If it's a single player game I try to not get it on Steam. If it's multiplayer, needs constant updates, and uses third party servers I just get it on Steam to simplify things. Some games have DRM already and it would be pointless to boycott Steam (the first Borderlands game came with SecuROM non steamed I think)

I'm not sure if they patched it out of every old game that used to have it, but none of their games have used always online since like 4 years ago. They use Uplay, which functions identically to Steam.

I am of the opinion every one should use the service they like the most and is more advantageous to them, and though I'm personally against Steam, by no means do I want to convince people to not use it, it's just a matter of my personal tastes and beliefs.

With that said, I boycott Steam games and Steam altogether. I have a Steam account and I "own" 6 games on Steam because friends gifted them to me and they made it clear they would be mad at me if I didn't accept it. As I don't think video games are reason enough to get your friends mad at you, I created my account and redeemed the gifts through Humble. I only installed the Steam client once, to redeem a copy of a game I won in a giveaway, but I uninstalled it right away. I never bought a single game on Steam, and I don't care about exclusives or sales, my rights as a consumer and, ultimately, as a citizen, always come first. Plus, no video game whatsoever is worth giving that up, I never felt like I had to have a game just because everyone else is playing it, because I really love a series or because I mystify a certain developer or studio. To make things worse, here in Portugal the national Steam page (the only one we can buy stuff through) has way higher prices than GOG, even during promos. So, even if I cared about "oh-my-god-this-game-is-so-cheap-I-have-to-have-it!", Steam wouldn't cover my needs.

I have no plans to buy a game on Steam. Ever. If devs and publishers want my money, and the money of people like me, make their games available on places like GOG, in which we can have access to installers, with great tech support and an awesome community overall.

Hi,

I am new here and I know this is about a year old thread, but it is one of the ways I found GOG.

I was a dedicated player of SpaceEngineers, had more than 1500 hours playing, loved the game and do miss it, but not enough to be mistreated and insulted.

A company I thought was really great, Keen Software, the developer out of Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic today). I still believe as a developer they pay close attention to their games, but not to Steam, and Steam.... Well let's just say they have a discipline problem.

Valve runs their company with no one responsible, which is a great legal strategy, though they might say someone is responsible for a particular area, there is no one to discipline anyone, and, consequently... No one to discipline Steam Moderators.

I had posted a suggestion for the game. I had posted a few before, made numerous bug reports, basically done anything I could to help the game become better since it is in Early Access and sold for $20 USD when I got my copy, and now, is $25 USD.

Well someone who has tried numerous times before to harass me for my posts insults me again, it's always subtle and innuendo basically, and I replied without being insulting, responding to their considered reasons point by point, even numbering them.

They respond with the "WT*" acronym for swearing at me, and I decided then to report them.

Instead of getting help from the Steam Moderator, like a friend request and talking to me about it, you know how moderators often help the people making posts and who are active with a game, he posts in the thread "that was not an insult," and then when I post, quote, and highlight the offensive thing, remember this is my forum post, I am the one who posted the idea, and I hadn't once called the other person a name or anything like that, the moderator tells me that arguing about it doesn't change it into an insult, and then reminds me he has the "ban hammer."

I was livid. I am no kid. I am an old gamer, been supporting gaming for 30 years, since Ultima I (back when Origin Systems was a Richard Garriott company), the original Castle Wolfenstein, Wizardry, and other games, meaning: we're the people who helped build gaming into an industry by the money we spent; we're the people who complained about slow hardware, wanting better graphics, and driving the computer innovations that led to the systems we have today.

So, I immediately uninstalled Space Engineers and have since looked for a way to not play it with Steam, and will not ever again play it as long as I have to play it by/with Steam. I was going to buy Red Faction Guerrilla, a 2009 game i think on Steam, waited for it to go on sale but now, I am gonna get it on Amazon. And any time I see a Free to Play game on Steam that uses Steam cloud or any assets that will cost Steam money (and that I can enjoy) I will play that game and never again will I spend one dime with Steam.

There are numerous other people who have had similar experiences, and I'd like to see us find each other over the web because I do think it's time for an organized boycott of a company with no bosses who leaves the customer with no options when one of their moderators is abusive to people who have spent money to buy products through Steam, meaning: if we helped a company get a pecuniary benefit, Steam isn't covered under some "Early Access" get out of responsibility free notice, so they still must be reasonable to us and treat us with the respect any customer is due. "Ban hammer" should not be a phrase used by any moderator of any service that we pay for access to our games, to updates, and socialize on. If it's free, entirely free, no money to Steam, no money to Valve, no money to anyone for the forums, workshop, etc., to provide server space, to provide cloud, or any of it, sure, they have a point, I'd be abusing that because I'd be going against their philanthropic gift, but then it would not be a dependency of my games, their only way to get updated being through Steam see? So yeah, I am still, obviously, ticked off at Valve and Steam because they lack the ability to appreciate the very people that are using their service.

I do hope if I buy something on GOG, say the original Master of Orion, once I move to another OS above Windows 7, or to Unix, that I will be able to play it in DOSbox or such and there will be instructions to do so. But I'd sure love it if this Polish based company were working with Czech developer Keen, to break up Steam's monopoly in regard to that developer.

In fact, I've see people try to say Steam doesn't have a monopoly, and that's not exactly true, for with some developers Steam is their exclusive distributor, and that is a monopoly of distribution, which only exacerbates the issue with Steam moderators that I brought up previously. We shouldn't be subject to the whims of a moderator for a service we pay for, and the reason is simple: If we're paying, if Steam is getting money from us that pays for that moderator, they work for us! We all work hard for our money, and the audacity of some moderator to treat us poorly when we have spent money with Steam is like going to a restaurant, paying ahead of time for your food, eating it and finding a cockroach in it, telling the server about it, and having them have bouncers remove you from the premises. It's just plain wrong and why I am boycotting Steam as far as buying anything from them, but making sure to use every free thing they have and spend every dime of Valve's money I can.

Just thought you guys needed a real reply to your question, and since questions don't expire, my first post so hope you find it at least entertaining.

I do.

Tough shit if anyone likes that or not.

All free to do as they do, just as I am.

No conversation or argument need be made, I just don't like the bastards.

That's not that I boycott steam as much as I just don't need it. I hate rental for my entertainment.

Their last move on the modding community is absolutely despicable though. The truth being that just hearing big gabe talking about his vision of video game entertainment is despicable. :)

Never enough way to monetize the peasants :)

I am not buying any more games on steam just playing the games i have on it but when a game comes to gog that i have on steam i will buy the game again drm free.

I have a feeling that's what I am gonna be doing. I wish they had Red Faction: Guerrilla on GOG. Is there a place to submit games for consideration?

Welcome to GOG! I hope you'll find the place pleasant and remain with the community! :) You could apply the same reasoning for everything Steam related. Greenlight, Early Access, the forums, the new paid workshop... Valve just does nothing. Like medieval bandits, with their immense market share they have become a necessity and managed to place themselves on the bridge between developers/publishers and customers, demanding a toll to "let them live". You don't get real incomes if you don't get on Steam.
I personally see them like robbers. Be careful, I think the physical edition requires Steam. It should be among those games moved form GFWL to there. That's one of the aspects I like the most about GOG: besides being DRM-free (hence you are free to install them everywhere -as long as it is your own system, of course), the GOG staff constantly updates their games to work on modern systems whenever possible, so your purchase can be very long lasting! :)
Things are a bit more difficult for Linux users, but they are quickly improving. Steam has nearly (I don'r remember if a bit more or a bit less) 80% of the market share. They can influence the entire industry with their own, arbitrary decisions (just see the last practice with mods...) so they ARE a monopoly, in the worst possible meaning, and they are not stopping their expansion. Their biggest competitor is GOG (and probably the last store with a dignity, not having succumbed to Steam-key reselling), and it has only 9% of the share!
I heard people trying to defend them regardless of their borderline criminal practices, worshipping them like they were some kind of religion, but really: if you need an example of everything is wrong with corporations today, you have to look no further. No need for deep analysys there, it's just blatant.

So yes, I boycott Steam, with no exceptions.
I didn't in principle, so I still have nearly 50 games there, yet with time passing I realized what kind of people (or bots?) they are, and I don't want to help them raping the industry any more. Once I have compelted what I paid for, I will unistall the client *and* permanently delete the account.
Saviour of PC gaming? Maybe once. Now they are their worst enemy.

Edited for horrifying typos.

So THQ is Nordic? I ask cause I remembered that they bought it from someone else, and that's claimed to be the reason for continued development on RFGuerrilla. I know I am new but if we need a "COG Users post to THQ" day, let's do it hahaha

Here's list of PC games there and it's listed, http://www.thq.com/us/games/pc?sticky_menu=20369

And for GOG if they talk to THQ, I'd send em a link to this thread, to help em understand, they are losing a lot of potential business. Why not? Nothing to lose if it's not here yet.

Nordic picked up some licenses from THQ after they went bankrupt and they also got the THQ trademark if i'm not mistaken...

The old THQ doesn't exist anymore...

I'm of the same mind.

Can't even remember when I signed up on GOG but with recent changes elsewhere it has made me think really hard what I actually own. All those games I paid for are not actually mine. They ban my account, pull the plug or whatever and I lose access to my games.

Aye that is my fear as well with a lot of games on steam and the chance something happens to the account makes me feel i need to make alternative plans and when i buy the game on gog i back the game on 2 external hard drives for safety.

I'm pretty sure it was around october of last year.

Yes, I'm an esper.