Steam should introduce Crypto mining software into their client - hear me out.

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Maybe even their own SteamCoin... TBD.

Here's what I'm thinking, a lot of gamers, paid big bucks for a GPU. Some of them are willing to run some mining software on their PC to recoup some of their costs of those GPUs or higher-end gaming PCs. Some people, might just like the ability of leaving Steam running in the background constantly (Friends list, etc.), and doing some mining *when not gaming*, and the Steam Client would probably be the best place to put that feature into, because it KNOWS when you're gaming and when you're not (which can be problematic with other mining clients.

Heck, maybe even just have an optional feature on Steam, to run a command-line when not gaming / "gaming idle command", and then have the ability to kill it when gaming starts again. Then you could just hook into a third-party miner.

But then again, having Steam manage your Crypto wallet (at least for the hypothetical "SteamCoin"), might be very useful, as it would have Steam Store integration.

Basically, kind of like earning trading cards (which I never understood), you could also simply just idle your Steam client, and make "money" doing so, which you could then choose to turn into games.

(Of course, that might incentivize people NOT to play games with Steam, "just" to mine instead. So that might be counter to their principle and point. But I think that it would be a useful feature.)

What do you all think? What if Steam teamed up with Nicehash, to integrate "hooks" to their mining client, and run it when Steam is "gaming idle". Would that appeal to you, to be able to make Bitcoin when not gaming with your PC, and then save that Bitcoin, or trade/buy games on the Steam Store using it?
 
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Borealis7

Platinum Member
Oct 19, 2006
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depending on the hardware and electricity costs, that could result in a net loss for the miners and they should be made aware of that.
it becomes too complicated to avoid potential law suits for damages to hardware or simple monetary damages.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
depending on the hardware and electricity costs, that could result in a net loss for the miners and they should be made aware of that.
it becomes too complicated to avoid potential law suits for damages to hardware or simple monetary damages.
Nah, just make it an "opt-in" thing. Call it the "Steam Free Games Program".

Any GPU capable of playing AAA games these days is currently profitable, depending on power costs, I suppose.
 

DeathReborn

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2005
2,743
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Step out of your cheap US energy bubble and you'd find it being a horrible idea, so no, HELL NO!!!

I have approaching 1,000 games on Steam & I would junk therm all if Valve did such an accursed thing.
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
I have approaching 1,000 games on Steam & I would junk therm all if Valve did such an accursed thing.
Sure that's not just "irrational miner hate"? Again, if the program was opt-in, there would be NO HARM to those with high energy prices, they just wouldn't opt-in.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Lets approach this from a different direction. Should Steam accept Bitcoin and other crypto, for games purchases? Should they allow selling / trading cards as NFTs on the blockchain?
 

Fenixgoon

Lifer
Jun 30, 2003
31,493
9,819
136
No. Just no. Crypto in its current form is inherently inefficient and doesn't generate anything of value.
And no, steam should only accept government-issued currencies.
Why would anyone sell their Bitcoin or other crypto when the system is setup to make it inherently more valuable as time goes on?
A finite number of coins, coupled with increased difficulty in mining said coins, means the value will ALWAYS go up...until the bubble pops, anyway.
There are plenty of worthwhile distributed computing projects if steam wanted to tap into its userbase to provide something good.
 

GrumpyMan

Diamond Member
May 14, 2001
5,778
262
136
So you would like to add mining to Steam, the very platform that is hurt by gamers not being able to buy new gpu's so they can buy and play the newest games because miners are buying all of the gpu's escalating the prices of them and making them out of reach to gamers? That's a great idea! Count me in!
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
So you would like to add mining to Steam, the very platform that is hurt by gamers not being able to buy new gpu's so they can buy and play the newest games because miners are buying all of the gpu's escalating the prices of them and making them out of reach to gamers? That's a great idea! Count me in!
So, to play a little Devil's Advocate... do you think, that due to the GPU shortage, Steam revenue is down? Maybe they need to do something to increase their revenue.

Allowing mining in the client, in the background when not gaming, and taking a 30% cut, might be a way for them to pay their bills. You wouldn't want to cut off Steam's revenue streams, would you?
 

GrumpyMan

Diamond Member
May 14, 2001
5,778
262
136
Nope, I wouldn't want to cut their revenue. I have used them quite a bit over the years and still do. Maybe you have something there. Do you think that Steam would be OK with 30% of the profits or do you think that they would offer you or the client, 30% of the profit? If I could generate enough money to actually buy a game over time, not like those trading cards or gems they have, I might actually go for it to see at least where I would end up in say, 3 months time.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
If I could generate enough money to actually buy a game over time, not like those trading cards or gems they have, I might actually go for it to see at least where I would end up in say, 3 months time.
If it ended up making anything like Nicehash (or if they partnered, but honestly, I don't see that much happening, since Nicehash is a non-US company), NH makes like $0.50-$1.00 / day on a GTX 1650 card. Better cards make more. My 5700XT makes $3-4/day.

Assuming a GTX 1650 card, and 90 days, that would be 90 dollars, if Steam took 30-33% of the cut, that would leave $60 every three months to buy AAA (or any, really) games with. (* Not financial advice, just posing a hypothetical here.)

Granted, you can do this now with Nicehash, just remember to start it when you stop gaming, and vice-versa, and you can get a bag of BTC, cash it out for USD, and stuff it into your Paypal and buy Steam games that way. In fact, I'm sure that some people already do that. But if that could be accomplished entirely within the Steam universe, then so much the better.

I get that the "miner hate" is real, though, but there are probably a good number of gamer/intro miner types, that just want to pay off their (overly-) expensive 30-series GPUs.
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Maybe Steam shouldn't / wouldn't do all of this, maybe they should just put in a "miner API" set integrated into Stream, and let those "one-click miner softwares", integrate that way, although Steam themselves wouldn't necessarily get a cut of the mining that way (*or maybe they could, depending).

But Steam could also open up to accepting crypto and usher in a new era of crypto support onto one of, if not the biggest gaming service / platform there is. (TenCent in China comes to mind as a large competitor. I wonder if they take crypto yet.)
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Anyways, those were my thoughts, sorry to raise the ire of some in the PC gaming community.

Would it be more acceptable, if it were just the "Steam Rewards Program" - "Earn rewards while the Steam client is open while you're not gaming, and use your GPU to earn Rewards"? No mention of mining or crypto, but that's what would really be happening behind-the-scenes? Of course, if/when the secret broke, if they were using the Steam client to mine on customer's PCs without telling them (or hiding the actual behavior in a ton of legalese that was unintelligible), then that could well spark a major customer / gamer back-lash against Steam, so I would probably advise them to proceed above-board.

Probably start by accepting crypto for game purchases FIRST, and then move onto background-mining in the future, once the gamer crowd gets familiar with crypto.
 
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Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
3,494
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Anyways, those were my thoughts, sorry to raise the ire of some in the PC gaming community.
I think it's more along the lines of giving Gaben an idea that he could profit from is an overall bad idea. The end result for the users will likely be less than stellar and I can only imagine if it takes off how that will push digital clients in the future. Leave gaming to gaming and if people want to mine crypto, they can do that elsewhere.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
What if this was a collab between Steam and Nvidia, call it "GamerCoin", or "NVDOL" (NVDOLLAR), and it was designed not only to serve as a currency for Steam (and usable for
dlc / in-game purchases, as well as game purchases), but also to showcase NVidia's mining prowess, as well as promote mind-share as well as sell NVidia GPUs.

NVDOL - "The Way Games are meant to be Paid".
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
16,068
7,380
146
What if this was a collab between Steam and Nvidia, call it "GamerCoin", or "NVDOL" (NVDOLLAR), and it was designed not only to serve as a currency for Steam (and usable for
dlc / in-game purchases, as well as game purchases), but also to showcase NVidia's mining prowess, as well as promote mind-share as well as sell NVidia GPUs.

NVDOL - "The Way Games are meant to be Paid".
Maybe we need to fly Greta out to your location, so she can have a one-on-one "discussion" with you about the vast energy usage that mining is behind. I'm sure she would be very understanding of your staunchly pro-mining viewpoints.

;)

AlarmedAchingChafer-max-1mb.gif
 
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Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
3,494
470
126
What if this was a collab between Steam and Nvidia, call it "GamerCoin", or "NVDOL" (NVDOLLAR), and it was designed not only to serve as a currency for Steam (and usable for
dlc / in-game purchases, as well as game purchases), but also to showcase NVidia's mining prowess, as well as promote mind-share as well as sell NVidia GPUs.

NVDOL - "The Way Games are meant to be Paid".
At this point I have to ask: Do you have some sort of mining program that you're trying to sell to Steam?
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
30,332
7,987
136
I'm going to go with a HELL NO there thanks.
If you want to run a crypto mining app then fine, go install one. Don't be sticking it in apps that are there to do other things that I need to keep running in the background all the time.