Sophie Kirschner
@pinemach.bsky.social
I'm just learning as I go.
It would cut pretty deeply into revenue in the short term, I expect, but if I were Valve I'd be concerned about the longer-term effect of having way fewer low/medium budget indie titles, which I happen to know are a very large part of what draws more casual players into the platform.
November 13, 2025 at 5:43 PM
It would cut pretty deeply into revenue in the short term, I expect, but if I were Valve I'd be concerned about the longer-term effect of having way fewer low/medium budget indie titles, which I happen to know are a very large part of what draws more casual players into the platform.
Still. I do think @valvesoftware.com could make a smart move and repair a lot of the damage currently being done to the games industry by publishers barely funding smaller games anymore, by taking a much lower cut from the first $X sales revenue per year. (Like Epic does with Unreal license fees.)
November 13, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Still. I do think @valvesoftware.com could make a smart move and repair a lot of the damage currently being done to the games industry by publishers barely funding smaller games anymore, by taking a much lower cut from the first $X sales revenue per year. (Like Epic does with Unreal license fees.)
I think what makes it such a sore spot is how that 30% on top of all the other costs like engine fees, publisher cuts, and taxes tends to leave devs with a very depressingly small cut of the pie, in the end. But of all the very valid things to criticize Valve for, I don't think this is it.
November 13, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I think what makes it such a sore spot is how that 30% on top of all the other costs like engine fees, publisher cuts, and taxes tends to leave devs with a very depressingly small cut of the pie, in the end. But of all the very valid things to criticize Valve for, I don't think this is it.
I'm not a commercial game dev but I hope to be eventually, and so pay attention to these things.
I'd love less. But Steam as a platform adds such a stupid amount of value, even on top of the visibility you get from being on Steam at all, that it's hard to really begrudge Valve their 30% cut.
I'd love less. But Steam as a platform adds such a stupid amount of value, even on top of the visibility you get from being on Steam at all, that it's hard to really begrudge Valve their 30% cut.
November 13, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I'm not a commercial game dev but I hope to be eventually, and so pay attention to these things.
I'd love less. But Steam as a platform adds such a stupid amount of value, even on top of the visibility you get from being on Steam at all, that it's hard to really begrudge Valve their 30% cut.
I'd love less. But Steam as a platform adds such a stupid amount of value, even on top of the visibility you get from being on Steam at all, that it's hard to really begrudge Valve their 30% cut.
Not only is it the same as you'd find in most other places, Steam arguably adds a whole lot more value as a platform than any of those others. Communities, reviews, cloud saves, universal controller support, cross-platform play via Proton, achievements, the workshop, networking tools, etc. etc. etc.
November 13, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Not only is it the same as you'd find in most other places, Steam arguably adds a whole lot more value as a platform than any of those others. Communities, reviews, cloud saves, universal controller support, cross-platform play via Proton, achievements, the workshop, networking tools, etc. etc. etc.
"If only you could talk to these creatures, then perhaps you could try and make friends with them, form alliances... Now that *would* be interesting."
November 12, 2025 at 9:20 AM
"If only you could talk to these creatures, then perhaps you could try and make friends with them, form alliances... Now that *would* be interesting."
Problem: Your assistant doesn't care and doesn't like you. They bring you the three easiest bar exam tutors to find on a Google search. Don't you wish you had a perfectly compliant computer slave to make your demands of, instead, and flatter you all the while for how smart you are to do so?
November 12, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Problem: Your assistant doesn't care and doesn't like you. They bring you the three easiest bar exam tutors to find on a Google search. Don't you wish you had a perfectly compliant computer slave to make your demands of, instead, and flatter you all the while for how smart you are to do so?
Seriously, you really can learn a lot about some people by denying them an uncontrolled or unreserved response even as they persistently try to provoke one.
November 11, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Seriously, you really can learn a lot about some people by denying them an uncontrolled or unreserved response even as they persistently try to provoke one.
Well damn, I guess I must have just been imagining those nasty replies to my attempt to pitch in to the thread you started with some normal discussion. I'm probably only imagining you saying some nasty thing to me just now, too!
You can keep going if you need to. I find it quite illuminating.
You can keep going if you need to. I find it quite illuminating.
November 11, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Well damn, I guess I must have just been imagining those nasty replies to my attempt to pitch in to the thread you started with some normal discussion. I'm probably only imagining you saying some nasty thing to me just now, too!
You can keep going if you need to. I find it quite illuminating.
You can keep going if you need to. I find it quite illuminating.
This from the terminally online guy who responded to normal respectful discussion (more respectful than the tripe you wrote deserved, for that matter) with derision and condescension. I am rubber, you are glue. If you're having some tough days, kindly consider not trying to take it out on me!
November 11, 2025 at 11:03 PM
This from the terminally online guy who responded to normal respectful discussion (more respectful than the tripe you wrote deserved, for that matter) with derision and condescension. I am rubber, you are glue. If you're having some tough days, kindly consider not trying to take it out on me!
Sure, bud. I just can't read. Silly illiterate me, and all the others too, doubting the great infallible you. Thank you for sharing of your incomparable intellect and wisdom. You are the obvious master of smooth and constructive social interactions. Truly, this is all but pearls before swine.
November 11, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Sure, bud. I just can't read. Silly illiterate me, and all the others too, doubting the great infallible you. Thank you for sharing of your incomparable intellect and wisdom. You are the obvious master of smooth and constructive social interactions. Truly, this is all but pearls before swine.
You called me and anyone else who hates small talk a narcissist. Doesn't matter how many times you say you meant something else, doesn't change that it's what you actually wrote. Are you genuinely confused about the unhappy responses you got, or is this just more bait?
November 11, 2025 at 10:27 PM
You called me and anyone else who hates small talk a narcissist. Doesn't matter how many times you say you meant something else, doesn't change that it's what you actually wrote. Are you genuinely confused about the unhappy responses you got, or is this just more bait?
Anyway, damn bsky for putting this in my feed again. Congrats on a finely crafted rage bait. The gaslighting follow-ups were a great touch. I'm sure you don't know me, but the only reason I bother is I've been following your work for so long. Really hope you're not an ass, just oblivious as all hell
November 11, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Anyway, damn bsky for putting this in my feed again. Congrats on a finely crafted rage bait. The gaslighting follow-ups were a great touch. I'm sure you don't know me, but the only reason I bother is I've been following your work for so long. Really hope you're not an ass, just oblivious as all hell
The "not about me" bird is a comically narcissistic caricature. You said that people who hate small talk are narcissists who only deem their own interests as "unsmall". I'm not sure how this could have possibly been lost on you, writing it. But if it was, FYI, this is what the words you used mean.
November 11, 2025 at 9:48 PM
The "not about me" bird is a comically narcissistic caricature. You said that people who hate small talk are narcissists who only deem their own interests as "unsmall". I'm not sure how this could have possibly been lost on you, writing it. But if it was, FYI, this is what the words you used mean.
Did you at all consider that the reason why you got all the unhappy replies might conceivably have to do with you having said something dumb and offensive? I hope you didn't mean everything you wrote, because whatever it is you meant, what you really actually wrote was remarkably unkind.
November 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Did you at all consider that the reason why you got all the unhappy replies might conceivably have to do with you having said something dumb and offensive? I hope you didn't mean everything you wrote, because whatever it is you meant, what you really actually wrote was remarkably unkind.
Definitely yes.
Anything engaged with according to certain artificially limiting rules or customs is a game. Movies, books, and monologues are also games.
The more interesting questions are whether Alice's Game is interactive in nature (yes) and whether Bob has ever said the words "Golden Path".
Anything engaged with according to certain artificially limiting rules or customs is a game. Movies, books, and monologues are also games.
The more interesting questions are whether Alice's Game is interactive in nature (yes) and whether Bob has ever said the words "Golden Path".
November 11, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Definitely yes.
Anything engaged with according to certain artificially limiting rules or customs is a game. Movies, books, and monologues are also games.
The more interesting questions are whether Alice's Game is interactive in nature (yes) and whether Bob has ever said the words "Golden Path".
Anything engaged with according to certain artificially limiting rules or customs is a game. Movies, books, and monologues are also games.
The more interesting questions are whether Alice's Game is interactive in nature (yes) and whether Bob has ever said the words "Golden Path".
A good place to start is the gbadev Discord! discord.io/gbadev
I've worked a bit with (and on) ZigGBA which I think is really neat, though there are other much more mature tool options if you're not looking to dig too hard into nitty-gritty right away
I've worked a bit with (and on) ZigGBA which I think is really neat, though there are other much more mature tool options if you're not looking to dig too hard into nitty-gritty right away
discord.io
November 10, 2025 at 10:27 PM
A good place to start is the gbadev Discord! discord.io/gbadev
I've worked a bit with (and on) ZigGBA which I think is really neat, though there are other much more mature tool options if you're not looking to dig too hard into nitty-gritty right away
I've worked a bit with (and on) ZigGBA which I think is really neat, though there are other much more mature tool options if you're not looking to dig too hard into nitty-gritty right away
If you would tell me that bskeet wasn't flatly meant as an insult and to call me narcissistic, then you are a god awful liar. I respect your work and generally enjoy following you, I don't know what the deal is today, and so I mean this in the most charitable way possible: Fuckin chill. Touch grass.
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
If you would tell me that bskeet wasn't flatly meant as an insult and to call me narcissistic, then you are a god awful liar. I respect your work and generally enjoy following you, I don't know what the deal is today, and so I mean this in the most charitable way possible: Fuckin chill. Touch grass.
(The new take is really bizarre, by the way. Encouraging someone else to talk about their own interests and appreciating what one might have to learn by listening to them when they do is selfish now..? What the hell bud)
November 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
(The new take is really bizarre, by the way. Encouraging someone else to talk about their own interests and appreciating what one might have to learn by listening to them when they do is selfish now..? What the hell bud)
What's up with all this? To say hating small talk is to be the comically narcissistic/selfish bird, then it's some angry attack when someone comes along to amicably share their thoughts on how they don't think that makes them narcissistic/selfish and maybe that wasn't a fair characterization?
November 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
What's up with all this? To say hating small talk is to be the comically narcissistic/selfish bird, then it's some angry attack when someone comes along to amicably share their thoughts on how they don't think that makes them narcissistic/selfish and maybe that wasn't a fair characterization?