DRM rant!!

Gav_881 · 9 Mar 2013 at 18:40

Well i'm 12 weeks into a 16-18 week tour and steam has finaly beaten me. It was bad enough that roughly once a week it would lose my logon info requiring me to go online using 10-20 of my weekly 100 internet mins. (100min wifi card to skype the wife) But now it wants to update and wont boot past the update, also the update appears to have a time limit of roughly 20 mins so bins out having chewed through my mins. (only 109Mb but i'm on 56Kbs here, do you remember those days)

I hark for a day when having a CD was enough to play my games and feel pushed to get illegal coppies so that i can actually play my games when away from the internet. TBH i've been largely against DRM from the outset, not because i want to pirate games as it has absolutly no effect on anyone wanting to do that, but because it seems to punnish people who pay for games and content when they fall foul of scenario's the coder did not forsee.

(yes i know i'm imbueing software with human atributes here)
Yes Steam i like your easy to use interface and the sales and things like that, but if i put you in offline mode you need to get the point that i intend to be away from the internet so untill i tell you otherwise your not to try to connect to it and get all ****y when its not there.

(was going to do a poll but no idea how)
So community thoughts on the following points you can answer yes or no to more than one;

A. is it legal to hold a hooky copy of all my games to take away? (the ones i own OFC)

B. is it legally defensable.... your honnour i own them WTF??

C. Morally ok?

D. very naughty and i should be sent to bed just for having these thoughts

Rroff · 9 Mar 2013 at 18:46

Steam definitely needs to handle offline/slow connections better, a lot of mobile type internet connections block or don't support something it uses as part of signing in/updating so on some connection that always fails whatever.

sniperone · 9 Mar 2013 at 19:00

Been using steam since it was in beta . Never had a problem once with it .

KIA · 9 Mar 2013 at 20:28

Stock-up on games from GOG before you travel.

chaparral · 9 Mar 2013 at 21:01

Gav_881 said:
I hark for a day when having a CD was enough to play my games

Having to find the game CD and put it in the cd-rom drive everytime I wanted to play was the worst time in PC gaming..

And lets forget about all the time we used to waste hunting for all the lastest patches everyday for are games.. :mad:

Gav_881 · 10 Mar 2013 at 11:50

chaparral said:
Having to find the game CD and put it in the cd-rom drive everytime I wanted to play was the worst time in PC gaming..

And lets forget about all the time we used to waste hunting for all the lastest patches everyday for are games..

True, patches were a nightmare, i guess i just don't see the need for steam and other far worse and moree agressive DRM's to force internet connection when the only people it affects are those who legally purchase the software.

marc2003 · 10 Mar 2013 at 12:29

about a year ago, i knew i'd have no internet for a bit and put steam in offline mode and all my valve games (i mainly replay hl2+episdoes) worked just fine. i was never prompted to make a connection.

i'd be more inclined to blame 3rd party DRM rather than steam itself.