should steam rule the gaming world?

[Jamash]

No way. I think it's ludicrous to give one company the power to deny you access to all your games if you're not in good standing with them.

I heard tell of someone who went to buy some games on Steam at the weekend, but his wife queried the transaction with Paypal.

Because of this query Paypal halted the transaction and because of this, Steam suspended his account and he couldn't access any of his games on Steam, not just the new games he tried to purchase, but all his existing games (including retail games which he had the discs for but which used Steam as DRM).
Apparently it took over 2 weeks of back and forth correspondence to Steam customer support before the guy finally had his account back and was able to play his games.

Your access to the games that you own, that you've already bought and have the discs for, should never be dependant on your current credit rating, financial status, or whether you're on good terms with Valve.

As convenient as Steam is, they already have too much power over suspending your account and cutting you off from all your games, to let them extend this power over every single PC game you ever buy is just madness.

 

[Lukeydoodly]

Sluggish POS in my opinion.

But this is coming from someone who barely plays games on my computer. I guess when I get a better one I won't have much choice but to use it.

sounds like you just have a shite system to me

Oh yes, I really do.

But why should Steam slow down my computer more than a game?

because running programs like steam along side gems eats up more memory than you can obviously handle. A better rig would solve those issues

No, an updated Steam would. My computer is fine, besides my rather poor GPU.

 

[6unn3r]

Steam would rule the world if it offered the exclusive content that you can get with disc versions of games. I'm currently torn between getting Deus Ex: Human Revolution on steam for a (probably) cheaper price or from play.com for £59.99 but with a shit ton of extras. This is something thats really grateing on me since i have a laptop that i use away from home to game on and the conveniance of having steam on that and not having to cart around a bag of disc's is great. Yes i know save games dont come with me but thats really here nor there.

 

[theevilsanta]

Steam is great - haters gonna hate. But it's really good. I would have never known about Warband: Mount and Blade if not for Steam. And that's reason enough.

Of course I don't want a monopoly by any means. I wish there was a Steam2 that challenged Steam and forced it to get better and cheaper. Maybe GoG.com will do it. I doubt it.

 

[MrTub]

I hate Steam. Not only do I have to have an internet connection to play many of my games, but every time I want to play a PC game I have to wait a half hour to an hour for it to update, sort achievements then lock itself in the bathroom for a while to pluck it's eyebrows.

¨

Please stop trolling.


OT: Monopoly is never a good thing.

 

[Theron Julius]

I haven't bought a PC game without steam for ages. Steam is so awesome for multiplayer (built in AIM ftw) and it makes everything much more efficient if you have more than one computer.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I hate Steam. Not only do I have to have an internet connection to play many of my games, but every time I want to play a PC game I have to wait a half hour to an hour for it to update, sort achievements then lock itself in the bathroom for a while to pluck it's eyebrows.

¨

Please stop trolling.


OT: Monopoly is never a good thing.

Explain how quoting the funniest person on the internet and telling about my own experiences is trolling.

 

[Layzor]

Monopolies are generally a bad thing, even a decent company like Valve shouldn't have that much power. Would be nice to see them break activison over their knee though.

 

[Sebster 105]

Steam only got as far as it dead because it's the best in it's class.
And that's the point, removing "the class" and replacing it with steam may seem good, but then they could do anything and just be all "deal with it"

 

[Hiphophippo]

Let's look at the facts shall we?
Valve = Evil.
Digital Distribution = Evil.
A digital distribution platform that Valve runs and profits from = The greatest threat to gaming there is.
It must be stopped.

Methinks you're a little unclear on the definition of the word "fact".

Also, I just noticed this is a 4 month old thread.

 

[Beryl77]

Let's say it like this:
I don't think monopoly is good, it doesn't matter who has that monopoly. There are always people who won't like what it does even if Steam seems great to you.
That said, if I had to choose it would be Steam.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Rule the gaming world?
Absolutely not. Steam is good, but it's a far cry away from the ideal.
Not to mention that whole notion of "competition".