Why so many objections to Steam?

[Andrew]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:10:45 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:

>Hehehe. Last night preparing Half Life 2 through Steam was one of the
>most infuriating experiences I've had in the history of PC gaming. Like
<inane hard luck story snipped>

So you are dumb enough to open trojans, you have a knackered DVD drive
or game disk (something I never have to worry about as I downloaded
the game), you probably install everything to your C: Drive (if you
had it on another partition you could have just created a shortcut to
Steam and played the game without any fuss), and all that is the fault
of Steam?
--
Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

 

[Hulk]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Memnoch wrote:

> On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 22:37:32 +0300, "Hulk" <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:
>
>
>>"MB" <nospam@please.net> wrote:
>>
>>>So, why do others hate Steam?
>>
>>Just know that Hulk is getting very angry right now, and the more Hulk is
>>downloading, the less Hulk can play. Steam just showed me a message where
>>it says:
>>
>>"Ready to play in approximately 8117 minutes and 44 seconds"
>>
>>And I'm not joking either.
>
>
> What connection are you on? Telegraph?

56k modem, but I wrapped my head in tin foil last night and hoped that
Gabe would receive my S.O.S. and loveletters.

By the way, in my case, it was hours. I know, I know I used to battle
with DOS games and Amiga 1200 games for hours, but Steam took me by the
surprise.

 

[Hulk]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Andrew wrote:

> On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:10:45 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:
>
>
>>Hehehe. Last night preparing Half Life 2 through Steam was one of the
>>most infuriating experiences I've had in the history of PC gaming. Like
>
> <inane hard luck story snipped>
>
> So you are dumb enough to open trojans,

There's a reason why they call them troijans, they may be hidden in
files and sometimes your Antivirus software won't spot them in time.
And there weren't any Brad Pitt's banging with wooden horses in front of
the castle either.

> you have a knackered DVD drive
> or game disk (something I never have to worry about as I downloaded
> the game),

DVD-drive is working just fine. In fact it's a test winner and has
installed all my other game DVDs and CD-roms just fine. I believe there
may be a fault with the game DVD itself.

> you probably install everything to your C: Drive (if you
> had it on another partition you could have just created a shortcut to
> Steam and played the game without any fuss), and all that is the fault
> of Steam?

You assume wrong. My copy was on the d: drive and I expected it to work
after Windows reinstall, but it didn't. Steam is far from flawless, and
the interface is not clear enough.

Hopefully, Andrew, you are not grumpy at me just because my story
differs from the majority of happy Steam users.

 

[Andrew]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:27:44 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:

>There's a reason why they call them troijans, they may be hidden in
>files and sometimes your Antivirus software won't spot them in time.
>And there weren't any Brad Pitt's banging with wooden horses in front of
>the castle either.

I don't run any anti-virus software and have never suffered from a
virus or trojan. Common sense is a lot more useful than any AV
product.

>DVD-drive is working just fine. In fact it's a test winner and has
>installed all my other game DVDs and CD-roms just fine. I believe there
>may be a fault with the game DVD itself.

So your problem is with the disk provided by the retail channel. If
you had installed it via Steam you would not have had that problem.

>You assume wrong. My copy was on the d: drive and I expected it to work
>after Windows reinstall, but it didn't. Steam is far from flawless, and
>the interface is not clear enough.

What is wrong with the interface?
--
Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On 12 Jul 2005 05:13:42 -0700, dangtranvu@netscape.net wrote:
>I wonder why the Steam opponents haven't objected to Bioware's way of
>delivering their premium modules yet. They don't use Steam, but the
>only way to buy those modules is from their online store, and even
>after you have registered and activated the module, the game still
>verify it every time when you load a saved game. Heh.

Yup, I have raised that issue in the past when Steam was discussed.
Someone bought me the NWN Premium modules as a present and you have to
validate your purchase, before you can unlock the software (after
downloading it), authenticate when first running, then authenticate when
loading a save game! Outrageous. Some areas might mean you save several
times in a short space of time and then have to authenticate to load
them again !?!?!?

--
Alfie
<http://www.delphia.co.uk/>
The important things are always simple; the simple things are always hard.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 09:48:53 -0400, "Magnulus"
<magnulus@bellsouth.net> wrote:

>
I've only seen a
few people on the Net saying Steam is the glorious "wave of the
future".
>

well unfortunately it just might be.. especially if software
developers can make more money for themselves and not the publishing
companies.. within a year or two i expect at least maybe 20-30% of all
PC games will be made available this way and i suspect that figure to
be much higher on the next-gen consoles. It's a sign of the times i
guess especially now that technology can deliver large files
relatively quickly over the net - dial-up users need not apply though.

toadie

 

[Steph]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"One Punch Mickey" <fantantiddlyspan@hotmail.com> wrote in news:MOLAe.2367
$R5.491@news.indigo.ie:

> Because it's an anagram of 'meats', and vegetarians don't like it.

It's also an anagram of "mates", and the celibate don't like that.


stePH
--
"Let me guess -- my theories appall you, my heresies outrage you,
I never answer letters, and you don't like my tie."
-- The Doctor

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Kroagnon wrote:

> Oh I agree that the price is the fault of Ritual. Just as the full
> price of HL2 on Steam is the fault of Valve.
>
> On the other hand, if it wasn't for Steam then Sin2 wouldn't exist.

This could be seen as a good thing as it will let smaller developers release
their stuff if they couldn't find a publisher. I'm not talking about Ritual
specifically, but game developers in general. I remember reading a column in
PC Gamer years ago about a few small developers who could only self publish
their stuff over the web. Gabe Newell could do for independant gaming what
Robert Redford did for independant movies. (Okay I am stretching a bit).

> Ritual ouldn't find a publisher for it given the poor sales of the
> last one. Due to them releasing a super buggy SiN 1.0, entirely
> Ritual's fault.
> That being said, $20 per episode is too much.

I hate Ritual. Sin had it's moments, but it was not a good game.

 

[shawk]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"riku" <riku@none.invalid.com> wrote in message
news:d767d1psgqtlb97atv9ahd6p0dfekuc7vl@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 09:21:06 +0100, "Shawk"
> <shawk@clara.co.uk.3guesses> wrote:
>
>>> How nice... but I have just a little moral problem with cracks; so
>>> I have chosen not to buy any single-player games that require Steam
>>> or similar on-line authentication, hence any such dilemma will never
>>> arise for me.
>>
>>How upstanding of you..... but there is no moral issue with playing a game
>>you have paid for. It's a change to a couple of files to make it work
>>better. No difference morally to using Werners patch for Vampires or
>>going
>>into Doom config and changing settings.
>
> Cracks are illegal, and may easily contain viruses or trojans.
> Changing your Doom config settings don't have similar risks.
>

We weren't talking about risks or legalities. 'No difference morally' is
what I said. While some cannot separate legally wrong and morally wrong I'd
maintain that if the legal means to use something I have purchased is no
longer there then I will happily use a crack (checked for trojans etc) that
will allow me to with no concern for my morals. I will sleep easily at
night safe in the knowledge that the FBI are unlikely to request my
extradition to answer charges.

Heard of the 'spirit of the law' or words to that effect. I think that is
important. This law was meant to stop piracy - I haven't pirated my copy -
just want fair use of it.

 

[shawk]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"Hulk" <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote in message
news:db08fa$41d$1@phys-news1.kolumbus.fi...
> stePH wrote:
>
>
> Hehehe. Last night preparing Half Life 2 through Steam was one of the
> most infuriating experiences I've had in the history of PC gaming. Like I
> told earlier, I had to reinstall Windows XP for the sake of a troijan
> virus, which had infiltrated my system somehow and rebooted my PC for no
> apparent reason. Reinstalling and activating WinXP was smooth and pretty
> fast. But then Steam update had some integrated mistakes with the last
> Half Life install, And I got really frustrated by the information on the
> screen showing that I'd have to wait 8000 minutes before the game would
> run. I was laughing out loud by myself, reading the posts in here about
> Steam, sweating in the computer room chuckling like I'd be a bad Eddie
> Murphy clone. Then I finally decided to reinstall Half Life 2 all over
> again from a DVD and destroying my HF2 and Steam folders. Either I had
> some real bad luck last night or something, but the installing didn't go
> smoothly even from a DVD and I had to retry about 7 times before I saw
> Half Life 2 was set into my D: drive. And _still_ I had to wait for the
> first gaming preparation for one hour and 30 minutes. If anything, I
> think Steam is very entertaining in its own macabre way.

You are hopefully now making a backup that includes all the updates just in
case this ever happens again? Been there, done that, lucky to have
broadband so just d-loaded whole game. I do *now* have a backup though.

 

[shawk]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"Magnulus" <magnulus@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:1SPAe.1695$ag7.1140@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
> The consensus seems to be that Steam is not a very good idea for PC
> gamers
> and consumers. A few people seem to think Steam is OK. I've only seen a
> few people on the Net saying Steam is the glorious "wave of the future".
>

Consensus - a group decision that everyone in the group agrees to support

Hardly what we have here is it?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

steamKILLER wrote:

> this from the guy who spent 3 weeks downloading half-life 2
> why don't you tell him you spent 3 weeks downloading your
> precious half-life 2? don't you feel its relevant?
> did you love spending 3 weeks downloading it?

It must not have bothered him because he did it.

> and again you come to this group and DARE to admit pirating
> pc games...
> what a disgrace to this group and pc games

Highlandish didn't mean it when he said he pirated games. When he said that
he was angry at publishers for anti-piracy devises. He didn't mean it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

riku wrote:
> Problem with free email accounts: they are usually temporary unless
> you keep on checking them regularly. I think free Hotmail accounts
> expire in a few months if you don't log into it to check your mail.
>
> Sometimes our life keeps us out of gaming for months, or checking some
> free email accounts regularly just to keep them active. If your email
> address expires, you'll be in trouble if there's some other trouble
> with your Steam account (you forgot the Steam password, your account
> was hijacked (because you use the same password everywhere to remember
> it more easily 😉 etc.). See: http://tinyurl.com/ax2am

You are right about that. I think if you haven't checked a hotmail account
within 30 days it is canceled, 90 days with Yahoo. Still it's easy to check
once a week.

 

[CCCC]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:22:37 GMT, Memnoch
<memnoch@nospampleaseimbritish.ntlworld.com> wrote:

>
>Fortunately I haven't been in that situation but if I was at a pinch I could
>set up my mobile phone to act as a modem to the internet just so I could get
>online. Extreme lengths but it would work.

My whole point against Steam is : You shouldn't have to go through
such lengths to play a game that doesn't even need to be connected.
It's STUPID it's not unnecessary and even after you end the game you
stay connected unless you manually disconnect.

So I have to ask WHY does Valve want us connected to their network as
often as possible?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:15:28 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:

>Memnoch wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 22:37:32 +0300, "Hulk" <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>"MB" <nospam@please.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>So, why do others hate Steam?
>>>
>>>Just know that Hulk is getting very angry right now, and the more Hulk is
>>>downloading, the less Hulk can play. Steam just showed me a message where
>>>it says:
>>>
>>>"Ready to play in approximately 8117 minutes and 44 seconds"
>>>
>>>And I'm not joking either.
>>
>>
>> What connection are you on? Telegraph?
>
>56k modem, but I wrapped my head in tin foil last night and hoped that
>Gabe would receive my S.O.S. and loveletters.

LOL If you had sent a cupcake that might have worked!

>By the way, in my case, it was hours. I know, I know I used to battle
>with DOS games and Amiga 1200 games for hours, but Steam took me by the
>surprise.

I remember having to wait 2 hours for Mercenary to load on my mates Atari 800.
Sometimes it would crash and you would have to start over. Boy am I glad we
don't have to go through that now. Nowadays programs will CTD instantly
instead. 🙂

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:42:14 +0100, Andrew <spamtrap@localhost.> wrote:

>On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:27:44 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:
>
>>There's a reason why they call them troijans, they may be hidden in
>>files and sometimes your Antivirus software won't spot them in time.
>>And there weren't any Brad Pitt's banging with wooden horses in front of
>>the castle either.
>
>I don't run any anti-virus software and have never suffered from a
>virus or trojan. Common sense is a lot more useful than any AV
>product.

If you don't how do you know you AREN'T infected? ;-)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 10:11:08 +0100, "One Punch Mickey"
<fantantiddlyspan@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Because it's an anagram of 'meats', and vegetarians don't like it.

Wow, it's an anti vegetarian conspiracy. I knew it! Mind you, the vegetarians
won't have enough energy to do anything about it anyway.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 09:21:06 +0100, "Shawk"
<shawk@clara.co.uk.3guesses> wrote:

>>>I bought HL2 in November (retail), played it half a dozen times (it really
>>>is good) and if Valve close down tomorrow (which they wont) then I'll
>>>mourn
>>>the passing of a great developer but I'll be playing other games by other
>>>developers. If I ever do want to play it again then you and I know that
>>>there is already a crack for HL2
>>
>> How nice... but I have just a little moral problem with cracks; so
>> I have chosen not to buy any single-player games that require Steam
>> or similar on-line authentication, hence any such dilemma will never
>> arise for me.
>
>How upstanding of you..... but there is no moral issue with playing a game
>you have paid for. It's a change to a couple of files to make it work
>better. No difference morally to using Werners patch for Vampires or going
>into Doom config and changing settings.
>

Violating the terms of the EULA is a moral, not a legal issue... at
least for me... If/when the crack is sanctioned by Valve or Vivendi,
the moral problem goes away.

John Lewis

>> Can't say that I have missed much.
>
>You have but you're happy and I'm happy so what's it matter.
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:16:15 +0100, Andrew <spamtrap@localhost.>
wrote:

>On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:10:45 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:
>
>>Hehehe. Last night preparing Half Life 2 through Steam was one of the
>>most infuriating experiences I've had in the history of PC gaming. Like
><inane hard luck story snipped>
>
>So you are dumb enough to open trojans, you have a knackered DVD drive
>or game disk (something I never have to worry about as I downloaded
>the game), you probably install everything to your C: Drive (if you
>had it on another partition you could have just created a shortcut to
>Steam and played the game without any fuss), and all that is the fault
>of Steam?
>--

Your comprehension is now below moron level, or are you in such a
hurry to get the dagger in that you don't bother reading postings from
anybody that disagrees with you ? Hulk did clearly mention installing
HL2 to his D: drive in his posting.

John Lewis

>Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
>Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
>please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
>Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:27:44 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:

>
>Hopefully, Andrew, you are not grumpy at me just because my story
>differs from the majority of happy Steam users.

The handful of Steam fanatics in this newsgroup does not represent
a "majority of happy Steam users" unless that majority is less than
10... come to think of it, there can't be many more.....

John Lewis

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:25:00 GMT, Memnoch
<memnoch@nospampleaseimbritish.ntlworld.com> wrote:

>On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:42:14 +0100, Andrew <spamtrap@localhost.> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:27:44 +0300, Hulk <Hulk@100TONS.spam> wrote:
>>
>>>There's a reason why they call them troijans, they may be hidden in
>>>files and sometimes your Antivirus software won't spot them in time.
>>>And there weren't any Brad Pitt's banging with wooden horses in front of
>>>the castle either.
>>
>>I don't run any anti-virus software and have never suffered from a
>>virus or trojan. Common sense is a lot more useful than any AV
>>product.
>
>If you don't how do you know you AREN'T infected? ;-)

Didn't you know that Andrew is God in disguise ? All-omniscient.
At least within the fog of his own delusions of grandeur.

John Lewis

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

> Just know that Hulk is getting very angry right now, and the more Hulk is
> downloading, the less Hulk can play. Steam just showed me a message where
> it says:
>
> "Ready to play in approximately 8117 minutes and 44 seconds"
>
> And I'm not joking either.

The Hulk was not known for any great intellect.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"MB" <nospam@please.net> wrote in message
news:9oo3d11sfjka3o3l872327onmi3g2gv1ah@4ax.com...
>
> Just curious. I know some folks don't like it, but I apparently
> missed all the hoopla.
>
> Please keep the thread civil and absent of flaming. I am just seeking
> out your opinions here and have no intention of debating or flaming,
> just want to know why Steam is considered evil by some.
>
> Probably the sole reason I like it is because the process of
> installing a new patch every few weeks really annoys me. Since my PC
> is usually on, the patches get installed while I am at work, thus
> CS:Source is always "ready to play".
>
> Aside from that benefit I am not passionate about the issue one way or
> the other. I bought HL2 in a retail box, the good old fashioned way.
> If buying online was ten bucks cheaper I might have considered it but
> it wasn't it, so for my dollar I want a printed manual and a box etc.
>
> So, why do others hate Steam?


It is sad to see people calling other people names and making assumptions
about them if they have opposing viewpoints, but I guess that's how it is.
But my old Grade 10 English said it best...when you assume things about
people, you are making an (ass) out of (u) and (me)...(ass/u/me). Funny as
it was at the time, he was quite right!

Anyway, I am opposed to Steam and will lay out my issues with it as follows
and without insulting anyone who disagrees...

1. You cannot download patches/updates except through Steam
2. Online activation
3. No price breaks given to people at retail even though there is
activation and even though piracy will be hacked down and people can buy
online via "digital delivery"
4. What if Valve shuts down one day? How will you be able to play or
update games using the service?
5. What if you want to sell Steam-based games?
6. A lot of high speed Internet users have their monthly upload/download
limits capped, often 10GB a month or less. With games getting larger and
larger all the time, what will be done to address this problem? Also, what
about those with dial-up connections who cannot get high speed?
7. Buy and download a game and where is your printed manual? If you're
paying premium dollars for a game, shouldn't you get some printed
documentation with it?


I would encourage users to boycott games using "services" like Steam, or
similar. My concern is that if you make a game good enough, a lot of people
are willing to accept whatever copy protection scheme a company comes up
with. At least this seems to be the message I'm getting. The trouble is,
hackers continue to adapt to stronger copy protection and in the end the
legitimate customer is left to put up with the headaches because of it.

 

[Phil]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

Uhmmm....,

Let say that each time you turn on the TV you have ask your parents
for permission to watch TV. I would bet any thing that everybody
would jump up and down crying foul and they all would say something
like: f..ck that, I can watch TV any time I like without asking any one
permission. I'm the one to choose when I want to watch TV, not my
parents, wife, girlfriend, TV stations, or TV
manufactuers,....ect..ect......

But then, the interesting thing is that "some" would NOT even object to
the fact that you "need" to ask for Valve's permission when ever you
want to play HL2.

Why? IS Valve & HL2 THAT IMPORTANT ??????????

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (More info?)

"Andrew" <spamtrap@localhost.> wrote in message
news:tnr4d1dk4i419h1dke4oscfbamvdsdlsme@4ax.com...
>
> In the early days of HL2 a patch was issued then within a day or two
> revoked, all I had to do was wait a couple of minutes while Steam took
> care of everything, never having to worry about what was happening
> under the hood. After getting used to the convenience of Steam, having
> to manually patch games seems so old fashioned.


And that's fine if you feel that way, but just be aware that there are many
of us who feel that Steam is a bad idea, and that some of us do in fact like
to be to archive game patches on CD-R or DVD-R and install them as needed or
wanted. I hope you're not implying that we're wrong to disagree with you.