Why Steam is bad for you

[Yushal]

I had to delete stuff I didn't want to delete, in order to make space on my C drive for Civ5, since Steam wouldn't allow it to be installed elsewhere. Or since I cannot figure out how to change the game directory to another drive.

 

[Rossifer]

Let's see. I'll even go well beyond your 7 year figure. I've played:
-SimCity 3000
-SimCity 4
-Star Trek: Bridge Commander
-Civilization IV
-Secret Files: Tunguska
-Sid Meier's Railroads

Will play when out:
-Star Trek: Excalibur
-Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis

Considering for the future:
-CitiesXL 2011
-Civilization V

So even with a considerably expanded time span, my number is still far less than 200. Then again, those on the list that I've played, I've generally played to death (except Railroads, but that was due to system issues).

Yep, fair enough it's a list of games but I'm not sure what your point is here? I've got far more on my Steam account (not played to death however) and don't get me started on Xbox. Everyone differs, if the other poster has 200 games, more power to him. Who are you or I to judge?

I had to delete stuff I didn't want to delete, in order to make space on my C drive for Civ5, since Steam wouldn't allow it to be installed elsewhere. Or since I cannot figure out how to change the game directory to another drive.

You can easily move Steam to a different drive, it works painlessly I did it myself recently...

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129

 

[Cão]

I like Steam.... used to.... but I must agree they are going too far....

 

[Venereus]

Steam is bad for me because the last patch broke my game I can't play anymore. There's no way I can go back to the previous version, because even if I re-install from disc, Steam takes over and ends up dowloading the last version no matter what I do. There's no way around it.

 

[Mightion]

Steam is bad for me because the last patch broke my game I can't play anymore. There's no way I can go back to the previous version, because even if I re-install from disc, Steam takes over and ends up dowloading the last version no matter what I do. There's no way around it.

Define "broke your game"? Anyway, issues with your specific PC can't really be blamed on Steam.

As for me, every single way I start Civ V (including from within Steam), I always get asked 1. Play Civ 5/Play Civ 5 DX9, followed by the little box that asks me to click Civ 5 DX9 or Civ 5 DX10/11. Even making a shortcut from the DX10/11 link, like the box suggests, doesn't save me from it.

But, since it's only a ten second annoyance before I play Civ 5 for a few hours, it's something I can live with.

 

[ZimbuTheMonkey]

Define "broke your game"? Anyway, issues with your specific PC can't really be blamed on Steam.

I love Steam, but I disagree with you here.

True, what Venereus is experiencing is mostly likely an isolated issue, but Steam should allow for reverting back to a previous version, or at least reinstallation and access of the data from the physical media. Also, it's hardly an issue with his PC if the older version worked and the newer one does not, one of the changes made it unplayable.

I don't agree with what most people cite as the downsides of Steam, but I don't think this is one of them.

 

[Mightion]

I love Steam, but I disagree with you here.

True, what Venereus is experiencing is mostly likely an isolated issue, but Steam should allow for reverting back to a previous version, or at least reinstallation and access of the data from the physical media.

I don't agree with what most people cite as the downsides of Steam, but I don't think this is one of them.

Well, we can't really blame Steam at this point since we don't know what his specific issue is.

Heck, when I got the patch, it hung up applying it and wouldn't let me play - I forgot the error - but a few minutes later I restarted Steam, it applied the patch successfully, and I was back in business - I chalked it up to a Steam server issue with many people downloading that patch. *shrug*

 

[awetzel]

Not everyone lives next door to a gaming store. I live an hour drive away from a gaming store and dont like to wait for my games. So i guess it depends on your circumstances to whether you like or hate steam. For me i love it and a few bugs will never outweight its benefits to me.

 

[ZimbuTheMonkey]

Well, we can't really blame Steam at this point since we don't know what his specific issue is.

Heck, when I got the patch, it hung up applying it and wouldn't let me play - I forgot the error - but a few minutes later I restarted Steam, it applied the patch successfully, and I was back in business - I chalked it up to a Steam server issue with many people downloading that patch. *shrug*

The problem lies with Firaxis' patch, clearly.

But Steam SHOULD allow for reverting to a previous state. I'm not really blaming Steam as much as I am wishing they had that feature.

 

[DPyro]

Let's see. I'll even go well beyond your 7 year figure. I've played:
-SimCity 3000
-SimCity 4
-Star Trek: Bridge Commander
-Civilization IV
-Secret Files: Tunguska
-Sid Meier's Railroads

Will play when out:
-Star Trek: Excalibur
-Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis

Considering for the future:
-CitiesXL 2011
-Civilization V

So even with a considerably expanded time span, my number is still far less than 200. Then again, those on the list that I've played, I've generally played to death (except Railroads, but that was due to system issues).

Steam has many sales where you can get an entire publisher's catalog (~20 games) for $40 or so. Add in free games and mods and you can hit 200 if the PC is your main gaming platform. I think i've spent $250 through Steam and have about 100, which is literally more games then I know what to do with.

The problem lies with Firaxis' patch, clearly.

But Steam SHOULD allow for reverting to a previous state. I'm not really blaming Steam as much as I am wishing they had that feature.

Yes it should.

 

[Venereus]

The problem lies with Firaxis' patch, clearly.

But Steam SHOULD allow for reverting to a previous state. I'm not really blaming Steam as much as I am wishing they had that feature.

Yeah, I'm not blaming Steam either, it's just that a simple option they don't currently offer would solve my problem (or at least help me rule out possible causes). It's clearly Firaxis' fault, for delivering a half-baked game, and then patching it without thorough testing. I'm not the one with this issue, and paradoxically, after trying everything, all we can do is wait for the next patch.

 

[Mightion]

The problem lies with Firaxis' patch, clearly.

But Steam SHOULD allow for reverting to a previous state. I'm not really blaming Steam as much as I am wishing they had that feature.

I apologize, but it's not clear. We still don't know what his specific error was/is. Maybe the fix to it not running if special characters were in the name of his profile conflicted with some issue with his PC's Windows. Maybe he's running a sandbox program or something that conflicts with Steam's patcher, etc.

In other words, his issue may be a symptom of another problem besides Steam.

 

[Venereus]

I apologize, but it's not clear. We still don't know what his specific error was/is. Maybe the fix to it not running if special characters were in the name of his profile conflicted with some issue with his PC's Windows. Maybe he's running a sandbox program or something that conflicts with Steam's patcher, etc.

In other words, his issue may be a symptom of another problem besides Steam.

It's pretty clear to me. People with the same problem have one very distinct symptom in common, that puts us apart from other "game won't launch after choosing directx" issues. Everytime we run the "Verify Integrity of cache" option for Civ V, it finds 1 file that failes to validate and "must be reacquired". Steam then proceeds to download a 22.1 Mb file and calls it good. But the game still won't launch. And the same thing happens very single time we run the validation, even if you run it immediately after finishing one. There's definitely something wrong with the downloaded files.

 

[Mightion]

It's pretty clear to me. People with the same problem have one very distinct symptom in common, that puts us apart from other "game won't launch after choosing directx" issues. Everytime we run the "Verify Integrity of cache" option for Civ V, it finds 1 file that failes to validate and "must be reacquired". Steam then proceeds to download a 22.1 Mb file and calls it good. But the game still won't launch. And the same thing happens very single time we run the validation, even if you run it immediately after finishing one. There's definitely something wrong with the downloaded files.

That sounds vaguely what happened to me, though my patch was 26.2 mb - I've the boxed Collector's Edition. It was only an issue for me for a few minutes, but then it cleared itself up.

 

[Maniacal]

Steam is bad for me because the last patch broke my game I can't play anymore. There's no way I can go back to the previous version, because even if I re-install from disc, Steam takes over and ends up dowloading the last version no matter what I do. There's no way around it.

You can disable automatic patching, right click on the game in steam and select properties.

 

[Venereus]

You can disable automatic patching, right click on the game in steam and select properties.

I know, but it's too late for me now. Also, I might need the next patch to solve this. Anyway, the last patch it's not even listed in Steam, it's not really a patch release. As far as Steam is concerned, it's part of the game's current build.

 

[Robert_Marshall]

Do you know windows 7 comes with its own standard HD audio driver? That is what you get when you remove your specific driver, unfortunately the windows driver almost works except the low mic levels.

Give it up. You can't have a rational discussion with zealots. As YOU already know, there are pros and cons to Steam. For some the pros win. For some the cons win. For zealots on the other hand...

 

[keisukekun]

Steam is evil. Period

 

[Mountain King]

I wish more people were critical of what Valve are doing with Steam, because right now they're quite powerful.

 

[Strumpet]

Steam is climbing in your windows, snatching your people up.