I Have Seen The Future, And it is Annoying

[Silva]

People were saying that I was a crackpot when I said it's a bad idea to buy games through online systems. Doing so just encourages this behaviour from publishers, so they were wrong.

Retail is a better option until they realise that, as they are, all of these systems add nothing to gaming or to the communities that already existed anyway. Nothing.

 

[Irridium]

The only reason I tolerate steam doing shit like this is because Valve is actually a decent company that cares about its customers.

Other companies only care about profit, and trying to make investors happy. So they pile on all this DRM and securom crap that does nothing to stop piracy.

You'd think that Spore being pirated to hell and back would make them learn a thing or two about consumers...

Granted EA did learn, kind of...

I remember when I got Fallout 3, I had to use GFWL.

I tolerated it until the last DLC was released, then I downloaded a mod that got rid of that piece of shit, and moved the DLC to the data folder.

Funny thing is that the game runs a lot better without GFWL. And I can finally use the Fallout 3 Script Extender for pure awsome mods.

 

[atalanta]

And I treat Steam/Impulse/GFWL as malware, because they are.

I disagree about Steam -- for the most part Steam is extremely convenient for me, and in general I've found it to be stable, non-obnoxious, and quite usable. Besides, I play more TF2 than I do anything else, so I can't really hate on Steam anyways.

GFWL, on the other hand, can feel free to suck it.

 

[Pimppeter2]

I've said it once and I'll say it again

"Digital distribution is for the sucks!"

One day gamers will listen.

 

[The Random One]

Aaaaaand that's why I prefer consoles.

Not that they're much better, but at least they're honest about how they screw you over.

 

[CD-R]

The only reason I tolerate steam doing shit like this is because Valve is actually a decent company that cares about its customers.

Other companies only care about profit, and trying to make investors happy. So they pile on all this DRM and securom crap that does nothing to stop piracy.

You'd think that Spore being pirated to hell and back would make them learn a thing or two about consumers...

Granted EA did learn, kind of...

I remember when I got Fallout 3, I had to use GFWL.

I tolerated it until the last DLC was released, then I downloaded a mod that got rid of that piece of shit, and moved the DLC to the data folder.

Funny thing is that the game runs a lot better without GFWL. And I can finally use the Fallout 3 Script Extender for pure awsome mods.

You gotta link to this GFWL removing mod?

 

[Nurb]

Yes, yes.. a thousand times yes! This social gaming fad is becomming a trend that should have been limited to consoles because PC gamers have other means of organizing multiplayer games and don't need extra programs running.

you also reenforced my decision never to use steam.

The more bloat and nonsense publishers pile on to games, the more people will look to cracks and hacks to get around the needless annoyance.

 

[Irridium]

You gotta link to this GFWL removing mod?

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1086

There you go, destroy the evil known as GFWL!

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

GTA IV lasted half a day on my system before I expunged that piece of crap.

STOP trying to make the PC into an XBox, you corporate whores.

Wouldn't that imply making the process easier? Though they are essentially the same steps, you don't need to deal with the hassle of all these additional programs.

Atleast, not yet.

Nope, quite the reverse. As you're trying to fit all the possible PC architectures into one state, you're using apps, as Shamus said, to force that transition.

 

[snowman6251]

I do not like digital distribution much. It works for small quirky indie games and DLC but the big big titles are another story. Without even getting into them whoring hard drive space I just don't like it. Put disk in, play game. This is what I know and what I like. I also like having a physical copy because I have shelf space that needs filling.

 

[londelen]

Solution to the problem of PC gaming: make a keyboard & mouse peripheral for the consoles.

 

[syndicated44]

Empire total war pulled the whole you need steam to run me. In fact I didnt even use the cd to install the game and havent since I bought it. All I did was put it in the drive and then steam said Hello we will do everything now. Oh by the way our servers are busy can you wait to download the game.

I dont get it. Digital distribution to me is great for spur of the moment buys or indie titles. The only distributor I would probably go through is steam though simply because its already on my computer and I need it (regretably) to play other games. Other ones need you to install download managers and I get to start the headache all over again. Hell the first thing I do when I get a GFWL game is find a patch to disable GFWL.

I wish this would go away although it wont. It would be nice one day to be able to buy a game and use my cd drive to install it then having to fight for bandwith on steam.

 

[xyrafhoan]

I don't mind Steam because of all the great deals they give to gamers for games I wouldn't have normally bought; Audiosurf and Braid. Two very good games, but Audiosurf lacks a huge amount of depth and Braid is just so short and the demo gives you so much. However, I'm miffed by the insistance that I MUST download the game through Steam even if I buy a physical copy! What's the point of going to the store and buying the disc then? So I can use the CD key once and let the box rot in my house? Unfortunately this article seems to suggest this is becoming a trend and it's ultimately a kick in the pants for people with slow/no internet connections but want to play games with their PC. And although there are tons of passionate artists and gamers working in the industry, the upper management seems to be blind when it comes to brainstorming solutions that aren't horribly convoluted, obtrusive, and unintuitive.

 

[shotgunbob]

Steam is ok and you can get some great deals off it but it randomly disconnects way to much for me

 

[Georgeman]

I don't know who will win in the end, but I'm pretty sure it won't be gamers.

Oh, but it will be the gamers eventually. The companies can't be so naive thinking that they can keep on getting away with such bullshit while constantly screwing their customers. The future of gaming will NOT be shaped by the companies, but by the customers. Companies going a different direction than what the customers desire will eventually end up broke.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Steam's saving grace is that it has an offline mode, so I don't have to auto-update etc every time I want to play.

 

[Verbal Samurai]

Solution to the problem of PC gaming: make a keyboard & mouse peripheral for the consoles.

The lack of this^ is quite literally the ONLY reason I don't own a current generation console. I am THROUGH with those piece of shit joystick controllers and have been since the last console generation.

The first console to wise up and start offering technology that is so simple and readily available is the only one with a chance to see my money.

Until then, I will buy PC titles and pass on the ones with obnoxious DRM.

 

[Lissa-QUON]

Sadly I just got a machine that for the first time can handle games that are being released now as opposed to five years ago. I say sadly, cause I don't really want to deal with secuROM or have all these little fiddly programs on my computer.

This means alot of games I was rather looking forward to (Bioshock2 and Mass Effect 2) are getting cut from my list.

Anyone remember when Sony had that deal when they were putting rootkits on their audio cds? I seem to recall there was some boycott and lawsuit action going and Sony finally learned their lesson and quit putting crap on their cds that didn't belong. Any chance that anything like that might happen here?