I just don't understand the appeal of steam?

[Dauthi]

For a none gamer its more of a hassle as its just another loop to jump through. I saw this tryong to explain to my dad why he needed this "dross" to play a game he had in his hand then continued to moan when it found updates.

For any regular gamer it is very helpful and keeps everything easy to access and updated while allowing easy access to friends etc while in the game and generally makes you feel more connected with people is the best way i can put it.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

I think Steam is very good but when a new game comes out and can be had for £25-30 on the internet and the Steam price is £30-40 then I buy the physical game for less money.

The Steam sales are brilliant but the prices for new releases are so bad that I never even look at the prices Steam has for new releases/preorderes.

 

[Witcher1979]

Maybe it's because you said:

So you thought because I said I have 100 boxed games I sat and installed them all at once?? LOL ok

You did not think it would be silly to buy 100 games all at once and sit and install them all at once. Come on wake up.

You did not think the collection may have just grown over the year and installed as and when they were paid for?

 

[thezakarum]

Why do people like you think I got 100 games and installed them all at once lol. That would just be stupid

I would maybe buy a game or two each week depending on price and deal, install and drag an icon across the screen. Not exactly hard or takes any time. My games are all installed on my 2tb drive not my OS drive so if I had to reinstall most games would just work as normal or require a simple reg edit. Mind you I have not reinstalled win 7 since I have had it early last year.

I only have to click my left mouse button twice to install a game on steam.

 

[AWPC]

Steam is ok when the xmas sales come around or other special offers like 66% or more off certain games but the rest I can & do live without its well overrated it only takes seconds to find patches like so many my ISP is not the best so retail all the way for me its much cheaper as well & retail sales are nearly always cheaper than Steam except for xmas time sales.

I can live without Steamworks community features most are worthless to me.

I can wait 2 months after most PC games come out then find the retail version up to 60% cheaper why pay more for Steam its ridiculous unless your so lazy you cannot spend a few minutes finding a patch or backing up a savegame if you reinstall an OS (which should never ever be done that often anyway its OTT & another lazy way to fix something you should research first).

 

[FrenchTart]

So you thought because I said I have 100 boxed games I sat and installed them all at once?? LOL ok

You did not think it would be silly to buy 100 games all at once and sit and install them all at once. Come on wake up.

You did not think the collection may have just grown over the year and installed as and when they were paid for?

That just means that you never reinstall Windows and it's still ignoring the point that with Steam if you were to reinstall Windows all your games would be pretty much good to go without any requirement for you to mess about.

I'm sure the hours you've spent installing all those disk games and manually patching them have been great fun. In the meantime I've freed up my time to spend it on more productive/enjoyable things.

 

[Witcher1979]

I only have to click my left mouse button twice to install a game on steam.

I think you are confusing me with someone who is saying steam is rubbish. But its OK you go on attack mode with your clicks if it makes you feel better

I use steam, I only said steam is not cheapest option at all. Some of the reasons to use only steam are not exactly great. Few mouse clicks, ok put disc in drive then a couple of clicks.

 

[FrenchTart]

I think you are confusing me with someone who is saying steam is rubbish. But its OK you go on attack mode with your clicks if it makes you feel better

I use steam, I only said steam is not cheapest option at all. Some of the reasons to use only steam are not exactly great. Few mouse clicks, ok put disc in drive then a couple of clicks.

To be fair to thezakarum it's very difficult to understand your posts with the terrible wording and the flawed logic.

 

[Witcher1979]

That just means that you never reinstall Windows and it's still ignoring the point that with Steam if you were to reinstall Windows all your games would be pretty much good to go without any requirement for you to mess about.

I'm sure the hours you've spent installing all those disk games and manually patching them have been great fun. In the meantime I've freed up my time to spend it on more productive/enjoyable things.

Again only games I have patched are the ones I play. Again you think I have sat here and installed/patched all the games at once. My post clearly states only ones patched are the ones I am currently playing. Please read my post

 

[Werewolf]

Now thats just pure lazy if you can't find a patch within seconds

That's assuming the game publisher hasn't gone bust, and you aren't subject to the likes of Gamespot or something to get that patch for a game that is a couple of years old.

Steam is great because:
1: No mucking about with disks - More than once I've had to rebuy games to get a new, working disc after the original has been problematic (or had discs that refused to read on new games, thus had to be exchanged).

2: No mucking about patching - with some games patching is fine, but with others it can be a real pain, and you don't realise you need a patch until you encounter a problem (by which time you may need to restart the game).

3: I can easily, and without any trouble at all move my games from one PC to another (copy steam folder, run steam.exe).

4: With steamworks games I can even use my save games from one PC on another, without having to copy anything.

Steam is currently what all the digital distribution systems should be like.
Easy to use.
Easy to backup your data
Easy to redownload your purchases if needed, even 2-3 years later...

 

[FrenchTart]

Again only games I have patched are the ones I play. Again you think I have sat here and installed/patched all the games at once. My post clearly states only ones patched are the ones I am currently playing. Please read my post

Perhaps you don't understand how time works. Spacing things out doesn't mean that the time magically appears from nowhere. You've still spent that time doing that thing.

 

[Edrof]

My games are all available from one place.
My games are all available from any PC.
My games are all available within minutes of reinstalling an OS
My games are all automatically updated to the latest version, saving hours of searching for and installing patches.
My games are often cheaper than retail, as Steam have regular sales

Yup.

 

[Howitzer]

I like steam for all the reasons given above.

Also; The HUGE variety of Indy games you won't really see anywhere else!

 

[Witcher1979]

Perhaps you don't understand how time works. Spacing things out doesn't mean that the time magically appears from nowhere. You've still spent that time doing that thing.

Well I am glad this time you have saved has allowed you to come on here and attack me in two threads well done. Yes I have installed my games that I get, sometimes 2 a week depending on sales. Yes I have patched the ones that I play, I only play to finish I don't start random games. So only ones patched are ones I started/completed. That must make me some kind of super PC geek

 

[FrenchTart]

Well I am glad this time you have saved has allowed you to come on here and attack me in two threads well done. Yes I have installed my games that I get, sometimes 2 a week depending on sales. Yes I have patched the ones that I play, I only play to finish I don't start random games. So only ones patched are ones I started/completed. That must make me some kind of super PC geek

I haven't attacked you in two threads

Moving on from actually arguing, the thing I don't get about your post is that you seem to think that the convenience of not having to mess around with disks/patches/etc is nullified because you're willing to do it. Is that right or have we misunderstood one another?

 

[dessimpson]

Steam is great. I've had the same steam folder since HL2 came out. I keep it on my second drive and if you reinstall/upgrade windows you just download the client and point it at your games. Job done.

What I don't like about Origin is that you can't add games to it like you can with steam. I've got 4 things in Origin. 3 expansion packs for BF2/BF2142 and the battlefield 3 install. To use the expansion packs I'd have to dig through my box of games, install it, update it and then install the expansion packs. With steam it's all in one place and automatic.

 

[complex.]

I don't find steam appealing... I use it because I have to

 

[Substance]

I love the steam community, finding people to play with is so much easier than other services and I can invite any of my friends directly to the game I'm playing no matter what they are doing, I can chat across games and take and upload screenshots easily from any game, it is miles ahead of the competition

 

[Tombo]

Steam overlay and screenshots and the friends list is also a nice feature.

 

[matt_fsr]

I like using Steam for the reasons mentioned above, plus an easy convenient chat client to see who's online, who's up for a game etc within moments. If i have 10 friends online, i can find out that 4 own say Company of Heroes, so ask only those 4 if they fancy a game.

Also, I can be playing an offline game such as Skyrim whilst downloading stuff I've bought over the Christmas sale. No need to mess about alt+tabbing to change discs, or to download patches.

I still buy *SOME* games on DVD, I have disc copies of Napoleon Total War (20Gb install) and Skyrim, and I will aim to keep these in pristine condition if there's ever a need to re-install them, base data will be from the disc then I'll let Steam handle patching.

What's not to like about Steam?

People's only complaints seem to be game pricing.... yet some of my most popular games were bought outside of Steam, or on ridiculous Steam sales!