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IMO Valve has the highest quality touchpads that I have ever interacted with on any product. They also pioneered haptic feedback, which makes their touchpads more usable than any other implementation that currently exists.
As a touchpad, maybe. But they're not being used as a touchpad, they're being used as this weird physical input substitute thing that is meant to work with your thumb. Two thumbs, actually. Sliding my thumb that way while holding the thing I'm using causes excruciating pain almost immediately, but even in the brief period until it does it's less functional than a large touchpad, let alone a mouse or a stick.
I know some people swear by them, I just don't think they're worth the space they take up as a pointer device and I don't think they're particularly useful as anything else.
But hey, that's the point of PCs, right? People who agree with me can get the Legion Go S with the actually good Thinkpad-style optical nub and people who like playing games by scratching a plastic square for some reason can stick to the Deck.
Super bizarre and atypical. Probably a conversation you should have with your doctor.
I, along with pretty much anyone else that has used it, find they are surprisingly usable with thumbs, as they were designed to be. The left touchpad is especially useful as virtual menu and allows the device to be used effectively in many more games than is possible with other devices that are lacking these hardware features. Informational video and demo of touchpad virtual menu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vorhbmYIFpg
It is atypical, and certainly a medical issue, but I'm not alone there by any means. People who like these do tend to be loud and proud about it, so they stand out more, but it's worth pointing out that any time Valve has tried to have them as a primary input they had to either reintroduce sticks alongside them or swap them out for sticks altogether. Accessibility wise I know people who share my issues and people who say they interact better with their own mobility problems. That's always the case with ergonomics and accessibility issues. On the plus side, that has taken me into a lively and very expensive habit of controller collecting, so... yay for me.
FWIW, I'm aware of the functionality, which works just as well with a modifier button and a stick. Those things and a lot of the features attached to them are, and have always been, a solution looking for a problem. There are very few games where the developer hasn't provided a viable control mapping that the Steam layers turn into a comfortable gaming experience. In most cases if it's not intended to be used with a controller I'd much rather go sit somewhere with a mouse and keyboard.
Such as...? Or are you just referring to the original Steam Controller teaser concept, compared to the final product that has a left stick in addition to the 2 touchpads (which is objectively a better design, and I appreciate that the left stick was included).
That's fine to only use the Steam Deck for games that were designed controller-first, but the point of the device and its major success has been to make any game, including non-controller games, playable in handheld form factor, and Valve's touchpads have been the primary factor in that success.
This is the reason I see other devices that lack touchpads and can instantly dismiss them, as they aren't really selling a product that is in the same category as the Steam Deck and therefore do not really compete with the Steam Deck. They are just selling a handheld console (despite the fact that they run Windows, made clear by how awkward and strange the interaction with the OS is), which is something that is not new and have existed since the late 80s. The Steam Deck is not a handheld console, it is a handheld PC. It is true that there are other examples of handheld PC devices, which are true competitors to Steam Deck, like GDP Win, but these attempts have not been nearly as successful.
The OG Steam controller was a bust in general, but yeah, they ended up having to add a stick there. And the original Vive controllers were touchpad-only, which was a bad choice that was reverted somewhere in the process of Valve exiting the picture and every other VR controller standardizing around sticks instead. And notably the Steam Deck launched with dual sticks in a standard configuration despite insisting on keeping the dual trackpads, but very few competitors have followed suit. One touchpad, sure, because these all need a remedial solution for a pointing device, but two is rare (I can think of one other example).
So yeah, Valve has been dragged kicking and screaming back to the standard layout, much as they seem to not want to entirely let go of the idea for some reason. There aren't many examples because they don't make a ton of hardware, but there is nothing in the history of those haptic trackpads to suggest that they're a runaway hit with users that will become the go-to for input devices. There's a lot more evidence for the opposite.
I fundamentally disagree that the touchpads had anything to do with the Deck's success. Reading reviews, looking at usage lists and just looking at how the thing is used, the killer feature is and has always been the ridiculously low price for what it packs and the user-friendly UI. The entire point of SteamOS is making the device manageable with the sticks alone and not needing a pointer device as much as the Windows alternatives. You're projecting your tastes onto it pretty heavily there.
I have to say, there is so much self-contradiction in people that get activist about this segment. And I say that as someone heavily invested in it. I upgraded from the OG Deck to the OLED and I own other handhelds. But man, people need to decide whether the reason the Deck is great is that it IS a console that works like a console and doesn't need to mess around with annoying Windows quirks... or a full-fledged PC that is not really competing with consoles.
Look, the Deck is a very, very, very cheap handheld PC that is less performant and not as sleek as some of the more boutique alternatives, but it's the best value in that space. And it's less of a hassle to use out of the box than the Windows alternatives (although the difference is smaller than most people claim, honestly). It's not as smooth as a console, it's clunky and it's less compatible than inititally promised. And not as successful as you'd think from the attention it gets. But it's good. Not best in class in most areas, but definitely best in value by a large margin.
Lol on planet earth? It sold over 1 million units in a couple months, and is so beloved and sought after that they go for over $150 in box on secondhand markets still today... Is it my favorite controller for playing games that are designed for controller? No, of course not, but that's not what it is for... For playing non-controller games from the couch while docked to the TV, though? Absolutely indispensable, there is nothing else that exists that comes close to the success of the Steam Controller.
I don't think anyone has ever expected or suggested that analog stick would not be included or do not belong on the Steam Deck, including Valve. The idea that Valve is against analog stick or attempted to not include them in the first place is ludicrous and the points you make about this are completely moot lol. The point of the device is to allow play of all games, and the sticks obviously play a role in that for games that were designed to be played with them. There's never been any dragging or kicking or screaming.
Obviously there are many factors that contribute to the success of the Steam Deck: price, hardware performance, input features, Steam OS usability, compatibility with the vast majority of Steam libraries, etc. My point is that the touchpads are a discriminator between a handheld PC and a handheld console, a subtle but real difference. Comparing the Steam Deck to handheld consoles, it is not even close to the same sales of these devices like Nintendo Switch. But it doesn't matter, it is still hailed as a major success, because it isn't a handheld console.
One million units in the accessory market may as well be zero. The game controller market is woth billions each year just in the US. Specific per-company market share is hard to come by, but I'll put it this way: none of the data I've seen even includes Valve as a player in the space.
I do have a Steam Controller and it will continue to sit in a box next to the Steam Link indefinitely, because see above about having a collecting issue with controllers. My solution for playing non-controller games on the TV ended up being a lapboard with an embedded keyboard an a mouse area from Roccat, which they've discontinued because they're dumb.
The points I make about the success of the pads are entirely reasonable, seeing how Valve DID in fact market them as stick and button replacements on the original and included them instead of having sticks on the Vive controllers. They tried to sell them as a replacement, they did not work for that.
The Steam Controller is in this bizarre space where it bombed so hard it is not remembered at all by most and yet it has been subject to this revisionist history where instead of being briefly available and getting discontinued because nobody really wanted them or was using them it was a massive success that is not being made anyway because... I don't know, because they're special and unique and Valve doesn't want to devalue them? I have no idea how this is supposed to have gone down.
I mean, it's fine, it's not even close to the weirdest piece of tech I own. Not even the weirdest controller I own. But it was never a killer app, it was never particularly successful and the dumb touchpads were absolutely marketed as being superior to physical controls and were extremely not that. I was there for the fifteen minutes it took everybody to decide this, I remember.
Memory and thumbs, two conversations that you need to have with a doctor lol. You can literally just look at Steam Controller reviews and reception, these webpages all still exist on the internet... Basically the only thing that it is dinged on in reviews is the plastic build quality (totally valid, the plastic does feel cheap), lack of compatibility with Mac, and need for input mapping. The worst that I have ever seen said about the touchpads on it is "it takes getting used to" for games that are controller-first, while for non-controller games they are completely intuitive and just work.
Neither I, nor Valve, have ever pushed the touchpads as a stick replacement, and I will just keep reiterating my point that they are indispensable for use with non-controller games and without them, the product is lacking to the point of being unusable for these types of games. Continuing to try to make points about stick replacement is a deflection and a strawman, honestly.
We're talking about Valve, this is basically their MO. Same could be said about their games... Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress: "massive success that is not being made anyway because... I don't know, because they're special and unique" yup. The only thing that is weird about Steam Controller stopping production is they didn't stop after 2.
Oh, my Gabe.
Okay, here. PC Gamer review:
Hilariously the guy got much more negative (honest?) about it over time.
IGN, on the trackpad on its review:
Windows Central:
Valve being reported as saying trackpads are the superior option at The Escapist while also admitting they couldn't get people to use them:
I was there. I bought one. Why do you make me do homework?
you literally just cherry-picked the same "stick replacement" talking point that I've already identified as a strawman and irrelevant to this discussion 🤦 Dude, no one is saying that the touchpads are a stick replacement or that the Steam Controller is better for playing controller-first console games. That's literally why there are 2 analog sticks on the Steam Deck... and why I use them for controller-first games... and why Steam Controller isn't my favorite or even what I would recommend for controller-first games... If someone at Valve said that once, then they're wrong. The analog sticks being better for controller games doesn't change the fact that not having touchpads entirely limits the usability of the device for non-controller games.
If all you play are console games and first-person shooters, 1) that's totally fine, 2) yeah, you probably don't get much if any use out of the touchpads. Those aren't the only games that I play on Steam Deck or while docked to TV, though, and the touchpads on the Steam Deck and Steam Controller allow me to to play these other types of games that would not be possible to play effectively with a typical controller. If the Steam Deck only came with touchpads and no sticks, then we would be limited in the other direction. It has both, but other devices marketed as Steam Deck challengers do not have both.
Obviously... lol, its not like the intention was ever to be using the Steam Controller at a desk while gaming on a desktop instead of using the mouse... but I'm not going to use a traditional mouse when sitting on my couch. Still irrelevant
Valve said it. It's not a straw man. I'm not cherry picking. Those are direct quotes from contemporary reviewers going off Valve's marketing and review guides. The first that I could find, too, there's only so much homework I'm willing to do.
The damn thing went to market with that as a USP. They told everybody the pads were superior before they had to backtrack on it and add a single stick because they couldn't get playtesters to go along with it.
If you think you know better than Valve and they mismarketed the thing... well, great. Good for you. But they still mismarketed the thing, people still reviewed it as a stick replacement and it still reviewed poorly on that front.
Now, I'd argue it was also poor at being a mouse replacement, which is also something mentioned in contemporary reviews. It may technically enable you to play a strategy game, but you're not going to excel at Dota 2 on a Steam Controller. There are multiple superior alternatives. Most obviously to just... you know, go to a desk and play with a mouse, but there are also multiple solutions to have a laptop mouse and keyboard combo. There was that Roccat solution and there are a number of variants on "here's a flat surface with a USB hub inside it" you can use for that, if you must.
So if it's not a great standard controller replacement and it's not a great mouse replacement, what is it for? It never solved the issue of playing mouse and keyboard games on the couch effectively, which by your own account was the entire idea (even though it wasn't). The solution to that ended up being developers adding mouse and keyboard options instead. And maybe gyro aiming.
In any case, we at least got Steam Input out of it, which never did much to fix the shortcomings of the Steam Controller, but is a solid tool to enhance controller support for other devices and it picks up the slack from Sony refusing to properly support their controllers on PC.
Arguing against a point that actually isn't the argument the other person is making is the definition of strawman. I am not arguing that the touchpads are good for replacing sticks. Making the point that touchpads are bad at replacing sticks over and over again is a textbook example of a strawman. I agree with you on it, it is irrelevant, it doesn't score you any points against what I am actually saying.
Correct, yes, we all agree here.
Playing non-controller games from the couch or in a handheld form factor. Lmfao
This is where we disagree and what you have not actually made any points on that support your opinion that touchpads do not solve this effectively, besides it hurts your thumbs, which is a you thing, really
No, friend, the argument you're making is that Valve didn't sell it based on its ability to replace sticks or mice, which is what is incorrect.
Also, there are no points. This is a conversation, not basketball.
Explain to me how we can simultaneoulsy agree that it's not a great mouse replacement and you can still claim that it's a good solution to play non-controller games.
What non-controller games are these that don't rely on a mouse? Have we been arguing about your Donkey Konga or Typing of the Dead controller all along?
What??? No, reading comprehension (probably a good idea to understand the argument the other person is making before engaging with them). As I've stated over and over, the Steam Controller is good for playing non-controller games on the couch. Here, literally the first marketing paragraph from the literal Steam website...
Wow, gee... the exact point I've made over and over...
This means that I'm not going to sit down at my desk to play games on my desktop and choose to pick up a Steam Controller instead of just using the mouse that is right there. That does not mean that the touchpads aren't still great for using with mouse-based games, which they are, it "solves the issue of playing mouse and keyboard games on the couch effectively", but yeah it isn't better than a mouse. The Steam Controller has not replaced using a mouse.
I mean, it's easier homework if I only have to scroll up. You said what you said. Valve said what they said.
The weird part is we've ended up in the same place as the original Steam Controller. From being the "everything controller" that will support all types of games on a TV to being... well, not the right controller for games with controller support and clearly not as good as a mouse and keyboard for everything else, but hey, you could play stuff this way if you really wanted to.
Which is obviously not a great value proposition. "Hey, here's a slightly worse way to play a few of your games on a TV instead of at your desk" was never going to revolutionize gaming.
Oh, and by the way, I let this pass earlier because we weren't focusing on it, but for the Steam Deck specifically, the idea that the touchpads are "irreplaceable" and completely change the game when compared to other devices is also kind of confusing because...
... well, there's a touchscreen right there.
Not all games play well with touch inputs, but when you pile that on top of everything else the slice of games where the touchpads are an irreplaceable, indispensable requirement is vanishingly small.
I don't have a problem with people liking weird or inconvenient controls, mind you. It's just that I really would have prefered a version of the Deck that didn't need the Dumbo ears for the sake of keeping that weird vestigial remnant of the Steam Machines era.
What point are you making by quoting this...? Like... I stand by the quote. Yup, its not a stick replacement. Yup, the sticks have always belonged on the Steam Deck and it was never intended to be touchpad-only.
Compared to... what is the better way, exactly? It's actually: "Hey, here's a way to play a few ('few' 🙄 sure) of your games on a TV instead of at your desk that you couldn't have done before with a controller". Or is your answer "Just play those games on a desktop with a mouse! Stop having fun!" lmfao
Do you have three hands...? How are you holding the controller while operating the triggers and buttons and using the touchscreen at the same time? Using your nose to touch the screen? I think maybe you "let that one pass" for a reason 😉 (it doesn't make any sense and isn't relevant to the discussion). Are you genuinely proposing that "touchpads are bad and hard to use" but "the touch screen is a viable way to play mouse-based games"??
Lmao boy, you are not going to like the Steam Deck 2 when it comes out. Guarantee that touchpads will continue to be first class citizens
Alright, so more homework:
Valve DID say they were a stick replacement. Maybe we can keep going until we catch up with ourselves.
I'm confused about why playing on your desk is "not fun", but I assume that was a joke? Besides that I've also mentioned multiple ways to use a mouse and keyboard on a TV, which I do routinely and it's just fine with next to no compromises. Plus the touchscreen on a Deck, motion controls and other stuff.
For the record, the touchscreen doesn't need a third hand at all. Plenty of games are perfectly playable touch-only and for anything with partial touch support it's barely an inconvenience to tap something on the screen and go back to the controllers. Maybe at this point you should tell me what mystery game absolutely requires a dual touchpad setup but doesn't require the responsiveness of precision of a mouse, thus making it indispensible to have your handheld device be the width of a tabloid or your controller have no right stick.
Because, honestly, I'm drawing a blank here. The proportion of games that don't support controllers, can't be navigated with a single touchpad and a touchscreen but would not require a full mouse setup is very small, in my book. And, frankly, for whatever those are the real answer is to... you know, play something else? Not every game needs to be played on every device. I wouldn't play some games on a Deck not because they lack controller features but simply because they're not the best fit for the device and I have thousands of other games I could play instead that feel at home on a handheld.
Hmm, gee, let me think... perhaps any game where you need to be able to point the mouse without clicking or while clicking several times, or any game where you need the ability to left click or right click? Lmfao a tiny miniscule proportion of games, right???
Or maybe even a game where you need to press A to jump or X to interact while also controlling the mouse? I'm sure there's only one or two games ever made like that... 🤦
Lmaoo yep, that's what I thought.
You didn't mention any games. What games are those.
Do I point the mouse without clicking in Monster Train or Slay the Spire? Yes. But also, those games have touch and controller support, so I can do the same in other ways. What game would I play on a handheld that requires that but doesn't have any other way to do the same? That's not rhetorical, I'm drawing a blank here.
Where do you need to jump or press buttons on a controller while controlling the mouse? What is that? What game has controller support but also requires a pointer? I mean, Abuse, but that was in 1996, so maybe not that? Most games that use mouse aiming when playing on a keyboard map that to the right stick, off the top of my head.
Surely there's a list of games you played this way with a Steam Controller or on Deck touchpads that wouldn't play well elsewhere. They must have names. Right?
Umm... literally any RTS or management game... left click... right click... dragging entities around... multiselecting entities by dragging a box on screen... Good luck with the right stick for that, I'm sure its WAY easier to use it for these tasks than just using a touchpad to point the mouse, right? 🙄 Lmao.
Umm... literally any platformer or side scroller or top down game that has aim controls...
You wanted the name of a game, sure: Rimworld.
RTSs are unplayable on touchpads. I thought we agreed that touchpads aren't a good mouse replacement for anything requiring precision. Who is out there doing micro on Starcraft 2 on a Steam Controller?
And no, absolutely not true that side scrollers with aim controls need a touchpad. Bloodstained? Maps it to the right stick. Prince of Persia? Right stick. The entire Trine series? Right stick.
I hate when platformers require analogue inputs in the first place, because come on, you want to use a d-pad. But even then I can't think of a single example (since Abuse) that requires you to move and do analogue aim but won't support an analogue stick for that. The common name of top down games with free aim these days is "twin stick shooters", even. Nex Machina? Right stick. Minishoot? Right stick. Oooh, Knight Witch. Underrated. Right stick.
Rimworld, which I haven't played much, IS definitely a mouse and keyboard game. Same issue as with RTSs, though. I would absolutely not try to play that with a controller. Or a touchpad of any kind. Hell, the screen size would be a dealbreaker there.
We're looking for a bit of a unicorn here. It needs to be so coarse and slow that you can comfortably use a dual touchpad setup, but too cumbersome for a single touchpad or a touchscreen. Or somehow not supporting controllers but only for right stick aiming. Which Steam Input can simulate with a stick anyway.
Look, I'm not saying you can't prefer to play that way. You're in a very slim minority but you can absolutely be that guy.
I am saying that your choice is not anywhere near the only choice or the best choice. And for the places where playing with a mouse cursor is a must there is simply no good choice on a controller, with or without touchpads.
I mean that's basically like saying "Who is playing Startcraft 2 on a laptop???" lmao the Steam Deck and Steam Controller touchpads are literally more precise and usable than most laptop touchpads due to their quality and advanced haptics, and these games are 100% playable on Deck and TV because of them...
And further, in the same messages you accept "using a single touchpad", so like... you agree with me... great. And to satisfy your "dual touchpad" requirement, like I said waaaaaay back up at the top, the left touchpad is great for virtual menus. Pretty indispensable again in any RTS game, or mmoRPG, or pretty much any other games designed for keyboard with complex keybinds that a controller cannot support. An analog stick can work with simple virtual menus, but only doesn't totally suck when it is a radial menu. The virtual menu use is pretty much the only reason I use the left touchpad, and yet its so useful for making these types of games playable that it justifies its place on the Steam Deck.
Your argument, once again, amounts to: "Stop having fun!!"
I have no idea where you saw me saying anything about "using a single touchpad" where I was agreeing with you. I said I wouldn't play those games on any touchpad, single or dual, haptic or not.
You also underestimate how powerful Steam Input is, weirdly. Chords, button combos and controller layers can be combined into surprisingly complex setups. Probably too complex, unless you like playing Steam Input more than you like playing your game, but definitely very capable of doing as much as the left pad. Which, by the way, can be mapped to a radial menu and that's about it. Let's not get crazy with our much real state you have on that thing, especially if you're trying to do anything time-sensitive.
And no, the argument isn't "stop having fun", the argument is "don't force games that aren't fun on a controller to be on a controller". I can't imagine having fun with a fast mouse-driven game on the tiny touchpad on the Deck, or even in the larger one on the Steam Controller. Or on a huge Macbook touchpad or on ANY touchpad. They don't need to be coaxed to work poorly on a mediocre replacement when they work great on the native control setup they're designed for. A few cases overlap enough to make things work well enough, but then the lack of an overengineered dual touchpad setup is not the limiting factor because there are so many alternatives in modern devices, from motion controls to touchscreens and paddles.
The touchpads were always a solution looking for a problem, even when controllers were a lot simpler. Now they're a sub-par solution looking for a problem.
Out of curiosity, what RTSs do you play on the Deck or the Steam Controller? Because I've tried that (it was 2015, I had just gotten a Steam Controller and didn't know any better) and it's one of the least pleasant gaming experiences I can imagine. Did you really do that on purpose or is this a hypothetical?
Ah yes, complex and hard-to-remember controller mappings, so much easier than: put thumb on pad -> make selection. Great point lmao. No one is saying that you can't rig up solutions for controller, just that they are difficult to use and less payable than just using the touchpad. This very thing is probably what is driving you away from playing these games on Deck back to your computer or keyboard-lapboard gadget thing.
I agree 100%
You underestimate how powerful Steam Input is, weirdly. Lmao
Manor Lords. Total War games are great too. Civilization is turn based but still the same input mechanics and is much better on the TV due to the touchpads. Management games have all the same input mechanics as RTS but different gameplay, the obvious example is Rimworld, but also things like Zoo Tycoon and Cities: Skylines. All of these are totally playable, and several I, personally, prefer on the couch
except they are fun and 100% playable, thanks to the touchpads. This is just what we actually disagree on, and MANY people agree with me here and use the Steam Deck to play these games, it isn't some obscure or niche opinion, and its a major discriminator between the Steam Deck and other handhelds that are lacking in these input features
I mean, "MANY" in relation to, say, how many people would show up to someone's birthday party. Not "MANY" as in "the size of a videogame audience". We kinda know that for a fact. For reference, Steam does show the most played games on Deck. The first game with no official controller support shows up at 79. It's The Sims 4. For what it's worth, the two most used Steam Input configs do use the trackpads, but they just map the right one as a mouse and have the left one mapped to four directional functions. If your argument for the dual trackpads was simplicity, let me tell you, both of these configs are complete spaghetti, so I don't think that holds much water.
Rimworld is in there, suprisingly, in the 80s. Made me count all the way there, they should really put numbers on that list. Those seem to be the sole two mouse-driven entries. There are no RTS games, tycoon games or city builders that I can see.
In any case, you're right that we agree on whether playing strategy games on a touchpad is fun. It really is not.
By the way, you do realize your counter to the radial menu thing was a screenshot of a radial menu, right? The fact that it's using squares doesn't change how that works (except for how a grid layout actually fits fewer things than a radial menu, but that's neither here nor there).
I mean... for any game in the top 500 on Steam Deck... That sure would be one hell of a birthday party. You must have no concept of how big of a number 4 million is and how many people are playing these games on Deck...
Do you just not know what a radial menu is? The grid layout fits as many things as you configure it to, and the layout and arrangement of squares are fully configurable, which can be more useful and contextual than a radial menu... you should really watch that video I linked above, especially if you have time to spend counting games in the steam list lmao
Area scales faster than perimeter/circumference. You are literally, mathematically, incorrect. 36 buttons in a grid would still be readable and usable, with only 6 buttons per row, while 36 slices of a circle would be an unreadable squished mess with 9 items in each quadrant... That radial menu would likely need to be the size of the screen
And for the record, its not really a surprise or supportive of your argument that controller-first games are more popular, given that the Steam Deck also works great for controller-first games... like... duh?? That doesn't prove the point you think it does
Granblue Relink is just about closing that top 100 and has about 650 players right now. That's not on Deck, that's across all of Steam.
That's a big birthday party, but not an all-timer.
I know what a radial menu is. The menu you sent is a nine square grid, which is a neutral spot surrounded by eight directional inputs. So a radial menu.
You can make other menus, but you just happened to send me a radial menu, specifically. Which I suspect was chosen there because, like I said, the small touchpad at best suits a radial menu or a directional menu.
And the point isn't that controller-first games are more popular, it's that mouse-first games are quite unpopular. Several big mouse-first games are in the overall most played list but not on the Deck list. Others appear lower. DOTA 2, for one, which is at the top of the overall and nowhere to be seen on the Deck top 100.
And yeah, when somebody argues something iffy in an online discussion I'm the kind of person to go and check. I don't mind being wrong that much, but I do want to know.
Homework.
So a completely different measure than what is used for ranking Great on Steam Deck games...? 🤦 Comparison to concurrent users just isn't valid because Great on Steam Deck ranking aren't measured by concurrent users...
Evidence needed. Also, did you purposely leave out the fact that Civ VII is literally #2 trending on the Deck right now because it proves you argument wrong or...?
That's certainly convenient for you lol
It's a different measure because Valve does not disclose full install counts at all, let alone per hardware type, but it does provide concurrent users. I work with what I have. In any case, the top of the list is in the hundreds of thousands of concurrent users, so that does show that the top 100 on Deck does run the gamut until fairly low in usage. That's not a surprise, gaming is very winner-takes-all right now, particularly on PC. Steam user counts drop VERY quickly, so your argument that the top 500 is all huge is not accurate.
As for Civ VII, I was going off the last top 100 list, which is yearly and thus covering a period before the Civ VII launch, but Civ VI was actually there and I missed it. It shows up at 37. That's now 3% of the list that is mouse driven. I stand corrected. You're still wrong.
By the way, speaking of using different metrics, "trending" games aren't built on absolute numbers, so top played and trending don't line up at all. I'm assuming Civ VII will make the cut on Deck whenever it does get counted on absolute usage, though.
Makes invalid comparisons based on incompatible measures and draws incorrect conclusions
😂
None of the measure are incompatible, none of the conclusions are incorrect and you're still wrong.
Alrighty, then! If you say so
continues enjoying keyboard and mouse games on Steam Deck like most users, as Valve intended
Not most users, not even as Valve intended (on the Deck, at least).
They literally reserved the green "Verified" badge for games with full controller support and are the only ones eligible for the "Great on Deck" tab. Mouse and Keyboard games get the yellow "Playable" tag instead and a warning on boot.
See, that's the sad part about actually looking things up. It takes time, people get to nitpick it to death and then some guys will just... you know, say stuff.
Lmao "Playable" tag...
It means official full controller support with the default config. There are few games that provide official controller support over Steam Input in the first place, even fewer that have any touchpad custom inputs by default and I'm not even sure if there are any that are Steam Verified. At a glance it's... what, just Rimworld again? Maybe some first party stuff left over from the Steam Machines fiasco? Sims is only Playable. Civ VII, which you called out earlier, I suspect incorrectly, has official all-stick support, what with having launched on consoles day and date. I haven't checked it because I haven't bought it yet, so if I'm wrong let me know. Civ VI doesn't have default controller support, but it's only Playable as well. In fact, if you have a list of verified games with touchpad default support I'd love to see it. I'm genuinely curious.
Look, you get to live in this very specific alternate reality where the only difference is people love dual touchpads as a main input system. That's fine, you're not hurting anybody. I get hung up on it because blatant misrepresentations on social media are fairly upsetting these days and because I'm still not over having had to use the dumb touchpads on the Vive for a couple of years back there.
But man, is it exhausting to watch it act as a proxy of some much more important crap in real time.
Wow this "alternate reality" seems pretty immersive:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/td9inr/how_good_are_the_touchpads/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/0/4353368616863474991/
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/steam-deck-valve-gaming-handheld
Gee, what kind of "homework" did you even do? These were the top 3 search results for "steam deck trackpad review", skipping over a Reddit post titled " Steam Deck Trackpads are Actually Good" which was the #2 search result
Hah. Man, you were fuming about that one for a while, huh?
I said at the very tippy top of this thread that
and later
It's no surprise that there are people swearing by them loudly and proudly. In fact, there are more people doing that than the opposite, because most people just... you know, ignore the whole thing altogether and haven't through about the Steam Controller in a decade.
The reason I was pulling quotes for you is that you denied the touchpad reception in the OG Controller was mixed and that Valve was presenting them as a stick substitute, which was demonstrably incorrect.
What was I "fuming" about...? Wdym?
"Everyone around me says they have positive experiences with the touchpads! They're the ones that are wrong and I am right, because... the real people just ignore them and don't post about it!!!"
Lmao. Yeah, I'm the one in an alternate reality here...
Not everybody around me. Nobody around me has ever mentioned a touchpad outside of threads about the touchpad. It's not a thing.
Everybody on Steam seems to be playing controller games on sticks, though. At least from the data Steam shares. Which matches reviews at the time (and later, when people had to pay attention to them on the Deck), the way games on Deck are put together by devs, the low sales of the Controller, the changes to the Vive controller, the lack of other hardware manufacturers doing dual touchpads and pretty much every other piece of info at scale we have beyond anecdote.
Man, online chatter sucks and does bad things to people. I think I'm done with this. Have fun with the dual pads Valve bestowed upon you. I don't need you to change your mind about their popularity, but man, there's going to be a Smithers moment for you at some point on something else and it sure would be good if you thought back to this.
Ta.