Steam

[ModelV]

Something thats been really irritating me is the amount of people complaining about Steam. There is nothing wrong with steam and here Im going to touch down on all the general complaints I see them make a conclusion.

 

 

 

Intrusiveness/Immersion breaking(I see this to most.):

How the hell is it Intrusive? You click on the game instead of going straight to the game a little window pops up logging you in and then you go to the game and that only happens when your not logged in. And what about when your playing? The only way somethings gonna pop up is if you A. get an achievement that pops up in a very nice neutral color or B. You hit 2 buttons that open up the steam HUD. Ive only had problems with this once when playing Prototype when Alt was run and tab was target monster and all that needed to be done was to let go of run then hit tab. Thats it!

 

 

Dont Agree with Policy: You make an account. You buy the game. You can download the game to any computer as many times as you want the only way you lose access to the game is if you cant log in. Remember your damn password and it solves the issue. Its not like iTunes where if you lose the music your screwed and have to buy it again. And even if you lose internet connection it wont lock you out unless you cant connect to steam for a very long time. Ive lost net access for days and steam still let me play because I had logged in before it lost connection to the server.

 

 

Issues with mods: Here is the extent of trouble I have had with Steam and mods: I have to a click a few more times to go through the file directory to install the script extender and have my auto installer find my game or to open up GECK which I only need to do because I dont bother to make a shortcut on my desktop. Also when I try to run the game using a script extender and Im not logged in it logs me in then pops up the games normal start menu and all I need to do is close it then start it again with the script extender. Never have I seen Steam do anything but a minor inconvenience when modding/using mods and I have had some really obscure issues with Steam. In fact Steam makes modding easier because if you mess up and delete something you shouldnt you can the retrieve missing files without uninstalling and reinstalling.

 

 

"I used to like steam when it was just steamworks games but now its this giant online store where you can get any game in the world.": First you were like: Mhmmm... then you were like Huh? Then you were all like WTF?! Its not a complaint its more like a sales pitch but its worded like a complaint and its a real complaint I have seen. And now we enter the "This is just completely stupid" portion of the program. Steam is a brilliant thing it really is maybe not unique but brilliant none the less. With it you dont have to schedule and take time out of your day to drive for several hours to the nearest up to date game store to purchase the game your looking for. Instead right before you go to bed you purchase the game which takes all of 5 minutes leave your computer on go to bed, wake up go about your work or school day and then the next time you hop on your computer to play you have a new game in your library.

 

 

Conclusion: Steam only hinders two types of people: Pirates and people who dont have internet access both of which should not be on this site and thinking about it makes me think that the Admins should ban people who complain about Steam :pirate: . But thats the site owner's decision.

Edited December 8, 2011 by ModelV

[Shantih]

People who can't access the internet are royally screwed if they can't get through the online activation. So if you live in a remote area or travel a lot and don't necessarily have access to the internet you're on your own. Not to mention that if for whatever reason your connection lets you down (and that happens) you can use your brand new DVD as a paperweight and go back to playing MS Hearts.

 

I know you may think that in this day and age people who don't have an access to the internet shouldn't be able to play games but I think there should be another way to deal with this. After all when you buy a game on DVD it's bloody annoying to say the least that you can't install and play because of some online activation.

 

Furthermore I'd say that it's also annoying if in the future Steam capsizes and go under. What will happen then? All these DVDs that require steam activation will be useless. It's a long shot but it's not entirely impossible. We can still install old games that came with CD checks and play but if Steam is no longer in the picture in ten years we can forget about all the Steam activated games we're playing now.

 

The really good thing about Steam is that it allows us to play without the DVD in the drive. That's nice but it comes at the price of having Steam running all the time (even if it is off line, Steam has to be running).

 

Also when it comes to mods, Steam may not mess up directly with most of them (and I say most although some popular and useful mods need to be updated with every patch) but if you don't set up Steam to run offline it's only a matter of time before your game gets screwed by an update that you didn't want to install just yet. So instead of being able to wait for the mods or the Script Extender to be updated, you end up being unable to play a game because Steam decided to sneak up on you and patch your game.

 

One of the first things I did when I first started using Steam was disabling the auto update option but that didn't prevented Steam from updating FNV. Ever since I've kept Steam offline (I don't care about achievements anyway) and I only log in when I want to update my game (I don't care for the social network crap since I only play single player games).

 

I value self reliance and independence and I believe we should be able to decide when we want to update a game (or if we want to update a game). I'm not the only one who believes it should be the case and this is mostly why people hate Steam. What convenience Steam brings to the equation is moot once we realize that there is no option to disable the auto update (contrary to what we could be lead to believe). That's why people see Steam as a misleading useless piece of software.

 

Last but not least I don't think pirates are bothered by Steam. They probably use cracks that bypass Steam and they can probably decide when they want to patch their games so in the end we legitimate users have to run Steam all the time and deal with the autopatching breaking our games.

 

It may sound like I'm ranting and for that I'm sorry. Truth is I'm not a Steam hater. I still prefer Steam to Games for Windows Live but I have legitimate reasons to dislike Steam and to keep it offline most of the time.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Shantih

[Guy1536]

My first Steam experience was this:

 

Buy a game that requires "internet 'activation'".

 

Figures, "Has DvD, must be a code".

 

Installs on computer, jumps through hoops.

 

Make Steam account. "Seems odd for an 'activation', but meh".

 

Steam begins 10 hour download because lives in the country and only has DSL.

 

"10 hour download?!?!?! WTF 'activation' takes 10 hours?!?!?!"

 

Steam troll like a pro!

 

This is why Steam makes folks mad. Then, the famous "waiting for Steam to update" when I want to play a game, for up to an hour. Or maybe having to enter my $#%#!$51 age every 43!$~%!$%%Y@! time I go and look at a game, while signed in to my 37 year old account. Oh, maybe it is the constant running in my back ground eating my precious RAM.

 

There are many pros to Steam, but I hate the cons much. Maybe not as much as I like the pros, but damn close.

 

Oh yeah, right now, I am re-installing NV after screwing it up with a massive mod. 10 hours of nothing to do. Be nice if I could just pop in my disk..... :rolleyes:

[marharth]

Pirates are not hurt by steam or any form of DRM. DRM only hurts people who buy the game, piracy completely bypasses DRM.

 

My big issue with steam is that they have too much power over PC gaming. Some games now require steam, and if steam whats they can ban you and all of your games.