What's the point of Steam?

I live miles away from any retailers that sell pc games, so i dont mind paying a bit extra for new releases, cause there is also the bonus of not having any discs and boxes to worry about . I find it nice having all my games in one place and most of the games keep them self uptodate with the latest patches.

And as others have said you get some really good bargins in the steam sales. Plus i have a lot of gaming friends on steam so u can play your games and stay in contact with people, rather then having msn running in the background.
 
Swi1ch said:
I buy everything on Steam and i'm totally happy with it, although I really want Empire and Napolean Total War right now which are way overpriced on steam. Thing is, I just don't buy them.
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You realise both of those games are Steamworks games so you can buy them on DVD and once installed, they function entirely as if you had bought them on Steam to begin with?

You can even just use the key and download them if you want but downloading that much is a waste if you have a DVD to use :p
 
convenience and no cd ever. Download as and when you need to install a game.

Prices are often the same as shops when first released or when very old, it's only really the middle of the games life when they are expensive on steam. But then you just wait for deals.

I will happily pay an extra £5 for a steam game, save almost that in fuel, get it instantly and as I say no cd's and no cd's to damage or lose.

I expect when they get some decent competition and it takes of like mp3's did, then the prices will tumble, but while it is fairly specialist service they can keep prices higher.

Kenai said:
You realise both of those games are Steamworks games so you can buy them on DVD and once installed, they function entirely as if you had bought them on Steam to begin with?
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useful list of games that can be used on steam

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-WUSF-3601
 
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PapaLazaru said:
....I would have had to manually download all the patches....
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Not true :)

Each time you load the game it runs a launcher to check if the game is up to date or not.

Anyway, BC2 is a bad example because you can choose an option when you install it for it to not require the disc to play.

And I bought it on disc over Steam because I got it cheaper on day of release.

If I had waited for a month or three for it to be in the sales I could have got it cheaper on Steam than what I had paid in the shop (but by this time it was probably even cheaper in the shop).

Don't get me wrong though, I heart Steam :)
 
I adore Steam, and would happily re-buy games (if I had the money to waste, of course) that I already own retail versions of due to convenience, but I will only ever buy something off Steam if it's massively reduced, as most of the time (i.e., RRP) it's a complete rip-off.
 
Free life time web based back up.


Combined with the ability to make personal backups without having to break dRM.


Also buy stuff in the sales when it's cheaper than the shops.
 
I love the Steam format and the sales are strangely compelling - I have bought a few bargains that I know I'll probably never play do'h
 
I like the convenience of Steam, the whole one-stop-shop-pub aspect of it :)

BUT what drives me up the wall is the fact that I can't loan/share games with my son, we've had to buy a complete set of duplicate games :(
 
As long as PC gaming doesnt become a closed market ie xbox live then i'am all for it. These Steam sales are all cool but where they so regular or strong before other d/l outlets started doing them ? So what happens if steam becomes so strong that rivals just cannot compete at all.
 
Convenience, and thats it.

The price doesnt bother me, im not fussed about saving 4.99 or whatever from somewhere else. The fact they auto update, no huntilng for patches and i will always have them in my account is enough.
 
Can you sell any of the things you buy on steam? Steam gift i think its called?

Price and cost dont bother me as much nowadays but i like to have manuals, cds, artwork and boxes etc with games so i usually buy from an online retailer. I also like that its not as convienent buy hardcopy. If i had steam i would probably buys tons of games in sales which i would never get round to playing.

Only problem with this is i lost Risen dvd so have been unable to play it since...i should just maybe email the devs/publishers and see if they send me another disc free..
 
steam is awesome :)

I use it all the time, got over 50 games in my account now and all accessable at anytime anywere, even if u go to a m8s for the weekend u can download the games on his pc and play them, obviously u will want to unistall steam before u leave :P

Some of there games are more expensive but some are also a lot cheaper when they have sales on.

Steam gift is the option to buy games for friends , this cannot be used to sell games on or trade them so once u buy a game on steam its ures for ever .
 
Personally I can't imagine PC gaming with Steam. I launch all my games through Steam, easy to manage, non intrusive, has a lot to do with being in a clan though, things would be a lot different for clans if Steam wasn't around.
 
Surfer said:
Can you sell any of the things you buy on steam? Steam gift i think its called?
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No, you can't transfer the games you buy for yourself.
You can buy a game for someone else - it never goes into your account.

There's a very small set of games, mostly HL2, and the episodes, that if you bought them first, and then buy a pack containing them, you can transfer the game to someone else. But most packs and games don't work like that.

That said, many pc games bought retail can't honestly be sold on. GFWL games have their keys permanently linked to your account. Some games that require activation might also be linked to your account with that publisher.
Publishers want to kill of the second-hand market for games, and with pcs, they are wll on their way.
 
I've only recently got into Steam, had an account for ages but never really used it.

Figured it out fairly easily that its expensive but convenient.. and the sales are when you buy the games. The deals they have had on over the past month have been amazing, i just wish i had money to buy them ^^ the bundle packs and the daily deals are where you should spend your money..
 
Indie said:
I've only recently got into Steam, had an account for ages but never really used it.

Figured it out fairly easily that its expensive but convenient.. and the sales are when you buy the games. The deals they have had on over the past month have been amazing, i just wish i had money to buy them ^^ the bundle packs and the daily deals are where you should spend your money..
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Indeed, looking back at my history i've had a few shocking full price purchases that i suckered myself into (and a few that i don't regret at all), but you can't fault steam deals.
 
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