Accpet Steam's New EULA or Say Goodbye To Your Steam Account UPDATED

[Pink Gregory]

Valve has said before, in the case of bankruptcy, they will sever the steam client from your games. Unlike diablo III, almost all on steam don't 100% need steam to work, it's just you have to use it anyway. So there's no worry about losing all your games.

Taking into account what Dexter111 said just above me hyah; we can only hope that:
1 - they'll still have the resources available to do so upon bankruptcy
2 - that they'll actually do it, it's promising a lot, not to mention the third party issues already brought up; that and there's no clause so far stating that they'd do so.

It's an entirely goodwill idea, admittedly (as mentioned previously in this thread) the results could only be seen in a sink-or-swim situation, but it seems unlikely that such proposed contingency plans will become legally binding without a change in the law.

Then again, it'd be in their interest, removing the client rather than having to issue refunds (although neither are legally binding, just saying if they became so) would probably be preferable.

 

[zarguhl]

That's how EVERY online service works.

Nonsense. www.gog.com
Once you buy the game, it's yours. No DRM.

 

[Neonit]

i live in EU, iirc i can sign this and it wont mean squat. also, maybe i dont speak english - send me a copy in my own language xD (yeah, i know it most likely wouldnt count in the court, but the chances ARE there.)
i dont really agree with it, but i dont want to lose my games so i accepted (it still wont mean squat in my eyes because i doubt i would be using that anyway)
and yes, when EA did it with origin, its was BAD EVIL CORPORATE EVILNESS! but valve is cool.

 

[RicoADF]

The question isn't whether you have to click "I accept", but rather or not they can legally uphold their TOS. If I pay you for, say, a year of internet access, with the agreement that I'd have access for exactly 12 months, and you later say "Well, we're changing our contracts so now it's only good for 6 months", do you figure that would hold up in court?

Steam can *say* "You can't sue us", but if I do, what are they going to do to stop me? Cut off my steam service? If I'm suing them I'm probably well past the point of caring about that.

Except now you can't sue, you can only go into small claims/arbitration. Wonder how this effects games that you've bought a physical copy of but require steam to play, like DoW2.

On the fence about how I feel about this, no real way I can see for a consumer to defend this with any amount of self-interest, objectively it's a good way to keep customers who may be thinking of jumping ship from the service, no one's gonna leave if their library is being held hostage, and in a month or two they'll forget being strong armed.

That depends on where you live, for people outside the US it might not be enforceable by steam.

 

[Killclaw Kilrathi]

Hold on, hold on, hold on...

You can't play your PHYSICAL COPY of Skyrim w/out Steam? If that's true than something is messed up around here.

I can confirm that. I was changing net providers around the time Skyrim came out (exiting housemate DCed us, long story), I thought it would be a good idea to grab a physical copy of the game so I could play it till the new net connection was set up. Silly me for not reading the fine print on the box but I couldn't even start the installation until it was linked with a Steam account, and then it insists on ignoring the game content on the disk and downloading the entirety of the game online. Fortunately I found a command line trick to make it install from the disk, but I still needed to set up a phone tether to install my physical copy from a brick and mortar store.

 

[Pink Gregory]

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/steam_and_butthurt_notes_on_the_recent_tos_changes_or_why_i_love_licenses_from_gog/page1

this feller offers quite a well-thought-out view on the issue, particularly

All companies do this, it isn't a problem with GOG or Steam or any particular company, it's a problem with the market as a whole. You're basically screwed every time you make a purchase (Although with GOG a whole lot less screwed!).

How do we change it? Do we write individual companies? No, you don't, you have to change the way the entire market views it. Or you can just sit down, shut up, and enjoy your games and trust the companies you buy licenses from not to steal your money.

This is why a lot of people don't like DRM, DRM will update the TOS as the company demands, DRM is what can really screw you.

 

[Matt King]

ehh aslong as you don't lose the games you already have, i see no problem

 

[yuval152]

ehh aslong as you don't lose the games you already have, i see no problem

you do.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Accept it. There's no catch.

It's a sign of the times we live in, really.

The new TOS is in the best interest of Valve and you, the customer.

If you wish to not accept it because you feel you're being tricked into something that would ever be an issue for you, I suspect you don't get how things work these days. Valve, as a company, has to protect itself to make certain it can stay operational and in control, and it needs to limit potential damages and make sure all potential threats are stopped dead in their tracks as soon as possible.

I buy games (and computers and microwaves and cars) to use them, not finance cohorts of lawyers and a progressively lunatic justice system that lubes up, bows down and shouts out to shady folks to get abused by them.

 

[Matt King]

ehh aslong as you don't lose the games you already have, i see no problem

you do.

wait really?

wow fuck that, is that even legal, haven't you already paid for the games?
and people say origin sucks

like what happens if you accidentily click the wrong button?

 

[yuval152]

ehh aslong as you don't lose the games you already have, i see no problem

you do.

wait really?

wow fuck that, is that even legal, haven't you already paid for the games?
and people say origin sucks

like what happens if you accidentily click the wrong button?

I don't know but I think it will exit steam and continue to pop up untill you agree or get your account deactivated.

 

[Matt King]

ehh aslong as you don't lose the games you already have, i see no problem

you do.

wait really?

wow fuck that, is that even legal, haven't you already paid for the games?
and people say origin sucks

like what happens if you accidentily click the wrong button?

I don't know but I think it will exit steam and continue to pop up untill you agree or get your account deactivated.

man that sucks... i have no problem since i've already done it, but damn they can just put whatever the fuck they like and you either agree or lose all your games :/

 

[yuval152]

ehh aslong as you don't lose the games you already have, i see no problem

you do.

wait really?

wow fuck that, is that even legal, haven't you already paid for the games?
and people say origin sucks

like what happens if you accidentily click the wrong button?

I don't know but I think it will exit steam and continue to pop up untill you agree or get your account deactivated.

man that sucks... i have no problem since i've already done it, but damn they can just put whatever the fuck they like and you either agree or lose all your games :/

Yep,they hold your games as hostages and if you disagree with the TOS they are gonna pull the button.

Going off topic: why isn't there an article about this in the new section?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I don't really care because I'm not some whiny little ***** who goes running to my lawyer for every little disgruntlement anyway. ¬__¬

 

[Irridium]

And this is why I limit what I buy on Steam. Or any other DD service which can make your games not work whenever. Besides, they've always been able to take away your games. It's not exactly a new development. It's shitty, yes, but again, it's why I don't buy from them very often.

 

[FoolKiller]

2 things:
The TOS is irrelevant because if there is an actual reason to sue them instead of the vague discussion we always have about suing them then the courts will allow it. The goal is for them to avoid nonsensical lawsuits.

As for the deactivation of your account while still being able to play your games. You can go to offline mode and keep them there. As long as you don't allow it to try to connect to anything else you could keep them forever.

 

[DJ_DEnM]

I, being a young teenager (But not he YOLO kind), do not read the TOS and do not care for it. What could possibly go wrong?

*Waiting for Impending Doom*