Why choose Steam!?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hostile_18
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Hostile_18

Hostile_18

Hi guys. Ive been away from PC gaming for a number of years and am now looking to legally download some games. Now I see there's a number of options but I've seen a number of comments saying people prefer to buy from Steam even if it is more expensive. My question is why? What advantages does it have? Just wondering before I part with my hard earned. :)
 
- Steam usually has sales where games can be picked up for 75% off
- I have all my friends on there
- Many games have cloud support where settings and saves are stored online
- Automatic update of patches
- One click install of games and no need for CD/DVDs
- Games can easily be installed on multiple computers
- With modern internet connections games can be downloaded in very little time (certainly less than waiting for delivery or going to the store)

and many more...

My main tip would be to wait for the Steam sales - there are lots through the year, but the Christmas sale is usually the best :)
 
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Ah brilliant that makes sense. It's a shame Anno is full price and 17.99 else where. I'll wait for the sales but might give Age of Empires online a go for a tenner. Thanks for the info :).
 
I should add that it's really easy to migrate your games to a different drive or pc without having to re-download them. It's a simple copy+paste then run steam exe as admin and you're back up and running.
 
What Rave said +
  • Massive library
  • Mature client
  • The longest established DD method
  • Community features
  • Good DL speed (generally)
  • Sales are often amazing value for money
  • Steamworks (and it's features) becoming a bigger and bigger standard for games
  • Great support of Indie developers
  • From a company you can trust*
*Imo


However, I wouldn't ever suggest buying exclusively from Steam for the sake of it. If you can get a Steamworks key cheaper elsewhere you'd be mental to buy direct from them, and unfortunately not everything will always be available on it.
 
Hostile17 said:
Ah brilliant that makes sense. It's a shame Anno is full price and 17.99 else where. I'll wait for the sales but might give Age of Empires online a go for a tenner. Thanks for the info :).
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Which Anno? Quite a few games are activated on Steam these days and Steam keys can often be purchased online - few games are region locked (if in doubt post here or check the PC game deals thread). You have to be careful which site you buy from, but mysteam.net and G2play can be pretty good.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Which Anno? Quite a few games are activated on Steam these days and Steam keys can often be purchased online - few games are region locked (if in doubt post here or check the PC game deals thread). You have to be careful which site you buy from, but mysteam.net and G2play can be pretty good.
Click to expand...

It'll be 2070, 1404 isn't available now, and it's neither are Steamworks. :(
 
billysielu said:
I don't like Steam tbh.

- expensive
- extra program I don't need
- if there's a non-steam install it's usually more stable
Click to expand...

- Steam sales are by far cheaper than anywhere else
- An extra program is hardly a problem given the processing power of modern PCs (and Steam is not resource intensive anyway)
- Have never noticed a retail game being more stable than Steam game.

Not attacking you, I just strongly disagree with those points.
 
Steam certainly has its plus points - for me it's their ridiculous sales - but it's far from the only option. I also like Gamersgate because there's no client required, GOG because there's no DRM whatsoever, and Desura for games off the beaten track (it's an indie oasis).
 
CaptainRAVE said:
- Steam usually has sales where games can be picked up for 75% off
- I have all my friends on there
- Many games have cloud support where settings and saves are stored online
- Automatic update of patches
- One click install of games and no need for CD/DVDs
- Games can easily be installed on multiple computers
- With modern internet connections games can be downloaded in very little time (certainly less than waiting for delivery or going to the store)

and many more...

My main tip would be to wait for the Steam sales - there are lots through the year, but the Christmas sale is usually the best :)
Click to expand...
this
Hostile17 said:
Ah brilliant that makes sense. It's a shame Anno is full price and 17.99 else where. I'll wait for the sales but might give Age of Empires online a go for a tenner. Thanks for the info :).
Click to expand...
if its steamworks get it, and activate it on steam.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Which Anno? Quite a few games are activated on Steam these days and Steam keys can often be purchased online - few games are region locked (if in doubt post here or check the PC game deals thread). You have to be careful which site you buy from, but mysteam.net and G2play can be pretty good.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was 2070 I was after. Though I might try out the earlier one at some point. Games like Sins of a Solar Empire I want to play as well but just weighing up if it's worth buying from Steam or from the River where I have gift certificate :).
 
billysielu said:
I don't like Steam tbh.

- expensive
- extra program I don't need
- if there's a non-steam install it's usually more stable
Click to expand...

What? :confused: I hate to pick on something like this, but that sounds like complete BS plucked from no-where. Where did you get that idea from?

As for the extra program. A few dozen mb of ram on an average 4gb gaming machine is nothing.
 
billysielu said:
I don't like Steam tbh.

- expensive
- extra program I don't need
- if there's a non-steam install it's usually more stable
Click to expand...

Agree it can be more expensive but then again I don't usually want a game the instant it comes out, so I wait on the sale or purchase it elsewhere if it'll activate on Steam (Saints Row 3 was the most recent game I did this with). Extra program - upgrade your PC if you can't run on more program without noticing a performance hit. Never had additional problems with stability because of steam, it's usually caused by GFWL etc screwing up rather than steam itself.

If I had to choose between GFWL, Steam and Origin frankly Steam wins every time.
 
billysielu said:
- if there's a non-steam install it's usually more stable
Click to expand...

I agree with the poster above that its bull just because it auto updates. If you ment the currently unavalible error message you would have a point but thats nothing to do with the stability of the game.
 
Origin is good, but it lacks games in my opinion. Although, I get a much better download speed on it, I get about 830kbs max on steam, while on origin I get about 1.2mb...

I purchased Total War Shogun 2 for about 7.50 pounds in one of their sales :) It usually costs 25 :)
 
Hostile17 said:
Yeah it was 2070 I was after. Though I might try out the earlier one at some point. Games like Sins of a Solar Empire I want to play as well but just weighing up if it's worth buying from Steam or from the River where I have gift certificate :).
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure that 2070 isn't Steamworks, so you would need to find a steam code somewhere or buy retail. I am expecting it to be on sale sometime in the near future.

I couldn't comment on Sins, but I do have the new one on my wishlist (for when it is in a sale :D )
 
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