Why Steam is bad for you

[Rossifer]

Well, I'm only running an iPhone and iTunes, which includes Safari -- but it's right there in the main interface... click a restore point for any/either/all

First of all - it's completely wrong... it's apparently written for XP because it doesn't work in Vista. What's worse - as I said - Steam cries like the spoiled child it is if you change a file on your own AND if then try to restore the original.

Yes but that is just a backup from the last time it backed your iPhone or iPod up. and doesn't actually roll back apps to a previous version unless you installed an app directly from the device and didn't use iTunes.

Nope not written for XP, just right-click the game in Steam and select 'Backup Game Files...' Follow the wizard and voila! It will only let you backup fully patched games but if you have the latest version running just as you like, back it up now.

And there have been zillions of people who say that steam won't let you play the game until you update.

I just ran FM2010 from the clean install and it worked fine on Win 7 64bit. Civ runs on the old version too I bet some people are unintentionally still running .07 of Civ 5.

If you have a license for Civ 5 but don't want to use Steam I'm sure there is a torrent you could track down which is Steam free.

From looking back at this thread there seem to be more positive points than negative. Just be glad they choose Steam and not something proprietary like EA or Ubisoft do.

 

[Novem]

They're in the civ5 to use steamworks thread. Not sure where, but that's what happens when you have a 50 page thread. http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=363630

Well, umm I have looked over that thread and no where do I see a zillion people. I see people that are upset at change. I see others that are willing to try things that are different.

Are there any things specific that you yourself have experienced that can be construed as a major problem with how Steam functions? I'm honestly curious.

 

[NBAfan]

Which is a bad thing why?

I never said it was bad, Rossifer just said he was not familiar what Gamers Gate is.

 

[deanej]

Might have been the other one or deep in; the forum's running very slow for me and I don't remember when it came up either. A forum search once the activity dies down will certainly find it.

 

[Drawmeus]

We'll see.

One of the best parts of IV mods were the ability to employ bits and pieces and "mod-mods" -- it was incredibly easy to drop in additional chunks onto an existing mod as you saw fit.

All I know is that mod problems were/remain an omnipresent complaint on the Paradox boards by those unfortunate enough to have gone through Steam for EU3/HOI3/Vicky/etc.

Err...

that capability of Civ IV was itself modded in. It ended up getting packaged in for BTS, the /second/ expansion pack, but it was originally created by a team of modders after the Civ IV SDK dropped.

 

[Maxor127]

The main reason I hate Steam is that it takes away my freedom. I can't ever sell my games or transfer them to someone else's account. So if I play Civ5 and get sick of it, and want to give it to my brother, I can't.

 

[deanej]

You can't even give a steam game as a gift if you don't have a steam account. Given that I have received the majority of games as Christmas and Birthday gifts from family, all I can say is this: thank god I now have a checking account and a credit card. Too bad I'm a poor college student that can't responsibly afford the $60 for civ5 + Babylon because books and gas are too expensive and my relative lack of time most of the year.

 

[Bridger]

The main reason I hate Steam is that it takes away my freedom. I can't ever sell my games or transfer them to someone else's account. So if I play Civ5 and get sick of it, and want to give it to my brother, I can't.

There is a simple way around this. Some people create a different steam account for each game they buy, then they sell the account (username and password) or give it away to whomever they want when they are done with the game. Seems like a decent workaround.

 

[deanej]

Some of us hate workarounds. Not to mention that it's illegal due to the EULA (which is considered a binding contract in the US).

 

[duxup]

Some of us hate workarounds. Not to mention that it's illegal due to the EULA (which is considered a binding contract in the US).

Well a law can be written but it doesn't mean it will stand up. Last legal analysis I read (EFF) noted that there has been no judicial ruling on the legality of an EULA on individual users.

 

[stoicfaux]

The main reason I hate Steam is that it takes away my freedom. I can't ever sell my games or transfer them to someone else's account. So if I play Civ5 and get sick of it, and want to give it to my brother, I can't.

OTOH, if you have a gaming laptop in addition to a desktop, Steam lets you play the the game on both (but not at the same time) without any muss or fuss. Use gmail to send saved games between the two.

Plus, if you upgrade your computer or get a new computer, it's trivial to reinstall all of your Steam games.

Plus^2, Steam makes it easy and cost effective for publishers to sell old games at dirt cheap prices.

Plus^3, Steam provides DRM that isn't obnoxious and DRM that publishers feel confident in. This allows publishers to a bit more freedom in how they price their games. And allows them a bit more profit since they don't have to deal with physical product nor brick & mortar stores as much. We have movie DVDs in a vending kiosk, how soon until your local Gamestop or WalMart's shelf space for software is replaced with a game DVD kiosk?


There are some benefits to Steam and digital distribution in general.

 

[deanej]

Well a law can be written but it doesn't mean it will stand up. Last legal analysis I read (EFF) noted that there has been no judicial ruling on the legality of an EULA on individual users.

Actually, there has been a ruling: http://www.reclaimyourgame.com/cont...now-legal-and-you-re-just-renting-that-game!&

 

[Rebel44]

We'll see.

One of the best parts of IV mods were the ability to employ bits and pieces and "mod-mods" -- it was incredibly easy to drop in additional chunks onto an existing mod as you saw fit.

All I know is that mod problems were/remain an omnipresent complaint on the Paradox boards by those unfortunate enough to have gone through Steam for EU3/HOI3/Vicky/etc.

I played HoI3 since release and all mods worked with Steam version without any problems, beta patches were easy to install just like with retail version. Only screwup was when retards from Paradox ed up Steam version of 1.3 patch - I created hotfix, which became semiofficial solution - it took Paradox over 4 months to fix this problem.

Moderator Action: Profanity is not allowed on the forums. Please watch your language.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

Considering for the future:
-CitiesXL 2011
-Civilization V

You really can trust Monte Cristo for having the worst game ever released?

Civ V is worth 29 US dollars. Anyone says other wise have a lot of explaining to do.

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

run and tell that, homeboy

 

[Xiao Xiong]

If that's all I want out of Steam - validate my license, then let ME decide what, when, and how I want to update, let ME individually download mods and install them as I see fit (or install just portions as I see fit).... Why can't it just do that?

It can. Just click the option not to keep the game up to date

Might do you well to learn a little more about steam before you criticize it too much.

 

[DPyro]

OTOH, if you have a gaming laptop in addition to a desktop, Steam lets you play the the game on both (but not at the same time) without any muss or fuss. Use gmail to send saved games between the two.

I don't think many people are aware of this (haven't seen it mentioned before) but you get 10 save slots on the "Steam Cloud" so you can save your games online.

 

[Maniacal]

Not all games are cloud enabled, though Civ5 is.

 

[Beardy Dan]

Not all games are cloud enabled, though Civ5 is.

Tell me about it.

I have a bunch that i would REALLY like to be Cloud enabled, X3 Terran Conflict being the main one.

 

[Eejit]

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.

I had that problem with the demo at one point, DirectX is the problem, get the fixer thingy from Microsoft.

 

[Oneluv]

But yours wasn't steam. Try your volume control?[/QUOTE]

r u ignorant or just a troll?