Poll: If there was an alternative to Steam, would you use it?

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Question does not compute!

I don't use steam or uplay or origin. In fact, I don't use any "service" that implements a form of DRM.
It leads to dependance, hostage situation, bias and stockholm syndrome.
Which all too many suffer from. That and apathy.

My choice for buying games is GOG or through the developer (DRM-Free).

 

[pookie101]

NO, i dont want to use another digital store. apart from how annoying it is to use half a dozen stores already there is the fact ive got 760 games on steam and im not rebuying them

I already use gamersgate.com, battlefront.com, matrix games, steam, gog.com, uplay and origin.

personally i dont mind steam, refunds so i can sort broken games and when i impulse buy, not bad integration of mods, and most of all i dont have to go hunting for patches anymore

 

[MHR]

I feel disgusted when I open Farcry and Uplay boots up because of it.

I didn't even install Origin to buy Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, and I really wanted to play that!

And I'm a dumb sucker for achievements, and Steam has them all on record for me in one place; even the newer console ports.

There are three things that piss me off most about Valve. The first is payed sprays (and I don't even play CS;GO. They're just an insulting betrayal.) The second is paid mods since they are coming back and will be the newest innovation in nickle-and-diming corporate bullshit in the videogame industry, and another betrayal. Even though modders often deserve to be paid, paid mods will still end up being a mess for a multitude of reasons. And the last thing is that there's no Half-Life 3.

None of those things actually directly affect me though, so I won't leave. No, I'm not proud of myself.

 

[lacktheknack]

I buy from gog.com if I can.

Seeing how little I play nowadays, I basically only use Steam for Civilization with a friend of mine and Quiplash.

 

[DaCosta]

My instinct is to say that there are alternatives to Steam already, mainly GOG, but I guess if you're looking for the latest AAA games there isn't really anything.

I wouldn't discount GOG's ability to compete on the indie front though. Sure, Steam has way more indie games, but most of them are shit. The ones that are actually worth a damn tend to come on GOG as well, a lot of them at launch, occasionally shortly after.

 

[Ryallen]

I have nothing against CDPR, but most of their library is old games and a much smaller selection of newer ones, and since any newer game that I could get on GoG I can also get on Steam, where all my other games are, I don't really bother. I love RPGs, but every single RPG from the age that GoG sells from primarily is an isometric RPG with dated mechanics, esoteric controls, and everything that I hate about that particular genre of gaming, thus driving me further away from their service. I have no doubt that they have good games. The problem is that I hate most of the games that they have.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Yeah, I've been using it for as long as I've been gaming, it's called consoles. They're the vast majority of the market, haven't you heard of them?

Given that alternative requires you to buy obsolete hardware, forces you to deal with subpar performance on most titles and charges you a subscription fee to play online, it makes Steam look great despite its flaws.

You are playing games for the wrong reasons. It's not about technical superiority and it never has been. I do agree no one should be paying to play online and now that plague has spread to Nintendo, no doubt Valve is next.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

None of the issues you mentioned having have ever bothered me in all my years spent on/with Steam.

With new titles (or GOTY releases), I really no longer care about what platform they're on. My list of preferences starts with DRM-free, so GOG (non-Galaxy) is easily my number one for a majority of releases, as I can just grab the installer and put it on the server, where I can download it whenever I switch machines or finish building a new gaming rig. Right now, I got this wonderful double GTX 690 project going, it's insane.

Sure, installing Steam and logging in is fine most of the time, but I really like having the install package around. It's how I handle OS deployment and I just think it makes sense for games... especially now that intellectual property rights started to get shuffled around with original titles getting altered, if not defaced (thinking of Baldur's Gate right now, it's a shit show).

Greenlight will get changed if I recall correctly, I never really bothered with it. Trust no one is my stance there and I've only ever bought into titles I was pretty certain I'd be able to enjoy as-is, with no great expectations whatsoever. Darkest Dungeon I enjoyed greatly before its final release, and I must admit that I've only played it like five minutes after that release. And that's the only Early Access title I've played on both sides of that final form official release.

My experience with Valve support was always quite stellar, really. Just yesterday, I got served an ad for Kingpin: Life of Crime on Steam. I paid ten bucks, installed away, downloaded all the patches and fixes I could grab and... they stripped the Cypress Hill soundtrack out of it. No warning, nothing. I played for a minute or so only, so I wasn't even allowed to write a review warning others about this. I got my money back within 7 minutes of the initial transaction.

Paid mods are a sign of the times and they'll quite probably be coming back again and again until they stick. As long as I am not forced into buying them, they don't bother me in the least. Look at how much digital-only content all the publishers meanwhile stick into pre-order bonuses or "season passes" that look more and more like subscriptions to core games that gets sleeker and slimmer every year.

I played the original Counterstrike, CS:GO does not interest me in the least. Tmartn and folks are easily deplorable, but so is the whole concept of paid loot crates and boxes. I don't like it, so I don't get involved there. But I do notice that these business models, revenue streams and secondary markets seem to spread like cancer. What does that do to me? It makes appreciating old Super Nintendo and Sega Megadrive games so much more compelling and enjoyable to me, that's what it does.

I've tried out Ubisoft's or fecking EA's alternatives, and there's just no competition there. GOG and DRM-free for me any day, every day. When I die, my digital-only accumulated collections will die with me. It's the plastic boxes, the floppy disks, the CD- and DVD-ROMs and the BluRays that will get rediscovered or sold back into circulation.

 

[The Madman]

Well I already prefer to use GOG whenever possible, so I guess so. Not out of any particular moral reason, I just like their catalogue of older games and find their service superior in a couple ways.

 

[DarthCoercis]

You mean like back in the olden days when I bought the game, started the install, typed in the code off the back of the manual, finished up the install then played the game? I would love to go back to that.

 

[wings012]

I can't be arsed juggling multiple programs. Steam would have to start burning newborns to power their servers for me to ditch my entire library of games.

I don't have any particular loyalty to Steam, but I'm already invested.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Sure thing. I have no loyalty to Steam. I've used Origin and Uplay when necessary and even *gasp* the Windows store for Gears 4 and Forza. Steam for me is little more than a virtual shelf for my games since key sellers have such good prices. Unless someone gives me a Steam giftcard I always look elsewhere first.

You mean like back in the olden days when I bought the game, started the install, typed in the code off the back of the manual, finished up the install then played the game? I would love to go back to that.

+1 as fuck

 

[Story]

GoG is always my first choice. I respect them as a gaming distributor more than Steam.
It helps too that my computer is a potato and can only run the games GoG offers usually anyway.

 

[Blitsie]

Hells yeah, I'm still hoping for the day GoG could be that alternative actually, but with their DRM free approach that might never happen. Valve has been making decision after decision that I really disagree with so Steam is becoming a necessary evil more and more for me rather than something I'd willingly enjoy and use so I wouldn't mind jumping ship if the opportunity presented itself really. Just a pity I'm already so invested though with my library meh.

As a side note, I'm genuinely surprised with how huge an improvement in quality Origin has gotten, the interface got an amazing clean-up and streamline, the customer service is quite on the ball and the whole thing is just a delight to use now. Just a pity its EA but heck, its not a taint on my system like Uplay anymore. Seriously, why is Uplay still a thing?

 

[Xan Krieger]

GOG> Steam since they have all the older games that are updated to work on modern systems. Origin and Uplay I only use when I have to because the game won't work without it but I never buy anything on those two. The Windows Store is on windows 10 and I'm on Windows 7 so sorry Microsoft but you lose.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Yes, definitely and I do use the alternatives. I mainly end up buying on Steam because of the best prices, sales or not. Mostly to do with the exchange rate of where I live - other online markets or even key sellers can't compete, even if on sale.

That said, it's pretty worrying, I don't have near half as many games as other people do, but I play a lot of them and would be pretty pissed if they were to go away one day. The backlog is pretty big too.

I support GOG like most others. Since the Witcher, I've also found many old nostalgic games on there, and love being able to play them without internet connection as long as I stick them on an external drive or something.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

There are alternatives to Steam already. Origin doesn't only offer EA games, they have a full catalog and the platform has finally improved to the point that it's worth installing. Its sales tend to go under the radar compared to Steam's, but they do them often and they're pretty good.

I, too, favor GOG whenever possible. Certainly for older games (because they put in the minimum effort to get them to work on modern systems) and, if possible, on newer, smaller titles as well. I don't think that a platform superior to Steam wouldn't be favored in general by most consumers. Arguably, verified third-party distributors sort of count in the sense that they sell keys for Steam, but it's the store that made Steam huge and sometimes buying something from, say, GreenManGaming instead of directly from Steam is a better option. Most people use Steam as a digital library for the most part, anyway, so the occasional issues that pop up *usually* don't affect the consumer.

 

[Ugicywapih]

I generally prioritise GoG myself, though I don't really bother with Galaxy. If that doesn't count, I guess I wouldn't mind using an alternative to Steam, depending on what it offers - I'd probably be reluctant to switch out of spite alone since I already have a sizable Steam library, but if the alternative offers a superior service, sign me up!

 

[Trunkage]

None of those things effect me as a customer. Greenlight doesn't hurt me, I don't have to buy mods and I don't gamble on CS:GO. BAd tech support could certainly drive me away but I've never had to deal with them.

I would use another service, and I currently do, but they have to offer me something. Lower prices being the obvious one. Or they could simply have games that aren't on Steam. For example, I use Origin because games published by EA aren't available on Steam.

Origin is an interesting. It's trying catch up to Steam but can't compete except on customer service. Steam employers don't want to lower their standards to deal with customer service.

As to the gambling, it's more because they targeted underage people that was the issue. And now Valve is doing a blanket ban, in their normal style. Which is the reason I try to by elsewhere, Thry do blanket, unthoughful and usually damaging things and eventuallly it will affect you.