Why I don't like Steam

[octafish]

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.

Valve is on record that they will unlock your games in this unlikely event.
Anyway, offline mode was the answer so now everyone (with a decent internet connection) can love Steam, yay!

BTW OP Once you have setup your Steam account on your brother's PC, Steam will want to download the games when you install them. You can force Steam to install from the retail copy, but I suspect you will need to be online at the install stage. Save yourself some bandwidth.

 

[Vault101]

The only thing I wish steam would do is work out some solution for people with really really low internet limits (for autralia they did have servers for teltra broadband but theres still no garentee that steam will use that server unless you install a third party program)

Because I think being unable to play my retail version of Left 4 dead because I simply don't have 1.9gb worth if internet to spare is unnaceptable

 

[lapan]

Valve has said on numerous occasions that if this were ever to happen they would patch in a constant offline mode and disable all drm, they already have the patch waiting just in case.

So you will definitely be able to play your games. Just be sure to download all your games if you hear their going under and boom you have all your games available.

Valve is on record that they will unlock your games in this unlikely event.

I hope that will be true, however, there is no guarantee for that other than their word. Who knows if they still have the same mindset when they go under.

 

[NuclearPenguin]

Along with offline, you could just make multiple accounts and name them different things.
You dislike steam because you didnt think ahead.

 

[Verlander]

Well... games sold second hand generate no money for the publisher or manufacturer... so while I don't use Steam, and probably won't, I can see why they are like this, even if it doesn't suit my budget personally

 

[Arawn.Chernobog]

Read the License Agreement, it's one copy per user, just because people used to share their copy of games with several users didn't make it legal. Sorry mate, always has been like this, the only difference is that you were never caught before.

 

[Casimir_Effect]

I've always has a bit of a problem with Steams pricing. Digital distribution means no premises and far fewer expenses( all that is needed are servers, bandwidth and a few employees) so the product should be cheaper. But so far I don't see this in Steam for most recent games, at least in their first year of sale.
That said, Steam sale are fantastic and far superior to anything I've seen through retail.

Not being able to lend a game to someone is annoying and makes me a bit sad that this old habit has died in modern times. But at least it stops the old problem of lending a game to a friend then getting it back missing a disc/manual and scratched all to hell (everyone has that one friend who can't take care of things for shit).

 

[Denamic]

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.

Actually, no.
The license you rent when you 'buy' a game is for you and you alone.
To lend out the game to other people, including your brother, is piracy.
Selling it has nothing to do with it.

 

[Project_Xii]

Who buys retail anymore? Steam games often come down to prices well below anything retail could ever get too. If i'd paid full retail price for my 450 steam games, I'd probably be over $10,000 (I'm Australian, so the average new release game is between $89 and $109). Instead, thanks to steam, my 2TB HDD and my 150GB a month download limit, I can get games for less then half the price on release, as well as have access to numerous old classics that I'd never find in retail anyway.

People who hate steam are living in the past, I'm afraid. The PC section of my EB Games store is shrinking by the month. Digital distribution is wear it's at; better get those credit cards ready!

 

[Irridium]

To all the people saying "bought the licence" and whatnot...

EULAs are not contracts people need to stop pretending they are. Copyright laws are pretty clear in countries and all countries that are a part of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (almost all of them) share copyrights across boards and have the same basic protections.

First Sale Doctrine (using the US example but mostly the same everywhere) means you own a copy of whatever material you bought. Inherent is the rights to sale the copy, and use the copy how you please. Think of a book. This is the traditional way to view copyrighted materials sold on some type of media, and the one I believe they should force companies to abide by.

Software companies try to get around this by saying they are selling you a license to use their product, not a copy of the software. The EULAs are to that effect. However courts have held up in some situations where if the EULA was not fully disclosed to the customer prior to the sell (remember not agreeing means you can't use it, and since you have to start to install it to see it you can no longer return the opened copy of the software) that the EULA is void that First Sale Doctrine applies.

EULAs get a way with it mostly because nobody challenges them. At least in the US they have a track record of losing on many of the more restrictive clauses.

Just because they put it in writing does not mean it's legal.

As for the topic at hand, well it seems that it was taken care of. Although it still seems silly that you'd have to do that. After all, its not like they try to stop console players from lending out their games.

 

[GundamSentinel]

As I always buy my games retail, Steam is nothing more than a glorified product registration system for me, and an annoying one at that. Sure, if you buy games on Steam it's incredibly useful, but for me it's just tedious.

Oh, and +1 cookie for OP for not calling this thread 'Why I hate Steam'.

 

[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.

Actually, no.
The license you rent when you 'buy' a game is for you and you alone.
To lend out the game to other people, including your brother, is piracy.
Selling it has nothing to do with it.

How has selling got nothing to do with it. If it is legal to sell my retail game why is not legal for me to give it away. So all those second hand game bins in shops are full of pirated games?

For the last time as everyone seems to keep missing this. I have not brought these games through steam. I brought them retail and had steam foreced on me. If I brought it for steam then I would agree, due to it being digital distribution, that I could not pass the game around. The same way I would not expect to be able to lend out a movie I got from netflix. But I don't expect to be accused of piracy for lending or giving a friend a DVD I have brought. If I made a copy of the movie or game and gave that to friends that would be piracy, no question.

The media industry have done a good job of brain washing you.

Who buys retail anymore? Steam games often come down to prices well below anything retail could ever get too. If i'd paid full retail price for my 450 steam games, I'd probably be over $10,000 (I'm Australian, so the average new release game is between $89 and $109). Instead, thanks to steam, my 2TB HDD and my 150GB a month download limit, I can get games for less then half the price on release, as well as have access to numerous old classics that I'd never find in retail anyway.

People who hate steam are living in the past, I'm afraid. The PC section of my EB Games store is shrinking by the month. Digital distribution is wear it's at; better get those credit cards ready!

I get my games mail order and steam is always more expensive than having the game in your hand, so there is no contest. But that is just in the UK. Other regions maybe different.

 

[Klepa]

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

The second hand PC market has been dead for the last 10 years, so nobody really is that bothered. The second hand market is basicly piracy + profit, so I don't think anyone cares about the lack of second hand market to begin with.

 

[frocob]

Try and find a console game that is more expensive on steam.

 

[boholikeu]

Valve has said on numerous occasions that if this were ever to happen they would patch in a constant offline mode and disable all drm, they already have the patch waiting just in case.

So you will definitely be able to play your games. Just be sure to download all your games if you hear their going under and boom you have all your games available.

Valve is on record that they will unlock your games in this unlikely event.

I hope that will be true, however, there is no guarantee for that other than their word. Who knows if they still have the same mindset when they go under.

If they are going under anyway, they really have nothing to lose. I don't see why they wouldn't unless they suddenly become very evil.

And given their track record of being fair to the consumer, I don't think that's really likely.

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.

Actually, no.
The license you rent when you 'buy' a game is for you and you alone.
To lend out the game to other people, including your brother, is piracy.
Selling it has nothing to do with it.

How has selling got nothing to do with it. If it is legal to sell my retail game why is not legal for me to give it away. So all those second hand game bins in shops are full of pirated games?

As I said I have not brought these games through steam. If I had brought it from steam, then I would agree, due to it being digital distribution, that I could not pass the game around. The same way I would not expect to be able to lend out a movie I got from netflix. But I don't expect to be accused of piracy for lending or giving a friend a DVD I have brought. If I made a copy of the movie or game and gave that to friends that would be piracy, no question.

The media industry have done a good job of brain washing you.

Part of the thing with DRM is it was meant to cut down on used sales. The legality of all that is kind of up in the air right now, but you should just keep in mind that anything with DRM is probably going to be tied to your system. Even some console games are like that now.

So he's not really "brainwashed" he's just stating the way things are. If you don't like that, speak with your wallet and don't buy games with DRM.

Also, as an aside, where do you live? I've always found Steam to be extremely cheap (got the two games you mentioned for 7.50 USD each), but I've heard this isn't the case in some countries.