Steam sucks - unless you have FIOS, Steam really sucks

[thegimp03]

I like steam...but I also average about 2.2-2.5 MB/sec download on it.

 

[Regs]

100KB/sec is really crap. Do you live next to the town MiddleofNoFingWhere?

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: lupi
wait, is FC2 a steam only game?

Yes.

 

[mb]

Wow, OP you are full of fail. You bought the game from Amazon without reading a single one of the 59 reviews on Amazon? Or noticed the 47 replies to the discussion "Better have Steam and a Steam account if you plan to play this game"?

Also, I can download at 1.7 - 1.9MB / sec from Steam

 

[Fox5]

So basically, Steam doesn't suck if you have any standard broadband connection available.

Steam did suck on my school's connection though. Mainly because it was unresponsive, but also because during the day I'd be lucky to get 20KB/s and at night 120KB/s. Even still, it never took me more than 2 days to download any game on steam. It was a pain when patches came out and Steam insisted on autoupdating, but the crappy school connections couldn't connect (perhaps due to steam letting the people with the fastest connections go first? it's about the most efficient queuing system) for up to a week at a time, leaving the game in a state of limbo of being both un-updated and unplayable.

 

[octopus41092]

I get like 200kb/s its not that bad.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: lupi
wait, is FC2 a steam only game?

Yes.

well that does fuking blow, glad i hadn't installed my copy yet.

 

[vshah]

so are you playing the game yet?

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Crono
Thread by GodlessAstronmer in PC Gaming on this subject already.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2306310&enterthread=y

And Steam does not suck, it does what it is supposed to and does it well. Steam can't be blamed if you don't have adequate download speeds (sorry, but that's not their fault).

Uh no, Steam sucks. You buy a retail box, yet you still have to go through Steam, AND download a 330 MB patch through Steam? That's piss poor customer satisfaction.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: Fox5
So basically, Steam doesn't suck if you have any standard broadband connection available.

Guess you missed my post...

 

[IHATESTEAM]

the same freakin thing just happened to me... i go out and spend 40 some dollars on a new game (Fear 2). I can't even install a brand new game without an internet connection to steam?!?!?!?! finally get steam all loaded up. the game takes over an hour to install.. then steam decides to update the game before launching, this takes 2.5 hours...(whats the point of the install anyways???) then i try to launch the game and there is a Steam Error code 53.. suggested solution is to Re-Install!!! With steam i cant even access the games i have without the internet because the freakin broken program is obsessed with updating! needless to say the game still wont work, and steam still sucks.
Edit/Delete Message

 

[IHATESTEAM]

Because i go out and spend 50 some dollars on a new game (Fear 2). I can't even install a brand new game without an internet connection to steam?!?!?!?! finally get steam all loaded up. the game takes over an hour to install.. then steam decides to update the game before launching, this takes 2.5 hours... then i try to launch the game and there is a Steam Error code 53.. suggested solution is to Re-Install!!! With steam i cant even access the games i have without the internet because the freakin broken program is obsessed with updating! needless to say the game still wont work, and steam still sucks.
Edit/Delete Message

 

[IEC]

Well I like Steam. Took me slightly over an hour to re-download L4D to have some zombie killing fun since I never actually beat any of the campaigns...

 

[Schfifty Five]

I can d/l at over 1MB/s on standard cable internet.

Maybe you need to open ports on your router.

 

[StarsFan4Life]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
So I received FEAR2 in the mail today (I know, welcome to last year) and was very excited. Several days ago I had downloaded the 1.3 patch (330MB) so that I'd be all ready to patch it up and play.

As soon as it began installing, I saw the Steam installer popup and said "Oh shit."
Sure enough, 15 minutes later, after loading both DVDs, Steam starts updating the game...at 100KB/s download (my max download speed). I paused the DL and tried to patch manually: "FEAR2 is not installed. Installer will now exit." Didn't I just install it? Guess not.

I want to play the damn game now, not in "330MB/100KB/s = next frickn' week!!!"

That's all. I feel marginally better now. Thanks.

I get 50mbps up and down.....Steam always maxs my connection out.

Downloaded AA3 in a matter of minutes....

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: IHATESTEAM
Because i go out and spend 50 some dollars on a new game (Fear 2). I can't even install a brand new game without an internet connection to steam?!?!?!?! finally get steam all loaded up. the game takes over an hour to install.. then steam decides to update the game before launching, this takes 2.5 hours... then i try to launch the game and there is a Steam Error code 53.. suggested solution is to Re-Install!!! With steam i cant even access the games i have without the internet because the freakin broken program is obsessed with updating! needless to say the game still wont work, and steam still sucks.
Edit/Delete Message

Who didnt give you the memo that 14.4K fax modems are out of style?

 

[zach0624]

I have 1.5mbitps satellite connection and steam usually downloads between 100 and 150 KBytesps which leaves me and my family some bandwidth for other things, the max download is about 198KBytes per second. I love how it updates automatically so I don't have to bother with it and if I play online(don't often cause ping sucks and I have a bandwidth cap) I never have to worry about different versions. The interface is fast for me and allows me to chat in game easily with my friends (unlike windows live which I hate) so I'm happy

 

[Cabages]

:heart: Steam.

Too bad I'm sitting at 1-2 mbps for the next couple months.

 

[Isaac MM]

I'm gonna laugh so hard when Steam is shut down and everybody loses their games.

 

[0roo0roo]

don't blame steam.
blame our sh*tty country for letting the isps screw us with broadband that is behind so many other countries. that stuff would download in a blink of an eye in other places.

 

[fustercluck]

well I hate to defend steam because it was so awful the first few years it was out, but now it's great and download speed is not a problem for me on a Cable HSI connection.

 

[0roo0roo]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...ls-s-korea-estonia.ars
Here are the top 20 countries and their respective household broadband percentages:

* South Korea (95%)
* Singapore (88%)
* Netherlands (85%)
* Denmark (82%)
* Taiwan (81%)
* Hong Kong (81%)
* Israel (77%)
* Switzerland (76%)
* Canada (76%)
* Norway (75%)
* Australia (72%)
* Finland (69%)
* France (68%)
* United Kingdom (67%)
* United Arab Emirates (65%)
* Japan (64%)
* Sweden (63%)
* Estonia (62%)
* Belgium (62%)
* USA (60%)

Percentage of Fiber Connections in Total Broadband Subscriptions

Figure 4 shows that Japan (40%), Korea (34%), and Sweden (18%) lead all countries surveyed in their percentage of fiber broadband connections. The US had only 3% of its broadband subscribers on optical fiber connections in December 2007. http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0805/

Reality check #1: U.S. vs. the rest of the world

You may remember AT&T?s broadband commercial that compare the system?s performance to a supercar. Or Comcast?s current speedracer vs. turtle commercials. These commercials, of course only work in the U.S., if we consider the download speeds generally available on these shores.

A file that takes four minutes to download in South Korea would take nearly an hour and a half to download in the U.S. using the average bandwidth. Japanese users leaves U.S. users behind with an eye-popping 63.60 Mb/s download link. This means that Japanese can download an entire movie in just two minutes, as opposed to two hours or more here in the U.S. Just in case you are wondering: No, Japanese users do not pay more for their broadband connections. In fact, U.S. broadband cost is among the highest in the world.

Japan dominates international broadband speed with a median download speed of approximately 63 Mb/s, more than enough to stream DVD-quality video with surround audio in real time. Next on the list is South Korea where download speeds achieve an average of 49.50 Mb/s. Finland and France follow with 21.70 Mb/s and 17.60 Mb/s, respectively. Canada ranked eighth with an average download speed of 7.60 Mb/s. The U.S. came in 15th with 2.35 Mb/s.
http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tm...nt-view-38861-118.html



the good news?

us isp profits are up!! costs are down!!
i wonder why..

 

[KMFJD]

Is there a way to stop it from patching after you have it installed if so no problems, if it forces you to dl updates, that can be a problem.

 

[CptCrunch]

I have a 1.7MB/s average download speed with Steam. On their $5 game weekends the servers can be a bit slow, but I typically dont have a problem with their speed.

 

[skace]

Blame the developer who released a game that required patching large files. Otherwise, wait until the patch is complete, knowing that your experience in the game will most likely be much better for it.