As a side note to the topic, Valve announced SteamMachines...
Kind of makes sense for them to plan on making devices with SteamOS already installed on it... Though the machines specs not being mentioned leaves me to wonder what it'll be like...
As a side note to the topic, Valve announced SteamMachines...
Kind of makes sense for them to plan on making devices with SteamOS already installed on it... Though the machines specs not being mentioned leaves me to wonder what it'll be like...
they said that there will be many configurations of specs. so you could get a console with high graphics or a console with console graphics
I don't like the way Steam controls what you can and can't play. It's DRM, plain and simple. I began to have growing doubts about it when I couldn't play Dawn of War 2 without it, along with other games. When it was announced Skyrim would be corrupted by it, that was the last straw.
Some might argue that Beamdog is the same. It is not. They aren't trying to monopolise on people's videogame experiences. Not yet, certainly. As long as they continue to keep it simple and fair, I will continue to support them.
Well, only certain countries really get hit by not being able to play some games through steam... Places like Germany and Australia that don't release some games, though Germany gets their own special censored version usually.
Steams own DRM is really not that bad... Every game on steam has it, but all it really does is check if you're logged in to an account that owns the game when trying to install or play a game...
And trading/selling used digital games between people has always been asked for people, and rumors have it that Valve is testing if this can be made viable...
Well, only certain countries really get hit by not being able to play some games through steam... Places like Germany and Australia that don't release some games, though Germany gets their own special censored version usually.
Steams own DRM is really not that bad... Every game on steam has it, but all it really does is check if you're logged in to an account that owns the game when trying to install or play a game...
And trading/selling used digital games between people has always been asked for people, and rumors have it that Valve is testing if this can be made viable...
I hear the sharing is going into beta soon. Basically they say that you put people on your family play and they have access to your library and full access to your games, but you can't both play simultaneously. If the owner decides to play that game, then the other player is notified to finish up because they are going to be booted. I think this is the best way we could handle it and it's good that it's happening.
and yeah, I don't know why so many people complain about the DRM. You could play steam offline all you need to do is make sure you are logged in before being offline. I have taken my laptop places and have been able to play my steam games without internet connection. The worst I hate is having to get an email every time I am switching devices. I kinda just wish I could label what devices are owned by me and log in to any of them without a code
@Kaltzor: That's the thing, *you* don't own the game. When you buy games that will only work with a Steam account, you are effectively 'borrowing' those games indefinitely, and paying a large sum of money in order to do that. The only thing that would make it worse would be if you had to constantly pay to play, and let's hope they don't start down that route. I understand that it's all to "stop piracy", but that's just it... it doesn't. There isn't a countermeasure invented yet that can stop a smart programmer.
As for the figures often stated to prove the DRM backers' points, I question the accuracy of them. The simple fact is that the majority of gamers still buy their games legitimately; unfortunately, the average gamer seems to be none too bright, opting to burn money on rehashed FPS war games/sports sims/MMORPGs/etc, and some people are getting bored - there is a disturbing lack of originality or innovation in the big league gaming industry. I wonder how much that contributes to flagging sales in contrast to piracy.
@Kaltzor: That's the thing, *you* don't own the game. When you buy games that will only work with a Steam account, you are effectively 'borrowing' those games indefinitely, and paying a large sum of money in order to do that. The only thing that would make it worse would be if you had to constantly pay to play, and let's hope they don't start down that route. I understand that it's all to "stop piracy", but that's just it... it doesn't. There isn't a countermeasure invented yet that can stop a smart programmer.
As for the figures often stated to prove the DRM backers' points, I question the accuracy of them. The simple fact is that the majority of gamers still buy their games legitimately; unfortunately, the average gamer seems to be none too bright, opting to burn money on rehashed FPS war games/sports sims/MMORPGs/etc, and some people are getting bored - there is a disturbing lack of originality or innovation in the big league gaming industry. I wonder how much that contributes to flagging sales in contrast to piracy.
but I don't feel like I am 'borrowing' anything. I am able to play my games whenever and without internet connection. people talk so much about DRM on steam but it seriously doesn't get in my way. Also I won't argue with 75% off sales. The worst thing about steam is steamguard, and it is fine other than that. also it's a good way to stay connected to friends. I never really thought of that. makes a little more sense now that in a list of top pirated games COD titles were at the top.
@TJ_Hooker: Yeah, but you also are required to install it in order to play certain games. And you need to log in before being able to play games. That's DRM-like, isn't it?
Just because a thing has DRM doesn't mean that a discussion of that thing has to be a discussion of DRM in general.
Feel free to talk about how you don't like Steam's DRM, but I saw some sparkles of a tangent into a debate about DRM as a concept, which is getting off-topic.
On a personal note, I think that Steam is, to date, one of the few instances where DRM doesn't seem to be the only function of the client. There's a store with daily sales, a chat interface (with proper voice-calls that still work in-game), community forums for each game... And if you can install Steam, you can install your games from a simple interface with the push of a button.
The DRM is there to prevent the obvious loophole of one user giving his username and password to ten friends and giving them all constant free access to dozens of games*--which you're free to form your own opinions on, but from my perspective, it's hard to argue with the reasoning.
(* People used to do this with Netflix, and it resulted in subscription prices being increased and a change to their use restrictions. Sharing your password with ten friends isn't piracy, but it does have a marked impact on the industry, and it's something that a lot of people would probably do if they knew they could.)
@TJ_Hooker: Yeah, but you also are required to install it in order to play certain games. And you need to log in before being able to play games. That's DRM-like, isn't it?
Oh, don't get me wrong, DRM is definitely a component of Steam. But saying that Steam is "essentially DRM" would be saying that DRM is the largest/most important part of Steam, which I don't believe is the case. But I suppose I'm starting to argue semantics at this point. Anways, as Dee says above, there's more to Steam than DRM.
Comments
Kind of makes sense for them to plan on making devices with SteamOS already installed on it... Though the machines specs not being mentioned leaves me to wonder what it'll be like...
Some might argue that Beamdog is the same. It is not. They aren't trying to monopolise on people's videogame experiences. Not yet, certainly. As long as they continue to keep it simple and fair, I will continue to support them.
Steams own DRM is really not that bad... Every game on steam has it, but all it really does is check if you're logged in to an account that owns the game when trying to install or play a game...
And trading/selling used digital games between people has always been asked for people, and rumors have it that Valve is testing if this can be made viable...
and yeah, I don't know why so many people complain about the DRM. You could play steam offline all you need to do is make sure you are logged in before being offline. I have taken my laptop places and have been able to play my steam games without internet connection. The worst I hate is having to get an email every time I am switching devices. I kinda just wish I could label what devices are owned by me and log in to any of them without a code
Damn that thing looks bad.
As for the figures often stated to prove the DRM backers' points, I question the accuracy of them. The simple fact is that the majority of gamers still buy their games legitimately; unfortunately, the average gamer seems to be none too bright, opting to burn money on rehashed FPS war games/sports sims/MMORPGs/etc, and some people are getting bored - there is a disturbing lack of originality or innovation in the big league gaming industry. I wonder how much that contributes to flagging sales in contrast to piracy.
I never really thought of that. makes a little more sense now that in a list of top pirated games COD titles were at the top.
Feel free to talk about how you don't like Steam's DRM, but I saw some sparkles of a tangent into a debate about DRM as a concept, which is getting off-topic.
On a personal note, I think that Steam is, to date, one of the few instances where DRM doesn't seem to be the only function of the client. There's a store with daily sales, a chat interface (with proper voice-calls that still work in-game), community forums for each game... And if you can install Steam, you can install your games from a simple interface with the push of a button.
The DRM is there to prevent the obvious loophole of one user giving his username and password to ten friends and giving them all constant free access to dozens of games*--which you're free to form your own opinions on, but from my perspective, it's hard to argue with the reasoning.
(* People used to do this with Netflix, and it resulted in subscription prices being increased and a change to their use restrictions. Sharing your password with ten friends isn't piracy, but it does have a marked impact on the industry, and it's something that a lot of people would probably do if they knew they could.)