Reason for this meme is that some ubisoft titles are shipped with a broken version of ubisoft connect launcher. Installing these games is only possible by running the installer for the launcher again via protontricks.

    • HouseWolf@lemm.eeEnglish
      46·
      4 months ago

      Funnily the first time I tried Linux on my desktop was because I wanted to play BF4 but the EA App refused to launch on Windows 10 even after restarting/reinstalling everything.

      I slapped Pop_OS on a backup SSD and got it running through Lutris within the hour.

      Origin was a fucking nightmare to use even on Windows, and honestly…the EA desktop app wasn’t really an improvement.

      • Midnight Wolf@lemmy.worldEnglish
        23·
        4 months ago

        Origin was better in literally every way, but it’s predecessor, the EA Download Manager, was even better, as it wasn’t an always-online DRM piece of shit. You logged in, it listed your games, it downloaded them, and games still used a CD key.

        Though I’m still pissy, as I bought NFS Carbon and obtained it via EADM, but when they moved to Origin, existing games didn’t transfer, and there was no way to grab games for archival. So EA owes me a fucking copy of Carbon, since I didn’t have it installed when they sunset EADM.

        Fuck you, EA. In every conceivable sense of the word and action.

    • cron@feddit.orgOP
      114·
      4 months ago

      That’s a tough one. Clearly, everyone hates both kernel-level anticheat and cheaters. The level of hate depends.

      • drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        341·
        4 months ago

        Cheaters are a solved problem, in my opinion. It used to be that people hosted servers- moderating and managing their own communities. The industry went away from that in pursuit of cosmetics and control. There aren’t cheaters on well managed community servers in Valve games, but cheaters run rampant in matchmaking in those same games.

        • Ashen44@lemmy.ca
          26·
          4 months ago

          The issue is that that’s only a solution for a certain type of multiplayer game. MMOs and battle royales for example cannot feasibly implement community servers as their main form of multiplayer connection, because very few people have the capabilities to host such servers, much less moderate them at such high player counts. Heck, there’s even arguments to be made for the value of public matchmaking, despite how often it gets blasted in spaces such as this. Private servers are unfortunately not a one-size-fits-all solution.

            • Ashen44@lemmy.caEnglish
              3·
              4 months ago

              You’re right, there are, but my point was that private MMO servers are significantly harder to host and moderate than a private server in a match-based multiplayer game like say Team Fortress 2. An MMO that relies on private servers is almost certainly doomed to fail, so it must have some form of official server, which then will need some form of cheating prevention.

  • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world
    382·
    4 months ago

    Really? Ubisoft though? If there’s any game studio I could do without, it would be Ubi. Because of their practices I haven’t bought a game from them in years and years, and honestly it’s not even been a challenge to pass them up.

    • SolarMonkey@slrpnk.netEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      I actually have a number of games that are Ubisoft that I love. They aren’t super new or anything, but they aren’t flops by my metrics (granted, I bought them used long after launch)

      I didn’t know they were when I got them, then the ubiconnect thing comes up and I just don’t do that, and it’s just a game that takes longer to load than it should.

      Idk about any super bad practices, maybe PC is different from console stuff? (which is how I play, hence used game market, because I can sell it later if needs must) or is this something that spans console as well? What sort of bad practices?

    • KoboldOfArtifice@ttrpg.networkEnglish
      32·
      4 months ago

      There’s so much attempted shaming in these comments. People like some of their games and some like them a lot. Even if you don’t feel like they’re the best, Original and Odyssey still carry the attachment people have for Assassin’s Creed and Anno 1800 has no real direct comparable alternatives.

      Stop trying to make people feel bad for just wanting to enjoy something they like when they are the victim of these companies trying to make their life harder. The fact that Ubisoft treats their customers like trash isn’t something to rub in someone’s face, it’s too bad that some people’s hobbies are locked behind something like that.

      • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world
        21·
        4 months ago

        Nothing I said was an attempt to make people feel bad. I’m rubbishing Ubisoft’s games and practices: expressing an opinion. If that makes you feel bad then I suggest you look inward.

        • KoboldOfArtifice@ttrpg.networkEnglish
          1·
          4 months ago

          I’m sorry, but “Really? Ubisoft though?” is not just rubbishing Ubisofts practices. It’s condescending to OP.

          The fact that just because I criticized your choice of words makes you assume that it’s in defense of my own tastes is unreasonable too. Is there not a chance someone might sympathise with someone without sitting in the same exact boat as them?

          Point is, many people would feel bad about being approached the way you did and it is not exactly unreasonable to think that they would.

        • KoboldOfArtifice@ttrpg.networkEnglish
          11·
          4 months ago

          In no sense did I say that other people’s dislike for their games is a problem. I take no offense to that. I myself am literally of the opinion that the newer AC games are hard to enjoy and insulting to the players time.

          Nonetheless, I can acknowledge that it’s a source of comfort for some, even when I fail to enjoy it. Making them feel bad about it just isn’t OK.

  • juliebean@lemm.ee
    351·
    4 months ago

    i think you might be misunderstanding what ‘3rd party’ means. if ubisoft is making you use an ubisoft launcher to run ubisoft games, that’d be first party. here’s an article detailing what the terms mean with regards to game developers. a third party launcher would be like when you add a non-steam game to steam.

        • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
          4·
          4 months ago

          Yes.

          What if i want to play the original portal game on a pc that cannot have internet? Steam does not allow me to download a straight installer, its a license with a long list of acceptable and non acceptable uses.

          Don’t get me wrong i love valve and what they have done for gaming as a concept, as a linux i would not Be able to game as i do if it was not for proton.

          But if i purchase a game i demand to own my copy.

          I actually have a database where i keep pirate and cracked copies of games i own legit licenses because i refuse to have my rights limited simply because of the possibility of a victimless crime where checks note some big corp gets slightly less profit.

          All games should be available standalone.

          And while, am speaking my software opinions

          If i buy a game license on one system it should cover that game all other platforms and systems. No more buying the same game twice just to play on different hardware. (This makes less sense if its a dedicated copy and not a license though)

          All software from hardware that is no longer receiving support must be open sourced, i am looking at you near mint first gen ipad mini. I die before you end on a landfill in such good state.

          • InternetUser2012@lemmy.today
            1·
            4 months ago

            Don’t get me wrong i love valve and what they have done for gaming as a concept, as a linux i would not Be able to game as i do if it was not for proton.

            If I’m reading you right, you’re saying you couldn’t play those games without steam because of proton? If that’s what you’re getting at, if you take your copies obtained from the high seas, you should be able to play them through lutris. It works for me.

            • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
              2·
              4 months ago

              Oh no worries, i am technical and autistic enough to setup systems that will serve my actual needs, regardless of economic/industry expectations.

              Lutrius is great but i prefer Heroic game launcher, it can do the same but does also provides convenient acces to gog, epic and amazon licenses. I am only storing backup copies of games if i actually find it worth it to keep them, and i acquired a lot of mediocre titles over the years.

              I also do still do use steam with little hate towards it there own implementation of proton is hard to beat in its reliance. I have yet to find a single game within my steam library that fails to work properly on arch.

              Doesn’t stop me from working on my own alternative local game server parallel to it, Mhehehehe

              Regardless i still feel like i should just be able to legally download some standalone offline installer from a website for later use. Especially for older games that used to have physical copies. whether or not my system can run that installer as it is, is morally irrelevant.

    • Laurel Raven@lemmy.zipEnglish
      72·
      4 months ago

      I dunno, I tend to think of the useless thing that comes up for a game I bought on Steam and run through Steam to be “third party”… Maybe that’s a stretch, but whatever, it’s just unwanted and unnecessary at that point

        • Laurel Raven@lemmy.zipEnglish
          3·
          4 months ago

          Yes, the launcher I use for almost all my games which gives me a single interface to install, update, and run them. It has purpose. It’s the launcher I’m actually intending to use.

          Eats Ass games (as one example) loading up their own launcher in the middle of that and providing no actual benefit other than wasting my time and resources is NOT something I choose to use.

          Whichever one is primary or third party, I don’t really care about the semantics of it, but the extra launcher that isn’t needed or wanted is what I think of when someone’s talking about third party launchers.

          • littlecolt@lemm.ee
            2·
            4 months ago

            I’m just saying, there is a clear double standard in this post/comment section in general where Valve gets a pass.

            • Laurel Raven@lemmy.zipEnglish
              4·
              4 months ago

              Perhaps because Steam is the launcher we actually choose to use? That does make a big difference…

              • littlecolt@lemm.ee
                2·
                4 months ago

                I’m a fan of Steam. People will complain about monopolies but then want there to be a monopoly for this kind of software.

            • abbotsbury@lemmy.world
              2·
              4 months ago

              I don’t think it’s entirely a double standard. Yes Steam is still a launcher, but it’s also the marketplace I buy my games. If I bought a game on Origin or UPlay, and then Steam popped up when I was trying to play my game, that would still be bullshit.

  • Allero@lemmy.today
    28·
    4 months ago

    Can’t play one of my favorite MMOs on Linux because it now strictly requires the launcher that doesn’t work.

    The game works! Before transitioning to a new launcher and strict laucher-only startup, it was fine. But now…yeah.

    • cron@feddit.orgOP
      273·
      4 months ago

      I could make another meme “Linux Gaming without Valve and Steam”, but it would have another picture on it…

      It’s my observation that Valve has earned the trust of the linux gaming community and therefore is the one and only acceptable proprietary launcher.

      • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
        6·
        4 months ago

        and therefore is the one and only acceptable proprietary launcher.

        Yep! But that’s only until they decide to enshitify, which they (Valve) will, because they (the humans making the correct choices today) will sell or retire.

          • Ekky@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            3·
            4 months ago

            Huh? That’s quite interesting.

            I’ve been running a hacked-together script which uses a disembodied copy of Proton 8 (aka. copied to a portable drive, doesn’t need to have Steam installed to run) to launch my games from Itch and GoG.

            Hmm, just tried to use Proton 9.0-2 and the current experimental in my steamapps (which appears to be version 9.0-202), and it works just fine. Though, I guess Lutris’ implementations are quite a bit more advanced than my hacks (no debugging let’s goooo).

            A very simplified version of my script, for those who might be interested: pastebin.com/kbNNvzAx. Don’t forget to uncomment game_exe and set it to your executable - won’t work otherwise.

            Also, pinging @DacoTaco@lemmy.world in case of interest.

    • rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee
      182·
      4 months ago

      Steam is the first party launcher as far as most of us are concerned. When another company puts their game on Steam but makes it go through their own launcher first, that is third party in our perspective and is a source of a lot of games not working.

    • nebulaone@lemmy.world
      10·
      4 months ago

      Steam is fine in my book. And I understand why it isn’t open source with how much it’s worth.

    • Ibaudia@lemmy.worldEnglish
      112·
      4 months ago

      Steam has an effective monopoly on open, marketplace-style launchers. EGS is their only real competitor and everyone hates it. GOG is years behind the curve and Amazon’s launcher barely exists. At this point in time, Steam is hardly considered third-party since it’s so ubiquitous.

    • bss03@infosec.pub
      2·
      4 months ago

      Some people hate it, including some independent developers. I wouldn’t mind going without it, if there was a Free Software library management alternative. I want something to track what I have installed (because I’ve “lost” things and reinstalled them before) and something that has a decent uninstall.

      I also get some benefit from the store integration, but I can understand developers being annoyed at the 30% “steam tax”. I’d gladly purchase using some other method, if I didn’t have to sacrifice library functions from previous paragraph.

  • RustyNova@lemmy.world
    22·
    4 months ago

    It always reminds me that genshin is playable on Linux with proton (at least in 4.2, and I didn’t even tested wine). It’s just the launcher that doesn’t work. They are just so close yet so far

      • RustyNova@lemmy.world
        4·
        4 months ago

        I haven’t booted it up since 4.2 but I do know I didn’t had any issues. You just need to start from the game exe instead of the launcher

      • exu@feditown.comEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        There’s “an anime game” project to workaround the launcher and anti-cheat. Was fully playable when I used it a few months ago, but I did have to change to Proton GE or something else to fix some graphical glitches.

        Also, no guarantee your account won’t get banned.

        • Akatsuki Levi@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          4 months ago

          AAGL, it works great, but ‘going around the anti-cheat’ is no longer true, since the mHyProtect is working just fine on Linux

          • exu@feditown.comEnglish
            2·
            4 months ago

            Huh, since when? I did check the project wiki and it still says there’s a workaround for anti-cheat, but whatever. Nice that it’s working better on Linux since I last checked.

            • Akatsuki Levi@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              4 months ago

              Since 4.6 or something like that, don’t remember exact But the anti-cheat with even HoyoPlay is working fine on Linux, even ZZZ worked out of the box right on release

    • daellat@lemmy.world
      11·
      4 months ago

      I really enjoyed origins and odyssey they were flawed but relaxing and fun

      Oh no someone has a different opinion of enjoyment of an entertainment product better down vote them! Fucking cringe

    • the_beber@lemm.ee
      14·
      4 months ago

      Sometimes they make sense for managing mod-sets/different instances (i.e. Stellaris or most famously Minecraft.

      • secret300@lemmy.sdf.org
        91·
        4 months ago

        well yeah obviously, 3rd party launchers that are optional to use because they serve a purpose. Forced launchers like uplay and origin are the issue. they serve no purpose and offer a worse experience for the user and are forced on your system. Back in my day when a piece of software came with something else that pops up on your screen and runs in the background bogging down your system and collecting data, we considered that a virus.

        • dan@upvote.au
          2·
          4 months ago

          Forced launchers like uplay and origin are the issue

          These are usually first-party though (made by the same company that makes the game), not third-party.

          • secret300@lemmy.sdf.org
            1·
            3 months ago

            Image

            in my mind tho steam is the first party launcher cause that’s the launcher I bought the game from. If your game comes shipped with another one that’s gonna run when I try to play just don’t bother putting it on steam. I bought Far cry 3 and refunded it just because of uplay being jank. I still played the game, just pirated it

  • Voytrekk@lemmy.world
    10·
    4 months ago

    The majority of the issues I have with WoW on Linux are because of the battle.net launcher. If they added the game to Steam, I’m sure I wouldn’t have any issues.

    • Crashumbc@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      Oof, wow doesn’t work properly? That’s sad, out of curiosity, how you name adds ons? Install/download them manually?

      • Voytrekk@lemmy.world
        2·
        4 months ago

        It works, it’s just flakey to get battle.net started sometimes.

        Add-ons can be managed by either wowup or the curseforge client. I prefer the former since it can install from other sources too.

        Weakauras can be updated with both the weakauras companion and wago companion app.

        Warcraft logs and raider.io also have Linux clients that can be used.

  • Quacksalber@sh.itjust.works
    8·
    4 months ago

    How to play Ubisoft games without the Ubisoft Launcher:
    Step 1) If you’re an EU citizen, sign this petition: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home
    If you are not in the EU, you can check if there are any other initiatives for your country here: https://www.stopkillinggames.com/
    Step 2) (Due to insurmountable pressure, which you definitely did your part in adding to, video games are now forced to have an end-of-life plan.
    Step 3) Wait until the game you want to play without the Ubi Launcher hits its end-of-life
    Step 4) Do whatever is necessary to get the game playable again, which the newly introduced law guarantees is possible
    Step 5) Enjoy your game without the Ubi launcher

    • cron@feddit.orgOP
      3·
      4 months ago

      I haven’t been playing on windows for years now, please forgive my lack of knowledge ;)

        • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml
          2·
          4 months ago

          at least, as well as they do on Windows

          There was this launcher for Mirrors Edge (EA i think?) that hit the security limit of 50k simultaneus opened files. Not the game, mind you.

    • rtxn@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      5·
      4 months ago

      …except manage the game’s environment, download and install local files and updates, validate those files to make sure they’re not compromised, provide an API for service integration in games, manage middleware like Gamescope or Wine…

      It would be like banning all loud and annoying freight trucks inside city limits, and then wondering why food doesn’t show up in stores anymore.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        steam is already a game launcher bruh.

        There are alternative launches like heroic which don’t quite do the same thing, but even then you could still easily validate the game files without a launcher, they have the technology to do that lmao.

        GOG is also really popular and literally just gives out .exes, a lot of people really like it.

        Also steam is also a games marketplace, you can buy games on it?

    • Landless2029@lemmy.world
      22·
      4 months ago

      The only useful thing launchers can used to do is adjust things like display settings that require reboot. Basically an INI config GUI.

      This was more common back in the day probably due to the game engines. More less games require restart in recent years but that could be due to me playing more indie games and less AAA titles.

      Edit: wow. Downvote much.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3·
        4 months ago

        those launchers i’m ok with, because they don’t ask me to log in, or take twelve minutes to start up, or try to promote a game, it’s literally just a pre launch menu. That’s chill.

        • Landless2029@lemmy.world
          4·
          4 months ago

          Wow I got downvoted.

          Yes I agree that launchers mentioned here are the online connected and required ones.

          The old school launchers you could bypass by just running the exe directly.

          • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            2·
            4 months ago

            wouldnt be the internet if people didnt think everything you said was stupid for no fucking reason.

            but yeah, the old school ones are mint, we need more of those.