What would it take to convince Bethesda to abandon Steam?

[Boombro]

EDIT: Lest the following be misinterpreted, its just my opinion on the topic at hand.

 

With all due respect to bben, Steam is not "DRM". It's a way to distribute a game without media production, distribution, and transportation costs, yet still charge users $60.00 for that game and not pass the savings on to players.

Then wait for the sales, there is like one every 2-3 months, with three huge ones with a good gap between.

[Theseus12]

What it would take in 3 easy steps

 

Step 1: Get really freakin' rich

 

Step 2: Buy Bethesda

 

Step 3: Pull all your games (After all, they're YOUR games now) from Steam

 

However, keep in mind that there will be a step 4

 

Step 4: Go bankrupt as you lose too much money to recover

[Lord Garon]

 

EDIT: Lest the following be misinterpreted, its just my opinion on the topic at hand.

 

With all due respect to bben, Steam is not "DRM". It's a way to distribute a game without media production, distribution, and transportation costs, yet still charge users $60.00 for that game and not pass the savings on to players.

Then wait for the sales, there is like one every 2-3 months, with three huge ones with a good gap between.

 

 

Well, I'm not looking for deals on Steam; I don't do business with them at all. I had to wait for the Legendary Edition disc release just to get the Skyrim DLC.

 

Look, I'm not "complaining", just stating my opinions of Valve\Steam. I'm actually more saddened than angry that I miss almost all Steamworks games; the only ones I have were either a gift from family (Skyrim), or a couple from friends who wanted to do multi-player with someone they knew. I just cannot bring myself to send money to an organization like Steam, or studios that use them, no matter how badly I want some of their games. It is a losing battle and I know it; I'll soon be an ex-gamer. I'll see how Star Citizen plays (gotta get my Lancer out into the unknown), but this is likely my last gaming rig. The enjoyment I get from games is no longer worth the compromises I have to make, and the hassles I have to go through, in dealing with companies like Steam.

[Boombro]

 

 

EDIT: Lest the following be misinterpreted, its just my opinion on the topic at hand.

 

With all due respect to bben, Steam is not "DRM". It's a way to distribute a game without media production, distribution, and transportation costs, yet still charge users $60.00 for that game and not pass the savings on to players.

Then wait for the sales, there is like one every 2-3 months, with three huge ones with a good gap between.

 

 

Well, I'm not looking for deals on Steam; I don't do business with them at all. I had to wait for the Legendary Edition disc release just to get the Skyrim DLC.

 

Look, I'm not "complaining", just stating my opinions of Valve\Steam. I'm actually more saddened than angry that I miss almost all Steamworks games; the only ones I have were either a gift from family (Skyrim), or a couple from friends who wanted to do multi-player with someone they knew. I just cannot bring myself to send money to an organization like Steam, or studios that use them, no matter how badly I want some of their games. It is a losing battle and I know it; I'll soon be an ex-gamer. I'll see how Star Citizen plays (gotta get my Lancer out into the unknown), but this is likely my last gaming rig. The enjoyment I get from games is no longer worth the compromises I have to make, and the hassles I have to go through, in dealing with companies like Steam.

 

Let me tell you my story with steam.

 

Last year I bought this dandy gaming laptop with oblivion and had to wait two weeks and charge extra as well to get them. I went later that week to buy some other pc games then I recalled. We only sell call of duty, metal gear and wow in gaming stores where I live. I also can't drive, and no one is free to drive me around all the way there since it was far.

 

Oblivion told me about steam, so I looked it up and loved what I saw. Downloadable titles, updates can be made to fix the game anytime, old game with xbox controller support. Forums for all games that can be used in game, chat and screenshots in game etc. I guess what time it was? Summer flash sales.

 

I spent that summer playing skyrim, tomb rider 2013, half life and mass effect while chatting with sister my online. Sharing screenshots of funny skyrim bugs and cool mods. Overall money spent was way less than what I would have to pay for them, downloading toke way less then two weeks. Paying for mmo was safe and fast (spent $20 bucks on warframe and got them as soon as I logged on.) I have known and bought games that I love so much today because of steam. My favorite when me and sister change laptops and I can play anything in her laptop for the weekend in what we came to call the switch. I had so much pros, the cons where almost not there.

 

If you like playing games and want to stop because of such things go ahead. But does a pop up you can turn off right away really bother you so much, to the point it stops you from having fun? Like really?

[Lord Garon]

^^ Look, I don't want to hijack this thread. If you read my first post, you'd know why I don't like Steam. It has nothing to do with a "pop-up".

 

OP: Sorry I went OT, I just don't like Steam, either. I have no idea how to convince a game studio that making lower profit margins by not using Steam is a good idea. There aren't enough Steam-haters to matter, one way or another.

 

EDIT: Well, I actually do have one idea; crowd-funding. Although Steam-haters are an insignificant portion of Steam customers, a small studio could probably do a reasonable business with them. And, potential customers (contributors) could set basic guidelines. Real, non-intrusive drm. No spyware, ad-ware, malware. Optional software, not bundled. Etc, etc. The only thing that will get the monopolistic digital distributor's attention is a real effort. Like Star Citizen.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Lord Garon

[saurusmaximus]

Personally, I don't like having to sign up for third party apps to play my games, and I still prefer having a hard-copy of the game, but for better or worse, this is the way the world works now. As someone else pointed out, the main reason for this is piracy; which means less profits for the game companies. Once I figured out how to run steam offline, I've had little to complain about as far as using it goes. Don't get me wrong, I'd much prefer to not have to use it, but I believe it's here to stay.

[N7R]

I've never encountered an issue with Skyrim and Steam to be honest. I launch my game via Mod organizer, it loads steam, and I can play Skyrim for hours without issue. As far as steam says I've loggd 192 hours in my game so far, it's probably +200 with some of the time I spent in offline mode but never felt like Steam was hurting the game.

 

I'm just glad Skyrim is in steam with at least support for modding, unlike origin.

[Deleted5770650User]

Is it really piracy if you own the game?

 

Realisticly one of the main things that cause more people to pirate games is the game developers or publishers. It is getting to be common that people can play games with less hassle, and in many cases none of the problems casued by the anti-piracy many games use. When anti-piracy casues lost sales it needs to change. Yes there will always be some that wont buy anything.

 

If the anti-piracy that we have now was the solution why is piracy on the rise?

Edited December 29, 2014 by Guest

[Lachdonin]

If the anti-piracy that we have now was the solution why is piracy on the rise?

 

Because some people are self entitled jackasses who feel they should benefit from the hard work of others without any contribution what so ever. As far as i'm concerned, we should revive the old punishment for pirates. Hand the bastards in a gibbet and let them rot in the sun.

 

Frankly, Steam is the best decision Bethesda has made in a decade. I play more than a hundred games through Steam, and have never encountered any problems. It's facilitated indi-development AND modding, and has shown to be both a reliable and a safe platform for commercial distribution.

 

Plus, it's cut down on unnecessary physical waste. Digital distributions are more efficient, allow for wider sales markets, and allow access from anywhere with the internet.

[Deleted5770650User]

 

If the anti-piracy that we have now was the solution why is piracy on the rise?

 

Because some people are self entitled jackasses who feel they should benefit from the hard work of others without any contribution what so ever. As far as i'm concerned, we should revive the old punishment for pirates. Hand the bastards in a gibbet and let them rot in the sun.

 

Frankly, Steam is the best decision Bethesda has made in a decade. I play more than a hundred games through Steam, and have never encountered any problems. It's facilitated indi-development AND modding, and has shown to be both a reliable and a safe platform for commercial distribution.

 

Plus, it's cut down on unnecessary physical waste. Digital distributions are more efficient, allow for wider sales markets, and allow access from anywhere with the internet.

 

 

No where near all of the people "pirating" games are like that.

 

When Steam works it is a great idea. However not everone has a problem free Steam experiance, and many cant use it at all.

 

Digital distribution does not equal DRM or Anti-Piracy. You can have digital distrubition with out DRM, or Anti-Piracy.

 

 

If the current anti-piracy was the answer piracy would go down not up.