Are low prices the only reason you use Steam?

[Caffeine Rage]

I admit, the insane sales are a factor. It is always nice to grab a game for a massive discount. But, that isn't the only reason I love Steam.

I live out in the middle of nowhere. My choices for retail PC games are the rather meager selections at Walmart or the "PC Section" (which is almost all Blizzard games) at Gamestop; both of which are roughly an hour away. So, downloading the game is cheaper for me, even if the list price is a couple dollars more, and normally faster than getting the game retail.

Amazon is out of the question for must have games. I live on the very end of the route for both Fedex and UPS. So, if it isn't USPS I'll get a delivery at roughly four or five in the evening. Assuming the driver gets to me that day, which has happened a couple of times.

Having all my games collected in one place is a nice touch. Since Steam has a good selection of games, I don't have problems finding games I enjoy on it. In fact, I've found some that I love that I otherwise wouldn't have because of Steam sales and seeing them as new releases. This is why I'm not interested in single publisher/developer direct download services. I don't want to lose games because I forgot a password to a service I haven't used in the better part of a year.

Others have bought up the chat services. They are very handy to have in the Steam overlay. The simple fact that I don't have to tab out when someone starts talking to me is an amazing feature for me. It seems that people hover around, waiting for me to load up a game that hates getting tabbed out of before sending me a message on another IM client.

 

[Romblen]

I like it for some of the features beyond low prices. More than anything else I love digital distribution. I don't need a physical copy of my games, and when I install Steam on a new computer(I'm on my fourth computer with a Steam account now.) I still have access to all my games. The social interaction is nice too, the steam chat is functional and very useful while in-game.

 

[Vault101]

internet limits is the reason I DONT use steam...that and a lack of a credit card

the PS3 store however...is very tempting

 

[Omega Pirate]

It's convenient and cheap like others have said. I got Terraria for $2.50, whats not to like?

I am a console gamer, however indie titles are just plain cheaper on steam.

 

[Whispering Cynic]

I mainly use steam to play Team Fortress 2. Their prices are too high for me as it is - I can buy newly released games for the same (and very often) lower price in a store 15 minutes away from my house, get a physical copy and all the goodies that come along with it. Barring the occasional interesting sale I don't really buy anything there.

 

[Mimssy]

I only use Steam when the prices of games are really cheap (I haven't paid more than $5 for a game)

 

[Purkki]

Steam has very good community system. And the group events are easy to make/participate.

 

[Krinku]

Yeah I'd still use it even without the sales every single frikkin week. It's a messenger, a community, a place to hold multiple games, and the entrance to INFINITE WONDERS!!!!

 

[Kayvaan]

I have a steam account and to be honest the only reason i have it is because i needed it to play Dawn of War 2 when it first released... I have hated it ever since... But the sales they have keeps me there...

But most of the time i buy my games from another games place... It's called Dungeon Crawl and they sell really cheap games...

http://www.dungeoncrawl.com.au/

Just in case anyone is interested...

 

[EvilMaggot]

Nope i get most of new releases through steam..but you gotta admit they have awesome prices just take the summersale ^^

 

[The Lawn]

Since I am exclusively a PC gamer, there really isn't any more convenient way to organize all my games and friends who I play them with.

The main reason I use steam is because if I see a friend playing a game, with 3 clicks I can join whatever game their playing and the server they are playing on.
That too me, is its most valuable feature by far.

Second, the sales. You can get awesome games for under a fiver during their 3 big yearly sales.

 

[bbad89]

I have a large amount of friends on there, all my games are right there, very easy to organize, and Valve hosts many servers for the games, and the overlay in-game is very nice.

Also, Civilization V for 17 dollars this weekend. Me and my friend got it and have been having a hell of a time.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

I have never really cared for Steam, seeing as how I am primarily a console gamer that being said I bought the PS3 edition of Portal 2 and took it on it's offer of a free PC copy of the game I could play via Steam, that and also Team Fortress 2 went Free to Play which gave me that last little pushed needed to finally dip my toes into Steam...
And do you know what I've come to realize? I despise Steam. I won't go into a rant because frankly I don't want to but suffice to say I am less than pleased with the service but most of my friends with Steam accounts can't get enough of Valve's money printer. So here's my question Escapist: If Steam's prices were a little more in line with everyone else's would you still use it?

Absolutely. Having a central location for all my games is really nice and the fact that the overlay works for most non-Steam games is absolutely wonderful. Without Steam, you hear an IM pop up and, for many games, have to save, close, and restart them just because they don't play well with alt-tabbing. On top of that, it means that I can keep one friend list for an awful lot of games. The whole Steam Cloud thing for saving settings is also really handy now that the bugs seem to have been mostly ironed out.

Also, the friend and chat systems are simple, intuitive, and robust. Compare Steam to something like Origin and the polish that's gone into Steam is pretty remarkable. On that note, being able to change your username at any time is a small, but great move, and definitely fitting given that multiplayer games (the sort without any real progression - TF2 for instance) have functioned that way for so long.

I think the biggest thing is that, for the most part, Steam just works without too much hassle. It's rare and refreshing when something that does so many things does them so simply and so efficiently. And just about any issue you do have can be fixed by deleting the client registry blob. Also, any time I have had some sort of issue, like a game just not working for no discernable reasons, their customer service has been fast, friendly, and completely fair.

TL;DR: <3 Steam

Edit: It's worth noting that when Steam was younger, it was a pile of junk. It's gotten a lot better. And they could still afford some polish on the offline mode functionality, which remains relatively arcane and unpublicized.

 

[Craorach]

The only time I have found significantly lower prices on Steam is during their sales.

Steam is about convenience to me. I've gone through three computers since I started my Steam account, I don't have to keep my discs, DLC is easily available and they've now added FTP games that I can use the Steam Wallet for, so I don't have to worry about dodgy sites and my credit card.

 

[BoTTeNBReKeR]

To me (and I think a lot of other people who game on their PC, especially online) Steam has sort of become a user interface for PC gaming. It's just like XBL or PSN, except imo both of those services kinda suck compared to Steam (haters gonna hate).

So yes, if Steam would raise their prices, I'd still use it. I might buy less fromt hem though.

 

[Vibhor]

Its the most easy to use DD service.
It would grow on you and sooner or later your wallet will have no more money to buy AAA games.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Yes I do like steam and I would still use it even if the prices were higher. No one is forcing me to buy games off steam so I fail to see how this would affect my usage of it. Although in terms of community driven things like replay, broadcasting and recording and what not Steam is still light years behind Xfire.

 

[MoeTheMonk]

I get some use out of Steam's messaging system, and it's handy to see the new games coming out, but the thing that makes Steam invaluable to me is the sales. I have countless games on Steam by this point, probably some of which I might not ever even play, all because their sales mark them down 75% and I can get a good game for anywhere from $2.50 to $10.
Not to mention it is very nice not to have to order everything from amazon or mess around with cd's and dvd's all the time.

 

[Keava]

Nope. I really rarely buy off steam with exception of some indie games. Reason i use it is because i was forced by games that require steamworks in order to work, which is not really what i do like, but not much choice either. Think Dawn Of War 2 was what pushed me into steam.

 

[captainwalrus]

Just for the cheap prices. I like having hard copies more than electronic copies. If games on Steam weren't cheap, I'd never use it.