Why Steam Seems Very Bad, But Your Thoughts?

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OneHumongousLoser

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Ok, i bought Fear 2, which can only be used through Steam, which is not mentioned until you get the box in the mail (thats crappy in itself).

Then, of course, you can 'buy' games from steam that must be used with them and then, if I understand correctly, only on your account.

So, this is very bad, because:

1) you dont own the game, and therefore there is no resale value (I buy games, play them a year, then sell them on ebay, but no more), as opposed to the normal buying the games with CD and key code.

but more importantly:

2) the games are locked to steam. So what happens if steam goes out of business? hey, happens everyday, look at the 1hundred+ year old companies that folded the last year. If I am forced to buy and use games through them, then I could like spend a bunch of money and lose it all when they go bust. Again, dont think they cant, cause it happens all the time.

So, this is very bad.

Steam is simply a company trying to make a buck, as are the companies that develop/provide the games, and there is nothing bad about that, but:

I really hate buying something I cant resale, and there does not seem to be any consumer protection against them going out of business and then customers losing all their stuff.

I would like to state that yes, I am against piracy, and buy all my games either new or used off ebay (never pirated and wont in my life), and there should be another way other than Steam.

Just curious what others think about this.
 

OneHumongousLoser

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no, that is not how it has always been, so use your seach engines (and of course apparently your gullible enough to believe anything posted on the net, or by steam) to see history.


you buy the cd with the key code, then you can resell it if you want. THAT WAS THE WAY IT ALWAYS WAS. YOU CAN TRANSFER THE RIGHT TO USE THE SOFTWARE, but with steam you cant.

dont you see the difference??? are you that dumb????

anyway, if this is old news, then someone delete this thread and i will go humbly with all the other lambs/cows and into the slaghter pen.
 

OneHumongousLoser

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sorry, i take back the disrespectful comments.
anyway, now i know that before buying a game, to research it to see if steam activation is required.
Again, sorry for the crap.

Prediction: in like 5 years, new DRM will be around, and steam will (hopefully) be belly up
 

OneHumongousLoser

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i bought FEAR2, dont really care for it, and am now stuck with it (as opposed to selling for a few bucks, letting someone else have fun, and then saving to buy another game)

Im 'steamed', since newegg didnt mention that steam activation was required.
 
Nope; you buy Licences, not the game. The licences are transferable though, so the end user thinks they "own" the game; they do not.

Remember people, even if Steam goes down, you can still run via offline mode (you just forgo any potential updates). And I'd imagine its a really simple fix to remove the Steam dependency from the game.exe anyway. No different then paying to play any other online game, as you run the risk of the company in question shutting down their servers...
 

michaelmk86

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I was like you 5 years ago when I bought a game that required steam and I was like “why do we need steam”. But very quickly I realize the benefits of having steam (in fact now I like steam so much that in the last 2 years the 80% of my games are from steam).

Here are some benefits of having steam:
■Very good deals, prices
■One click and you are in the game so simple. No need to use cd's any more.
■it’s convenient. You don't need to go to the store or waiting for an online delivery.
■Early release dates.
■Games auto-update
■Grate community
■You can chat with your friends while you play games
■Steam keep statistics of your games
 

purplerat

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Steams success/value to customers has very little to do with DRM. The fact that it does offer non-intrusive DRM which other companies have latched onto is just a plus for them.

Steam is a hugely successful distribution service first and foremost. Use of Steam for DRM could be completely eliminated and it would have almost no impact on the service.
 

itadakimasu

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stop hating on steam... i'm happy with steam. Have never had any problems at all.

i could see the concern if they were to go out of business, but I doubt that's going to happen. ( unless they insist on charging $60 for games like MW2 )
 

OneHumongousLoser

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Is everyone who works at steam going to dogpile me? Please, I must respond to this marketing blitz:
1) Very good deals, prices (not compared to used ones at amazon or ebay, by far, and even new ones are expensive or no different than ones bought retail at the store and can resale them later, so thats a ridiculous statement, with steam still cant resale game later)
2) One click and you are in the game so simple. No need to use cd's any more. (ummm...you still have to install from the cd's and then activate throug steam, so no difference. also, after normal installing the cd, it is only one click to normally play the game anyway, and you cant resale the game)
3) it’s convenient. You don't need to go to the store or waiting for an online delivery. (maybe, but i like to go to the store, or order online only takes like 4 days anyway, and the prices can be much less expensive, plus you get to keep the game for resale)
4) Early release dates (i dont know if that is true or not, but i thought games were released everywhere on the same day, still cant keep the game for resale)
5) Games auto-update (so, I am capable of updating my games, still cant resale game)
6) Grate community (I dont need anymore 'community', still cant resale games)
7) You can chat with your friends while you play games (you can do that anyway, but still cant resale games)
8) Steam keep statistics of your games (so, i dont care about that anyway. And exactly what does steam use this information about me for anyway?? Hummm? Still cant resale the games)
 

maximaniac

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Here's an idea...don't buy your games from steam if you want to resell them. It sounds like the games you play don't have alot of replayability or don't have much life after you beat. Or you just become bored very easily. Whatever it is, just buy the cd if it bothers you that much. I, personally, love steam for those reasons listed above too. Also, what happens if you lose your cd? You're gonna have to buy a brand new one (or used one). Or what happens if your cd gets scratched? You're SOL. With steam, all of the files are stored on the computer. So no more lost or scratched CDs. To each his own though.
 

Dekasav

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1) It seems like you haven't noticed, but you can buy games off Steam, and it'll download them & install them for you. And Steam has a deal every weekend that's usually a VERY good deal. I got the entire Orange Box for $10 on one, got 4 games (3 very good ones) for $10 on another, and grabbed a few other things at 50-75% off.

2) Most games requiring Steam are actually Valve (who owns/runs Steam) games, and most are bought off Steam, anyway.

3) A store that will auto-download and auto-install for you, is very convinient.
4) If you pre-order a game with Steam, you can download 99% of it BEFORE it's released, and it'll download the last tiny bit at midnight, so you can play exactly at midnight if you are that crazy.
5) Auto-updating is useful. Means you never have to worry about it at all.
6)Community is important for some people
7)Chatting with friends is a good thing
8)It's fun to sometimes look up your kill/death ratio, or look it up with every class you play with, every gun, etc.

OH! And you never replied to my thing, that lots of people buy steam games, but use a different account for every one, and then SELL that account + games. Hence, you effectively CAN reSELL games.

And it's "resell" not "resale"
 

OneHumongousLoser

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Great, old games cheap (orange box?? give me a break, like 3-5 year old games??? made for a ATI x1600pro?? I think my grandmother is playing those games)

My model is basically this:

I buy like 2 of the newest games (like $50 each). I play them for like 2 months (come on, if you cant make it through a game in 2 months, you must really be a bad gamer), then sell them before the price has come down (say for like $30 each, while they are still listed new or on your favorite steam site for $50), then....

I buy another 2 new games and do it all over again - its the equivalent of always having the newest games for 1/2 the price, every 2 months or so. Yes, I go through a lot of games, but life is too short to still be playing multiplayer on an online game with 7 people.

I dont know about yall, but after I finish a game, its done, and replay bores me (play over again, knowing what is going to happen???? Does anyone really play a game over again??? Please, get a life)

I bet I have played more games Desakav than your whole family tree - for half the price.

The only exception I have found is Call of Duty Modern Warfare, where online you can keep unlocking weapons/stuff in the multiplayer.

PS Shakespeare:
American Heritage Dictionary: resale NOUN:

The act of selling again.

 

Kewlx25

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Any game worth playing is worth playing for 4+ years

If a game is worth getting rid of in under 1 year, it's not worth my time.

Nut shell: Single player blows

Hell, Starcraft is still fun and so is TF2 and CS and Quake3.

Steam is awesome, now I don't need to keep track of my media if I feel like reinstalling an old game.
 
1) Very good deals, prices (not compared to used ones at amazon or ebay, by far, and even new ones are expensive or no different than ones bought retail at the store and can resale them later, so thats a ridiculous statement, with steam still cant resale game later)

I still have my old DOS collection; you don't re-sell good games. Granted, some games [Strategy, RTS, RPG] are more re-playable then others, but I've replayed all the games in my Steam collection [about 30 now I think] at least 2-3 times.

2) One click and you are in the game so simple. No need to use cd's any more. (ummm...you still have to install from the cd's and then activate throug steam, so no difference. also, after normal installing the cd, it is only one click to normally play the game anyway, and you cant resale the game)

Not always; When you buy a game of Steam, you don't need the physical media. Some games chose to use Steam as their DRM platform though, which means that even with the physical disk, you need to install through Steam. Fear2 and MW2 are two examples of this.

3) it’s convenient. You don't need to go to the store or waiting for an online delivery. (maybe, but i like to go to the store, or order online only takes like 4 days anyway, and the prices can be much less expensive, plus you get to keep the game for resale)

Generally, theres not a giant price difference unless you find someone on Amazon who is selling at a significant discount. I just went on a Steam binge, and comparing amazon to Steam, I found every gameon Steam cheaper. Plus, I didn't have to wait more then 2 hours to get the game fully delivered and installed via Steam.

4) Early release dates (i dont know if that is true or not, but i thought games were released everywhere on the same day, still cant keep the game for resale)

Steam generally lets you pre-load games, and will occasionally unlock the game a day or two early.

5) Games auto-update (so, I am capable of updating my games, still cant resale game)

I should note you can choose to turn Auto-update off.

6) Grate community (I dont need anymore 'community', still cant resale games)

7) You can chat with your friends while you play games (you can do that anyway, but still cant resale games)

You chat via the Steam client, regardless of game support and what game each person is playing. Outside of other third party programs (Xfire, etc), there is no way to accomplish this.

8) Steam keep statistics of your games (so, i dont care about that anyway. And exactly what does steam use this information about me for anyway?? Hummm? Still cant resale the games)

Steam mainly tracks sales (so it knows when to discount), playing time (so it knows how to allocate servers, i guess), and achievements (Self explanatory).

Basically, your argument comes down to lacking re-sale. MY advice, if you want to re-sell games that quickly, you probably shouldn't get them in the first place.
 

maximaniac

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hahaha. couple of things about that above quote. First off, you say "get a life" because someone plays a game over again and then you go on to brag that you've played more games than a person's entire family tree. Am I the only one that sees the irony in that?
Second, good job on using the dictionary to find a word. Unfortunately, you're using it in the wrong context. Yes, resale is a noun and it is a real word, but the way you're trying to use it is as a verb. In that scenario, it would be RESELL.
 

purplerat

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@ OneHumongousLoser,

It seems that your entire argument against Steam revolves around not being able to resell your games. Understandable but two points; First off Steam is hardly the only method of blocking resales and in the case of FEAR2 it's only the mechanism being used by the publisher who decided to block resales. Lots of publishers are choosing to go this way and Steam is simply a distribution service which can be utilized by these companies to prevent resales of PC games. Your anger is misdirected at Steam when it should be at the publishers who don't want you reselling their games.

Secondly, realize that a lot of games have zero interest in reselling they used games. Many take great pride in building a large library of games - even bad games or hardly played titles. In my 20+ years of gaming I've sold/traded maybe 5 games and I regretted each one. Getting $20 here and there, maybe $40, even a few hundred for a handful of titles is not worth it for me to part with my games. Even worse almost every game I've every traded or sold I've ended up buying again at some point because I wanted to play it again. Even if I make a net profit on selling the game then buying it later for less I still would rather have had it all along.
 

tarquinbiscuitbarrel

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these days a gamer needs steam like he needs oxygen.

team fortress 2, left 4 dead 2, counterstrike source, modern warfare 2.

even if valve/steam were to go out of business with no contingency plan to support the customers, it won't be long before unofficial cracks are available online.

steam is the future. dev's lose millions of £ every year because it's too easy to bittorrent games instead of buying.
 

maximaniac

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purplerat, couldn't agree more. Think of it this way too, when you see a great a movie, do you think to yourself, "That was great! I'm never going to watch that again." Of course not and it's the same with a great game. Especially for a lot of newer games which let you take slighty different paths in the story based on your actions, you can get alot of replayability from such games. Add in multiplayer and stat tracking and you've got a time-consuming combination.
 

Dekasav

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I should mention, with my replaying, part of that has to do with the kinds of games I enjoy. Strategy (both real-time and turn-based), RPG, stealth, and story-heavy games are my favorites, so... I replay most things twice given enough time.

Also, here's a huge advantage for me with Steam: since I'm in college, and I move a lot (probably ~3 times a year), I don't have to worry about having enough space for my games, moving my games, or my roommates stealing my games. Steam has been the way I've bought most of my games in the last few years for those reasons alone. Oh, and weekend deals, I'm not a graphics whore so I know there are a LOT of older games I've missed.

And the most I've ever spent on a game was about $35. Once for Oblivion, which I dropped 6 months and 150+ hours into, and once for the Witcher, which I've sunk 90 hours into, am not yet done, and I bought 4 months ago.

And thanks to someone who pointed out the using a noun in a verb's place, I was gone... :(
 

itadakimasu

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As somebody else has already said... Games that are actually good have replay value. If you just play through a game once in 8 hours and that's it... it's definitely not worth 50-60$. I still play starcraft and tf2 also... you know they did something right when starcraft has been out for 10 years and still have tens of thousands of people playing it online.
 
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