Poll: Steam: God's Gift or Piece of S**t

[Pokenator]

I actually just found out my very old account name (with games I have long since lost the disk for) was in my email and trying to find a way to merge my two accounts, now turns out I cant (I also have a completed dragon age origins game on my friends account so I'll have to play his when I get the expansion, thats the main annoying thing)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

It's alright. The best kind of DRM, actually. But they really need to updates prices more...

I really hate the library navigation. Ever since I bought the Telltale Games collection...My list grew exponentially. Making it even worse. And don't get me started on the shitty in-game web browser. Which is nice, but I'd still rather Alt+Tab my way to the internet. But that makes Morrowind crash. and I can't get the Steam overlay to appear in Morrowind. EVER.

 

[Ze_Reaper_Of_Zeath]

Well, I love it, it is very convenient, such as when I go on holiday to my grandpa's place(he has a very powerful computer for creating music and stuff) , I can use it to play Portal and Team Fortress 2. However, it does have it's flaws, such as downloading speeds. But, I get alot of offers. FREE PORTAL FTW!

 

[ObsessiveSketch]

Hey, just wondering how the gamers at escapist feel about steam. Personally I dislike it because it does not allow me the simple act of installing my game and playing it when I want.

Ok, what exactly do you mean by that? You do realise you have to download your game files right?
Anyways, I can sense a huge flamewar starting, so im just going to get right to the point. If you know how to use steam right, Its great. If you dont, well I can imagine it being a bit challeging, but it does not take awhile to get use to, once you understand it, you will love it.

^^^This. I haven't had any troubles with it whatsoever, but then I never really bothered with anything else.

 

[AlphaOmega]

It's alright. The best kind of DRM, actually. But they really need to updates prices more...

I really hate the library navigation. Ever since I bought the Telltale Games collection...My list grew exponentially. Making it even worse. And don't get me started on the shitty in-game web browser. Which is nice, but I'd still rather Alt+Tab my way to the internet. But that makes Morrowind crash. and I can't get the Steam overlay to appear in Morrowind. EVER.

Not trying to defend Steam here, but The overlay problem in older games is usually related to the technology the game itself, that said though the new toolkit of the new ui is a lot better it still has problems.

 

[monkey_man]

steam works fine, in my opinion. The "you don't need cd's to play" thingy is atleast legal. you could end up on wrong sites...
besides.. it's easy to use.
and the updates give you time to check your mail,clean up or talk with friends,go to the bathroom or feed your dog and/or children, and most importantly, ramble on the escapist. without that precious time, my mailbox would be spammed. and everything would be filthy.
jokes aside, i give the steam programme a 9 out 10.

 

[Aurora219]

I like just having all of my games in one, self-updating package.

I'll put up with the having to download things and the occasional bug for that.

 

[Shockolate]

However I DO NOT like buying a game at a store, bringing it home, and seeing that I need to install Steam in order to play it. Fuck that, I gave the store money and I should get a game - not a chance to install/update/connect to what may eventually become a game.

Hah. That's the one reason I have Steam in the first place.

OP: I love Steam, I use it all the time, everyday, and I've only ever had problems when it comes to game updates, and how it seemingly decides at random which one of me and my jerk friends will actually be allowed to download.

But that can be forgiven, because I love everything else too much.

 

[ironmace2.0]

In a different thread I said I hated it but now I fixed it I like it.

 

[oliveira8]

It's alright. The best kind of DRM, actually. But they really need to updates prices more...

I really hate the library navigation. Ever since I bought the Telltale Games collection...My list grew exponentially. Making it even worse. And don't get me started on the shitty in-game web browser. Which is nice, but I'd still rather Alt+Tab my way to the internet. But that makes Morrowind crash. and I can't get the Steam overlay to appear in Morrowind. EVER.

You can create categories to file and organize your games.
Anyway I like Steam. Been using it since 2004 and been through two accounts. Considering how Steam was 6 years ago I can't really complaint.

 

[Dexiro]

It's a potential disaster, but because it works really well loads of people love it, including myself ;D

Download times and updates are really fast even with a bad connection. If you're really that impatient that you must play a specific game RIGHT NOW and not do something else for a few minutes then you probably need to review your life a little.

 

[Pandalisk]

Without it my ability to play modern games would be gone.

I do a backflip when Developers join Steam, more games for me!

 

[TG]

I love steam, it's messenging system is just really handy, the steam deals every weekend and amazing sales at Christmas make it overshadow every other sale you've seen.

Although, I do dislike some parts of it. I hate that dollars is almost equal to pounds on Steam. New games are far too expensive, but tend to come down in price soon after so I guess that's not too bad.

Another thing is that gog.com is FAR better for old games. Steam has Fallout and Gothic and that's pretty much it. I wish they'd put Baldur's Gate or PlaneScape Torment on there. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

 

[Cabamacadaf]

I think it's pretty good, especially the in game chat and community stuff.

 

[Th37thTrump3t]

I like it because every day there is always some sort of sale for a game whether it is just 10% off or 99% off (I've seen it before). I got the Orange Box off Steam for $10 bucks. That's 5 games for the price of one! I'd like to see you get that at Walmart or Gamestop. I don't mind the updates either. At least you don't have to google it up just to find one fucking update.

 

[sephiroth1991]

I like it, i only wish they would explain why some games get removed e.g. AC2

 

[Salakayin]

I love Steam. Mainly for the sake that, without it, I'd not be able to play really any of these games that I have due to accessibility. Given, I'll say to y'all that I wouldn't go as far as to say its a gift transcended down from Mount Olympus, but I still find it quite nice.

It really is the only why I buy games, because it is the only way I have to buy and play games. The system and layout of Steam I personally find quite smooth, and it is great to be able to keep track/communicate with your friends. Usually the updates go at a reasonable pace for me, and I like how it will do it automatically for ya.

Sure, it functions as a DRM. But its a prettied up DRM that's nice to look at.

 

[jpoon]

As far as I'm concerned it's shit.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Uh, Steam works fine for me.
A few registry errors every now and then, but you just delete the .blob files, put your account log-in info back in and start it all up again.