DRM: Is Steamworks The Way to Go?

[razor512]

Steam games usually have a cracked copy available before more other games, but steam offers something that the pirates don't. convenience. and trust me, people will pay for convenience. For a legit way to get games, steam is by far the easiest and most convenient. So people are less likely to pirate their game. Getting a cracked game takes more work and there is always a risk.

Other game companies will see less piracy also if they were to make their games easier and more convenient and easy to use.

Steam does all of you work for you, from downloading, to the majority of the install process, if not all. Thats hard to compete with.

Often given the option, I will opt for a steam copy instead of a retail copy of a game, often theres far less DRM and theres less of a hassle and games are automatically updated, it is just much more convenient. While there is no way to stop piracy, it can be reduced by competing on a different field which is convenience and ease of use, pirates cant offer that experience ans based on history, humans will spend good money for it. There many things in like that we can get cheaper or free but we choose to pay because it is easier and more convenient.

Piracy will be further reduces if they could lower the prices to new games to around $15 or less.

and if steam wanted to stop almost all of their piracy, offer a return policy like if you don't like the game, you can get a full refund if you do it within 3 hours of installing the game, generally if a game sucks, you will know it within a short time. Demo's are not enough because I have played demos which were great and bought the full version only to find out that the demo had all the game had to offer and the full version sucked because of that.

Demo's are like movie trailers. you see a trailer of a 2 hour movie and the trailer is full of special effects, fighting and action, then when you watch the actual movie, it 1 hour 50 minutes of talking and 10 minutes of action

 

[zachary k]

steam is the best, hope they stay cool as they grow.

 

[BulkZerker]

I'm glad they chose steam for their form of DRM, honestly it's the best option out there, and the least obtrusive.

 

[yang]

the only problem is that you can't resell games tied to steam, I'm not a big fan of that fact

 

[OvrClkr]

People will always have a complaint, its human nature, those who can care less have the last laugh and those who complain live a miserable life...

Steam FTW!!!

 

[TheKurrgan]

DRM is inevitable. Steam is the best way, and frankly it occupies so little system resources i dont care how shitty it is as long as it A> Lets me play my game b> Doesnt require me to put in a DVD and C> Doesnt bitch about other software I have installed. And steam has never let me down on that. Beyond the fact that I've not played a game I didnt buy in years, I do hate DRM alternatives other companies use. In fact, I'm to the point now that if its not on steam, I don't want it -- To much hassle.

 

[bardia]

My only concern with Steam is that currently (as far as I know) they have unreasonable restraints on alienation in violation of the first sale doctrine. Or in non-lawyer speak: they don't let you sell your legally owned game down the river when you're done with it.

Otherwise, I love Steam & Impulse, and believe them to be completely reasonable DRM.

 

[doorspawn]

Many issues remain:
Primarily, if the company goes bust there's no way to guarantee the servers will remain or that the DRM will be patched out.
A bankrupt company can't lose any more money from customers suing it, so there's no incentive to honor any promise to strip the DRM if they go bust.

This may be the nicest DRM ever, but an appropriate metaphor here is that this may be nicest sewerage ever. I still won't swim in it, and neither will a significant portion of potential gamers.

Some other issues:
- There's no _guarantee_ steam won't change and become more invasive in the future.
- It's makes playing on other operating systems (eg linux via Wine) more difficult.
- It costs the developer time and money to implement, which could, amongst other things, drive up prices.
- There are areas where the Internet is frequently unavailable or in control of regimes that frequently block sites, eg China. Even if you and everyone you know has perfect Internet access, don't deceive yourself that this is the way it is everywhere that computers exist.
- All other network issues, eg DDos, network outages, ISP signup delays can cause inconvenience. Even if you consider this minor, inconvenience < no inconvenience.

 

[Syndil]

I don't buy games unless Steam sells them. It is a successful business model. I hope all game companies eventually go the same route. So far, it seems to be progressing that direction. I can't think of any games that I want to play that are not offered on Steam.

 

[geoff]

Steam is a repressive DRM system. Once I have purchased a game or other software I should not have to get permission to use it. Once connected to steam you become hostage to Valve's Steam account rules. And even though you may not need from the games owners point view to connect again after the initial approval, Steam can (and I suspect does) insist you connect periodically. You are forced to maintain a relationship with a 3rd party to use your software. How would you feel if it were possible for the manufactures of DVD players or TVs if they could stop you from using those appliances pending online approval, regardless of whether it was only for an initial approval or ongoing. Again you will always be subject to the 3rd party’s rules.

Obviously I have had a bad experience with Steam when I bought Fear 2 about a year ago. Only recently I tried to use it, and was told that I had a duplicate key. I had the original receipt/ original DVD and printed key. However Steam would not allow install. My complaints fell on deaf ears as Steam staff advised that they would not change it. This is a classic case. I had a legitimate software brought from a reputable Retailer yet I couldn’t use it. I was denied access to the software that I bought by Steam despite having every proof of ownership that anyone would ask for proof.

The government needs to legislate against these types of companies. I realise that some people will argue that you only need to connect once in some cases, but as I pointed out earlier that does not include the independent requirement to maintain the account with Steam. Its regular online approval by a loophole.

 

[Guest]

@geoff Wait, so you bought a game a year ago and ONLY just recently tried to use it? Steam/Valve is not responsible for cd keys for games not made by them (i.e. FEAR was not a Valve game). You would have to take it up to the publisher. Steam is in no way responsible (in fact has no power) over your issue.

 

[rodney_ws]

I do like Steam, but I'm annoyed I can't transfer games to other accounts. If Steam really is all about the user, this would be possible. If it's really about restricting the used market for games, well mission accomplished.

 

[steelbox]

Best thing on steam? It's available on every country, unlike GFWL that doesn't work at all in Brazil.
The only thing i feel steam should have is separate DLC's to sell. I can't buy stand alone Fallout 3 DLCs on Steam, but GFWL has them for sale, sad.

 

[steelbox]

[citation][nom]DawnTreader[/nom]the only thing that might be better than steam is OnLive.[/citation]
Altough, you will have to pay to play! In the end you could potentially pay a lot more then the value of a game.

 

[werfu]

[citation][nom]jasperjones[/nom]DRM is evil. Steam might be one of the lesser evils but it's still evil.The more Steam games you buy, the more you are locked into the system. What if, two years from now, you decide that Steam is crap and you don't want it on your computer anymore? Well, you can throw it off, but your games will stop functioning.In effect, it's similar to iTunes. Shitty software, but it's the only way to play back content with Fairplay (i.e., Apple DRM) on a PC. I don't buy content protected with Fairplay which means I don't have shitty Apple software on my system.[/citation]

Than just download all your games and find fixed exec!

 

[hardwarekid9756]

I hate DRM, but if you're going to use it, it doesn't get much more simple, manageable, and better than Steam. I hate Macs, too, but it also makes it easier for them to cross-platform it, too. Which, in the end, in my opinion, is a good thing, too. So, Steam is def the way to go...IMO all developers should be using Steam. Given, that means there needs to be at least one competing platform, (Say, Impulse from stardock?) that everyone is "compatible" with too, so that we can get some competition and keep the market happy, but it's still a great idea, and i believe the direction everything should go: Games as airplanes and Steam/Software as an airport.

 

[andrewcutter]

i wonder what will happen if apple aquires steam..

 

[silicon_ghost]

I've been very happy with Steam for my games. While no DRM would be best, Steam is far better and less intrusive than the BS from Ubisoft or having to stick DVDs in every time I want to play a certain game.

 

[Regulas]

I was dreading New Vegas was going to be aligned with the GFWL abomination again. I am glad to see it on STEAM instead. Will buy on day one.

 

[jgiron]

I love steam as well, I only wish they had a competitor at that level.
I like Direct2Drive but they don't have the easy setup of games as steam.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

I think it's good and it does most stuff. My only problem is that there is no way to do used stuff, you can't resell it or buy it used at all. If they can fix that, it'd be awesome. (Simple as "remove game/key from account" then you could sell the physical box, and they'd add it the same way.)

 

[matt87_50]

[citation][nom]V8VENOM[/nom]Steam is awesome, solves many problems and is no hassle. It's my only source for buying games.Solves:1. Backup issues since games are all available in my Steam account2. Don't need to enter any Keys3. Provides me info on new games4. Automatically updates my games5. Might just save the PC gaming industry from Pirates/theives6. Provides free demos of most games (try before you buy)7. Provides SDK for game developers so copy protection is obfuscated within the game code itselfIt's a pirates worse nightmare, and they seem to be the ones who don't like it (gee, big surprise), but do we paying customers give a rats ass about pirates, nope, and neither does steam nor the gaming companies -- they finally have a solution that ensures they get paid for consumer usage.[/citation]

right. BUT it needs to work perfectly (like it does most of the time) when it doesn't, it is FING ANOYING! also, you can't sell, swap, or return games. which kinda sucks a bit.

but short of going back to the good old days where you just bought a game in a box and there was no DRM, Steam is by far the best option, it even beats the good old days for convenience in some aspects.

 

[blackmancer]

so long as it destroys Games for Windows Live I'll be happy. seriously GFWL is terrible.

I have over 166 games purchased on my Steam account. I never have issues, only when a game has GFWL associated with it, then, as all Microsoft attempts to play catch up, they fail.

 

[blackmancer]

the only drawback to Steam is having to initially download games. even on ADSL1 it still takes a long time and if you don't have a massive d/l limit it can hurt. I still have over 100Gs worth of games to still download... sometime this year.

 

[arlandi]

its so rare to hear a good gaming news that related to DRM.

but i like the way they play nice with the box version, since not everyone prefer to have a digital only copies (including me).

Steam is the next best thing after No-DRM. i hope there are other systems that is as good or even better, since monopoly in the long run will only benefit the owner of that particular technology!