Client 2022.6.0 Features
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New client can be found at https://github.com/FAForever/downlords-faf-client/releases/tag/v2022.6.0
What's Changed
New Features
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Add steam play time integration https://github.com/FAForever/downlords-faf-client/pull/2725
Enables integration with the steam overlay and play time counter when steam is running when client is opened. This only applies when steam is running and you own Forged Alliance on Steam -
Enable more sort options https://github.com/FAForever/downlords-faf-client/pull/2729
Adds more sort options to the vault searches
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@Sheikah question from a guy in aeolus
"New client havethis update: "Add steam play time integration". How i can delete this function in my client? I do not understand the mechanism and frequency of information exchange in this option. it doesn't look safe."
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If they don't have steam installed or don't have it running it doesn't do anything. All this does is allow the built in steam in the game to record play time and allow the currently present steam integration in the game to work as if you launched it from steam.
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@Sheikah Can you please make the Steam overlay integration a user toggleable option instead of it always being on?
The reason I ask is because I don't play FAF, but I'm always around the FAF community to help others which often requires me to have the client open while I also have Steam running & open to help people in that community too. Since I'm not actually playing FAF but frequently have both the FAF client & Steam open, I don't want my play time altered unless I'm actually playing.
I like the idea of this feature, but it should either be a user toggleable option or only be triggered when creating or joining a game from the client.
Thanks.
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I agree here. I'm sort of person who wants privacy, and if I'm on FAF, I don't want steam to show it. As a 4k games player, I don't think there is much of a benefit to show i played the games 10k hours
Sure its good for some, but it would be nice to choose to use it.
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Serious question: How do you deal with steam reporting your play time for all the other games including base SC:FA if you were to play that?
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I think the integration with Steam should be made optional if it's kept at all.
There are numerous reasons why this can cause problems for people.I'll go through a few off the top of my head right now, but please feel free to add if you think I missed anything. Individual problems will only be known to those having them, etc.
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Steam family sharing. If you leave the client open, just to talk, or you wanted to watch a replay, or play a game - you block anyone from using family sharing until you stop. That's an annoying negative.
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Steam downloads. This one definitely affects me, and i'm sure it does many others as well. I have "download while play" on steam OFF, because I simply don't have good enough internet to have that on and also play games online - I don't want to deal with annoying lag, especially because for various reasons I am generally the host of such games. This basically ensures I have to leave the client off to make sure things download. Not a great user experience.
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The steam overlay has caused issues for several players i've spoken to and have mentioned it on the forums.
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Preventing people from launching the steam version of the game if they have the client open.
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Politeness sometimes makes people not ask people "ingame" to do anything. I can see a lot of that happening.
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People who are younger and are policed by family about steam game time. Might not happen to you, but let's think about others. I'm just imagining some poor kid with 100 hours of steam time having not actually played much at all.
Beyond all of this, steam's "ingame" feature simply doesn't make sense for people in the client to have. I'm not playing a game. If someone is using the play time to help them monitor something, the amount of time they've got the client open isn't important and is actively unhelpful.
A counter in the client itself for actual ingame time would be more useful.
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G Gorton referenced this topic on
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I'd propose a configuration option with choices:
Off
Only in game
In Lobby -
Please make the Steam notification an optional feature, please. I do not liike Steam to show me as playing all day when I'm simply sitting in Aeolus. Thanks.
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I asked this question in the Aeolus. (which In_Omnia_Paratus is talking about)
The reaction was terrifying.
Before this incident, it seemed to me that people playing such games should have a more developed critical thinking.
In fact, it turned out that people are accustomed to blindly and furiously defend something written in "small print" and "in general terms and general phrases" it is not clear why in the embedded "in silence" (in silence because the percentage of people reading the summary of changes in github is negligible, the windows with changes in the game are also instantly closed)In general, after those discussions in the chat, I only became more convinced that this function should have a shutdown button or be removed altogether. In my opinion, the FAF client has a lot of problems that need to be solved and it would be worth spending time on them, and not on serving the interests of Valve Corporation. It is enough that sales are stimulated, with the FAF client linked to Steam.
The counter of the time spent in the game is associated with legal procedures when making a refund. and also for marketing research.
both of these directions are connected with the direct receipt of profits.Based on this they(those who added this functionality) should be publicly announced how the interests of the online store "Steam" from Valve Corporation intersected with the interests of the FAF community.
I am very glad that there were reasonable people, thinking people who wrote here about their concerns about this innovation.
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I like to share my "what I am playing" status in steam. So I do not have to write all my friends, "wanna play with me?" They automatically see what I am doing and may join me if they are excited.
Still, I think such a feature should be optional.
I personally will keep it enabled. -
@blackops this question is provocative.
By playing games via steam, I accept the license agreement of this online store, including the policy regarding the distribution of personal data.in the case of the FAF client, I don't remember where it says that the community will provide valve corporation with data on players who will analyze and profit from them there. (data science makes a good income when data flows like a river)
(this begs the question of what data, there is only the time spent in the game. I will answer you that with this, it is already possible to bring together the information received on Valve servers and identify connections between people, who is friends with whom, the gaming preferences of these groups, in general, analyze FAF users)so far I see only these "rules" https://www.faforever.com/tos
and this policy https://faforever.com/privacythere are no provisions that the community shares data with third parties in order for them to profit from this data.
although of course there are many dubious generalizations that can be interpreted in a legal context in any direction.
therefore, as I wrote above, it would not be bad to get clear explanations for what purposes this is being implemented. -
@sheikah thanks a lot for the answer.
it is clear that those who do not like it will find a way to exclude this functionality one way or another.
however, I would like to understand why and under what conditions the faf community supports the functionality of the online store and its community? -
@frozen_byte The main problem is that the feature is on when the faf client is open, and not the game. If it were while you are ingame i think no one would have a problem
As it is it just makes zero sense
