Quoting: Lib-Instlinux needs actual real native games and more people will come. emulation isnt ideal.

That ship has sailed years ago.

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Quoting: Mountain Man"Remove DRM and give us your server code" is to essentially demand that companies release their games for free after they are no longer commercially viable.

It's absolutely not, and I am pretty sure you know that.

Removing the DRM is just yet another patch against the already released executable. Companies are actually doing it every now and then. It doesn't make the game "free", since nobody is forcing them to put up the assets for free download. People who already bought it can still continue to play it, that's all this demand is about.

Same for the server code. I am not aware that releasing stand-alone servers has made any game "free". Same reason as above. The server code alone doesn't do anything. Again, check the Steam Tools page. There are plenty examples of released server software to counter your point.

Also the question remains why they would even care about releasing the game for "free", if they are no longer planning to sell it anyway (which is the assumed scenario here). The economic damage done is exactly zero, since you can't earn money with a game you're not selling. But hey, nobody is demanding greedy corporations to be not greedy. All that's requested here is people being able to continue to use a product they PAID FOR, and tell their makers that it's not ok to disable people's games on a whim, or when they had a bad day.

As a personal note: I get the idea where our positions on this matter are irreconcilable. You're a free-market advocate. I am pro-regulation when it's warranted, and it's remarkably often, IMHO. We won't agree on this, and that's ok. But maybe we can refrain from making misleading statements like "releasing server software makes a game free", when that's clearly not true?

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I really hope that they will get of that silly unit upkeep cost system they introduced in VI. With resource distribution as random as it is, it tends to cripple unit production so bad that the game IMHO stops being fun. I patched it out of my game with a little mod back then, and that solved it for me, but still.

Also, please no more cartoon art style.

I would love if we could build in/under water and have tech advances a bit farther into the future, like in Call to Power II, which I still feel was the overall best "Civ" title.

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Quoting: Mountain ManWhat they're demanding is simply not realistic and will most likely encourage developers and publishers out of the European market, or perhaps release special "EU Exclusive" titles that are basically crippled out of the box.

As I said, the power already rests in the hands of the consumers. If you don't like that a game could be "remotely disabled" (talk about a straw man!), then don't buy it. It's as simple as that. No heavy-handed government involvement necessary.

It might not go anywhere, but not for the reason you stated. I frankly don't understand which part of "release the server software and/or remove the DRM when you're commercially done with a game" isn't 'realistic'. Of course it is, and it would cost studios near nothing to publish the required components when they stop monetizing a game.

The reason why it won't happen is more like because governments don't care enough, or don't want to interfere with the Holy Free Market, and not because it couldn't be done.

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Quoting: CaldathrasPro-consumer initiatives put forward by the EU in the past have positively impacted the global market. I might live in North America, but I am definitely rooting for the EU citizens and their efforts to bring this to pass.

Same. If the EU forces studios to release server software etc., it's not that we wouldn't be able to download it from our side of the pond :D

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Legally, I can't see initiatives like this going anywhere. Our society seems to ban undesirable business practices only when people start dying, and otherwise let "the market" sort it out. In other words, do nothing and let businesses screw their customers for fun and profit.

That being said, maybe it will create some public pressure on studios that this practice is considered unacceptable by their customers and they need to do better.

I would sign it if I could, but I am not in the EU. I hope everyone there does, though! :)

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Quoting: ToddLAs great as Linux is for gaming, it still has issues with anti-cheat from companies that won't support the OS (e.g. EA, Activision, Bungie). Until that's resolved, along with anything else holding back gaming on Linux, the numbers will continue to stay low.

Unfortunately, that's the biggest remaining obstacle right now. However, there is some hope that MS will restrict kernel access after the Crowd Strike disaster, making this kind of anti-cheat impossible to implement down the road.

In the meantime, we still will see growth. Not everyone wants/needs to play games using this form of anti-cheat. It seems to be mostly competitive shooter games using those...

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QuoteNot too fond of the micro-transaction style currency, but the rest is fine.

It's kinda funny thinking of how hard people bitched about DLC and still do (like when they're bashing Paradox games just of having DLCs). DLC typically is both optional and a one-time purchase, in other words: open and transparent. I miss the days when it was JUST DLC. Now we're getting all these shady business practices like obfuscated micro-transaction currencies, lootboxes and my new personal favorite: Gatcha. I wonder if that's truly better...

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Seems like a skip to me. If there is something like "my cup of tea", things like Ghostrunner are probably the farthest away from it. :D

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Quoting: cameronboschIf you want something like Linux Mint but with KDE Plasma I'd go with Tuxedo OS for now, as all of the other distros I'd recommend using KDE Plasma with are rolling releases (for example, EndeavourOS or OpenSUSE Tumbleweed).

While I have used many distros over time, I have no experience with TuxedoOS. On their website they mention their kernel being optimized for their own hardware. Not sure what exact kind of optimizations they did, but is it safe to assume that this won't make the kernel perform less well on non-Tuxedo hardware?

And yea, rolling releases are not my thing, really. I know some people love them, but I don't want to flush new software on my system that might nor might not play well with what's already there. Also, supply chain attacks are a bigger problem for rolling releases, and I can do without that, too.

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