What is Steam?

[grimsprice]

If I'm not mistaken, you don't have to be logged in online for every game. There are plenty games where you just have to be logged in online once, then you can still play the game later with just being logged in in offline mode

Yes, i do that quite often when on the road... I just didn't want to overload him with well then theres this annotations.

Steam is the best thing since sliced bread.

 

[Illanair]

Regarding the pricing of games. You'd be best off checking your local online video game retailer ( if possible ). Steam usually doesn't lower prices on non Valve games. As an example Empire: Total War is still full release price on Steam but I can get the boxed version from a popular store near me that delivers for free at half of what Steam wants. So ehh... great release platform Steam - but double check prices before handing out dough.

 

[Max_A_Buck]

Steam = Xbox Live for your PC, for lack of a better description. It allows you to buy games digitally then download them as you please. So, say you buy it and have an internet plan with off-peak times or whatever. You can download that then. That and if you format and didn't keep the games, you can just download them again. As long as you install Steam again that is. Buy games, play against others. I think I summed it up. I have it but barely use it but it's nice to have around and it doesn't harm anything.

 

[Erana]

Well, for me, Steam is better than the possibility of sex, but I have a medical reason for that. XD

...
Esplain! Story time! *gets popcorn*

I have a hormone imbalance that makes me have no libido.
No libido = no likey the sex.

This leads to all sorts of funny situations where I can say, "*insert thing here* is better than the possibility of sex."

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Well, for me, Steam is better than the possibility of sex, but I have a medical reason for that. XD

...
Esplain! Story time! *gets popcorn*

I have a hormone imbalance that makes me have no libido.
No libido = no likey the sex.

You have no libido? You still have nerve endings, right?

 

[IncindiaryPickle]

The greatest thing since sliced bread.
The website is http://store.steampowered.com/
It's a service that lets you purchase games relatively cheap, with a lot of discounts, just about every day. You play games using Valve's Anti-Cheat servers, join groups, hang out with friends, and game. And I love it, so much ^_^

About how much does a game usually cost on steam, as opposed to other places?

Depends on the game. They were selling L4D for 30 some last time I checked it's price. And, I believe if you went to GameStop to buy it, or somewhere else, it's still probably high. And, like I said, they have sales/discounts on their games just about every day, and every occasion. They just had a sale, I believe, on TF2 since they updated it. I know Killing Floor got put on sale, since it just had an update.

Ok, thank you.

No problem. Now, I expect my payment since I told you? I demand my internets, right now >:[

Uhhh... I left my internets in my OTHER pants pocket, sorry. I have a small ball of lint, a gumball, and a paper clip that I can pay you with. Kay?

How about that old Ford Gran Torino Fastback?

I'll do you one better, my friend. I'll sell you a used Geo at double the price! Its an awesome deal. 20,000 miles, don't let this deal pass.

 

[Dommyboy]

Couldn't you just Google this rather then making a somewhat pointless thread?

 

[Daye.04]

(...)
I could have mastered 7 languages and be on my way to a nobel prize already if not for this overwhelm and distracting need for porn... *alt tabs back to Gianna Michaels page* *alt tabs back* Umm I am sorry, what was I saying again?

I'll do you one better, my friend. I'll sell you a used Geo at double the price! Its an awesome deal. 20,000 miles, don't let this deal pass.

Now we're really starting to drift off topic, don't you guys think?
"What is Steam?" All of the above. Now this thread should be resolved, yeah?

 

[YuheJi]

The greatest thing since sliced bread.
The website is http://store.steampowered.com/
It's a service that lets you purchase games relatively cheap, with a lot of discounts, just about every day. You play games using Valve's Anti-Cheat servers, join groups, hang out with friends, and game. And I love it, so much ^_^

About how much does a game usually cost on steam, as opposed to other places?

Depends on the game. They were selling L4D for 30 some last time I checked it's price. And, I believe if you went to GameStop to buy it, or somewhere else, it's still probably high. And, like I said, they have sales/discounts on their games just about every day, and every occasion. They just had a sale, I believe, on TF2 since they updated it. I know Killing Floor got put on sale, since it just had an update.

Ok, thank you.

No problem. Now, I expect my payment since I told you? I demand my internets, right now >:[

Uhhh... I left my internets in my OTHER pants pocket, sorry. I have a small ball of lint, a gumball, and a paper clip that I can pay you with. Kay?

How about that old Ford Gran Torino Fastback?

Regarding the pricing of games. You'd be best off checking your local online video game retailer ( if possible ). Steam usually doesn't lower prices on non Valve games. As an example Empire: Total War is still full release price on Steam but I can get the boxed version from a popular store near me that delivers for free at half of what Steam wants. So ehh... great release platform Steam - but double check prices before handing out dough.

Huh? They lower the prices on every game -.- Fallout 3 was probably like, $60 on release, and now it's 40 some. And the Fallout Collection just got a sale, it's now $19.99, before, it was $26.97. They do indeed lower prices on all of their games, my good sir.

Often times, the Steam normal pricing is about the same, and occassionaly a bit more than retail pricing.
It is when they put things on sale for short periods of time when people really should buy. They have had insane weekend deals before (everything Relic 50% off, everything Half-Life 66% off, indie games 75% off, Fallout 3 50% off, and a lot more)

 

[Doctor Panda]

Steam takes your money and time and replaces them with happiness.

Seriously, I don't know how it compares in other countries; but it's SO MUCH cheaper for SO MANY games than australian pricing. Even when you take into account the fact that steam prices are sometimes *regional*. I suspect australian store prices reflect the worst exchange rates that we've seen in the last 10 years and they didn't bother re-adjusting when things changed back to normal levels.

Not that I ever bought things in store. Yay playasia!

 

[ThatsBitch3n]

its one of the best sites in the tubes. Its incredibly easy to use, has a great community, and great games!

 

[Paul]

Steam is a gaming application you can download, like XFire. Steam is owned by Valve (people who made Team Fortess 2, and Half Life, amongst other things). It tends to be a pretty cheap way to pick up a game.

However, there's no benefit to it if you have a low spec PC (like me).

 

[AkJay]

You Download Steam as a client, there you can download games, it is legal, and it is NOT for free, you pay to download, and in return, you keep the games for life, it is one of the pioneers is digital distribution for video-games. 'Nuff Said.

 

[Nox13last]

This leads to all sorts of funny situations where I can say, "*insert thing here* is better than the possibility of sex."

That's pretty much how sex works. "Insert thing here."

And you tell me you have no libido! You're a liar if you can come up with such an awesome pun (even if it took me pointing it out).

I have Steam and I can personally attest to how great it is. On Left 4 Dead, they have something called the 'Steam Cloud' (geddit?), where it saves your settings in case you're logged in to a different computer. It sucks to reconfigure your stuff each berth you make.

...wow, three puns in one post? Even I'm ashamed.

 

[SFR]

I'm pretty sure all has been said about Steam that there is to say. I will say that ALL Valve games (at least the newer ones) require Steam to play, even if you have the disks. It's for safety reasons on their end.

Here are a few great things about Steam:

-You want a game. You download it from Steam. You play it the same day without leaving the house
-You get six games for 10 dollars due to a sale
-You want to play a game with a friend. You can do so in seconds... And then you can talk to them IM style, pestering them about why you're so much better looking
-Your computer explodes. You get a new one. You reinstall all of your Steam games without needing a disk or imputing anything. Just right click and install. They saved everything for you

Here are a few negative things about Steam:

-It can break. It's gotten a lot better, but for a while there, it was known as a very buggy system. Now it works quite well, and it's getting better all the time, especially with additions like the Shift-Tab in game thing.

-It can cause burns if it's hot enough, nyuck nyuck

 

[Amnestic]

Well, for me, Steam is better than the possibility of sex, but I have a medical reason for that. XD

...
Esplain! Story time! *gets popcorn*

I have a hormone imbalance that makes me have no libido.
No libido = no likey the sex.

This leads to all sorts of funny situations where I can say, "*insert thing here* is better than the possibility of sex."

First, you changed your avatar. I miss the cute white mage.

Second, couldn't the hormone imbalance be fixed with medicine of some variety? ;o

 

[Erana]

Well, for me, Steam is better than the possibility of sex, but I have a medical reason for that. XD

...
Esplain! Story time! *gets popcorn*

I have a hormone imbalance that makes me have no libido.
No libido = no likey the sex.

This leads to all sorts of funny situations where I can say, "*insert thing here* is better than the possibility of sex."

First, you changed your avatar. I miss the cute white mage.

Second, couldn't the hormone imbalance be fixed with medicine of some variety? ;o

Ugh... I just got back from the doctor's...
So, for months we thought it was a brain tumor, but now we findout that it isn't, and so I've been to four different doctors, and none of them know what's wrong, and...
*insert months of issues*
I'm just having health troubles. And with this new insurance with +$5,000 in deductibles...

 

[oliveira8]

And lets not forget all the goodies Steam adds. Like being able to go search for something on the internet while still playing. Seeing your friends' online status while playing. And especially being able to chat with them through text and even speech. Althought the quality is not allways at best.

Anything you download to your computer works without a disc. But needs internet connection and you have to be signed on to steam. Its just a safety thing so you don't just copy the download and give it to all your friends.

If I'm not mistaken, you don't have to be logged in online for every game. There are plenty games where you just have to be logged in online once, then you can still play the game later with just being logged in in offline mode

That depends if it's a game you activated with Steam(Games that use SteamWorks or games you bought via Steam) you need always to be logged in to boot the game up. After that you can go offline. If it's game that you just added to Steam list and has no connection with Steam you don't need to online if you want to launch them via Steam.