I'm sorry, but review copies aren't always watermarked, and are certainly not always review code. Sure, it's the case sometimes, but lots of game sites give away old review copies as prizes for contests and such, or they get sent additional copies to spread around the staff.

Also I'd like to know how you know so much about the Steam press accounts. Unless you're actually a games journalist, do you know how they work? Citation please?
No I didn't. It was the user who responded to me. I'd appreciate you not calling me a liar next time though.

And none of those really apply to me. I've been on computers for over 20 years, I know better. The passwords I use contain no actual words and are decent, I don't even use "messenger" type clients, I don't click links and type in account information, and the only thing that would have been similar to some other services I use is the email address.

Again, people are blaming users when I know for me, that was not the case. I would also imagine actual developers and members of the gaming press would know better, as many of them are reporting similar incidents. It also doesn't explain how they reinstated my credit card information that I specifically removed (and it even shows it as such in my account history).

No, you didn't. And I'm truly sorry.

I wish they had less obscure-quoting system or atleast message preview. : /

C'mon, I'm fine with people needing to cite legal references etc. but most talk of review manipulation can only be hearsay because it's so underhand, and not admitted by the reviewers. However it's strongly heard of, to the point of embarrassment to modern magazines. I doubt you'd doubt it.

No worries. Accidents happen.

Not blaming you, just giving out ideas what might have been the cause, as a hack would probably have been more widespread.

Oh I've no doubt there's a lot of bribery in many outlets. I mean, look how Activision does CoD reviews; all expenses paid plush vacations. Ugh. But a lot of people in this thread are tossing around very exact specifications and "facts" about the Steam press accounts, and I'm wondering where they're getting this stuff from. For all we know, they could do a timed Steam review copy that expires after a game's release date, or they could gift the press the entire Steam catalogue. I'm just genuinely curious if there's an actual basis for this stuff beyond Steam urban legend.

*sigh* not this shit again ....

Fair call.
I have none.

You're asking people on this forum to give you unbiased information about Steam?

-__-

Fair point! Carry on, friends.

As I posted on that RPS article I think it's important to note that Origin is not required to run most not-Battlefield games on there. They have their own DRM separate from Origin, Origin just delivers the files.

For example I bought Batman on there when it was half-off and Origin was just a downloader. The game installs and activates without Origin, uses SecuROM.

Actually, I'm not sure I completely understand the point of locking people out of their games if they get banned from the forums. It's not like it would help with cheating :P.

Sorry, it took a while to go through my bookmarks to find again. My organizing system is a mess. Plenty of these stories can be found all around, but this is the one that stood out to me last year. It's long, so stick with it.

http://gloriouscomputing.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/your-elusive-game-collection-or-why-you-should-think-twice-about-trusting-steam/

Essentially, Paypal messed up and the charges were put on hold while asking for verification from Valve, which Valve never responded to. After some fuss, the Steam account was opened again for five days so the user could purchase the game and make things right. The problem is, it was on sale before ($3.75), and Valve was wanting the non-sale price of the game ($15). If he didn't pay the additional amount, the account would be disabled indefinitely.

The amount difference may be small, but it does not excuse the fact that Valve was able to get more money out of this user than he originally agreed to pay, or else everything would be lost.