What's the beef with Steam?

[RZ1029]

My biggest issue with Steam is that I am required to use it. That's it. That may sound unreasonable, but there were all these occasions where I couldn't play (Now, I will admit that this issue has been almost nonexistent as of late) off and on for what was sometimes days in a row. Bugged me that I payed $60 for a game that I couldn't even play because of Steam, who was only a third party, was having server issues.

 

And after that experience, it left a sour taste in my mouth. I'm not about to refuse to buy a good game because it runs with Steam, but I'd prefer to see Steam step back into the role of a distributor and leave the option there for the social networking and such, which is pretty cool in my opinion.

Edited December 1, 2010 by RZ1029

[Zephyr102]

Few realize the real word here is "control", consumer's limits are being tested ... to the limit.

 

What limits? Please do elaborate- one-liners don't really tell me much.

 

@ RZ: I kinda agree with the 'requirement' bit, especially on non-Valve games. F:NV's case does seem a bit odd to me, but it makes me question the folks at Bethesda and Obsidian more than the folks at Valve. And since my experience so far with Steam has been good, it prbly affects how I look at the issue.

[tomcat1965]

The 'beef' with steam you'll see a lot of in forums recently isconected with traditional store's being unable to compete,hence all the negative Propaganda being presented to us, digital downloads of games and hopefully soon live streaming is the future, the pc market for games is a tough one made harder by the numerous free loaders who want their entertainment for free.

Several 'traditional' outlets are threatening to boycott Steam games simply because their customers are likely to shop with steam once they have the client installed. Obviously one would expect the cracks n bit torrent kiddies to cry about steam as it means more malware for them as they download more and more virus infected garbage in an attempt not to spend a few dollars/Euro's on a game.

[Nadimos]

Im usually not a friend of games that require you to be connected to the internet,

but steam is actually still quite fine. Except the sales page in the client seems to be down since ages for me.

 

Oh and i believe impulse is good, too.

No Fallout there, but i thought

i give it an honorable mention in here.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Nadimos

[JimboUK]

jim, pls re-read points no. 1 & 3......if you were connected & lose the net, or if steam itself stalls which is becoming more common every day, clicking "Steam" then "Offline" doesn't work. So,it means you can't play the game as steam is still so-called connected even tho it's not !!! This problem is happening regularly to many users & steam doesn't really seem interested in fixing it .

 

Our ISP were doing upgrades last week and we had quite a few disconnections, not once did Steam refuse to go into offline mode when the connection dropped. At the very worst you can restart it and you'll be given the offline option when it can't connect.

[RZ1029]

@DJZephyr Yeah, I mean, with Black Ops (my current Steam game of choice, coupled with NV when I ragequit because I can't hold a 4 KD in Black Ops :D) I've had zero issue with Steam. I've had some issues with the game itself, but those were alleviated with some long overdue hardware upgrades. (Read: I got a new computer, because mine was old as... uhm... just old.)

 

As far as Steam itself goes, I'm liking it more now than I did back in MW2. I haven't had an issue with Steam not connecting, but I'm curious to see how it'll affect Black Ops, with the dedicated servers. That being said, Valve, this is NOT permission to screw with Steam! DO. NOT. DO. IT. I am on to you.

 

EDIT: Just in case people don't get it, I'm kidding. That was a joke. Laugh, or at least freaking smile you cynical little...

Edited December 2, 2010 by RZ1029

[brokenergy]

Many just see that Steam is a monopoly in the making and don't really feel right about feeding the monster, other's don't like it because it is evasive and many had so many issues with Steam that they hate it's guts. Many use some form of "data update" (or *cough*crack*cough*) that doesn't allow their DVD's to be scratched but they buy their games legitimately (you people are out there, I know it). Steam and consoles don't stop piracy and no matter what form of DRM publishers and developers use, their games will always be pirated, they just delaying the inevitable. Now with that off topic out of the way... my opinion

 

Steam isn't something that I like around, personally I like to see my games on my hand and be able to update it how I like. It is a good way of having games but it's staring to feel like iTunes. I would like if there was more competition in that sector and Steam shouldn't have all the profits. Besides retailers have a point too and don't want to advertise their rival as much I don't like to state it. So my beef with Steam? I like to have my games on my hands where I can see them and I don't have to deal with issues such as false bans and auto update. Sure call me simple and ignorant but I like it this way as it makes me feel responsible for the games that I bought and I don't have to deal with issues.

[RZ1029]

I see necessary evil, not so much a monopoly. Retail stores have more or less ditched us. I walk into GameStop and was informed "We don't have new PC games.", I have to go to Best Buy, the only place around here that sells PC games in my area. And their selection is abysmal, at best.

[phforNZ]

The only two groups I can really understand hating steam are the retailers (Steam is kicking the bejeezuz out of most physical stores), and the pirates (but they have no say :P ).

 

I've been using Steam for years (first game was DoD Source). The only problems I've had - the recent Black Ops stuff-up, and me running out of money. Personally I'm glad that I don't need to keep discs/keys. Just as well when I had to reinstall Modern Warfare 2 (corrupted HDD, then found my DVD was broken).

I'm surprised people are having their auto-updates turning back on (never happened to me), although auto-updates are somewhat useful - particularly for the not-so-tech-savvy people, does it for them. Also, after reinstalling Windows, I don't have to waste time reinstalling all my games (I keep Steam on a seperate HDD) - run steam, reinstalls itself, run game (registers the game to the registry etc), play.

You can probably guess my opinion on all this is, why aren't all games just put through steam (or impulse, etc)? Physical media irritates me :P

 

As a side note that just occurred to me - Steam In-game is useful to use for the web browser, particularly when it comes to the Beth.Soft. games (alt-tab crash goodness).

EDIT: oh, ginnyfizz, it probably isn't Steam stopping Arcania from running - it is a poorly coded game, lags like crap even on a good rig. Engine issues annoyed me that much I quit playing after 3 hours. Probably find it is just killing itself with its buggyness.

[Zephyr102]

Agreed, I have a foot-high stack of PC game discs. Some of the older ones don't need discs, but some still do, and I hate digging thru that stuff. Dun need to do that with the Orange Box, tho. :P

 

As for auto-updates, I haven't had any desire recently to NOT update my library. Aside from Garry's Mod, I haven't seen much third-party content screwed over by updates, but then I also only bought FO3 and Oblivion about a year in, so they were already patched-up GOTY Editions.

 

One thing mentioned was install directories- this I can agree with. I have Steam (along with its library) installed on one partition of my main hard drive (which is getting a bit full), and a lot of big-@ss non-Steam games on my second partition, including the first Mass Effect. I'd like to get Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition due to the extra stuff, but that wouldn't allow me to install it on the same HD partition as the prequel. So I may end up tracking it down in stores, cuz I sure as hell ain't DLing it from Gamestop- I tried that before with another game, the download was a nightmare.

 

On that note, Walmart is fulla crap- they want $50, while GameStop and Steam are only asking $20. That $60 collector's edition looks awful juicy, tho...

Edited December 4, 2010 by DJZephyr