So I just installed Steam once again.

[Headdrivehardscrew]

OK. I tend to very much dislike any non-productive program that wants to run 24/7 without any proper benefit or justification I can get behind. So, I've pretty much been off Steam for, what, three years. Yeah, at least three years. Don't get me wrong. I still bought games off Steam. I just never bothered to then actually get them from Steam.

Now, after some lengthy pondering on the subject, I decided to get Outlast. Feeling lonely, sad, useless and very, very angry at 3AM after finally giving in and installing Windows 8.1 on everything, I went ahead and installed Steam.

not even 24 hours later and 120GB of disk space have gone *POOF*, and I have only downloaded the titles I feel like playing in the next 30 days or so to come.

I love me some games.

I think I love Steam.

But I cannot but feel Steam to be quite evil and demanding. I like our relationship to be very on-off in nature. But Steam always wants more. Gifting me games. Making offers I can't refuse. It's worse than shoes and clothing, and I feel dirty.

How's your ride on the Steam train been this current and almost past year? Any emotional shitstorms or other various tragicomedies in the making?

What is your latest Steam purchase? Do you enjoy Magicka weekend? Does Windows 8 also insist on updating your graphics card drivers, randomly presenting everything in gloriously unwanted 3D?

 

[TehCookie]

I got DMC4 last christmas and it didn't work. I still use the games that actually work on it, but I refuse to buy anything more. Steam isn't as cheap as everyone seems to think, I can get games just as cheap used. Used games also have the physical game.

 

[OpticalJunction]

Yeah I have a bit of a love hate relationship to steam too, on the one hand it's unnecessary obtrusive DRM, on the other, the prices are awesome. I guess I put up with the former for the luxury of the latter.

 

[Alfador_VII]

I got DMC4 last christmas and it didn't work. I still use the games that actually work on it, but I refuse to buy anything more. Steam isn't as cheap as everyone seems to think, I can get games just as cheap used. Used games also have the physical game.

Where on earth do you live where used PC games are a thing?

 

[TehCookie]

I got DMC4 last christmas and it didn't work. I still use the games that actually work on it, but I refuse to buy anything more. Steam isn't as cheap as everyone seems to think, I can get games just as cheap used. Used games also have the physical game.

Where on earth do you live where used PC games are a thing?

The multiplat games, I have more than one platform. I use to like the benefits of PC with some games, but now the cons outweigh that.

 

[Windcaler]

I dont care for steam just on the basis that it, like many Digital distribution services, is just glorified DRM and no I dont feel like sales are good enough to accept it. However the issue that I have the biggest problem with is many games can only be legally bought on steam. I want to reward developers for making great games but I dislike giving a cut to steam because its the only place where I can purchase the game. For me its a morale hang up. I want to reward developers that make great games, to let them pay their bills, eat a good meal, and make more games. However when its only on steam I also have to essentially reward one of the greatest banes to PC gaming we still have: DRM

So I purchase from Steam, and DD services like steam, as little as possible

 

[Eve Charm]

Eh I really don't get the hate on steam, You don't have to keep steam on 24/7. Take it off of start up and if it's an offline game after the first install you can play it in offline without steam.

Hell it's your necessary evil because even without steam, Big name companies are pulling broken always online crap and plenty of Indie games are starting to use piss poor account sign in's to play your games steam or not like Damned or Anna

Steams basically the plastic wrap off the game, once you got your game you don't have to keep it.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

She's a seductress, that's for sure. She's got me wrapped around her finger so much that I can barely imagine gaming without her.

 

[lunavixen]

I've had no issues with steam (though I've only been with steam for about a year now), I pretty much always wait for the sales before I buy games (due to the prices here), but some of the games I got off Steam are just so good that it makes up for the DRM (which i've not actually noticed that much).

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Like with Origin, I have no issues with Steam. Before you trash me for the Origin comparison, the only thing I'm comparing is the fact that neither have ever given me any issues to discontinue usage. Difference is I buy from Steam directly whereas I buy Origin games through other means. I also understand those who don't use either service for their personal reasons/views.
Steam I prefer for their sales and I do like PC versions over console (but will play console multi-plats too). Origin is used simply because I like some of the games that require it and it isn't a hassle for me (I remove the startup call's in Windows for both Steam and Origin because I don't use them til I need 'em).

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

yeah technically it is drm at its raw form, but i've never had a problem with steam and it is a HUGE driving force in sales (especially around holidays) that get me so many damn cheap games so i can play everything i want to, so if i can get 7 games for a total of 40 bucks rather than spending 40-50 on one game in a store, then so be it, it's much more likely i'll enjoy the former 7 games than the one game.

(plus as i mentioned in another thread, very conveient chatting and such cross games with friends, and the whole "achievements" thing finally rubbed off on me enough for me to like it.)

but really, if i actually bought all my games in store rather than through steam, i'd have spent a solid 4 grand instead of the 1 grand I have really spent.

 

[Exhuminator]

Valve is the only software distribution company I've heard of that hires psychologists. I think there's some Skinner Box going on with Steam. I personally don't buy from Steam because I don't want an omnipresent sentient gatekeeper between me and my games.

 

[MHR]

just 2 days ago I got Serious Sam 3 on sale 85% off. Loving the hell out of that game. I've played so many games and just realized I've never played a serious (lol) blast-everything FPS and this has surprised me.

I'm lovin steam. It can strap me to a leash and bend me over, make me beg for the games and cocktease me forever with Half-life 3 until I go insane. I like how its DRM has a chokehold on my games because I know it basically means security since they don't sell any shady software, i can re-download anything I've lost or had corrupted, and comes with all those non-intrusive cloud services and misc community crap along with it.

But seriously I dont care about whatever "downsides" there are to it. It's not like I'm running 15 other active programs that all demand space that steam might be using.

And I don't know what the hell people are all tied up in a knot about Steam's DRM for. You can play it all offline and if Steam ever went under, they've promise to unlock to you all the games you have.

What, does the idea that you would have to jump through hoops to give 15 copies of a game you bought through steam to all your friends bug you that bad? Because unless you're planning to do just that, it shouldn't. Does it set a bad example to all the other game companies? I think instead it shows them how to do DRM right or even bundle their game with steamworks and forget about making up their own gamebreaking DRM Bullshit.

 

[MHR]

Valve is the only software distribution company I've heard of that hires psychologists. I think there's some Skinner Box going on with Steam. I personally don't buy from Steam because I don't want an omnipresent sentient gatekeeper between me and my games.

They're not *between* your games, they're in your games. TF2 crates, DOTA microtransactions, economy, sales, etc.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Y'know, you coulda got it DRM free at GOG.com...

http://www.gog.com/game/outlast

It's just people insist on still calling it GoodOldGames and they miss all the DRM free indie goodness.

 

[michael87cn]

Steam is fine, I see nothing wrong with it. It's just another business and all they want from you is your money (not your life) so there's nothing to be afraid of.

 

[not_you]

I got DMC4 last christmas and it didn't work. I still use the games that actually work on it, but I refuse to buy anything more. Steam isn't as cheap as everyone seems to think, I can get games just as cheap used. Used games also have the physical game.

But you're forgetting that PC gamers haven't had used games since the mid 00's
Back when CD keys were the only DRM that existed... and online passes were unheard of...


OT: I have steam, only because that's where all my games are...
If there was a better alternative, then I'd probably use that...

The only other place I buy games from is GoG, and that's all DRM free... Sure, I have an EA account and Origin.. But EVERY SINGLE TIME I turn Origin on I get "YOU SHOULD BUY THIS GAME BECAUSE I SAID SO"

Steam, on the other hand:
"This game is on sale"
or
"This game is now available"
And even then steam ONLY pops up AFTER I've finished playing a game...

But still...TL;DR I use steam, I don't mind using it... But if there was an alternative that had a library just as vast, without the permanently on status, then I'd jump ship anyday