Who here hates Steam and similar DRM methods?

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I just e-mailed a reseller to cancel my pre-order of the collector's edition of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, since it has been confirmed that it will use Steam.

I guess I can't play close to any PC games, anymore. Forced Internet, no second hand value and virus-like programs is nothing for me. When I buy a game, I buy it, I don't rent it at full price while being subjected to Big Brotherish schemes.

Maybe someone should make a list of what games don't and won't use Steam, or other, similarly functioning DRM methods. I've kind of ended up in the mindset where I have to assume they use it, so therefore, I don't buy any PC games, anymore; it's too much work finding out if they are intent on ripping you off... stealing your money, actually... that's what they do. How ironic that they do this to combat piracy (and it most certainly is not working, either). I wonder how many customers the gaming companies have lost, so far, with all this crap.

You can set Steam so it can be used offline.

I have a ton of games (all purchased at a discount) via Steam, and I haven't really had any trouble. I had misgivings at first but it works fine.

I used to be a big supporter of Impulse, and it generally had less restrictive usage requirements than Steam, but Gamestop purchased it and I had multiple problems with downloading games I had purchased.

Steam is barely DRM at all because of the offline mode.

Steam may be confusing to use at first but once you learn how to use it and fix all the glitches you might be getting from time to time then its no problem to use at all.
If you have a problem with Steam you can PM me and I can fix it for you (1% chance I can't fix a problem).

Even if the company behind the game goes bust, and the Steam user information is lost after some sort of malfunction, or the use of Steam is discontinued for some reason?

What if I want to sell the game, after I've played it? Or give it to a friend, brother or sister? It's incredible that you "buy" a game when you actually rent it at full price (the boxes are not at discounts). It's conning in my book, and yet it's the buyers ("buyers") of the games that are treated like criminals for buying the game. I'd suggest that everyone start torrenting the pirated versions, that work as they should. Maybe the gaming companies will end up getting it before they all manage to go bust, from the boycotting.

Either that, or the "authorities" respond to it by that we get yet more surveillance of the Internet, but also including things such as lifetime bans against copyright infringers using the Internet, which has been suggested as a copyright method in several big countries.

God I hate this world. >_>;

Steam itself isn't too bad.... I like buying games at a discount!

But I do hate the fact that DRM destroys secondhand value and reduces the rights of owners.... It's just one more reason I switched to PS3.

In the unlikely event of such a thing happening, yes... You won't have access to the Steam Cloud but you'll be able to play everything offline, assuming it remains installed. Assuming you took the necessary steps to play offline.



If you want to sell a game after you play it, don't buy it on Steam? I mean, I don't really care about this because I never get rid of games anyway, so it's not an issue. Resale itself has often struck me as a con, due to places like Gamestop buying back games for a pittance and selling them for $10 under new price.

I don't get the "rent it at full price" criticism since, again, you can play it offline. Steam can't prevent you from playing your games.

Are you seriously suggesting everyone switch from using Steam or similar and pirate in protest instead?



I agree that businesses want truly draconian measures far out of proportion to the damage that piracy actually causes. I do not know how likely such measures are to come to pass.

many games that come on steam also come as normal boxed editions, i cant imagine skyrim being any different

Well some boxed games still require Steam because they use Steam Works ( http://steampowered.com/steamworks/ ) but I don't know about Skyrim since I don't play that kind of games myself.

I love Steam, it's the best place to buy games ever, unless it's a special occasion and you just have to buy the brand-new physical game with a lovely-smelling manual

Anyways my local game shops have bugger-all in the PC games department.

How can you possibly hate Steam?

Feel free to add me on steam my name is "Milo953"

Okay, a moderator can close this thread, now. Looks like the majority thinks it's either great or acceptable.

Here's a thread where the crappiness of this is discussed:

www.facepunch.com/threads/1117833?s=1a0 ... 1165b3183e

Of course, discussing this won't do a thing if people still are willing to choose to suck up and submit to things of this sort... just because it's become the general behaviour. I guess that is why Windows is so popular.

I have Steam but the ONE thing I want to complain is that most games are only downloaded for the PC. I have a macbook that I use a lot but seeing most of the great games are only for the PC. The only good game that I have on my macbook is Portal 2 which is compatible with both. Its kinda annoying to me that there are more games for the PC then Mac.

I was wary of Steam when it was newly announced, but none of my worries manifested as realities, so I don't understand what it is exactly that people are submitting to. All of my Blizzard games are handled via download from battle.net now (except the first Diablo or Warcraft II), I have multiple games on Impulse, I have games via Gamespy Comrade. I play logged into BSN with Mass Effect 2 and both Dragon Ages.

One thing I did appreciate was after my copy of the latest Dawn of War II installment wouldn't install via the DVD drive, I was able to activate it on Steam and install it via download.

The worst kind of DRM out there is the one UBISOFT currently have. I truly dispise that system of theirs.

In fairness though the indie developers game market is absolutely thriving at the moment. Some of them do use steam as a distribution method. But plenty out there that don't or you can directly purchase through them. So if you wish to avoid using steam all together it is possible to do so.

Given the way mainstream gaming is going of late with its sterile forumula approach, when you venture away from the popular titles you can find tons of other more interesting and innovate alternatives out there that may not have multi-million £/$ investments thrown at them for fancy graphics and poorly ported from a console software.

I do notice this so called "cloud software" approach is going back to an old system of having central servers with the actual software installed. And remote data terminals being the means by which you access the software. It's an amusing re-visiting of old ways of doing things in a modern context.