Antoni_Fox: This is just something that has my curiosity, and i'm only asking for opinions and thoughts here, not trying to start a GOG vs. Steam war! ;)
Why do so many GOG users often comment in forum posts that they avoid using Steam?
I mean, 99.9% of PC games are released exclusively on the Steam platform these days, and even if they do get DRM-free releases on GOG, Humble Bundle and other places later, the vast majority of new or recent PC games will never provide us gamers with that option.
So, by refusing to have a Steam account, aren't some PC gamers robbing themselves of the opportunity to play a lot of new games?
I'm sure everyone has a valid reason for not using Steam, but i'm just interested to know what those reasons are in more detail.
I bought a used copy of Half-life 2 from a friend about 6-8 months after it came out. I installed it and found out that it required you to install Steam on your computer and I wasn't too thrilled about that nor really realize what Steam was at the time. But I wanted to play HL2 so I installed it, then found out it wanted a username and password which I wasn't thrilled about. Then I found out it wanted my buddy's username and password or I couldn't play the game. I was more ticked off at my buddy than Valve though, because he sold me the game for $20 and didn't give me the password so I couldn't actually play it. When I called him and told him that I needed the password he was reluctant because he was using it to play online multiplayer. He was under the impression that he could sell me the game DVD and keep playing it online and both of us would have a functional game, but that was not the case. So I told him that I was unable to play the game without the account+password and that was fine either way, that it was up to him whether he decided to give me the account and password or to give me my $20 back and come and pick up his DVD.
He gave me the account name and password. I was able to log in, play the game, and change the password and all was well. Except now he couldn't play it and he thought that both of us could share the account. He was pissed at me over this when it was his own doing, but never told me - rather I heard it through the grapevine. Called him up politely and told him I was willing to give him back the game and account for getting my $20 back but he didn't want to do that - so I ended up keeping it. I played HL2 for a month or so and then had computer problems and was unable to play games for a year or so due to that and $job and $life. I had no way or reason to log into Steam again for quite some time. 9 years in fact.
I bought and played games on CD and DVD after that still up until 2007, and none of the games used Steam or any other online service, just good old fashioned standalone disk based games. Then I stopped buying games entirely until late 2012 when I discovered GOG.com and decided to be a part of the family here. I knew that Steam existed during that time, but I had no idea what it was all about or what the current offerings there were, and I didn't really concern myself with it. You could say I was neutral but not a big fan of the idea of digitally downloading games. GOG.com got me to change my mind for several reasons that I now find quite advantageous.
Months after buying games here and participating in the forums though, time and time again you see lots of talk about Steam, lots of Steam game giveaways, the gaming deals thread introduces you to Humble Bundle, Bundlestars, Indie Gala and numerous others, and eventually you find a game or game bundle or collection that you see the price of and think "wow, that's super cheap! I want that!" What did it for me though, was Metro Last Light was nearing completion and slated to be released in a few months and the developer did a free giveaway of Metro 2033 for Steam. It looked more amazing than any game I'd seen before as I was out of gaming for a while and had a 2004 era computer at the time. So of course I wanted it, got a free copy, and created a new Steam account as I forgot the credentials for my old account (since recovered mind you).
There are many things that I dislike about Steam, but the primary one is actually not Steam itself but rather what is common to many individual games on Steam, and that is various forms of DRM. I'm not fond of DRM but I will put up with certain types of DRM to a degree, and so I will acquire games for Steam as long as it is DRM-free or I can live with the minimal DRM it has which is DRM that is non-intrusive basically. There are many awesome AAA games out there that just do not exist on GOG and may not for a long time if ever, but if they have minimal non-intrusive DRM then I may potentially buy them if the price is right, and certainly freebie promos, gifts and giveaways! So I've bought several hundred Steam games over the last 4 years mostly via Bundlestars, Humble and Indie Gala, as well as GMG, Gamersgate, Amazon (authorized resellers only), and a tonne of won giveaways and gifts, and a handful direct from Steam.
Technically I could live without Steam, but my gaming experience is enhanced by the games that are available there and not here, so long as the price is right and any inconveniences are minimal to me which they usually are. The Steam client itself I personally find to be a very nice program overall with a lot of gamer friendly useful features. I don't personally use or care about all of the features, but the ones I do use I like, generally nice convenience features. Things that are not strictly necessary but can be quite useful to have.
So personally while GOG is my favourite distribution platform, and my second favourite and third as well, Steam is my 4th favourite and I wouldn't want to do without either of them as a gamer. I've got 500 games on GOG ATM, and around 350-400 on Steam. So I personally enjoy my experience on Steam overall even though I do not agree 100% various publishers and their DRM, policies and anti-consumer behaviours, but IMHO Valve is one of the better companies on that front themselves.
So that's how I came to use Steam and why it is valuable to me as a PC gamer in a nutshell, but at the same time I can completely understand why some gamers do not want to ever use Steam whether it is purely ideological reasons, or perhaps they've had really bad experiences with Steam in the past, or with Steam games in the past from other publishers. I've had a few bad experiences myself, but nothing that was Valve's fault. Mainly 3rd party DRM I didn't research before spending money from non-Valve games (Rockstar for example).
There are casual gamers and gamers that play a lot but limit themselves to a very few number of games, and certain other niche types of gamers that can easily get their gaming needs filled without Steam either here on GOG, or even with free games on the web etc. I think that's fairly normal and reasonable as everyone has different tastes, different likes and dislikes and different ideologies and needs. Steam may not fit an individuals needs or ideology, and so such people will opt to avoid it like the plague perhaps. Much like I have chosen with complete and total irrevocable conviction that I will absolutely never install or use Microsoft Windows 10. Many people will think I'm crazy for that and that's ok. They wont understand it, and that's ok too. I'll find solutions to my computing and gaming problems that do not require Windows 10 and do meet all of my own needs, or as many as possible, even if it means I have to give up some software or games. I've got my ideologies too, and so I can relate to people who outright refuse to ever use Steam in that regard.
