Should I fear Steam?

[Melaisis]

Embrace it. Greatest thing to come to gaming since X-Fire? Probably.

Instant game delivery, storage of your entire selection on its server, massive communities, easy-to-join games with friends, zero downtime and even is being supported by PVP!

What's not to like?

 

[Haliwali]

While we're on the topic of digital distribution, who else loves Gametap as much as I do? (A LOT)

 

[KmndntKlink]

yes u damn well should hate it and purge it with salt and flames

 

[ratix2]

Ok, Steam itself has upsides...
-Not needing to remember your CD Key
-Being able to download the game if you lost/damaged your CDs
-Very convenient for patching
-Not overly intrusive

Steam will of course have its diehard fans. Said diehard fans please realize that some of us (like me) will never like steam even if it could give blowjobs and print money.

My own reasons for my dislike of steam;
-I hate direct-to-drive like things. If I buy software, I want the box, manual, and CD. I will not pay for any software without having a CD/DVD hardcopy.
-I don't like launchers. Stardock, Steam, I don't care what one, I don't want it on my PC. It took a game as phenominal as Portal to convince myself to finally install Steam, and I will not let steam run at startup or after I'm done playing a valve game. I could try to explain why I don't like them, but why bother. I simply don't.
-Security. If someone hacks your steam account, they have access to all your steam games. If someone hacks the program of Steam itself, who knows what damage they could do since Steam is programmed to patch things and work behind the scenes without user approval.

those first 2 are only personal preference (even though steam does allow you to back up your games to a disc so that you HAVE a hard copy of it and it also allows you to install faster should you need to) and are understandable, the third on the other hand is just asanine, just using windows your opening yourself up to more threats than steam would ever have. not to mention that overall steam is quite secure.

that being said, when it first came out there were problems with it, but since then any qualms people have had with it have long since been eliminated. all your games in one place, dont have to go fidgeting around with discs, dont have to go to mount doom and back for a half gb+ patch, can back your games up to discs for faster installiation, steam community could potentially make xfire obselete, and overall it couldnt be more piss easy to use if it read your mind and did everything for you. only 2 things id like more about it would be for it to allow me to register my cd keys for ANY game over steam (a minor problem which steamworks is fixing) and the ability to put non steam games over steam and still be able to download them over steam should i need to reinstall (alough thats a pipe dream at best for obvious reasons). steam kicks so much ass its not funny.

 

[Mr Wednesday]

It had some real issues at launch, but now? Wouldn't go without it.

I buy most of my games off steam now.

 

[ComradeJim270]

It's gotten a lot better than it used to be, and now I consider it more or less indispensible. It's wonderful to be able to download whole games, keep track of friends, all that stuff. Since I don't drive and public transportation here sucks, it's also a great way for me to get new games.

Of course, any software that connects to the internet poses a security risk, but it would be stupid to use any such software without security measures in place. If you're really concerned about hackers and the like, just run it in offline mode when not playing a multi-player game.

 

[ratix2]

those first 2 are only personal preference (even though steam does allow you to back up your games to a disc so that you HAVE a hard copy of it and it also allows you to install faster should you need to) and are understandable, the third on the other hand is just asanine, just using windows your opening yourself up to more threats than steam would ever have. not to mention that overall steam is quite secure

... steam kicks so much ass its not funny.

Well as I VERY clearly pointed out, my post was my own personal opinion of steam, not something I was toting around as fact. I feel steam could be a security risk. You say it's asinie for me to believe that, and for that I say you must be daft. More secure things than Steam are hacked into on a regular basis. There is a whole subculture of people who fuck with accounts and programs for fun, design computer virii for a couple laughs, and have a moral compass identical to pyramid head's. The odds of someone stealing Steam accounts is low right now, but when something like WoW runs through Steam, something where in-game items have real-world cash value, hacking this particular piece of software will become quite lucrative.

You think Steam kicks ass. I think Steam sucks ass. We're both entitled to our opinions.

unfortuanetly (last i checked, please send me the memo if i missed it) we're discussing NOW, not IF OR WHEN. right now steam is quite secure, and your correct, more secure things are hacked on a daily basis, but thats part of WHY those things are hacked, because their secure. many hackers like a challenge, and hacking something that a newborn could get though isnt much worth bragging about. but as i said before, just running windows, even if you have good security, your putting yourself at hundreds of times more risk to viruses, hackers, identity theft, keyloggers, spyware, etc. than steam is going to probably ever going to have, in fact i very seriously doubt that steam is going to put you or anyone at any more risk than they would be in in the first place. you even mentioned being able to exploit the automatic patching to install programs without user approval, however you fail to take into consideration the fact that such a thing is already possible, its possible to write a malicious program that starts up and runs without any user approval or even knowledge, there are ways to take control of a persons computer without their consent or knowledge and do basically whatever you want with it, there are ways to do all of these things that you think/claim steam could open up a door for people to do, and they all at least one thing in common, they DONT require steam, all they require is for someone to be running windows. not only that but steam only has 15 million uses, compare that to the hundreds of millions of computers out there that DONT run steam, then take into consideration that if someone is writing malicious code they are going to do it to affect as many people as possible. now all of these things in mind, what do you think these people are going to do, write it exclusivly for steam, which has security measures and would probably be harder to exploit, or write it for windows, which has HUNDREDS of times more loopholes and flaws than steam and would affect more people?

like i said, steam isnt putting you at any more risk than youd be at by just running windows. if you dislike steam thats your problem, go ahead and dislike it, but all things considered its asanine to say that steam is any more of a security risk than your already at.

 

[Anarchemitis]

So I'm in no current danger? Or will it be a problem once I start playing something and it bagers me for daily updates?

 

[ratix2]

So I'm in no current danger? Or will it be a problem once I start playing something and it bagers me for daily updates?

go get steam damnit, there ARENT daily updates, and when there are updates their quick and painless, also all your steam games are automatically updated meaning you dont have to go searching for patches.

steam kicks ass despite what these non-believers say, they really have no valid argument for disliking the service anymore in my opinion.

 

[Katana314]

So I'm in no current danger? Or will it be a problem once I start playing something and it bagers me for daily updates?

It won't badger you; it'll do it automatically, and often without any pop-ups. Once in a while there will be a "Steam Update" that may include news from Valve, or about new games. But you can turn those off.

 

[Baroque]

Why? Steam is an online store were you can buy all great games and play them,keep track of other players its just easy and convenient

 

[Mausenheimmer]

Shows how little you know about computers. For people who know what they're doing, you can actually make a PC quite secure. Windows XP isn't a giant mesh screen that lets just about anything through, it is in fact quite secure if you disable certain weak points. My main PC has no virii, no spyware, no adware or other malware on it. Not a single byte of data goes through my ports without my approval, and when desired, I can connect to the internet through multiple proxies and a pair of hardware and software firewalls. My important files are encrypted, and my most valuable data is kept on an external non-networked drive. The closest thing I have to a weak point on my system is Steam, and it will be uninstalled once I grow bored of Portal.

What in God's name are "virii"? Did you try to sound smarter than the common folk who call more than one virus "viruses"?

Let me hit you with some knowledge then. First, according to the Latin language, in order for the plural of virus to be "virii" the singular would have to be "virius". Second, the latin word "virus" would need to to be a second declension noun when it is, in fact, a fourth declension noun. So even in its original form, the plural would be "viruses".

Since you've shown amazing ignorance on a subject to be no deterrent to forming strong opinions, I am forced to conclude that you know jack about the security risks of Steam. The worst case scenario seems to be that someone plays your games on their computer.

 

[sergeantz]

I personally have a great affinity for steam. It's everything that Games for Windows Live aspires to be, and it offers services that Microsoft wants to charge 50 bucks a month for at no cost.

 

[Zer_]

unfortuanetly (last i checked, please send me the memo if i missed it) we're discussing NOW, not IF OR WHEN. right now steam is quite secure

Ok, so RIGHT NOW I have your word that Steam is secure. I feel so safe now, because if it is safe today, it cannot possibly be unsafe tomorrow. Not that the security of Steam was all that big on my list of things I don't like about Steam, you just seemed to nitpick this one. Even IF Steam was 100% secure, and always will be, it still doesn't change the fact that I see no reason - now or ever - to install a piece of software I do not desire or like.

I don't like Halflife. I don't like Valve. I played the original Halflife out of boredom, half of Blue Shift for the same reason. I despise Team Fortress Classic, Opposing Forces, and Counterstrike. I outright HATE Halflife 2. I played it end to end again out of boredom and to see what everyone was apeshit about it for. I only bought the Orange Box because of Portal, the one thing Valve ever made that I liked. Portal was awesome enough that I installed Steam on my PC, regardless of how much I hate the f'ing thing.

just running windows, even if you have good security, your putting yourself at hundreds of times more risk to viruses, hackers, identity theft, keyloggers, spyware, etc. than steam is going to probably ever going to have, in fact i very seriously doubt that steam is going to put you or anyone at any more risk than they would be in in the first place. you even mentioned being able to exploit the automatic patching to install programs without user approval, however you fail to take into consideration the fact that such a thing is already possible, its possible to write a malicious program that starts up and runs without any user approval or even knowledge, there are ways to take control of a persons computer without their consent or knowledge and do basically whatever you want with it, there are ways to do all of these things that you think/claim steam could open up a door for people to do, and they all at least one thing in common, they DONT require steam, all they require is for someone to be running windows...

... its asanine to say that steam is any more of a security risk than your already at.

Shows how little you know about computers. For people who know what they're doing, you can actually make a PC quite secure. Windows XP isn't a giant mesh screen that lets just about anything through, it is in fact quite secure if you disable certain weak points. My main PC has no virii, no spyware, no adware or other malware on it. Not a single byte of data goes through my ports without my approval, and when desired, I can connect to the internet through multiple proxies and a pair of hardware and software firewalls. My important files are encrypted, and my most valuable data is kept on an external non-networked drive. The closest thing I have to a weak point on my system is Steam, and it will be uninstalled once I grow bored of Portal.

The funniest part about your post, Khell, is that most steam accounts that are hacked are not hacked using the steam network at all. Ignoring the idiots who give out their passwords willingly, most people who get their steam accounts "Hacked" are victims of keyloggers that exploit vulnerabilities in Windows and not Steam.

 

[rougeknife]

The only issue I could ever have with steam is needing it to play the games itself. Other than that, the program is excellent and I have had no problems. Though, perhaps I've been lucky.