PC gaming became just a pain

[Romano338]

I'm so disappointed at how much of a pain gaming on PC became over the years...
I bought a gaming PC to catch up a bit on some games I missed over the last few years, with life and all. I'm at that point where I just want to buy the game, install it, play it.
But it turns out it's never that easy. Games are riddled with problem. You have crashes, error messages, issues everywhere. So you go online, look for answers. Some people say "this" works. Some say "that" works. Ultimately, it doesn't. It works for some people, it doesn't for other people. You have to try to disable some brand new features from the last generation of GPU (yeah right, I bought an expensive GPU to disable everywthing it gives me, in order to play a game?!)
And you quickly spend more time trying to fix issues than you are playing...

I've never been pro-PC or pro-console. I usually prefer PC though. But I can't help but think that games on console give way less issues. Which is good for casuals who don't want the bother. BUt will the casual be willing to buy a console to play here and there? I know I'm not.
But PC just becomes impossible.
Last 2 games I tried (not games from the last 6 months either), I had so many issues I gave up and got a refund. Thankfully those weren't Steam games because I would have been boned, with the 2 hours limit to get a refund...

There you go, just a rant. Sorry if you're not interested or disagree, but that's how it is for me.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by Romano338:

I'm at that point where I just want to buy the game, install it, play it.

Honestly, if that's what you want, you're better off with a console. You might still encounter a few errors and crashes, but the rate will be lower than on PC simple because there's less to go wrong.

[KarmaKrazi]

Can't say that I have the same experience. It's generally just as you said, buy, install, and play. Then again I do buy my games on Steam. Maybe that's where your issue is. Sorry you're having a hard time though.

[76561198407601200]

Originally posted by Romano338:

I'm so disappointed at how much of a pain gaming on PC became over the years...
I bought a gaming PC to catch up a bit on some games I missed over the last few years, with life and all. I'm at that point where I just want to buy the game, install it, play it.
But it turns out it's never that easy. Games are riddled with problem. You have crashes, error messages, issues everywhere. So you go online, look for answers. Some people say "this" works. Some say "that" works. Ultimately, it doesn't. It works for some people, it doesn't for other people. You have to try to disable some brand new features from the last generation of GPU (yeah right, I bought an expensive GPU to disable everywthing it gives me, in order to play a game?!)
And you quickly spend more time trying to fix issues than you are playing...

I've never been pro-PC or pro-console. I usually prefer PC though. But I can't help but think that games on console give way less issues. Which is good for casuals who don't want the bother. BUt will the casual be willing to buy a console to play here and there? I know I'm not.
But PC just becomes impossible.
Last 2 games I tried (not games from the last 6 months either), I had so many issues I gave up and got a refund. Thankfully those weren't Steam games because I would have been boned, with the 2 hours limit to get a refund...

There you go, just a rant. Sorry if you're not interested or disagree, but that's how it is for me.

This is why it is important to research a game prior to purchase. Robocop doesn't run well for you yet it does for me. Commandos 2 it crashes for you, others can play it fine. Your internet stops working when you use steam, it works fine for myself and others. Not saying the issues don't exist but if you're looking for install and play you either need to limit your games on pc or switch to console which will likely have updates you will run into at least but you will be mostly free of bugs.

[The nameless Gamer]

Last time I had problems with a PC game was when I tried to run "Disciples II - rise of the Elves" on a modern PC with Windows 10 and there's the horrible screen tearing on KKND2 - Krossfire. Every other game worked just fine.

[Piston Smashed™]

PC gaming 25 years ago was a pain, today it's just a walk in the park. Just trying to update a game would have had most users running up the wall, pulling out their hair and screaming to get their console back.

[Wolverine]

Well, you might want to talk to a few people, that have a Sony Playstation and are trying to play their online games since yesterday - i heard from at least one, that he wished he had started playing his online games on PC instead of console...

Anyway, the time you don't spend on figuring out how to get a game working properly on PC, you might spend on just sitting around and waiting for your console to connect to the companies network, so that you can start playing any online game these days.

[76561198373401816]

for me it has become easier over time. many people giving solutions / creating solutions just need to follow the instructions properly. the pain was for me to buy new controller every now and then, never again.

[TheLevelCap]

It's crazy for me how many issues you claim to find on PC games, bcoz "install and play it" is literally the experience I always had on PC.

In the end it's up to you to choose what device you'll use, but to me it sounds like skill issue, not device issue.

It's like when my mom is using it, she claims nothing is working then I go there and do the exact same and it works and she doesn't understand why it didn't work for her.

[Nikonos]

Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

Originally posted by Romano338:

I'm at that point where I just want to buy the game, install it, play it.

Honestly, if that's what you want, you're better off with a console. You might still encounter a few errors and crashes, but the rate will be lower than on PC simple because there's less to go wrong.

I remember putting a cd in my PC and it ran automatically. even the installation itself was fun to watch, there were story updates and useful info on my screen.

Then someone decided it would be better if every customer bought 5 computers to play games.

Then I read PC's were no good, single player games were obsolete, physical ownership was something from the Stone Age and we badly needed a dozen third party accounts.

Where did it all come from? I still wonder sometimes.

[BJWyler]

Originally posted by Romano338:

I'm so disappointed at how much of a pain gaming on PC became over the years...
I bought a gaming PC to catch up a bit on some games I missed over the last few years, with life and all. I'm at that point where I just want to buy the game, install it, play it.
But it turns out it's never that easy. Games are riddled with problem. You have crashes, error messages, issues everywhere. So you go online, look for answers. Some people say "this" works. Some say "that" works. Ultimately, it doesn't. It works for some people, it doesn't for other people. You have to try to disable some brand new features from the last generation of GPU (yeah right, I bought an expensive GPU to disable everywthing it gives me, in order to play a game?!)
And you quickly spend more time trying to fix issues than you are playing...

I've never been pro-PC or pro-console. I usually prefer PC though. But I can't help but think that games on console give way less issues. Which is good for casuals who don't want the bother. BUt will the casual be willing to buy a console to play here and there? I know I'm not.
But PC just becomes impossible.
Last 2 games I tried (not games from the last 6 months either), I had so many issues I gave up and got a refund. Thankfully those weren't Steam games because I would have been boned, with the 2 hours limit to get a refund...

There you go, just a rant. Sorry if you're not interested or disagree, but that's how it is for me.

I disagree. PC gaming has gotten much smoother over the years. I remember the days of having to set configuration files every time I wanted to play a game. Or those those times of having to hunt down a patch for a game on dial-up and hoping the download didn't take all day. Who could forget those instances where you had to contact the publisher of the game and get replacement disks because of a buggy batch that would not allow the game to boot up, or the packaging process included a duplicate disc #2 instead of #3?

No my sweet summer child, PC gaming is a lot better nowadays. All I have to do is click a couple of buttons and I can buy, download and install, and play my game within minutes with nary a problem at all.

In my 20 years of being a NOC admin and tech support, I can honestly say that 95% of all the issues someone encounters ends up being user error, or an issue with the user's machine - which is primarily due to configurations that the user themselves made.

[KarmaKrazi]

Originally posted by Nikonos:

Then someone decided it would be better if every customer bought 5 computers to play games.

Then I read PC's were no good, single player games were obsolete, physical ownership was something from the Stone Age and we badly needed a dozen third party accounts.

Where did it all come from? I still wonder sometimes.

What? Where is half of this even coming from? Need 5 PC's? My one PC performs just fine for everything. Heck, my starter PC still runs great for my SO. No problems at all, and no need for another for anything.

PC's being "no good" and single player games being obsolete are both just an opinion. I grew up on console, made the switch to PC, and will never look back. Also, there are great single player games that release all the time.

Why do you need a dozen 3rd party accounts? As far as I know, I have 2. One for EA, and one for Ubisoft. Also, both have an ability to be linked directly to your Steam account. 2 really isn't that hard to manage, and is a far cry from being a dozen.

Where did all this come from? You've got me wondering

[Lithurge]

Originally posted by BJWyler:

I disagree. PC gaming has gotten much smoother over the years. I remember the days of having to set configuration files every time I wanted to play a game. Or those those times of having to hunt down a patch for a game on dial-up and hoping the download didn't take all day. Who could forget those instances where you had to contact the publisher of the game and get replacement disks because of a buggy batch that would not allow the game to boot up, or the packaging process included a duplicate disc #2 instead of #3?

No my sweet summer child, PC gaming is a lot better nowadays. All I have to do is click a couple of buttons and I can buy, download and install, and play my game within minutes with nary a problem at all.

In my 20 years of being a NOC admin and tech support, I can honestly say that 95% of all the issues someone encounters ends up being user error, or an issue with the user's machine - which is primarily due to configurations that the user themselves made.

It does feel like a lot of people have forgotten or never used DOS for gaming (prior to DosBox). I even remember things like some game not working if you had a Voodoo Rush graphics card, that would work on the standard Voodoo card.

Of course sometimes it is a game issue not a user or configuration issue that causes problems and it's not like MS can't be held accountable sometimes, like their recent Win 11 update that broke things.

[BJWyler]

Originally posted by Lithurge:

Originally posted by BJWyler:

I disagree. PC gaming has gotten much smoother over the years. I remember the days of having to set configuration files every time I wanted to play a game. Or those those times of having to hunt down a patch for a game on dial-up and hoping the download didn't take all day. Who could forget those instances where you had to contact the publisher of the game and get replacement disks because of a buggy batch that would not allow the game to boot up, or the packaging process included a duplicate disc #2 instead of #3?

No my sweet summer child, PC gaming is a lot better nowadays. All I have to do is click a couple of buttons and I can buy, download and install, and play my game within minutes with nary a problem at all.

In my 20 years of being a NOC admin and tech support, I can honestly say that 95% of all the issues someone encounters ends up being user error, or an issue with the user's machine - which is primarily due to configurations that the user themselves made.

It does feel like a lot of people have forgotten or never used DOS for gaming (prior to DosBox). I even remember things like some game not working if you had a Voodoo Rush graphics card, that would work on the standard Voodoo card.

Of course sometimes it is a game issue not a user or configuration issue that causes problems and it's not like MS can't be held accountable sometimes, like their recent Win 11 update that broke things.

Oh certainly. Microsoft has always been an issue, that's just a given, but it's also PC gaming agnostic.

Likewise, there will always be issues with games as their complexity grows. It's just impossible to avoid. But those issues generally get rectified over time. I very rarely ever buy a game within the first few months of release, and longer. As such, I get a relatively smooth experience, often for a cheaper price than those who can't help but subject themselves to the Launch Day Blues.

Honestly the last game I had any real issues with was Defiance before it shut down. At some point, I started getting a server connect error on my Windows 10 machine, so was unable to play. It worked fine on my Windows 7 machine. So again, it just boiled down to something thst changed on my Win 10 box causing the issue.

[miakisfan]

Originally posted by Romano338:

I'm so disappointed at how much of a pain gaming on PC became over the years...
I bought a gaming PC to catch up a bit on some games I missed over the last few years, with life and all. I'm at that point where I just want to buy the game, install it, play it.
But it turns out it's never that easy. Games are riddled with problem. You have crashes, error messages, issues everywhere. So you go online, look for answers. Some people say "this" works. Some say "that" works. Ultimately, it doesn't. It works for some people, it doesn't for other people. You have to try to disable some brand new features from the last generation of GPU (yeah right, I bought an expensive GPU to disable everywthing it gives me, in order to play a game?!)
And you quickly spend more time trying to fix issues than you are playing...

I've never been pro-PC or pro-console. I usually prefer PC though. But I can't help but think that games on console give way less issues. Which is good for casuals who don't want the bother. BUt will the casual be willing to buy a console to play here and there? I know I'm not.
But PC just becomes impossible.
Last 2 games I tried (not games from the last 6 months either), I had so many issues I gave up and got a refund. Thankfully those weren't Steam games because I would have been boned, with the 2 hours limit to get a refund...

There you go, just a rant. Sorry if you're not interested or disagree, but that's how it is for me.

The only 2 pains PC gaming is to me are ...

1) Windows 11 exists and we are basically being forced to get on it if we want to continue playing games OR pay through your teeth to keep your Windows 10 security for the next 3 years.

I am hoping that the SteamOS becomes a viable option instead of Windows at some point in time AND is easy to use. Microsoft Windows OS NEEDS AN ENEMA.

2) There are games that were made for consoles that we will never see on Steam or other stores. We should have the option to play everything that came out no matter how old it is.

Those two things alone make what is going on a crime.

I disagree with calling console users *casual*, though. No need to insult other gamers just because they don't play games the same way you do.

If I had my PS1, PS2, and PS3 and all the PS1, PS2, and PS3 games I used to have I wouldn't be here right now (which would likely make some here happy) I'd be playing those games instead.

If I had a wish I would have wished that there was one machine to play games on that everyone developed for so we could all play what we wanted whenever we wanted. I don't care if it is PC or a console.

Sadly that isn't how humanity odes things. Always has to be the harder way.

[Romano338]

Apparently I'm pretty alone in this. Ah well. It's cool if some people manage to play very easily on PC. I wish I was part of it.
Now I have a brand new gaming computer in its box, because if it's to do exactly like I do on my old computer (browsing, videos and no gaming), I'd rather have the comfort of Win10 and everything set up with my files and all.