Steam: For or Against

[draconix]

I am somewhat against Steam for a couple of reasons I suppose.

I don't like the fact that Steam could cause performance degradation by running in the background. I also don't like the fact that I don't think we can sell our purchased games later on. The interface bugs me too, I don't use it very often but when I do, it doesn't come off as being very intuitive.

 

but aside from that, I think it's very "meh". A lot of people love steam, and I think that it's those gung-ho people that over-hype it that make me not want to use Steam most of all. But it's only a vague sense of mild distaste.

[lostone1993]

I am against steam, Steam Support to blame for this one

 

The support is a joke to be honest, annoying to use quick to blame the user

A year ago my steam client worked perfect, I was perfectly happy playing new Vegas. One month later new steam update, got stuck at 26% contacted support jumped though their hoops, Response the problem is on your end

I now hate the platform

But my hate is not invalid I’ve looked though properly hundreds of thread all the same problem, steam support saying the same thing. I feel like steam know their is a problem but have decided to ignore its existence

 

I think DRM is driving people to piracy, especially though without great internet connections

 

I think companies should look back to older ways that worked equally well and wasn’t much as hassle. CD Key

For example in supreme commander you don’t need to have a correct key to play single player but to play multiplayer you need a proper cd key

 

Dark messiah of might and magic is another great example. Based on source engine

Single player does not required steam, no internet , cd-key

Multiplayer does require steam

This would be a great compromise

 

many companies fail to realise that DRM is driving more and more people to piracy

 

Just my two cents

[Unholypaladin]

I am somewhat against Steam for a couple of reasons I suppose.

I don't like the fact that Steam could cause performance degradation by running in the background. I also don't like the fact that I don't think we can sell our purchased games later on. The interface bugs me too, I don't use it very often but when I do, it doesn't come off as being very intuitive.

 

but aside from that, I think it's very "meh". A lot of people love steam, and I think that it's those gung-ho people that over-hype it that make me not want to use Steam most of all. But it's only a vague sense of mild distaste.

 

 

Thats the thing though, i don't see it. Everyone i have met or seen, and every post i've read people were either totally against steam or kind of impartial to its existance. Originally i just found it annoying and than it got to be to the point where i don't even want to play games anymore because its not worth the hassle. Also steam itself is an annoying program even when im not playing games. It will often just freeze trying to open on my computer, I've tried disabling the auto open feature but for some reason disabling doesn't work, every time i turn on my computer its right there! Its like the retarded stray cat that keeps getting into your house and pooping on your rug! You try whacking it with a broom and that seems to make it more attached to you!

 

Basically i'm saying that its not just a soul-sucking evil program that is trying to make gaming less fun, its an ANNOYING soul-sucking evil program thats trying to make the game less fun! The best feature of steam is all the weird things i get to make up to compare it to! Its like a lawyer standing in a playground trying to sue children for not playing properly! Theres another one! I could go on all day with these!

 

This post was less of a debate and more of a rant but all the same -.-

 

What i want is to see what a steam supporter has to say about all this!

[hoofhearted4]

my opinion on Steam.....I have it.

 

there are things i dont like about it. i am worried about something happening to Steam, not so much being banned, but something like Valve going out of business or something and losing all of my games....unlike a lot of people, i dont mind having disks. ive never lost one, ive never damaged one. and i sure as hell dont mind opening my disk drive to swap out games. i like having CDs because if something happens to my PC or Steam, i still have my games....is it nice that you can have games without the disks and packaging? of course, though id rather get a physical copy.

 

the good thing about steam besides the small point i already mentioned, is its an amazing way to see games you would never hear of otherwise. how many games on there have you seen in stores? hell how many of those games are even sold in stores? there are a lot of good games that are digital only. its also nice that you can buy a game without having to leave ur house. u can check out demos, pictures, videos. reviews. all very nice. however i would still rather order it off Steam and get a physical copy

 

so Steam has some good things. it has some bad things. i dont like how you are required to have Steam for some games. only game i have is FONV where its required, but that could change in the future. which again points back to, what if Steam fails?

 

but my opinion on it is neutral really. i have it, so i guess the good out weighs the bad

[Unholypaladin]

I'm going to change up my argument for a little bit. This is the Good things about steam.

 

Steam is a fairly easy way to keep your games organized on your computer, you can also transfer whole collections from one computer to another fairly easily without the disks. You can also play without the need for the disk, i personally like hard copy disks, It just feels better to have a hard copy in your hands fresh from the store that you just cant wait to go home and throw into your computer, its like Christmas but all the same disk-less is a bit more convenient. It also prevents the problems seen with lost, stolen, or damaged disks. Steam has a few fun features such as achievements and a touch of social networking, you can also purchase your games online and browse through games you other wise wouldn't hear about, as said by hoofhearted4. It also provides the companies with an easier way to distribute their games to the public. Had it not been forced on us and if it didn't basically rob us of ownership of our games, and if it was more stable and wasn't so annoying it might actually be a decent program to have, however sadly, the negative repercussions of steam far exceed the good.

[mythicdawnmaster]

im against. for example if i buy a collectors edition or any game for that matter i would rather have it right there on a disk and in a nice case rather than being on my computer just waiting for the latest system crash to destroy my hardrive :wallbash:

[ginnyfizz]

There are certain quirky behaviours of Steam that I dislike. My issue is that, try as I might to turn off auto update, either for my games or for the Steam client itself, it won't turn off! It appears to have done so...and then turns self back on again without any interference from me. Thus with modded games like New Vegas, I have learned to back up the config files each time I have it as I want it...just in case Steam decides to interfere. I guess it is going to be the same with Skyrim.

 

However, I can sympathise with people who get locked out of their accounts, yet it's not as if Steam are the only company who do this. I was having an insomniac fit the other night and it's a good thing, because I started getting emails from XBox Live about purchases I had apparently just made - to the total value of about sixty quid. Logged on to my account as I knew I hadn't used the ruddy XBox for months, saw in there a game that I do not own. Uh oh...account hacked. Called bank, changed log on for XBoxLive and payment method. Called XBoxLive support and reported the account as hacked and quite properly they have locked the account. HOWEVER, this means that I can't play Fable 3 for PC either as the serial key is tied to the Windows Live ID that is locked. The moral of this story is that Steam is not the only system that can leave you with useless disks and lumps of hardware that are no more than paperweights, like my XBox 360 is ATM.

[HeyYou]

There are certain quirky behaviours of Steam that I dislike. My issue is that, try as I might to turn off auto update, either for my games or for the Steam client itself, it won't turn off! It appears to have done so...and then turns self back on again without any interference from me. Thus with modded games like New Vegas, I have learned to back up the config files each time I have it as I want it...just in case Steam decides to interfere. I guess it is going to be the same with Skyrim.

 

However, I can sympathise with people who get locked out of their accounts, yet it's not as if Steam are the only company who do this. I was having an insomniac fit the other night and it's a good thing, because I started getting emails from XBox Live about purchases I had apparently just made - to the total value of about sixty quid. Logged on to my account as I knew I hadn't used the ruddy XBox for months, saw in there a game that I do not own. Uh oh...account hacked. Called bank, changed log on for XBoxLive and payment method. Called XBoxLive support and reported the account as hacked and quite properly they have locked the account. HOWEVER, this means that I can't play Fable 3 for PC either as the serial key is tied to the Windows Live ID that is locked. The moral of this story is that Steam is not the only system that can leave you with useless disks and lumps of hardware that are no more than paperweights, like my XBox 360 is ATM.

 

I object to ANY third party software that is required to run a game that I have purchased a hard copy of. Games for Windows Live was a major cluster fork. Fortunately, it was kinda "optional", as FOSE would disable it.

[ginnyfizz]

That's true, I CAN still play FO3, all hail to FOSE!

[Unholypaladin]

yeah fose is amazing, and i've noticed that if i have it installed it seems to bipass the need for a disk somehow, i can launch fallout 3 disklessly, I found this out when i closed fallout in order to change my settings through the regular launcher, and it told me i didn't have a disk in... i assumed the game was bugging out so i opened the disk drive to see my "HP Printer Software Installer" Disk inside XD Point is... Fose is the only software i need, steam can go straight to Hades!