Random Gaming Thoughts

[Sarge]

As I mentioned before, I see Steam as no different from buying digitally on a console. And sometimes, the games are even DRM-free on Steam! It's not common, but it definitely happens.

I've got no problems with approachable. Of course, it also helps that PC gaming in general, even before Steam, had started to get less arcane. I remember all those years messing around with 'CONFIG.SYS' and 'AUTOEXEC.BAT' files, screwing around with sound card settings, extended memory managers, you name it. Part of me misses that, the black art of getting a game to work on my rig, but the tradeoff, just knowing things work, is awfully nice.

Except, of course, when they don't, which still happens on PC.

I will add, I'm under no illusions as to what Steam is (and isn't). But it is useful if you have no other recourse, or if you're like me and buy bundles of games and happen to get a Steam key with it.

[Jmustang1968]

The social connection aspect is nice for multiplayer games. Oh hey my buddy just got on x game with multiplayer, I can go join him or send a quick message to play.

I have been PC gaming for almost as long as I have been playing games and I don't really find that it has been dumbed down.

If more people boycotted Steam and chose GOG instead, we'd see a lot less Steam exclusives though.

I wouldn't want that. Like my post right before this, I see Steam as a superior service. Gog is cool, and serves its purpose but they coexist nicely.

If Steam wasnt around, we wouldn't have had this PC gaming resurgence we have had in recent years.

There are tons of ways to purchase games, absolute crap that the gaming market has resorted to the "rental" DRM route to protect as well as control their games. Steam has gotten so huge attracting so many exclusives. No, I will never get Steam considering they have the option of locking out ALL your games without even giving notice.

Yep because that happens so often. You can go around worrying about every potential thing that may happen with extremely low probabilities. I will continue to enjoy playing Steam PC games with ease like I have the past 10 years whiles others have elected to miss out over irrational fears. Some long ass 'rentals' I have had that have been residing in my Steam library for years, ready to be re-downloaded at will.

[Ack]

Yep because that happens so often. You can go around worrying about every potential thing that may happen with extremely low probabilities. I will continue to enjoy playing Steam PC games with ease like I have the past 10 years whiles others have elected to miss out over irrational fears. Some long ass 'rentals' I have had that have been residing in my Steam library for years, ready to be re-downloaded at will.

Actually it happened to my little brother. It's a big reason why he stopped playing PC games.

[ElkinFencer10]

With a lot of digital game purchases, I do worry about that "rental" aspect, but I don't worry about it with Steam. They've said many times and in their FAQ that in the unlikely (at least for the foreseeable future) that the Steam servers go down, they would make sure that we could continue to play the games we've bought. Granted, I haven't seen any "how" accompanying that, but Valve is one of the few companies I genuinely trust not to fuck over its customers.

[Jmustang1968]

Yep because that happens so often. You can go around worrying about every potential thing that may happen with extremely low probabilities. I will continue to enjoy playing Steam PC games with ease like I have the past 10 years whiles others have elected to miss out over irrational fears. Some long ass 'rentals' I have had that have been residing in my Steam library for years, ready to be re-downloaded at will.

Actually it happened to my little brother. It's a big reason why he stopped playing PC games.

And how did this happen?

[Sarge]

With a lot of digital game purchases, I do worry about that "rental" aspect, but I don't worry about it with Steam. They've said many times and in their FAQ that in the unlikely (at least for the foreseeable future) that the Steam servers go down, they would make sure that we could continue to play the games we've bought. Granted, I haven't seen any "how" accompanying that, but Valve is one of the few companies I genuinely trust not to fuck over its customers.

Can you link me to that? I've heard that over and over, but I've not found any independent verification that they've said as much.

[Ack]

Yep because that happens so often. You can go around worrying about every potential thing that may happen with extremely low probabilities. I will continue to enjoy playing Steam PC games with ease like I have the past 10 years whiles others have elected to miss out over irrational fears. Some long ass 'rentals' I have had that have been residing in my Steam library for years, ready to be re-downloaded at will.

Actually it happened to my little brother. It's a big reason why he stopped playing PC games.

And how did this happen?

He failed to put in his password properly, the account locked, and it was tied to an old email address he no longer used. He contacted Steam's customer support over it, but they refused to allow him the option of proving his identity via any other means. He even went so far as to offer up bank statements to show he had bought all of the games on the account. No dice, and after a month of trying he gave up.

[Exhuminator]

The result of this is that Valve has made it abundantly clear that we do not own our Steam games, Valve does. Any game that you purchase either through Steam (or via a Steam key purchased elsewhere) is a "subscription" to use a "license" for an indeterminate amount of time. Your "subscription" can be cancelled at any time as can your entire account. They are not purchased products. You cannot get a refund for any reason. You must agree to any new changes they make to their subscriber agreement or you will lose all your games without warning.

[ElkinFencer10]

With a lot of digital game purchases, I do worry about that "rental" aspect, but I don't worry about it with Steam. They've said many times and in their FAQ that in the unlikely (at least for the foreseeable future) that the Steam servers go down, they would make sure that we could continue to play the games we've bought. Granted, I haven't seen any "how" accompanying that, but Valve is one of the few companies I genuinely trust not to fuck over its customers.

Can you link me to that? I've heard that over and over, but I've not found any independent verification that they've said as much.

Sorry, I was mistaken, it was in a response to an inquiry, not in their FAQ. I found a screenshot of someone else asking the same thing getting an almost identical response to the one I got.

[Sarge]

Ah, thanks for that.