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Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
Originally posted by Bulldoze Best thing about steam and similar applications is that they keep all of my games under that particular umbrella patched and up-to-date. Nothing worse than remembering that game you loved a year ago and booting it up to install 12 months worth of content and bug fixes.
Yet that is exactly what Steam does. Don't play a game for a year. Try booting it up and see what Steam wants to do. Updates.
The difference, in my opinion, is patching from my PC (patches downloaded and stored) or patching over the web.
As iridescnece said,
Originally posted by iridescence Steam is just a less intrusive form of DRM but make no mistake DRM is the reason publishers want services like this. What sucks is The Witcher 2 was sold without DRM and on GOG and was still hugely pirated so I can understand publishers and devs wanting to fight this in some way. Better something like Steam than always on crap or big publishers just abandoning the PC platform altogether.
I can see the DRM aspect. And Steam is not too bad with that part. Once verified and installed, I can play "offline" and never have to bother with Steam again, except for that application launch prior to launching the game.
I pin my Steam Icon in my Start Menu and just click the game I want to play and it "eventually" launches, after telling Steam EVERY time to log in "offline." (Steam really HATES that mode, let me tell ya )
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Originally posted by Bulldoze Best thing about steam and similar applications is that they keep all of my games under that particular umbrella patched and up-to-date. Nothing worse than remembering that game you loved a year ago and booting it up to install 12 months worth of content and bug fixes.
Yet that is exactly what Steam does. Don't play a game for a year. Try booting it up and see what Steam wants to do. Updates.
(...)
actually WHAT steam does is keep your games uptodate with constant updates, no matter if you play em or not.
as long the game is actually installed on steam, steam will load updates when they are available, not when you are gonna play (unless you changed that option in the settings)
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
Originally posted by Bulldoze Best thing about steam and similar applications is that they keep all of my games under that particular umbrella patched and up-to-date. Nothing worse than remembering that game you loved a year ago and booting it up to install 12 months worth of content and bug fixes.
Yet that is exactly what Steam does. Don't play a game for a year. Try booting it up and see what Steam wants to do. Updates.(...)
actually WHAT steam does is keep your games uptodate with constant updates, no matter if you play em or not.as long the game is actually installed on steam, steam will load updates when they are available, not when you are gonna play (unless you changed that option in the settings)
Are you sure? I am certainly not sure
It just seems that in order to get an update to the client side game directory, a download needs to occur. Or maybe I am misunderstanding what you're saying?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Skyrim, a game I bought and received the physical discs for, MADE me install Steam in order to play.
Kingdom of Amular, another game I bought and received the physical discs, MADE me install Origins in order to simply play the game.
Earlier this week, I got a hankerin' to try ArcheAge and to revisit some old MMOs I played about in.
Well, Trion now wants to make me install "Glyph" in order to play. No thanks. That means a look at RIFT is also out of the question for me.
Went to install Neverwinter and guess what? Perfect World wants me to install Arc. No way in hell.
So we have (that I know of): Steam (GENERAL) Origins (EA) Glyph (Trion) Arc (Perfect World)
I am sure that almost every single major company is looking to create some form of this for their own games.
All these "extra" software installations are ludicrous, in my opinion. They are used for one reason only: Marketing. They are not needed for DRM.
I refuse to log into Steam as "Online" anymore. The last 2 times I did, I had 3-5 pages of "PLEASE! BUY OUR GAMES!" ads. I refuse to hook up my X-Box 360 to the net for this very reason. I certainly do not wish to support Microsoft with their ad space selling.
Will I miss all these "great gaming deals?" Yuppers. And I won't miss them one little bit, since most new games I have tried pale in comparison to the old games I still have on disc and can play whenever I desire to. No big loss to me.
If this is the future of gaming, count me out.
Not sure about the others, but tesalliance has a modded launcher for skyrim that bypasses steam.
What gets me is this: Choices. You (and many other players) enjoy being cloud-bound. Great for you. What about us consumers that do not WANT this? Too bad. So sad. Suck it up. Adapt. Change with the times. This is NOT how businesses keep customers, "My way or the highway!" They are losing my business, albeit not even a tiny drop in the biggest ocean, and maybe some other players, too.
Steam is just a less intrusive form of DRM but make no mistake DRM is the reason publishers want services like this. What sucks is The Witcher 2 was sold without DRM and on GOG and was still hugely pirated so I can understand publishers and devs wanting to fight this in some way. Better something like Steam than always on crap or big publishers just abandoning the PC platform altogether.
Of course that doesn't explain why MMO companies like Trion and Blizzard need their own launcher apps. Pretty sure that's just mainly about advertising. "Hey! wanna buy our other game while this one is loading?" It is kind of annoying but since Steam has lowered people's resistance to this kind of thing it probably is here to stay.
I actually like Steam. I get all the various DRM arguments and went through all the debacles with disc DRMs back in the day when I'd grow my hair out and march around with my Stop DRM signs.
Fact of the matter is, though, DRM is needed and if I can put trust in a single site, a single source, like Steam, then so be it. It's a much better alternative to having 20, 30, 40 different DRMs running on my system, each with their own quirks like gaping backdoors into my computer.
I'll take a single source of failure any day.
That being said, same goes for these other "Launchers". I don't need 20 launchers on my system, with Admin access to my system. So I'll stick with Steam..... and Blizzard, lol.
From my personal experience, Steam has been a great tool for communications, staying on top of new releases, buying games far below normal values, and consolidating my library in a cloud environment. There are so many positives to actively using Steam that I consider it a benefit, not a hindrance. The problem with its popularity is that other people have wanted to emulate it in the worst ways possible, and rather than using Steam, or fostering a relationship with them to bring their products to a larger audience, they've decided to hamstring themselves by spending the money and effort for software that people are simply left wondering: why should I use this and Steam? And naturally, why would they. Steam does everything we need it to do, and it's brought a vast assortment of creators under the same umbrella for the ease of the customer (which is what this is ultimately about, making things easier for the consumer). To ignore this, as EA, Trion, and Perfect World have done, is nothing short of hubris.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
From my personal experience, Steam has been a great tool for communications, staying on top of new releases, buying games far below normal values, and consolidating my library in a cloud environment. There are so many positives to actively using Steam that I consider it a benefit, not a hindrance. The problem with its popularity is that other people have wanted to emulate it in the worst ways possible, and rather than using Steam, or fostering a relationship with them to bring their products to a larger audience, they've decided to hamstring themselves by spending the money and effort for software that people are simply left wondering: why should I use this and Steam? And naturally, why would they. Steam does everything we need it to do, and it's brought a vast assortment of creators under the same umbrella for the ease of the customer (which is what this is ultimately about, making things easier for the consumer). To ignore this, as EA, Trion, and Perfect World have done, is nothing short of hubris.
You do realize the simple fact that Steam is not publishing those games on their platform from the kindness of their hearts right? Why do you think EA Games and Ubisoft and others have opted out of well known platform with good infrastructure and instead opted out for their own in which they only sell their games (none others, so no, they are not emulating steam).
Eventually this other platform becomes cheaper.
Also Origin is a lot better than Steam in terms of application efficiency. Qt Framework power baby.
From my personal experience, Steam has been a great tool for communications, staying on top of new releases, buying games far below normal values, and consolidating my library in a cloud environment. There are so many positives to actively using Steam that I consider it a benefit, not a hindrance. The problem with its popularity is that other people have wanted to emulate it in the worst ways possible, and rather than using Steam, or fostering a relationship with them to bring their products to a larger audience, they've decided to hamstring themselves by spending the money and effort for software that people are simply left wondering: why should I use this and Steam? And naturally, why would they. Steam does everything we need it to do, and it's brought a vast assortment of creators under the same umbrella for the ease of the customer (which is what this is ultimately about, making things easier for the consumer). To ignore this, as EA, Trion, and Perfect World have done, is nothing short of hubris.
You do realize the simple fact that Steam is not publishing those games on their platform from the kindness of their hearts right? Why do you think EA Games and Ubisoft and others have opted out of well known platform with good infrastructure and instead opted out for their own in which they only sell their games (none others, so no, they are not emulating steam).
Eventually this other platform becomes cheaper.
Also Origin is a lot better than Steam in terms of application efficiency. Qt Framework power baby.
You're telling me it's cheaper, requires less man power, and has a higher rate of success for them to make their own software platform like Steam, rather than to foster a relationship with them and pay whatever licensing is required to sell their game through an already well established service? PC gamers have overwhelming built a home out of the Steam community, over 75 million accounts according to IGN. We've chosen where we want to buy games, and which platform we want to use. To ignore that, to try to sell your own games through a service to only a fraction of the users already dedicated to Steam, is absolutely arrogant, frustrating for users, and is certainly an emulation of an already better service. Just because they're not directly competing doesn't make it any less of an emulation, and it certainly doesn't make buying digital copies of games any easier for the consumer, which I'm guessing is something EA doesn't spend much time fretting over.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
From my personal experience, Steam has been a great tool for communications, staying on top of new releases, buying games far below normal values, and consolidating my library in a cloud environment. There are so many positives to actively using Steam that I consider it a benefit, not a hindrance. The problem with its popularity is that other people have wanted to emulate it in the worst ways possible, and rather than using Steam, or fostering a relationship with them to bring their products to a larger audience, they've decided to hamstring themselves by spending the money and effort for software that people are simply left wondering: why should I use this and Steam? And naturally, why would they. Steam does everything we need it to do, and it's brought a vast assortment of creators under the same umbrella for the ease of the customer (which is what this is ultimately about, making things easier for the consumer). To ignore this, as EA, Trion, and Perfect World have done, is nothing short of hubris.
You do realize the simple fact that Steam is not publishing those games on their platform from the kindness of their hearts right? Why do you think EA Games and Ubisoft and others have opted out of well known platform with good infrastructure and instead opted out for their own in which they only sell their games (none others, so no, they are not emulating steam).
Eventually this other platform becomes cheaper.
Also Origin is a lot better than Steam in terms of application efficiency. Qt Framework power baby.
Both EA and Ubisoft sell games on Steam. They don't sell every title on Steam, but they do have a decent selection. Trion, SoE, Turbine, SquareEnix, and PWE all make their main titles available on Steam. They can and do offer their games through multiple platforms.
Only older titles my friend. Only older titles. Which I suppose are by contract non-removable.
@Lawlmonster Before Origin there was only Steam. Since Origin many people went there. IMO its the better product. Sure there are no summer sales and whatever sales, but if you buy the latest and brightest AAA titles out there, those sales are not really for you because they sell old single player games (with very limitted multiplayer ones) . Also about the ease of use ... I've never had issues getting my money to Origin in exchange for a good game. Payments are trivial and are almost all the same across the internet. Step 1. You put down your CC number, Step 2. Wait for confirmation, Step 3. Get the product.
My take on this is that gaming has been around long enough as a physical-media based activity & is going through the same evolution in delivery of content as news, tv, film & music are going through.
I hope a certain amount of content remains available via physical media as it has in those other media forms, choice is good & a blanket-solution would degrade that ability to choose.
For me, living-space became an issue, I used to hoard my old gaming systems & games, so much so that moving home became a bit of a serious concern when carting around thousands of game tapes, floppy-disks, cartridges, cd's & something had to give, I couldn't afford to move this legacy around with me it was becoming a millstone around my neck, the hobby i had first developed as a school-kid had become an adult library of gaming nostalgia, I wasn't really playing these games just holding onto them because they had become my refuge from an unhappy childhood. Letting go of them became cathartic.
I don't mind Steam or GoG or Origins or Glyph, for the most part the intrusion & annoyance of the ads is minimal, no worse & mostly a lot better than Newspaper, TV & Radio advertising & it's not like the ads pop-up in the middle of your gaming session (in-game ads have so far not become a regular thing, sticking to a few niche titles & added there for real-world authenticity at times).
Advertising is a part of our everyday world & experience, so as long as the amount of it is kept to a small amount I'm happy to use these platforms, they help pay for the games I play & I have tried more than a few games & enjoyed them directly from these type of ads so I feel they can actually help broaden a players experience from time to time & expose them to titles they may not otherwise have considered.
I think we are currently a long way from the amount of advertising reaching obnoxious levels - good advertising knows when saturation is losing you custom.
Yes, PC game sales has generally gone digital now. Steam to me has definite Pro's & Con's.
My stance on Steam has softened some but it makes me wonder how one company has such control for its version of DRM. But then again, I'd rather have Valve have that control than some D-Bags like EA or Activision doing it. But who's to say Valve won't become the next D-Bag like EA / Activision some time down the road, and having the grasp on PC gaming that they already have.
Way too much power and influence in too few hands now.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
Skyrim, a game I bought and received the physical discs for, MADE me install Steam in order to play.
Kingdom of Amular, another game I bought and received the physical discs, MADE me install Origins in order to simply play the game.
Earlier this week, I got a hankerin' to try ArcheAge and to revisit some old MMOs I played about in.
Well, Trion now wants to make me install "Glyph" in order to play. No thanks. That means a look at RIFT is also out of the question for me.
Went to install Neverwinter and guess what? Perfect World wants me to install Arc. No way in hell.
So we have (that I know of): Steam (GENERAL) Origins (EA) Glyph (Trion) Arc (Perfect World)
I am sure that almost every single major company is looking to create some form of this for their own games.
All these "extra" software installations are ludicrous, in my opinion. They are used for one reason only: Marketing. They are not needed for DRM.
I refuse to log into Steam as "Online" anymore. The last 2 times I did, I had 3-5 pages of "PLEASE! BUY OUR GAMES!" ads. I refuse to hook up my X-Box 360 to the net for this very reason. I certainly do not wish to support Microsoft with their ad space selling.
Will I miss all these "great gaming deals?" Yuppers. And I won't miss them one little bit, since most new games I have tried pale in comparison to the old games I still have on disc and can play whenever I desire to. No big loss to me.
If this is the future of gaming, count me out.
Not sure about the others, but tesalliance has a modded launcher for skyrim that bypasses steam.
Steam is great. My favorite part is buying old games and knowing I don't have to worry about keeping the discs. EA is garbage and so is Origin. Too many games theses days require the publishers launcher to play. Mostly because it's their way of getting free advertising for their products. You rarely see Valve advertising on Steam, only other games that are on sale. With forums, workshop and library system, Steam is the way to go for everyone.
Yes, PC game sales has generally gone digital now. Steam to me has definite Pro's & Con's.
My stance on Steam has softened some but it makes me wonder how one company has such control for its version of DRM. But then again, I'd rather have Valve have that control than some D-Bags like EA or Activision doing it. But who's to say Valve won't become the next D-Bag like EA / Activision some time down the road, and having the grasp on PC gaming that they already have.
Way too much power and influence in too few hands now.
I agree
The really sad thing.... This is basically how it is, in every aspect of our lives. The big corporation's are gobbling everything up. There is a darkside to capitalism, it's not all roses.
Originally posted by Warmaker Yes, PC game sales has generally gone digital now. Steam to me has definite Pro's & Con's.My stance on Steam has softened some but it makes me wonder how one company has such control for its version of DRM. But then again, I'd rather have Valve have that control than some D-Bags like EA or Activision doing it. But who's to say Valve won't become the next D-Bag like EA / Activision some time down the road, and having the grasp on PC gaming that they already have.Way too much power and influence in too few hands now.
That is kind of the juxtaposition of Steam.
On one hand, it is nice to have ALL the software in one, easily accessible place.
On the other hand, ONE company has total control or each users software.
And then, I shudder to think, what if EA buys Steam? They are a business, first and foremost.
Be careful what one asks for?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Yes, PC game sales has generally gone digital now. Steam to me has definite Pro's & Con's.
My stance on Steam has softened some but it makes me wonder how one company has such control for its version of DRM. But then again, I'd rather have Valve have that control than some D-Bags like EA or Activision doing it. But who's to say Valve won't become the next D-Bag like EA / Activision some time down the road, and having the grasp on PC gaming that they already have.
Way too much power and influence in too few hands now.
It's a preference thing. I would MUCH rather have one person handle all my software licensing, TBH. Shoot, I don't want to deal with licensing at all.
Internet Privacy is the new "Germ" paranoia for the decade. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to trivialize our privacy, but the problem is that it's epidemic. It's everywhere. There's been how many big blow-ups over Google and Facebook privacy concerns? And they're not even the ones you need to worry about! Powerful, yes, but they want your trust, so apart from tracking your every move and targeting advertising to your tastes, they probably don't really care what you're doing.
In the end, you don't want your information at a hundred different locations. You want it in a super safe 3-foot thick titanium lockbox with triple-keyed entry a secret pass code that changes every 24 hours and 24/7 surveillance. Problem is, we don't really want to manage and maintain all that, oh, and we really, really suck at it (including keeping information secure). It's this kind of paranoia, though, that leads people to stuffing mattresses full of cash and then some random person finding it when they have to clean up the apartment after your dead body was festering there for a week. Well, at least the bank robbers didn't get it.
Yes, PC game sales has generally gone digital now. Steam to me has definite Pro's & Con's.
My stance on Steam has softened some but it makes me wonder how one company has such control for its version of DRM. But then again, I'd rather have Valve have that control than some D-Bags like EA or Activision doing it. But who's to say Valve won't become the next D-Bag like EA / Activision some time down the road, and having the grasp on PC gaming that they already have.
Way too much power and influence in too few hands now.
It's a preference thing. I would MUCH rather have one person handle all my software licensing, TBH. Shoot, I don't want to deal with licensing at all.
Internet Privacy is the new "Germ" paranoia for the decade. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to trivialize our privacy, but the problem is that it's epidemic. It's everywhere. There's been how many big blow-ups over Google and Facebook privacy concerns? And they're not even the ones you need to worry about! Powerful, yes, but they want your trust, so apart from tracking your every move and targeting advertising to your tastes, they probably don't really care what you're doing.
In the end, you don't want your information at a hundred different locations. You want it in a super safe 3-foot thick titanium lockbox with triple-keyed entry a secret pass code that changes every 24 hours and 24/7 surveillance. Problem is, we don't really want to manage and maintain all that, oh, and we really, really suck at it (including keeping information secure). It's this kind of paranoia, though, that leads people to stuffing mattresses full of cash and then some random person finding it when they have to clean up the apartment after your dead body was festering there for a week. Well, at least the bank robbers didn't get it.
Then you get into the whole argument over Monopolies.
This is why consoles win. Maybe next gen the devs will even release modding tools for their games on them. Then what will PC users say?
Of course, it's all going digital anyways, but console still makes it easier than steam.
Can you please elaborate on that comment. Steam is pretty damn easy and there is plenty of digital competition to Steam, Steam is just the big boy.
This whole Console vs PC thing is kind of dumb. I'm quite sure Sony or MS could easily have me playing PS4 games or XB1 games on my PC if they felt so inclined.
This is why consoles win. Maybe next gen the devs will even release modding tools for their games on them. Then what will PC users say?
Of course, it's all going digital anyways, but console still makes it easier than steam.
Can you please elaborate on that comment. Steam is pretty damn easy and there is plenty of digital competition to Steam, Steam is just the big boy.
This whole Console vs PC thing is kind of dumb. I'm quite sure Sony or MS could easily have me playing PS4 games or XB1 games on my PC if they felt so inclined.
If I was Microsoft exec and have the XBO dropping the ball so bad and Windows losing steam (not the steam client) I would have both GPU vendors unify an architecture even if i have to pay them to, implement that in DirectX XX pay bunch of devs for PC exclusives on that particular new API and fuck up Sony with the PC platform xD We already know that Microsoft can do long-term damage (E.g. OpenGL sunset)
Also Windows X.X Gamer Edition wouldn't hurt, with 90% of the useless processes gone.
ah...one can only dream for cool stuff.
This whole Steam on Linux crap started because of the rumors that Windows will become more like MacOS, installing apps only through windows marketplace and Valve shit themselves.
Comments
Warden (Blizzard) - for any game on Battlenet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warden_%28software%29
edit: nevermind, Warden is already being discussed
EQ2 fan sites
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
The difference, in my opinion, is patching from my PC (patches downloaded and stored) or patching over the web.
As iridescnece said,
I can see the DRM aspect. And Steam is not too bad with that part. Once verified and installed, I can play "offline" and never have to bother with Steam again, except for that application launch prior to launching the game.I pin my Steam Icon in my Start Menu and just click the game I want to play and it "eventually" launches, after telling Steam EVERY time to log in "offline." (Steam really HATES that mode, let me tell ya
)
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
actually WHAT steam does is keep your games uptodate with constant updates, no matter if you play em or not.
as long the game is actually installed on steam, steam will load updates when they are available, not when you are gonna play (unless you changed that option in the settings)
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
It just seems that in order to get an update to the client side game directory, a download needs to occur. Or maybe I am misunderstanding what you're saying?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Not sure about the others, but tesalliance has a modded launcher for skyrim that bypasses steam.
I actually like Steam. I get all the various DRM arguments and went through all the debacles with disc DRMs back in the day when I'd grow my hair out and march around with my Stop DRM signs.
Fact of the matter is, though, DRM is needed and if I can put trust in a single site, a single source, like Steam, then so be it. It's a much better alternative to having 20, 30, 40 different DRMs running on my system, each with their own quirks like gaping backdoors into my computer.
I'll take a single source of failure any day.
That being said, same goes for these other "Launchers". I don't need 20 launchers on my system, with Admin access to my system. So I'll stick with Steam..... and Blizzard, lol.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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From my personal experience, Steam has been a great tool for communications, staying on top of new releases, buying games far below normal values, and consolidating my library in a cloud environment. There are so many positives to actively using Steam that I consider it a benefit, not a hindrance. The problem with its popularity is that other people have wanted to emulate it in the worst ways possible, and rather than using Steam, or fostering a relationship with them to bring their products to a larger audience, they've decided to hamstring themselves by spending the money and effort for software that people are simply left wondering: why should I use this and Steam? And naturally, why would they. Steam does everything we need it to do, and it's brought a vast assortment of creators under the same umbrella for the ease of the customer (which is what this is ultimately about, making things easier for the consumer). To ignore this, as EA, Trion, and Perfect World have done, is nothing short of hubris.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
You do realize the simple fact that Steam is not publishing those games on their platform from the kindness of their hearts right? Why do you think EA Games and Ubisoft and others have opted out of well known platform with good infrastructure and instead opted out for their own in which they only sell their games (none others, so no, they are not emulating steam).
Eventually this other platform becomes cheaper.
Also Origin is a lot better than Steam in terms of application efficiency. Qt Framework power baby.
You're telling me it's cheaper, requires less man power, and has a higher rate of success for them to make their own software platform like Steam, rather than to foster a relationship with them and pay whatever licensing is required to sell their game through an already well established service? PC gamers have overwhelming built a home out of the Steam community, over 75 million accounts according to IGN. We've chosen where we want to buy games, and which platform we want to use. To ignore that, to try to sell your own games through a service to only a fraction of the users already dedicated to Steam, is absolutely arrogant, frustrating for users, and is certainly an emulation of an already better service. Just because they're not directly competing doesn't make it any less of an emulation, and it certainly doesn't make buying digital copies of games any easier for the consumer, which I'm guessing is something EA doesn't spend much time fretting over.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
Only older titles my friend. Only older titles. Which I suppose are by contract non-removable.
@Lawlmonster Before Origin there was only Steam. Since Origin many people went there. IMO its the better product. Sure there are no summer sales and whatever sales, but if you buy the latest and brightest AAA titles out there, those sales are not really for you because they sell old single player games (with very limitted multiplayer ones) . Also about the ease of use ... I've never had issues getting my money to Origin in exchange for a good game. Payments are trivial and are almost all the same across the internet. Step 1. You put down your CC number, Step 2. Wait for confirmation, Step 3. Get the product.
My take on this is that gaming has been around long enough as a physical-media based activity & is going through the same evolution in delivery of content as news, tv, film & music are going through.
I hope a certain amount of content remains available via physical media as it has in those other media forms, choice is good & a blanket-solution would degrade that ability to choose.
For me, living-space became an issue, I used to hoard my old gaming systems & games, so much so that moving home became a bit of a serious concern when carting around thousands of game tapes, floppy-disks, cartridges, cd's & something had to give, I couldn't afford to move this legacy around with me it was becoming a millstone around my neck, the hobby i had first developed as a school-kid had become an adult library of gaming nostalgia, I wasn't really playing these games just holding onto them because they had become my refuge from an unhappy childhood. Letting go of them became cathartic.
I don't mind Steam or GoG or Origins or Glyph, for the most part the intrusion & annoyance of the ads is minimal, no worse & mostly a lot better than Newspaper, TV & Radio advertising & it's not like the ads pop-up in the middle of your gaming session (in-game ads have so far not become a regular thing, sticking to a few niche titles & added there for real-world authenticity at times).
Advertising is a part of our everyday world & experience, so as long as the amount of it is kept to a small amount I'm happy to use these platforms, they help pay for the games I play & I have tried more than a few games & enjoyed them directly from these type of ads so I feel they can actually help broaden a players experience from time to time & expose them to titles they may not otherwise have considered.
I think we are currently a long way from the amount of advertising reaching obnoxious levels - good advertising knows when saturation is losing you custom.
Yes, PC game sales has generally gone digital now. Steam to me has definite Pro's & Con's.
My stance on Steam has softened some but it makes me wonder how one company has such control for its version of DRM. But then again, I'd rather have Valve have that control than some D-Bags like EA or Activision doing it. But who's to say Valve won't become the next D-Bag like EA / Activision some time down the road, and having the grasp on PC gaming that they already have.
Way too much power and influence in too few hands now.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/1312-tesv-launcher/
I agree
The really sad thing.... This is basically how it is, in every aspect of our lives. The big corporation's are gobbling everything up. There is a darkside to capitalism, it's not all roses.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
On one hand, it is nice to have ALL the software in one, easily accessible place.
On the other hand, ONE company has total control or each users software.
And then, I shudder to think, what if EA buys Steam? They are a business, first and foremost.
Be careful what one asks for?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
It's a preference thing. I would MUCH rather have one person handle all my software licensing, TBH. Shoot, I don't want to deal with licensing at all.
Internet Privacy is the new "Germ" paranoia for the decade. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to trivialize our privacy, but the problem is that it's epidemic. It's everywhere. There's been how many big blow-ups over Google and Facebook privacy concerns? And they're not even the ones you need to worry about! Powerful, yes, but they want your trust, so apart from tracking your every move and targeting advertising to your tastes, they probably don't really care what you're doing.
In the end, you don't want your information at a hundred different locations. You want it in a super safe 3-foot thick titanium lockbox with triple-keyed entry a secret pass code that changes every 24 hours and 24/7 surveillance. Problem is, we don't really want to manage and maintain all that, oh, and we really, really suck at it (including keeping information secure). It's this kind of paranoia, though, that leads people to stuffing mattresses full of cash and then some random person finding it when they have to clean up the apartment after your dead body was festering there for a week. Well, at least the bank robbers didn't get it.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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Then you get into the whole argument over Monopolies.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
This is why consoles win. Maybe next gen the devs will even release modding tools for their games on them. Then what will PC users say?
Of course, it's all going digital anyways, but console still makes it easier than steam.
Can you please elaborate on that comment. Steam is pretty damn easy and there is plenty of digital competition to Steam, Steam is just the big boy.
This whole Console vs PC thing is kind of dumb. I'm quite sure Sony or MS could easily have me playing PS4 games or XB1 games on my PC if they felt so inclined.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
If I was Microsoft exec and have the XBO dropping the ball so bad and Windows losing steam (not the steam client) I would have both GPU vendors unify an architecture even if i have to pay them to, implement that in DirectX XX pay bunch of devs for PC exclusives on that particular new API and fuck up Sony with the PC platform xD We already know that Microsoft can do long-term damage (E.g. OpenGL sunset)
#Childhood-Dreams
Also Windows X.X Gamer Edition wouldn't hurt, with 90% of the useless processes gone.
ah...one can only dream for cool stuff.
This whole Steam on Linux crap started because of the rumors that Windows will become more like MacOS, installing apps only through windows marketplace and Valve shit themselves.
Steam is the most invasive piece of software you can have on your computer.
Console users don't have to deal this or real *computer games*...
You can't have a full on *computer game* with a limited OS *&* limited hardware...
just sayin' ...