Is Your Attitude Towards Steam Positive or Negative?

[ríomhaire]

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.

What? Since when is loaning a game to a friend counted as piracy?

 

[bam23]

Positive. The only reason I didn't pick Strongly Positive is that it didn't work when HL2 was first released and I didn't get to play it for almost 2 hours.

 

[ZoFreX]

What? Since when is loaning a game to a friend counted as piracy?

When we're both playing from one purchase at the same time?

 

[ríomhaire]

When we're both playing from one purchase at the same time?

Oh right. Yep that'd be piracy. ARG!

 

[Steven]

I don't like steam at all it's hell for a dial up user, and guess what? If the servers are down you can't even play a game which you paid one hundred bucks for.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

I don't like steam at all it's hell for a dial up user, and guess what? If the servers are down you can't even play a game which you paid one hundred bucks for.

How many times in Steam's history has that happened? Once, WON was down much more.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Well it's hell to play any fps online with dial up dude. (except ut GOYE instagib)

 

[ZoFreX]

Oh right. Yep that'd be piracy. ARRRRRRRRRRRR!

fixed.

 

[UltimaApocalypse]

When we're both playing from one purchase at the same time?

Doesn't matter, because you can't get into the same server anyway...

 

[Cole]

When we're both playing from one purchase at the same time?

Well then that goes for about every damn game. If anything it just makes people more afraid of doing it thus less people doing it thus less piracy.
Because TONS OF GAMES are always being loaned out. It's easy to play these games at once either back up the cd, create an emulated version of the cd, or use a no cd crack. Plus this is a rather good thing and is rather a benefit. Much easier to lan games with your friends\family. I lanned my bro on Cs:S all the time with some bots. Plus Synergy for HL2DM we had some fun with that.

Plus this still makes it harder for piracy because I believe in order to get onto the same steam account twice you need the same Ip Address, so it still keeps you from loaning your account out to people that arn't in your house.

I don't like steam at all it's hell for a dial up user, and guess what? If the servers are down you can't even play a game which you paid one hundred bucks for.

I take it your a Dial up user? I am to...I don't see whats so bad about it?

 

[ríomhaire]

I don't like steam at all it's hell for a dial up user, and guess what? If the servers are down you can't even play a game which you paid one hundred bucks for.

Er...offline mode?

 

[Steven]

I take it your a Dial up user? I am to...I don't see whats so bad about it?

Offline mode doesn't work sometimes and when you go online you're forced to update, gah stop asking me why it sucks. The servers have only gone down once and if it says "Can't connect to steam." when you're in offline mode you can't play unlike other games where you'll never have to worry about that.

Well it's hell to play any fps online with dial up dude. (except ut GOYE instagib)

Yes it is but I shoulden't have to pay to dial up sometime just to play a single player game.
Thats why it sucks for dial up.

 

[ríomhaire]

Offline mode doesn't work sometimes and when you go online you're forced to update, gah stop asking me why it sucks. The servers have only gone down once and if it says "Can't connect to steam." when you're in offline mode you can't play unlike other games where you'll never have to worry about that.

Yes it is but I shoulden't have to pay to dial up sometime just to play a single player game.
Thats why it sucks for dial up.

Then turn off updates

 

[ZoFreX]

Doesn't matter, because you can't get into the same server anyway...

Last time I tried, admittedly some time ago... we could. Maybe it was just an internal LAN server... I forget.

Well then that goes for about every damn game. If anything it just makes people more afraid of doing it thus less people doing it thus less piracy.
Because TONS OF GAMES are always being loaned out. It's easy to play these games at once either back up the cd, create an emulated version of the cd, or use a no cd crack.

My point was it makes it easier, not that it's impossible with other games. Trust me, I know how easy it is to pirate most games ^_^ However, for example to get Splinter Cell 3 co-op going in the early days of it being out, I started it up using my dvd and then took the dvd out and walked to my mate in the room next door to start his up with the same dvd. Much more hassle. Also with Steam one can loan games much more effeciently, I know two people who have one account between them, cos they rarely both wanna play at the same time, even though they each play several times a week.

Then turn off updates

I don't have the means to test this right now but if memory serves (ha!) that doesn't work.

 

[Cole]

Trust me, I know how easy it is to pirate most games ^_^ However, for example to get Splinter Cell 3 co-op going in the early days of it being out, I started it up using my dvd and then took the dvd out and walked to my mate in the room next door to start his up with the same dvd. Much more hassle.

Wow much harder lol. Why not just get a no cd crack? on your computers. Anyway I know many people who have a steam account between them. Me and my bro, my cousin and his brothers...infact alot of people... Hell with D2 I lanned D2 all the time with my bro, got up multiple copies on the same comp when one of us was playing something else, and etc.. with a nice no cd crack.

Last time I tried, admittedly some time ago... we could. Maybe it was just an internal LAN server... I forget.

Of course you can with LAN Servers, you can log into steam unlimited amount of times from the same IP address.

Offline mode doesn't work sometimes and when you go online you're forced to update, gah stop asking me why it sucks. The servers have only gone down once and if it says "Can't connect to steam." when you're in offline mode you can't play unlike other games where you'll never have to worry about that.

OMG HL2 has an update that takes 10minutes on my 56k....If you have a 56k, like me, you should know how to be patient already.

Yes it is but I shoulden't have to pay to dial up sometime just to play a single player game.
Thats why it sucks for dial up.

Well I shouldn't have to buy a new graphics card to play a game at highest settings but times are changing graphics are improving and guess what I DO. It dosn't cost to much to connection for a Dial Upper except if you have a horrible ISP. I just keep my connection running all day....

 

[ZoFreX]

Wow much harder lol. Why not just get a no cd crack?

Because at the time none existed. It took them a while to crack Chaos Theory.

OMG HL2 has an update that takes 10minutes on my 56k....If you have a 56k, like me, you should know how to be patient already.

I wasn't defending the "ohnoes I have 56k" argument, I was telling him that his attack was possibly based on errneous information.

It dosn't cost to much to connection for a Dial Upper except if you have a horrible ISP. I just keep my connection running all day....

In some areas broadband internet is still not available at the consumer prices you know it. /me cuddles 2 meg connection ^_^ Others are not as lucky as you and I.

 

[Cole]

In some areas broadband internet is still not available at the consumer prices you know it. /me cuddles 2 meg connection ^_^ Others are not as lucky as you and I.

What do you mean others are not as lucky as you and I? I am a 56KER. Broadband isn't even around here. It wont be for at least another year or 2, my school is finally pushing a company to do it. Thats includes putting up phone lines through quite a bit amount of country. Yes broadband is available at a consumer price in most places that it is available. Hell DSL costs $10 less than what were paying for our 56k+second phone line.
If DSL costs $14.95 on lowest 6 month plan, and 56k costs $17 on 12 month plan, plus a second phone line costs $10, thats $14.95 vs $27. Infact Sbc next package is even cheaper at $24.95 a month for 6 months. Yeah thats STILL cheaper.


-----
Only people who use 56k's can argue "if" Steam is good for them or not. Because for each 56ker it really REALLY matters on there ISP + Modem. Those that are impatient and have crappy 56k connections...well thats like running on a 28.8k connection which makes me shiver.
I hate it when I see people with broadband throw us in the argument. I love Steam, it's great, im a 56ker, It's not bad at all, I can stand some updates. Cs:S runs smooth on a 56k, if I want to update it leave it on overnight...simple..done I'd have to update it with or without steam...Steam just makes it easier cuz I don't have to go and wait on fileplanet and then hope I don't disconnect cuz it's much easier for a file on fileplanet to not work after a disconnection with pause\resume.
Steam is great and once they redo the friends, in the works, It will be even better.

 

[ZoFreX]

Many apologies, I misread what you said - I thought you were saying it didn't cost much to get broadband from dialup (and not in fact that using steam on dialup doesnt cost much) - sorry.

I would be the last person to say you can't use steam on dialup, on my old dialup connection I was downloading gigs a month, I know it can be done.

I think you too easily jump to conclusions on where I stand in this discussion - just because I counter an argument I perceive as incorrect does not mean I take the opposite stance. If an argument is wrong I cut it down whether it supports what I think or no.

 

[^Ben]

How many times do you guys play a "single player game" let's be honest, once you have played it once and twice you have played it all. You guys bleeting on about the "single player issue" make it sound like you only play the single player over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Oh and the numbers are in Steam wins.

 

[Steven]

Guys, I still hate steam. I don't mind waiting a day to download something but I shoulden't have to wait quadrople the time of downloading a regular game when I download it, it's annoying. Just to let people know I have 33.6K not 56K because everyone says 56K.

Well I shouldn't have to buy a new graphics card to play a game at highest settings but times are changing graphics are improving and guess what I DO. It dosn't cost to much to connection for a Dial Upper except if you have a horrible ISP. I just keep my connection running all day....

So you buy expensive hardware and on top of that you still pay per play (when you need to go in online mode.) So thats like buying a pinball machine and you still have to play twenty cents per play. If someone tells me how to turn off updates and stop steam not being able to connect to the steam network when it's offline (occasionally) then I take everything back.

 

[Cole]

I would be the last person to say you can't use steam on dialup, on my old dialup connection I was downloading gigs a month, I know it can be done.

lol I've gone on massive downloading sprees . Why not get that 75meg file TruCombat, hey Navy Seals: CO thats only 120, hey I'll dll Steam /w Cs that was a good 500, hmm..I should try that Desert Combat mod, downloaded that 600meg file... Hey Military Forces dosn't look to bad for Q3! 70 megs.. downloaded..

I know you wern't taking a hit on 56kers, and I apologize for my previous quote(2 posts away). My last post after I went on about not using us in posts was more of a General Statement to those that were, not at all towards you.

How many times do you guys play a "single player game" let's be honest, once you have played it once and twice you have played it all. You guys bleeting on about the "single player issue" make it sound like you only play the single player over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Just on Steam? I only play HL2 here and there. Once in a while. Mostly Morrowind and Civ4 for Single Player, though Civ4 me n my cuz usually LAN.

Just to let people know I have 33.6K not 56K because everyone says 56K.

I'd bitch slap my ISP if they ever gave my dl speeds being 5.0Kb/s.... or connections lower than 48.0Kbps.... Which must sound sad to someone with broadband lol.

So you buy expensive hardware and on top of that you still pay per play (when you need to go in online mode.)

What do you mean pay per play? My connection is a monthly fee....I get disconnects 8-16 hours...then it just reconnects..... I always start my steam in Online mode, never in offline mode. Wow it costs some cents to reconnect 2 times a day... I have alot of change that wouldn't get used any other way.. I built my computer, good experince for later on in life.

If someone tells me how to turn off updates and stop steam not being able to connect to the steam network when it's offline (occasionally) then I take everything back.

Turning off updates it's easy... right click on the game when it's updating and click on "pause update"......

 

[wolvesrdogs]

The Friends List Doesn't Even Work!!!!!!

 

[^Ben]

Guys, I still hate steam. I don't mind waiting a day to download something but I shoulden't have to wait quadrople the time of downloading a regular game when I download it, it's annoying. Just to let people know I have 33.6K not 56K because everyone says 56K.

So you buy expensive hardware and on top of that you still pay per play (when you need to go in online mode.) So thats like buying a pinball machine and you still have to play twenty cents per play. If someone tells me how to turn off updates and stop steam not being able to connect to the steam network when it's offline (occasionally) then I take everything back.

GUYZ MY 386 IS STARTING TO SHOW ITS AGE! I HATE NEW GAMES! BRING BACK 256 COLORS!

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

The Friends List Doesn't Even Work!!!!!!

You are such a genius....

Use Xfire till its done kthx.

 

[Steven]

GUYZ MY 386 IS STARTING TO SHOW ITS AGE! I HATE NEW GAMES! BRING BACK 256 COLORS!

I'M STUCK WITH A CELCO 4 FUNCTION CALCULATOR!!!!111!!

33.6, Oh shit that was my old connection.

What do you mean pay per play? My connection is a monthly fee....I get disconnects 8-16 hours...then it just reconnects..... I always start my steam in Online mode, never in offline mode. Wow it costs some cents to reconnect 2 times a day... I have alot of change that wouldn't get used any other way.. I built my computer, good experince for later on in life.

You're paying extra money to play it wether it's monthly yearly or whatever and thats on top of the money you've already payed.

Turning off updates it's easy... right click on the game when it's updating and click on "pause update"......

I know that silly but what about actual Steam updates?

 

[Beerdude26]

You're paying extra money to play it wether it's monthly yearly or whatever and thats on top of the money you've already payed.

So?
It's not like he didn't know. He knew he had to update his game once in a while. An internet connection is even in the requirements. So he knew he had to spend some more money than normal.

 

[rosseh]

I know that silly but what about actual Steam updates?

Updates to the Steam engine are tiny!

 

[Cole]

You're paying extra money to play it wether it's monthly yearly or whatever and thats on top of the money you've already payed.

I don't see how im paying more.
With or Without Steam my connection would be always on. Steam dosn't cost money... Since my connections going to be on either way, and I don't play "Pay to Play Monthly\Yearly"(like MMO's), I have a $204 yearly payment for my 56k minus the second phone line. I don't pay for how much I use the internet it's a flat fee.

 

[Steven]

You're paying extra money to play it wether it's monthly yearly or whatever and thats on top of the money you've already payed.

What I was trying to type diden't come out right probably because I was melting under the extremely hot weather, you better belive me it must of been like 45 degres celsius with 100% humidity.

I don't like Steam because I am forced to update on my slow connection and it costs money to dial up when offline mode isn't working and I don't see whats so great about it, all it does is annoy me. It may cause games to be just downloaded off the internet and games will grow in size aswell if you have a slow connection you're screwed in that case and it means that gaming costs even more money. So ok, I don't like it but another guy with dial up might.

 

[Cole]

What I was trying to type diden't come out right probably because I was melting under the extremely hot weather, you better belive me it must of been like 45 degres celsius with 100% humidity.

Damn it's cold as hell here . I wish it was hot.

I don't like Steam because I am forced to update on my slow connection and it costs money to dial up when offline mode isn't working and I don't see whats so great about it, all it does is annoy me. It may cause games to be just downloaded off the internet and games will grow in size aswell if you have a slow connection you're screwed in that case and it means that gaming costs even more money. So ok, I don't like it but another guy with dial up might.

Do you pay per how much you use it or a flat fee? I'm guessing you pay per how much you use it or only have one phone line.

I guess this really defines what 56kers like steam and what don't. Those that have a flat fee and a second phone line where the net is always on it really dosn't matter. But for those that pay for how much they use\1 phone line get messed up.
Though in the end if 5x less people buy off Steam, Valve still make as much money retail thus I guess Valves happy.

 

[ZoFreX]

Turning off updates it's easy... right click on the game when it's updating and click on "pause update"......

And then when you try to play the game, doesn't it force you to make the update anyway?

Just to let people know I have 33.6K not 56K because everyone says 56K.

:|

I don't like Steam because I am forced to update on my slow connection and it costs money to dial up when offline mode isn't working and I don't see whats so great about it, all it does is annoy me.

Flat-rate dialup would probably be a good idea, that way it doesn't really matter if you use the net a lot. Also, screw the second phone line, just download really huge stuff while you're asleep - there are some nice apps to automatically redial when you get cutoff, too.

 

[Rygir]

I admit, steam works "as advertised"... you can open it, buy a game, play it minutes later, everythings all fine. But let's take a closer look : The new steam got a big layout update, the bandwith monitor has been dumbed down, (instead of a nice overview of all relevant information you now get a simple popup window with barely any information at all), the instant messaging functionality has been broken for ages (one of the only things that made steam interesting imho), it takes a noticeable amount of time to load, it consumes more resources than previous versions (I've noticed it consumes on average 1% CPU, even if it's not doing anything!), it's loaded with ads (the "store" tab is the first tab, basically it's saying "buy buy buy!") for the games (which you either have or don't want), ...

What it comes down to is this : It's not built to improve your customer experience, it's built to block you from doing what you want with your property. Scanning your PC for cheats, hacks, cracks, encrypting game files, ... basically treating you like a criminal. And on top of that it's nothing more than a store front on your PC. I don't need a store front on my PC. I know where to go to buy things, thank you very much.

This is all becomes very clear when somethings wrong :
Once a product is bought it's tied to your account, if you run your account on a computer with something that VAC recognises as a cheat or hack (assuming VAC is infallible and it doesn't identify harmless things incorrectly!) and you get banned you pretty much risk losing hundreds of dollars/euro's worth of software and there isn't a thing you can do about it. Have you ever tried steam support? Here's a fun thing to do : save the webpage once you're logged in. Transfer this html file to a friend and let him open it. Voila, he can access your account and post in your name. I noticed this because I was showing a friend the reply I got from tech support because it would help him as well.

If you accidently register a game to the wrong account (happened to me, I had been using another account than I had intended and now I have to switch accounts if I want to play another game), you can't do anything about it. While it would be very simple for steam to just "unregister" a game from your account, they refuse to do refunds.

And what do you think will happen when Steam becomes obsolete (you don't believe anything lasts more than a couple years in computer land, do you?)? Even if you have it on CD, you're screwed because you need to get authenticated, sooner or later the offline mode is going to be lost (because you need to reformat your comp, because you clicked a wrong button,...)

Imagine someone at steam made a mistake and your account suddenly doesn't allow you to play HL2 anymore (for example). What are you going to do?

And what are you paying for in the end? You don't get a manual, a box, anything physical at all. In the old days you got a 400 page manual, a nice box, and other stuff for the same or even less money (for some games, not all obviously).

And the thing that bugs me most : I liked the old Half-Life menu better. It looked better and worked smoother. And for some reason I can see LESS servers now than I got with the original HL server browser.

I think to should get back to basics with steam and just have it MANAGE your games updates, act as a server browser and instant messaging client and stuff, and not integrate itself with every game, encrypting things and wasting bandwidth for no good reason (updates are on thing, but it isn't quiet even if it isn't updating).

 

[Solver]

Agreed, the store tab is a bit annoying. It constantly shows for me HL2 (which I own), CSS (which I own) and DoD (which I don't own and don't want).

As for the manuals... HL2 isn't really the game which could come with a manual in the first place. I mean, just how much useful info could you get in one? I love my older games with fat manuals, though.

 

[Cole]

with something that VAC recognises as a cheat or hack (assuming VAC is infallible and it doesn't identify harmless things incorrectly!) and you get banned you pretty much risk losing hundreds of dollars/euro's worth of software and there isn't a thing you can do about it.

I believe that if you have a hack on your computer that you run on a Secure Server and certian values are out of certian bounds, then VAC will ban you. It dosn't just check your computer when steams up 24/7. You need it running in the background and\or certain values need to be out of bounds for you to be picked up by VAC.

If you accidently register a game to the wrong account (happened to me, I had been using another account than I had intended and now I have to switch accounts if I want to play another game), you can't do anything about it. While it would be very simple for steam to just "unregister" a game from your account, they refuse to do refunds.

Of course you could pay $10, but anyways how can you register it to the wrong account? You would have to create 2 accounts in the first place to do that then register it to the wrong one.

Imagine someone at steam made a mistake and your account suddenly doesn't allow you to play HL2 anymore (for example). What are you going to do?

Get a Steam Ticket....

In the old days you got a 400 page manual, a nice box, and other stuff for the same or even less money (for some games, not all obviously).

Yes and now PUBLISHERS you know like Vivendi for instance DON'T EVEN SHIP MANUALS, SHIP PAPER CASES, AND USE OUTDATED SCREENSHOTS ON THEIR BOX.
Yeah, Publishers get just as lazy man. With Steam at least the people who make the game actually get most of the money.

I can see LESS servers now than I got with the original HL server browser.

Because less people. This could be because of certain filter settings. More people have probably moved on from the oringal HLDM. To more mods that improve HLDM and Cs and etc..

I think to should get back to basics with steam and just have it MANAGE your games updates, act as a server browser and instant messaging client and stuff, and not integrate itself with every game, encrypting things and wasting bandwidth for no good reason

To make priating a hell of a lot easier. It will cancel out lazy pirates just like that, screw out alot of pirates from the mods and updates. Steam has alot of account stuff because of piracy. Piracy heavily hurts Developers. They get what $7 off of a $50 game, piracy just really hurts them. At least with online distribution it hurts them alot less because they get about $35. This allows for 5x less people to buy for you to still make the same amount of money. So this basically just cuts a good portion of piracy and gives the DEVELOPER the money they deserve.
Though what if piracy went up? Well simple, if 2/5 of the people that would normally buy the game just pirate dit, the developer is still making 3x the money.
Every Developer makes games with the very intention on making money. For any company even one like Valve or Blizzard sees money as the 1st priority. Then what do we need to make that money? Make a good game. Add unique things in. Get a huge community behind it. As you can see it all goes back as a scheme to simply make money.

Scanning your PC for cheats, hacks, cracks, encrypting game files, ... basically treating you like a criminal.

It dosn't Scan your HD, all it does is a quick scan for what is in memory and if any Values in the game is out of Date and STEAM does not do this. HL2 DOES THIS. Without Steam there is no doubt Valve would have still made VAC.

it consumes more resources than previous versions

Thats wierd, it seems to me most people have said it takes less.

it takes a noticeable amount of time to load

To log in or load? I don't see it taking a long time to load. I click on steam, it starts up checks for update and logs in.

And then when you try to play the game, doesn't it force you to make the update anyway?

Most 56kers should have learned the meaning of patience. For singleplayer games the updates are very small and take 1-10 minutes on a 56k. For multiplayer, well since servers and things damn update on the fly...well your going to have to anyway so this just makes it so you don't have to wait in line at fileplanet.

 

[boglito]

"And what do you think will happen when Steam becomes obsolete (you don't believe anything lasts more than a couple years in computer land, do you?"

If steam didn't last more than a couple years in computer land it is bound to shut down at any minute now. But it's not going to, is it?

I could pick most of your flawed arguments apart, but that would be too timeconsuming, so I picked the most obvious one. Steam is currently the very best (only really good afaik) online distribution system. You don't have to like that, but you can't deny it. You could say the antipiracy features of steam sucks, but you can't deny they work to some extent (note that hl2 did not leak weaks before its worldwide release, unlike doom3), and you certainly cannot blame valve for trying. Blame the pirates. The steam inteface itself could be a lot better, heck, I would be able to design a much better interface, but it does work, and it _will_ be improved in time.
I can see why people would think the store tab being front sucks, but that is solved by using the mini-view.
Oh, and whining about cheat-detection. That's a good one.

.bog.

 

[ZoFreX]

most 56kers should have learned the meaning of patience. For singleplayer games the updates are very small and take 1-10 minutes on a 56k. For multiplayer, well since servers and things damn update on the fly...well your going to have to anyway so this just makes it so you don't have to wait in line at fileplanet.

I know, but that wasn't my point. Someone said "It should make updates optional", someone else said "You can turn updating off", I said "But it forces you to update when you start the game" - by which I am countering the argument that updates already are optional. They aren't optional if you want to play the game, and they should be.

it consumes more resources than previous versions

Not on my computer it doesn't, nor on my laptop.

Scanning your PC for cheats, hacks, cracks, encrypting game files, ... basically treating you like a criminal. And on top of that it's nothing more than a store front on your PC. I don't need a store front on my PC. I know where to go to buy things, thank you very much.

One of my favourite features of Steam is I can buy new games on it, that kinda requires a store front. It doesn't scan your computer either, get your facts straight.

Once a product is bought it's tied to your account, if you run your account on a computer with something that VAC recognises as a cheat or hack (assuming VAC is infallible and it doesn't identify harmless things incorrectly!) and you get banned you pretty much risk losing hundreds of dollars/euro's worth of software and there isn't a thing you can do about it.

There are several warning levels, so you'd have to cheat more than once to get banned. IIRC you normally just get banned from individual servers rather than the whole of Steam unless you really go nuts. I doubt VAC makes many (if any) false detections, this seems to be one of a number of purely hypothetical points you've made with no basis in the real world.

Have you ever tried steam support? Here's a fun thing to do : save the webpage once you're logged in. Transfer this html file to a friend and let him open it. Voila, he can access your account and post in your name. I noticed this because I was showing a friend the reply I got from tech support because it would help him as well.

I was unable to reproduce this. Sure, I get a page telling me I'm logged in as me, but as soon as I click a link I realise I'm not actually logged in.

If you accidently register a game to the wrong account (happened to me, I had been using another account than I had intended and now I have to switch accounts if I want to play another game), you can't do anything about it. While it would be very simple for steam to just "unregister" a game from your account, they refuse to do refunds.

You can transfer games from one account to another, it costs money but this is to stop people reselling games (which of course loses them money). You have to be pretty special to register a game to the wrong account anyway. Oh, and they refuse to do refunds for eminently obvious reasons - you could download, set up offline mode, and then get a refund, and play away at your heart's content. Most game shops round here don't give refunds for pc games cos they know you can just crack them.

And what do you think will happen when Steam becomes obsolete (you don't believe anything lasts more than a couple years in computer land, do you?)?

If Steam went down completely (as in never coming back), Valve would release patches to let you carry on playing the games, without doubt.

Imagine someone at steam made a mistake and your account suddenly doesn't allow you to play HL2 anymore (for example). What are you going to do?

What, someone could accidentally slip, load your account, accidentally slip, click half-life 2, accidentally slip, and click remove? If you're going to use hypotheticals at least use one that's remotely possible.

And what are you paying for in the end? You don't get a manual, a box, anything physical at all. In the old days you got a 400 page manual, a nice box, and other stuff for the same or even less money (for some games, not all obviously).

You're paying for the game, which for me is the best bit. If you believe otherwise I have plenty of empty game boxes and manuals I can sell to you at very reasonable prices.

And the thing that bugs me most : I liked the old Half-Life menu better. It looked better and worked smoother. And for some reason I can see LESS servers now than I got with the original HL server browser.

Probably because less people use HL now, duh.

I think to should get back to basics with steam and just have it MANAGE your games updates, act as a server browser and instant messaging client and stuff, and not integrate itself with every game, encrypting things and wasting bandwidth for no good reason (updates are on thing, but it isn't quiet even if it isn't updating).

It hardly wastes bandwidth for no good reason - most of its bandwidth is for updates which is what you want it to do, I don't see what you're chatting about here.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

M-m-m-m-m-m-monster Post!

 

[RabidJester]

Anything that allows me to purchase my video games in the nude is a good thing in my book.

 

[CrazyJeepDriver]

Im positive. I havent had many problems with it and its a good way to deliver patches and games quickly.

 

[The Hulk]

I absolutely love it. NEVER had an issue.