Steam and DLC, confusing

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Redglyph, Jun 20, 2020.

  1. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    Hello!

    I just sent a message to Studio 397, because the DLC is confusing on Steam, if you look at the rFactor 2 page, and click on DLC, you end up with 0 item available. I know there's a more circonvoluted way to search for DLC, but that's so many customers who'll miss that.

    But then, I was looking at the Nurburgring / Nordschleiffe, I saw a while ago there was a release and I was considering buying it for this weekend (I'm not very actively following rF2 at the moment). But I'm not sure where to buy it... There is absolutely nothing on this website, except annoucements if one has the time to go through the all news posts, but no direct link easily accessible. And on Steam, the only item I see is named "nürburgring", nothing more, no info on the developer/publisher, no info on the item itself. To me, it may well be the South loop, from an unknown developer.

    So I didn't buy it, 12€ will not ruin me but I'm not throwing away money on unknown content. I'm probably not the only one.

    I think some basic info may help in that regard, and that wouldn't require much time. I'd definitely add a list of what is actually available for this great sim on the website, that's the entry point for most people. And if some others are like me, they also like to check the content before committing to a new sim ;)

    But that's good sign, there's more and more quality content available now! Let's make it visible to everyone.

    FWIW,

    -- Red
     
    vittorio likes this.
  2. Goanna

    Goanna Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2012
    Messages:
    1,405
    Likes Received:
    953
    You shouldn’t have to trawl through Announcement posts to find where to buy...it’s in the very first post eg Nords;
    B6D8CD17-EC31-46D1-A610-A6070B517D3B.png

    As for steam, none of rF2 paid content is not DLC as most people understand it, they are all technically in-game items, which show on the rF2 store page;
    14CE9327-71EA-4F8F-B722-920ADAB2C6C7.png
     
  3. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    Ah, I should actually start from the forums, and search all the releases (perhaps with "[REL]"), filter out updates, and from there I can get the info on the content, and the link on the Steam website (then look for the same in the app). At least that gives a confirmation of what it is, thanks! :)

    Still, that's confusing to people who don't spend much time in the forums, and don't actually have much time to spend. Also, it's only for the Studio-397 items, not 3rd-party ones. So if I had to look on each provider's website where they decided to put the information, that would quickly become awkward. When you look at Reiza's DLC items, it's clear: you know it's from them, and you know what it is, and all that from a unique website where you can buy the item. That's how it should be (I mean the centralized part, not the fact it's Steam, which is another debate).

    I don't understand what you mean in the next part, "As for steam, none of rF2 paid content is not DLC as most people understand it, they are all technically in-game items, which show on the rF2 store page;", but yes, that's where I usually find the DLC. Except it's not a good method since the info is confusing there (look also at "Two Strong pack", impossible to know what it is from the store page).
     
    Love Guitars n Cars likes this.
  4. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    Hm. And I see Steam doesn't offer to add just the necessary funds to buy an item. No, you have to add 5, 10 and so on, making sure you keep some money in their system? Nice. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case before.

    That's why I buy directly from the developer / publisher when I can, I had mixed feeling when ISI moved to Steam but I suppose there's some benefit.
     
  5. Sebastien Sestacq

    Sebastien Sestacq Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2016
    Messages:
    851
    Likes Received:
    1,436
    A system a la R3E or Iracing would be much better but unfortunately they are linked to steam...when Sebring came out I bought 2 times by mistake steam didn't want to reimburse me for one of them....o_O
     
  6. Goanna

    Goanna Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2012
    Messages:
    1,405
    Likes Received:
    953
    Start in the News and Notifications sub-forum, not a great amount of filtering needed....releases and news.

    No, partners like Reiza and Kartsim are sold through the S397 rF2 store so release notices and links are also in the News and Notifications sub-forum.


    yes, there's missing info on the two strong pack in steam (but easily checked what in the rel notice on the forum)...generally it'll show something like;
    s4.PNG

    What I meant by dlc vs in game items is this;
    I own IL2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad and on their store page it shows;
    s3.PNG

    So it shows content as DLC...I can see all DLC and what I have purchased.
    rF2 content is shown as items, so doesn't show like IL2....if you click the shop available Items highlighted in the 2nd screen of my previous post it'll show you all items that can be purchased. Once you've purchased something you can see it via the steam menu at top, select inventory;
    s1.PNG

    Everything you have purchased will then show like;
    s2.PNG
    It may be a bit different from the way we view other game's content, but becomes like second nature after a bit, which in not of much comfort to someone who is not used to some of the intricacies of Steam and rF2.
     
    Redglyph likes this.
  7. Love Guitars n Cars

    Love Guitars n Cars Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2017
    Messages:
    192
    Likes Received:
    156
    Yes you can add exact amount you need. I'm 100% sure of that.
     
  8. pkelly

    pkelly Registered

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2011
    Messages:
    525
    Likes Received:
    323
    Yes, you can add just the required amount...but it's NOT very intuitive and can result in some frustration. I'd think that could be more refined so they could get our $$ more easily ;-)
    PS - I use PayPal once I get to the correct screen :-(
     
  9. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    In my previous purchases I could set the exact amount, but this time it didn't look possible anymore (or then it's well hidden). Here it was only 1 cent, so no big deal, but for other items like one of the tracks, that would be larger.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2020
  10. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    Thanks for the explanation :)

    IL2 is a nice sim too ;)
     
  11. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    I finally looked it up. Six months ago there was still a hack to do that, by editing the store webpage in Chrome (I was using the app), and perhaps it's still working. I haven't tried, they'll certainly patch this if that's not already done. Here's a link to a video explaining the method in case it helps someone:


    Otherwise, the "Le Mans 24H", aka le Circuit de la Sarthe, is 10.99€, which means 3 quantum leaps to 15€ (or one to 10€ and another one to 15€, at least we have some degree of choice). Very convenient, thank you Steam, and keep the change, what's a mere 4€ in the great scheme of things anyway :p

    So in conclusion, the mix of laconic website / searching the forums to know the DLC content, and Steam with quantum money... not a fan. There's definitely room to make that less obscure to customers.
     
  12. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    It's easy to say something is wrong and do nothing... so if that helps, I can list here the confusing entries in Steam, and paste the info in the release threads, in order to make a Steam DLC update as easy as possible. But only if that is used, I'd hate doing it for nothing :D Like pretty much everyone, I don't have much time unfortunately :)

    Just let me know.

    For the rest, there isn't much I can do to help except throwing suggestions. But without knowing how the website is made, or how Steam deals with transactions, it would be useless.
     
  13. Bernd

    Bernd Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2013
    Messages:
    1,509
    Likes Received:
    755
    I can confirm that.
    And it's not hidden somewhere.
     
  14. Love Guitars n Cars

    Love Guitars n Cars Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2017
    Messages:
    192
    Likes Received:
    156
    Perhaps it's your browser I don't know but I can pay exact amount. I can confirm this since I made a purchase just last night and paid exact amount.
     
  15. Bernd

    Bernd Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2013
    Messages:
    1,509
    Likes Received:
    755
    I just bought the ferrari 1 minute ago and there were only the buttons with fixed amounts available.
    And i did use the browser (Edge) that i have always used before too.
    But i will try it with Firefox now, even if i doubt that the browser can make a difference, if the buttons or a cell, where you can enter an amount, gets shown.
     
  16. Bernd

    Bernd Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2013
    Messages:
    1,509
    Likes Received:
    755
    OK, now i know what happened.
    The ferrari costs 4,99€ and the first button showed 5,-€ with the info "minimum amount".
    Now i have selected sebring and the first button shows the 8,97€.
    So i can still pay in the exact amount.
     
  17. Redglyph

    Redglyph Registered

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Messages:
    43
    Likes Received:
    10
    Interestingly, after I wrote about the problem to the support, the exact amount option has made its reappearance.
    A few days ago, that wouldn't work on the app, or in a browser, with the same article. Since I'm not the first one reporting that, it looks like there is something fishy about this feature.
     

Share This Page