Valve: We've Made DRM Obsolete

[Bretty]

Valve's solution to the problems of DRM is to change the definition of DRM into "not made by Valve".
Next up: Valve announces that they will start handing out all their games for free. Completely feasible, as long as they quietly redefine "free" to "50 euros".

Newell couldn't possibly be more full of shit. A cop can talk about criminal policy and make all the sense in the world, but that does not excuse subsequently assaulting innocent people with a telescopic baton and calling it "massage with a magic happy-happy care wand".

Right..... "...full of shit" and you aren't sir?

So you are saying, by definition, that Steam is acting exactly like Starforce? Give me a freaking break... and not just you all these others. Steam IS a great idea and will, in the close future, remove all physical media from the PC gaming industry.

"OH NOES I NEED TO LOG IN!!!!"..... wow you think this is no better than have starforce installed onto your comp?????????? Have you even seen real DRM? The DRM which has to update everytime you play a game, scan your system (dont even think about having daemon tools on) and then scanning the game for any changes...

Sure Steam isnt perfect, and I in no way think it is. But to act like the guy I just quoted seems to show the reality of the haters. I download "free" games all the time... UT last weekend for example was free... so give me a break.

At least Steam is trying to do something about invasive DRM techniques... the hell have you done recently that has tried to make gamers lifes easier? Remember this, you dont stop pirating you dont get new games...

Pirating is easy and the only way we win is if it becomes easier to by games.

 

[SmugFrog]

VALVE! I demand you to get of your high horse right now!

VALVE: Meanwhile, we have been working hard to totally destroy any faith our fans might have in episodic content...

 

[wild_quinine]

At least Steam is trying to do something about invasive DRM techniques...

Yeah, they're trying to corner the market.

the hell have you done recently that has tried to make gamers lifes easier?

Taken a stand on DRM. Better men than you have been grateful.

 

[Steve Dark]

And thus Valve became the white knight of Gaming, slaying the foul dragon of DRM...

 

[Bretty]

Yeah, they're trying to corner the market.

Taken a stand on DRM. Better men than you have been grateful.

1. They are a business... so ummmm what else are they meant to be doing?

2. Considering most here dont seem to know what 'bad' DRM actually is? Guess what don't buy it!

 

[teh_gunslinger]

The new Steamworks also includes previously announced support for in-game downloadable content [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90253-Steam-Adds-In-Game-DLC-Support] and the new matchmaking and lobby system that Valve introduced in Left 4 Dead.

VALVE! I demand you to get of your high horse right now!

That matchmaking process in itself is worse than DRM. You get pissy for one day or let someone with lesser abilities play, and you can no longer get in good games. EVER.

What do you mean? With regards to the match making? You can't be let into games? How does that work?

And on a side note, I detest that I can't make my own choice in L4D when it comes to match making. I feel like I'm on my PS3 where I have no say in anything. It's so damn restricting.

 

[wild_quinine]

Yeah, they're trying to corner the market.

1. They are a business... so ummmm what else are they meant to be doing?

Firstly, you didn't get my point, which was that Valve are trying to corner the DRM market with this particular move, not the gaming market. What's more, they're being profoundly cycnical by pretending that their Steam is anything but DRM, whilst they do so.

Secondly, I prefer to take a pro-consumer rather than a pro-business stance. So when a company does something that is bad for its customers, my reaction is 'What a crock!', rather than 'Yay! Go Valve!'

Obviously you feel differently about that, which makes you:

a) a shill
b) an employee
c) an idiot

Trust me, Valve have plenty of people sticking up for them and millions of dollars to do it with. Try sticking up for yourself, instead, before it's too late.

2. Considering most here dont seem to know what 'bad' DRM actually is? Guess what don't buy it!

Guess what? I generally don't. And I tell my friends not to, either. And sometimes I even post on forums, so that members of the public can see a dissenting opinion once in a while, as well.

 

[Alex_P]

And thus Valve became the white knight of Gaming, slaying the foul dragon of DRM...

Well, replacing it with a less visible and slightly less onerous copy of that same dragon.

-- Alex

 

[Bretty]

Secondly, I prefer to take a pro-consumer rather than a pro-business stance. So when a company does something that is bad for its customers, my reaction is 'What a crock!', rather than 'Yay! Go Valve!'

Obviously you feel differently about that, which makes you:

a) a shill
b) an employee
c) an idiot

Trust me, Valve have plenty of people sticking up for them and millions of dollars to do it with. Try sticking up for yourself, instead, before it's too late.

a) I have been using steam for 5 plus years, CS - DoW2 and have never had a single issue with it? As a matter of fact the idea that when I move countries, which I do frequently, I dont have to carry games with me and can get them installed on new computers over night. Yea sounds really shitty mate. What exactly is bad for the customers? That they automatically update their games as soon as they are available so I do not have to waste time going through third parties and get spam and spyware?


b) Yeah because only an employee could possibly like Steam......


c) an idiot - I am no longer going to reply to your nonsensicle jibberish. Obviously differing opinions make your tiny head hurt.

 

[wild_quinine]

What exactly is bad for the customers?

Lots and lots of things about Steam are bad for the customers. Steam gets off easy because it is just about the only DRM that gives something back. And credit where it's due, for that. But it takes away just as much as most other DRM, and I think it's reasonable to be concerned.

That they automatically update their games as soon as they are available so I do not have to waste time...?

Hell, there are things wrong even with this, which you obviously consider to be some kind of pure advantage:

1) You don't get to choose whether to update or not. You're not in control with the process. Say you want to show a friend some game you picked up on Steam - not a wild proposition is it? You click play ... and... wait... it's not playing? That's right, it's patching. You bought it, you want to use it, but you can't. You've got to wait, because Valve are calling the shots.

2) What happens if a patch breaks a game for you? With Steam you can't just roll back and play the unpatched version. If it gets broken, it stays broken. And that doesn't even have to mean a bad patch - it could just be that there's some conflict on your machine. Steam doesn't give you the control to use a version that works for you; if the latest version doesn't, you're shit out of luck.

3) What if a game gets patched out of your system capability? It's happened a couple of times already. Windows 98 used to be supported by Steam, now it isn't. Why should Steam be stuck supporting Windows 98 after all? Except that there's a bunch of games that work FINE on Win 98, and that people have PAID for, which they now can't play on their older systems. That's not a limitation of the games they paid for, which all worked fine before. They would still work, if it weren't for Steam.

Sure, those people have old systems. But the games they've paid for WORK on those systems, why should Valve be allowed to decide it's time for them to upgrade? If it weren't for Steam, they'd still be playing those ancient games on their ancient computers. Sure, I don't envy those guys; but I'm not going to tell them how to live their lives.

Obviously differing opinions make your tiny head hurt.

I'm fine with differing opinions. I'm fine with people liking steam, although I do disagree quite strongly.

But there are two things I can't get with: When people say 'Well, I've never had a problem', as if that makes everything alright for those people who have, and do, have problems. And when people are desperate to support a company at the expense of it's customers, even when they ARE customers.

Neither of those things are differences of opinions, they're the slack brown tidestains of willful ignorance.

And I'm sorry, but that makes you an idiot in my book.

 

[Nutcase]

Valve's solution to the problems of DRM is to change the definition of DRM into "not made by Valve".
Next up: Valve announces that they will start handing out all their games for free. Completely feasible, as long as they quietly redefine "free" to "50 euros".

Newell couldn't possibly be more full of shit. A cop can talk about criminal policy and make all the sense in the world, but that does not excuse subsequently assaulting innocent people with a telescopic baton and calling it "massage with a magic happy-happy care wand".

Right..... "...full of shit" and you aren't sir?

So you are saying, by definition, that Steam is acting exactly like Starforce?

No, that must be the voices in your head. All I said (implied, really) is that all games on Steam are DRM-laced. That should be blindingly obvious, but it seems Newell is counting on there being enough idiots out there to go "hurrdurr it can't be DRM since Gabe says so".

"OH NOES I NEED TO LOG IN!!!!"..... wow you think this is no better than have starforce installed onto your comp?????????? Have you even seen real DRM? The DRM which has to update everytime you play a game, scan your system (dont even think about having daemon tools on) and then scanning the game for any changes...

So your argument is essentially, "it could be even worse"? Great selling point there. ^_^

Sure Steam isnt perfect, and I in no way think it is. But to act like the guy I just quoted seems to show the reality of the haters. I download "free" games all the time... UT last weekend for example was free... so give me a break.

Your point? It's still DRM, you still rent the games.

At least Steam is trying to do something about invasive DRM techniques... the hell have you done recently that has tried to make gamers lifes easier?

Refusing to pay for DRM, is what. I haven't bought a single game that has mandatory network activation on single player. It's unfortunate - I really wanted to play Bioshock, Mass Effect and Mirror's Edge, among others - but this is what I can do to make future gamers' lives easier. At the same time, I have bought many games without network activation, including some with no DRM at all from GoG.

What have *you* done, pray tell?

Remember this, you dont stop pirating you dont get new games...

I doubt you realize if Steam was about stopping pirates, you the legit customer would be allowed to transfer your licenses freely to other people and accounts. After initial two months of sales, or after the first working pirate copy is out in the open (whichever comes first), you would be allowed to download an installer sans network authentication, turning the transaction from a rental to a normal sale.

Steam's design revolves around screwing the paying customer.

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

The new Steamworks also includes previously announced support for in-game downloadable content [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90253-Steam-Adds-In-Game-DLC-Support] and the new matchmaking and lobby system that Valve introduced in Left 4 Dead.

VALVE! I demand you to get of your high horse right now!

That matchmaking process in itself is worse than DRM. You get pissy for one day or let someone with lesser abilities play, and you can no longer get in good games. EVER.

What do you mean? With regards to the match making? You can't be let into games? How does that work?

And on a side note, I detest that I can't make my own choice in L4D when it comes to match making. I feel like I'm on my PS3 where I have no say in anything. It's so damn restricting.

I don't mean that, I mean if you shoot (god forbid kill) your teammates you get slapped on the wrist points wise. The "worse you play" the worse people you get to play with. And those idiots either ultimately run straight into your arc of fire or ask to be shot in the ass (repeatedly) so you can't really break that cycle and get stuck with idiots and griefers with absolutely no way to get back into the game completely spoiling it for you.

The only way I can get a decent game now is to play with friends (who are never online) or go play versus which I detest immensely due to a huge handicap if one of eight people leaves (assuming you actually managed to get 8 people).

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Hate to "hijack" a news thread, but whatever happened to that Atari motherboard chip that was supposed to be standard in all motherboards or something, and it was suppose to completely eradicate video game piracy? What's the progress on it? Does that thing actually work - I know it's gonna take a while for it to get standardized for every computer in the world ever, but does it stop downloads of games from working?

 

[teh_gunslinger]

The new Steamworks also includes previously announced support for in-game downloadable content [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90253-Steam-Adds-In-Game-DLC-Support] and the new matchmaking and lobby system that Valve introduced in Left 4 Dead.

VALVE! I demand you to get of your high horse right now!

That matchmaking process in itself is worse than DRM. You get pissy for one day or let someone with lesser abilities play, and you can no longer get in good games. EVER.

What do you mean? With regards to the match making? You can't be let into games? How does that work?

And on a side note, I detest that I can't make my own choice in L4D when it comes to match making. I feel like I'm on my PS3 where I have no say in anything. It's so damn restricting.

I don't mean that, I mean if you shoot (god forbid kill) your teammates you get slapped on the wrist points wise. The "worse you play" the worse people you get to play with. And those idiots either ultimately run straight into your arc of fire or ask to be shot in the ass (repeatedly) so you can't really break that cycle and get stuck with idiots and griefers with absolutely no way to get back into the game completely spoiling it for you.

The only way I can get a decent game now is to play with friends (who are never online) or go play versus which I detest immensely due to a huge handicap if one of eight people leaves (assuming you actually managed to get 8 people).

Ah, okay. Well now I know what you mean and I'll agree with you. Thanks for clearing it up.

As I stated earlier, I'm not too fond of this system as it seems so damn random and out of my control.

Anyway, just let me know if you wanna play at some point. I'm perhaps not extremely good, but I'm no rookie either. I try to play the game, don't shoot my buddies and kill the infected and make sure everybody survives.

 

[Pendragon9]

Ten bucks says they're gonna screw this up.

 

[Cliff_m85]

The only reason I'd care is if DRM stood for "Half Life 2: Episode 3" and obsolete stood for "released next month".