Should I ditch steam?

[Dorkenstein]

I don't have anything against steam but I have a bunch of games purchased through there. I DO prefer to have the disc copy but at the time I didn't have a means of driving to buy games. So my question is, should I try to obtain disc copies in case there is ever difficulty with steam? Anyone else ever wonder this? Thanks.

 

[Maleficus]

I would ditch steam simply out of principle. You bring up a valid point, when valve inevitably dies because of how much they suck, you're kinda out of luck. They should release their games as downloadable installs.

 

[Miklebud]

What kind of "Difficulty" do you mean? I've got about 20 games on my Steam Account. What's more convenient than having all of them easily accessible and re-downloadable? I've never had an issue with it. Hell, it even patches games FOR me. No need to find updates/patches online, it'll do it for you.
I <3 Steam.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: Maleficus
I would ditch steam simply out of principle. You bring up a valid point, when valve inevitably dies because of how much they suck, you're kinda out of luck. They should release their games as downloadable installs.

....yeah, you couldn't be more wrong.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I really enjoy the convenience of steam but steam is just a company, and anything can happen to companies. I don't want to pay for games twice so that pretty much ends the dilemma for me. I might check the FS/FT section and try to find them used. Still though, I hope Valve doesn't go belly up or get bought out/have a policy change or something.

 

[Zenoth]

Hmm, yeah, if Valve ever goes down you'd think that they would allow all of its users to keep their games on their HDD. If Valve goes poof the actual Steam program won't, everyone will still be able to play their games at least off-line. And there will certainly be one or more third-party hosting services that will allow "old Steam players" to come back on-line and play their games again. And right now everyone already has their Steam games on their HDD (the installed ones of course).

If for instance you "own" a game on Steam but isn't installed and in the meantime Valve goes down then the potential problem is that you won't be able to download it again. But as I said Valve certainly thought about such things in advance, and if it ever happens I'm sure there will be news all over the place and you'd have to live on the Moon not to know about it. If it happens I'm sure that there will be a period of time within which everyone will have time to download their games before they go brankrupt or something like that.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Whatever, it's irrelevant. Steam gives you the option to backup your game to a DVD. Problem solved.

 

[Maleficus]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Whatever, it's irrelevant. Steam gives you the option to backup your game to a DVD. Problem solved.

and if I backup that game, what do I need to use it...? Steam (This is an assumption, I actually do not know, but I feel pretty secure in making this assumption)

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

The chances of Valve and thus Steam going out of business in the short term are quite small. In the long term, I'd suspect that technological changes would create as much trouble playing games as Valve's theoretical non-existence.

When you then add in the simple reality that many disc-based games now use securom protection that requires online activation, even disc based games are subject to becoming instant coasters due to a company going out of business.

So, simple question: Is the physical copy in the box worth the gas money driving there, and the almost certain requirement of having to get out the disc anytime you want to play?

 

[sandorski]

I suspect you'll have quit playing those games long before your Fears are realized. If Steam went belly up, some Hacker would provide a fiix, if Valve itself didn't give one first.

 

[Peelback79]

I'm actually going the other way with Steam. I used to hate the fact that every time there was a tiny update my history and favorites would be gone. And for the longest time there was a 'Friends' button, but no 'Friends' list or interface.
But my last two games I bought were off Steam and I love the fact that you can pre-downlaod games and run them day of. They seem to be really refining Steam. Had you asked me a few years ago I might have leaned towards yes. But IMO they're only going to improve as time goes on. I'm just waiting on the Clear Sky pre-d/l.

 

[BladeVenom]

Valve is doing very well.

Steam isn't as bad as SecuROM.

If worse comes to worse, all Valve's game have already been cracked and are available by other means.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Miklebud
What kind of "Difficulty" do you mean? I've got about 20 games on my Steam Account. What's more convenient than having all of them easily accessible and re-downloadable? I've never had an issue with it. Hell, it even patches games FOR me. No need to find updates/patches online, it'll do it for you.
I <3 Steam.

Its awesome if you have an ISP to match that awesomeness...

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

At least for me, I think it's more likely my CD could be lost, stolen, damaged, etc. Or the CD-Key for that matter, though I make a habit of backing them up in a text file.

So I'd much rather have the convenience of just logging into steam and redownloading wherever, whenever.

Every PC game should be on Steam.

EDIT: I'm fairly sure Valve has stated that if they go out of business, they can essentially throw the switch to remove all protection/DRM/authentication from your steam games. Being able to redownload is another matter I guess.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: PhatoseAlpha
The chances of Valve and thus Steam going out of business in the short term are quite small. In the long term, I'd suspect that technological changes would create as much trouble playing games as Valve's theoretical non-existence.

As long as games sell on Steam, Steam and Valve will be around. You have to remember that Valve gets a percentage for each title sold on Steam, I would assume they negotiate their contracts with enough padding that Steam makes a profit on itself or at least breaks even. Pure speculation I know, but still.

 

[40sTheme]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: Miklebud
What kind of "Difficulty" do you mean? I've got about 20 games on my Steam Account. What's more convenient than having all of them easily accessible and re-downloadable? I've never had an issue with it. Hell, it even patches games FOR me. No need to find updates/patches online, it'll do it for you.
I <3 Steam.

Its awesome if you have an ISP to match that awesomeness...

Don't get NetZero?
Dunno what to say to this...

 

[lxskllr]

Not everyone has BB. I'd probably still be on 56k if I didn't get jerked around by Verizon on a repair issue a couple of years ago. I'm alright with Steam now, but I don't appreciate needing net access to play a sp game. I don't want patches unless I choose to install them, and I don't want my B&M games decrypted when I install them. I expect to put in the cd, install, then play my game.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: 40sTheme

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: Miklebud
What kind of "Difficulty" do you mean? I've got about 20 games on my Steam Account. What's more convenient than having all of them easily accessible and re-downloadable? I've never had an issue with it. Hell, it even patches games FOR me. No need to find updates/patches online, it'll do it for you.
I <3 Steam.

Its awesome if you have an ISP to match that awesomeness...

Don't get NetZero?
Dunno what to say to this...

lol

 

[Born2bwire]

I love steam, it seems that they do everything right when it comes to digital distribution. You can preload games, get automatic updates, see what games your friends are playing and even join them in that game and map (and if the server is full, you'll queue up and automatically join when a spot is free), you can play offline, you can back up your games on phsyical media, you can send games to you friends as gifts, and now they have the guest passes which are a neat thing too. I just got a new laptop to replace my desktop computer, in the span of an evening I had 7 games installed and ready to go with no fuss whatsoever. It's fantastic.

 

[Eeezee]

Why would you prefer a physical copy? There's no advantage to it. If you purchase on Steam, then you never have to worry about having a lost or broken disc. You never need your disc in the drive (which is annoying) and don't have to mess with cracks. You will always have that online backup on Steam if anything should go wrong.

If Valve eventually goes bankrupt, I trust that they'll allow people to download the full games with no DRM. If they don't, then you can always just pirate whatever games you've already purchased.

 

[SandInMyShoes]

I was skeptical at first, but now I love Steam. I have to give it credit for rekindling my interest in PC gaming. It's just so easy to try demos and buy new games, they run sales on older titles, they release multi-game packs, and they do a good job of putting a spotlight on under-appreciated games, like Audiosurf and Trackmania. I wouldn't go back to the days before Steam!

 

[jjzelinski]

Valve going out of business? Considering they pretty much have the only viable business plan in the PC gaming business they'll be the last to go.

 

[Molondo]

DEADHORSEOMG

 

[PieIsAwesome]

The only thing I have against buying games on steam or digital distribution in general is not being able to resell them.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire
I love steam, it seems that they do everything right when it comes to digital distribution. You can preload games, get automatic updates, see what games your friends are playing and even join them in that game and map (and if the server is full, you'll queue up and automatically join when a spot is free), you can play offline, you can back up your games on phsyical media, you can send games to you friends as gifts, and now they have the guest passes which are a neat thing too. I just got a new laptop to replace my desktop computer, in the span of an evening I had 7 games installed and ready to go with no fuss whatsoever. It's fantastic.

they could offer better prices since you don't get the cd and box, etc.