Steam and its DRM

[sheic99]

So as we can see from the many threads there are, there are many christmas sales all over the internet with many games going for ridiculous prices.

I have played the demo for Recettear and I'd love to buy it, but if I buy it on Steam will it require using Steam to run?

I hate the way Steam handles my games and I'd gladly pay £2 more at GamersGate for a DRM free copy.

So, do all games on Steam require Steam to run once downloaded?

No you don't. Despite what people are telling you, if you launch the game without using the interface it does not require Steam to launch it first. I just launched two games that I purchased from Steam first before posting this and can guarantee it works.

Instead of using the client, go into C:/programfiles/Steam/SteamApps/common and find the game you want, then dig through the file until you find the .exe and send make a copy of that and make a shortcut on you desktop. Problem solved.

 

[siddif]

Ive had no problems with steam and people who cannot wait 30 seconds (max) make me feel sad for humanity - computers are faster than they ever were and users are even more impatient?.

Surprisingly im glad that my little magic box can look up anything any time of the day and do practically everything i need and want from a computer - sure it may freeze or stall but its still preferable than even 10 years ago, appreciate what you have.

Anyway back on track as many have already said Steam is one of the better DRM services out there - the fact it keeps a backup of every game you buy and their save files - while adding free updates, achievements and community options is second to none in my eyes, no discs to scratch/lose, no CD keys to remember (need i go on?)

The only down side is that two people cannot use the same account at the same time even for different games.

 

[Lyri]

The whole 'at times' bit basically means during bad weather.

Considering it's snowing a lot... that constitutes as bad weather.

My broadband isn't particularly fast (capping off at approximately 3mb) but my dad (who works for our service provider) got us into an experimental gaming connection.

My ping is <50 and my stability (when not in bad weather) is a beauty.

He was trolling anyway.

Woah, you can't just get at a guy for telling you to sort out your internet connection and hardware, then change the terms of your main gripe.
It's gone from "being dodgy" to "being dodgy because of the weather", that's a little shady leaving that out of your argument.
With the information he provided, he was correct.

Anyway I have Reccetear installed, turned my steam into offline mode and restarted the programme.
Loads just fine so even if your net cuts out, you'll be fine.

 

[Skylants]

A lot of games that don't specifically use steamworks for multiplayer don't actually need steam running to play it. Run the actual exe in the game folder rather than using the steam shortcuts to find out.

I know for a fact "The Polynomial" and "Super Meat Boy" don't need steam open to run.

 

[Woodsey]

Wow, it's amazing how people are defending Steam. I mean... it's like they can't even fathom why someone wouldn't want to run Steam along with their game. Do any of you own a computer perchance?

Steam may be the best DRM out there but it's still DRM. I'll choose a DRM free version any day.

Yeah, I'm sure a bunch of people who don't own computers are defending Steam. And you're calling it DRM for the sake of it - yes, I know it is technically - since many people would much rather have all the benefits of Steam than not (and at a cheaper price).

 

[Yopaz]

what about it was incorrect ("uninformed")? I read the entire thread (all 11 posts at the time), and it was just about you complaining that YOUR internet setup was incapable of handling connection to steam.

Please take you lack of response somewhere else.

The fact you assume I have a rubbish PC and internet connection...

Quit yer whining. Go preach somewhere else.

Well, that you complain about Steam because you have problems running it in offline mode and online mode does kinda give away that your network might be crappy. I have played a lot of games through Steam, and well, my internet connection has dropped a few times with no result other than me being unable to upload scores in one game.

Really, you're not asking anything here anymore. You're still here so you can state your opinion that Steam sucks. Well, it does have it flaws I guess, but it's better than what you can expect from other DRM you can find on retail games. Some games are impossible to install on 2 computers at the same time.
Steam requires that you run Steam. I have steam starting up with my computer and Steam is running before I can actually open anything else. It takes 5 seconds from when you decide to run the game before the game starts, if you got a computer that's good (mine's pretty bad and it still boots in seconds). It's time that you stop whining and let go now.

 

[Nathan Pipinpadaloxicopolis]

The whole 'at times' bit basically means during bad weather.

Considering it's snowing a lot... that constitutes as bad weather.

My broadband isn't particularly fast (capping off at approximately 3mb) but my dad (who works for our service provider) got us into an experimental gaming connection.

My ping is <50 and my stability (when not in bad weather) is a beauty.

He was trolling anyway.

Woah, you can't just get at a guy for telling you to sort out your internet connection and hardware, then change the terms of your main gripe.
It's gone from "being dodgy" to "being dodgy because of the weather", that's a little shady leaving that out of your argument.
With the information he provided, he was correct.

Anyway I have Reccetear installed, turned my steam into offline mode and restarted the programme.
Loads just fine so even if your net cuts out, you'll be fine.

dw dude. he's kind of right in a way. if there are technical reasons not to use steam, then its probably better that you didn't use steam.

not that you shouldn't fix your internet, OP.

and geez, man up a touch will you!

 

[kebab4you]

Yes, but you can play them in offline mode(whatever reason you would need to do that)

one reason? save bandwith
thats why i dont really like playing games from Steam

Save? my monthly cost won't go up and just having steam run doesn't really drain any off my broadband.
Ofcourse if you pay per Gb or how they charge you, then yeah I can see a reason why.

 

[kibayasu]

You can tell Steam to run in Offline mode until you tell it not to.

give that man a medal! saying "I did not read the rest of the thread".

Except I did, he wasn't clear, but it seemed he was saying that his internet occasionally cuts in and out. It also seemed he was saying that he was telling a game to run in Offline mode when this happens, but Steam would return to Online mode and then cause problems.

I'm telling him to turn Steam to Offline mode entirely (Steam menu -> Go Offline), basically disconnecting Steam from the internet entirely so there is no interference happening at all, until he wants to reconnect it. If there are still problems between Steam and his internet connection when he does this, he is doing something wrong.

 

[Slythernite]

I don't consider steam as much of DRM as I would say, Xfire, it's just a method of playing the games I own with friends, I don't feel limited by it, in fact, I like the ability to download my games on several computers using a single convenient account.

 

[Lyri]

dw dude. he's kind of right in a way. if there are technical reasons not to use steam, then its probably better that you didn't use steam.

not that you shouldn't fix your internet, OP.

and geez, man up a touch will you!

As far as I'm aware it would only matter if the game itself asked you to sign into some service like GFWL.
Otherwise it's only a problem when you're installing.

 

[Snotnarok]

You kids wouldn't know bad copy protection if it bit you in the butt, how about Starflight on DOS where you have to enter a launch code before you launch your ship every, single, time. The launch code had to be deciphered from the game, fed into this little decoder wheel you got and then you put the results in.

 

[siddif]

My internet is fairly dodgy at times which means I often need to attempt to run offline mode, but my current wireless set up is a bit unconventional (short range wireless ethernet connectors) and this means my computer can't easily tell when the internet has gone down.

That's crappy broadband/hardware if you ask me , so he wasn't wrong in his statement.

The whole 'at times' bit basically means during bad weather.

Considering it's snowing a lot... that constitutes as bad weather.

My broadband isn't particularly fast (capping off at approximately 3mb) but my dad (who works for our service provider) got us into an experimental gaming connection.

My ping is <50 and my stability (when not in bad weather) is a beauty.

He was trolling anyway.

Coming from the UK myself thats pretty bad - where i am is not usually the best in terms of quality but i was getting 6mb/s at least before switching to fibre optic, even with feet of snow outside my house - not a single disconnection. Unless you are in the most rural mountainous area id contact your ISP for an explanation. Also for Offline mode its is 100% your own software/Hardware configuration issues not steam i have it running perfectly on my increasingly aged laptop (core 2, integrated graphics - barely able to run most games but portal works fine)

 

[Nathan Pipinpadaloxicopolis]

You can tell Steam to run in Offline mode until you tell it not to.

give that man a medal! saying "I did not read the rest of the thread".

Except I did, you were not clear, but it seemed you were saying that your internet occasionally cuts in and out. It also seemed you were saying that you were telling a game to run in Offline mode when this happens, but Steam would return to Online mode and then cause problems.

I'm telling you to turn Steam to Offline mode entirely (Steam menu -> Go Offline), basically disconnecting Steam from the internet entirely so there is no interference happening at all, until you want to reconnect it. If there are still problems between Steam and your internet connection when you do this, you're doing something wrong.

give that man a medal! saying "I did not read the rest of the thread closely"

srsly though

offline mode has been suggested, was my point, and more than once. the problem being, that offline mode on steam is strangely unreliable. I dont know specifically why OP is having offline troubles, but i've had it require an internet connection to enter (lolwut?).

 

[Nathan Pipinpadaloxicopolis]

dw dude. he's kind of right in a way. if there are technical reasons not to use steam, then its probably better that you didn't use steam.

not that you shouldn't fix your internet, OP.

and geez, man up a touch will you!

As far as I'm aware it would only matter if the game itself asked you to sign into some service like GFWL.
Otherwise it's only a problem when you're installing.

well you also have to run the game, possibly through steam, which requires either a connection to the steam servers or offline mode. if you have a look, the whole question of this thread was actually "does game x, when bought through steam, need steam running to play". the answer? some yes, some no. if yes, then it IS a problem, whenever you go to open the game. if no, then yes: "it's only a problem when you're installing."

 

[kibayasu]

offline mode has been suggested, was my point, and more than once. the problem being, that offline mode on steam is strangely unreliable. I dont know specifically why OP is having offline troubles, but i've had it require an internet connection to enter (lolwut?).

Then, as his apparent arbiter for this thread, tell him to disconnect from the internet entirely and see what Steam does then. As long as a game runs once with the internet, it doesn't need it again. Nor do you even need to connect to the Steam servers.

 

[Dys]

IF you computer wasn't a bomb from the year 2000, then there wouldn't BE any load time.
Similarly

My internet is fairly dodgy at times which means I often need to attempt to run offline mode

. ever thought of fixing your internet before using an online service?
Again, there is no wait time for Steam to give the ok to play.

Hey man, there's this awesome new platform that you can use to eat resources while playing games, you're probably going to need a rather costly upgrade for your computer in order to run it on top of games that your rig could otherwise handle, but you should definitely get it. All poor design choices of this application aside, the only reason you could ever have poor performance is because you're a douchebag who's living in the past and should just upgrade. Oh, also you should probably get a fibre optic connect for it as well, it can get a bit laggy and being unable to afford/living somewhere with poor internet is your own fault.

Well, since you are buying them online, through the Steam application, with said application having encased within it all the necessary components to play any given game once purchased, I'd like to know why you think it wouldn't need Steam to run, and how you see that as DRM. It's more like "well, I bought a PS3 game, so it's safe to assume that I'll need a PS3 to play it."

I have a large library of impulse games, not one of which requires impulse to be running once it's been downloaded and activated, it doesn't seem unreasonable...I'm also pretty sure that I can play games I've bought on the playstation store (on my ps3) on a PSP (if they are compatible)...That PS3 example is somewhat flawed.

Also for Offline mode its is 100% your own software/Hardware configuration issues not steam i have it running perfectly on my increasingly aged laptop (core 2, integrated graphics - barely able to run most games but portal works fine)

I couldn't even begin to tell you the problems I've had with steam offline mode (that I've notably not had with steam online mode), I have two gaming computers, a desktop with a core2duo, high end ati graphics (admitadly a few generations old) and a big lump of ram as well as an Asus G73JH notebook. Both computers far exceed the power requirements for running steam games, and both regularly run steam games (in online mode), however going to a lan without internet and try to make offline steam play nice is often hit and miss. It has got a lot better than it was at it's worse, but it still isn't an especially reliable or user benefical system.


@ OP, a game bought on steam will not launch, unhacked, without steam running. If, for any reason, this is a problem, avoid steam.

 

[Vohn_exel]

The only time I ever had a problem with this was with Garry's mod, which for some reason wouldn't run in online mode on my laptop. I have a PC now and it all seems to work fine. I'm enjoying Penumbra: Overture at the moment and plan on getting the sequel thats on sale, especially since I can't run Amnesia.

 

[Fiannaz]

Yep any game that isnt played online via steam just need to have steam started in order to run NOT to keep it running. If u happen to disconnect while ur in a game on steam it will NOT shut down or any such. My friend got a crappy connection wich keeps going up and down at times and he can still play Civ 5 as long as the connection is up when he starts the game

 

[Nathan Pipinpadaloxicopolis]

offline mode has been suggested, was my point, and more than once. the problem being, that offline mode on steam is strangely unreliable. I dont know specifically why OP is having offline troubles, but i've had it require an internet connection to enter (lolwut?).

Then, as his apparent arbiter for this thread, tell him to disconnect from the internet entirely and see what Steam does then.

blarg blarg honk (i know what an arbiter is, but halo/rvb references are fun), and he's asleep, apparently.


"tell him to disconnect from the internet entirely and see what Steam does then."

the example i gave was my experience with it, and i was in a location with no internet access.