Are low prices the only reason you use Steam?

[Archangel768]

I got steam at first so organise my games into a list and have the overlay so I can talk to friends etc.

Then a friend gifted me the orange box for my birthday and that was the first game I got through steam. After that, I still didn't really pay attention to the store. Then, sometime last year I noticed that there was some good specials every so often and some of my friends spoke of buying games off of there a lot more and I started hearing of more and more specials, Deus Ex in particular. Then the Christmas specials came around last Christmas and I got a number of games for really good prices, and I've been checking back for those weekly specials ever since.

I'm not big into digital distribution but then I see a game that costs $5 through Steam and $30 or so physically, I go 'screw it'. So yea, I only buy games through Steam if they're on a good special. I'd never buy a game at it's normal price on there when I can just drive down the road and pick up the much preferred physical copy for a similar price.

 

[brunothepig]

The cheap prices are awesome, true, but there's also the massive catalogue that's easy to access, the convenience of having all my games listed, the convenience of being able to download my game, no risk of scratching or losing the disk, no swapping disks to play my games, overlay and friends/chat system, to talk to people while gaming. Absolutely I'd still use Steam. I'd just have a lot less games.

 

[Kae]

Yes I have a policy against buying games that have a price above 0dlls with 0 cents, what can I say I'm just a cheap bastard.

 

[iblis666]

hard to say since i never buy any games for full new release price but i like to think so but then again i am a cheap poor bastard

 

[Pegghead]

I mostly use it for the convenience in everything, one click and I can bring up servers, friends etc.

 

[2fish]

1. It has great sales

2. I has old games I cannot find anywhere else

3. Indie games! Many indie games

4. I do prefer solid copy of the game but for steam prices I can bypass that desire.

 

[thiosk]

Hell no, its fantastic-- I lose discs, a lot-- so having a permanent backup stored in a cloud of steam that I cannot misplace makes me so happy. And honestly, I actually avoid games that AREN'T on steam. Too many passwords to remember to log into other services. I got starcraft, and ugh, i've had to call customer support twice because I can't ever seem to get the account information straight. I have the disk and its STILL a pain to play.

I grew up PC gaming, and honestly, patching was a *****. Steam makes consoles seem like way too much work (ugh, i gotta like, put a DISC in? fuk dat yo, ill just keep watching scrambled porn)

 

[ShindoL Shill]

well, the low prices are one thing, but another is the indie games. super meat boy, for one, is supposed to be a good indie game, but its not on consoles (to my knowledge.)

 

[Sentox6]

Pretty much. GOG is an example of how to actually do digital distribution. Steam... not so great. They've given more credit than they deserve, at any rate.

 

[trollnystan]

I suppose I wouldn't have bought as many Steam games as I have if their prices were higher. I'm poor (cue violin) and the Steam sales have been both a godsend and a curse on my wallet >.<

But I don't play multiplayer, and I only have one friend on Steam, so I don't use if for the social aspect. Although I AM a member of the Extra Credits group; probably should leave it though - I love Extra Credits, but since I have no knowledge of the intricacies of the industry beyond "I laiks playing teh gaems!" I have nothing to really add to the discussions they want to have on there.

So yeah, if Steam raised their prices and kept them there, I probably wouldn't use it any more.

 

[Vuliev]

I use it because of an incredibly well-designed interface, and because it's the only way I will ever purchase a game again. I don't have to deal with the retarded DRM that physical copies have, there's an excellent selection of indie games that don't have physical copies, and they have amazing deals on games (especially during the summer.) I understand that some people like owning the manuals/boxes and whatnot, but to each his own. I grew tired of having to lug my CD wallet around just so I could reinstall at a moment's notice, which meant that I wasn't getting any benefit out of the packaging anyway. Since I now have reliable high-speed internet at my house (before last year, my parents still had dial-up >_>) I don't need to worry about bandwidth/DL times for my games. If I want to play a game that isn't installed, I can start the download and come back in an hour or less and immediately start playing.

As for their customer service, I haven't had any particularly large issues that would require me to contact them. The few times I've lost my password I had no trouble resetting it, and my credit card purchases always go smoothly.

As for your question: I'd probably still buy from Steam simply for the convenience and ease of access. I certainly would think more carefully about my purchases, but if there's a game I really wanted and I could afford it, I see no reason to have to deal with Walmart/Gamestop/any other retailer when I can buy it immediately and play it within an hour or less.

 

[direkiller]

I first used Steam because when I bought Supreme Commander 2 it requires it. However after using it, I love it. Auto-update, integrated chat, good deals, and never having to keep physical copies of my games are all features I love.

Edit:

Steam is DRM in and of itself. So no internet connection, no games.

I never understood this point. Steam can be booted in offline mode and you can still play your games.

not all the time
infact for some reason it never has let me play HL2 offline

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Yep, I love the friends/community system, the way updates work, the convenience of buying things from there, the indy games and so on. It's awesome.

 

[loc978]

Nope... the only reason I started using Steam is that some of the games I buy, on disc, require me to.
...after that I discovered some little indie games I just can't find elsewhere. But I still prefer physical copies.

 

[Continuity]

I have never really cared for Steam, seeing as how I am primarily a console gamer that being said I bought the PS3 edition of Portal 2 and took it on it's offer of a free PC copy of the game I could play via Steam, that and also Team Fortress 2 went Free to Play which gave me that last little pushed needed to finally dip my toes into Steam...
And do you know what I've come to realize? I despise Steam. I won't go into a rant because frankly I don't want to but suffice to say I am less than pleased with the service but most of my friends with Steam accounts can't get enough of Valve's money printer. So here's my question Escapist: If Steam's prices were a little more in line with everyone else's would you still use it?

Absolutely, and for the record their prices are higher than everywhere else 95% of the time. I use it because its an excellent service that allows me to not have to worry about storing hundreds of game boxes and discs, not to have to worry about finding patches, not to have to worry about having the damn disc in the drive if I want to play. Also all my games are stored on the net so I can access them from any computer. Plus steam is a great gaming social network, you can see what your friends are playing and its easier to hook up multiplayer with them.

And on top of that steam gives games, even small and obscure titles, practically unlimited shelf life, which is a fairly radical concept for the industry. Not to mention all the fantastic indie titles to whom steam is an absolute god send. Seriously I'm a major indie fan and without steam the indie scene would be a damn sight poorer than it currently is.

 

[Zhukov]

No.

The low prices are awesome, especially here in Australia, but they're not the only reason.

I like the convenience. Enter credit card number, download, and I'm good to go. I don't have to deal with retail. Plus, it stocks many games I would have trouble finding in retail. Also, unlike buying ordering online, I don't have to wait for several days for a hard copy to arrive in the mail.

 

[Uber Waddles]

I like the Xbox for bringing unified tracking under one account for all online gaming content.

Steam is the PC equivilant of this. My experience before Steam was sloppy. EVERY game had different user-names, you could never tell if your friends were online in a LOT of multiplayer based games. It just felt like a sloppy mess. Part of the reason I went to console gaming.

Steam unifies everything, with a nice interface. Xfire can do the same thing, and thats good for getting what Steam misses. But yeah.

Dirt cheap prices and unified gaming make Steam beautiful. Far from perfect, but still nice

 

[smartengine]

Other than the prices, Steam is awesome because it's devilishly convenient. It lets you download games, you don't have to keep DVDs around, groups, screenshoting, ingame browser, ingame chat...