Having been a PC gamer for almost as long as I've played video games, the things you complain about are what makes PC gaming fun to me. The extra effort for the perfect gaming experience is exciting and well worth it.
I love tinkering.
What kind of game even needs that? First time I even heard about this. I'm legitimately curious.Disabling a keyboard driver to get a game to work
Fucking finally someone made a thread about it. And yes, that is why PC gaming sucks.
Uh oh the PC gamers are coming to bomb this thread I'm Out lol
At list on PC you get a chance to fix a game you like, while on a console you're stuck with what the publisher considered acceptable.
As for Batman, it just seems to be a crappy job overall.
Reinstall Windows, it always works.
I can't help but laugh at the responses of "but pc gaming is taken seriously", god I bet the publishers who push pc games back months, refuse to acknowledge a pc version, and regularly release buggy and unoptimized games at launch just love hearing that. What incentive is there for them to change, when the masses are more than happy being treated like shit by publishers.
These are not regular occurrences. Of the 200+ games in my Steam list, 1 (one) required me to replace a dll to make it work. None required editing ini files to make work (of course, many had the option of doing so to improve graphics).
This takes all of 1 minute to fix forever.
Agree with OP which is why I'm a console gamer mostly.
Booted up Mass Effect 3 on PC yesterday an it error'ed saying I needed a PhysX package. Didn't tell me which one, where to get it, didn't auto-download for me etc.
Consoles give an extremely simple experience - and I love that. Whilst I also love the fact that enthusiasts and tinkerers can tailor their game and experience how they see fit on PC.
I liken the console/PC thing to cars - stock vs. customised.
Group hug?
Good call in Cincinnati, force the review. Excellent job refs.
I just now reached my breaking point after not being able to progress in Arkham City due to constant crashes during the Mr. Freeze fight. I tried just about every fix I can think of: disable rivatuner-nope, disable D3Doverider-nope, evga precision-nope, restore all default nvida values- nope, update and restore drivers-nope, disable DX11 and physx- nope, and the list goes on and on ad nauesum for about an hour before I just decided to say fuck it, I'm not putting up with this anymore. There goes my money and about 6+ hours worth of play time down the drain. The time I spend to play games shouldn't be taken up with me pulling.
I have a gaming PC because I have the time and patience for it. Most people don't. That doesn't mean I enjoy tweaking things to get things to work the way I'd like though. I'm having the most fun when things are working the way I want them to, not when I'm working to get them that way. Just because I don't like tweaking things doesn't mean I don't like the end results.Luckily, there's a platform for people like that.
It's called iphone.
Easy, simple, one button controls even a cat can use, no options to speak of, no installations that can fuck up, no HDDs to replace, no save bugs, no fridge management, just play.
Perfect, really.
Wait, too dumbed down for you? Graphics not good enough? The games don't have the depth you require to engage and have fun with your hobby?
Well, now you know how it feels. Standards are relative.
Disabling a keyboard driver to get a game to work, editing ini files and replacing .dll files on a regular basis, certain settings like DX11 or physx breaking a game, windows updates interfering with your game in the middle of a session, limiting certain games to two cores so they don't crash every 10 minutes, poor optimization, games being broken at launch, shitty 3rd party drm, and a whole bunch of other crap that is still common place and shouldn't be tolerated.
Disabling a keyboard driver to get a game to work, editing ini files and replacing .dll files on a regular basis, certain settings like DX11 or physx breaking a game, windows updates interfering with your game in the middle of a session, limiting certain games to two cores so they don't crash every 10 minutes, poor optimization, games being broken at launch, shitty 3rd party drm, and a whole bunch of other crap that is still common place and shouldn't be tolerated.
I just now reached my breaking point after not being able to progress in Arkham City due to constant crashes during the Mr. Freeze fight. I tried just about every fix I can think of: disable rivatuner-nope, disable D3Doverider-nope, evga precision-nope, restore all default nvida values- nope, update and restore drivers-nope, disable DX11 and physx- nope, and the list goes on and on ad nauesum for about an hour before I just decided to say fuck it, I'm not putting up with this anymore. There goes my money and about 6+ hours worth of play time down the drain. The time I spend to play games shouldn't be taken up with me pulling my hair out just to get a game to function properly, or just work for that matter.
Severe sarcasm?
More like console gaming will never be taken seriously until it has this bs.
You're going to get a lot of PC gaf here disagreeing and mentioning how they've never had any issues. I completely agree with your points though, even with steam PC gaming has never been just plug and play, there always have always been issues and tinkering required, although I'm fine with that as I'm good at guessing what's wrong normally. I don't think it will ever have mainstream appeal tbh unless steam os makes great strides. For example updating to windows 8.1 caused an issue where all games displayed in 3d, i fixed it by reinstalling 8.1 appropriate drivers, but what would the average joe know? There is a level of knowledge and tech savviness required to game on PCs and there is no doubt about it, it doesn't keep it from being my primary platform but I can see why it will in it's current state never reach console levels of accessibility.
Edit: lol all the posts are as expected, sigh.
You have to fire-proof your machine instead of putting out fires. I rarely struggle with the issues you describe, probably because I keep things very clean and simple. I didn't install the stupid app that came with my mouse, I use generic drivers where possible, I run very few background applications, I delete any application that doesn't serve my experience well (even if it was installed by a game, as long as research shows I don't need it), I run Steam as administrator to keep non-Steam games from having issues, I don't use any virus protection outside of what now comes with Windows, etc...
That doesn't change your argument that you have to learn how to prevent and fix issues. Just sharing my experience with the platform.
I'm the furthest thing from a "tech nerd", I just google my issue and I fix it.
It's really not hard.
Well said, PC gaming can be great, key word: can. Its not always the "master race" so many want to present it as.
Your topic likely wont go over well with most people though, but there is a lot of true to what you are saying.
Ive been playing PC games since mid 90s, since Warcraft 2 and Doom. And its a common thing to fight and struggle with games to get them to work sometimes. Back in those days you had install all sorts of weird Sound Card drivers, its gotten better but there are all sorts of issues with PC gaming. Even when the user does everything perfectly.
There isent a single PC gamer who has not had some error and had to search the forums from years past in order to find a fix, ranging from editing files, installing unofficial patches/mods, reinstalling the game and doing all sorts of crap like they are Lara Croft, crawling to ancient forgotten caves in search for a answer. Anyone who claims they have never done that, is either lying or started PC gaming 4 days ago.
Sadly i dont think it will ever be fixed, too many variables, its a part of the package so to speak. Its one of the reason i just use my PC to only play Blizzard games and Minecraft, its been my secondary gaming device for decades now.
I think this is a very valid response -- yes there are some cases, but I suspect the vast majority of people never have to disable a keyboard driver to get a game to work. Some people do, and that's unfortunate, but a few people having a problem doesn't mean that PC gaming in general is not "taken seriously". There are some people who take it seriously and some who don't and it will probably always be that way. I agree that "taken seriously" is a bit vague -- Valve and Riot and Mojang probably take it "seriously", though Valve and Mojang have also made a lot of money off consoles. Of course supporting a console is not mutually exclusive to having a PC version. "Taken seriously" seems a bit vague to me even with the additional language about publisher awareness and public reconigition.These are not regular occurrences. Of the 200+ games in my Steam list, 1 (one) required me to replace a dll to make it work. None required editing ini files to make work (of course, many had the option of doing so to improve graphics).
This takes all of 1 minute to fix forever.
This is the main reason of my loathing towards PC Gaming. I can understand people who see this as a non issue or even "enjoy" this bullshit but not me. I was there, and I have no interest in coming back.
Insert the disc and play. That's all I want. Nothing more, nothing less.
It's not about being "hard", or me being incompetent to solve an issue. It's me not wanting to spend the time to fix issues, regardless how little time they may take. Again, I continue to put up with it however because I do love the benefits to pc gaming. So I guess I'm a hypocrite, though I just don't know if I'll continue down the pc road, or go with consoles for next gen and be done with the pc bullshit so I can get back to just enjoying games.
Happens all the time. Console gaming may not give you the best results, but it sure is easier.
I agree with both of these posts. PC is an enthusiast platform, and it's not possible to make it as convenient as consoles while retaining all the things enthusiasts love about it.Consoles give an extremely simple experience - and I love that. Whilst I also love the fact that enthusiasts and tinkerers can tailor their game and experience how they see fit on PC.
I liken the console/PC thing to cars - stock vs. customised.
If that is the case, then I hope PC gaming never becomes mainstream. (For the reasons I outlined previously, i.e. the consequences of limiting user choice in order to unify the experiences of all users)On the other hand, the same thing can cause immense frustration to those who aren't tech nerds aka 80% of people out there. PC gaming will never become mainstream unless these issues are fixed.
PC gaming is easier and less hassle than ever
These are also true.I have been gaming on PC since 1992, before that on AMIGA.
I can honestly say that nowadays it is easier than ever to game on a PC.