Steam problems - worth getting worked up about?

[sheic99]

It's a trade-off though, right? For the advantage of being able to download most games you want and to have cloud saves and all that, you sometimes have to deal with things like this. Just like at the store you sometimes get a buggy CD or they're out of stock, charge more or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I say raise hell. Make sure Steam and Valve are aware. Steam doesn't have a counter we can yell over or a manager we can ask to see, so this post and others like it are important so Steam will take steps to avoid these PR problems in the future (by providing better service). Or one would hope.

But when you do post, just remember that shit does sometimes happen. Services like Steam are a constant work-in-progress.

If the store is out of stock, they can't sell you a game. So that doesn't really apply here. A buggy or defective CD is also something the store cannot know about since the product is sealed.

Steam, on the other hand, is selling games KNOWING that the buyers can't play them right away.

This is a online form of a Rain-check.

 

[CrazyMedic]

Generally any error with any DRM that stops you playing a game is inexcusable... this is why I hate DRM like Steam, I prefer the old days of just a CD key and none of this online activation crap...

Generally I'd expect from a game that doesn't work for the problem to be fixed within 48 hours, and some kind of monetary compensation, even as simple as 50% off the next purchase.

um do you know how many pc games I have been locked out of FOREVER because something happens to the cd key, honestly I would rather wait afew days to play my game then have to buy a new copy of a really old rare game. also how do you know they knew they were out of keys also I think it would take a fair bit of work to remove a game from steam but I know nothing about the guys of steam, personally all the times I have been locked out of buying a game because I accidently screwed up one digit in my credit card number and them running out of cd keys of APB I still consider steam my dream platform because one it lets me keep in touch with all my friends and I get kick ass sales and just the fact that I get to support valve with every purchase.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

It's normally a problem on the publisher side actually. I remember this happened with Riddick a while back. Atari said nothing of it for a month then they finally fixed it. I think you'll find if you send a support ticket to Valve you'll get a similar answer.

 

[rsvp42]

Well I'm sure they're aware of the problem. But how is this any different than WoW's servers having extra or unexpected downtime? I mean, people pay to play the game, yet sometimes things don't quite go according to plan.

The point I was making is that each type of distribution, traditional and digital, has its own peculiarities and potential problems. This is one of digital's potential problems. I'm not saying it's right and I'm not saying it's been handled properly, which is why I still encourage these kind of posts. Making people aware of a company mistakes is an important part of helping to prevent them in the future. I'm just saying that any complaint should be made with a sober awareness of the realities.

Again its a completley different problem that is absolutely nothing alike. This what steam is doing is exactly the same as say EB games KNOWINGLY selling you an empty game case. With a game like wow you know and agree to the fact that their will be downtime due to maintainence. In this case they are lying right to your face and falsely advertising the product they are selling. As I said earlier in this thread what steam did with that sale was 100% illegal. They lied about the product they sold you. Im not sure what you find so hard to understand about that. If any other company had done this but steam you would be up in arms and outrage against them.

Alright, well apparently I'm coming across like I'm a Steam fanboy or something. I'm not saying stores and Steam are the same. In fact that's the opposite of what I'm saying. I'm just saying this is the risk with a digital distribution service. I'm not trying to defend Steam or Valve or anything. I have a very mellow sensibility when it comes to most things so I tend to encourage a similar outlook in others i.e. I just think people should chill. It's always the same thing: someone makes a complaint post (nothing wrong with that), but then it turns into some overblown vendetta. Sure it's usually all just talk, but I thought I'd nip it in the bud. Nevermind.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

um do you know how many pc games I have been locked out of FOREVER because something happens to the cd key, honestly I would rather wait afew days to play my game then have to buy a new copy of a really old rare game. also how do you know they knew they were out of keys also I think it would take a fair bit of work to remove a game from steam but I know nothing about the guys of steam, personally all the times I have been locked out of buying a game because I accidently screwed up one digit in my credit card number and them running out of cd keys of APB I still consider steam my dream platform because one it lets me keep in touch with all my friends and I get kick ass sales and just the fact that I get to support valve with every purchase.

Yeah but losing the CD key is, in essence, your fault.

To phrase it differently, once you have the box with the CD key and the disc then all of that is your responsibility. Obviously it's not your fault if a bulldozer happens to crush your disc and somehow incinerate your CD key... but in the realms of general reality a CD key is not difficult to keep safe.

If Valve are selling a game without enough CD keys that's like buying a disc based game, without a CD key in it and being told you have to pick it up at an undetermined date.

Would that really fly if this wasn't Valve?

I still consider steam my dream platform because one it lets me keep in touch with all my friends and I get kick ass sales and just the fact that I get to support valve with every purchase.

Evidently not... I feel no affiliation to Valve or Steam, I prefer GFWL, but if Microsoft did the same thing I'd still be damn pissed off and not brush it off with blatant fanboyism... it's inexcusable, no matter what your public image.

 

[TimeLord]

I've never had a problem with a limited amount of CD keys :\

I have never had a problem with Steam full stop. Well except when I bought DoW2 and it took about 3 years to download. But that was my internets fault. Not Steams.

 

[Hiphophippo]

A lot of people seem to be missing the point entirely. They ran out of cd keys to authenticate the game, it's not really a DRM issue. Shit happens. It's not like Steam has been dipping their dicks in my drinks for years, (in fact, they've been nothing but great and reasonable to me) so I don't mind the occasional flub on their part.

Like I said, shit happens to the best from time to time.

I'd argue that it's a DRM issue in that it's the DRM that needs the key. It might come down to Valve/Steam being fools, but the root cause is the added layer of DRM (aside from Steam itself).
While I'm fairly confident that this issue will be solved (though Steam support is utter crap mostly) it still highlights the problems DRM is causing the people who actually buy the games. I doubt pirates ran in to this problem.

No I have no intention of cracking this game, but I surely can understand why some people would do so after buying an (even if it's temporary) product.

Furthermore I think it reflects rather poorly on the developer and publisher and I doubt I'll be buying anymore from either party. The game is a year old. It's on Steam. There is absolutely no reason why it needs 3rd party DRM aside from Steam itself.

Shit happens, indeed, but Valve has released no clear statement, as far as I'm aware, if this will be resolved. Sadly that is pretty typical of their approach to customer support. I've sent a support ticket but I have no illusions that they will actually answer. And if they do it will likely be like the other times I've asked them for support: when I have solved the problem on my own (thanks to the kind people on the internet) or have forgotten the game entirely.

Sorry you've had bad experiences with them. As for myself, it's been nothing but sterling. In fact, I'm poised to recover a stolen laptop of mine thanks to their help. At that point, they can do little wrong to me.

But I'm biased because of that, and I respect that.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

It's absolutely reprehensible, but on the flipside the game worked as of Monday and I paid half price for it. The issue as I see it isn't so much that they sold a product you then couldn't use, as had I known there would be a couple day wait I probably still would have bought it (sales are sales!), the problem is there was no notification to the would-be purchaser to that effect. A simple graphic explaining they were unexpectedly out of license keys due to higher demand then was forecast would have sufficed, with the stipulation that you could still purchase the game at the sale price and have it otherwise ready to play come Monday.

Of course they didn't do any of that (in the forums sure, but only as responses to threads people had already started to ask just "what the hell" was going on/complain), so we have every right to be miffed at them. I'm just not going to get particularly worked up about it personally, since the game I purchased works now and I did get it on sale.

 

[CrazyMedic]

um do you know how many pc games I have been locked out of FOREVER because something happens to the cd key, honestly I would rather wait afew days to play my game then have to buy a new copy of a really old rare game. also how do you know they knew they were out of keys also I think it would take a fair bit of work to remove a game from steam but I know nothing about the guys of steam, personally all the times I have been locked out of buying a game because I accidently screwed up one digit in my credit card number and them running out of cd keys of APB I still consider steam my dream platform because one it lets me keep in touch with all my friends and I get kick ass sales and just the fact that I get to support valve with every purchase.

Yeah but losing the CD key is, in essence, your fault.

To phrase it differently, once you have the box with the CD key and the disc then all of that is your responsibility. Obviously it's not your fault if a bulldozer happens to crush your disc and somehow incinerate your CD key... but in the realms of general reality a CD key is not difficult to keep safe.

If Valve are selling a game without enough CD keys that's like buying a disc based game, without a CD key in it and being told you have to pick it up at an undetermined date.

Would that really fly if this wasn't Valve?

I still consider steam my dream platform because one it lets me keep in touch with all my friends and I get kick ass sales and just the fact that I get to support valve with every purchase.

Evidently not... I feel no affiliation to Valve or Steam, I prefer GFWL, but if Microsoft did the same thing I'd still be damn pissed off and not brush it off with blatant fanboyism... it's inexcusable, no matter what your public image.

you have a good point but when you move around and have siblings I had a copy of age of nations but when we moved the cd code had been lost by the movers despite the fact that I kept my gaint dufflebag of old cd keys and when he moved cross country the airline lost it so now all my favorite old games are gone, my steam games on the other hand are all fine. and as for the fanboy part of it, I wouldn't call if fanboyism I just want to support people who still support the pc rather than consoles. Also you guys keep saying that valve knew the cd keys weren't working and if they knew that they were out of cd keys what if they just stopped the sale and stopped selling the game"oh i'm sorry we ran out of keys hope you enjoying buying it at full price"

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I don't see how Valve can even be compared to Activision.. In addition, really Steam is meant for multiplayer gaming and people who play single player games all day long can get their games from other sources without having to download them and have a "constant" internet connection..

Pray tell what are these other sources? I have no intention of ever playing Empire: Total War online yet Steam refuses to let me run it without Steam support... and the offline mode is disgracefully bad.

you have a good point but when you move around and have siblings I had a copy of age of nations but when we moved the cd code had been lost by the movers despite the fact that I kept my gaint dufflebag of old cd keys and when he moved cross country the airline lost it so now all my favorite old games are gone, my steam games on the other hand are all fine. and as for the fanboy part of it, I wouldn't call if fanboyism I just want to support people who still support the pc rather than consoles. Also you guys keep saying that valve knew the cd keys weren't working and if they knew that they were out of cd keys what if they just stopped the sale and stopped selling the game"oh i'm sorry we ran out of keys hope you enjoying buying it at full price"

Yeah I can see that would suck -.- I have lost my own fair share of CD keys, but I've always preferred them anyway. Old games are cheap to pick up a new disc and new games I generally have the CD key written down somewhere, or if I was moving I'd put them in a word document and email them to myself.

And it becomes fanboyism when people start brushing off big mistakes just because 'it's Valve'. Valve is useful for those who use it... unfortunately I am not one of those people, making it a massive annoyance for me. Valve need the bad points pointed out just like every other company... I really don't want to end up having to use Steam on every PC game ever.

 

[BRMXJzjsoawk321]

I don't see how Valve can even be compared to Activision.. In addition, really Steam is meant for multiplayer gaming and people who play single player games all day long can get their games from other sources without having to download them and have a "constant" internet connection..

Pray tell what are these other sources? I have no intention of ever playing Empire: Total War online yet Steam refuses to let me run it without Steam support... and the offline mode is disgracefully bad.

Normally when I'm logged into Steam sometimes during the day my internet will die and I can still launch my games.. Maybe it's because they're mostly Valve titles.. (Left 4 Dead, Half Life, hell I launched TF2 when I didn't realize my internet was down..)

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Normally when I'm logged into Steam sometimes during the day my internet will die and I can still launch my games.. Maybe it's because they're mostly Valve titles.. (Left 4 Dead, Half Life, hell I launched TF2 when I didn't realize my internet was down..)

While I'm quite sure that's wonderful for you, my Steam is not so forgiving, offline mode is a joke.

 

[milotheshort]

Honestly this seems like a classic case of Butthurt.
I love steam personally, as a majority of games are online exclusive or support multiplayer on PC anymore, the argument "cannot verify in offline" seems like a fallacy. Steam is not the only one's that demand that you update your software with there servers, ever heard of windows Live?
Which brings me to my second point, "I can buy it at the store for the same price and play it at home." Welcome to fantasy land. If you buy this on a weekend deal like OP, you are going to be hard-pressed to find a much better price anywhere. Point three: "Why would a company oversell something they don't have enough of?" Simple business practicality here folks, stagnate product yields no profit, they probably hired some analyst to run a model based on previous sales of the unit on how much they should stock. If it over sells, they more than likely predicted how much in damages they would incur and compared that to the cost of holding onto stagnant licenses, for (lets be frank) a dusty old game everyone has already played and tossed.

If you don't like the services and deals steam offers don't use the service. I think the pros far out weigh the cons, but this is based on a person to person occurrence. Steam affords me access to my software anywhere where i have internet and admin on a machine, the patches and software are automatically updated if the client is running, pretty decent software price breaks and bundling, and a fairly large community for PC gamers. Additionally i no longer have to worry about shotty quality in CD and DVD media and it becoming scratched and inoperable. No CD binders. I mean honestly have u even considered the fact that they only require you to verify online, there is an offline mode, you can backup your media too.

 

[CrazyMedic]

I don't see how Valve can even be compared to Activision.. In addition, really Steam is meant for multiplayer gaming and people who play single player games all day long can get their games from other sources without having to download them and have a "constant" internet connection..

Pray tell what are these other sources? I have no intention of ever playing Empire: Total War online yet Steam refuses to let me run it without Steam support... and the offline mode is disgracefully bad.

you have a good point but when you move around and have siblings I had a copy of age of nations but when we moved the cd code had been lost by the movers despite the fact that I kept my gaint dufflebag of old cd keys and when he moved cross country the airline lost it so now all my favorite old games are gone, my steam games on the other hand are all fine. and as for the fanboy part of it, I wouldn't call if fanboyism I just want to support people who still support the pc rather than consoles. Also you guys keep saying that valve knew the cd keys weren't working and if they knew that they were out of cd keys what if they just stopped the sale and stopped selling the game"oh i'm sorry we ran out of keys hope you enjoying buying it at full price"

Yeah I can see that would suck -.- I have lost my own fair share of CD keys, but I've always preferred them anyway. Old games are cheap to pick up a new disc and new games I generally have the CD key written down somewhere, or if I was moving I'd put them in a word document and email them to myself.

And it becomes fanboyism when people start brushing off big mistakes just because 'it's Valve'. Valve is useful for those who use it... unfortunately I am not one of those people, making it a massive annoyance for me. Valve need the bad points pointed out just like every other company... I really don't want to end up having to use Steam on every PC game ever.

why wouldn't you, your problem with steam stems from the fact that they screw up from time to time but if every game contained steam you could download it once still get your phsyical copies still have normal icons all that would happen is when you load a game up a little tab would pop up, I mean my friend hates steam but when civ 5 came out he downloaded steam deleted the icon and I just recently reminded him he even had it on his computer, so unless you have another grievance wouldn't it be better if every company would use steam for it's drm rather then the other god awful systems?

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

why wouldn't you, your problem with steam stems from the fact that they screw up from time to time but if every game contained steam you could download it once still get your phsyical copies still have normal icons all that would happen is when you load a game up a little tab would pop up, I mean my friend hates steam but when civ 5 came out he downloaded steam deleted the icon and I just recently reminded him he even had it on his computer, so unless you have another grievance wouldn't it be better if every company would use steam for it's drm rather then the other god awful systems?

It's that tab that initially pisses me off... when I click a games icon I want the game to actually run. Not start up another program first to give it the okay, it annoys the hell out of me.

And all of this is on the assumption that Steam is the best for everyone. However the best PC platform DRM for me is GFWL. I'd much rather all my PC games use that as it's never screwed me over and it allows me to connect with my friends who don't own a gaming PC.

Xbox 360 friends - 97
Steam friends - 3

Also, it's a small thing, but when I run a GFWL game. The game actually starts up. GFWL boots up afterwards, so it doesn't seem like I'm waiting for some other program to give me the okay. It's a psychological thing that I prefer.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

pro-tip, email yourself the CD keys, never worry about losing them again

I think you meant to quote the other guy.

I do that anyway.