Mirh 103 Share Posted August 5, 2014 After I cleaned a bit daikatana page I have completely given up with any hope of built-in patches notes in the availability table. Too much versions/localizations/issues I was still thinking if we could somewhat underline what version still requires patching though and how this could be integrated with those times where you just have the game on origin/steam and all the other stores just sell keys. A similar reasoning could be moved to the previous idea of OS mention too... Nevertheless I was wondering about a proper space for demos. And as side note, please, make possible to link protocols different from http. Finding an url shortner which was both supporting outlandish protocols and that was not blocked by the spam filter was really tough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirh 103 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Please do not use URL shorteners. I cannot see a single good reason to use one on a wiki. I will look into permitting steam links on the wiki. That reason was linking to steam protocol indeed d: (there's no mention of the demo on the steam store) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett 214 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 I have now put a stable version at Development:Availability. If there are any further suggestions regarding the layout or implementation this would be the time to discuss it. Once the consensus is that the template is ready to go live it would be rolled out later this month or whatever. Distributor/DRM inclusion can be adjusted at any point without affecting existing pages so doesn't need to be finalised ahead of time. I was still thinking if we could somewhat underline what version still requires patching though and how this could be integrated with those times where you just have the game on origin/steam and all the other stores just sell keys. Patches are mostly not applicable with digital distribution. Each service has its own specific patches or patching process and provides little or no control over which game version is used. As a result I don't see the need for a standardised way of listing this information. Specific differences that are too wordy for the notes section can be covered in the version differences section and/or patches section as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirh 103 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Patches are mostly not applicable with digital distribution. Each service has its own specific patches or patching process and provides little or no control over which game version is used. As a result I don't see the need for a standardised way of listing this information. Specific differences that are too wordy for the notes section can be covered in the version differences section and/or patches section as usual. I used to believe the same. Then I saw Splinter Cell: double agent Steam version comes unpatched. That was why I was wondering if there could be a way to point the existence of further patches out. No patch notes or download links, just the fastest possible way to inform readers (and availability table seems the better place since it's at the beginning) And besides the demo and OS things I previously said would be nice additions... How would you handle those repetitive cases where the game can be only played/redeemed on a single service (e.g. Steam, Origin) ? I mean... I would find a table pretty repetitive.... And from the depths of my head I was thinking.. Wouldn't be possible to implement another kind of.. graphical representation? It sounds crazy (and I really don't know if it would be even possible).. but everything seems always more and more intertwined and branched Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Share Posted August 13, 2014 Could you make a drawing instead? I honestly don't really understand what do you mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexrd 5 Share Posted August 14, 2014 And besides the demo and OS things I previously said would be nice additions... I agree. I am also not sure about the usefulness of Amazon UK, as, unless I am mistaken, it is limited to physical discs, and therefore much more limited to a single country than Amazon US. It's useful for european users to get games only available on retail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Share Posted August 14, 2014 I got a copy of Prey from Amazon UK, I'll eventualy fix up the PCGW article (if there's any) when my retail comes here. Oh wow, I got really lucky, I only paid 6€ in total (3€ for the copy). The Amazon US copies are expensive as hell. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000EPBIMK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexrd 5 Share Posted August 14, 2014 On 8/14/2014 at 1:42 PM, Soeb said: British, rather than European. The site is not exclusive to the UK. I buy games there. Amazon US is not really an option for europeans due to shipping costs. Of course, Amazon has 12 localized sites so it would make sense to have the ability to link them when applicable but if that's not an option, Amazon UK is the most well known and used of the european stores so it would be better to have as an option on the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marioysikax 89 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Yes, you can order Amazon UK around the europe but another question is should you, especially if you live outside britain. Retail copies with PC games are becoming pretty much obsolete these days (didn't even have any disc drive in my rig for many years), those still buying retail copies usually already know the places to buy and at least with europe shops are so fragmented and every country has their own ones so it would take super long list and only mentioning Amazon is bit too much advertising towards that. Like Soeb said, simple "Retail" should suffice as usually retail copies do use same DRM as well. At least for finland there are like three differend sites which track retail sale prices with games you can order online. Mirh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirh 103 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Could you make a drawing instead? I honestly don't really understand what do you mean. Neither do I. I was just thinking that a table isn't the perfect mean to represent cross connections. Neither I know how far mediawiki could easily allow this idea. Nevertheless, Marioysikax suggested a great idea. Isn't there any somewhat comprehensive site which aggregates major retail shops? Possibly by region? Even though digital distribution is ruling by now, older games are still hard to find there. And other times, they are available online, but with missing contents. For example in these days I was looking for an old retail copy of Fahrenheit with Italian language. Which is the only EFIGS language missing from the -otherwise perfect- GOG.com edition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marioysikax 89 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Nevertheless, Marioysikax suggested a great idea. Isn't there any somewhat comprehensive site which aggregates major retail shops? Possibly by region? Even though digital distribution is ruling by now, older games are still hard to find. Had to look up word "aggregate" :P I don't know is there any actual major sites that has by all regions. Those sites I was talking were: vertaa, hintaseuranta and edukas by afterdawn. That means they are only for finland making it useless to other regions, we could have article which would gather these sites together tough. I'm not just sure is there any of these kind of sites to other regions and if there are no idea where. With older games you could also count in second hand copies because no internet activations and there are ebay alternatives by region as well. BASICALLY it still means retail version should simply but just "retail" in table and maybe if something like this catches on making article gathering sites to find retail copies in differend regions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexrd 5 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Yes, you can order Amazon UK around the europe but another question is should you, especially if you live outside britain. Why shouldn't I? They allow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marioysikax 89 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Why shouldn't I? They allow it. I can buy candy from Shop A because they allow it (why wouldn't they lol), it doesn't mean Shop B, C,D....X wouldn't allow, some may not send me the candy via mail but I can go and buy them locally. Now what if were are talking completely identical candy, Shop A is most expensive one and furthest away? You see where I'm getting at this? So basically why Amazon needs free advertisement and X number of other stores doesn't, even when physical versions are technically identical (excluding some collectors edition or preorder nonsense which usually comes as seperate download code anyway)? Same thing with second hand copies. Great example is me, Amazon is usually the worst place to buy games simply because it's most expensive place when included shipping fees and I have to wait for longest for item to arrive. With physical games (if for some reason it's better than digital) I usually rely on something like CDON, Verkkokauppa, CoolShop, VPD, etc. where I can get it cheapest and fastest, maybe even get some PINS points in process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett 214 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 Since discussion has now moved on to the specific distributors I think it's time to start gradually migrating the new table and go from there. Distributor/ID coverage is separate from the core layout/functionality of the table and can therefore be adjusted as much and as often as needed. Demos and other special downloads are listed outside the availability template as usual since they are not full/normal versions of the game. I will start migrating pages later today or thereabouts. EDIT: all pages have now been migrated to the new template. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatOneReaper 51 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Looking through the list of DRMs available, I noticed that there is no option for physical piracy protection for games like Space Quest or The Secret of Monkey Island (i.e. In order to complete the game, a random code must be entered in. The code can be found either in the manual or with special items included with the game). It's not exactly a CD key as it needs to be entered in for each new game. What would be the proper category for such games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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