Poll: Steam Gaming

[ironmace2.0]

I use to think it was bad, only when it crashed and made me re-install all my games, but overall its done me a fine service and considering my computer fails to install any game made after Oblivion im damn happy its around.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

I refuse to use digital distribution because of the conversion rates. 1 fucking dollar is NOT 1 fucking EURO no matter what anybody says.

I also personally enjoy having a physical copy. The simple fact that Steam uses an account system is enough to turn me away. What if the account gets hacked? From my experience with Blizzard I can say losing all your money isn't a funny thing and neither is attempting to recover it.

There's also the problem with account banning. I have to agree to the TOS in order to use Steam. If I in any way break itI can get my account banned and lose all my spent money. If I have a physical copy, however, this can never happen. I am in control of my game, not Steam.

The fact that you have to activate your game in order to play it is another annoyance. There's also the biggie of never being able to burn your game onto a CD. What if I'm going somewhere where I won't have access to internet? How am I supposed to play then? What if I do have the game installed on my computer and I don't have access to internet? Yes, there's the offline mode but fuck me sideways if it has ever worked for me.

But one of the most BIGGEST pet peeves I have with digital distribution are the prices. Why do I have to pay 50 dollars for a new game? I thought digital distribution removed the cost of actually manufacturing games.

Digital distribution would be a good idea if you would be given more liberty with your games. It is the future, there's no doubt in that. Just like music went digital so will, eventually, everything else. The problem is, as it stands, it isn't done right. Until a better system comes around I'll just stick to buying from a store.

 

[migo]

I have no problems with it except for the fact that they rip you off unless theres a sale on.

I mean 50 euro for a digital download with no cd, box or manual?

Also in regards to the patching, you can turn off automatic patching if you want to stay on a version below the current and when steam doesn't have the latest patch the ones you download from the developers site work as well.

This, it often feels like I can get the game cheaper if I can be arsed to go to the store and buy it

Other than that I haven't found a problem worth mentioning yet.

Find me a digital distribution site that that doesn't sell games for 49.99????

They all do, sure I dont agree with it, but what can you do when THEY ALL do it.

GoG

I wish people wouldn't consider Steam to be representative of all digital distrubtion.

 

[migo]

Obama got a nobel peace prize for being black and not GWB. It completely devalued the prize for any prior and subsequent winners too.

 

[Chased]

I like Steam since I'm running off a Mac and they have given us some great titles. It's glitchy as anything, but they give out some great deals and they are pretty fast in addressing performance issues and trying to find a solution (relatively speaking since I imagine Mac gaming isn't their first concern).

Sooo....they get a "Decent."

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

Almost no experience with Steam. I've joined, and I grabbed Half Life, but had to stop HL after ten minutes because of motion sickness.

Maybe I'm just not used to PC shooters, since I'm like 99% console only.

 

[8bitmaster]

all I have to say is that steam sales hypnotize me. Last winter I spent 200$ on games that I have mainly played about half of them. Damn you amazingly good deals! Damn you! (I may hate myself for this, but I forsee the same thing happening this winter/holiday season)

 

[8bitmaster]

Steam is the best thing since running water.

And who are those people who didn't put awesome or decent? They will be killed.

the quote is "since sliced bread"! See my topic about it.

 

[Vigormortis]

Here's one thing I've been pondering for sometime, the use of Steam for gaming.
Now that being said, I've been a member of Steam since '03 and it isn't terrible but it has several major flaws that create version errors and game availability. One issue that drives me off the wall is that often Steam has its own patches rather than the official patch by the game's developers.

As in an example, in most Paradox titles. The bloody games can't be played with people off of Steam because they have a different patch version even though the game is exactly the same! Are they going to solve this issue? No, course not because you bought it through Steam! Then there's the matter of Steam being unstable. In the last seven years or so, it has been shaky at best and when it goes offline, all of your games on it are suddenly unavailable! You can login for singleplayer sure enough, but if you enjoy any multiplayer ones, too bad.

Now as a consolidated store for Valve, it's amazing. I find it very effective in comparison to the old WonID system that was its predecessor. However, for all of the games that it may have, it's largely a bug-riddled piece of software that's often enough not worth the download.
.

I feel compelled to refute some of these "facts".

For starters, the patches released on Steam that aren't the "same" as ones released out of Steam is not the fault of Valve. It's the fault of the developer of the game. Valve provides all the tools and kits developers need to create, host, and update titles on Steam. If the company that makes the game you're playing can't create similar patches for both the Steam and non-Steam versions of their game, then they're not a very talented developer. I'm not surprised that Paradox can't figure this sort of thing out.

Then there's the "instability". I will grant you Steam had a rocky start, but compared to what it was back in the early '00s, it's since become a phenomenal piece of code. Keep in mind, it's been constantly expanding, changing, and updating ever since it's release. It has to handle matchmaking, content hosting, and communications between millions and millions of users. Not to mention hosting thousands of titles with continuous patching and updating. The fact that it works as well as it does is nothing short of a miracle. Especially since it's free and has a development team of maybe two dozen people or so. (I'm looking at you Xbox Live)

Now, I'm not sure what's wrong with yours, but my games are pretty much always playable in offline mode. I've lanned TF2, CS:S, HL2M, Quake, and a slew of other titles while in offline mode. The only time they've not been playable was when Steam failed to update either the games cache files (as in, interrupted during the process) or failed to update my account info during my last log-in.

I am aware that some problems have cropped up with Steam on some machines. However, most are situational and Valve has addressed 99.9% of them. Have you tried going onto the Steam support forum? You'd be surprised how in depth the help guides Valve has created are.

I think Steam is terrible. I am really annoyed that I have to have it to play Valve games, otherwise I would have never been near it. All it does is slow down my PC and has no other use

This is an opinion, by the way, so don't attack me for it

Not going to attack you, but I'm curious. If you can run the likes of the Orange Box, Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, or anything Valve related released after Half-Life 2, then I'm confused as to how your computer is so "slowed" by Steam being open? At this point, Steam uses about as much as, if not in most cases fewer, system resources than most media players. If it's really slowing down your machine so much, I'm thinking there's something else going on. Try going here: https://support.steampowered.com/ You may not find an immediate fix within the first ten minutes, but I'd imagine you'd find some solution.

steam sucks.

1. never works when i want it to.
2. doesnt connect to the internet (yes, i've turned off my firewalls).
3. i can't play empire: total war or mafia 2 without steam (even though i have the fucking CDs).
4. i can't play games in offline mode.

i hate steam.

Same advice to you as above. Most of the time I've found that the problems people have with Steam stem from system instability, an irrational (but sometimes justified) hate of DRM, or a lack of knowledge of the technology involved. I'm going to assume it's a system instability issue. They have fixes for that sort of thing.

 

[luckshot]

really enjoy steam. I have not run into any real problems with it (although i haven't tried offline in a while)

if steam starts have rocky finances then ill be worried because so many of the games i have i pick up on steam sales

 

[Ickorus]

I love it, most of my games are on there in one easy to reach place and with current download speeds I can buy a game and be playing on it buy purchasing from steam than I would if I went to my local store and bought the game as a hard copy; it also ends up cheaper given bus fares.

While I have ownership issues with the DRM, and concerns about what happens when it someday shuts down, it's done me no wrong so far.

I don't think we have much to worry about with steam shutting down, if valve went down somebody would undoubtedly buy steam up as it's got such a big name and such a huge userbase, even if they decided not to use steams name they would probably drag all our steam accounts to their own client so they add all of us to their userbase.

 

[FrostyCoolSlug]

Rated Awesome!

I was (as others) an early adopter of steam, around the time that everyone was screaming that it was ruining Counter-Strike, and WON was superior etc (fun times). And while yes, back then it has some serious faults, it has evolved into a real platform since then, the ease of use and accessibility have been a huge selling point for me, and now I have more games on there than I will probably ever play in my lifetime.

One thing that's always impressed me about steam, is valves 'DRM as a service' attitude, while yes, all my games have DRM and depend on steam, at least things like friends, the community services and in-game overlay pretty much remove my level of care for it.

 

[Belgian_Waffles]

I've had no issues with Steam since I've had it, it has been nothing but utterly fantastic.

 

[migo]

I feel compelled to refute some of these "facts".

For starters, the patches released on Steam that aren't the "same" as ones released out of Steam is not the fault of Valve.

Talk about major fanboism here. It is the fault of Valve. Valve should deliver the same game as you would get on CD, not one that requires the Steam client to be running. If they want to do it for their own games, that's their perogative, but requiring the client to be running is a problem in itself, and is also responsible for the problems with patching the game. 100% Valve's fault, as other content delivery services get it right.

Then there's the "instability". I will grant you Steam had a rocky start, but compared to what it was back in the early '00s, it's since become a phenomenal piece of code. Keep in mind, it's been constantly expanding, changing, and updating ever since it's release. It has to handle matchmaking, content hosting, and communications between millions and millions of users. Not to mention hosting thousands of titles with continuous patching and updating. The fact that it works as well as it does is nothing short of a miracle. Especially since it's free and has a development team of maybe two dozen people or so. (I'm looking at you Xbox Live)

If they didn't require integration, and provided steam as an optional matchmaking service, they wouldn't have to worry about patches nor instability. Still their fault for how they have the service set up in the first place. It's fine for their own games, and might turn out to be perfectly good on PS3 once they bring Steamworks in with Portal 2, but for PC gaming it has, serious, serious, issues.

Now, I'm not sure what's wrong with yours, but my games are pretty much always playable in offline mode. I've lanned TF2, CS:S, HL2M, Quake, and a slew of other titles while in offline mode. The only time they've not been playable was when Steam failed to update either the games cache files (as in, interrupted during the process) or failed to update my account info during my last log-in.

Who cares what the specific reason is? The fact is, it happens and it prevents you from playing a game you paid for, a problem that never occurs with Good Old Games.

I am aware that some problems have cropped up with Steam on some machines. However, most are situational and Valve has addressed 99.9% of them. Have you tried going onto the Steam support forum? You'd be surprised how in depth the help guides Valve has created are.

Yeah, all the help is from users. Contact Valve customer support and they'll just quote the portion of the EULA that says they're not responsible for any problems. Cocks.

 

[Bretty]

I have no problems with it except for the fact that they rip you off unless theres a sale on.

I mean 50 euro for a digital download with no cd, box or manual?

Also in regards to the patching, you can turn off automatic patching if you want to stay on a version below the current and when steam doesn't have the latest patch the ones you download from the developers site work as well.

This, it often feels like I can get the game cheaper if I can be arsed to go to the store and buy it

Other than that I haven't found a problem worth mentioning yet.

Find me a digital distribution site that that doesn't sell games for 49.99????

They all do, sure I dont agree with it, but what can you do when THEY ALL do it.

GOG

Isn't GoG the one that had all those huge issues the last week?

And since they DONT SELL NEW GAMES!!! Get a grip...

 

[Ubervelt]

I think it is a great idea and has certainly made things easier and more interesting.

 

[Vigormortis]

Talk about major fanboism here. It is the fault of Valve. Valve should deliver the same game as you would get on CD, not one that requires the Steam client to be running. If they want to do it for their own games, that's their perogative, but requiring the client to be running is a problem in itself, and is also responsible for the problems with patching the game. 100% Valve's fault, as other content delivery services get it right.

So...me pointing out a significant flaw in one's complaint is fanboyism? You sir, are an epic hypocrite AND a dick. It's Valve's fault the companies making the games they host can't provide decent or consistent patches and updates? Are you desperate for excuses to hate Steam or are you just a moron? If you have a Sony tv, it's the equivalent of saying it's Sony's fault Fox's programing schedule sucks and that there's nothing on to watch.

If they didn't require integration, and provided steam as an optional matchmaking service, they wouldn't have to worry about patches nor instability. Still their fault for how they have the service set up in the first place. It's fine for their own games, and might turn out to be perfectly good on PS3 once they bring Steamworks in with Portal 2, but for PC gaming it has, serious, serious, issues.

Again, this is NOT Valve's fault. There are other services available and a company does NOT need to have their game hosted on Steam. It is possible to host on Steam AND do matchmaking through another service. If your particular 3rd party game doesn't do that, it's the developers fault for not bothering to get off their lazy asses and program those options in. Valve doesn't force them to do anything.

Who cares what the specific reason is? The fact is, it happens and it prevents you from playing a game you paid for, a problem that never occurs with Good Old Games.

This particular line of logic is utter bullshit. I've been gaming for over two solid decades, and I can say with absolute certainty that no game in history has never had flaws. The only reason we're all more aware of peoples issues is because of the internet and the communication between users using these online services. Games of old had bug problems. System imcompatiblity issues. You name it. That's why so many of the developers of those games had patches and bug fixes available for download on their own sites. The ONLY difference between then and today is we can get updates and patches as they become available without having to search for them.

Yeah, all the help is from users. Contact Valve customer support and they'll just quote the portion of the EULA that says they're not responsible for any problems. Cocks.

Yet another line of bullshit from an obvious Valve-hater. If they claimed to not "be responsible", then they'd not have bothered to setup a forum devoted to providing help for any number of problems. Even topics pertaining to software they didn't code. Also, "all" of the help is not from users. Users can post about issues at hand and can receive help from other users, but they have hundreds of stickied threads and an entire help directory of known problems and fixes all posted by Valve itself.

I'm starting to think you've either never really looked up anything on the help search or you're just an angry little prick looking to troll for the fun of it. Why am I not surprised you were suspended for an equally dick-ish comment on another thread? Grow up.

 

[Another]

I have never had an issue with steam in three years, barring a problem where my connection was being dumb and letting enough internets through for steam to detect an update for itself, but not being able to download it.

Of course that could have to do with my poor laptop's motherboard slowly transforming into liquid that particular week.

 

[Decagonapus]

PROBLEMS:

- Can't play games in offline mode.
- Steam client slows down bootup and operation of the entire computer not just the games.
- Downloading games sucks with slow internet.
- Game patches cause games to be unplayable while they download and then...
- Updating never works for me which completely breaks the game.
- DRM only hurts honest buyers.


EXAMPLE:

Day 1
1. Purchased "Lost Planet" CD from the store.
2. Installer required steam. Steam installs.
3. Game installation won't process until steam gets online. This requires a Steam client update.
4. The update fails twice so I uninstalled and downloaded it separately.
5. This download is still not completely current so it updates (again).
6. I need to create an account.
7. Steam crashes during this step until I researched and fixed a DLL dependency issue.

Day 2
8. I log into my account and proceed to install the game from CD.
9. I then link the cd key with my steam account so that steam will know I own it.
10. I try to start the game but steam must update the game itself.

Day 3
11. After letting the game patch download all night (slow internet & 700MB patch) I see the update bar has frozen on 100%.
12. I restart my PC and try again after another 5hr download. It proceeds to tell me that there is yet another patch which i must also install.

Day 4
12. The game has successfully patched itself and will start.
13. The game crashes after opening cinematic 3 times. Goggling reveals that this problem is the fault of the steam client.
14. I fix this issue and the game works.

Day 5
13. I have no access to the internet today but figure the game works now so I will play it.
14. Steam starts when I click the games shortcut. I can't login because I don't have the internet and "offline mode" refuses to start.

Day 6
15. I get the no-steam cracked executable and uninstall every hint of this cursed client from my machine.


ALTERNATIVES:

Direct2Drive or Impulse or
Buy straight from the devs to give them as much of the profit as possible.

 

[Delusibeta]

PROBLEMS:

- Can't play games in offline mode.
- Steam client slows down bootup and operation of the entire computer not just the games.
- Downloading games sucks with slow internet.
- Game patches cause games to be unplayable while they download and then...
- Updating never works for me which completely breaks the game.
- DRM only hurts honest buyers.

1) Yes you can. It's still a little touchy, but it now works 99% of the time if you remember to disconnect from any network before you start up and you remember to save your password on your machine.
2) Bootup granted, but if your entire computer slows down because of it, you have a poor computer.
3) Granted, but then again you'll have the same problem with any other digital distributor.
4) Granted.
5) Bug at your end, presumably something to do with your poor computer.
6) Except when it's multiplayer, 'cause this DRM does have excellent multiplayer services (compared to, say, Games for Windows Live).