How do you feel about PC games that require Steam installed?

[strigoivii]

Already have Steam, so it doesn't make a difference to me one way or the other.

Thats where you are mistaken my friend... the truth is STEAM has you.... IT has your games you own nothing physical if you bought online and should the worst happen then nothing is exactly what you'll be left with. For your own peace of mind I'd buy the discs in future even if you do blindly follow the steam bible.
And dogstile is right that is the problem we all have with steam.... you used to have to install it before playing the game you bought on disc (not now I have my steam emulator) and not all of us want steam but were given no choice but to accept a 3rd party software and its internet connection. I have no need for my steam account now and have given it to my friends to use and play the games on there.

 

[Woodsey]

I download everything from Steam nowadays, so I don't care.

If they don't require to be on Steam I'll still register them if I can.

Already have Steam, so it doesn't make a difference to me one way or the other.

Thats where you are mistaken my friend... the truth is STEAM has you.... IT has your games you own nothing physical if you bought online and should the worst happen then nothing is exactly what you'll be left with. For your own peace of mind I'd buy the discs in future even if you do blindly follow the steam bible.

Research is your friend.

Valve have a patch ready that disables the need for Steam and let's you get all your games, should they ever go out of business.

 

[noobleto]

When Steam first released it was a bit of a resource hog. Times have changed and core pc components can handle the now tiny amount of resources this program takes up. That being the case I have no problem with steam.

 

[dazhat]

I love steam. No more losing my game box or scrabbling around for the DVD.

 

[strigoivii]

I no longer have to use steam so I alone decide what software runs on my pc. I couldn't care less whether it was resource hungry or whether it came with a free £50 and accelerated my cpu and increased my ram... I never asked for it. I bought a game and Steam was on it and gave me nothing but grief... NOTHING will make me install STEAM again. Who's to say that VALVE will not charge for the patch... especially if they were going out of business.
Research is my friend, it showed me how easy people hack accounts, how easily they download games and make as standalone with full updates and DLC, it showed me how I don't have to stop playing games I like as I can install from the disc and bypass Steam.... Yes research IS my friend. If you are happy with someone else holding on to something you've bought then you take the risk but at least buy the discs and still use steam and at least you'll have something physical just in case the worst happens.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

At first it pissed me off when I needed to have it to even run the HL2 demo, but I got used to it and now love it. I do find it hilarious that there are all these threads on the Steam forums about people buying games off Steam that require GFWL to run and they complain about how stupid it is that you need to have GFWL running at all times to play the game and you should not have to install some program to play the game.

 

[strigoivii]

Think about it.... YOU are valve, 1000's of people have bought say 30 games each (£1000 or $1000) and they have nothing just a promise of a patch from you. Now YOU are going broke and going out of business, how much do you think that patch is worth to someone who has £1000 worth of hot air if they don't have the patch ? Is it worth £20 to get all your games back ? You could call it an administration fee. 10,000 people and a fifth of a million quick and easy.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

It's a nuisance at best, though it can be annoying having to run Steam when I want to play a single-player game.

 

[LordDPS]

steam can be annoying for example when i brought empire total war new it said my cd key was invalid grrrr

 

[Croaker42]

Sweet I will beable to buy Civ V through Steam.

*Looks like I am fine with it.

 

[strigoivii]

I'm not smart enough to have the answer to stop piracy and the developers have the right to protect their product but Steam just goes too far. It is designed for online multiplayers and is not (too) problematic for those. but for the majority of people who don't want to play the same (YAWN) map repeatedly and want to play only single player, it is intrusive and has caused many a headache. Simple solution is multiplayer bought only online and single player sold on disk with a one time verification when installed without the need for a steam account.
My only problem with steam is that it is not optional. Actually thinking on... perhaps I DO have the answer to piracy. many laptops are being made with a fingerprint scanner so people cannot access your files... so, sell usb fingerprint scanners and when you buy a game in a shop you have your fingerprint scanned and when you install you scan at home and it is verified online at a database.... Hey and on the plus side that would do away with the need for STEAM..... hang on while I get my dissmissive hat on....
I love fingerprint scanning so I don't have a problem with steam folding... no I just can't do it as well as some of the people on here....

 

[Freedomario]

i prefer it to be on steam, because i can get it on different computers. and so i can re-download it if it needs to be removed.

 

[oppp7]

What the hell is Steam for other people? For me it's just another window to open before playing a game. That's it. Is there some huge disadvantage I'm missing here?

 

[strigoivii]

oppp7... if you are asking what problems exist with steam... there are several but to pick a few.
it took over a day to install a game because it kept ignoring my disk and tried to download the entire game.
it is software I neither want on my pc, running in the background or accessing my internet connection.
Some people have mobile broadband and either lose signal due to their location or run out of allowance for the month and cannot carry on playing a game that they own even though they have the disk in the drive.
My system is the minimum requirement so having any other programs running (including Steam or the internet) causes the game to lag.
They are trying to FORCE it on everyone by withholding some of the game and having it only accessible via DLC.
Everything else I buy I have the choice to keep forever or sell 2nd hand (or swap) they took that option away until the steam bypass software appeared.
If Steam works for you then great but why should EVERYONE be led by the nose just because a few enjoy it.

 

[strigoivii]

AxCx thank you. your words are music to my ears. People who haven't had to wait 2 weeks to play a game because of an internet fault or suffered poor gameplay because steam is running, or suffered installation problems have no sympathy for others and until it affects them they will not understand. Having seen the anti steam underground community I fear for Steams health. I don't wish its end or any misery it would inflict on its loyal followers... I personally just don't wish to suffer from it anymore. Steam is great for those who enjoy it (all the time it's working properly) I don't enjoy it and if it were not for software written that allows me to bypass steam then I would be forced to miss out on some great games or do as AxCx does and buy the original and get a no steam cracked version. personally I still prefer installing from the disk it feels right.

 

[Shilkanni]

I'm planning to buy Civ5 over Steam so it obviously won't effect me.
I think at this stage it would probably be better if they didn't -force- people to use Steam or activate online. Especially for Civ5 because the franchise is definitely popular for solo/offline play.

 

[MiscellanousBob]

Iwasn't happy with it at first because when i first installed steam for the game that required it (hl2 if i recall) it converted my other half-life games that I shared on the same pc with my brother at the time into steam only and bound to my account. So it annoyed me that he had to be on my account to play them or we'd have to buy em all over agian.

However i'v grown to enjoy the use of steam thanks to the ever expanding catalog they have and the community features that have come to be. such as not having to alt+tab out of a game just to talk with friends over an Im,stat tracking and the achivements.

 

[PissOffRoth]

Steam is sexy. I hope the 360 gets it some day. Everyone email Microsoft and ***** about it.

 

[strigoivii]

Yes miscellaneousBob lots of people have had teething problems such as its big brother approach to software already on your pc. But it has features that suit you so I'm glad for you but I never play any game online so talking with friends is what I do face to face and therefore just one more reason why steam is no use to me. Like Shilkanni said they should not FORCE people to use it but I do approve of online verification. CIV5 is the perfect example its a great game but only for 1 player so why Steam?