Phoenix Point - AMA with Julian Gollop

I think his answers are good, I might not be psyched about the Epic exclusive but I won't start screaming about it either. If the game is great, I'll continue to back/buy games from Snapshot, if it's awful I won't. The launcher isn't a part of the equation, it's just a minor convenience/inconvenience factor.
 
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The real question I have is if the epic software is a 'virus'... or more precisely if it scans your system. The privacy notice for the company isn't very good and there were a few complaints from the EU folks.

What do you need to do to sign up for an Epic Games Store account anyways.

Seems like I could use a free gmail to sign up. Download the game and the DLC when it arrives and archive it (its DRM free). Then I could disable my Epic Games Store account once all crucial patches have been delivered and play it at my leisure. Then I close my Epic Games Store account and get the GOG version as promised. A temporary throw away email will not keep me up at night.

Julian has worked out how to use this EGS money to his advantage to get the game to where he wants it. None of the Phoenix Point customers have to stay with Epic Games Store if they don't want and I'm presuming no credit card information has to be provided upon signing up. Smart guy.
 
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It also runs on a PC. Is that a feature too?

I didn't back the game, so I do not have the same anger, but yes.

If the campaign included a PC game and then they said it will only be sold on PS4 I'd be fuming!

In this case I would have at the very least expected Steam/GOG keys for backers with a view that no new purchases could come from those for a year. At least he would have kept his promise.

That would have made sense to me.
 
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I didn't back the game, so I do not have the same anger, but yes.

If the campaign included a PC game and then they said it will only be sold on PS4 I'd be fuming!

In this case I would have at the very least expected Steam/GOG keys for backers with a view that no new purchases could come from those for a year. At least he would have kept his promise.

That would have made sense to me.

A feature is something within the game itself. Being on a certain platform is not a feature.

I understand the anger though even if I feel it's a little overblown. I also agree that backers should be exempt from the exclusivity agreement. At least they're getting free DLC though.
 
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I also agree that backers should be exempt from the exclusivity agreement.
Not possible, Steam won't let you generate and distribute keys for a game you're not selling on Steam. It worked with Metro Exodus because the Metro Exodus pre-orders were actually being sold through Steam. All the Phoenix Point "pre-orders" were "sold" through Fig and the Phoenix Point website.
 
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If I'd sponsored this game, I would have a real problem if I couldn't play it day one on the platforms mentioned in the initial pitch, specifically great old games and steam. I would certainly cancel my pledge immediately, heck I'd go to my bank and demand they recant the monies I had given and I know they'd do it.
 
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The real question I have is if the epic software is a 'virus'… or more precisely if it scans your system. The privacy notice for the company isn't very good and there were a few complaints from the EU folks.

Thats a fair concern. I have read that Epic is doing some Steam store scraping of your friends list amongst other things. I might have to configure my firewall to block. Who knows if it will be even usable at that point.
 
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They take backers as hostage, unacceptable, gangster behavior.
They broke engagements, unacceptable, thief behavior.

Sure. Nothing less.

The crowdfunded scene has a long history of breaking engagements.
When this was pointed out relatively to gameplay features, this point was dismissed on this site, people claiming not to see what it was about. Devs delivered a product so what.

In the case of this product, which is a case of mere delivery, and a DRM free product, meaning the downloading client can be uninstalled, people are all in kind of trouble, they are outraged.

Zero interest in gameplay. Zero. Change in gameplay features, all correct.
Change in the delivery pipe, end of the world, people feel betrayed, their trust is lost.

Incredible stuff.
 
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The real question I have is if the epic software is a 'virus'… or more precisely if it scans your system. The privacy notice for the company isn't very good and there were a few complaints from the EU folks.

Of course, Steam is not a privacy issue, farming consumer habits so they can establish trends to sell to devs as market analysis.

The result of two centuries and more of institutionalized double standard.
 
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I think it's a disproportionate concern. If you're using Windows, or most pieces of proprietary software, there's some data collection and telemetry going on. I think to single out the Epic client as a possible "virus" is not a very balanced way to look at it. The explanation given seems reasonable to me - the scraping of friend data is there because importing friend lists is an optional feature. They agree that it shouldn't make a copy of the friend data until the import option is selected, but that this data is not sent to their servers.

Bear in mind that Steam's anti-cheat system scans your entire memory contents (massive security and privacy risk) and also your DNS lookups (to see which sites you're accessing) to make sure you're not up to anything. Their line on this is not to worry because they're not interested in the porn you're watching, but they don't discuss the system too much, so as not to help cheats circumvent it. Hmm…

I'm not saying they're doing anything nefarious either, but if we're going to start fussing about intrusive software, the list of concerns is a long one. (Which, BTW, is why I only run Windows and its software on my gaming PC.)
 
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All that brouhaha is just Steam fanboys desperately looking for reasons to put down the Epic software. Don't expect rationality or anything...
 
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Maybe I can get my patches via the Snapshot Games launcher, considering its being used for Phoenix Point beta. Or download them from somewhere else hopefully. With the game DRM free I don't have to have the client running to play the game. I just need to check sporadically for new patches/DLC and then re-archive until its time to leave the store.

Well, perhaps using own Snapshot game launcher should suffice. I didn't know about it because I don't do Phoenix Point beta.
 
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Of course, Steam is not a privacy issue, farming consumer habits so they can establish trends to sell to devs as market analysis.

The result of two centuries and more of institutionalized double standard.

Nah.

My Steam EU Privacy agreement:

Chapter 6. Your Rights and Control Mechanisms

The data protection laws of the European Economic Area and other territories grant their citizens certain rights in relation to their Personal Data.
As a resident of the European Economic Area you have the following rights in relation to your Personal Data:
(I have removed the paragraphs of texts below the chapter titles)

6.1 Right of Access.
6.2 Right to Rectification.
6.3. Right to Erasure.
6.4 Right to Object.
When our processing of your Personal Data is based on legitimate interests according to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR / section 2.c) of this Privacy Policy, you have the right to object to this processing. If you object we will no longer process your Personal Data unless there are compelling and prevailing legitimate grounds for the processing as described in Article 21 of the GDPR; in particular if the data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint at a supervisory authority.


Also Steam provides a timeframe for the data they store, they explicetely list the Companies/persons who could have access to that data (including other players for example).
Steam seems to say somewhere else also than they extended the rights and privileges of GDPR to everyone in fact. Not sure about that.
So it looks totally fine related to the EU GDPR

Epic on the other hand did not give details on who else can access the data they store, neither for how much time they keep it. They also do not provide information on which country they store the data and in all probability that data is stored in what EU considers as very unsafe Data countries like China, Russia or USA.

They do not inform on what rights you have (GDPR mandatory) or how to contact them to ask for those rights.
 
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Pretty sure it's Steam loyalists spreading all the FUD about the Epic client that's been going around the internet recently, like what's in the article that Ripper was referring to. Not necessarily talking about here on RPGWatch. In the grander scheme of things, outside a few niches, GOG is mostly irrelevant, its marketshare is tiny.
 
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Steam loyalist? I would have been happy with a GOG key. I am more concerned personally by the multiplication of clients you need to install to play.
 
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Steam+GOG... it could have gone on forever; we're maybe just not ready for a change because we don't see the need for it.
 
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