But that is still preferable over no vouchers. The point is, that the machine gets more expensive because of the vouchers, so that Valve does not pay from their own pocket. This way the system gets more expensive for those who don't want to use it for gaming and have less incentive of buying it. And for the gamer, they would buy games anyway, so its not a big deal.
The only problem with that is, that the system gets more expensive and that is bad.
Little late reply here... It just occured to me, that there could be a solution to this voucher selling problem. If you purchase the Steam Machine on the Steam page with your Steam account, then you could get the money onto your account. So selling it wouldn't be possible. However, they could buy and sell items from the Steam item shop...
I actually played Team Fortress 2 before Overwatch and Paladins and Marvel Rivals. And actually I have TF2 Classified installed since weeks. Just need to find time to get into. So yeah, but I want a new game.
Nice some Deadlock postings. I still think the game will be released and marketed to the public with the launch of the Steam Machine. Which would make it a launch title sort of, at least by perception. Imagine the game is invite only and has over 100k players daily. I'm curious to how this game will be monetized.
Overall I don't speak much about this update itself, because I tested the game a year ago. And stopped playing because it was not exactly what I was hoping for, a Overwatch clone. Instead it is a MOBA with hero shooter controls and mechanics.
Valve is also the only company out of these big gaming companies who do lot of Open Source (working on it and funding other projects) and care about Linux. It maybe coincidental, but these care and goals align with my personal interests. No other company in the gaming industry does that to this extend, plus its an open platform. And being a private company brings also lot of freedom to not listen to shareholders.
The only thing is, that Steam itself is not Open Source... and the uncertainty what will happen if one day Gabe will no longer control...
Being transparent about stable prices without shady experiments is the first step of trust. Years ago Steam got rid of dynamic prices during sales, where prices during sales for games would change. While not exactly the same thing as Sony does, its still good we got stable and reliable prices.
I’m hoping Steam comes in and just destroys console gaming forever.
It's a wishful thinking. Consoles "should" be priced cheaper than PCs, as they are closed down and can subsidies prices. Initial console price was always a big deal. And because it is closed down, they can arrange exclusivity deals, which is a huge, maybe even bigger huge, reason to buy a console than its initial price. A Steam Machine does not have any of these crucial points. But Steam shows the gamers and the industry a lot and is an evolutionary step towards a PC centric gaming culture. The ARM based PC race is in full development and could revolutionize consoles in the future. And Linux is behind all of that. :-)
But why couldn’t they release it at the stupid $900 price point, but then offer a $100 - $200 Steam voucher along with it?
I didn't think about this; actually a good idea to "force" people into buying Steam and getting into the eco system. Really good point.
Edit: I just read another reply with a really good point. They could just sell the vouchers, even with a slight discount. So a really good point is beaten by another really good point. :D
My assumption is, that "fully modded" refers to a state, where the game is like an entire new release (new game or Remaster in example). Partially modded could be in example just changing a few things, without altering the entire game, maybe new weapons or a new character or a region of the map changed. There is no clear definition what these vague terms mean. I just provided a vague answer to a vague question about a vague topic. :D
That Steam is actually a competitor to Playstation. Even more so with the Steam Deck and future Steam Machine in living room. It's no longer this "oh it's PC, a different audience".
Apex Legends. The game was working on Linux before they they took it away. On https://areweanticheatyet.com/ I see it uses Easy Anti Cheat and Hyperion. No word on Javelin. So looks like games using Hyperion wouldn't still be supported? The list of Javelin games on https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/EA_Javelin shows that I am not much interested into those games. It's for the most part Battlefield and sports games. Well maybe I could try out Battlefield 6 someday, that is probably best game from this list.
Pure black background makes it unreadable for me. When I encountered this on websites, i use the Firefox function to turn it into a black on white background theme, so my eyes don't hurt reading longer text. Same logic applies to the terminal, especially when programming. I think pure black as a background shouldn't be default. However I do actually appreciate darker tones as background, but its never pure black. It depends on the combination of colors for text (and on the rest of the system theme).
But that is still preferable over no vouchers. The point is, that the machine gets more expensive because of the vouchers, so that Valve does not pay from their own pocket. This way the system gets more expensive for those who don't want to use it for gaming and have less incentive of buying it. And for the gamer, they would buy games anyway, so its not a big deal.
The only problem with that is, that the system gets more expensive and that is bad.