Here's how Valve should "fix" Steam Because Steam ain't perfect, either...

Having gone on at length about the problems with Epic's storefront, and with their profoundly consumer-dismissive approach to... well... everything, it's only fair to spend some time and words on the issues that Steam actually does have, which GabeN should probably attend to. Because after 16 years in service, it's fair to say that Steam's pipes have some rust and corrosion on them, and really could use a good cleaning.

Gabe! Buddy! My nearest and most excellent friend (that I've never met in person, and who doesn't know me from Adam, but whatevs don't@me)! I have some advice for you; a five-step process that will clear a up a whole bunch of that embarrassing clutter that's causing so much agita, lately. Take these ideas, and use them in all good health.

This is how it's done Darq's developer shows the right way to handle Epic's brand toxicity

In my last post, I laid out a seven-point strategy for how to announce your Epic exclusivity deal. That post ran long (and, really, which of my posts don't?) but if there's a single big point that I wanted people in the video game industry, and in the media that cover the industry, to take away, it is this:

When dealing with a subject that you know to be sensitive, be sensitive to the people who are going to hear your message.

Learn to read the room. Comedy is hard; making jokes about subjects which you know other people not only take seriously, but are likely to get angry about, is a high-wire act best left to professionals. Don't open discussions with sarcasm when you want to elevate the overall level of the discourse. Just be straight with people, and be transparent with people, and those people will reward your straightforward honesty with respect.

And now, right on schedule, we have a case study in how to handle the touchy subject of Epic exclusivity the right way. We have Darq.

PR Communications 101: Sarcasm = Mockeryor, Glumberland and Ooblets: A case study in how not to do any of this

Anybody who's been watching the F5 internet shitstorm that is Ooblets ill-considered EGS exclusivity announcement should be familiar with the framing that's been emerging in the last day and a half or so, one which paints the Ooblets developers as essentially blameless victims who are receiving an utterly undeserved tidal wave of inchoate rage and hate from "entitled" gamers whose fragile egos simply can't withstand a simple joke.

However, much as I hate to engage in anything that even resembles victim-blaming, I feel compelled to point out the flaw in this framing of the story: Ooblets' developers are not blameless victims here. Whether knowingly or not, Glumberland picked this fight.

No, they should not be receiving death threats. The people who are forging Discord chat logs and faking videos of Discord chat sessions that never happened, deliberately and for no other reason than to discredit the husband and wife duo that basically are Glumberland, have indeed gone beyond the pale. The level of vitriol on display is wildly disproportionate to both the Glumberlanders' initial offense, and to the Epic Game Store in general. But make no mistake: what Cordingley and Wasser initially did really was offensive, and it's very hard to believe that they weren't aware of that.