Steam - Good or bad??

mufc802 · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:13

The interface crashes occasionally but overall it is very good.

just Scott · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:15

I can't imagine PC gaming without Steam. The friends list makes PC gaming actually good.

npjnpj · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:21

I'm a relative newbee to Steam (just under a year), and it took me ages to take the plunge, and with a very bad feeling, but I've come around now and it gets a full thumbs up from me.

ins0mn1ac · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:32

Steam = amazing.

mufc802 said:
The interface crashes occasionally but overall it is very good.

In recent years however this has never happened to me.

pgi947 · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:33

PapaLazaru said:
I have actually bought games again just so they are in Steam.

I did this just a week ago, batman AA was £3 on gamersgate but it wasn't a steam code, then last week I paid for batman AA again just to get it linked with my steam account for £3.70.

Love steam, if you can hold out just wait for the winter/summer sales, I have only ever paid full price for 1 game on steam, and that was Metro 2033, which came with a free copy of RF Guerilla!

101 games now and counting

madindehead · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:39

Steam is a very good system. Valve have done a fantastic job with it, integrated friends, store, screenshot capabilities etc

Also, the sales are very good. Best way to get the best deals. It's not the cheapest always (except during sales), but that's up to the publishers to set the prices, not Steam itself.

I don't know why people complain about Steam. Never had any problems with it! Also, you get amazing download speeds on it, it maxes out my connection when downloading games.

Purdy · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:41

PapaLazaru said:
I have actually bought games again just so they are in Steam.

This.

Says it all if you haven't constant Internet, convenient, summer/winter deals are fun, friends interface is good.

PapaLazaru · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:43

james.miller said:
quite a few of us own over 100 games on steam. That'll probably give you an idea of what people think of it lol

148

orderoftheflame · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:46

PapaLazaru said:
148

447....

Number_25 · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:46

Now and then you have the odd problem, but a quick email to Valve and its sorted within the hour!

AMDPower · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:50

what happens if you for instance want to restart windows?

I am assuming you must download all the games again, which could take a long long time.

PapaLazaru · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:50

orderoftheflame said:
447....

You will put my 319gb to shame then.

james.miller · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:51

AMDPower said:
what happens if you for instance want to restart windows?

I am assuming you must download all the games again, which could take a long long time.

nope, not if the steam folder is intact

orderoftheflame · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:54

PapaLazaru said:
You will put my 319gb to shame then.

Once I've finished my few downloads from the sale, I'll bump the "how big is your steam folder thread".

AMDPower said:
what happens if you for instance want to restart windows?

I am assuming you must download all the games again, which could take a long long time.

I store all my games on a hard-drive tbh. :confused:

platypus · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:58

Its great until you have a problem with it. If you find yourself having to contact Steam Support you may well not have a positive experience.

Oh and make sure you research as to whether a game works or not on your setup before buying.

ins0mn1ac · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:59

orderoftheflame said:
Once I've finished my few downloads from the sale, I'll bump the "how big is your steam folder thread".

I think he/she means restart as in format? otherwise I'm not sure if he/she should be near a PC!

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 19:00

AMDPower said:
what happens if you for instance want to restart windows?

I am assuming you must download all the games again, which could take a long long time.

Do you mean reinstall windows?

Maximum Triceratops · 15 Jul 2011 at 19:33

Ive said it before, PC gaming would be a lot bleaker without valve/Steam.

pgi947 · 15 Jul 2011 at 19:40

AMDPower said:
what happens if you for instance want to restart windows?

I am assuming you must download all the games again, which could take a long long time.

Steam has a wonderful backup feature, if your going to format, select the games you want to backup (saves must be backed up separately) and job done, though its not the fastest feature ever.

The easier way is just to copy/paste the contents of steamapps\common\ to backup, format, reinstall steam and then paste the folder back and let steam replace any of the odd missing files from the games you might have missed.

Backing up the 'official' way for 90gb of games took me about 6 hours, a copy/paste would have taken less than an hour.

Liampope · 15 Jul 2011 at 19:50

For all those who experience slow download speeds when the UK servers are busy, I simply switch to Ukraine and it's back up to speed