Steam made me quit Civilization for good

[anandus]

Thanks to Civ 5 I actually 'discovered' Steam and I'm very grateful for that
I even bought the other Civs on Steam and such, so I could easily start it from my library.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Most of all I hate this Steam and CIV5 forced marriage. At first when I bought the game I got too old version of Steam, it did not worked. I toke some time to find proper version.
When I got bored, this Steam popped up every time I started computer so I had to uninstalled it. Now when I want to go back to see what is happened this game so far and how it's developed, it's a big step to find again proper Steam version, install it and so again. I don't like Steam at all, it's just a crap for me.
Hopefully I have BTS and it don't need any extra applications, just run the game.

As long as you have an internet connection, Steam downloads updates automatically. I don't know what you're doing differently but I've never had to go and look for the right version. Just get the Steam mini-installer (from their website), basically just choose the install path and let Steam do the rest.

 

[Vladesch]

Pretty hard to get the wrong version of steam.
Just google "steam", and click on the first result.
"install steam" is up the top of that page.

I'm actually pretty glad that civ got me into steam. I have got a lot of very cheap games off it. I've never had any issues with it not working.

I do find it irritating when games are 30% more here than in the US (and our dollar is above parity), but that is true of so much merchandise. We Aussies get shafted.
Even some things manufactured here get sold significantly cheaper in the US, for example resmed s9's. Go figure.

That's not steam's fault though, it's the game distributor that sets the regional prices.

 

[ShunNakamura]

In my first post on Fanatics, I will say that I never really used Steam prior to Civ V except to play Half-life and kind of resented having it.

However, because of the Civ V requirement I've been exposed daily and have grown to love it. It's the only way I purchase games now and wouldn't want to go back.

That being said, I can understand and respect the opinion of those who hate Steam because I too was in the same position not so long ago. All I can say is give it a chance.

I have given it a chance and it flopped horribly! Though admittedly I may have had an atypical run of bad luck with it. However, my Visual Novels with their internet DRM I have never had any kind of issue with(I can't speak for their internet distro though, I like my hard copies!).


Anyways even baring all that there is the no-resell issue. There is some moral dissonance between Steam and I there. Not enough for me to say Steam is a horrible idea or sucks(internet distro is GOOD thing and at least Steam is trying). However, add that to my thus far lack luster experience with it and I am not sure I want to send any money their way. So if 2k games/firaxis had multiple distro options I would pick the one most to my personal preference. But this 'you are either with us or against us' issue of locking you to one form of distro is not only nonsense but actually goes against what having internet distro was supposed to help(i.e. provide choice for the consumer).

So long story short the resell issue isn't enough alone, but since it failed me horribly when I gave it a shot I have been rather much finished with it. I might pick up CiV off it(since I have no other choice if I want to buy the game), but I won't pay top dollar to the Steam service so it will have to be on an uber sale, and even then it would be iffy.


Though speaking of Steam service. They have done some things right such as making it easy to keep track of sales. The library I can see as handy, their shop browser search is handy, etc. But since it seems like it likes to break games(making you re-verify in one friend's case practically everyday until he gave up the ghost on the system), blocks reselling your license to use, and doesn't seem to want to play nice with me(I don't pay folks money so I can sit and sort out their issues, I have enough stress at the moment). . . well, unless things change or I see something I can't resist I will not use Steam or buy games locked into Steam. Thankfully stuff like Princess Waltz can keep what free time I have busy easy enough and without the Steam hassle!

 

[westyofoz]

I have given it a chance and it flopped horribly! Though admittedly I may have had an atypical run of bad luck with it.

I am not a Steam fan either. Unfortunately, that is the way gaming is headed so even though I don't like it, I will have to get use to it. I look at it as one of those necessary evils.

The reasons I don't like it are a few. Steam takes a ridiculously long time to log in on occasions . I get 1mb/s download speeds so it isn't my connection. Their support is poor when I have had issues with the client. The need to go offline while you are online is ridiculous. It really annoys me when I travel and find there is no internet reception and I can't play games I paid for. I don't always remember top go offline before I leave, I don't see why I should have too. Plus there is the re-sell issue.

That said, it is handy to be able to have patches and hotfixes automatically especially with the bug infested state of games when they are first released. Steam has some good prices at times. DLC makes the game interest last longer. It isn't all bad I suppose. Still, it is another program that can and does go wrong to waste gamers time fixing rather then playing.

 

[Hormagaunt]

As long as you have an internet connection, Steam downloads updates automatically. I don't know what you're doing differently but I've never had to go and look for the right version.

It may be that he's done accidentally what I did deliberately.

Once I had Civ5 up and running in off-line mode, I stuffed Steam in a cage; it updates only when I explicitly allow it. Same for Civ5, of course. I've not yet seen that new Civworld ad that people are commenting about as I've not allowed it to update.

 

[Akka]

That should be put in bold, underlined and capital letters somewhere.
Maybe even marquee

Except that when I buy a game, I want to buy this game, and this game alone, not a packed game + DRM simulator.

 

[Timothy001]

CIV V introduced me to Steam. I now have 6 games downloaded from steam. As sales of games i'm interested in go on sale, I pick them up.

 

[timtofly]

I have given it a chance and it flopped horribly! Though admittedly I may have had an atypical run of bad luck with it. However, my Visual Novels with their internet DRM I have never had any kind of issue with(I can't speak for their internet distro though, I like my hard copies!).


Anyways even baring all that there is the no-resell issue. There is some moral dissonance between Steam and I there. Not enough for me to say Steam is a horrible idea or sucks(internet distro is GOOD thing and at least Steam is trying). However, add that to my thus far lack luster experience with it and I am not sure I want to send any money their way. So if 2k games/firaxis had multiple distro options I would pick the one most to my personal preference. But this 'you are either with us or against us' issue of locking you to one form of distro is not only nonsense but actually goes against what having internet distro was supposed to help(i.e. provide choice for the consumer).

So long story short the resell issue isn't enough alone, but since it failed me horribly when I gave it a shot I have been rather much finished with it. I might pick up CiV off it(since I have no other choice if I want to buy the game), but I won't pay top dollar to the Steam service so it will have to be on an uber sale, and even then it would be iffy.


Though speaking of Steam service. They have done some things right such as making it easy to keep track of sales. The library I can see as handy, their shop browser search is handy, etc. But since it seems like it likes to break games(making you re-verify in one friend's case practically everyday until he gave up the ghost on the system), blocks reselling your license to use, and doesn't seem to want to play nice with me(I don't pay folks money so I can sit and sort out their issues, I have enough stress at the moment). . . well, unless things change or I see something I can't resist I will not use Steam or buy games locked into Steam. Thankfully stuff like Princess Waltz can keep what free time I have busy easy enough and without the Steam hassle!

Steam is free.

If your friend had that much problems with his files, there was another issue going on, besides steam. I used to verify a lot also, but when I fixed the real issue, I have not had to varify at all.

 

[Drawmeus]

Anyways even baring all that there is the no-resell issue. There is some moral dissonance between Steam and I there.

Steam's no-resale policy makes me rather happy.

 

[Maktaka]

Now that's something I wouldn't have expected to see. Morbo demands an explanation!

 

[Gilgamesch]

"I am not a Steam fan either. Unfortunately, that is the way gaming is headed so even though I don't like it, I will have to get use to it. I look at it as one of those necessary evils"
This is a good point !

 

[joncnunn]

I would express it more as games are almost guaranteed to have problems when they ship nowadays weather it uses steam (or other service) or not.

It's the main reason that while I often will buy an expansion pack shortly after it comes out, I wait at least a month after release before buying a new game.

Civ IV Vanilla from the CD: Many graphics issues on notebooks even on lowest setting, even notebooks bought only a couple of months before. Each of the first few patches was a major improvement with these and the issues eventually went away entirely.

Civ III Vanilla from the CD: Stability issues in certain machines. I think the first patch fixed almost all of those.

Civ III PTW from the CD: It took several patches for Multiplayer to actually function.

Conquests from the CD: Broke the Forbidden Palace. A later patch fixed it.

What did you do for those 6 hours?

Usually all it takes is one or a few google searches to solve problems with games. Unfortunately one of the unavoidable drawbacks of gaming on PC is that games are far from guaranteed to run without problems out of the box, but there's also positives, like greater flexibility with tinkering with config files and modding.

With Steam games, restarting Steam and/or verifying cache integrity of a game solves the problem a lot of the time.

 

[Glassfan]

I honestly don't know why people always bash on Steam, it's the biggest online game vendor backed by a prosperous company meaning it has almost every single game you can think off, and personally I have NEVER had a problem with Steam, only annoying thing is you have to have internet to start it (which can be bypassed by simply turning Steam on before losing acess to the internet).

For those of us who are just occassional players, or who only play civ, steam is extremely anoying. My wife, who uses this laptop, is constantly ticked-off when she's interupted by that relentless Steam dialog box. And often when we shut down, Steam interupts the process. Although Civ V is fine to play, it's association with this Steam Troll is probably going to force me to quit.

 

[00konichiwa00]

I... don't understand what issue you're actually having with the game, and why it's steam's fault?

On a personal level - Civ 5 introduced me to Steam and I thank it daily for it.

yes it's Steam. sometimes Firaxis/2k, but mostly Steam. Steam sux, but I can't seem to quit playing it, even though civ 5 is not even close to civ 3 and 4.

If Firaxis ever work with Steam again, I will boycot them forever. it's been too many issues with the last civ game.
I admit I buy the DLC, but that is in hope the game gets better and more interesting.

Steam have ruined the game, and it was probably Steam who forced Firaxis to change the game the way they did. Firaxis have become a puppy of Steam. Steam have too much power, they control too much of the gaming society.
I bet this will be removed just because I said something bad about the game/Steam.

 

[Vladesch]

Personally I'd sooner jump through the steam hoop than jumping through the insert your cd in the drive hoop.
Not that I ever actually let myself be forced into the latter. (Sorry but if you expect me to get a cd out and wear out my cd drive every time I want to play, then you need a reality check)
I find Steam innocuous enough that I don't find any need to circumvent it. I usually just leave steam running in background.

I wish I had some friends so I could make more use of steam. Poor me

 

[ShunNakamura]

Personally I'd sooner jump through the steam hoop than jumping through the insert your cd in the drive hoop.
Not that I ever actually let myself be forced into the latter. (Sorry but if you expect me to get a cd out and wear out my cd drive every time I want to play, then you need a reality check)
I find Steam innocuous enough that I don't find any need to circumvent it. I usually just leave steam running in background.

I wish I had some friends so I could make more use of steam. Poor me

I'll admit putting a disc in drive each time wasn't great either. However, it doesn't have to be either or. The Visual Novels I play use internet DRM(i.e. no need to have disc), YET it isn't as obtrusive as steam(though sadly it doesn't have Steam's good features either :/) and doesn't block resell. They also appear to offer both the download and the physical copy at the same time for 5 extra dollars(and I love physical copies, didn't bother with the extra five for instant download though since I could wait a few days for it to come in the mail). Simply put if you combined Steam's positive Store/Library/Community features into what they use you would have quite a nice set up. Near perfect, I'd say.

And the visual novel front is the reason why I don't buy the gaming is all going to steam path. I don't see a single VN available on Steam whatsoever(not even the non-adult ones). AND I know VN's were offered digitally quite some time ago. I actually heard of them before I heard of Steam!


As for friends, just find forums of games you like(or even the Steam Forums) and link up with friendly folks there through the steam app(at least I assume that is possible)!

 

[eris]

For those of us who are just occassional players, or who only play civ, steam is extremely anoying. My wife, who uses this laptop, is constantly ticked-off when she's interupted by that relentless Steam dialog box. And often when we shut down, Steam interupts the process. Although Civ V is fine to play, it's association with this Steam Troll is probably going to force me to quit.

What relentless dialogue box are you talking about? What interuptions? My Steam client doesn't do that to me. Am I doing something wrong or something right?

 

[Brichals]

yes it's Steam. sometimes Firaxis/2k, but mostly Steam. Steam sux, but I can't seem to quit playing it, even though civ 5 is not even close to civ 3 and 4.

If Firaxis ever work with Steam again, I will boycot them forever. it's been too many issues with the last civ game.
I admit I buy the DLC, but that is in hope the game gets better and more interesting.

Steam have ruined the game, and it was probably Steam who forced Firaxis to change the game the way they did. Firaxis have become a puppy of Steam. Steam have too much power, they control too much of the gaming society.
I bet this will be removed just because I said something bad about the game/Steam.

How on earth are Steam ruining Firaxis and the gaming society. Chill out man, buy Amnesia Dark Descent for €3 on sale this weekend and give yourself a scare.

Only problem with steam it has too many good games at ridiculously low sale prices.

PS if you have problems with steam popups etc. You can change these in your settings, the functionality in Steam is good, not worse than any other products.

 

[qalsip1977]

What relentless dialogue box are you talking about? What interuptions? My Steam client doesn't do that to me. Am I doing something wrong or something right?

I've never seen this either, except when I load CiV sometimes, it will pop up a "news" type thing (or maybe that's when you close CiV???). Either way...it's never bothered me much. I think Steam was jacked up one day and I couldn't play CiV...that might have been my only annoyance with it. The patching, being able to play without the disc, DLC at my fingertips and achievements saved on steam so I can check my achievements against other CiV players are all things I like about Steam.

Ultimately I think it's about as good as it needs to be.