Steam: For or Against

[Lanceor]

I personally would prefer not to have to use Steam, mainly for the above-mentioned risks and transferrability issues. And I agree that there are some DRM systems out there that go way to far. But to balance the debate a little, here are some arguments in favour of Steam:

 

Guarantee of Legitimacy

I don't wish to spend days, weeks or months playing a game only to suddenly lose my character and items because I got banned for an illegal copy or because of a game-breaking bug which can't be patched. Perhaps many of you haven't seen this before, but here in Asia, I have seen entire stores full of pirated games. Most are poorly packaged, but some are very well produced and look quite genuine.

 

Guarantee of Language

Likewise, sometimes there's no guarantee that the software I buy from a store here is not a localised version - which is a problem when I can't read the local language.

 

Instant download

No running to the store to buy a copy, or awaiting a delivery for an online order.

 

No problems with scratched discs or lost CD keys.

[Rational314]

Valve was a cool company that made cool games yes, and until they created Steam i had a fair bit of respect for valve. I mean its not the convenience, its not the lowsy customer support, its not even the piracy that is the problem with steam. Its the entire idea of steam! The idea that you don't own the video games you pay for! The idea that the software on your computer is not yours! that they could decide to pull the plug at any time for any reason what so ever! Quite basically its not right! and that they can just put on any new inconveniet feature at any time!

 

As i said its understandable for online play, but for single play, in your own house on your computer for a game you payed for, you should be able to do whatever you want! They shouldn't make it so you can only use the software on your computer if they are watching you! I have heard lots of negative arguments against steam, but there doesn't seem to be a positive here! A few achievments and features don't make up for the long list of invasive and offensive policies they put in place. Steam only attacks the paying customer, it doesn't make it any harder for pirates or hackers, so whats the point of it?

 

Valve did not create software licenses, the idea of not owning your pc game predates steam by quite a bit. Not being able to do whatever you want with your software also predates steam.

And steam has been proven to force pirates to wait longer for their games which at this point is the main purpose of drm.

[Unholypaladin]

Valve did not create software licenses, the idea of not owning your pc game predates steam by quite a bit. Not being able to do whatever you want with your software also predates steam.

And steam has been proven to force pirates to wait longer for their games which at this point is the main purpose of drm.

 

I am not saying that they INVENTED software licensing, I am saying that using it is wrong. I'm saying that steam imposing software licensing on games is just a ridiculous concept. Sure other programs are doing it too, and I am just as against them as steam. Think of steam as representing the entirety of over-the-top game regulations. It doesn't stop or even lessen piracy, it might add another hour onto a professional hackers work and that's it. It does help prevent cheating, which is good for online games such as call of duty, it allows for diskless access, but why should we have to suffer through all this for single player games. I mean I like some of the features of steam, they are great ideas, but you can do it without completely dominating what someone does with their own payed for games.

 

And it doesn't force pirates to do anything. I can list 3 people off the top of my head that could have a steam game hacked, packed, and ready to go days before the game is even released without being any more inconvenienced than someone actually trying to play the game. I'm not saying I approve of their actions, but I know they can and do do it. It doesn't make pirates quake in their boots, it doesn't make them beg for mercy so whats the point? Why should we be alienated if its not even effecting them?

 

Finally, the deciding factor for me, offline gaming. I usually play my games other places than my house, or if my internet is down which is not a rare thing. If my game tells me that i am not allowd to play it because i am not logged into steam, and i can't log into steam without an internet connection, I am pretty upset over it. If I am paying $50-$100 for a game, money that I worked hard for, than i want to be able to play it whenever i want!

 

If no one cares when the limits start being pushed than they will be pushed as far as they will go.

[HeyYou]

Valve was a cool company that made cool games yes, and until they created Steam i had a fair bit of respect for valve. I mean its not the convenience, its not the lowsy customer support, its not even the piracy that is the problem with steam. Its the entire idea of steam! The idea that you don't own the video games you pay for! The idea that the software on your computer is not yours! that they could decide to pull the plug at any time for any reason what so ever! Quite basically its not right! and that they can just put on any new inconveniet feature at any time!

 

As i said its understandable for online play, but for single play, in your own house on your computer for a game you payed for, you should be able to do whatever you want! They shouldn't make it so you can only use the software on your computer if they are watching you! I have heard lots of negative arguments against steam, but there doesn't seem to be a positive here! A few achievments and features don't make up for the long list of invasive and offensive policies they put in place. Steam only attacks the paying customer, it doesn't make it any harder for pirates or hackers, so whats the point of it?

 

Valve did not create software licenses, the idea of not owning your pc game predates steam by quite a bit. Not being able to do whatever you want with your software also predates steam.

And steam has been proven to force pirates to wait longer for their games which at this point is the main purpose of drm.

 

Huh? Say what?

 

For a single player game, there isn't any DRM in the world, that is going to last more than an hour after the games release. Period. There will be torrent copies up almost immediately. ( and some games are pirated even BEFORE they are released..... XBOX FO3 was out 3 Weeks BEFORE release.....)

 

DRM is a waste of time, effort, and money, and only serves to complicate the lives of honest people. I would say that the draconian DRM measure some companies are going to (of which, I view steam as one of them), are actually driving MORE people to pirate the game. That way, they don't have to jump thru hoops, or deal with a mobbed tech support staff, trying to get the game they purchased working, while all the pirated copies are running just fine.

 

Now, keep in mind, I am in NO WAY advocating piracy. If you want to play the game, buy it. It just disgusts me that software companies are so focused on "the bottom line", that they can't see the forest for the trees.

[WizardOfAtlantis]

Well, I hate to sound as if I'm running up stream here (or running upSteam here, hahaha, yes I know, unforgivable http://www.thenexusforums.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/facepalm.gif) but I have to say One Single Glorious Thing about Steam:

Steam lets me play The Elder Scrolls and Fallout in moddable standard English at my leisure, and that's a great thing considering I live in Italy.

THAT SAID, it is also singularly inglorious the way they actually do control your own bought private property, and it is bought private property. EULAs should be considered null and void, imo, as they are contrary to the basic concepts of capitalism and all that is right. Damn them to the 9th plane of hell.

[Unholypaladin]

Huh? Say what?

 

For a single player game, there isn't any DRM in the world, that is going to last more than an hour after the games release. Period. There will be torrent copies up almost immediately. ( and some games are pirated even BEFORE they are released..... XBOX FO3 was out 3 Weeks BEFORE release.....)

 

DRM is a waste of time, effort, and money, and only serves to complicate the lives of honest people. I would say that the draconian DRM measure some companies are going to (of which, I view steam as one of them), are actually driving MORE people to pirate the game. That way, they don't have to jump thru hoops, or deal with a mobbed tech support staff, trying to get the game they purchased working, while all the pirated copies are running just fine.

 

Now, keep in mind, I am in NO WAY advocating piracy. If you want to play the game, buy it. It just disgusts me that software companies are so focused on "the bottom line", that they can't see the forest for the trees.

 

This is my point exactly, my question is why don't the developers see this? I mean steam would be a convenient program if it was an optional way to download and play games, however acting as an Iron Fist does nothing but alienate paying customers and cause pirates to laugh at us and say I told you so... (Personal experience -.- I swear i quoted something right out of pirates of the Caribbean at that point! "BLOODY PIRATES!!!") Infact if i talk to a few of the people i know about a regular game, if its good they will tell me to buy it, and as soon as i tell them its on steam, they tell my to pirate it. Its ultimately costing the companies money, enraging their customers, and it takes up time and resources for them to maintain. It doesn't stop or slow down piracy at all. Sure they might be able to stop a majority of people from hacking the game in the first place, but all it takes is one and its all over the internet in a matter of hours. Game Over. If anything its a system that favors pirates! I don't respect any game company near as much as i do bethesda, but they are kinda being a little short sited on this one. Same with Valve, especially valve. I mean there are positives to steam yes, but the negetives highly outway the positives at this point!

[HeyYou]

I just attribute most of the DRM schemes, and the desire by game companies to use them, as "the corporate mentality".... If we spend a little money on this (ultimately useless) DRM package, it will be more difficult to pirate our games, and more people will have to buy them.... At least, in theory, that is correct, and most certainly what the DRM programmers want them to believe... In all reality though, quite the opposite is true. Put draconian DRM on a game (Spore anyone?) and you will actually HURT your sales by doing so. (a cracked version of spore was released several days before the official release....) Does anyone remember the hue and cry that went up when better than 80% of the people that bought the game COULD NOT play it? I was laughing up my sleeve. (No, I did not pirate the game, nor do I advocate piracy. Wanna play? Buy the game. Don't like the DRM Scheme? Don't buy the game. Vote with your wallet.)

 

Unfortunately, statistics on this particular phenomenon are rather hard to pin down, and the data is eminently configurable, to say whatever you want. The companies that write the DRM software know this, and use it to their advantage. The bean counters at corporate swallow the pap, hook, line, and sinker. Games get DRM....... It's rather sad really.

[Unholypaladin]

I just attribute most of the DRM schemes, and the desire by game companies to use them, as "the corporate mentality".... If we spend a little money on this (ultimately useless) DRM package, it will be more difficult to pirate our games, and more people will have to buy them.... At least, in theory, that is correct, and most certainly what the DRM programmers want them to believe... In all reality though, quite the opposite is true. Put draconian DRM on a game (Spore anyone?) and you will actually HURT your sales by doing so. (a cracked version of spore was released several days before the official release....) Does anyone remember the hue and cry that went up when better than 80% of the people that bought the game COULD NOT play it? I was laughing up my sleeve. (No, I did not pirate the game, nor do I advocate piracy. Wanna play? Buy the game. Don't like the DRM Scheme? Don't buy the game. Vote with your wallet.)

 

Unfortunately, statistics on this particular phenomenon are rather hard to pin down, and the data is eminently configurable, to say whatever you want. The companies that write the DRM software know this, and use it to their advantage. The bean counters at corporate swallow the pap, hook, line, and sinker. Games get DRM....... It's rather sad really.

 

You would think though, that the figures would speak for themselves! You would see a lowered profit margin when a game goes on a DRM. People outright boycott the games or end up pirating for politcal reasons rather than financial reasons. In the long wrong Piracy of DRM games is more often than not a protest against the companies usage of such software. I read an article about the piracy out of anime, and out of a thousand people interviewed, only 2 said they pirated it because of financial reasons, the rest pointed out flaws in the companies releasing them or the english censorship of anime where the original was not available in the western world. In a lot of underdeveloped or semideveloped countries, its true that people will pirate games for financial reasons or with intent to sell, as pointed out in an earlier post, but lets face it, if you have been hacking security systems your whole life to make a cheap buck adding a new one won't do much. If the PS3 network, which has way more security than steam ever had, can be hacked, than its pretty much a que to give up on this foolishness. As i said, one person hacks it its game over, and as it is ALWAYS the case, the game is over before it has even started. I am highly tempted to write a letter or simular media to the game developers and pointing this out to them. It's not fair to them, and their reaction to it is not fair to us! As it is, were stuck in a vicious cycle, pirates pirate games, companies react to it creating more annoying security measures which in turn aggrivates the consumer to turn to piracy, the companies react not by lessening it, but increasing the security. Pirates and hackers will never stop hacking no matter what you do, so i think the game companies should either accept it as an inevitability or add security measures that don't affect the paying consumer. Its really a funny situation though if you look at it through the eyes of a consumer, DRM is an act of desperation on their part that is not working. They only keep with it because they feel like they are doing something, when it comes down to it, its a more misinterpretation of the situation on the part of the consumers.

 

I know i seem like im all over the place, but these are my theories as i am trying to make full sence of whats really going on here.

[HeyYou]

Oh, I agree with you. Trouble is, you and I are not looking at the bottom line, and having salesmen tell us "Our drm scheme will make it impossible to pirate this game." The folks that the salesmen are talking to AREN'T gamers. They are corporate 'managers' and suchlike (or even worse, accountants.....) that have probably never even played the games they are marketing. Logic would tell us that DRM is just an added expense, and serves no purpose. I have no clue why the powers-that-be at corporate can't see that.....

[Unholypaladin]

Oh, I agree with you. Trouble is, you and I are not looking at the bottom line, and having salesmen tell us "Our drm scheme will make it impossible to pirate this game." The folks that the salesmen are talking to AREN'T gamers. They are corporate 'managers' and suchlike (or even worse, accountants.....) that have probably never even played the games they are marketing. Logic would tell us that DRM is just an added expense, and serves no purpose. I have no clue why the powers-that-be at corporate can't see that.....

 

The problem with this is that you would think after seeing the profits remain or worse even drop after releasing drm, that even the accountants would see that something is wrong. This is the problem with corporations in fields such as this, if the big guys upstairs don't know about the products they are selling, if the sales team doesn't know about the products, than they are doomed to make critical miscalculations. A change in distribution for oranges generally wouldn't create a riot, but a change in distribution to something with a humongous fan base is liable to get some unpredictable results. Its like walking into a dark room filled with gas and lighting a match, if you don't know what kind of gas the room is filled with, than there is a high possibility its going to explode in your face. The games are the match, the darkness is the ignorance of the sales team/distribution behind drm, and the gas is the fanbase. They are lighting a lot of matches with drm, and as we have seen its beginning to blow up in their face.