Undeadpool said:
Not that I'm going to defend EA against what is a SLEW of completely valid points, but I really do hate the Valve double-standard. I get that Valve has done a lot to foster customer loyalty, and frankly I've probably spent more on Steam than on analog games over the last three years, but I'm still a little peeved when they're just given a pass and treated like this scrappy little underdog. I'm thinking two things specifically: Steam's always-on internet requirement and their pairing with Gamestop. Both of which are either dismissed or outright praised. A partnership. With GAMESTOP. One of the most REVILED companies in the industry (at least on the internet), but the moment Valve announces you'll be able to go into their shop to buy Steam Bucks, "GO VALVE! Looking out for their consumers!"
And yeah, Steam is "always on." Yes, you can go into "Offline Mode," but ONLY if you already have a connection. Internet went out unexpectedly? TOO BAD. Just as when EA does good, they should get praised (multiple free DLC packs for ME3), Valve should get taken to task when they do wrong. But neither of those things happen because even praising EA for giving away free content is unacceptable.
[I would like a shirt and Jim is sexy]
If I may....
The whole "Steam is always-on DRM!!!" is utter bullshit. I've never once had issue with the offline mode. (save the few times I've run Steam in the beta-update mode)
If I know I'll be wanting to play a game I either make sure it's updated or I turn auto-updates off; while making sure the Steam client itself hasn't updated. Or, if the client has updated recently, I make sure to update and/or run any games I may want to play.
Sticking to those procedures, should I suddenly lose connection to the 'net, I can still play my games. No "not available in offline mode" or some such bullocks. I just play as I normally would. (sans the online features of course)
Granted, I know my case isn't universal, but I can't help but feel a LOT of the complaints about Steams offline mode would never exist if people actually took the time to understand how it works. This of course is not to say it doesn't still have moments of bugginess.
If I ever need to reinstall a game or worry about a game not being "available", I can just create a back-up using the in-Steam utility. Then I can uninstall, reinstall, and access my games whenever/wherever without having to worry about a connection.
As for the Steam Wallet cards now at Gamestop, I do agree it's rather aggravating that to get one I have to pay cash to Gamestop. However, I also look at it as a jab at Gamestop because, for quite some time now, they've been trying to compete with and undermine Steam at every turn. Yet, here they are selling product specifically made for; and by; Steam. The irony is quite delicious. (if still God damned annoying)
Also, when EA has a moment of doing something good (moments of which are few-and-far between now-a-days), I do praise them. Good lord, I used to sing their praises all the time some years ago. I was quite fond of them. However, as of late, most of their "good will" has been nothing but PR stunts to either cover up their goof-ups or "make up" for something egregious they did to the player base.
Take Dead Space 2, for example. The PC players were given virtually all of the premium DLC for free. Quite the gesture, right?
Thing is, they were caught not only putting that DLC on the discs for all version but even including the DLC in the PC game files. Which doesn't sound
too bad until you realize they said at game launch that the DLC would only be available for the console versions.
Needless to say, when this whole mess came to light, EA had to do something to "make up" for it. So they just unlocked the content in the PC game files. Whizz-bang-boom suddenly the PC players got a bunch of DLC for free.
So no, I don't ignore EAs gestures of good will. I simply take them with a grain of salt until I make sure there's no ulterior motive behind them. If I see nothing egregious, I will openly praise them for it. But again, those moments have been very rare lately.
[on a side note, do not take my message as a personal attack or anything. I just get sick of hearing people complain about the offline-mode, seeing as it's actually quite reliable now. I also get sick of people complaining about aspects of Steam that either aren't an issue or aren't as bad as these people claim; all the while the REAL issues with Steam go unnoticed. Or rather, un-complained-about. Like the lack of currency conversion in the store, the somewhat buggy cloud-save feature for some games, or the frequency with which the Friends network has been going down lately. Those are just a few of the things that need to be complained about now; the things that actually need fixing.]