Why do People love Valve so much?

[Gameguy20100]

As I surf the web waiting for my gargoyles Episode to Buffer I have to wonder why do people seem to love Valve for everything I don't get it.

The most common Reasons I get are these.

Steam:
Now I almost never buy games digitally so I avoid Origin and Uplay which People don't mind but I get a lot of shit for this Steam has all the problems other DDS's have why forgive them for all of it and demonize others for the same stuff?

Their games are perfect:
They haven't released a new game in years and ALL of them are greatly over-hyped at least for me

They don't do Micro-payments or DRM:


Yes they do ok Steam IS drm and TF2 has Micro-payments what about all those hats?
Now don't give me that "its purely cosmetic" bullshit that's my Problem, they don't do anything and you never see them because it's first person so what's the point of them?

Am I missing something Valve Fans? tell me what's so great about them what have the done that's so wonderful? please Tell me its been bugging me for months!!

 

[JazzJack2]

Their games are perfect:
They haven't released a new game in years and ALL of them are greatly over-hyped at least for me

But that's bullshit, they released a game only last year, in fact despite their reputation of being slow for release they have pretty much consistently released at least one game a year since 1998.

 

[Gameguy20100]

Their games are perfect:
They haven't released a new game in years and ALL of them are greatly over-hyped at least for me

But that's bullshit, they released a game only last year, in fact despite their reputation of being slow for release they have pretty much consistently released at least one game a year since 1998.

I have not heard of this please tell me about this game i'm interested now

 

[Lilani]

They don't do Micro-payments

Whoever said that? The closest thing to that I've ever heard people say about Valve is they don't do pay-to-win, which is true.

People love Valve because they treat their customers right. Steam gets more praise than Origin because Origin's Terms of Service has a bit that says Origin is allowed to sift through your computer's files--even ones that aren't related to Origin. The explanation for this is so that Origin can give you better targeted ads, but since there aren't really any listed limitations on how they can use whatever information they find naturally the community is dubious of the whole idea. Steam has no such feature. Also, EA's games now force you to download Origin. Even if you bought a physical disc, you still have to install Origin and its spyware onto your computer. As far as I know, Steam doesn't do this (though granted I haven't bought a Valve game physically, so I can't confirm this for sure). You can download games to as many machines as you want, and you never have to put in codes or any of those "Online Pass" things.

Steam offers more frequent and more drastic discounts than any other service I know of, especially Origin. No Valve games except the specifically multiplayer ones require you to be online all the time, a policy which EA is deciding to grab onto with both hands. Valve's games consistently offer great quality and design. Even if you don't like the games, the craftsmanship and the level of polish on their design are on a level that is also becoming rare.

So, yeah. Valve wins by offering high quality products with the largest and least invasive digital sales system.

 

[Gameguy20100]

Yes most of them require Steam to play hell even games not owned by Valve require Steam these days and I Really dislike that so I don't Accept the "EA games require Origin" complaint Because people don't care when Steam does it.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Their games are perfect:
They haven't released a new game in years and ALL of them are greatly over-hyped at least for me

But that's bullshit, they released a game only last year, in fact despite their reputation of being slow for release they have pretty much consistently released at least one game a year since 1998.

I have not heard of this please tell me about this game i'm interested now

That'd be Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Global_Offensive]

Anyway, people like Valve because of their consistent release of high-quality games. That and the fact that do lots of sales on Steam and the like.

 

[Gameguy20100]

Their games are perfect:
They haven't released a new game in years and ALL of them are greatly over-hyped at least for me

But that's bullshit, they released a game only last year, in fact despite their reputation of being slow for release they have pretty much consistently released at least one game a year since 1998.

I have not heard of this please tell me about this game i'm interested now

That'd be Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Global_Offensive]

oh my good I Hate Counter strike so much. why? I will tell you.

have you ever read Ctrl-alt-del rember that guy who wouldn't shut up about counter strike? yea I Had to got to College with a guy like that I wanted to flatten his face with a frying pan!!

 

[latiasracer]

Because when steam started it up, it didn't contain spyware and Valve don't have a habit of blocking access to all your games because you swore on the forums. (I'm pretty sure that happened to a user on here, actually).


Valve seems to have a good work ethic, Steam is a nice piece of software, regularly offers good deals and i find the UI pleasant and easy to find my way around. Infact, Nowadays i find myself only buying games on/with steam so i can have the added functionality of of a file verifier, the in-game overlay and easy access to the various community hubs.

Yes most of them require Steam to play hell even games not owned by Valve require Steam these days and I Really dislike that so I don't Accept the "EA games require Origin" complaint Because people don't care when Steam does it.

Tough luck pall, times a changing and if you really object to Valve & Steam, move to consoles.

 

[Anathrax]

Because Santa runs the company.

I think it's more that they are considerably less "worse" than other publishers in the eyes of many. I don't mind them. Don't like them that much, don't hate them at all.

 

[Gameguy20100]

Because when steam started it up, it didn't contain spyware and Valve don't have a habit of blocking access to all your games because you swore on the forums. (I'm pretty sure that happened to a user on here, actually).


Valve seems to have a good work ethic, Steam is a nice piece of software, regularly offers good deals and i find the UI pleasant and easy to find my way around. Infact, Nowadays i find myself only buying games on/with steam so i can have the added functionality of of a file verifier, the in-game overlay and easy access to the various community hubs.

Yes most of them require Steam to play hell even games not owned by Valve require Steam these days and I Really dislike that so I don't Accept the "EA games require Origin" complaint Because people don't care when Steam does it.

Tough luck pall, times a changing and if you really object to Valve & Steam, move to consoles.

I buy my games Physically Digital distribution has never appealed to me I read the Steam service agreement It blatantly told me I do not own the games I buy on there.
I buy a license to the game that means that Valve could wipe my entire Library and just because, and they would have every right to do so I agreed to it I can't sign that thing and pitch a big rant about greed or whatever, I would be the same Idiot who was protesting Mass effect 3!!


And why move to consoles? I'm a hybrid Always have been It makes the most sense if you think about it.

 

[Laughing Man]

People love Valve because they treat their customers right. Steam gets more praise than Origin because Origin's Terms of Service has a bit that says Origin is allowed to sift through your computer's files--even ones that aren't related to Origin. The explanation for this is so that Origin can give you better targeted ads, but since there aren't really any listed limitations on how they can use whatever information they find naturally the community is dubious of the whole idea. Steam has no such feature.

Actually it does the only difference is that Valve give you the option to opt in where as EA doesn't. That said neither of the services do anything I would call worrying, in fact for the most part they just sit there doing nothing.

Also, EA's games now force you to download Origin. Even if you bought a physical disc, you still have to install Origin and its spyware onto your computer. As far as I know, Steam doesn't do this (though granted I haven't bought a Valve game physically, so I can't confirm this for sure).

Are you serious? You ARE forced to use Steam for pretty much every Valve game since HL2, the big difference though is that Origin is only required for EA games were as Steam is a forced requirement for MANY games that have NOTHING to do with Valve (Skyrim for example.)

You can download games to as many machines as you want, and you never have to put in codes or any of those "Online Pass" things.

Yeah you can do that with Origin too.

This is why people love Valve so much, because when people are asked they roll out the same nonsense about the direct competition or in this case just plain make stuff up.

 

[DoPo]

They don't do Micro-payments or DRM:

You are literally the first person I've ever seen to make that claim. Which you immediately refute. That'd be very in line with strawmanning. Just sayin'.

Their games are perfect:
They haven't released a new game in years and ALL of them are greatly over-hyped at least for me

But that's bullshit, they released a game only last year, in fact despite their reputation of being slow for release they have pretty much consistently released at least one game a year since 1998.

I have not heard of this please tell me about this game i'm interested now

That'd be Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Global_Offensive]

oh my good I Hate Counter strike so much. why? I will tell you.

have you ever read Ctrl-alt-del rember that guy who wouldn't shut up about counter strike? yea I Had to got to College with a guy like that I wanted to flatten his face with a frying pan!!

So, your complaint about Valve is based on a guy you knew who was obnoxious. Huh, I'll now make it a point to ask every obnoxious person what they like in order to hate it.

I buy my games Physically Digital distribution has never appealed to me I read the Steam service agreement It blatantly told me I do not own the games I buy on there.
I buy a license to the game

Did you read any other software EULA in your life? Aside from open source, free, and some sowftware you pay nothing for (some) that's all too common.

that means that Valve could wipe my entire Library and just because, and they would have every right to do so I agreed to it

They could do that, yes. Considering the frequency at which it happens, you are more likely to die by the end of the year. Seriously, that's probably the weakest cop out argument I've heard. Your CDs are more likely to break/scratch/become unusable, too.

I can't sign that thing and pitch a big rant about greed or whatever I would be the same Idiot who was protesting Mass effect 3!!

Wat?

Am I missing something Valve Fans? tell me what's so great about them what have the done that's so wonderful? please Tell me its been bugging me for months!!

Somehow the manner in which you shoot down any explanation given with "I don't like it" tells me you don't want to know, you just want. I dunno, just a guess. Something to consider - some do like what you don't. Their argument is as valid as yours. It's a revolutionary concept, I know but it may just be crazy enough to work.

 

[veloper]

Shades of gray. Valve play just a little nicer and alot smarter. Steam has DRM, but there's more to it than a binary. Consider past controversies, who would you trust more with your digital account? Valve, EA, Activision?

Still if you personally draw the line at DD, then it's makes sense to simplify and throw Steam, Origin, Uplay all on one heap. Just don't expect the digital crowd to agree.

 

[Gameguy20100]

Their games are perfect:
They haven't released a new game in years and ALL of them are greatly over-hyped at least for me

But that's bullshit, they released a game only last year, in fact despite their reputation of being slow for release they have pretty much consistently released at least one game a year since 1998.

I have not heard of this please tell me about this game i'm interested now

That'd be Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Global_Offensive]

oh my good I Hate Counter strike so much. why? I will tell you.

have you ever read Ctrl-alt-del rember that guy who wouldn't shut up about counter strike? yea I Had to got to College with a guy like that I wanted to flatten his face with a frying pan!!

So, your complaint about Valve is based on a guy you knew who was obnoxious. Huh, I'll now make it a point to ask every obnoxious person what they like in order to hate it.

That's the reason I dislike Counter Strike not Valve I also have issues with the mechanics and I don't see what It has over say Call of duty but yea that git IS probably the big Reson Is that petty? Probably but hey what you gonna do?

 

[Amorphous Blob]

Valve produce reliably good games, their distribution software has features such as the in-game web browser which I don't believe the competitors have and they seem to care about the quality of the games they produce.

 

[Chris Tian]

Am I missing something Valve Fans? tell me what's so great about them what have the done that's so wonderful? please Tell me its been bugging me for months!!

I always think of Valve as somewhat overhyped myself.
I am not a fan of any of Valves games, but their fans are seldom disappointent it seems, so they are doing their thing right, its just not for me.
They treat their customers well and while they do microtransactions and whatnot, they do it in a way that doesn't bother people.
You mention steam as DRM and while it has that function its far more a service than a nuisance.

Their biggest strongsuit is probably image and marketing. They just build this image of being the pinnacle of game developers, and people buy into the hype, espacially people who like their games. Since they provide what their fans expect from them and don't actively try to alienate them, they keep this image.

TL;DR: Valve is not the necessarily the best game dev out there, that mostly depends on what games you like, but they cater to what their fans want and seem to be the best at taking care of their image.

They are basically like Apple.

 

[Gameguy20100]

They don't do Micro-payments or DRM:

Pro-tip: Only use forum weapons if you're actually winning.

I will use them as I please thank you very much.

Origin, I tried customer service just one time with them, just once, and it was one of the worst experiences in my life.

why? were they rude? did it take to long? I have never had a problem with them but then I do have a higher tolerance for that stuff.

 

[Daft Time]

As I surf the web waiting for my gargoyles Episode to Buffer I have to wonder why do people seem to love Valve for everything I don't get it.

Valve are "loved" - respected is a better term in this case, but I'll roll with your phrasing - for a few very simple reasons that are easy to overlook if you don't care much about how companies treat games. No, they don't produce many games. No, their games are not in particularly innovative. Yes, Steam is DRM. However, Valve is a publisher who;

* First and foremost, they treat their customers with respect. Do you want to know what the key difference between Steam and Origin is? Try getting EA's customer service to actually help you. That's it - Steam is DRM, but it's not particularly invasive and the company behind it actually likes your business.

* Second, the games they do make are pretty good. They wont blow your mind - but they a well written, well made and utilise their mechanics well. Portal key mechanic was done early, but Portal just plays so damn well.

* Third, they actually understand gamers. Do you think another publisher would have made even one Portal game - let alone a sequel?

There are some other reasons, but those are the broad strokes.