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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 21st, 2023

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  • I mean, I agree that the form factor isn’t what matters, that’s not what I was saying. When you boot the Steam Deck it actively hides that it is a computer. Let’s be real here, all consoles are basically just dumbed down PC’s at this point. They have slightly modified AMD chips with AMD GPUs. The only difference is that you can’t access the file system. You can on the Steam Deck if you want to, but Valve tries to simplify the experience by presenting it as a console. My argument has nothing to do with the form factor and everything to do with the default presentation.


  • I just want to say I’m right there with you, and I was trying to make that clear while still explaining my thoughts on why the Steam Deck isn’t really a “gaming PC”. It could just be the old man in me, but the Deck PRESENTS itself as a console on startup, and to do anything beyond that you have to restart the device. For the general public restarting the device is a huge barrier. Again though, I’m happy the Steam Deck exists and hope that game companies in general will get their head out of their ass and start making more games run natively on Linux. Even with devices that have better performance and look like an upgrade I immediately discount them as an option the moment I see they are running Windows.


  • My post was not meant to take away your points, and honestly I tend to forget about the Steam workshop because, as you said, I and many other general PC gamers don’t mod games that much. I’m not trying to be negative about the Deck, just realistic. Unfortunately for me, my general lack of optimism can be seen as inherently negative. The Steam Deck has already succeeded in its goal as evidenced by the, inferior in my opinion, knockoffs from Asus and Lenovo. The main point I was trying to make is the very fact that if or when people try to install a mod they immediately run into the barrier of having to reboot the device. This isn’t a bad thing, but it does tell many people this is not the main way to use the device. Remember that for the general public defaults are the most powerful thing on their device.


  • For transparency, I have a gaming PC. I have a Steam Deck. I love the Steam Deck to death and would never give it up. For many people, it is the closest thing they will see to PC gaming. I can say without a doubt that the Steam Deck is a PC in the same way a chicken is a wild bird. Can you do 90% of PC related tasks with the Steam Deck? Yes, but with a lot more work, and much more required knowledge. It’s not even because of the OS, which is great because it’s just Linux based. It’s because the Steam Deck does not put necessary parts that average PC users need as forward facing concepts.

    The Steam Deck is a console first, and a PC in a pinch and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s the reason I love the device, but also use it less. A good example is modding Elden Ring for Seamless Co-op. You can do it, and it’s not HARD per se, but you may have to find files in the OS to make sure Steam knows to open them, and because of how the file tree works in Linux vs Windows it isn’t really a simple case of “type the file name in search”.













  • I am also still excited, but I can’t bring myself to let my excitement over take me. I didn’t vote for a president until Obama, and I was in my late 20s early 30s at that point. I say this for transparency because I’ve never liked voting for the “lesser of two evils”. I voted for Obama because it was historic, but also because I thought long and hard and realized that not voting would hurt the chances of anything changing for the better. The worse things get the harder it is to make it better. Like a dirty house that doesn’t seem worth cleaning eventually there is trash everywhere and the only answer is to either move out or demolish the house. I’m too old and poor for either of those options now. So my choice is to do what I can to maintain the house long enough for younger generations to do what I couldn’t.

    I realize that this may be an unrealistic pipe dream, but I have faith that younger generations can do it. We just have to not let the fascists win.



  • While I do agree I also want to make it clear I’m not expecting a revolution if Kamala is elected. I’m excited for the chance to get off the back foot and hope our country can start making progress again. It may be cynical, but I pretty much expect second term Obama again.

    For more information on what I’m talking about check out FD Signifier’s video about Kamala. I don’t agree with everything he said, but he has good points.