Disparity in PS2 and H1Z1 through Steam

I'll cut straight to it.

H1Z1 patches through Steam, Planetside 2 doesn't.
It is clear that Planetside 2 could if Daybreak wanted it to, so why don't they want it to?

H1Z1 has a separate test server installation available on Steam, Planetside 2 test server is standalone only.
It is clear that Planetside 2 would if Daybreak wanted it to, so why don't they want it to?

I don't launch the game through Steam.

I do launch the game through Steam.

Well, perhaps you shouldn't.

Why would I abandon Steam?

Everyone else is doing it!

Steam Set A Record Over The Weekend With 9.5 Million Concurrent Peak Users

Uh...
Those numbers were fudged.

Which has nothing to do with whether or not its a good platform to push MMO patches through. It isn't... by the way.

I have no idea whether this is a placebo effect or not but I feel like the game runs better with the standalone version.

**** steam. Horrible creation with terrible interface. Why would anyone voluntarily choose to use when alternatives are available is beyond me.

Steam eats up an assload of CPU.

Also, there was a period of time when PS2 was subject to bugs standalone ps2 was not. I'm fairly certain it wasn't steam overlay related either. It was very bizarre. People were told to fix/play the game, install the stand alone and it worked.

Like Origin

Steam charges money to host it directly on Steam instead of a standalone. They pay Steam less due to the standalone nature of the game. A game that has had minimal patches and massive staff reductions in the last year. You can do the math, your suggestion is not happening, unfortunately. Their focus and resources are centered in on H1Z1, not PS2.

Which you would have expected any sane and rational gamer to instantly see and answer any 'why does H1Z1....?' questions.

PS2 - like many other dead titles - has a hardcore which just won't let go.

They don't see a very tired, incomplete and never to be finished 3 year old title, they just sit and wonder and [suggestion] on how it is going to eventually get better versus that other sparkly new project that has just been launched and has all those patches on a weekly basis and all those staff working on it.

Just like those weekly updates and all those staff will Soon™ be working on a 36 months since beta and nothing has changed or improved PS2.

Who knows...

People who download the Game over Steam have to download it again over the Launcher.
It's just another stupid thing in long long list of failures...

You definitely need to stop that. Steam is the wrong way to run PlanetSide. I suggest reinstalling using the launcher from the website. Steam just causes problems with this game.

I think it has something to do with differences in how the launcher and Steam validate game files. I'm not entirely sure, but I've seen many bug reports and G error code reports that were Steam related, mostly resolved by running from the launcher.

It's not that you're abandoning Steam, it's that not every PC game runs well from Steam. PlanetSide runs best and is installed best from the developer's launcher. In other words PlanetSide wasn't developed with Steam in mind.

You don't get an Error from palying over Steam and i don't get were you have that from...

If DBG would just put the Launcher up on Steam (what would be 0 work) instead of an outdated Version that needs a total reinstall anyway, most of the problems would be gone, but somebody would have to do it and 5min work is to much it seems...

https://steamcommunity.com/app/218230/discussions/0/828939978290295175/?l=french
http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/828935672492975442/
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/ps2/index.php?threads/steam-users-launch-issues-11-23.51272/

There are a lot more.

The reason is because not every developer wants to deal with Steam. Steam is a great platform if you develop specifically for it, but making your game available on and off Steam is a unique challenge. Keeping the Steam launcher parallel with the game launcher is a actually a pain in the a**. Everytime you release a patch--every time--you have to independently patch the Steam launcher.

You can't run the original launcher from Steam, because the original launcher performs tasks that conflict with Steam, so you need a specific launcher for Steam. That's why the Steam launcher is not the same launcher you download from Planetside2.com, and must be patched separately, making it a pain.

And, don't forget, PlanetSide was originally developed by Sony. Sony is a big company, and they had absolutely no intention of beholding themselves to Valve. Maybe DBG can benefit from Steam, but PlanetSide and other DBG (formerly Sony) titles have had plenty of exposure.