cogadh: By your own admission, that expanded market is quite small and by Valve's own statements, their games will be developed from the start with cross-platform compatibility. I don't see that as spreading anything too thinly at all. If anything, Mac support doesn't really add much difficulty to QA or after sale support as Macs are a restricted hardware platform. They test a game on one Mac and it works, it is guaranteed to work on every other Mac of that model. Its almost like developing for a console in that respect. PCs aren't like that in the least, hence from a support standpoint, Macs are probably going to be easier to deal with in the long run.

melchiz: I was simply sharing my concern that Valve's support could degrade as a result of this expansion. Steam support is already poor, from my experiences, so I cannot see this change as beneficial, as a PC user.

TheCheese33: Why are people so vicious about Steam coming to Mac? It's a good move for the market as a whole, and it means my Mac-loving friends will be able to play me in Team Fortress 2 without using bullshit compatibility programs! They'll discover the wonders of Portal for the first time, escape City 17, Uber a medic, and much more! I salute you, Valve, for finally throwing that fanboy attitude down the gutter and doing the right thing.

melchiz: Ah, the fanboy tag. What does any of this have to do with so-called "fanboyism?"
As a PC gamer, I am more likely to suffer from this change than I am to benefit from it. Why should I celebrate it? Why should I celebrate the expansion of what is rapidly becoming a digital distribution monopoly? Why do people prefer unity and convenience over freedom and competition? People give Valve a pass for the anti-competitive Steamworks, yet condemn Microsoft for bundling Internet Explorer. How can this be?
If anyone is guilty of being a "fanboy," it would be the Steam fanatics who want nothing short of turning the PC into its own console: Steam.

Gundato: Which, again, means that we better go kill any publisher who wants to use Steam, since that can only degrade our performance :P

melchiz: Ah, the fanboy tag. What does any of this have to do with so-called "fanboyism?"
As a PC gamer, I am more likely to suffer from this change than I am to benefit from it. Why should I celebrate it? Why should I celebrate the expansion of what is rapidly becoming a digital distribution monopoly? Why do people prefer unity and convenience over freedom and competition? People give Valve a pass for the anti-competitive Steamworks, yet condemn Microsoft for bundling Internet Explorer. How can this be?
If anyone is guilty of being a "fanboy," it would be the Steam fanatics who want nothing short of turning the PC into its own console: Steam.

melchiz: Steamworks does not affect performance, but it will lead to the death of the one quality of PC gaming that makes it more compelling than consoles: user freedom. Why would I want an overpriced, buggy console? PC gaming without user choice is little more than console gaming with a keyboard and mouse and potentially superior visuals.

Gundato: Again, you are missing the point. You are under the assumption that Mac users will "degrade" things for us. The only argument I can see is that users in general will be detrimental to us. So if your argument is that it is bad for PC gaming for there to be more PC gamers, say so. Otherwise, explain how Mac gamers in particular can hurt us.

melchiz: Honestly, the only issue I consider significant is the growth of Steamworks-like services on the PC. As Steam grows (in this case, expanding to a new platform), so will the likelihood of publishers using Steamworks (which forces users to run Steam to play games, even if the user does not purchase the game on Steam) or creating their own, similar systems (Ubisoft's recent DRM/community features system).
But hey, it's all okay because Valve can do no wrong. I am troubled that other users are comfortable with Valve's "you will run our store at all times, and you have no choice in the matter" attitude. Since when are people okay with bundleware, background applications, and mandatory storefronts? Steam itself is acceptable because users are free not to use it. However, users have no choice regarding Steamworks titles. If a user wishes to play Dawn of War II, for example, he must install Steam and run it in order to access the game.
Thus, as Steam expands onto Macs, its influence will grow and its compulsory client system will likely be adopted by more publishers. Once again, how do we, as gamers, benefit from this? Console gamers are perfectly comfortable with central planning. As PC gamers, are we not different because we want freedom of choice? If so, why are we eager to forfeit it to Valve et al?

Gundato: Then in that case, please don't bash it and claim the Mac Users are evil or whatever. Just say you hate Steam, and complain every time it is used. But Mac Users in general are not going to do anything (as far as you are concerned). They could all be people buying Modern Warfare 2 for the purpose of your argument.

Gundato: And point of reference: We used to get crap like Ubi's server browser/registration system, Gamespy Arcade, all the things Sierra used, etc. Integrated crap is nothing new, and if anything, Steamworks is probably one of the better ones (it tends to actually work :p).