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Epic Games Admits In Court That Its PC Store Still Isn't Profitable
  • Marginally worse UI/UX (could be improved a bit by now, I haven’t used it for over a year)

    Marginally. It does not deserve all the hate.

    Way harsher build in DRM

    Doesn't this just affect pirates? I don't really care as long as it doesn't mean that performance is sacrificed.

    No proper offline mode. Its an opt-in feature you better have enabled while your connection worked and even then you have to reconnect every other day

    Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Steam also needs to phone home when you want to switch to offline mode?

    No controller support. I start the Epic launcher over Steam so Epic games get the Steam controller support

    What are you going on about here? Every single title I played from the EGS I could play with controller just fine (I don't do K+M so I play everything with controller and I never had a problem games just auto-recognizing both my bog standard xbox controller as well as whatever is build into the ROG Ally. Also the 8bitdo fighting stick works out of the box).

    No mod support

    First real argument against EGS I've read so far. But doesn't mods just replace files in the file system anyway? What would you need a storefront support for?

    No forums and communities (I know a lot of people don’t need these, but still a missing feature for others)

    Yeah, they aren't for me either, but I can see that there are people who would see this as something positive to have. But then again, isn't everything running in discord today anyway?

    no community reviews, you better belive what the paid critics tell you

    I trust those reviews a lot more than fickle gamers who review bomb games because some dev said something that goes against their beliefs.

  • Epic Games Admits In Court That Its PC Store Still Isn't Profitable
  • What does Epic offer other than doing the same things Steam does but less well and in a different app?

    I'm not going to count, but by my best guess I have now 100+ games on EGS that I haven't paid a penny for. For me that's a rather large incentive to have the EGS client installed on my PCs. And once I have both installed anyway, I don't see any difference between buying on Steam vs. Epic. I just use whatever is cheaper at the moment.

  • Epic Games Admits In Court That Its PC Store Still Isn't Profitable
  • They have a cart like any other storefront. I'm not sure if this was something they had from day one, but at least it's not something new to the store at this point. But even if there weren't a cart, how realistic is the scenario for the typical user that they go and buy 10 games all at once? Sounds to me like some fictional scenario to heap unwarranted hate on the epic store.

    I mean I get it if someone says "I don't really mind either way, but if I had to choose I'd rather buy on Steam because it's slightly more convenient". But the EGS gets so much hate everywhere and my question is what the problem is with the store that would warrant that much hate? I really don't understand where that much vitriol is coming from.

  • Epic Games Admits In Court That Its PC Store Still Isn't Profitable
  • I don't really get that sentiment. You buy a game -> You download the game -> You press the icon on the desktop/start menu/wherever -> you play the game.

    What does it matter what store the game was bought on? The buying experience is a typical store experience on each platform. On my fiber connection the download speeds between epic and steam are both maxing out, and both synchronize saves across my PC and Ally. What else is there that makes one store so much better than the other, other than fanboyism and nostalgia?

  • Why games are too big
  • Now you're talking about the quality of a game. That's a completely different discussion. I obviously take a good, short game over a long, bad game as well. But given that the quality is equal in all aspects, I would always take the longer game over the shorter one.

  • Why games are too big
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 would be just as fulfilling of an RPG at half the length

    I could take courses on rhetoric for the rest of my life and still wouldn't be able to disagree more with that statement. If anything the game could need an act or two more.

    Honestly, whenever I see someone complaining about a long game I wonder why they are in such a rush to finish it. What's the problem with a 500 hour game? Just take your time. No need to finish it whenever you're done with it, even if it's only years later. But I guess gamers today just need their next dopamine fix and can't be bothered anymore to invest some time into a game. After all the next overhyped game is just a week or so away and it absolutely needs to be played right at release! Best make every game like a 2 minute tiktok so gamers can consume at an even higher rate!

  • Season 2 announced for Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou • Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon
  • Yes, I wish people would get off their high horse about it. It's easily one of the best non-human isekai novels and the anime adaptation was decent enough to not warrant all those "how high were they hur durr" and "peak anime oink oink" comments.

    What I am surprised though is that a second season would most likely bring us past what is written in the source material.

  • Unity apologises.
  • The trust is gone and Unity will never be able to gain it back. The damage is done.

    I also wonder if this is just playing out as planned by Unity. Try to push out a change that will piss people off by adding a more egregious change and then say "we hear you" and roll back to the change they wanted to push initially.

  • hardware: use TV as a monitor?
  • Depends on the TV. For gaming, it would be essential that it has some form of gaming/low latency mode.

    Also, why would you pay extra for a "good" main board? That's literally the one thing where you can go cheap without a problem if you're not investing in the high-end segments of the other components.

    As a sidenote: have you looked at something like a SteamDeck for your kid? It's a full fledged PC that you kid can hook up to the TV and if you want to watch something on it the kiddo can still use it with the build in display. the base model is also dirt cheap for what you get.

  • Baldur's Gate 3: Act 3 Bugs and Missing Content Becoming a Problem as More Players Near End
  • Same here. The only obvious bug I encountered was that Gale somehow was convinced that he and I spent a night together, which we definitively didn't. I liked Act 3 best though. It felt like all the threads that were set up in the first two acts were coming together for a satisfying /interesting conclusion (stuff like the stolen Gith egg for example). I feel like the 3rd act swims or sinks depending on how many plotlines you've set up in your game until then.

  • Soulframe is Elden Ring meets Ghost of Tsushima, but with 'Disney princesses' - PCGamesN
  • I genuinely felt tears well up in my eyes as we watched the Torment Stag boss fight – that moment cemented the fact that I want to play this game.

    I somehow have my problems trusting a reviewer who gets teary-eyed because of watching some gameplay video.

  • Lightnovels releasing this week: (July 31. - August 6.)

    | Date | Title | | --- | --- | | 31st Monday | Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters! Volume 1 | | | Perry Rhodan NEO Volume 14 | | | Hell Mode Volume 6 | | 1st Tuesday | Monster Tamer Volume 14 | | | The Misfit of Demon King Academy, Vol. 1 | | | 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! Vol. 4 | | | The Case Files of Jeweler Richard Vol. 5 | | 3rd Thursday | When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace Volume 7 | | | The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist Volume 1 | | 4th Friday | My Friend's Little Sister Has It In for Me! Volume 10 | | | Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Trusted Companions Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to the Gift of an Unlimited Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge on My Former Party Members and the World Volume 4 |

    Ps.: If someone has a good place with easy-to-compile upcoming releases it would be nice to let me know.

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    **Lightnovels releasing this week:** (July 24. - 30.)

    | Date | Title | | ---- | ----- | | 21st Friday | Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess Volume 1 | | | Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀ Volume 9 | | | The Game Master Has Logged In to Another World Volume 3 | | 24th Monday | The Invincible Little Lady Volume 3 | | 25th Tuesday|Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! Vol. 3 | | |Ayakashi Triangle Vol. 4 | | |Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 4| | |Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 9| | |Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! (Light Novel) Vol. 16 | | |Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash (Light Novel) Vol. 3 | | |She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man (Light Novel) Vol. 8 | | |Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang (Novel) Vol. 1 | | |Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō (Light Novel) Vol. 2 | | 26th Wednesday | Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up Volume 2 | | | Ascendance of a BookwormPart 5 Volume 5 | | 27th Thursday | The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles Volume 4 | | | I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage Volume 3 | | 28th Friday | Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes: Breezing through the Future as an Oppressed Ex-Hero Volume 3 | | | You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! Volume 1 |

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    AnimeNewsNetwork: The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Author Satoshi Wagahara Launches New Title
    www.animenewsnetwork.com The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Author Satoshi Wagahara Launches New Title

    Shokurakuen -Meshitopia- novel centers on food dystopian society obsessed with healthy food

    The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Author Satoshi Wagahara Launches New Title

    Title will be "Shokurakuen -Meshitopia- Hōshoku Society" and sounds to me like Shimoneta with Fastfood. Could be fun.

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    J-Novel Club licensed 7 new titles [Anime Expo 2023]
    forums.j-novel.club [CONVENTION APPEARANCE] Anime Expo 2023 with J-Novel Club!

    New light novels series! I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages' Guild! 8th Loop for the Win! With Seven Lives' Worth of XP and the Third Princess's Appraisal Sk...

    [CONVENTION APPEARANCE] Anime Expo 2023 with J-Novel Club!

    The Titles are:

    I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons

    Synopsis

    Duchess Leticia Dorman has been betrothed to Crown Prince Clarke since age seven. She was once a rambunctious and free-spirited child, but the strict education she’s receiving to make her a fit future princess has really put a cramp in her lifestyle. Her only hope is that the prince might someday take an interest in someone else—so when Clarke shows up to a royal ball with an unknown woman at his side, Lettie is overcome with delight, presuming her dream has come true and her engagement has been broken off! She wastes no time retreating to an easygoing countryside life, but her newfound peace is cut short when the prince shows up and claims she’s still his fiancée! Clarke is determined to win Lettie over and marry her, while Lettie is determined to resist his charms and escape! Who will emerge victorious in this heart-pounding battle of wills?

    ---

    My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages' Guild!

    Synopsis

    Magic is everything to Noelle. She loves it so much that she puts up with her horrible job at the Mages’ Guild to practice it. The hours are long, the pay is rock-bottom, and the boss is a nightmare! But as long as she has magic, she can withstand the hardships. At least, until the day she hears these dreaded words:“You’re fired.” Noelle’s hometown in the outskirts of the kingdom doesn’t offer many alternatives for a career in magic—especially now that she’s been blacklisted from guild work! Just when it seems like all hope is lost, Noelle’s old friend Luke shows up to give her an opportunity she never could have imagined: a job as a royal court magician. Now Noelle is living the dream, rubbing shoulders with the kingdom’s greatest magicians and showing off her skills. She has a beautiful new workplace and a generous new boss, but how will she cope with intense entrance exams, her marriage-obsessed mother, and the rules of etiquette? What awaits Noelle in her magical new career?

    ---

    8th Loop for the Win! With Seven Lives' Worth of XP and the Third Princess's Appraisal Skill, My Behemoth and I Are Unstoppable!

    Synopsis

    Master swordsman, sage, dragon knight... Remille can’t believe his ears when the princess lists off his possible futures. Born to a lesser noble house, he’s never been anything but a low-level adventurer. In fact, he’s lived that same life seven times—always forming an adventuring party with his friends at age fifteen, and always giving his own life to save theirs three years later. But not this time. The eighth loop is going to be different. After his most recent death reveals his friends’ treachery, Remille finally takes a different path that leads him to Princess Ciel, wielder of the powerful Eye of Appraisal that can judge anyone’s true potential. Will her wild claims about Remille’s future come to pass? With her guidance, can he really become a great sage or a rider of dragons? Is the adorable catlike familiar he’s tamed in past lives really a mighty behemoth, the strongest of the magical beasts? And will he really be able to escape the deadly destiny that’s claimed his life seven times already...?

    ---

    The Retired Demon of the Maxed-Out Village

    Synopsis

    After hearing there’s a demon lurking in a village near the border, Albrea, the kingdom’s strongest knight, sets out to slay the monster. When she arrives in town, however, she quickly discovers that all is not as it seems. It turns out the humble town of Montt has a lesser-known nickname—the Maxed-Out Village—and the mighty demon is a retired old man! Montt is also inhabited by a stew-loving demonic sword that likes to take the form of a young girl, a money-grubbing witch, and a drunken priest known as the Holy Fist... Just what are so many of the kingdom’s greatest defenders doing in such a remote town? Through her encounter with the kindly old demon and the rest of the Maxed-Out Village, Albrea will learn what it truly means to be a knight!

    ---

    Back to the Battlefield: The Veteran Heroes Return to the Fray!

    Synopsis

    The century-long war with demons was finally brought to a close by seven young heroes who slew the demon lord, routed the demon army, and ultimately led humanity to victory. The heroes then went their separate ways, and the land has been at peace for twenty-five long years...until now. Alan Granger, a former hero, enjoys a quiet life as a commander in the Royal Knights until the day he receives a report that shakes him to his core: the demon army has returned! He immediately knows what he must do—gather his old compatriots and face the demon army once again. But Alan and his friends are now all in their forties, while the demons are more powerful than ever. Do these veteran heroes have what it takes to leap back onto the battlefield and save the world a second time?

    ---

    Knight's & Magic

    Synopsis

    Kurata Tsubasa is not your average citizen. Sure, he’s a genius programmer and software engineer, but as far as he’s concerned, his most important trait is that he’s a hardcore mecha nerd. So, what happens when you take that nerd and reincarnate him into a fantastic world of swords and sorcery? Well, you’d think he’d be disappointed...but this world has magical giant robots! Obviously, Tsubasa—reborn as Ernesti Echevalier—now wants to devote his life entirely to these wondrous pieces of technology. But how exactly can young Ernie achieve his ultimate goal of getting his very own mech? He’ll have to rely on his imagination, uninhibited by the common sense of this new world, as well as his extreme dedication and focus! He also might just find help in the form of a rather interesting quirk...

    ---

    Fiancée No More: The Forsaken Lady, the Prince, and Their Make-Believe Love

    Synopsis

    Estelle Flozeth is the sister of a countryside earl, and her newfound ability to see others’ emotions through their mana has brought her nothing but trouble! Her life drastically changes one day when her childhood friend and fiancé is swept away from her by the daughter of a capitalist. Heartbroken, Estelle attends a ball and winds up meeting Prince Arcrayne, a wicked man who soon finds out about her special power and decides he must have her for himself! To that end, he proposes to her and begins acting like a veritable Prince Charming, pretending he fell in love with her at first sight—a charade that might fool everyone else, but not Estelle and her perceptive powers. Yet in spite of everything, she gradually finds herself drawn to the prince... Will their make-believe love blossom into the real thing? Find out in this reluctant Cinderella story fraught with political intrigue!

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    Light Novel Pet Peeves

    I read around 200 volumes of light novels per year and generally, I really enjoy my time with most of them. But there are some things coming up again and again in many light novels that make me angry. I'm sure everyone here has some light novel pet peeves and I'd like to hear what they are. Here are some of mine and my thought about them:

    • Extremely oblivious main characters: There are so many main characters, especially in isekai stories, that are ridiculously overpowered but somehow still behave like timid little lambs that are scared of every random trash mob. I have no idea why this is something I see so often. My working theory is that it is something related to Japanese culture where assertive personalities are generally disliked. Especially by the default target audience of those types of power fantasies. This would also explain my second pet peeve...
    • Extremely passive main characters: I hate the terms "alpha and beta males" with a passion, but why oh why are so many light novel protagonists such hopeless omega males? Are authors really so scared to lose their audience if their main character doesn't let everyone trample all over them? I don't mind it if a character has a timid disposition but the extremes in which some characters are portrayed in this regard are just beyond the pale. I simply cannot fathom how anyone can enjoy reading from such a character's point of view. To me, it's just infuriating.
    • Isekai element not used as a plot device but a narrative crutch: A.k.a. "Isekai for isekai's sake". Let me explain what I mean. Every now and then I read a isekai light novel and wonder why the hell it is an isekai in the first place. The only way they use the isekai element is as a crutch for newbie authors to help explain the world to the reader. Writing good exposition prose seems to be a hard problem to tackle. But instead of trying to write some good exposition I often get the feeling many authors just go the isekai route instead. After all, if the protagonist doesn't know anything about the world it's normal to have him question even the most mundane (mundane to the inhabitants of the isekai world) things. It's also easier to say "The monster was as large as a bus" than to explain it in fantasy-appropriate terms. Compare this to something where being from another world is used as a major plot device instead. For example, Myne using her knowledge to create printing presses in Bookworm. But this is also something that can backfire, which would bring me to my last point...
    • Protagonists somehow having extensive knowledge about things outside their sphere of expertise: One example would be a isekai lightnovel (was so utterly forgettable that I can't even remember its name anymore) where some high schooler (obviously) could recreate modern weaponry and car engines from memory. Authors often think having a general knowledge of how something works is enough to recreate it with no problem. Using Bookworm again as a positive example I'd like to point out how much time is spent by her and the other characters in this story on R&D to turn her general knowledge into something actually actionable. But no, some protagonists can apparently just recreate a pump action shotgun because they've seen in movies how they are used. Who cares about the workings of the mechanical parts of the loading mechanism, the chemical compounds of the blackpowder (and how to get those in the first place) or how to create a firing cap. I mean, this is a fantasy story, why not come up with some random shit why it works? Like in Average abilities for example with the magic system build on sentient nanobots that figure out the pesky details for the protagonist instead of trying to sell me that a high schooler would have the knowledge to create something from scratch.

    ***

    I have a lot more pet peeves that trigger me but I'd like to hear yours instead of writing another wall of text.

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    What novel(s) have you read this week, and what do you think about it? [Week 23]

    Let's start out this community with the weekly thread from r/lightnovels.

    Feel free to discuss what you have read last week.

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    NineSwords @lemmy.ml
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