Is Your Attitude Towards Steam Positive or Negative?

[Iced_Eagle]

Strongly positive... Had a few hitches during beta, but I"m loving it now

 

[Shasta]

Sorry, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that Ireland has subscription dialup as standard or at the very least, an affordable option. Riomhaire basically hinted that it was down to parental control more than anything else. Then you come riding in telling me first and foremost that I was wrong to assume that all people had broadband when I'd already quite clearly stated that I'm fully aware that not everyone can get it. Only then do you say that I'm wrong to assume that all people have Dialup as standard. Well I didn't do that either. Riomhaire is from Ireland. With a short search, I can tell you that eircom do flat-rate internet packages http://home.eircom.net/products/flatrate/ between 30 and 10 euros a month.
edit: to be fair, the ISPs do seem to have slightly harsh limits on how many hours you can use the service for. But nothing that would stop you from updating steam overnight.
edit2: not to mention that I'm actually one of the utter minority that doesn't even have the internet in the room in which I live away from home in.

Just so you know - until recently, New Zealands idea of dial-up was sending smoke-signals. Man, it was easy to mis-dial. Then we got broadband, and your connection speed depended on how tightly you pulled the string between the paper cups. Talk about direct connection!

 

[Kouler]

Neutral.

Fix Offline Mode.
Fix Friends Network.

 

[kupocake]

Just so you know - until recently, New Zealands idea of dial-up was sending smoke-signals. Man, it was easy to mis-dial. Then we got broadband, and your connection speed depended on how tightly you pulled the string between the paper cups. Talk about direct connection!

LOL. I was expecting something more stereotypical though. Turn-Based Counter-Strike servers played by launching sheep to fellow players or something

 

[gordito]

neutral

I don't have a strong feeling either way..

I like it's potential, but the current implementation is weak. I think all the advertising and updates are lame.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Sorry, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that Ireland has subscription dialup as standard or at the very least, an affordable option. Riomhaire basically hinted that it was down to parental control more than anything else.

i was not specifically talking about Ireland...and really was not specific about a part of the world that may or may not have good ISP's.

all im saying is that it gets a bit tiring to see the internet forum tradition of seeing people pick on the one guy who usually doesn't have access to a better ISP because of the availability or parents or whatever other reason one could think of.

and im sorry too if i came off harsh or whatever...i just hate seeing the same old slagging some people take.

 

[^Ben]

Strongly positive.

I'm not getting held back if you have 2 tin cans for your internet connection.

FILL UP MY PIPES BABY :naughty:

 

[ZoFreX]

In all I'm positive because, for me, it works great - I'm lucky enough to have fast uncapped internets most places I live (except at my mum's house, but the amount of times I told her not to get internet with a 1GiB cap from BT cos she'd end up spending more in the long run.. grr). However because I'm uber bored I'll sum up my likes and dislikes:
Likes:

• Updates are faster and less hassle for me than any other system
• I can play my games anywhere I have an internet connection and don't have to faff around with cds (or more likely disc images / cracks, a lot of my game cds are screwed now)
• More smaller patches = less bugs, Half-Life 2 has been, for me, more bug free than most of my gaming experiences. I understand that for everyone this is not the case.
• Awesome new content and features continually being added
• More connections with the community via the weekly updates - really tiny feature but one I really love
• A server search that doesn't lock up my router ^_^
• Good organisation of my favourite servers, stuff like that. After using Valve games for so long I've been shocked by game browsers in a few of the games who's multiplayer I've dipped my toes into.
• Apparently new features will address my woes about non-automatic updates (see below) as well as centralising my settings, which is super-hot.

Dislikes:

• It still doesn't meet the original design spec and it's on what, version 3 now? I don't class an current update method as "automatic" if you have to restart the program based on an external news source to get your updates.
• There is no reason to force updates on users - if I don't want the latest updates, I shouldn't have to install them. This is particularly important when the SDK is broken by updates.
• Fix friends dammit.
• According to a report I saw (on the previous version of Steam), the pirated non-steam version ran significantly quicker on most machines, and I have to say Half-Life 2 takes longer to load than any other game I've cared to time on my pc.
• Someone said updates should say how large they are - combined with optional updates that would be awesome.
• Offline mode - it does sometimes break, this is unacceptable.
• The cd key tie-in is nice, but on the negative side it provides one entry point for a hacker to steal 30 or so games off me in one swoop.

I'd like to conclude this with a point rarely addressed but which is incredibly important - a lot of universities and schools refuse to open the Steam ports for bandwidth reasons (at my school the ports were only opened to my IP and one other which only I knew about, so I gave the updated gcf's out over filesharing and then activated games by temporarily issuing that IP address to computers, so much hassle we only played CS: S twice ever - compared to playing CS1.5 on average 5 times a week).

My ideal solution (hard work): Have a "Steam proxy server" which sits on the university's server, and downloads all the updates as they are released. This proxy then delivers the updates to clients on the network (yes, it's basically WSUS).

Easy hacky solution (also probably requires optional updates): Change steam so it uses set ports for set things - specifically, seperate ports for shifting huge amounts of data, so universities can give students limited access to Steam without whacking up their internet bill.

I submitted something similar to this effect to Steam a while back but they didn't listen (hey, even Microsoft have a better track record for listening to suggestions, one of mine finally made it into messenger). Did you know universities in the UK have to pay more for transatlantic traffic? You do now. Anyone with dial up / capped broadband woes is at least lucky they have flat rate on distance! (Oh, and lol at person complaining their provider doesn't do a fixed monthly service when in fact, they do). I don't blame Valve for catering mainly for broadband to be honest, maybe they're a little ahead of their time but a lot of services I use on the internet use just as much, if not more, and in most places (particularly in the pc gamer subset of the population) broadband is more common than not.

Of course, this wouldn't be a post from me without your list of quotes

Are you crazy? You must not get much info, the warez'd version has AI Disabled, I don't know how that can be better than a legit copy...

Are you crazy? You must not get info, people who warez are in general intelligent enough to get around such a minor bug, only a subset of stupid casual pirates ever had issues enough to ask on IRC and the forums - and hey, it's always nice to have ban fodder when things get quiet.

Holy F#%king $#!+, after reading your post I went to check my Steam folder. 14 F#%king gigs! It started off as about 4 with simply HL2 and CSS, as well as less than a gig for all the original HL games. 14 gigs!

You must be full of stupid CSS\CS mods, textures and .wav files. That's nothing to do with how Steam works. Not everyone with Steam and or Half-Life 2 will have a 14 gig Folder.

My Steam folder was pretty big when I had all the games installed (with no mods) but it's not really any bigger than I'd realistically expect - in fact with the shared resources they now use, the HL1 based games are possibly smaller. I have other games taking up similar amounts - however I agree it's a huge amount to download.

I like the whole idea, I only hope Epic will jump on the Steam bandwagon and release things over it aswell.

More people using Steam IMO can only be a good thing - more pressure for it to work all the time, and it stops them using their proprietary systems - the last thing I want is 17 different Steam-like apps on my pc, especially given some of the efforts I've seen. Maybe one day a Steam release will be mentioned like a DVD release is today ^_^

...

...

i'm speechless.

You mean that they even still have pay per-minute dialup now? Wow. Sorry, but if you're using pay per minute dial-up in this day and age, you have no right to complain whatsoever. I appreciate that Broadband isn't in every area on the planet, but monthly payment dialup ISPs have been the standard for at least half a decade now.

Tell Eircom.

With a short search, I can tell you that eircom do flat-rate internet packages

Pwned. No doubt the parents argument will come up, but if you aren't old enough for your parents to take you seriously when you suggest a way they can say money (or indeed get a part time job and pay part of it yourself) then perhaps you shouldn't be playing a game rated Mature, 17+.
(Aside: does Steam check your age in any way when you purchase games? It really should)

In conclusion: This is possibly my biggest forum post evar, thanks for reading it. Unless you skimmed through it. In which case come over here and I'll bite your knees off.

 

[kupocake]

Pwned. No doubt the parents argument will come up, but if you aren't old enough for your parents to take you seriously when you suggest a way they can say money (or indeed get a part time job and pay part of it yourself) then perhaps you shouldn't be playing a game rated Mature, 17+.
(Aside: does Steam check your age in any way when you purchase games? It really should)

I'm not sure about Irish ratings, but UK is actually 15+ for HL2, so Riomhaire is actually allowed under our laws at least ^_^. I think Irish may be 16+, but seriously, ratings are a whole pot of sillyness that we shouldn't get into.

Are UK people really a whole 2 years more mature than Americans?

 

[ríomhaire]

Pwned. No doubt the parents argument will come up, but if you aren't old enough for your parents to take you seriously when you suggest a way they can say money (or indeed get a part time job and pay part of it yourself) then perhaps you shouldn't be playing a game rated Mature, 17+.

Hehe, this is Ireland my friend, we do not have mature and adult only, we have
12+, 15+ and 18+

 

[ZoFreX]

I dunno what ratings it is here, I just looked it up on the intarwebs and it came up 17+. My point was, if you're old enough to play this game you're old enough to convince your parents to stop throwing money away with their internet connection, or to help pay for it yourself.

 

[Shasta]

LOL. I was expecting something more stereotypical though. Turn-Based Counter-Strike servers played by launching sheep to fellow players or something

No- while we do have more sheep than people, they always seem to get stuck in a gate or fence, and then you have to get behind them and push, and push, and pusssshhhhhh- ahhh, that's better. Where was I? Oh yeah. Sheep. Nah, they are used as taxi's, and sometimes as wives. They don't mind a one night stand either.

 

[rosseh]

Are UK people really a whole 2 years more mature than Americans?

Yes :E.

 

[mattlorimor]

Rough start. But overall, very positive. I only have a 56k connection at my house. So, I had to end up taking my computer to my high school to do the initial install of HL2. Now, updates do not take an obscene amount of time. I really like the Steam user interface. It's smooth and is very easy to access all my Steam games from. For those of you that feel very negative about the whole Steam experience. I am sorry to say that it looks as if this is the future of game distribution.

 

[Shasta]

For those of you that feel very negative about the whole Steam experience. I am sorry to say that it looks as if this is the future of game distribution.

I'm 100% sure it is. If only we actually lived in the future now. A future where steam type software wasn't so controlling. A future where it let you know the size of updates, and didn't force you to do them. A future where everyone has fast broadband with no MB limits, and happy little elves give you lollypops.

In the future a "simple" program will probably be like 10 GB, and need a 10Ghz processor, etc as well- but thats not useful to someone of today now, is it?

In the mean time, how about making something that works for the people of today.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

For the vast majority of people, Steam does work for them now.

 

[Shasta]

For the vast majority of people, Steam does work for them now.

Then why do we have this thread, plus loads of others with people asking for help / voicing complaints?

Does steam give you a choice when it comes to updating it? Does it tell you how big an update is before you download it? Could you play a game you bought to play offline eg HL2 without being forced to at least update steam every now and then? What about people with dial up? I bet it's loads of fun for them to spend about 3- 5 hours being forced to update the game they just bought and thought they would be playing in about 10 minutes.

I didn't just mean "works for all now", I meant "works well for all now".

 

[kupocake]

Then why do we have this thread, plus loads of others with people asking for help / voicing complaints?

75% of people replying to this thread are positive or strongly positive about Steam. Only 9% are Negative. Minorities can make a lot of noise and it's just plain easier to be negative and noticed. "I less than three Steam" threads tend to be pretty rare and unsuccesfful, even though 40% of people in this thread probably less than three Steam to the power of more than three.

 

[Lemonz]

when I have Cable it will be strongly positive....now with dial-up til January 31
its positive. I really dig CSS and the free updates.

 

[Cole]

What about people with dial up?

WTF do you mean what about us? Leave US out of it as guess what? Im a 56ker, STEAM IS GREAT. I tell it to not auto update a game if I don't want it updated. Hell I rarely play in offline mode.
Either way if it's about CS:S and a new patch came out...well all the servers damn near right away have the newest friggen patch and well Im gonna have to update to that either way. About HL2, no problems no large updates. Im a 56ker I am basically was forced with patience...I can wait 5-10 minutes.

Stop using us as a weapon.

 

[Shasta]

Minorities can make a lot of noise and it's just plain easier to be negative and noticed.

Look, the thread asked my opinion of steam, and I gave it. Some people took offense to MY OPINION, so I gave my reasons and defended them. What more do you people want?

Oh, I see. Well, that will cost you. And females only; 2, no, 3 at a time. Your place, not mine. You could have just asked, or got me drunk.

 

[TheGMan.]

Get a new computer, and try re-installing HL2. The outcome of that is why I am against Steam

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Build computer.
Install Windows.
Install Steam.
Copy over backed-up GCFs
Enter your previous username and password into Steam.
Play HL2.

 

[TheGMan.]

I just bought another game and took the key

 

[Absinthe]

Very positive.

Rough start, but I think everybody should have expected that. I have absolutely no issues with it at the moment, and I wholeheartedly embrace its methods of updating, delivery, and employment of user feedback. And anybody who remembers how it was in its beta days can attest to how much it has improved.

 

[Cormeh]

106 replies later and all I can say is "Strongly Positive".

Check it regularly, don't dick about with it, it's fine.

 

[^Ben]

Build computer.
Install Windows.
Install Steam.
Copy over backed-up GCFs
Enter your previous username and password into Steam.
Play HL2.

As I have had to reinstall about 10 times in the last week I can tell you that getting steam on a new computer is piss easy.

 

[sailor44]

Detest it! I was never told that I needed to have Internet access to run the damn game, and now I am all screwed up with my accounts. And, I get NO response from these people when I ask for help in fixing it! And, just who are they to charge ten bucks to transfer accounts, when I did not even have a choice as to whether to get one in the first place???

 

[ríomhaire]

Detest it! I was never told that I needed to have Internet access to run the damn game

It was on the back of the box :|

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Detest it! I was never told that I needed to have Internet access to run the damn game, and now I am all screwed up with my accounts. And, I get NO response from these people when I ask for help in fixing it! And, just who are they to charge ten bucks to transfer accounts, when I did not even have a choice as to whether to get one in the first place???

Are you blind? It says on the box, INTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED. You probably get no help because you sit there and curse in the support ticket you made, or the post you made on their forums(I doubt you made a ticket).

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Positive, I have fun with the two games I have :HL2 & CS:S. The only thing is the waiting for certain updates that I would have like to have had earlier always bugs me.

 

[BaconIsGood4You]

Positive; Would be Strong if Friends worked.

 

[^Ben]

Detest it! I was never told that I needed to have Internet access to run the damn game, and now I am all screwed up with my accounts. And, I get NO response from these people when I ask for help in fixing it! And, just who are they to charge ten bucks to transfer accounts, when I did not even have a choice as to whether to get one in the first place???

I think you have a problem of pbkac.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

I vote it's a good thing. If you disagree, you probably support piracy and deserve a roundhouse kick to the chops.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

deserve a roundhouse kick to the chops.

From Chuck Norris!

 

[halflifeguy]

i pisses me off more than i would like it too but i give it a chance. Its a great idea for cutting down the price of distibuting it through a publisher

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Downloading the games also saves gas money

 

[ZoFreX]

Tbh Steam actually makes casual piracy easier, Iit's quite easy to lend your account to people you trust. I found a few bugs which let me play games with the same account at the same time on more than one computer too, which was interesting, dunno if that's fixed yet.

Detest it! I was never told that I needed to have Internet access to run the damn game

Yes you were.

just who are they to charge ten bucks to transfer accounts, when I did not even have a choice as to whether to get one in the first place???

It doesn't cost 10 bucks to get an account in the first place, which is what they gave you no choice over, it costs 10 bucks when something goes wrong at your end.

I think you have a problem of pebkac.

Fixed. QFT.

I think Valve should look at this thread, there is some really good constructive criticism here.

 

[Cole]

Tbh Steam actually makes casual piracy easier, Iit's quite easy to lend your account to people you trust. I found a few bugs which let me play games with the same account at the same time on more than one computer too, which was interesting, dunno if that's fixed yet.

If steam is being accessed from the same Ip address then yeah no probably you can play on more than one computer if they have the same internet ip.
I've lanned my bro plenty of times on Cs:S under the same account, both steams were in online mode and the computers were lanned togeather.

 

[boglito]

I voted strongly positive.
Steam has lots of problems, but they can be worked out and are more related to updates than to the system itself.
The steam-system is currently the best (and afaik only proper) online distribution system in the world, without any shred of doubt.

I have bought all steamgames via steam since hl2 (steam silver, rdkf, darwinia) and I am very pleased with the way it functions (although not so pleased with rdkf). Simplicity and availability for teh win! Preloading and actually getting the game the very moment it is released is pretty nice for those of us who do not live next-door to an american eb.

If there is one thing I don't like about steam it is the fact that you can get hl/hl2 and mods cheaper from retail now that some time has passed and they are reducing prices. Example: Me and a friend got 2 copies of cs:cz for USD 29 (for the cs:s beta, and totally worth it!) while a similar purchase over steam would have been (back then) about usd 60 and still is USD 30. I think VALVe could afford to cut prices a little faster than they do on steam.

All in all I love steam even with all its little annoyances. I will definately continue to support steam (and thus VALVe and independent developers) by buying games released over it, even though I probably would not have bought the games otherwise.

Steam is a stroke of genius, and I bet there are a lot of people in the business that wish that they were first with this.

.bog.