windows update to complete, so they inadvertently screw up their gaming platform. That's why I stopped recommending PC gaming to some family, I got sick of being called to fix their computers because they infected it or shut it down prematurely when it was doing a major Windows update. So much easier to just tell them to get a console so they never have to bother me.
 
B

BurritoBushido

Member
I've been primarily PC for several years now, and I agree it's been pretty easy going. I almost never fiddle with graphics and have rarely experienced any problems.

That said, I still wouldn't blame anyone that bemoans getting into PC gaming. Price and knowledge are still pretty big barriers to entry. Things have gotten much simpler than they used to be but they are still important barriers. When things go wrong, it can be very, very obnoxious.

The simplicity of console is just nice to have. Just because people prefer things that way doesn't make them an idiot.
 
S

Soulblighter31

Banned
Chalupa Batman said:
Because you have to keep upgrading it if you want to play the newest games every year with the full benefits that PCs offer. Whether that's the graphics card or memory or monitor, every few years something falls behind and needs to be brought up to speed.

If you don't care about being able to play the best version of a game, in terms of resolution or frame rate, then you are better off buying it on console because 1) it's cheaper in the long run (can be sold back) and 2) you're guaranteed to get a working copy on day 1 since developers prioritize making sure the console version of their game works 100% since that's where most of the sales come from.

And there are enough things that go wrong with PCs since they perform many other functions that there may not be tinkering for you but there is definitely tinkering for enough people to turn them off from the experience. Being on GAF, you are obviously in the 1% in terms of technical knowledge. The average person probably doesn't have your computer expertise, even for something simple like configuring Steam.
Click to expand...

Everything you said from the first letter up until the period at the end is wrong.
 
T

texhnolyze

Banned
Mushroomer25 said:
For the average consumer, building a PC is infinitely more complex than console ownership. Having to pick out parts, settle on a budget, and assemble the entire thing just litters the process with worry and concern.
Click to expand...

Do people really still build their PC on their own these days?

I can go to the market right now, choose my favorite store, pick my desired parts, and let the store clerck build the PC for me.

I don't even have to touch the PC until I plug the cables and push the power button at home. Guess what, like a console.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
theultimo said:
Hardware isn't standardised. You have the most common hardware so it's less of an issue.

I've seen people gaming on more non-standard hardware, it's a crapshoot sometimes.

The benefit and curse of pc gaming though it's endlessly tweakable. You do have many options, but in turn it can become very complicated.
Click to expand...

Examples? This isn't the wild west of PC anymore, there aren't dozens of vendors for CPU and GPU and there aren't half a dozen competing standards for graphics libraries and the like.

The worst case scenario is you have some hardware that is generally not as optimized for and you get a bit worse performance... but it's very rare in this day and age that you have huge performance gaps for similarly priced hardware or hardware that simply will not work with games (unless you're using entry level data entry graphics/cpu trying to play the latest triple A)
 
A

atpbx

Member
The only time I have had to "fiddle" with my PC to get it to work has been as a result of "fiddling" with it to make it go faster.

When you just have the PC and use it as intended they work just fine, and have done for the past 20 odd years.

I realise this sounds contradictory with my second post, the machine I bought was a "pre overclocked" machine.
 
V

vareon

Member
Convenience goes a long way in convincing non enthusiasts.

I built my own PC 3 years ago, which was enough to play modern games of 3 years ago. For today's multiplatform games, I always wonder "Are they playable on my PC? Can I play it at comfortable resolution/FPS?" I feel those are unnecessary thinking when I just want to play a game, so I bought the PS4 version instead.

"Playing games with PC" is very easy. "PC gaming" which includes building a PC according to your budget, upgrading them step by step...has complexity that not everyone wants to get into. Some people, for example, count every calories in their food while some just eat whatever they want.
 
L

LelouchZero

Member
Console Gaming is substantially easier and more user friendly.

The setup process is short and intuitive, it also covers pretty much everything you need from the console.

If you don't know how to navigate and use a PC you're going to have a tough time, there are some help functions but they're nowhere near what makes using a console easy.

Most of the time the console is handling all of the updates for firmware and games by itself with minimal user intervention. There's also less options which make for a much more simpler and easier user experience, navigation is also very simple as you're just sliding through menus which are laid out in a simple and easy to understand way, like the Xbox One's OS:

mvLaQU7.png
Click to expand...

There's also many people who aren't very computer/tech literate, consoles open up a simple and easy way to get into gaming. The thought of navigating a PC terrifies some people, and understanding system specifications can be daunting for some.
I've personally seen this mostly from mature individuals who may not have been exposed to much tech or computers but it's not only limited to those people.

EDIT:

Just to clarify, I game on Consoles and PCs, I also don't find PC Gaming hard, but I can understand why some people do.
 
T

Tyraniboah

Member
Just built my PC about a month ago. Everything has been simple so far. The games just work and the only tinkering I've done has been in the graphics settings. The internet has a guide for everything too, so I don't know what the deal is with people that still think like that.
 
A

Alphahawk

Member
I think people who game on pcs regularly (meaning their primary content platform) overestimate the ease of it.

Like if I wanted to play Goat Simulator, on my laptop, I would have to look up the specs on my PC (which isn't really as easy as it should be), then, if I wanted to play it on the couch, I would have to hook up Steam to the TV and find out how to connect my 360 controller to it.

This is vs, just installing the game on my PS4?

Is it super complex? Not really, but it's also not super simple and 99% of the time I'd just like to opt for convenience.
 
D

duckroll

Member
Bought Nier Automata after it was delayed in Asia on Steam for two months. Tested it out and found the resolution really odd. Shrugged it off and went to play Persona 5. Come back a whole month later, launch it again. Still fucked. Even got a white screen graphic bug that made me have to force kill the program losing all unsaved progress. Learned that Square Enix refuses to support the game, so I have to download and manually install a third party mod to fix the game. #PCGameWoes
 
Pjsprojects

Pjsprojects

Member
My latest examples.

Loaded Lego city & fullscreen didn't work had to mess with ini file.

Playing Sniper ghost warrior 3 and it hard locked at the drove section.

I have been a PC gamer for years and will continue to be one but sometimes its just easy tie give up on a game and buy it on console instead.
 
A

atpbx

Member
texhnolyze said:
Do people really still build their PC on their own these days?

I can go to the market right now, choose my favorite store, pick my desired parts, and let the store clerck build the PC for me.

I don't even have to touch the PC until I plug the cables and push the power button at home. Guess what, like a console.
Click to expand...

I do, I did break from this and bought a pre configured one from OCUK in 2015, but it was clearly built by monkeys and kept over heating and crashing.

So I gutted it and rebuilt it myself and its been fine ever since.

So what I should have done, was order the parts myself, build it myself, and save £200.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Chalupa Batman said:
Because you have to keep upgrading it if you want to play the newest games every year with the full benefits that PCs offer. Whether that's the graphics card or memory or monitor, every few years something falls behind and needs to be brought up to speed.
Click to expand...

This is making perfect the enemy of better. Components don't get worse with time, the ceiling just gets higher. If I have a PC that's more powerful than consoles, it's going to remain more powerful than consoles even if it isn't top of the line.

To be honest this "if I don't have the absolute top of the line PC parts I might as well just have a console" line of thought baffles me more than the stuff about "complicated drivers" and "hours of tinkering with settings." There's just no sensible logic behind it at all.

LelouchZero said:
Console Gaming is substantially easier and more user friendly.

Most of the time the console is handling all of the updates for firmware and games by itself with minimal user intervention. There's also less options which make for a much more simpler and easier user experience, navigation is also very simple as you're just sliding through menus which are laid out in a simple and easy to understand way, like the Xbox One's OS:



There's also many people who aren't very computer/tech literate, console gaming opens up a simple way to get into gaming. The thought of navigating a PC terrifies some people, I've personally seen this mostly from mature individuals who may not have been exposed to much tech or computers.
Click to expand...

This is basically the same experience you get with BPM on Steam. Games (and Steam itself) are automatically updated. You get a nice, full screen, controller-focused UI. You do get taken out of it by games with partial controller support, usually just for launchers and external configuration utilities, but for the most part it does the job just as well.
 
H

Huge Succeeded

Banned
Chalupa Batman said:
Because you have to keep upgrading it if you want to play the newest games every year with the full benefits that PCs offer. Whether that's the graphics card or memory or monitor, every few years something falls behind and needs to be brought up to speed.
Click to expand...

One of the most common misconceptions regarding PC gaming and an absolutely asinine one to prop up. PC gaming isn't about min-maxing your benefits. Even a shitty PC offers baseline benefits and interesting functionalities. You're reducing what the PC has to offer as a platform all the way down to just being able to upgrade parts to the latest year, as though, if you can't have that, what's the point? And I'm just sitting here like... man, I know you've used a PC before so don't go down that road.

I originally edited this entire post out, assuming that Chalupa Batman was joking. If only! Now that I've seen CB's MO, the only part of this post I would edit out... is the part about 'knowing he's used a PC before'. I'm genuinely not even sure he has, now.
 
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