Gabe Newell "DRM is dumb"

SB118 said:
And then pay for the games i already own twice? :confused:
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why is this any different to buying a copy from your local games reseller? Legally you are allowed to install one copy on one machine, not the same copy on multiple machines. Unfair to make Steam out to be a bad thing on this basis alone.
 
While this might be legally correct, problem with most DRMs, include Steam, is it out of line of peoples expectations and how they thing things work.

People buy things for their household. No one buys a book then expects to buy another for their daughter. On the basis its their book and not their daughters and is an unauthorised loan to give it to her. The same for software. People buy it and expect anybody in the family to play it. Any restrictions going to cause problem and discontent, no matter how legally correct it might be.
 
not saying whether it's morally right or wrong, just saying that to criticise steam for having this restriction is unfair as it is no different to other software. Personally I like Steam as it means at least that I can install a game I purchase legally on more than one pc and don't need the cd to play. I agree that some Steam software appears expensive but their weekend deals such as the Titan Quest deal this month are excellent vfm.
 
SB118 said:
If i sit in the living room and play TF2 on my pc, my daughter can't play Portal in her room at the same time. Steam won't let the games be active at the same time.

Even though i've paid for two games.
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Anti-piracy measure. It's also in the EULA when you've downloaded Steam, and also in the EULA of Portal and Team Fortress 2. You agreed to it so I don't know why you're complaining here.
 
i've got 3 steam accounts, got my brother and his mate to get TFC and TF2 on them :) and registererd their spare HL / HL2 keys (or gifted them to the accounts)

so it's easy to play multiplayer
 
SB118 said:
Apart from the games that allow you to have installs on multiple machines of course.



Obviously you've got 3 copies of Office in case both of your parents want to use Word at some point then?
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Yes, would it be OK if I bought a copy of office and installed it on all 5 of the PCs in my house, for use by different people?
 
Tombo said:
Yes, would it be OK if I bought a copy of office and installed it on all 5 of the PCs in my house, for use by different people?
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As long as you weren't all using it at the same time i don't see a problem morally or legally (obviously i'm wrong, but that's my view!)

How about if you bought separate copies of Word and Excel, and the other people in the house couldn't use Word while you were running Excel?
 
SB118 said:
As long as you weren't all using it at the same time i don't see a problem morally or legally (obviously i'm wrong, but that's my view!)

How about if you bought separate copies of Word and Excel, and the other people in the house couldn't use Word while you were running Excel?
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Did you install these separate copies on the same PC.
 
Tombo said:
Yes, would it be OK if I bought a copy of office and installed it on all 5 of the PCs in my house, for use by different people?
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Depends how many machines you are allowed to install it on at any one time. If you've only got a licence for one machine then it wouldn't be ok.

I'm pretty sure that the Steam T&C says something about not sharing accounts. Therefore I'd say it's say to assume that you wouldn't be playing on more than one machine at the same time...

I don't know if it applies to all games and tools. I'm fairly sure I've run DoD source and a dedicated server from the same account on seperate machines.
 
I don't get why you all think steam is so good. It is restrictive yet you all think its the greatest thing since sliced bread.

You can't sell your games on , you can't play 2 different games at the same time on different PC's and the prices they charge are generally way over the top despite the fact you don't recieve a disk and they have no packaging.

I use it because it does have advantages but I certainly don't think its anywhere as great as people make out. Its one step below full DRM.
 
When i lived at home, me and my dad loved playing multiplayer, offline of course because we shared same IP address being same household. But it got to the stage we were buying two versions of every game, which is ridiculous, just to play 2 player with my dad, in the same house.

In the end, i just bypassed it with whatever methods necessary and people can waffle on about legal this and moral that, but guess what; i can share an Xbox 360 game with 4 players at same time in a house, but thats not ok on pc is it, but i don't care as i'm not being blackmailed into bending over backwards anymore, just like everything else in the UK. Funny, what is it with the accronym 'PC' in this country and going o.t.t.:)

If someone could take me to court and prove i was breaking the law and charge me with it, i would shake their hand, because those laws are countered by many others and anyone who's studied I.T. law would know that :D.

There's also a loophole about copying and the storage of digital media which makes this all completely pointless, the only thing that's important is that i don't make any personal profit from it.
 
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V3g3tto said:
When i lived at home, me and my dad loved playing multiplayer, offline of course because we shared same IP address being same household. But it got to the stage we were buying two versions of every game, which is ridiculous, just to play 2 player with my dad, in the same house.
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y'see, the important word there is multiplayer.
Disregarding the fact that it's your dad and you lived in the same house - if it was your friend who lived down the street, would it be equally ridiculous if he had to buy a copy of the game to play a multiplayer game with you? The only difference is location - just because it's the same household doesn't make it ridiculous.
 
Restrict via IP address, problem solved. I didn't mind online activation, but why it isn't tied to your IP address i don't know, rather than some limited install BS. I know IP addresses change btw, what i mean is that it is only allowed to be played on one IP address at any one time. The only way it can know how many times you have installed on different machines is via the internet, so why not use it properly.

Then, we equal consoles. If i want to play around my mates house with a game for a LAN match, i take game round. It's still only being used by one person, hence legal. DRM is completely flawed in every way, and as for Steam,well i like control over my purchases and i'm not paying $60 for something that technically, i don't own.

But if i'm wrong here, then lending DVDs to mates is also illegal.

Edit: Prime example of this limited install crap is Windows Vista. If i change my Motherboard to upgrade, Vista doesn't work.
 
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Before the Valve circlejerk gets out of hand it's probably worth noting that even "activating once and installing any number of times" is a form of DRM. Left 4 Dead, for example, won't play unless you have Steam installed and can activate it when you install it. No Internet, no game.
 
Durzel said:
Before the Valve circlejerk gets out of hand it's probably worth noting that even "activating once and installing any number of times" is a form of DRM. Left 4 Dead, for example, won't play unless you have Steam installed and can activate it when you install it. No Internet, no game.
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I moved house recently and didn't have internet for a while and was considering not having it, as i have it at work like now, so most games would've been no good to me and unplayable.

DVD movies aren't doing this and it's exactly the same, they don't want you giving it to mates once you've watched it, piracy is even more rife there, but at the end of the day, what can be protected can be unprotected and people shouldn't be punished for the few that profit.
 
Durzel said:
Left 4 Dead, for example, won't play unless you have Steam installed and can activate it when you install it. No Internet, no game.
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You couldn't have picked a worse example. If you don't have the internet, it's rather pointless buying L4D.. the game is *made* for online multiplayer!
 
Battlefield 2.

Have to login to start game (not sure if thats internet though)

Enemy Territory. Insisted that i login and make an internet account before playing. Seems EA games have a tendency.
 
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