I was steam free from 2011 until Shadowrun Returns.
But when Dragonfall was released i got both here.
It was the last game i got from Steam, i only got it because i felt the devs were kinda screwed by microsoft.

There are some cool exclusive games on steam that i wouldn't mind having, but while they are steam exclusive i will never touch them. There are enough drm free games on the market, right now, to make me busy for a long time anyway.

Just the 1000th? I feel like this has been discussed way more than that. :P

I lost count after 4 to be honest... :D

Steam is all nice and well for people who like using it and know exactly what to expect from it. But when I buy a retail game, I expect a retail experience. That is, insert disc, install game and start playing. No being forced to install and sign up for additional clients/services, possible forced additional downloads etc., or in some cases, basically being required to download the entire game. That's really besides the point, and frankly retarded. If I wanted that, I wouldn't have bought the game as retail version, and would have bought it via Steam directly. It wouldn't be a big deal if they included it as an optional feature, but it's not.

That's probably the main reason why I dislike Steam, because it was forced down the throats of retail/physical version customers. ( And I'm not blaming solely Valve for that, since the various publishers are just as guilty for that, mostly since they used it as a convenient DRM solution. )

The better question is where exactly can you find PC retail games anywhere. The choices are pretty few where I am at and even at those places, they don't have everything.

Amazon still sells retail versions along with their digital ones.

Well, PC retail was becoming practically non-existent in the US even before the advent of digital distribution. So that's a different story altogether. In any case, PC retail is still very much significant in mainland Europe (though, naturally, it varies between countries).

I don't use Steam since I don't agree with their policies. They were always pro-DRM, and one can't even install a Steam game without having to use a mandatory client that also must be online.

I go to GOG for my games since I know the game will be DRM-free with an offline installer. If I have trouble trying to get a game to work, I know GOG will have a dedicated forum to go ask for help.

I have passed up many games that I would love to play because they require Steam activation. I have read the TOS and when I get a game I want to be able to use the game on my terms and not just be leasing it at the whims of someone else that could lock my account and games any time that they want.

So so so so many games I used to love have now become the stinkhole of Steam activation required.

boycott is a strong word for me. I just dont use their product and take the loss of my games there as 'lesson learned'. I have no desire to change them, indeed even if they did change, like get rid of the snooping and drm and heavy handedness and cluttered overly ad populated interface.. .I still wouldnt use their service due to past experiences tainting any new usage.

I reckon its like once you puke up tequila out your nose you sure dont want to taste another new and improved margurita

Still haven't given Valve any money for 2 years 9 months now. There have been two games in that time I got elsewhere that were steam only. First was KOF13 in a bundle, there I used the key and then just kept playing my 360 version.

The other was Starbound since the promised DRM free release never came about. I finally broke down and registered my key to be able to download it. Thankfully it doesn't need Steam to run, so I just made a zip of it as is for my backups.

I get by happily with my PC, Wii U and 360. If you don't care or are tired of AAA games, getting by Valve free isn't that hard. Of those types of games, the few I've got were on 360, such as GTA5 and Diablo 3. There isn't enough interest in AAA long term for me to justify getting a XB1 or PS4.

The Wii U is used for exclusives which I feel it has the best out of any current console by far.

They will of course try the same thing in the future.
The cost of the victory is a constant vigilance.


Still won't se a dime from me.

Or get a refund, which on Steam it is a pain to get and they try to shove that digital store currency down your throat, while GOG customer support asks you what would you prefer.
GOG is by far the superior DD service in terms of quality. Even if a game doesn't work, I will gladly wait for them to fix it. Games on GOG at least work. Old games on Steam are a broken mess.

I don't boycott steam because they do have a bigger selection of games, but if I had the option between get a game on Steam or the same game on GoG, the of course I get it on GoG. I hardly even buy games on Steam at all. 90 percent of my games on there are form the various indie bundles. Because of the DRM though, I never buy a Steam game at full price; if I get a game there, it has to be on sale. GoG has been the only place I buy the games full priced especially since I know games from GoG will work while old games on Steam tend not to work at all (Full Spectrum Warrior, Ceville, etc.).

Just tweeted Nordic Games about the 271 people interested in Red Faction: Guerrilla on GOG.

I figure a little public scrutiny of business stupid might be useful. The sad part, the part that really none of us want to see, is Microsoft Live is still selling retail in Europe. I just found the game at newegg for $4.52 + shipping from UK. Point being, it seems only Microsoft has an alternative to Steam, and to have one monopoly be the grand crusader to end another.... Ummm.... Yeah we need a new player to step up to the plate with bases loaded and knock it out of the park, and it would be great if GOG can be that new player. I am making a bit of noise now and then to indie developers, have even posted link to this thread to help them with their consideration of platforms and being without Steam or anyone else for that matter. I pick up new follows from them and often get a few tweets of dialog going too about it.

Be good if we all do similar. Most posting have been silently boycotting Steam in their own way, and that is a statement of dissatisfaction. So let's help the new developers not get suckered into Steam's virtual Schtick, maybe even look to have their games on GOG. Enough twitter noise, maybe even trending #BoycottValveSteam, #BoycottSteam and #IndiDev with something you all or even GOG comes up with would probably be useful.

Gog isn't gonna grow sitting there, not that they aren't trying but it seems we'd all like a bigger selection here so maybe its time this 8% of marketshare started making some noise to the indiedevs regarding future games, and at least made Steam work for their money.

Doesn't have to be a mission of sorts, but we do all see future games we'd like to play and the only way that developer is gonna even think to question Steam is if they hear about it from us.

So, in answer t the question posed by this thread, I am making a concerted effort to get new devs, future game projects and developments to boycott Steam, and with their recent backpeddling from charging for mods (a desperate move by Steam or just exploiting players) it would seem, strategically, this is a good time to act hahaha