Poll: Steam, how do you feel about it?

[Skratt]

Yes..Steam, as much as I love Valve I'm not too crazy about steam for a few reasons

Some people do not have the luxery of Gigabytes of data at their disposal, internet is expensive and I have limits, and for some reason games need to be "updated" when you buy them retail and install them , F.E.A.R. 2 is the worst example it ate up at least 1.7 gigabyes

and lets not go into the orange box.....theres not much on the cover that indicates you'll have to go through that whole process (download steam make an account then update the fucking thing ect) at least if you don't know about it

so yes I guess steam is great as an oline store and what ever but for some of us its a real inconvenience, I don't mind having to activate stuff online thats fine but I feel sorry for anyone who buys a game without realising all the trouble they have to go through to play it.

So how do you feel about it?

The fact that you have download limits on an expensive internet, makes me want to donate my vgmarketsurveys haul to you because apparently my ignorance knows no bounds when I thought that issue was a thing of the past...

I've never had any trouble with steam and generally speaking if I lose access to the internet I can still play whatever is already downloaded (for the most part). It has replaced 90% of all games that I play, in fact, I have re purchased two games just so I don't have to use the fucking CDROMs anymore. I really wish game makers would ditch the "you need the CD to play ANYTHING". I bought the fucking thing, use the cd key and stop bothering me!

/scratched media rant off

Yes, I <3 Steam and I think everyone should use it.

 

[Skratt]

ESPECIALLY when you have GameStop @#$%ing developers over with Pre-owned sales;

How?

Wow, people still believe that pre-owned sales hurt developers? pfft, pre-owned sales are simply a way to get "Murder Simulators" into the hands of the young and poor.

 

[MrTub]

Im pretty sure the search function is getting lonely

 

[Aux]

I love Steam! I don't mind not having a hard copy of most of my games. If I do I will go buy a hard copy.

My only complaint is that you cannot use DLC from Steam on the hard copies of games you buy. I understand why of course.

Plus all the sales they have make it really worth while in my opinion.

 

[Twad]

Offline mode dont allow me to actually play most of my game i got on steam (when it should work). Wich pisses me off since my ISP is unreliable. Its why i prefer Impulse.

 

[Agayek]

Love it.
Stocks a decent variety of game, no need for product keys and I generally play older games with it so updates aren't an issue. And my experience with updates have been fine. Just standard patches.

All of this, plus the fact that they have ridiculously awesome sales. Just about every week there's at least one 50+% off sale for one or more games, and the holiday sales are beyond amazing.

 

[Souplex]

Digital distribution is the enemy.
Valve is the enemy.
Therefore Steam is one of the biggest enemies of gaming.

 

[6unn3r]

I love steam...however it has two flaws:
1: Price, since game prices on steam are set by the developers they tend to be a little higher than the average high street.
2: Availablity, Steam lacks support from several key developers and studios, meaning that alot of games dont come out on steam at all or only after a long delay.

 

[lacktheknack]

Steam is the best thing that happened to gaming since Compact Discs.

Proof that people really don't care about their rights or freedoms being taken away as long as it comes with a sweet deal.

HA! That made me laugh... thanks.

Because having to have a 20 Mb client (that doesn't even need to be connected to the internet) is such an intense sacrifice.

 

[lacktheknack]

How can you say no to a gaming platform which gave a discount for GTA IV for £4.50?

Because the port was unadulterated junk?

Now, the platform that offered me S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for $2 plus modding capability... THAT was awesome.

 

[Delusibeta]

Digital distribution is the enemy.
Valve is the enemy.
Therefore Steam is one of the biggest enemies of gaming.

Explain.

 

[Engarde]

I do not understand the anti digital distrobution movements, no one seems to make any informed statements about it other than GAWD IT SUX GAISE.

Having said that, I find steam a convinient and cheap way to connect with friends and purchase games. Plus I am on internode who give unmetered steam downloads.....

 

[GodsAndFishes]

I hate it, it keeps forcing me to give out money because of its really really cheap deals. Fuck you Steam...Fuck you!

 

[Why do I care]

I dunno, it's just evaporated water, what's the big d-...oh that steam.

Heh heh, science joke.

 

[Delusibeta]

Digital distribution is the enemy.
Valve is the enemy.
Therefore Steam is one of the biggest enemies of gaming.

Explain.

You really need someone to? You don't own the game, you are renting it. You can never resell it so if you dislike it you are just screwed. The prices will never go down because shelf space and retailer competition is not a factor. You will be paying $50 for a game 5 years after it's release. Ever notice how prices of download only games (like VC, WiiWare, 360 Arcade) never decrease in price? Know why?

Yeah, lack of competition on the format. Oh wait, there's half a dozen DD services of PC, each competiting with each other. Even if consoles go DD-only, I'd imagine most publishers will reduce the price after a while to squeeze out the last bit of profit. As for the rest of your comments, it all boils down to something that you can argue already happens (e.g. disc breaks, loss of CD key). Resale has been something that's pretty much non-existent for PCs anyway, and if publishers get their way it may turn true for consoles as well.

Ironically, the only format capable of going DD-only at the moment, the PC, is the one least likely to go completely (someone will always print a special-edition disc).

 

[cainstwin]

Steam is the best thing that happened to gaming since Compact Discs.

Proof that people really don't care about their rights or freedoms being taken away as long as it comes with a sweet deal.

You have something against people protecting their livelihood? I don't understand why DRM is so hated, all it is is people trying to make sure that you have paid for the right to use something that they have spent hundreds of hours into producing. And Steam is the best way to do it, you don't have limited licenses so you can install it onto as many computers as you want, or reinstall a game multiple times if you reformat your hard drive frequently. All you have to do is prove that you own the steam copy of the game. All modable games on steam can still be modded so it doesn't impede there either.
So, explain to me, what the issue is?

 

[cainstwin]

Digital distribution is the enemy.
Valve is the enemy.
Therefore Steam is one of the biggest enemies of gaming.

Explain.

You really need someone to? You don't own the game, you are renting it. You can never resell it so if you dislike it you are just screwed. The prices will never go down because shelf space and retailer competition is not a factor. You will be paying $50 for a game 5 years after it's release. Ever notice how prices of download only games (like VC, WiiWare, 360 Arcade) never decrease in price? Know why?

Yeah, lack of competition on the format. Oh wait, there's half a dozen DD services of PC, each competiting with each other. Even if consoles go DD-only, I'd imagine most publishers will reduce the price after a while to squeeze out the last bit of profit. As for the rest of your comments, it all boils down to something that you can argue already happens (e.g. disc breaks, loss of CD key). Resale has been something that's pretty much non-existent for PCs anyway, and if publishers get their way it may turn true for consoles as well.

Ironically, the only format capable of going DD-only at the moment, the PC, is the one least likely to go completely (someone will always print a special-edition disc).

Agree with delusibeta, just wanted to add that where I live its illegal to resale PC games, therfore the inability to resale isn't much of an issue. You can't even have a refund if you've opened the box.