Beam or Steam !?

lordkim

Just wondering... Seems like people either wants Steam or Beam?!
Is it a question of supporting the dudes, whos creating this rampage of love to the game , or the faith to a company who have made gaming simple and safe?? Or otherwise?

There are several threads on this subject, lets united in this one.

etagloc

if its just direct download and play, I dont really care were is get it from, but i wouldnt want another client running in the backgound on my computer. steam is more than enough, and atm there is just no room for other game selling programs like steam..

Talvrae

@etagloc That sound way too much like a Monopole from Steam, i will ask for as any possibility as possible to breack that monopole

Aliteri

etagloc said:

if its just direct download and play, I dont really care were is get it from, but i wouldnt want another client running in the backgound on my computer. steam is more than enough, and atm there is just no room for other game selling programs like steam..

You shouldn't want ANY client running in the background and I believe I heard Beamdog is making a exception for BG:EE, as in it won't need their client.

I voted Beam because I read a blog from Larian studios about trying to buy directly from the developer.

etagloc

well i do like steam and i use it alot. i linked all my games, even none steam games to the client, and i have a ton of friends that i play woth though steam.. so maybe i like it cause i use i more than most.

Cheesebelly

The Beamdog client is much simplier and faster than Steam, reason why I like it more as of now.
I don't mind it at all in fact. But as long as I can play the game, I don't really care where from

I do support Beamdog and Overhaul now more than I support Valve, simply because the latter has too much money and power already.

Also - Steam is not as simple and safe as one thinks - Offline mode never really works, maintenance is getting more and more frequent nowadays and things are slowing down slowly. On top of it all? Valve is getting into complete monopoly, if that were to happen... well, every developer without a big publisher will be dust. It's sad, but it's a fact.

Talvrae

@Cheesebelly That'S why as absurd as it is i do support Origin, trought i rather have no client at all

Cheesebelly

@Talvrae : Origin is the only serious competitor to Steam nowadays. Desura could be too, if only 99% of people weren't "WTF is Desura?" when they hear it :P
(it's a gaming client, you can buy games, DRM free, and support for Linux, that's Desura)

Talvrae

Had never heard of it, thanks for the info

Kitteh_On_A_Cloud

Supporting EA's piece of crap spyware is worse than supporting Steam, IMHO. Granted, I also use Steam, but I'd still prefer to be able to play my games without any DRM platform in between. When I saw that Skyrim required Steam, I was hesistant to install it. But I couldn't let 50 euros go to waste either, so yeah... Also, for yet the 100th time: THE BEAM CLIENT IS NOT REQUIRED FOR PLAYING THE GAME. Downloading and installing is.

lordkim

Well im supporting the dudes who make this happen. There werent any Baldurs Gate news, if it werent for them. Thats respect !!
Nobody have seen this coming 3 months ago...

Talvrae

Kitteh_On_A_Cloud said:

Supporting EA's piece of crap spyware is worse than supporting Steam, IMHO. Granted, I also use Steam, but I'd still prefer to be able to play my games without any DRM platform in between. When I saw that Skyrim required Steam, I was hesistant to install it. But I couldn't let 50 euros go to waste either, so yeah... Also, for yet the 100th time: THE BEAM CLIENT IS NOT REQUIRED FOR PLAYING THE GAME. Downloading and installing is.

Oh because Steam is not a DRM Spyware?

bigdogchris

My vote is to not have a client running in the background. I prefer having stand alone games.

Jalily

Where's the no client option?

Doom972

Good call about making a poll about this. I wondered how most people actually feel about this.

Steam only for me.

Smaug

If BGEE had popped up on Steam, I would have grabbed it in a second. The fact that it's on a different client gave me pause for a few weeks while I considered the long-term playability w/ Beamdog. There are definitely pros to using Steam, but if it's not mandatory to have the Beamdog client running during BGEE, I don't have any problem buying it through them. I've satisified myself that Beamdog will do what I need it to do.

I have to agree w/ @Kitteh_On_A_Cloud that Origin is so obtusely invasive that I will never use it again. At least Steam gives the ILLUSION of respecting my privacy. If BGEE was released on a system like Origin, I probably wouldn't be playing it in 2 weeks.

Blave

Personally, I don't care where I get the game from. I mean, this is Baldur's Gate wea re talking about! I'd even re-install Origin just to play if I had to!
(Yes, I did use Origin at a point. Didn't like it. And the ME3 ending didn't help either...)

Anyway, it has already been stated before, but I think it comes down to this:

Beam: Download directly from the developers. The most direct way to give them the support they need. Don't know any details about the update-process on Steams but getting it from Beam might also make Updates a bit faster.
The disadvantage is that Beamdog has to pay the servers for the download and updates. No idea how much somehing like that costs.

Steam: I'm pretty sure even now many many fans of BG haven't even heard of EE. And let's face it, the marketing for the game hasn't been all that great either so far. A few days on the frontpage of Steam could result in half a million additional sales from people who otherwise wouldn't know about the game at all. And Beamdog doesn't need their own servers to handle it.
The disadvantage is obvious: Valve would be yet another party to take away from the revenue. I personally think as long as some reasonable amount of the money reaches Beamdog, it's worth it - if only to spread the word. But without knowing any number - which we will never know - this is all guesswork.

kamuizin

This is a little stupid, cos Beamdog isn't only a game develop company, Beamdog is a online game store, just as Steam too. So it's the same that go in coca-cola forum and ask them to have pepsi making coca-cola sales. It's my view at least.

But this thread didn't raised the question, it just reflect what many ppl here already do (asking for steam sales).

lordkim

Dude thats whats the poll is about. How many....
Im not trying to convince ppl to do either things. Just want to see how many wants what. :0)

Sabotin

They answered regarding Steam so many times that I don't even know why people bother asking anymore...
I can't remember where I've heard/read it, but they mentioned one of the reasons they started developing (overhauling) games was to have some Beamdog exclusives and get people interested in something besides Steam.

Konabuga

I just downloaded the Arcanum installer from gog.com and had no trouble with either installing or playing the game. I still have Steam on in the background, but I'm almost glad I can set my status to 'away' and not be bothered while I'm playing. I don't care where I get my games, just as long as they work.

elminster

I don't know why people want steam so much. It is only good because of its sales.

Razor

The most important option you leave out! " Steam AND Beam"
I choosed Steam, for some reason the stupid poll got it wrong.

cutlasskiwi

I just want to play the game..

Silverstar

I don't like DRM. Steam is DRM. Whenever possible, if I can't get a physical copy of a game for some reason and have to get a digital one, I hunt down a copy on Gamersgate or Good Old Games... steam is basically last resort.

Sargiel

My understanding is I won't need to run the Beam client to play BG:EE so I don't care. And even though I like Steam it was Beam who helps make this project a reality so I don't begrudge them anything.

kamuizin

I send an e-mail to steam more or less 10 days ago, asking if they use the same mechanics that EA origin system use. If they in any way collect personal informations from customer computer or if in anyway the terms of use for steam plataform allows them to install research softwares in my computer (aka spyware) in the same way that origins system of EA Games do.

Want to know the answer?.................... exactly, no answer.

I'm satisfied with Beamdog plataform atm. While i see as an abuse of rights to sell windows and mac versions of PC game (you can't try to compare a operational system to game consoles, that would be ridiculous), Beamdog for now is the lesser of evils in the actual market.

Razor

@kamuizin Steam does not work like origin. I know what you are talking about and notice that Steam has a optional survey for hardware, they don't take other data beside game time/population and such...
I do agree with you about Origin, they were invading privacy without any rules, they changed in the last months "https://help.ea.com/article/origin-and-ea-privacy-policy" this seems clear yet the long version its still not that clear to me. I don't use it much anyway...

Kitteh_On_A_Cloud

@Talvrae: Well, I admit that both platforms are completely unnecessary. Yet, EA's Origin DRM has been in the news because its EULA stated that Origin WOULD scan and transfer personal information. It's been quite a case for a while, actually. Just Google it and you're bound to stumble upon something. Several program tests showed how Origin was actively scanning folders and programs of PCs it has no business with. I don't know how grave the case with Steam is, but knowing Steam hasn't been negatively in the news thus far, I'd say Steam seems to be more controlled. Of course, these are just superficial impressions of mine, as I'm not a tech nut, so yeah, make of it what you will.

Son_of_Imoen

I want to play the game without having a client running. Therefore my preference is for GOG, but as for BGEE, luckily Beamdog releases a separate downloader for BGEE that only needs to be run once to install the game, and won't require the Beamdog client. Why was 'no client' not included in the poll?

As for Steam: for one company to get a virtual monopoly on running games is not a good idea. I really don't understand all those Steam fanboys on every gaming site. And what is the fun about having to run a client that want's you to be online and auto-update your games unless you explicitely tell it not too? I want full control over my own games.

Besides, even a company like Valve might fall and with it you'll lose the ability to play all the games in your library there! (I'm in favour of playing games post-crash: just a low-power-consuption computer, a solar panel and a battery or any other sustainable powergenerator should do).

Tanthalas

I really don't think we need yet another Steam thread.

I'm closing this one.