aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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And another disadvantage is that if Steam servers is down ... Too bad. And if it goes out of business you're FUBARd.
What are the pros as consumers for a software like Steam?
- Thread starter scyt4l3
- Start date
If steam goes out of business and no one takes over and continue their services the developers would release a patch that removes the DRM.
This is often done to remove DRM that require a physical media (CD/DVD or even a Floppy) to be inserted to play the game, they remove that so that the game can be sold as a download through steam or similar services. Sometimes they do this by simply using the cracks used in pirated versions of the game, e.g. Rockstar using the Max Payne 2 crack by Myth.
This is often done to remove DRM that require a physical media (CD/DVD or even a Floppy) to be inserted to play the game, they remove that so that the game can be sold as a download through steam or similar services. Sometimes they do this by simply using the cracks used in pirated versions of the game, e.g. Rockstar using the Max Payne 2 crack by Myth.
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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Yes I read that too. Somebody found it when they were looking at the executable and saw the logo of the group and its pretty funny to be honest.
Were they credited? I think that would be nice to do so but it may come off as endorsing cracks.
Were they credited? I think that would be nice to do so but it may come off as endorsing cracks.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
No physical media is not a real disadvantage anymore. With proper backup in place, you can keep a digital copy essentially forever (and you do have proper backup don't you?)
For the internet connection: Steam can and does run on even dial up. As long as you have a properly backed up copy of your game install, you should have no issue with reinstalling Steam and all your games.
As for backup then: Steam allows you to make a backup (which you can burn to a disk) and it has an online archived copy (that would be what you download)
Steam does essentially everything you've said there, save for the no DRM (but thats unfortunately a minority today)
Another disadvantage of physical media is if you lose your disk, too bad, you can't play until you find it or get a crack. And if your disk breaks, well then, you're FUBAR'd.
Wait, that sounds suspiciously like what you said for Steam! Hmm...
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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Yeah but getting the disk cracked, its more in your control than what happens to a server several thousand (Where are they located) away. And I make backups of my discs the best I can. (A few of my discs are slightly scratched so I just copied those to the hard drive and install from there. Only the scratched ones otherwise Id have to run to the living room to use the network CD drive. Mines too fast)
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
Valve has direct incentive to maintain the servers at a high uptime. They stop making money if their servers are down. So by buying a game or two, you are in effect more or less guaranteeing uptime.
The media has changed and most of the issues have translated to the new media, but they're analogous to the old problems you could have with physical media.
The media has changed and most of the issues have translated to the new media, but they're analogous to the old problems you could have with physical media.
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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Well I just dont like trusting anything much to the cloud .
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
Like I said, all the issues are still analogous.
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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I looked up that word it said Of a circuit or device having an output that is proportional to the input. Im not too sure what that means or how it relates to game issues.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
From Wikitictionary: Analogous - Having analogy; corresponding to something else; bearing some resemblance or proportion;
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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I think I used the wrong definition.
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
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Your fallacy is that in truth HDD's do crash much more frequently than disk media breaks...TOUCHE!
Second point: Regardless of whether or not I was "wrong/evil/stupid" for having inadequate HDD back-up, my only remedy is to pay the evil cable guy tons of money in service fees to get back my software from the online vendor, while for physical media, I only need to reinstall.
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
Lets say you didn't have a backup copy of your physical media and your disk breaks. What do you do then when you want to reinstall the game? You're going to either download it from somewhere, or have to buy a second copy. If the company will replace the disk for free, then you got lucky.
On your second point: who's fault is that really then? You had adequate warning that something could go wrong and you ignored said warning. If you have a download cap, then you should have known ahead of time to make backups so you only have to download the minimal amount. If you have a slow connection, then while it will take some time, the download will finish.
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
That is Ubisoft's recent DRM, and the reason only two people I know have bought any of their games which use it.
Steamworks looks to be pretty awesome for developers. I'm not sure what the actual costs to use it are, but Steamworks lets game developers get access to a lot of features (copy protection, patching/distribution, voice chat, achievements, etc) that they'd normally have to either develop themselves or go out and license from a half dozen 3rd party companies. I'm seriously looking at using it for a game I'm helping develop.
As a copy protection system Steam is reasonable for consumers. It's not as ideal as simply installing the game and using a CD key, sure. But most copy protection for better or for worse is going to require online access, and compared to the competition in that arena Steam is pretty decent. There are legitimate concerns about Valve going out of business and so on, and they've claimed that if that happened they would release patches to remove Steam authentication so you could still play games. Dunno if they'd really do it considering how many games use Steam now, but I have more faith in them than I do in most other publishers (EA, etc).
Steam also runs some fantastic sales that are great for consumers. I just look at my purchase history and in only the last 6 months I've saved $175 on game purchases thanks to Steam sales. Older games often go on sale for just a couple of dollars. Even newer games are sometimes given crazy discounts, eg just a few weeks ago I bought a bundle with Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 for $10 - normal pricing on that bundle is $30.
Skwink
FRIIIIIIIIIITZ
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WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! To play games on steam, you need an internet connection? I mean all the time?
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
No, read that again. Im referring to installing the games, for which you do need an internet connection to actually download everything. Once thats done, you run the game once to authenticate it, and then you can go into offline mode and play it (as long as it does not have a specific online-only requirement)
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
Afaik Steamworks is free for developers. As for internet connections required for DRM, well, none of that has worked. Ubisoft's DRM has been cracked, Steam is cracked day one of release every time now, make you wonder why publishers even bother anymore
Genocidicbunny
Bug squasher
Afaik Steamworks is free for developers. As for internet connections required for DRM, well, none of that has worked. Ubisoft's DRM has been cracked, Steam is cracked day one of release every time now, make you wonder why publishers even bother anymore
Because there is this thing called shareholders who would be up in arms if say Ubi or EA suddenly announced that they will have no DRM at all.
And BAM. Here we are, at the point me and my brother were discussing about the corporate culture yesterday : the dynamics of shareholding. We concluded that the short term vision (a nice, impressive performance graphic for the next semester) is predominant on mid to long term vision. The most recent example being Civ 5.
Maybe a better comprehension of the product that the shareholders possess would make them more inclined in trying stuff others don't do. Such as the way Paradox has circumvented the piracy problem with GalCiv2 (no DRM whatsoever, have to register to get the patches). Or such as enduring a worse graph for a semester but releasing a product that won't alienate customers because it's an unfinished product, thus reinforcing the attachment to the brand instead of soiling it. The Steam alike platform does nothing in this direction. It adhere fully to the mainstream corportae thinking. The truth is that you can be successful by doing things differently.
I can comprehend how some features of the Steam platform are considered nice convenience by some. But for me, it has absolutely no advantage. What if I want to play my games somewhere I don't have access to the internet? The system that "proctect" them will incline me to use a crack so I can play the game, thus justifying the existence of the crackers. If the games works like GalCiv2, there is no need for such a thing.
Oh well, I'll stop ranting, I'm derailing this thread...
Maybe a better comprehension of the product that the shareholders possess would make them more inclined in trying stuff others don't do. Such as the way Paradox has circumvented the piracy problem with GalCiv2 (no DRM whatsoever, have to register to get the patches). Or such as enduring a worse graph for a semester but releasing a product that won't alienate customers because it's an unfinished product, thus reinforcing the attachment to the brand instead of soiling it. The Steam alike platform does nothing in this direction. It adhere fully to the mainstream corportae thinking. The truth is that you can be successful by doing things differently.
I can comprehend how some features of the Steam platform are considered nice convenience by some. But for me, it has absolutely no advantage. What if I want to play my games somewhere I don't have access to the internet? The system that "proctect" them will incline me to use a crack so I can play the game, thus justifying the existence of the crackers. If the games works like GalCiv2, there is no need for such a thing.
Oh well, I'll stop ranting, I'm derailing this thread...
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