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PC gaming will never be taken seriously until it fixes the bs

feel

Member
I adore being able to tweak/fix stuff to my exact needs, I get so frustrated that I have to bend over and take all the flaws in otherwise great console games.
 
This is exactly why I like the idea of people now making "pc performance" threads for new games coming out.

There's nothing worse than going into a thread about a new game only for it to be shit on by pc gamers making pages and pages of complaints about drivers and performance issues and what card can run what with what settings.

Happens all the time. Console gaming may not give you the best results, but it sure is easier.
 
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?
 

Scrabble

Member
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.
 

kinggroin

Banned
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.

I completely disagree, and I love to tinker. OP isn't talking about tinkering. I hate all the shit he's talking about; been a PC gamer first and foremost for the majority of my 28 years as a gamer (I'm 32).

That said, I rarely experience issues on my PC because I use it like a console and don't load more than what's absolutely necessary to game. Otherwise I have a laptop for productivity.
 
I do think certain games need more attention on the PC platform but my experience hasn't been like yours. I'm not saying you're not legitimately frustrated either. Usually if there is an issue I just google it or search a forum for 2-3 minutes and find a solution. I think one game was entirely unresponsive to fixes and that was burnout paradise city... steam version. But since I got it on humble bundle (and already owned it on 360 a while ago so I didn't care much), I tried installing the origin version and it worked fine.


Uh oh the PC gamers are coming to bomb this thread I'm Out lol

Please don't post this antagonistic BS.
 

-MD-

Member
I'm the furthest thing from a "tech nerd", I just google my issue and I fix it.


It's really not hard.
 
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.

Basically this. PC gaming is already taken seriously, it's just two different (and overlapping) audiences for PC and console. On console, you're 99% guaranteed a minimum level of functionality. So my friend, who's been trying to get Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed working on his new gaming PC with absolutely no success (but can run it just fine on an aging laptop), is shit out of luck in a way that would never happen on consoles. The issues I had getting Punkbuster to work with Battlefield 3 would also never happen on consoles.

But on the flip side, everyone who bought the PS3 version of Fallout or Skyrim is screwed in a way PC gamers will never be, because not only can you upgrade a PC, but the actual issues that Fallout/Skyrim have on PS3 can be worked around or eliminated entirely after the fact even if the developer is unwilling to. The Dark Souls resolution fix Durante created is a great example of an improvement that is impossible to pull off on a console.

Two different audiences. You just want your shit to work? Get a console. You're okay with the occasional driver bullshit and want to enjoy the ability to tweak and modify your games to get the most out of them? PC.

Finally: I'm sorry you've been having troubles with your PC games. It genuinely sucks and no amount of other people telling you about the PC master race is going to change the fact that you can't play your games without bullshit you didn't want to go through. I hope you figure out how to get Batman running someday, just like I hope my friend figures out how to get Sonic Racing running on his system.
 

greg400

Banned
Take the good with the bad?

On PC you can put priority on settings that you deem important, something not possible on consoles.
 
I haven't tinkered with my PC in ages.

It's much faster to load and play than any console I've ever owned. But then again, I have 16G of RAM and an SSD.

All I do is download drivers and patches. And that's normal for consoles too. Have my rig hooked up to my 55" Plasma and wireless mouse/keyboard/joystick.
 

Clawww

Member
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.

Shitty console ports from console-centric developers/publishers means PC gaming is a joke? Ok bud.
 

breadtruck

Member
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.

Agreed. I may have had to do it maybe once out of all the Steam, Origin, and any physical media game Ive owned/played. I think the game was Battlefield 2... so yeah, its been a while.
 
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?

Did you update the drivers? Well, did you?!
 

LQX

Member
I kind of agree because as of late I think PC gaming is getting worse in regards to giving a pass to almost intentional game breaking BS like no controller support and shit like no resolution or K\B configs in the main menu of games. This is un-fucking-acceptable and I do not care if you are a Indie developer who by the way are the main perpetrators of this. So many fucking games of late that are only on PC are being put on Steam half-assed with no option to even reconfigure commands unless you go edit some ini file. Fuck that. Not even ten years ago did that seem as common as it is today.
 

Qassim

Member
It must just be me, but I rarely experience an issue with my PC gaming. I'm not saying others don't, but it seems odd to me. I use my PC these days more than my consoles because it is quicker, easier, faster, to buy, download, install and play a game. It's always faster for me to get into a game on my PC than it is on my consoles.

Windows is full of cruft and that is probably the main issues people have, hopefully SteamOS can solve that sort of stuff for people.
 

EGM1966

Member
I play games on a PC and almost never have to tinker unless we're talking getting some old game to work that was never designed for Windows 7 or whatever. I just don't get how people end up in this situation. I use Steam, GOG or retail disks for the most part and not only do the games "just work" pretty much all the time.
 

Smokey

Member
Go to consoles OP.

Although it's kind of funny how PC consoles are becoming. Forced to cache/install games, day 1 patches etc. Very rarely can you just pop in a game and play nowadays.

Good call in Cincinnati, force the review. Excellent job refs.

Crossing streams bro
 
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.

Have you tried deleting the game and reinstalling it? That tends to fix most problems. If it doesn't it's either your drivers or your hardware.

Occasionally it might also be Windows, you might want to back up all non-games and reinstall (make sure you have Steam Cloud enabled so your saves get transferred). It's unlikely it's the OS though if it's only this one game.

Regardless, I've never actually had any problems to that level. I've had game crashing issues before, but never to an unplayable extent.
 

Valnen

Member
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.
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.
 

Dysun

Member
Every platform has their annoyances. Tinkering with files, settings and drivers is what you sign up for with a PC.
 

Haunted

Member
Tried to play my 360 last week after a long time, pressed the big button on the controller, nothing happened.

Usually the light comes on, but nothing. Couldn't control the console, couldn't do anything. The wireless controller was just dead. I could start the console with the button on the console and the dashboard booted up fine, but there was simply no way to play the damn thing with the controller off.

Controller just wouldn't turn on.
 

dave_m123

Member
A keyboard driver..really? From recent years the biggest problem i have had is shitty Games for Windows Live thankfully that will be dead soon. PC gaming is easier and less hassle than ever
 

Guy.brush

Member
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.
That last bit of occasional tweaking or reading something up comes with the fact that PC is still an OPEN PLATFORM as opposed to all those lovely walled gardens all around us.

Why do I have the feeling that computer literacy goes down and down with each year?
 

Midou

Member
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've been PC gaming with self-build PCs and stuff for about 12 years now, I've never done or experienced over half of these.

Stuff like Windows Updates are user controlled, you set it when you first installed Windows.

Stuff like limiting a game to two cores I have not done in the last 5 years.

There are things in place now like GOG for old games, Geforce Experience is getting there for auto-tweaking, and more generally google is there to solve most problems in seconds.
 

Jakoozie89

Neo Member
For as long as I could afford it, I have been both a PC and console gamer. I think there are ups and downs to both platforms.
But, I do not understand people like the OP of this thread.

This is me being curious, not defensive or angry; I have seriously not had a single issue with my PC games since I started using steam in 2009. The odd crashes of course happen, but very rarely, and I have no idea how to edit an ini-file, and I've never used rivatuner. I can not, at all, relate to what you are writing in your post.

Theses problems existed earlier, sure. But I don't feel you are representative for what PC gamers are experiencing today.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
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.

The things you identify are problems and should be fixed, but I think you are maybe overstating their prevalence based on one or two bad experiences. Case in point:

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.

Arkham City is a relatively poor GFWL port hastily patched to remove GFWL. That it has hardware or software compatibility issues on a go-forward basis is not that surprising. It's a bummer. It's a problem. But it's not the average case.
 

Robin64

Member
Agree to an extent. I got SimCity 4 from Steam and no matter what I do, no matter how many "solutions" I found, I could not get it to run. Waste of money right there.
 

eznark

Banned
My motherboard blew up and I was able to go to Micro Center and replace it myself with zero problems.

When my 360 blew up it took like three weeks to get a replacement.

Master race.
 
Severe sarcasm?

Didn't you know cheap games, better graphics, higher frame-rates, ability to upgrade things, mods, game option customization, and having more than a single DD store suck?

OP, I can't say I've had too many problems gaming on my PC but I have definitely had a few minor issues in the past. If you're sick of dealing with it, you could get an Xbox.
 
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.
 
More like console gaming will never be taken seriously until it has this bs.
UJ94f.gif

HAHAHHAHAH. That picture mad me laugh waayyyy more than it should have.
 
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.

Or you could have googled the problem, showing you needed to go into Nvidia Control Panel and uncheck the "steroscopic 3D" box. I had the same 'issue' and it was as easy as right-click desktop>nvidia control panel.

Mark me as one of those annoying people who almost never have PC issues. Had a few DirectX crashes with BF3 (and BF4), but those seem to be out of my control.

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.

.
 

Scrabble

Member
I'm the furthest thing from a "tech nerd", I just google my issue and I fix it.


It's really not hard.

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.
 

Mogwai

Member
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.

Great post, I agree. The Lara Croft bit cracked me up ^^
 

Blizzard

Banned
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.
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.

And public recognition? PC is not a uniform platform like "XBox 360" or "Playstation 3" or "Wii U" or something, so I'm not sure that there can ever be public recognition of that. Perhaps "Steambox" could become a publicly recognized name for some threshold definition of "publicly recognized", but who knows.

In addition to the keyboard driver comment, I agree again with Durante about Windows updates for example. It is something that can be disabled fairly simply, quickly, and permanently. Likewise, it is very rare for me that I would have to edit a .ini file or replace a .dll. I had issues with PhysX with maybe two games in the last 5+ years.

To the OP, does my experience and that of others in the thread mean your experience is invalid? No, but if the problems you described truly were the exception rather than the rule, it does become a situation of "It is unfortunate you had problems, but if you are in the minority it may not be valid to draw a worldwide generalization from this."
 

Waaghals

Member
I have spent a surprisingly small amount of time tweaking and tinkering in recent years.

The vast majority of tweaking for me has involved older games and a couple of really shitty
console ports. Most games seem to work right out of the gate without problems.

If you start playing around with mods, SMAA injectors and the like, then things get complicated quickly, but other than that the last few years have been very uncomplicated for me.
 

Omikron

Member
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.

If you want a counter anecdotal experience, I haven't had any, of the issues described in the OP for years on PC. User experience may vary etc.
 
One of the downsides of the proliferation of technology is it results in generations of people who don't even know how the things they use work. Don't blame the device.
 

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
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.

Sounds more like an understandable frustration. Shit happens, fixes aren't always incredibly easy.
 
Theres way too many people in here saying he's wrong that it isn't hard or difficult.

I don't think he said either of those things. I think he finds it annoying.
 

Marjar

Banned
Well this is hyperbole.

The only game I've ever had massive issues with was Bioshock 2. That game crashes like no other. And it has godawful audio problems.

I will say that it still is an annoying part of PC gaming, but the fact that you can actually change things for an optimal experience makes it so much better than console, where you just have to settle with what you're given.
 

Durante

Member
Happens all the time. Console gaming may not give you the best results, but it sure is easier.
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.
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.

So why not just keep them separate?


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.
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)
And of course disregarding the fact that PC gaming in some forms (i.e. The Sims or LoL) is already more mainstream than console gaming.

PC gaming is easier and less hassle than ever
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.
These are also true.
 
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