Why I don't like Steam

[ph0b0s123]

So I had been forced to use Steam recently due to purchasing Metro 2033 and Just Cause 2. I brought them retail, as always, but am forced to use Steam anyway.

My biggest problem with Steam is that with all previous purchases up till now, when I have finished the game I can let me brother play it on his PC. But now I cannot as if I am playing a steam game on my account, he cannot play a different game on the same steam account.

I would not mind if this effectively tighter licensing and digital distribution resulted in cheaper pricing. But it doesn't with games that I have mail ordered always being cheaper than Steam.

But PC gamers seem to be quite happy to give up some of their gaming freedom and seem happy to have steam chained to games.

This seems to be the PC markets way of clamping down on second hand gaming on the PC and no-one seems that bothered.

And before you ask for games like Bad Company 2, we both have a copy as we play on it at the same time.

 

[Legion]

Probably because they want your brother to buy his own copy.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

The thing with steam is, it brings back some confidence to the PC market. It makes a buttload of money, and without steam there would be quite a few smaller developers who would be out of business. Because of this confidence, more games are using steam and steamworks in their games as a method of DRM, as its infinately harder to pirate a steam game than a non steam game.
I think given that, and the frequency of amazing sales and good treatment to customers, i think its a small trade off to not be able to lend games to people.

 

[Fooz]

i just got metro 2033, its awesome eh?

as for steam, i dont mind it, the games are overpriced though

 

[shadowmagus]

That is entirely your opinion OP. Some folks don't live near family, may not have friends who really enjoy PC gaming, and for them Steam is a great way to keep a large catalog of games without having disks lying all over the place and allows them to uninstall and reinstall games with relative ease.

Edit: Not to mention, Steam is imho, the single best outlet for indie PC games available right now.

 

[The Madman]

He can still play the game through your account. Just log off and have him log onto your account, download, and play. And while he's enjoying those you can either go off and do something else or play with the games on his account.

Just can't play two copies of the same game at the same time when you've only bought one copy.

 

[Trolldor]

Your brother could just log in to your steam account, download, and then play offline, or alternatively log in and play when you're not.

 

[JeanLuc761]

i just got metro 2033, its awesome eh?

as for steam, i dont mind it, the games are overpriced though

You folks need to wait for Steam sales, that's what I do a lot of the time. Just picked up Just Cause 2 for $7.50.

 

[ph0b0s123]

That's because "legally speaking" your brother is expected to buy his own copy.

Erm no. If I buy a retail game I can do with it what I want, hence why second hand game sales are not illegal. If I brought the game from steam, I would accept the limitations of that purchase, but I didn't buy them from steam.

Just can't play two copies of the same game at the same time when you've only bought one copy.

This is most definitely not what I am trying to do. As that would be in no way moral. Playing different games at the same time is what I am on about.

 

[TiefBlau]

My biggest problem with Steam is that with all previous purchases up till now, when I have finished the game I can let me brother play it on his PC. But now I cannot as if I am playing a steam game on my account, he cannot play a different game on the same steam account.

I play offline on my brother's computer all the time. Single player games? Feh, no problem.

I don't see what's the big deal here. There's only so much you can expect from a single copy of a game.

The only time this is possibly relevant is when you want to play a multiplayer game, and someone else wants to play another multiplayer game on the same account, in which case you probably should have thought of this beforehand and bought a physical copy.

Steam isn't for everything. But when I want to get Batman: Arkham Asylum for ten dollars, or Team Fortress 2 for 2.50, I look out for the delightful sales they have. And that's all there is to it.

 

[CCountZero]

Lending your Steam account to a friend is actually very, very easy, and it's entirely possible to play a Steam singleplayer or non-Steamworks game online, (such as Borderlands), from multiple computers at the same time, via Offline Mode.

I agree that the inability to second-hand games can be a hassle, but frankly, in Denmark where I live the whole reused market is practically nonexistant. It's only a between-friends kind of thing, there's no stores that do it.

And as has been said before, Steam is doing a lot to help Indie developers.


I agree that the pricing is insane, though.

I personally bought Black Ops, from Direct2Drive[footnote]In small part thanks to my very inexpensive FilePlanet(IGN) subsctiption that has paid for itself more than twenty times by now. Can recommend.[/footnote], for 40% less than Steam and once I had the file downloaded, it turned out to be a Steam installer. That just doesn't make sense

But yes, Steam isn't cheap at all. For Cheap, you wanna compare prices on Direct2Drive,[footnote]Try .com if you're in the US and .eu and .co.uk if you're in Europe. UK is usually cheaper than EU.[/footnote] GamersGate, Impulse and Sprocket. The prices can be quite different, so it's always worth a mosey.

Once there's a sale on, however, then Steam joins the game with a strong hand.

 

[ph0b0s123]

I play offline on my brother's computer all the time. Single player games? Feh, no problem.

I don't see what's the big deal here. There's only so much you can expect from a single copy of a game.

So let me get this straight, in offline mode, we could be playing different single player games at the same time, even though they are linked to the same steam account? Achievements are not important. If this is true, I take back all my issues with steam.

I agree that the inability to second-hand games can be a hassle, but frankly, in Denmark where I live the whole reused market is practically nonexistant. It's only a between-friends kind of thing, there's no stores that do it.

I did not think there was much of a market for used PC games anywhere, not like there is for the console market. I only really pass a game on in the family. So I don't understand the big problem with it as it is hardly such a big issue for the games makers as it is on the consoles.

 

[Ravison]

That's because "legally speaking" your brother is expected to buy his own copy.

Erm no. If I buy a a retail game I can do with it what I want, hence we second hand games sales are not illegal. If I brought the game from steam I would accept the limitations of that purchase, but I didn;t buy it from steam

Just can't play two copies of the same game at the same time when you've only bought one copy.

This is most definitely not what I am trying to do. As that would be in no way moral. Playing different games at the same time is what I am on about.

In that case, the play offline option that Trolldor suggested is a great idea. With Steam's offline mode, you can both play single player games simultaneously on the same account. but I think you have to not be connected to the internet when you set offline mode. but I'm not sure.

I just checked and you can use offline mode regardless of internet status. I'd strongly recommend doing that.

 

[TiefBlau]

I play offline on my brother's computer all the time. Single player games? Feh, no problem.

I don't see what's the big deal here. There's only so much you can expect from a single copy of a game.

So let me get this straight, in offline mode, we could be playing different single player games at the same time, even though they are linked to the same steam account? Achievements are not important. If this is true, I take back all my issues with steam.

This is most definitely true. All you need to do is click Steam > Go Offline, and then anyone else will be free to access it while you're in offline mode.

 

[ph0b0s123]

I play offline on my brother's computer all the time. Single player games? Feh, no problem.

I don't see what's the big deal here. There's only so much you can expect from a single copy of a game.

So let me get this straight, in offline mode, we could be playing different single player games at the same time, even though they are linked to the same steam account? Achievements are not important. If this is true, I take back all my issues with steam.

This is most definitely true. All you need to do is click Steam > Go Offline, and then anyone else will be free to access it while you're in offline mode.

Thanks for that info. In which case I hereby dissolve my hatred of steam.

 

[TiefBlau]

Thanks for that info. In which case I hereby dissolve my hatred of steam.

Hooray!

 

[Zaik]

As for Steam not being cheaper, that isn't actually Steam's fault entirely, if they started selling new games for $40 worldwide because nobody had to put together a manual and a box and dvds and ship it and etc., retailers would flip a shit and take them to court, and most likely win(at least in the US) because the legal system is designed to keep those financially on the mountaintop there.

I'm not saying they wouldn't necessarily opt to sell at retail anyway, but technically they can't for now.

 

[lapan]

The only big problem i see with steam is that you don't own a physical copy of the game anymore. Should Steam ever be closed down, there is a high possibility you will never be able to play/reinstall your games.

 

[Tharwen]

You just need to install it on both computers, then set one of them to offline mode. Then it won't know your account is being used somewhere else.

Legally, though, I think you need to have two copies.

 

[noahd]

just watch out for games like assassin's creed2 that "require" you to be online at all times. also games like mass effect and dragon age. they're a tad annoying with that. if you can get a good single player, non-online game to play. go for it.