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General discussion (archive)Spoiled by GOG, q about Steam(235 posts)(235 posts)
(235 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted November 17, 2014
Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new to the pc gaming scene, and I guess I've been spoiled by GOG's DRM-free-ness so much that reality just hit me like a slippery fish.

I've been thinking about buying some newer big games like Skyrim (for their modding communities primarily), but when I looked into buying it... apparently the disc I'd buy doesn't actually contain Skyrim, but... Steam?

So I just wanted to ask the advice of people who (I imagine) have been dealing with Steam/Origin/etc longer than I have... do I kind of just "deal with it" if I want to play these games?

Are they as annoying as some people make them seem (I've read many complaints about Origin especially), or is it not all that bad? The idea of suddenly losing all my progress if my internet has a mild hiccup doesn't sound fun... amongst other issues like Origins spying on me for some reason...

Just wanted to hear your opinions. Thanks for any and all advice you feel like sharing!
Posted November 17, 2014
low rated
Sigh. Install Steam. Buy the damn game. Play it.
Posted November 17, 2014
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ChesHatter: Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new to the pc gaming scene, and I guess I've been spoiled by GOG's DRM-free-ness so much that reality just hit me like a slippery fish.

I've been thinking about buying some newer big games like Skyrim (for their modding communities primarily), but when I looked into buying it... apparently the disc I'd buy doesn't actually contain Skyrim, but... Steam?

So I just wanted to ask the advice of people who (I imagine) have been dealing with Steam/Origin/etc longer than I have... do I kind of just "deal with it" if I want to play these games?

Are they as annoying as some people make them seem (I've read many complaints about Origin especially), or is it not all that bad? The idea of suddenly losing all my progress if my internet has a mild hiccup doesn't sound fun... amongst other issues like Origins spying on me for some reason...

Just wanted to hear your opinions. Thanks for any and all advice you feel like sharing!
When you buy a Steam game, you are really just renting it because you have no control over the game. Any time Steam feels like it it, they can mess with it or remove it or whatever. Steam also uses up resources while running so this could mess with your gaming performance if you have a weak machine. You are also giving your $$$ to the dark side. Is Steam, annoying? If you have a good internet connection, then the answer to that question is "no". Does Steam spy on you? They spy on you only if you let them spy on you. So if you don't mind renting a game, supporting the dark side and have a good internet connection, then purchasing Skyrim is not a decision you will regret.
Post edited November 17, 2014 by monkeydelarge
Posted November 17, 2014
You can install Skyrim mostly off your disc, you finish the process through Steam. It's not a bad process if you're constantly online. It also saves a lot of downloading. But this is a bad place to ask questions like this. Some people will be useful and honest, others will answer with blind hatred for Steam.
Posted November 17, 2014
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ChesHatter: So I just wanted to ask the advice of people who (I imagine) have been dealing with Steam/Origin/etc longer than I have... do I kind of just "deal with it" if I want to play these games?
yeah thats about it.
Really once you get used to steam you may find yourself preferring it in some ways.
Post edited November 17, 2014 by zavlin
Posted November 17, 2014
Steam tends to not be too bad as long as you understand how it operates and what to watch out for. Generally you won't run into any problems if your internet hiccups while playing a Steam game- the client is generally quite tolerant of connection interruptions once it's running. You can also kick the client into offline mode for over a month without any problems; you mainly just need to go into online mode to install or update games, or if the client decides it needs to update itself.

There are a couple of things you should watch out for, though- while offline mode generally works pretty well, sometimes it doesn't, so if you know you're going to be without a connection for a while then be sure to kick the client into offline mode beforehand to increase the chances of everything working fine. Second, by default Steam games are set to automatically update- this is usually just fine, but if there are games where you don't want this to happen (for instance, updates to heavily modded games like Skyrim can sometimes cause issues) then be sure to set the game to not automatically update. Finally, Steam customer service can sometimes be difficult to work with if there are any issues, and if push comes to shove they have the power to pull access to your entire account (and all the games you bought), so don't spend more on a game than you'd be fine walking away from if there are serious issues that Steam support is unwilling to address.

I can't speak for Origin and uPlay, as I haven't used them, but in general from what I've heard there are some additional issues with those (uPlay in particular seems to be more insistent on a persistent connection for many games).
Posted November 17, 2014
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DarrkPhoenix: Steam tends to not be too bad as long as you understand how it operates and what to watch out for. Generally you won't run into any problems if your internet hiccups while playing a Steam game- the client is generally quite tolerant of connection interruptions once it's running. You can also kick the client into offline mode for over a month without any problems; you mainly just need to go into online mode to install or update games, or if the client decides it needs to update itself.

There are a couple of things you should watch out for, though- while offline mode generally works pretty well, sometimes it doesn't, so if you know you're going to be without a connection for a while then be sure to kick the client into offline mode beforehand to increase the chances of everything working fine. Second, by default Steam games are set to automatically update- this is usually just fine, but if there are games where you don't want this to happen (for instance, updates to heavily modded games like Skyrim can sometimes cause issues) then be sure to set the game to not automatically update. Finally, Steam customer service can sometimes be difficult to work with if there are any issues, and if push comes to shove they have the power to pull access to your entire account (and all the games you bought), so don't spend more on a game than you'd be fine walking away from if there are serious issues that Steam support is unwilling to address.

I can't speak for Origin and uPlay, as I haven't used them, but in general from what I've heard there are some additional issues with those (uPlay in particular seems to be more insistent on a persistent connection for many games).
Good point raised about Offline mode. My laptop and second computer has been in offline mode for 6 months or more. I find if you have been online atleast once to save your details on the computer than you can effectively remain offline. Unless I am doing something else.
Posted November 17, 2014
I have no problem at all with Steam as it allows me to get almost any game I want dirt cheap, and that in my opinion is a very good thing! People say yes but one day if Steam is no more you will lose all your games but honestly that day will probably never come and I am certainly not going to sit around worrying about it. You don't lose any progress if you lose your internet connection because your games are saved both locally and on the Steam servers so it's just a way of letting you continue your game on another machine without manually transferring the saves if you wanted to do that for some reason. Also you still have your saves if your hard drive corrupts or is formatted so again that's no bad thing in my opinion.

I haven't tried Origin or any of the others so I can't speak for them. My advice is don't listen to the whingers, people on the internet just love to complain. Go forth and play games my friend!
Posted November 17, 2014
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the info and opinions.

I know everyone has varying degrees of tolerance or intolerance for Steam (and topics like this in general), but it's all new to me and I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment or go into something without all the facts I can find.

Maybe I'll just limit myself to a small number of games (that I can't get here) that I want to have fun modding. Not crazy about this whole setup but I guess that's just the way it goes. It could be worse... I'd forgotten about uPlay...

Thanks again!
Post edited November 17, 2014 by ChesHatter
Posted November 17, 2014
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samwisegamgees: People say yes but one day if Steam is no more you will lose all your games but honestly that day will probably never come
You never know... Remember what happened to video rental stores?
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ChesHatter: Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the info and opinions.

I know everyone has varying degrees of tolerance or intolerance for Steam (and topics like this in general), but it's all new to me and I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment or go into something without all the facts I can find.

Maybe I'll just limit myself to a small number of games (that I can't get here) that I want to have fun modding. Not crazy about this whole setup but I guess that's just the way it goes. It could be worse... I'd forgotten about uPlay...

Thanks again!
Yes, on the bright side, Steams brings something to the table unlike uPlay. Most Steam games give you Steam cards and you can sell those cards for Steam store credit. Some Steam games(CSGO) also gives you items that you can sell for Steam store credit. So basically with most Steam purchases, you get some $$$ back.. Steam also lets you play Team Fortress 2 and DOTA 2 for free. Two of the top 10 good free games in existence.
Post edited November 17, 2014 by monkeydelarge
Posted November 17, 2014
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samwisegamgees: People say yes but one day if Steam is no more you will lose all your games but honestly that day will probably never come
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monkeydelarge: You never know... Remember what happened to video rental stores?
They were around for a good long while so again, it's not something that worries me too much. It certainly won't stop me from enjoying endless amounts of dirt cheap games right now.
Posted November 17, 2014
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monkeydelarge: You never know... Remember what happened to video rental stores?
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samwisegamgees: They were around for a good long while so again, it's not something that worries me too much. It certainly won't stop me from enjoying endless amounts of dirt cheap games right now.
I still see Blockbusters from time to time. I'm like... how am I seeing this?
Posted November 17, 2014
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samwisegamgees: They were around for a good long while so again, it's not something that worries me too much. It certainly won't stop me from enjoying endless amounts of dirt cheap games right now.
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ChesHatter: I still see Blockbusters from time to time. I'm like... how am I seeing this?
LOL must be for old people.
Posted November 17, 2014
If you are thinking of buying a few games off Steam or Origin, then by any means, do it, buy some and see what it is all about by yourself. Those platforms are client based, so that means that you have to use the client and see how it goes for you and your computer to decide if it's good enough for you or not.

For instance, I am a migrating kind of guy, I like to go deep in the country and cut all ties with internet in particular (sometimes because I want, sometimes because there just isn't internet...) for little period of time and those clients are a royal pain in the butt for me. I particularly dislike how Steam is horribly slow and globally unreliable just to launch when you are using it only a few times by week or by month. And I am using it for two games only... Ten minutes and ten tries for a f***ing update isn't funny at all.

But if you are thinking of creating a big collection of games on those, then think about it twice. Because big Gabe isn't gonna give you anything back in a few years if you change your mind... You can always count on the internet hivemind to keep alive all the drm-free games coming from GOG if they go under... I doubt that there will be anything left off the steamers if the Steam box fail as hard as it's predictable...
Posted November 17, 2014
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ChesHatter: Just wanted to hear your opinions.
If you want a game that's a Steam exclusive just buy it. Sure, I prefer GOG when it's an option but there are so many Steam exclusives, avoiding it is simply not an option if you're the slightest bit passionate about games or just really want one of the exclusives. It's the same with Origin and Uplay. There are some risks and annoyances but nothing that will ruin your life.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Spoiled by GOG, q about Steam(235 posts)(235 posts)
(235 posts)