How do you feel about PC games that require Steam installed?

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I may use and like Steam, but I don't really like it. Even if it probably isn't going to happen anytime soon, what would happen if Steam croaked? Would I be unable to play any of these games I had gotten through Steam or required Steam registration to play?

Aside from that little bit, i've not no real problem.

Valve have already developed a patch that will disable the need for internet activation IF the company goes under. It's unlikely, but they won't just switch off and leave us in the dark.

Well, that's reassuring. Short of Fallout 3, virtually all of my good games have either been downloaded or needed a registration for Steam. That's reassuring

Well actually there is offline mode as well which means that you don't have to be online to play the game you just need it updated and you can play it offline no disk.

Actually, I was referring to a situation if Steam itself melted down sometime in the future, rather than my internet. Even so, i've always had trouble getting offline mode to work anyway. It pretty much means I play Fallout 3 or walk away whenever Steam isnt working on my computer for some reason.

I hope that things will remain secure.

Ok sorry I misread my bad I thought you meant if steam was generally unavailabe and not completely gone but I'd say they would give out a patch and maybe allow you to back to your games more properly.

 

[Lordmarkus]

I may use and like Steam, but I don't really like it. Even if it probably isn't going to happen anytime soon, what would happen if Steam croaked? Would I be unable to play any of these games I had gotten through Steam or required Steam registration to play?

Aside from that little bit, i've not no real problem.

Valve have already developed a patch that will disable the need for internet activation IF the company goes under. It's unlikely, but they won't just switch off and leave us in the dark.

Facts or it never happened. Though if it's true then I don't have to worry anymore.

OT: Sure steam is DRM but it's the only DRM that actually works and give people extra value for their bought product while protecting Valve's product. As it is supposed to be doing. It stings a bit that you can't re-sell your games but the only one I want to sell is MW2 so no harm done.

 

[Scumpernickle]

I don't mind. Steam is an awesome service with their discounts and their community tools.

 

[rex922]

I hate all froms of drm
because alot of them requires constant internet connection

PsRM is Satan

 

[captainwolfos]

I may use and like Steam, but I don't really like it. Even if it probably isn't going to happen anytime soon, what would happen if Steam croaked? Would I be unable to play any of these games I had gotten through Steam or required Steam registration to play?

Aside from that little bit, i've not no real problem.

Valve have already developed a patch that will disable the need for internet activation IF the company goes under. It's unlikely, but they won't just switch off and leave us in the dark.

Besides it's a lot more likely that they'd be bought by another company.

This is the main thing which worries me about Steam games. And I do much prefer having a hard copy of any game. The upside is, you won't have any discs to lose, but the downside being you can't sell it again after you either get bored of it or there is an inevitable upgrade to the game.

 

[Woodsey]

No, I love Steam.

I can see how even the 1-time online activation is still one time too many for some people, but just look at what you get in return.

I may use and like Steam, but I don't really like it. Even if it probably isn't going to happen anytime soon, what would happen if Steam croaked? Would I be unable to play any of these games I had gotten through Steam or required Steam registration to play?

Aside from that little bit, i've not no real problem.

Valve have already developed a patch that will disable the need for internet activation IF the company goes under. It's unlikely, but they won't just switch off and leave us in the dark.

Besides it's a lot more likely that they'd be bought by another company.

This is the main thing which worries me about Steam games. And I do much prefer having a hard copy of any game. The upside is, you won't have any discs to lose, but the downside being you can't sell it again after you either get bored of it or there is an inevitable upgrade to the game.

Yeah, but there's hardly a market for used PC games.

 

[SimuLord]

Well I use and love Steam, so I don't mind at all.

Bingo. I was initially resistant to Steam and held out for a fair while on digital distribution---but when my retail box copy of Empire: Total War required Steam for install, I grudgingly installed it, and 'twas a matter of a trip to the Steam store before I thought "holy shit, what have I been missing all this time?" Love at first sight.

Who knows---maybe Civ 5 will have the same effect on a PC gamer Steam holdout.

 

[henno13]

No, I wouldn't have a problem. I love Steam, even thought my first experience of it wasn't great.

 

[veloper]

I don't mind steam as such, but what I really hate this recent trend where retail games, nolonger have the game data on disc.

Not just a matter of waiting for the the patches to DL, but no, now you wait for 10 hour installs to finish aswell.

Most recent and worst example of this is the gold edition of DOW2. It's got the chaos expansion data on disc, but not the original DOW2. This confuses steam to the point where it will stall at 10kb/s and after a couple minutes actually crash.
You have to manually cancel all the DLs, delete all the DOW content and tell steam to DL only the first one first, to avoid this.

This is not so much a problem with the connection I got, but it's a completely unnecessary wait. I can imagine for gamers with a lesser provider, this will be a real pain in the ass and this crap should atleast be advertised on the box: includes only a CD-key for the game and a steam installer.

 

[Optimus Hagrid]

Meh. I'd prefer not to wait for Steam to load, but I don't really mind.

Facts or it never happened. Though if it's true then I don't have to worry anymore.

It's possible to load Steam and play games without connecting to the internet, just as long as they are fully patched.

 

[Auric]

Steams awesome, so i dont mind...

Though, it does bring to mind the "steam monopoly" thing.

Admittedly, i only used steam recently, beforehand i heard nothing but bad things about it, but as soon as i got it installed i realized what ive been missing

 

[rabidmidget]

I would probably buy it off steam anyway, so I don't really care, its benefits outweigh its faults.

 

[Auric]

There is the thought at the back of my head that steam could go under and we would all be screwed.

 

[KissofKetchup]

Dead set against steam. Too monopolistic, and the service isn't without it's problems, like that Bioshock lockout when it was released... for example. Just seems unreliable and has too much potential to rule the PC market with an iron fist. I just don't like monopolized distribution like these. :/

What about the massive deals they had around New Year's? Or the discounts that they have fairly often? Valve doesn't really abuse it's power in my opinion.

 

[himemiya1650]

Steam is pretty useful, I think its business model is better than Gamestop's and Walmart. Pricing is defiantly better and their DRM is the least infringing I'm not that bothered it'll probably be the future of gaming

 

[Rebel44]

I love Steam so I dont have problem when some games require it.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Most recent and worst example of this is the gold edition of DOW2. It's got the chaos expansion data on disc, but not the original DOW2. This confuses steam to the point where it will stall at 10kb/s and after a couple minutes actually crash.
You have to manually cancel all the DLs, delete all the DOW content and tell steam to DL only the first one first, to avoid this.

I had none of these problems with DoW2 Gold.

In fact the only thing that really shat me off was it using Steam for Install, DRM, and auto update but then switching to GFWL for everything else. What the fuck is up with that?

 

[Icehearted]

Dead set against steam. Too monopolistic, and the service isn't without it's problems, like that Bioshock lockout when it was released... for example. Just seems unreliable and has too much potential to rule the PC market with an iron fist. I just don't like monopolized distribution like these. :/

What about the massive deals they had around New Year's? Or the discounts that they have fairly often? Valve doesn't really abuse it's power in my opinion.

I dunno, might just be a matter of time.

On a completely unrelated note your name cracked me up and I don't know why.

 

[Turbulenssi]

Well I play most of my games through steam so I don't mind at all.

 

[Last Bullet]

Love Steam. I have absolutely no problem with it -- most of the games I get are either Valve games to begin with, and the others are generally multiplayer anyway. Don't get that many errors with it... Well, none really, that weren't patched within a day.