Steam?

[M@RS]

I'm fairly uneducated when it comes to Steam, and have lately developed an interest in it. However, a few minutes of Google have come up with quite a few complaints about Steam. Things like, "Steam is spyware." and such. Are these rumors true? Or are these complaints the product of a disgruntled, ignorant customers? Thanks for any help.

[acdcfanbill]

it's one of the least intrusive or annoying drm schemes out there, however I don't buy any games except Valve ones via steam because I like to have boxes/discs and while valve promises to release fixes for their games if they ever close steam, no other companies with games on it promise the same thing.

 

It's much better than when it was new, it rarely crashes anymore and I doubt it's anymore spyware than other drms. And surely less than WoW's Warden, starforce, or any of the other really nasty ones. There are voluntary stats collection every once in a while about what your PC has, so then Valve publishes the stats for everyone one to see. Basically stuff like the percentages of people with proc speed/cores, gfx card generation/mfg, total ram, total hdd, type of internet, etc.

 

I'm not a huge fan, but there still isn't too much bad things to say about it, so I'd say try it for Valve games at least and if you like it, try it for the other games they offer too.

[TiE23]

If you play games on your PC, you're kind of a freak if you don't have Steam. While not having boxes may bother some (not me, 'eff putting DVDs in), there is really no reason not* to use Steam. Tons of games, great prices, no installs, seamless patching, community support, in-game chat, in-game web browser, achievements, etc.

 

 

*You're welcome ~IG-64

[Alexrd]

I don't use Steam because of their DRM. It forces you to install their program and open it always, so that you can play a game.

[RoxStar]

Steam is probably the best thing to happen to PC gaming in 15 years. No lie.

[IG-64]

I love Steam. I've never had a problem with it. The ability to pre-install games before they even come out, while arguably pointless, is still a nice feature when it lets you play new games instantly. I've also gotten some good gameplay out of achievements (nearly vital for Left 4 Dead). Probably the most useful feature though is the ability to just log in to a computer and install whatever game you want, without worrying about anything. I recently accidentally broke my install CD to Jedi Academy, and now I'm thinking about getting it on Steam for $10.

 

In fact, I don't really remember the last PC game I bought that wasn't on Steam; unless you count the Indie Bundle... which I wish was on Steam for the achievements.

 

The only consistent complaint I ever hear about Steam is that they have a monopoly on digital distribution methods, and whether that's true or not you won't hear me complaining about it.

[BongoBob]

However, a few minutes of Google have come up with quite a few complaints about Steam. Things like, "Steam is spyware."

 

facepalm.jpg

[RoxStar]

Things like, "Steam is spyware." and such. Are these rumors true? Or are these complaints the product of a disgruntled, ignorant customers?

 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_steam_spyware

 

While Steam does collect information about your system, it always asks you beforehand and Valve uses the information to further tailor their products to current hardware trends.

[Nerd_Annhilator]

Steam is awesome.

 

The only thing that ever once sucked about it was when I formatted and didnt backup any of the game files. So I had to download all my games again. Which is about 250gb. With a 95gb monthly "cap" in which I get charged if i go over.

 

**** sucked. But I buy ALL my games on steam.

[Samuel Dravis]

I use Steam to buy cheap games. I don't buy AAA titles on Steam though, since I want discs. However, you might also be interested in Impulse, which only requires the client to be on / internet-connected when you're downloading the game. I have several games through Impulse, and frankly I'd rather have them through that than Steam.

[TiE23]

I re-did my system a bit back, upgrading to a retail copy of Windows 7, and bringing over all my games was really easy. Just re-installed Steam and then copied over my old Steam apps folder, so I didn't even need to re-install or download. But I lost saves on a few games, not too big of a deal, though.

[IG-64]

I re-did my system a bit back, upgrading to a retail copy of Windows 7, and bringing over all my games was really easy. Just re-installed Steam and then copied over my old Steam apps folder, so I didn't even need to re-install or download. But I lost saves on a few games, not too big of a deal, though.

When I upgraded to Windows 7 all I lost was my progress on the silver and gold achievements for portal challenge maps since I had never actually finished those.. which I admit kind of pissed me off but que sera, sera.

[MrWally]

Steam is fantastic. I don't remember the last time I've bought a videogame any other way.

 

And they have incredible deals every weekend, and they sell some great bundles. Black Friday on Steam is absolutely horrible because I want to purchase every deal they offer.

 

 

Calling Steam spyware is stupid.

[TriggerGod]

Steam is probably the best thing to happen to PC gaming in 15 years. No lie.

This

 

I re-did my system a bit back, upgrading to a retail copy of Windows 7, and bringing over all my games was really easy. Just re-installed Steam and then copied over my old Steam apps folder, so I didn't even need to re-install or download. But I lost saves on a few games, not too big of a deal, though.

 

When I upgraded to Windows 7 all I lost was my progress on the silver and gold achievements for portal challenge maps since I had never actually finished those.. which I admit kind of pissed me off but que sera, sera.

 

When I upgraded, all I really had was the games from the Orange Box, and L4D, and pretty much everything saved over, except, like IG-64 said, my Portal Challenge Map achievements and the progress on some L4D achievements.

[leXX]

The Steam sale has started folks, go grab a bargain. It's on from the 24th to the 29th.

 

http://store.steampowered.com/

[swphreak]

There's also the wishlist sweepstake thing.

 

Add 10 games to your wishlist and you might get the top 5 games from Steam.

[leXX]

Oh, I didn't know it had to be at least 10. Thanks.

[MrWally]

Hey everyone. I haven't posted here in forever!

 

That said:

 

L4D2 is $5 today! I'm thinking about getting it, but I have no friends to play it with

 

Would people get in on this?

[PR-0927]

I like to advocate Impulse. It's DRM-free and lets you play games without having to run it in the background. This also means that you can run the same game at multiple places, at the same time.

 

I've decided to make all digital purchases off Impulse from now on, unless it requires Steam to run in the background (like Civilization 5 or Empire: Total War). The pricing tends to be the same or similar. Just got Company of Heroes: Gold for $14.99 off Impulse this Thanksgiving Break.

 

But Steam is alright. I abhor the lack of profiles for games and the lack of running a game in multiple places at the same time, however.

 

- PR-0927

[Darth Avlectus]

I forgot my steam ID. Bleh, I'll just open a new one.

 

Not big for MMO, but yeah...I like computer games especially b/c of mods.

 

How could anyone NOT have steam and call themselves PC gamer material? Sure one can call it being a rebel, but 'a rebel' usually has sense, and a cause. The people in the 'PC gamer> non steam' bracket...tend to have neither, or have little interest in said area and are not game-r material to the core.

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Or they're spending most of their time whacking off to whatever--not that there's necessarily anything wrong with fappage. Buuuut I digress...

Just my opinion, it doesn't really jibe to be mostly a computer gamer and not be on steam. Just my two cents on the issue.

[Lynk Former]

I only got Steam very recently, and it was only because Mav said he'd gift me something for 30 bucks lol.

 

 

Now I have a few games... got Alpha Protocol for 7 bucks on another site and then put the CD key into steam lol.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

I only buy games on Steam that are either super-cheap and I know I won't find it anywhere else for that price or for games I just can't find anywhere. I'm still not too comfy with downloading huge-ass games but running Steam to play my games is not that much of a big deal.

I like to advocate Impulse. It's DRM-free and lets you play games without having to run it in the background. This also means that you can run the same game at multiple places, at the same time.

You mean it's a good way to play on LAN? Hmm...

[Alexrd]

I like to advocate Impulse. It's DRM-free and lets you play games without having to run it in the background. This also means that you can run the same game at multiple places, at the same time.

 

Then what is it that you download? an .iso?

[PR-0927]

You mean it's a good way to play on LAN? Hmm...

 

 

Precisely. Steam is annoying in this regard.

 

Then what is it that you download? an .iso?

 

 

Nope, just like Steam, the game installs itself to your computer, but not in any obnoxious Steam folder - it the folders that would have been created if you had the disc.

 

- PR-0927

[Alexrd]

Nope, just like Steam, the game installs itself to your computer, but not in any obnoxious Steam folder - it the folders that would have been created if you had the disc.

 

Can you play it without an internet connection? What must you do to play it on another computer?