The reason why you should NOT buy Steam games

[Scout Tactical]

snip

I quoted you so I'd be sure you saw this. You're free to hate on Steam for denying you your game (it's totally within your rights), but I wanted you to know WHY it's set up like this.

Basically, people were cheating the system by buying games that are cheaper in some regions, then gifting those games to other people, and receiving money via PayPal. This means that they were effectively reselling games. Valve put in that extra security so that people couldn't do that.

Anyway, hope that helps.

 

[Taerdin]

"This game was activated with a product code that is valid only in a specific geographic region. Since you are not currently in that region, Left 4 Dead 2 is not avaliable to play."

This is the error message I get when I attempt to install certain games (Left 4 Dead 2 being one of a few) on Steam. I legally purchased these games while I was in Singapore fully expecting them to continue working when I returned to the UK. This expectation was wrong as Steam support has made blindingly clear. It would appear Steam seems to think you don't actually own games you buy, you only own them if you remain within the geographic region you bought them in. So I think I will be buying physical/non-steam copies of games from now on...

Well thank you for listening to my rant, just take it as a warning if you intend on buying Steam games overseas

You realise that physical disk copies of games and movies have region locks too.... right?

This is totally not a Steam issue at all, but I guess this explains why so many people hate Steam... they lack understanding. Personally I think it's brilliant to be able to pick up 20+ games for what it would cost to get 1 game at a retail store.

 

[Therumancer]

For those of us who don't travel between countries on a regular basis... Steam is God.

I had a TERRIBLE experience with EA Download Manager, and now I will never buy another digital game from anywhere other than Steam ever again.

Me too actually, despite swearing I'd never play "The Sims" I found myself liking "Sims Medieval" enough where with their recent sale I decided to spend a little money that came my way unexpectedly to get Sims 3 and some of it's expansions. To put it bluntly I wound up having several of my purchuses not appear in the download manager, talked to the customer service rep via chat who told me I hadn't bought them until I provided payment receipts
from my own cards despite not having one of the receipts from their store. The guy told me "well we'll refund your money, you'll have to try and buy the games again since obviously it was an error in our system. Oh and here is a $15 gift code". Okay, well I go to buy the games again but am told I already own them. An hour or so later the games finally appear in the EA downloader and I get the proper receipts with the registration codes and everything. I figure "okay, well I guess they fixed it" install everything, register the games (the codes work) and now every time I try and start the game it gives me a launcher error as the game boots and locks up during the character creator. Oh and the $15 gift code doesn't work either, which is a mild annoyance since I guess they did wind up eventually getting me the games I suppose, but it kind of burns that now that I have them with a system well above specs I can'tget them to run.

Very, very annoying. I haven't had any problems of this sort with STEAM, so I can feel your pain.

Sims Medieval which I have on disc runs absolutly fine though, and pretty much reinforces my general attitude that if you don't have a working disc in hand, you really don't have anything.

I tend to make exceptions for STEAM to an extent because for what I usually pay during sales, it's not that big a deal. I mean spending $6 or so for a game isn't that big a deal. Cumulatively I've spent a lot of money there, but it's hard to feel all that cheated since I get to try a lot of games I otherwise wouldn't buy for a couple of bucks, if the game sucks it's no big loss. It will only be a probem if they go down some day and I lose the few I REALLY like. I don't like the idea of digital downloads on principle, but I can at least say that for the moment STEAM is cheap enough with it's sales that I really can't complain.

The EA store sale was a good deal I guess since Steam didn't have a sale on those games when I wanted to take alook at them, but it wasn't exactly cheap, it was a pain in the arse, and in the end the product I bought from them didn't work right despite meeting the system requirements.

Maybe I'll be able to fix the game through tinkering, but I'm too irritated.

 

[TiefBlau]

Besides the fact that Steam is a horrible system that does nothing but inconvenience gamers everywhere because the industry couldn't come up with a better way to cut piracy?

Can the industry find a better way to sell me 300 games most of which below were $5?

Garage sales? Value boxes at Gaming stores? Wait, no, the things in those can actually be considered games and you're actually allowed to play them after you've bought them.

I don't have good experiences with Steam.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

A) Yes, because garage sales are so fucking accessible.
B) Used games donate the majestic sum of fuck all to the developers who made it.
C) I just bought The Witcher for ten dollars on Steam. Your argument is invalid.
D) I've been using Steam longer than I can remember, and I haven't had a single problem.

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

The Witcher was $10. I bought the frick out of it.

No bearing on the topic, but look at your post number, one more to go.

I actually have no idea what my post count is. I don't really pay attention to it. However, I will clarify my post.

I have had no problems with Steam. I like it, and will buy games from it. The Witcher was $10. I was always wondering how good it was, so I bought it. Speaking of which, Steam also has fantastic deals. I wouldn't have gotten The Witcher had it been even $15.

NOOOO! I was talking about how you were one away from 1337, but now you're at 1338.

 

[Alexnader]

This is why you go console!

even then different disc formats will screw you over (did you know that NTSC is not the only disc format? creepy)

but since i don't travel, console games it is then! so i don't have to sink 1000 dollars into something that may or may not work when and how i want it to

My PC was only $500, and I play Crysis on 40 FPS. I've also never had compatibility issues on games that I've bought. The only times I've had problems installing games in on the rare occasion where I pirate something. And even then, I can't really complain. I'm doing something illegal.

One thing you have to note is that a gaming PC is also... a PC. Most homes nowadays have at least one computer, which costs at least $300. So a console that will last at an average of 5 years plus a computer costs roughly $750. But, you then have to buy an entirely new console 5 years later, for another $500. With your PC all you have to do is make a $100-$200 upgrade.

If anything, PC's can be the cheaper choice.

here we go again with the "my PC was X amount less than what you mentioned and it can run [insert PC gaming buzz game here]"

honestly, not everyone has the spare cash and time to make the investment on a PC gaming computer, plus it saves both time AND money to just go console

and again with the "most homes have PCs" true, but if those PCs are not built EXACTLY to certain specifications then how are they going to get their fix of Saints Row 2? Crackdown? Gears of War? Grand Theft Auto 4? Red Dead Redemption? Mass Effect? Halo: Reach?

it's stupid to assume that just because someone has a PC it means they can become a PC gamer with some "simple" instructions (i've looked into making a gaming PC, and really, on my income, it's not gonna happen. between a fiance, moving out, college, and bills, that leaves me with... what? 10 dollars a month? so i can have a gaming PC by the time i'm too old to bother with games anymore? yeah. not helping. not everyone has the budget and time expected of them to create this "all powerful" device)

plus there are all those different chips and processors and certain types of RAM and different kinds of memory associated with different parts of the computer that you have to learn to do it all correctly, and even then knowing WHERE to acquire the parts is a pain in the ass.

so as far as a time investment along with money?

i could get a PS3 and 5 games to supplement it (or a 360 and 10 games to supplement it) for the amount of money it would take to just build the PC itself.

and besides, the new console will probably cost 400 dollars (at worst) and 250 dollars (at best), and a lot of games will be forward-compatible, so no need to worry about extra expenditure there.

PC is too needy and leaves no room for error when making it, plus, the community is extremely unfriendly to newcomers when it comes to asking questions or just talking about it. A console is just easier all around. At least then the developer is forced to make a game tailor-made to your needs rather than having to tailor-make your gaming platform to THEIR needs

Consoles are not cheaper, and will become more expensive as time goes on. Consoles are holding back the progress of computers and costing Nvidia and ATI money. Why? The most basic cards already go above what consoles have. The consoles are the standard for tech as most games are multiplatform now. They are forced to lower the game complexity for consoles to maximize sales. The result? More PCs than ever before are PC gaming ready. Consoles never moved for 6 years, but PC has far out ran them to the point the cheapest PC is more powerful than a console.

Too much power.
Not enough gets used to justify the sales of a graphics card above the cheapest available.

You don't need to be a PC expert to be a PC gamer. Just smart enough to not shell out 5,0000K to scam artists and understand basic economics like a good consumer should.

i'm already a smarter consumer than 90% of the people i know and almost 100% of the people i meet. i spend more time teaching people that you can get better deals if you just shop around than just buying from a chain store

not everyone is as "intelligent" as on this site, in fact, most people are 10x worse than me when it comes to believing it's "too hard" to do certain things (like just buying a 250 gig refurbished xbox 360 slim rather than buying a new 4 gig and buying the extra hard drive. seriously, people around me think like THAT)

i don't even have 500 dollars to spend on a PC, at any one time i'll have at MOST 100 dollars, and then again that goes right into school or my taking my fiance out on a date.

i scrimp and scramp just to get enough money for a 2009 used game. let alone enough for a full-on gaming PC.

Okay, so? Just because you don't have the money doesn't mean that everybody doesn't have the money. Stop trying to argue this, it's a moot point. At one time you bought a console. At one time you bought a PC. Chances are you are using the PC at this very moment. Instead of paying all that extra money on both, you could have saved money getting a powerful PC, and maybe you would be able to take your fiance on more dates.

its a laptop i'm using. it was a gift. it can't run GTA: San Andreas on the highest settings, so its not a good gaming... thing.

the console was practically a gift, i got a bunch of gamestop gift cards for my graduation and bought it.

Your poverty is not on trial here, just your opinions about PC gaming. I'm from a more PC literate family and I'll admit that it's entirely plausible that PC gaming can be more expensive and plagued with more issues than console gaming. I'm gobsmacked by my friend's ignorance of PCs in general, "you paid HOW much for that computer?" or "You lost all your data because you reformatted the wrong hard drive?". I mean I can't play Bad Company 2 for longer than 30 minutes without my computer going all Blue screen of death on me.

However PC gaming can also be cheaper and less frustrating than console gaming (provided you spend a bit of time to understand it all). If you buy a decent PC now chances are it'll be a viable gaming rig for a long time, whereas a few years ago a year old computer that was mid range when it was new would need an upgrade if you wanted to play the newest games. If you watch a couple of youtube videos and spend an hour or so of your time shopping around for parts you can build a great rig for much less than it'd cost to buy a whole PC. Once you lay down the not trivial sum for a PC you'll be making great savings on games. Buying new, year old games off steam and waiting for deals on newer ones can easily be cheaper than buying used games from retailers.

As for the technical issues, you can fix almost any problem on a PC. It just takes some time. What happens if your console gets a serious problem? You have to send it to a shop to get repaired and nearly ALL electronic repair shops will charge a high amount for whatever it is they're doing. I'm troubleshooting my own problems and managing study just fine (I'm doing an engineering degree so don't talk to me about time commitments). Of course consoles would get less of these serious problems but it's a trade off.

It's unfortunate that you have to go to such an effort to play 2009 used games, however it's entirely possible that PC gaming could reduce the overhead costs of repairs/over-priced used games that I associate with console gaming. The only question is time.

 

[superbatranger]

Whats worse is the "this game is unavailable, please try again later" messages.

THE GAME IS NOT UNAVAILABLE! ITS RIGHT FUCKING THERE YOU ASSHOLES!! LET ME PLAY!

There are few things that are as rage-inducing.

 

[Axelhander]

Does this happen when migrating from Canada to the US or vice-versa? As a Canadian looking to move to the States someday (hopefully soon) and who owns a fair number of Steam games, this concerns me.

 

[Tax_Document]

You could easily use a program VPM, I think, to make your computer and ISP think your in another country.

 

[krazymouse]

I have contacted Steam and they seem quiet unwilling to help me. With such useful replies as:

"Hello, The CD Key you purchased is restricted to the territory you purchased it in. The CD Key cannot be used or registered to your Steam account. In order to play this game, you will need to purchase a copy available in your territory via a local retailer or through Steam. If you have any further questions, please let us know - we will be happy to assist you."

"Hello, This copy of the game cannot be activated on your account. Please purchase a copy of the game for your territory in order to play this game. "

"Hello, Valve does not have any addresses in the UK. Demanding the CD Key be registered to the account cannot change the fact that the CD Key is unable to be registered in your territory. You will only be able to register CD Keys for this game that are available in your territory. In order to have the game refunded, you will need to work with the reseller for further assistance. We will be unable to assist you with this request. "

Been a long time lurker so hello all

Edit: Oh and the reason they refer to activating a game is I was attempting to reactivate (it was already on my Steam) using a physical copy I had brought with me. Hoping in vain that reinstalling using physical copy of the game would by pass this stupidity...

There is your problem, Steam won't let people reactivate games again because if they did, it'd be easy to share games (piracy). So next time, buy your game when at home.

 

[Galliam]

Don't physical copies have region restrictions too? Or is that just DVDs?

 

[blankedboy]

Just change your PC's country settings then change the clock yourself. I did that to get access to the Zune Marketplace :3

Whats worse is the "this game is unavailable, please try again later" messages.

THE GAME IS NOT UNAVAILABLE! ITS RIGHT FUCKING THERE YOU ASSHOLES!! LET ME PLAY!

You do realise that if you just use Google you'll get thousands of people telling you to simply rename "ClientRegistry.blob" in your Steam folder?
It's not exactly hard...

 

[oplinger]

Does this happen when migrating from Canada to the US or vice-versa? As a Canadian looking to move to the States someday (hopefully soon) and who owns a fair number of Steam games, this concerns me.

Canada and the US are generally considered the same region. So you'd be okay probably.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

This is why you go console!

even then different disc formats will screw you over (did you know that NTSC is not the only disc format? creepy)

but since i don't travel, console games it is then! so i don't have to sink 1000 dollars into something that may or may not work when and how i want it to

My PC was only $500, and I play Crysis on 40 FPS. I've also never had compatibility issues on games that I've bought. The only times I've had problems installing games in on the rare occasion where I pirate something. And even then, I can't really complain. I'm doing something illegal.

One thing you have to note is that a gaming PC is also... a PC. Most homes nowadays have at least one computer, which costs at least $300. So a console that will last at an average of 5 years plus a computer costs roughly $750. But, you then have to buy an entirely new console 5 years later, for another $500. With your PC all you have to do is make a $100-$200 upgrade.

If anything, PC's can be the cheaper choice.

here we go again with the "my PC was X amount less than what you mentioned and it can run [insert PC gaming buzz game here]"

honestly, not everyone has the spare cash and time to make the investment on a PC gaming computer, plus it saves both time AND money to just go console

and again with the "most homes have PCs" true, but if those PCs are not built EXACTLY to certain specifications then how are they going to get their fix of Saints Row 2? Crackdown? Gears of War? Grand Theft Auto 4? Red Dead Redemption? Mass Effect? Halo: Reach?

it's stupid to assume that just because someone has a PC it means they can become a PC gamer with some "simple" instructions (i've looked into making a gaming PC, and really, on my income, it's not gonna happen. between a fiance, moving out, college, and bills, that leaves me with... what? 10 dollars a month? so i can have a gaming PC by the time i'm too old to bother with games anymore? yeah. not helping. not everyone has the budget and time expected of them to create this "all powerful" device)

plus there are all those different chips and processors and certain types of RAM and different kinds of memory associated with different parts of the computer that you have to learn to do it all correctly, and even then knowing WHERE to acquire the parts is a pain in the ass.

so as far as a time investment along with money?

i could get a PS3 and 5 games to supplement it (or a 360 and 10 games to supplement it) for the amount of money it would take to just build the PC itself.

and besides, the new console will probably cost 400 dollars (at worst) and 250 dollars (at best), and a lot of games will be forward-compatible, so no need to worry about extra expenditure there.

PC is too needy and leaves no room for error when making it, plus, the community is extremely unfriendly to newcomers when it comes to asking questions or just talking about it. A console is just easier all around. At least then the developer is forced to make a game tailor-made to your needs rather than having to tailor-make your gaming platform to THEIR needs

Consoles are not cheaper, and will become more expensive as time goes on. Consoles are holding back the progress of computers and costing Nvidia and ATI money. Why? The most basic cards already go above what consoles have. The consoles are the standard for tech as most games are multiplatform now. They are forced to lower the game complexity for consoles to maximize sales. The result? More PCs than ever before are PC gaming ready. Consoles never moved for 6 years, but PC has far out ran them to the point the cheapest PC is more powerful than a console.

Too much power.
Not enough gets used to justify the sales of a graphics card above the cheapest available.

You don't need to be a PC expert to be a PC gamer. Just smart enough to not shell out 5,0000K to scam artists and understand basic economics like a good consumer should.

i'm already a smarter consumer than 90% of the people i know and almost 100% of the people i meet. i spend more time teaching people that you can get better deals if you just shop around than just buying from a chain store

not everyone is as "intelligent" as on this site, in fact, most people are 10x worse than me when it comes to believing it's "too hard" to do certain things (like just buying a 250 gig refurbished xbox 360 slim rather than buying a new 4 gig and buying the extra hard drive. seriously, people around me think like THAT)

i don't even have 500 dollars to spend on a PC, at any one time i'll have at MOST 100 dollars, and then again that goes right into school or my taking my fiance out on a date.

i scrimp and scramp just to get enough money for a 2009 used game. let alone enough for a full-on gaming PC.

Okay, so? Just because you don't have the money doesn't mean that everybody doesn't have the money. Stop trying to argue this, it's a moot point. At one time you bought a console. At one time you bought a PC. Chances are you are using the PC at this very moment. Instead of paying all that extra money on both, you could have saved money getting a powerful PC, and maybe you would be able to take your fiance on more dates.

its a laptop i'm using. it was a gift. it can't run GTA: San Andreas on the highest settings, so its not a good gaming... thing.

the console was practically a gift, i got a bunch of gamestop gift cards for my graduation and bought it.

Your poverty is not on trial here, just your opinions about PC gaming. I'm from a more PC literate family and I'll admit that it's entirely plausible that PC gaming can be more expensive and plagued with more issues than console gaming. I'm gobsmacked by my friend's ignorance of PCs in general, "you paid HOW much for that computer?" or "You lost all your data because you reformatted the wrong hard drive?". I mean I can't play Bad Company 2 for longer than 30 minutes without my computer going all Blue screen of death on me.

However PC gaming can also be cheaper and less frustrating than console gaming (provided you spend a bit of time to understand it all). If you buy a decent PC now chances are it'll be a viable gaming rig for a long time, whereas a few years ago a year old computer that was mid range when it was new would need an upgrade if you wanted to play the newest games. If you watch a couple of youtube videos and spend an hour or so of your time shopping around for parts you can build a great rig for much less than it'd cost to buy a whole PC. Once you lay down the not trivial sum for a PC you'll be making great savings on games. Buying new, year old games off steam and waiting for deals on newer ones can easily be cheaper than buying used games from retailers.

As for the technical issues, you can fix almost any problem on a PC. It just takes some time. What happens if your console gets a serious problem? You have to send it to a shop to get repaired and nearly ALL electronic repair shops will charge a high amount for whatever it is they're doing. I'm troubleshooting my own problems and managing study just fine (I'm doing an engineering degree so don't talk to me about time commitments). Of course consoles would get less of these serious problems but it's a trade off.

It's unfortunate that you have to go to such an effort to play 2009 used games, however it's entirely possible that PC gaming could reduce the overhead costs of repairs/over-priced used games that I associate with console gaming. The only question is time.

yes. it really is a question of time. i just hate it when people come at me with "i paid 500 bucks and my computer can run crysis."

not everyone can even afford that and after talking to a professional tonight he admits it's true that the threshold for PC gaming is WAY above most people's heads (even with youtube and google as resources)

i will get into PC gaming eventually, when i can afford to have a credit card and have a personal helper in the matter, but for now, it's just REALLY inaccessible, and i really wish the more elitist of the PC gamers would see that before casting their glowering gaze on console gamers.

so sorry for getting pissed, i just hate the whole "i paid 500 bucks for my computer and its easy" song and dance

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

You see, this is why I buy Valve games from retail. Don't have an internet connection? Good thing I have this install disc handy. Hey! I has internetz naow!!1! Let Steam bring me my games.

I have a terabyte external with backups of all my games, so that doesn't really effect me. Perhaps more importantly, this thing is a desktop, I'll always have internet on me.

OT: One bad experience should not dictate how others purchase their games. By all means, warn people about this, but don't act as if it's the end of the world and everyone should hate steam for you now.

 

[Zaik]

I still don't understand what region locking is supposed to accomplish.

It's not anti-piracy, or it's the an even more failed concept of anti piracy than cd checks.

Aside from specific censored versions specifically in boring places like Australia and Germany, there's no major censorship issues.

Is it just so that people who are getting ripped off can't convert their currency into our shit dollar in order to get games cheaper? That's all I can come up with.

 

[Choppaduel]

Yeah, but thats a danger with any game, not just Steam vers.

I can say that games I bought in the USA work here in Canada

 

[Ukasuy]

I bought games via steam while in London and there's no problem with them now that I'm back in Minnesota. Sounds like an isolated incident OP.