I like Steam because:
1: I have alot of my games in one place and up to date.
2: I don't have any hassles with installing games, scratched cds/dvds and what not.
3: They have awesome sales at times.

I Don't like Steam because:
1: They control my personal property at their leisure. If I get hacked or they "think" i'm cheating they can effectively shut down my account without further warning, thus in principle robbing me of MY property
2: I like manuals and the cool looking boxes on my shelves
3: Coal/nuclear powered electricity has been the norm for quite a while now.....

Exactly. While everyone would love a world where there is no DRM, we don't live in that world, and aren't likely to in any conceivable scenario. Given that fact, I'll gladly take Steam over any other DRM method. I've never had a single issue with Steam, but I absolutely have with other DRM methods, on physical copies of games. I've had far more problems with my couple dozen physical games than I've had with my 140+ Steam games combined.

I buy all my games from direct2drive and hate steam with a passion. No need to buy on steam when there are other alternatives to buying and mostly don't have to deal with the steam spyware. You are right that we don't need physical copies though

For anyone wondering about this, the answer is "nothing". Steam actually has removed titles due to licensing disputes, and the people who bought them are still able to play them, and even re-download them from Steam. It only prevents further sales, and doesn't affect anyone who already bought it.

have fun

I understand the OP's point but I don't have a problem with Steam. I've been on it since Half Life 2; I've moved 2 computers and each time I installed steam, it pulls down all the games I have on it. It works fine and it's been a convenience. I don't have a problem with it.

Having vowed never to use Steam, I find I must do so, but I'm very unhappy about it. Like the OP, I should have done my due diligence and realized that Steam would be required. That is my mistake. But Imagine my surprise that the disc I paid $60 and waited in line for did nothing more than install Steam. Figured I could have just skipped the wasted gas money and the lack of sleep and just did the direct download.

For those who like Steam, I take no issue with that fact. More power to you. Despite how this seems like a rant against Steam, it really isn't. Just my personal thoughts on it. The fact is that I don't really play too many PC games (literally a handful) and I don't want Steam to handle my Skyrim experience. I prefer to have hard copies of all my games (PC, console, and handheld) and my music. I think that the security that Steam supposedly provides sounds pretty darn good on paper. But the easiest way for a game/account to remain safe is to disconnect from the internet completely. There is never going to be any one method that satisfies everyone. The only fix I see would have been to have Steam handle all direct downloads and leave the hard copies Oblivion-esque. No Steam, no internet... just a dark room, good headphones, a mouse and a keyboard. /shrug

I've been biased against steam since years ago when I couldn't play my friends' Half-Life 2 he let me borrow because it was connected with his steam account. I guess that was my first real encounter with DRM, and man, does it svck. I understand the need from a developer's standpoint, but I absolutely despise the idea of a disc being tied to one computer or one account. What's the point in even selling a game on a disc (Skyrim) if you're defaulted into just downloading it from steam anyways?

After hearing Team Fortress 2 was free to download, I figured I'd give ol' steam another chance at wooing me. About an hour after I installed it, I had already fully remembered why I hated it. It looks about the same it did 6 years ago. I forgot the information to one of my accounts a while back and because it was so hard to recover through steam, I just made another account... Meaning half my games were on one account and the oher half on another. Yeah, that's probably just user-error, but it wouldn't have happened if password/account recovery wasn't so inconvenient on steam. And what really gets me is the fact that you HAVE to have an internet connection to even install a completely single-player game. I'm positive there are some (unfortunate) people out there who buy single-player games mainly because they don't have a(n) (reliable) internet connection. If they didn't do their research (which is easy to skip when you're as excited for a game as I was for Skyrim), they're S.O.L. unless they can tether their smartphone.

I guess I have no reason to rant other than to get my frustrations with steam of my chest. I bought the game for PS3, which I wasn't positive about at first considering PC graphics can be immensely more detailed. After reading about the problems with the PC version of Skyrim, however, I'm now happy that I got this baby for the PS3.

DRM is completely useless and ONLY affects the paying customer. Skyrim was leaked and cracked 2 days before it officially released. :rolleyes:

Skyrim surely got more audience with steam than less.

If you guys are so afraid of the internetz you shouldn't event be on these forums. Myself, I recommend and love steam.

According to the website that puts a value on your steam account, I sit at over $1000 of games purchased through Steam. I'm not sure where OP gets the whole "shut you down for no apparent reason" or some of the other banter proclaimed, however I nor any of my friends have had issues with Steam.

I love the fact that I can re-download any game I've purchased onto any number of computer and not tied to a single computer. The DRM on the games I have bought hasn't caused any issues (though I tend to stay away from games that use draconian DRM in addition to Steam, like securom, etc.)

I've only ever had issues with one game, Rage, and after fighting for a week to get it working properly, I asked Steam for a refund and they did so without a hesitation.. try getting that from your local game store or other game distributor.

That still doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like you are blaming Steam for your own slow internet speeds. Also, I was not off topic, this is a thread about Steam and I replied with information about Steam. I'm not sure how much more on topic I could be.

To me, believe it was mistake for Bethesda to get involved with Steam. There alot of reasons and i cant post them all, one is having Steam running in the background while playing Skyrim is not a good thing. Two, there already overloaded with too many peoples that trying to download it and patch it. Three there are hackers out there trying to steal your infos and could corrupts your download and/or games, beside the game is single roleplaying, not multiplayer or massive multiplay online game.

Time to time i been hearing Steam doesnt always keep up with patches and would be delay for who know how long you have to wait after the games been release.

Require Steam to play, was the biggest mistake ever!

1. So, make a shortcut to the TESV.exe, and you can bypass Steam, LEGITIMATELY!!!

2. Never had that problem myself.

3. I could walk out my front door and a plane could fall on my head to.

Not even close!! And, as 1. states, you can play without running!

Good, then I need not read any more of your overbearing, patronizing *cencored*! People have valid concerns. You might not agree with them, or see nothing to worry about. Good for you, but I disagree!

.... it is very clear that im talking about the internet speed making steam unusable, that it requires fast speeds to work, and cant deal with my slow connection.


use your brain michael!

huh, odd. I always thought people like Steam. I personally love the service, it's free to install, they offer a lot of games at great prices and overall the service is great and popular.
If you don't have an internet connection then you should probably do something about that... and regardless of Steam you would need an internet connection to download patches... Even if the game wouldn't have used Steam it most likely would've required some sort of online activation like 90% of PC games do these days and after that you can play it offline freely, at least Steam offers that unlike some other DRM that some companies use *looking at Ubisoft*

I like steam just fine, it works really well for most games. It wont work well trying to manual patch a modded skyrim.

The difference is that when the small number of PC problems is fixed, you'll still be playing the PS3 version.

Just be thankful it's not on Origin.

If Steam's privacy issues fire you up, imagine a platform that constantly scans your HD and sells any information they find to 3rd parties. That is Origin.

Steam has something similar, but you CAN opt out of it, unlike EAs service.

edit - spelling

Online distribution is the future of PC gaming: This is a Fact

Next TES will be on steam or another/or all online distributors:This is a Fact

10-15 years or less discs will be gone:This is a Fact

Get used to it or find another hobby: This is Advice (tell me if you get the reference)

You sound like a [censored]. This is fact.

Just because the future is moving to digital distribution doesn't mean that devs can start doing whatever they want. I'm personally fed up with crap like in game bonus items that don't work, $10 codes to play multiplayer on used games, you know, that sort of BS.

If nothing is said, more and more nickel and dime, bs changes will come our way toward the future you know so well. =)

Utilitarianism.

Most people like steam and appreciate the convenience it offers. Plus, if you're scared about someone hacking your account, you can rest easy as long as your email password isn't the same as that of your steam account.

As far as Beth games go Steam doesnt handle mods, its all Bethesda.

Totally agree with OP. It's about CONTROL.