Poll: Your least favorite online distribution system. And why?

[Anathrax]

Steam is THE DEVIL THAT KILLED MY ENTIRE FAMILY AND IS A BLACK HOLE OF SATAN'S ARSE. However it spawned other online distribution systems that aren't as good. Which are your least favorite and why?

Mine has to be ijji's reactor. To begin with, the games on it are all copies of the same game(The F2P FPS game with a surge of money given to you at first then taken away when you buy one weapon and have to stick with it till you figure out what's the best you can have.) with different qualities of gameplay and graphics.(All of which barely on-par)

My main problem with it has to be...everything. It's unbeliavbly slow in everything, should it be launching a game, downloading something(much slower than my average download speed), navigating the damn thing or the "as simple as diffusing a bomb on a motorcycle in space in an asteroid belt on the sun" process of logging out. I had to spend 5 days on forums checking out what I can do to log out and switch to another account. I had to terminate a facebook account(more on this later), I had to revert to a few system backups, NOTHING would work until I figured out you had to break your spine and do a 360 spin on your thumb for you to be even considered of the possiblity of logging out. (It's later)The worst part about it that it could have simply been avoided if it wasn't for the stupid decision that every single player should log in with their facebook accounts and removing the ability to register on their own service. What's up with this crap anyway? I never thought "Hey, Runescape would be sooo much better if I could log in with my facebook account!".

That's a load off my chest. Forgive the limited amount of forum options, I had no idea what else is an online BLAH BLAH BLAH

 

[CannibalCorpses]

I disagree wholeheartedly. Steam isn't the shining paragon of modern games sales but a cheap way to get people to pay for games that they really wouldn't play normally. It's a disgrace how many of my friends buy games on sale that they will never actually play and that means that certain games get far more sales and thus the chance of a sequel than they otherwise would have.

I can see why some people think it's great but to me it's just another cashcow that isn't there to do anything but milk uninformed fools of their hard earned cash.

 

[Vegosiux]

I disagree wholeheartedly. Steam isn't the shining paragon of modern games sales but a cheap way to get people to pay for games that they really wouldn't play normally. It's a disgrace how many of my friends buy games on sale that they will never actually play and that means that certain games get far more sales and thus the chance of a sequel than they otherwise would have.

While I agree impulse buying is a rather obnoxious thing, I'm not blaming it on Steam, or, for that matter, any merchant who puts stuff up on sale in hopes of people buying who otherwise wouldn't.

Friend of mine bought a suit that was discounted, hasn't worn it once in six years, and is now complaining it's out of fashion. When I wondered why he bought it in the first place, yes, he said exactly that line: "But it was on sale so it seemed like a good deal at the time."

I can see why some people think it's great but to me it's just another cashcow that isn't there to do anything but milk uninformed fools of their hard earned cash.

As long as they pay their dues on time, it's their disposable income and all that. Sure, I get what you're saying, some people seem like they're just wasting money, but you and I don't get to tell others where they should or shouldn't spend (except when aske dor when we go shopping with them).

But, meh, my budget is tight, so my purchasing habits are quite frugal, so at least I don't have a problem with impulse buying.

 

[Arakasi]

I don't know if uPlay technically counts as a distribution system, but when I get a game from Steam I sure as hell do not want it loading up ANOTHER fricking peripheral that I do not need. Seriously, WHY?

Then again, I've never used Origin...

 

[Genocidicles]

Anything that isn't GoG or Steam.

Either give it to me DRM free, or put it on the one DRM platform I'm allowing on my computer, because I'm not having more than one of those pieces of shit clogging up my system.

 

[Thoric485]

My only gripe with DD services is when they force exclusivity, latch themselves on to retail versions or even versions bought from other digital stores. GFWL, Origin and Uplay do that shit all the time and so does Steam.

Like, is it so much to ask to just respect the customer's choice of a platform? I love the way CD Projekt do it with the Witcher games. Even though they own GOG, you don't need a GOG account to play the Steam or Origin version and retail editions are not tied to any digital service. That's how you fucking do it.

 

[Ticklefist]

I'll buy from anywhere but the most significant factors are level of interest and price. Steam activation is preferred but will not prohibit me from buying, say, Kingdoms of Amalur for $7.50 on Origin.

 

[DelphiSantano]

Origin. I really doubt I need to explain my reasons in huge detail on these particular forums, so I'll just say it's a terrible waste of disk space and equates to user-installed malware.

I realise Steam isn't perfect, but Valve have been improving it since it started and it's only getting better.
I remember when I was younger and Steam hadn't been going for long, I'd purchased a pack with HL, CS 1.6 and a few other games, a friend had asked me what I'm going to do with these digital-only copies of games when Steam collapses and dies, thus denying me access to them.
I said it then and I'm happy to say that it seems I was right: "Valve won't let that happen, Steam's going to get much bigger" - or something along those lines, I was only about 13-14 at the time.

 

[piinyouri]

Origin for me as well.
I've been burned by Electronic Arts polices and practices before, so no uninformed hatred here, just experience.

 

[lRookiel]

Uplay, why do I have to have ANOTHER DRM platform to play Farcry 3 when I bought it on steam which doesn't fuck me around (usually) and gives me juicy sales.

Origin I'm not even going to give a chance, EA has messed me around enough.

 

[Iwata]

Steam, by far.

Why? Because it quite literaly stole my PC games that I had on the service without a single word of explanation, suspended my account, and effectively robbed me of hundreds of Euros. All legitimately bought games, no hacking involved, no piracy, just "fuck you, we're suspending your account and taking your games. You wanna know why? Tough cookies, we're not telling you."

After MONTHS of back & forth between me and them, in which I was never ONCE told why my account had been closed, where I offered multiple times to even take photos of the games I bought and their respective CD keys (all my games were on disc, I never bought any digital games), I just gave up. In fact, Steam drove me off PC gaming, after two decades of being a PC gamer.

I know people love it, my wife is among those who do, but from my perspective, seriously, fuck Steam. EA and Activision may be run by pricks and get a bad rep, but you know what, at least they never stole my games.

 

[Gameguy20100]

I don't buy games digitally but I still don't like Steam most of all because its fan base Is fucking annoying.

I dislike Steam for other reasons to but I think I have talked that to death.

 

[Sabitsuki]

GFWL for being incredibly clunky, frustrating to navigate, and for some serious compatibility issues in the past. To the point that, a few years ago when I had an older PC, my machine would be reduced to a crawl from having it open and crash upon trying to download games. Problems that I have never once experienced with Steam despite years of use. The sheer incompetence of Microsoft making a distribution program for Windows products that was less functional than alternatives is completely baffling. Being unable to play a game because the servers got borked by too many people attempting to play at once is a frustrating experience. Being unable to play a game because the program that distributes it is completely incompatible with your PC is infuriating on a whole other level.

I may hate Origin, because it is a hilariously poor attempt to compete with Steam, and only continues to exist because EA is blessed with certain IPs that people are willing to tolerate Origin for. Mass Effect 3 is the only game I will ever own for Origin, and it is the only reason I have any experience with it, but at least Origin functioned smoothly and never seemed to undermine my efforts to actually play the game I paid for.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

GFWL for being incredibly clunky, frustrating to navigate, and for some serious compatibility issues in the past. To the point that, a few years ago when I had an older PC, my machine would be reduced to a crawl from having it open and crash upon trying to download games. Problems that I have never once experienced with Steam despite years of use. The sheer incompetence of Microsoft making a distribution program for Windows products that was less functional than alternatives is completely baffling. Being unable to play a game because the servers got borked by too many people attempting to play at once is a frustrating experience. Being unable to play a game because the program that distributes it is completely incompatible with your PC is infuriating on a whole other level.

I may hate Origin, because it is a hilariously poor attempt to compete with Steam, and only continues to exist because EA is blessed with certain IPs that people are willing to tolerate Origin for. Mass Effect 3 is the only game I will ever own for Origin, and it is the only reason I have any experience with it, but at least Origin functioned smoothly and never seemed to undermine my efforts to actually play the game I paid for.

this in a nutshell, plus with fucking GFWL my stupid xbox account got hacked and i just shut it down because it was such a hassle to get it back, in which case my batman arkham city got locked with it (i have it on steam, and it requires use of signing in with the product key through GFWL) and xbox has said multiple times its not its problem, but it is not a steam problem because steam has nothing to fucking do with it besides where i bought it from.

so basically i have a fun game just sitting there that i can't play because of an account on an entirely different platform got hacked and closed.

oh and fuck Origin/EA/all that usual banter.

 

[MajorTomServo]

Nintendo E-Shop. Hope you like buying things multiple times...

 

[Rednog]

I would say the GreenManGaming client "capsule" because it's the biggest pile of pointlessness, but since 90% of the stuff I buy from them activates somewhere else I rarely have to use it.

So with that said, for me personally, steam gets the runner up prize.
Why?
Because for a service that has gotten so big and is pretty much the monopoly, they fuck things up way too often and don't do much to fix it.
For a service as big as steam, having an email like message system is almost inexcusable. Seriously, if you have a problem that requires multiple back and forth messages you could easily spend a week or so trying to get something fixed because it takes anywhere from 24-48 hours for them to respond to you.
Second is the really bad habit of putting games up in their store that don't work for one reason or another and basically have a once in a lifetime only refund policy. It's honestly an incredibly dumb policy, if a game doesn't work as advertised I should be entitled to a refund.
And then there's the whole trend that they've started where every other game is pretty much required to be on steam. Yes I know other companies do this now too, but steam was the ringleader behind it. I prefer my games DRM free, I don't see the point of ever buying a hard copy of a PC game anymore because it's pretty much just a code for steam and popping in the disk just tells me to install the game on steam. I don't like having my games being held hostage to a service.

 

[Requia]

Steam. Because it's so popular. No really, I'm worried about them having too much power over developers if they keep getting more popular, akin to what happens with Amazon or Walmart squeezing suppliers.

 

[Saelune]

Origin, cause it thinks it matters. I have an account, cause I was forced to, but I dont remember by what game. That also doesnt sit well with me.