Steam sale

[Lützow]

Steam is not tolerable due to the fact that this "service" enforces the will of the copyright industry and contrary to popular belief it does not restrict on fighting piracy. In february I wanted to peek into AvP II demo and got a failure message like: "This version is not available in your country". I mean, wtf, they don't allow me to acquire a version of my choice because of license issues?

Fortunately I don't rely on Steam, as they're not publishing hardcore strategy anyway. But if so, I'd rather use Torrents than supporting this business policy.

[MajFrankBurns]

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

Yuk. I don't think I want to get anything with Steam. Other than the good prices it doesn't sound worth it.

Steam, Gamersgate, Direct 2 Drive and GOG are the greatest things for computer gamers this side of hot water buttered cornbread and pinto beans & onions.

First of all you have basically an online storage center for all your games. If something happens to your computer or hard drive Steam and the others still have your games stored. You have unlimited download ability but you still can be restricted by individual game companies installations per game. Steam has nothing to do with that those are strictly game publishers decisions.

Secondly you never pay a shipping fee. I used to get games like Birth of America for $1.50 on Amazon and ebay, but, still had to pay $3.99 minimum shipping fee. I've also never had to pay TAX using Steam and shipping and tax fees can add up quickly over time.

Thirdly you CAN burn your Steam client data to a CD/DVD for extra storage and a physical copy backup. If something happens to your computer you can reinstall them from those BUT you still have to ACTIVATE them thru the services. Some places like GOG and Direct 2 Drive you don't have to activate them at all. This makes convienent game purchasing and storage for those that don't want boxes all over the house or closets.

I used to be on that side of the fence that thought direct download and online activation was a ripoff and silly but once you get into it and see how much you save and how much space it saves you not only in your closet but on your hard drives as well you shouldn't want to go back to physical shipments and all that duty and tax you have to pay at all.

There are downfalls of course for one "No Printed Manuals", but, just about everyone is getting on that boat now even Matrixgames doesn't make many games anymore with printed manuals. Thus the physical copy of a game might as well go by the wayside since all you are paying for is a cd disc with the setup exe installed on it and a cheap plastic case with cheap artwork overlay in it. You can do that yourself (copy the setup.exe) after you digital download it or better yet with the invention of portable external drives you can save them on those very cheap drives now.

The long standing excuse not to use digital download is "whatif" they go out of business? Do you lose all your games? Well of course I suppose that is a possibility, but, with GOG and D2D it's not as you own what you buy from them without having to activate them online. Gamersgate uses a CD key as far as I know from the games I've bought and I've taken games straight from one computer and put them on another and didn't have to activate or install a cd key or anything so it too isn't quite like Steam. Steam is about the only one you must activate through the Steam client online that I know of right now.

But, the overall number one reason I use Steam is prices are cheap. So what if I lose a $1.50 game 20 years from now if/when Steam goes out of business? I'm more than likely not going to be playing it anyway. I guess each individual just has to weigh their values and their possession requirements for purchases. I've weighed mine and having a great time playing great games for $5.00 or less. [&o]

[joeblack1862]

ORIGINAL: Scott_WAR

Joe, you used PayPal. They always seem to have problems when I tried to use them, so I gave up and just use a debit card.

But yeah, everyone will have an issue occasionally, and you have every right to post the experiences you have had. In the end we have to let or own personal experience guide us more than the experiences of others.

Thank you Scott for quite clearly taking the time to ready my post. We will have to disagree about paypal but we all have our opinions based on personal experience. If I could rep you on this forum, I would.

Just to make clear, I am grateful to Steam for the civilised way they dealt with things. I am not grateful for the long waits and the strange behaviour on my account. But I put that down to human failings, perfectly forgiveable. You could say I lost my trust. Maybe one day they will do something to get it back.

To Osprey,

I am not a Steam hater and I certainly didn't want to offend you so if I have please accept my apologies. I am a grumpy old man, not a Steam hater [:)].

I found Steam didn't suit me. Maybe they won't suit others and there is no harm in offering an alternative view.

There, now you made me break my promise not to come back on this thread [:D]

Guys, enjoy your games, I doubt any of you will have the trouble I had, but sh## happens as they say.

[GaryChildress]

So let's say I buy a game on Steam. I load it on my computer and then decide to go somewhere and want to load the same game on my laptop. Can I load the game on both computers or will Steam prevent me from doing so? What if I lose Internet connection for a few days, do I need an Internet connection to play Steam games? Suppose Steam goes out of business some day (maybe a competing company out sells them or something), what happens to my ability to play those games? Suppose, for whatever reason, Steam decides to stop supporting one of its games, maybe one that isn't selling very well but which I like, am I at the mercy of the Company's whims even after I buy the game?

[htuna]

You can load it on both computers.. I have Steam games loaded on 4 computers in my house... to play without an internet connection, you do need to go into Offline Mode... not sure if it works if you lose your connection.. not sure if there's an option when there's no connection.. but if you knew you were going to go away.. or not have a connection. .you could set your account in offline mode and play without the connection.. I use offline mode all the time so that I can start a game up on more than one computer. then play a lan game with my kids...

Steam doesn't prevent you from playing an old game in the catalog.. in fact some of them.. you don't even have to go into Steam at all to run them.. Like Take Command Second Mananas.. I start that up.. doesn't even wake up Steam..

[htuna]

Actually.. I just did a test.. I disconnected my wifi.. Started up Steam.. it said I had no connection to the internet and asked me if I wanted to start in offline mode.. and it started no problem and my game catalog was available..

[E]

ORIGINAL: V22 Osprey

Oh Gosh....please not another steam thread...

simple philosophy:
If you don't like Steam, DO NOT REPLY ON A STEAM THREAD.

ROFL! (When they make you King, you should fix that! *big grin*)

[Bison36]

Steam is really not the demon spawn that folks make it out to be.

[Arctic Blast]

It really isn't as big a deal as it always seem to blow up to on forums.

Some people like it, and that's fine.
Some people don't like it, and that's fine.

No different than anything else in life, really.

[Phatguy]

ORIGINAL: Bison36

Steam is really not the demon spawn that folks make it out to be.

Yes it is........


and I use it sometimes, so NO, I am not a serious steam h8tr.....

[JudgeDredd]

Just picked up Blood Bowl and Left for Dead 2 for £15 [:D]

Thanks for the heads up

[Grim.Reaper]

If you have any desire for HOI3, now might be the best time to jump in. The main game is around $10 and the Semper-Fi add-on only $6. I believe this sell is only today.

[MajFrankBurns]

ORIGINAL: cmurphy625

Actually.. I just did a test.. I disconnected my wifi.. Started up Steam.. it said I had no connection to the internet and asked me if I wanted to start in offline mode.. and it started no problem and my game catalog was available..

It's really pretty simple. Once you've downloaded the game and activated it on Steam it's there for you to play as long as you have it on that hard drive even if Steam blows up it will continue to play that game in offline mode until you delete it or your hard drive goes kablewy.

Now it is PUBLISHERS that can change those rules about games NOT STEAM. Publishers like UBIsoft can REQUIRE you to be ONLINE all the time to play their new games. That's not Steam or Steams fault. So people really need to stop blaming Steam for what PUBLISHERS are doing. Steam is nothing more than a distributer like any brick n mortar store and they are under the same rules and regulations of distribution as the stores are. But, those have to be online requirements and must activate online everytime you change computers (the new norbsoft game gettysburg) and other stupid stuff like that are PUBLISHERS being ASSES not Steam.

So Long Live Steam and Gamersgate and Direct 2 Drive and GoG and even Impulse because these make life so simple and easy and cheaper than most anything else when it comes to software purchases nowadays.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

Just picked up Blood Bowl and Left for Dead 2 for £15 [:D]

Thanks for the heads up

Is Blood Bowl worth getting? I was contemplating that but did not know much about it.

[Greybriar]

ORIGINAL: cmurphy625

Actually.. I just did a test.. I disconnected my wifi.. Started up Steam.. it said I had no connection to the internet and asked me if I wanted to start in offline mode.. and it started no problem and my game catalog was available..

From what I have read at Steam Support, that only works if you had selected Offline Mode prior to going offline.

[mjk428]

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

So let's say I buy a game on Steam. I load it on my computer and then decide to go somewhere and want to load the same game on my laptop. Can I load the game on both computers or will Steam prevent me from doing so?

You can download games on multiple computers you just can't log in on more than one at a time. They actively encourage this. I bought the Complete Civ IV a couple of months ago. When Steam recently added Mac support, I was also able to load Civ IV to my Mac as well.

I've given Steam a total of $11 and have the following Steam library:

HalfLife 2 (Free)
HalfLife Ep1 (Free)
HalfLife Source - plus all the assorted HL add-ons and multiplayer games (Free)
Portal (Free)
Civ IV Complete ($10)
XCOM Terror from the Deep ($1)
Dirt 2 (Free)



Thinking about picking this up for 5 bucks:

Alien Versus Predator Classic 2000 has been updated to run on modern PCs and laptops using DirectX 9.0c and includes support for Xbox 360 Controller for Windows.

I already own it but I could never get it to run very well back in the day. Not sure why.

[htuna]

ORIGINAL: Greybriar

ORIGINAL: cmurphy625

Actually.. I just did a test.. I disconnected my wifi.. Started up Steam.. it said I had no connection to the internet and asked me if I wanted to start in offline mode.. and it started no problem and my game catalog was available..

From what I have read at Steam Support, that only works if you had selected Offline Mode prior to going offline.

I didn't... I was logged in.. I exited Steam... I turned off my wirelesss... confirmed internet was down by my browser.. started steam.. I couldn't connect, and it asked if I wanted to start in offline mode...

[06 Maestro]

ORIGINAL: mjk428

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress

So let's say I buy a game on Steam. I load it on my computer and then decide to go somewhere and want to load the same game on my laptop. Can I load the game on both computers or will Steam prevent me from doing so?

You can download games on multiple computers you just can't log in on more than one at a time. They actively encourage this. I bought the Complete Civ IV a couple of months ago. When Steam recently added Mac support, I was also able to load Civ IV to my Mac as well.

I've given Steam a total of $11 and have the following Steam library:

HalfLife 2 (Free)
HalfLife Ep1 (Free)
HalfLife Source - plus all the assorted HL add-ons and multiplayer games (Free)
Portal (Free)
Civ IV Complete ($10)
XCOM Terror from the Deep ($1)
Dirt 2 (Free)



Thinking about picking this up for 5 bucks:

Alien Versus Predator Classic 2000 has been updated to run on modern PCs and laptops using DirectX 9.0c and includes support for Xbox 360 Controller for Windows.

I already own it but I could never get it to run very well back in the day. Not sure why.

I have to admit that is impressive for 11 bucks.

[axisandallies]

I bought Total War limited edition four days ago. It took two days to download it. Yikes.

[ilovestrategy]

I LOVE Steam! I bought Oblivion for $8.50 and Morrowind for $4.99 a week ago on a weekend sale. Dang, I have 53 hours in Oblivion so far! [X(]

*hugs Oblivion*