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General discussionHow can PC gamers NOT use Steam in 2016?(195 posts)(195 posts)
(195 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted June 30, 2016
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DarrkPhoenix: To everyone else who posts in this thread, how large is your GOG (or just non-Steam) backlog? That's your answer.
Dunno the numbers but in terms of game library growth in last 12 months --- i usually buy around 8-9 games per GOG sale. From Steam? Maybe 1 or 2 ( even if that)
Posted June 30, 2016
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Antoni_Fox: ...
Magic powers.
Posted June 30, 2016
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Antoni_Fox: ...
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SirPrimalform: Magic powers.
Well if you don't mind emulation, there's literally thousands of titles that work on any PC today, nearly perfectly, taken nearly no space, and no DRM at all...
Posted June 30, 2016
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synfresh: GoG has been in existence for how long now? 6-7 years? And how much of a percentage do you think it has of the digital market as a whole? 10% and that's being really generous. That's also assuming that every single person who buys on GoG (DRM-Free) does not buy on Steam which we no is not true. Yes DRM-Free is growing but it's growing relative to what it was before. It's not growing relative to Steam because Steam has not lost market share at all since GoG has been in existence (in fact it's userbase has only grown). Publishers see this too. If GoG has a sizeable marketshare don't you think there would be more publishers on board here? Hell, even some the publishers that are here still won't dare to put their newer titles for sale on GoG (Bethesda, WB even Paradox).

DRM-Free is a minority, niche whatever you want to call it. And it will continue to be as long as people (gamers) see no stronger alternative to what is already there. It's like asking someone who is an Apple fanboy to not use iphones anymore. It's never going to happen, unless Apple disappears.
10% market share is remarkably good for a distributor that is still, primiarly, a long tail business.

Unlike some people, I actually agree that GoG is going to remain a minority interest in comparison to Steam. While there's still potential for significant growth, GoG is never going to appeal to the CoD kiddies, the mainstream AAA types etc. It's targeted at a more specialist market than GoG.

But to suggest that's a sign of weakness on GoG's part is to misunderstand the nature of their business. It's like pointing out that Carly Rae Jepsen sells more music than Merzbow. True, but it misses the point entirely.
Posted June 30, 2016
How does a pc gamer not use Steam in 2016. Pretty easy. Realize that about 85-90% of games are not going to be available to play, and use sites like GOG to enjoy what remains of the 15-20%.

Or bow out and go the console route, but for a pc gamer that's a sad and lonely road to travel down.
Posted June 30, 2016
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synfresh: GoG has been in existence for how long now? 6-7 years? And how much of a percentage do you think it has of the digital market as a whole? 10% and that's being really generous. That's also assuming that every single person who buys on GoG (DRM-Free) does not buy on Steam which we no is not true. Yes DRM-Free is growing but it's growing relative to what it was before. It's not growing relative to Steam because Steam has not lost market share at all since GoG has been in existence (in fact it's userbase has only grown). Publishers see this too. If GoG has a sizeable marketshare don't you think there would be more publishers on board here? Hell, even some the publishers that are here still won't dare to put their newer titles for sale on GoG (Bethesda, WB even Paradox).

DRM-Free is a minority, niche whatever you want to call it. And it will continue to be as long as people (gamers) see no stronger alternative to what is already there. It's like asking someone who is an Apple fanboy to not use iphones anymore. It's never going to happen, unless Apple disappears.
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Faceknives: Unlike some people, I actually agree that GoG is going to remain a minority interest in comparison to Steam. While there's still potential for significant growth, GoG is never going to appeal to the CoD kiddies, the mainstream AAA types etc. It's targeted at a more specialist market than GoG.
I'm not sure GoG themselves see it this way though, as evidenced by their past business decisions (GOG Galaxy, GoG Connect). Both of these are in many ways trying to take aim at the Steam crowd, to try to appeal to customers that go beyond their 'base'.
Posted June 30, 2016
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synfresh: I'm not sure GoG themselves see it this way though, as evidenced by their past business decisions (GOG Galaxy, GoG Connect). Both of these are in many ways trying to take aim at the Steam crowd, to try to appeal to customers that go beyond their 'base'.
There's a big difference between trying to widen your core market and going for the mainstream market though. I'm sure GoG want to do the former, but less convinced that they're trying to do the latter. Even the newer games they get on mostly aren't going to appeal to the more casual Steam user.
Posted June 30, 2016
This week is a shining example of why PC gamers basically have to use Steam. What'd we get this week? A few days of nothing, a preorder, DLC for a middling roguelike, and some Eurojank RPG.

Being limited to GOG is a deflating proposition.
Posted June 30, 2016
Q: How can we NOT live without computers?

A: Oh I don't know... we've had tens of thousands of years without them... Same with a lot of things.
Posted June 30, 2016
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Emob78: Or bow out and go the console route, but for a pc gamer that's a sad and lonely road to travel down.
Oh its really not so bad, unless you're talking like choosing one or the other exclusively. I look at my console as "supplementing" my PC gaming. But honestly, if it wasn't for the Steam requirements I don't think I would have ever given much thought to getting another console at this point in my life.

But yeah, with a few newer titles catching my eye, it kinda came down to "Steam or console" for me and I chose console.

But of course everybody's circumstances are different. For me, even more than DRM (which sucks enough), I don't want somebody's client on my PCs, especially one that is phoning home constantly, data mining, or doing whatever nasty crap I suspect the steam client does.... But that is a little different for me, I don't really have a newer "dedicated" gaming machine - I use my computers for multiple purposes including gaming, other hobbies and even what I do for $$$. So I'm super careful about what software i let run on my boxes, so they continue to work for those multiple purposes.

So for me its easily worth biting the bullet and getting a console to keep my computers free of bloatware. But obviously this is a YMMV thing, I can certainly see circumstances where somebody will make the opposite decision. Or just play GOG games. Point is though, it can be a viable option, if u want to avoid steam but still play a few newer games beyond only playing what GOG is able to get.

But once again, here's to hoping for a future where we gamers don't have to make these "lesser of evils" decisions. I keep thinking if more and more of us "vote with our dollars", so to speak, "requires steam" will eventually no longer be standard in new PC games, even the AAA ones.
Posted June 30, 2016
@OP: Simple. Steam support is bad, Steam is greedy AF (if you want to release a game on Steam, even as an Indie developer, Steam wants 30% of the profit. 30%!! Almost a third!!), Purchases on Steam are being more and more restricted (censorship, no age verification system for games over 18 so they just don't sell them at all, DRMs that take away your rights as an owner). This is a good time to switch to GOG. Freedom is a choice!
Posted June 30, 2016
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Chacranajxy: This week is a shining example of why PC gamers basically have to use Steam. What'd we get this week? A few days of nothing, a preorder, DLC for a middling roguelike, and some Eurojank RPG.

Being limited to GOG is a deflating proposition.
I'm not in the "Oh noes, GOG didn't cater to mah desires this week, STEAM!!!"

Even if GOG were to never again release anything "new" that appealed to me, I still have years of buying what does

1) Even leaving out the "DRM" argument, I still don't like Steam works (Client, installing games & patching)

2) I don't even have the Steam client installed since my last 'puter died
Posted July 01, 2016
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Ariod: PC gaming historically has always been a "DIY" type thing. You sort of took the responsibility yourself to get the games to run on your system. And people have been modding games since before my gaming years, with the idea of "making the game into what you want it to be". And from that standpoint, any service like Steam that adds bloatware to your system and limits or controls your gaming experience goes directly against this whole "DIY" idea.

So I always figure anyone who wants to avoid that "DIY" aspect tends to go the console direction and mostly avoids PC gaming in the 1st place.
I think that's largely down to the emergence of the internet since the late 1990s which made PCs such common household items. Lots of people ended up with desktop computers who never would have got one a few years before and who didn't really have much to use it for outside of browsing the net. That's a massive group of casual computer users who were arguably a prime target audience for early Steam, much more so than for any other retail options including brick and mortar stores, and it (no pun intended) steamrolled from there.

I actually wonder what the ongoing shift to mobile internet devices is going to do to that whole dynamic. Other than highly tech-focused people, mobile devices seem to be most popular with that exact same section of people who don't need their electronics to do much more than access the net and do some casual computer-y stuff. (The modern bane of most internet forums are arguably people who access the forum exclusively through their smart phone and are barely able to operate their device, let alone understand how to use a forum through it without coming across like demented kiddies.)

I'm sure Steam will find (and probably already is finding) a way to adapt, but the market for large DRM'ed PC games aimed at casual computer users might well shrink over the next while, with a retrenchment towards the DIY-style computer users who in the main are probably much less accepting of intrusive DRM.
Post edited July 01, 2016 by Zeyes
Posted July 01, 2016
DRM touched me inappropriately! (Shows where on a non binary doll)
Posted July 01, 2016
I'm relatively new here, and I'm pretty sure DRM is what killed PC gaming sales in retail. I know for me it basically killed PC gaming (used to be a HUGE PC gamer back in the day...ironic that many of those games I played then I can find here now).

Steam is just an extension of DRM, and there's no way I was going to support DRM. I tried Steam in the early days, and it was an unnecessary addition that basically to me amounted to something similar to a Trojan on your machine. The exception, you put it there with all your information, but while you gave them all that information, you really didn't get anything in return. It wasn't really necessary to run any game I wanted, it was just there as a gate holder...and that basically is DRM.

Instead, I moved to being a console player where I could get game discs that I could play on a console whether it was connected to the internet or not, that I could play on one PS3/Xbox and then play on another PS3/Xbox without a name/password or any other protective measure, and thus forth. I know a bucket load of former PC gamers that also made that transition.

I wonder if some of the console popularity these days are from former PC gamers.

I came across GoG recently when they had their summer sales. I didn't come for the sales at all, instead I came because I had a LOT of difficulty getting the X-wing series of games running on machines past Win 7 and heard that GoG had working copies of these games.

It was just my luck they had the sales of that game as well. I don't know if I'm back to PC gaming or not yet, but I know I've gotten over a hundred games in less than a month...not all of them old games either (picked up Victor Vran, Pillars of Eternity, Grim Dawn, and all the Shadow Run games).

As for AAA titles, they probably sell more on consoles than anything that Steam can dream of. Why? Because you don't have as restrictive DRM on consoles. You don't have to get this stupid authorization over the internet to install or play your games (and when MS thought they would do that with the Xbone...well...they are still paying for that mistake of an announcement, and if you notice, they backed off of doing that due to the outcry...and simply mentioning it still bit them in the rear).

So, if there really is an AAA title out there, I'm not getting it on Steam. If I have to have it now, and it's not on GoG, I'll get it on a console. However, I think GOG has gotten me hard, and I have a large backlog of games to play until the next games I'm looking forward to come out. Luckily, it looks like they both will come out on GoG (No Man's Sky and Treachery).
Post edited July 01, 2016 by GreywolfLord
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussionHow can PC gamers NOT use Steam in 2016?(195 posts)(195 posts)
(195 posts)