[rant] need to let off some Steam!

robduckyworth


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Is it just me, or is Steam just a pile of DRM toxic waste disguised as a "Games Manager"?

For me, the stupid thing consistently freezes, forcing me to quit, which im assuming deletes a cache or something forcing me to log in again. so I put my password in, only to find lo and behold, it freezes, or just plain dissapears after about five minutes.

This in turn, because i am not logged in to Steam, means I am unable to play any games i have installed through this excuse of a piece of software.

I cannot run "Offline mode", because apparently there is no account linked to the computer (yes, forget the fact i have already logged in a bazillion times).

Hey Valve, do you really think that actual pirates use Steam to play their stolen versions of these games?

How about an option to not log into Steam in order to play things i paid money for? I hate having to rely on my quite frankly tempermental internet in order to play games, let alone being forced to update before even launching my software! some of us cant download GBs of data willy-nilly. i have to wait three hours for Shogun 2 to update (downloading at 3.1kbps) before i can even play it????

Imagine having to ring up Nike every time you wanted to wear their shoes, only to be told you arent allowed, and have to wear the newest pair, which you have to wait to be delivered in the mail.

Why cant we have a simple, un-obstructive system? anyone agree with me? Developers need to inject a little bit of trust into their supporting consumers?
 
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I hate Steam. The UI is a complete disaster; it lacks basic keyboard navigation; and is dreadfully sluggish. I'm not fond of being required to log into their servers just to verify I own the game. Even for free demos! It's lousy… thoroughly lousy.
 
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robduckyworth

robduckyworth


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It really is. I just want to be rid of the thing, It just keeps causing me problems. while i understand the concern over software piracy, but Steam really is the "Big Brother" for me.
 
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DRM goes this way a lot. You punish the customers that are willing to pay for your product. Steam, Ubisoft, and a few others have been targets where their licensed games wouldn't run so people got the pirated version so they could play games that they paid for. I don't necessarily agree with it but it goes to show how DRM, in this case, only hurt your loyal and paying customers.

And yes - Steam seems to be a 50/50 run rate for me.
 

Raz0rEdge

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Frankly I'm glad that I stopped being a PC gamer well before DRM took a strong foothold amongst the developers..I have been a console gamer for 5+ years now and the ability to turn on the console, pop in a DVD and start playing the game is awesome..

When I got my Mac and Steam was made available to it, I thought I'd try Mac-gaming and after seeing some of the similar complaints as yours, I just let it be..the extend of my Mac gaming now is Bejeweled or games of the like that are small and don't require me to jump through any crazy hoops to play or have crazy system requirements..

For any serious games, I'll stick to my console thank you very much..

Regards
 
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Yeah - console gaming is the way I went too. Just easier to deal with, and I can rent games from blockbuster or gamefly. Don't have to worry about system requirements - as much as I like 60 fps the cost/fun factor just isn't there for me anymore for PC gaming. Kinect has been a really cool addition to my Xbox 360 as well.
 
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robduckyworth

robduckyworth


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I went this way for more of a challenge, and with the PSN being down right now, I need an alternative. Plus, I love RTS, and consoles suck for that.
 
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For me the UI is the only real bugger. That and the scrolling sucks on a Magic Mouse.
 
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Good console rts are hard to find. I did enjoy Halo Wars but you could tell they couldn't do as much as if you were on a computer with a full keyboard/mouse interface.

I've been addicted to the Warhammer 40k Dawn of War series of late but alas it only runs on windows anyway.

This also reminds me - I have a copy of half-life 2 for the PC and Steam claimed my license was invalid. Go figure - yet another case of DRM **** where I cannot play a game I bought on my Mac because of DRM.
 
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I went this way for more of a challenge, and with the PSN being down right now, I need an alternative. Plus, I love RTS, and consoles suck for that.

I haven't had a console system since the Atari 2600. The types of games I like to play just aren't viable on consoles. I can't even fathom how one could play Starcraft on a console. I'm more than happy to do digital downloads of games to avoid having a DVD to store around (or keep in the bay just to play), so DRM is a necessary evil. The Mac App Store has done it right, IMO. Borderlands and Anomaly Warzone Earth are two games I've gotten off there rather than Steam. Neither needs to connect to a remote server to verify I own them. They. Just. Work. I won't be buying off Steam in the future if I can avoid it.
 

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