Are You a Steam User?

Just wondering how many people have used Valve's Steam Service? I have purchased a couple of games from them and it seemed like a pretty good service, but rather a slow way to get a game.

But now I am afraid that I will never use this "service" again. You see, I tried to install Half Life 2 from the DVD that I legally purchased a couple of years ago. This morning when I went to install from the DVD, it kept telling me that there in not enough memory to install Steam (see my sig). I think I have plenty of memory and I already have Steam installed.

It would seem that in order for me to play this game again, I have to download it from Steam (which I'm doing now). They didn't charge me to download it, and apparently still have a record of when I registred it the first time, so in order to install Half Life 2, I must go through Steam.

I wonder, why do I have a DVD? It appears to be useless. I ask myself: "I wonder what would happen if I didn't have broadband?"

This is pretty dissatifying. I am now relegated to wait a couple of hours to download. What a joke! I am getting upset. I just wanted to play my game......

So I attempted to go to Steam/Valve's website and see if I could find any information as to why I am not able to intall from my DVD. Although I have a Steam Account, It seems I have to create a new login and password to access the Community section of their web site. So I did. I am finding that their website structure isn't very user friendly and I am getting more frustrated.

All I want to do is find out what is going on....so then I went to their forums and was looking for a post that would address the issue I seem to be having and I couldn't find a similar post. So I decided to submit a thread asking my question.

Now I need to create another username and password to access their forum. So I did. Now I have three usernames and passwords for Steam. Now I should be all set.

Ok, now I tried to post and I was told that I couldn't because I need to activate my account. So I went to the email they sent me to activate it. I did.

Then Steam tells me I have to wait to post until an administrator activates my account. WTF?

Valve, Steam, I think you just lost me as a customer.

Yes, I'm a Steam user Its a lot better then Driving 50Miles+ to the nearest Game outlet and Sorry but Im not gonna read all that wall-of-text so I'm only answering your Title,

Thankfully You are kind enough to use the [Enter] button unlike some other person on these forum I shall not name...:o

i read your post, and i think you need to get with the program a bit more,

we are all a bit nervous about giving up our nice shiney box and disc, but this is the future, i dont download from any digital delivery systems except steam with witch i have over 50 games.

i use steam because you can redownload infinite times to any pc, fast download speeds and automatic updates, steam unlike so many others seams to be FOR gamers and makes gameing easyer...

.no disc to insert every time you want to play

.no disc scratching issues

.games always available and up to date

.Free mods

.ames neatly organised

.free friends list

.fre servers,

and with steam cloud coming soon i could go on... so i will,

.save games follow you from pc to pc,

.settings follow you from pc to pc

.your friends list follows you from pc to pc

the comuninty is good and every websight asks you to create a comunity password and have it validated. if you are having an issue with the dvd then you are one of the few, i think i actually threw mine away because i felt it was so useless now i had it on steam, its actually quicker for me to download it than it is to install it from dvd.

all in all im extreamly happy with steam the only issue is with some of the prices not being regonalised and being quite high. But please give it a fair go, i garantee you will learn to love it

I have no idea why c_doody is trying to be steams PR but you've gone completely off point.

OP is complaining that they give you a disk that has 0% use, it's pointless. Why can't we have an install from the disk if we want to but not forced into using steam.

The answer is anti piracy methods.

I have no idea why c_doody is trying to be steams PR but you've gone completely off point.

OP is complaining that they give you a disk that has 0% use, it's pointless. Why can't we have an install from the disk if we want to but not forced into using steam.

The answer is anti piracy methods.

death1505921

Except I started a thread about why some Steam games still have the DRM like Securom in them. And, I found out, it is possible to pirate games and bypass Steam entirely and play on private servers. I had assumed the Steam activation and account would be an anti-piracy solution that doesn't involve malware DRM, but apparently I was wrong, as even Steam games are pirated. Sad really.

I had heard of people download steam and then getting every single steam game but I always thought VAC caught them and they only lasted weeks, a few months at most. That's kinda lame. death1505921

I thought the same. Apparently what happens is they crack it so that it doesn't even attempt to authenticate with Valve's servers, then they just play on whatever private servers hackers play on. They don't even run it through Steam. Now, I'm guessing that there aren't many people playing on hacked servers, but for single player games, that's not even an issue.

Apparently piracy is impossible to stop. No matter what, someone will find a way to hack and pirate a game.

My main concern with these digital distribution methods, is what happens when the company stops supporting it? Now granted, Steam has been around for years, and I'm sure it will continue to do so, but nothing is ever 100% certain. That's my only problem with DD. Since you have to authenticate a game, instead of just installing and playing, there is the possibility that if the company stops supporting it, you're stuck with a copy of the game you can't use, whereas if you owned the DVD version, you could just reinstall and play anytime you wish.

Of course, as more and more games get shackled with things like Securom (although you CAN get around it, but not legally), won't really matter anymore, as everything will require some form of authentication. I just hope that companies of DD systems have the foresight to patch a game to not require authentication if and when they stop supporting their DD system.

One example I can think of for customers getting screwed over is Microsoft's music download service they discontinued because they couldn't compete with iTunes. People were stuck with DRM'ed music they couldn't activate on a new computer, thereby wasting all the money they ever spent downloading the music from Microsoft. One reason I won't use iTunes or anything else for my music. If it's worthy of a purchase, I'll just buy the CD. Granted, this example involves Microsoft and music, but it's not too far-fetched to imagine things happening like this in the gaming world.

My main concern with these digital distribution methods, is what happens when the company stops supporting it? Now granted, Steam has been around for years, and I'm sure it will continue to do so, but nothing is ever 100% certain. That's my only problem with DD. Since you have to authenticate a game, instead of just installing and playing, there is the possibility that if the company stops supporting it, you're stuck with a copy of the game you can't use, whereas if you owned the DVD version, you could just reinstall and play anytime you wish.

Of course, as more and more games get shackled with things like Securom (although you CAN get around it, but not legally), won't really matter anymore, as everything will require some form of authentication. I just hope that companies of DD systems have the foresight to patch a game to not require authentication if and when they stop supporting their DD system.

One example I can think of for customers getting screwed over is Microsoft's music download service they discontinued because they couldn't compete with iTunes. People were stuck with DRM'ed music they couldn't activate on a new computer, thereby wasting all the money they ever spent downloading the music from Microsoft. One reason I won't use iTunes or anything else for my music. If it's worthy of a purchase, I'll just buy the CD. Granted, this example involves Microsoft and music, but it's not too far-fetched to imagine things happening like this in the gaming world.

zomglolcats

Valve has already stated several times if they were to stop using Steam, they'd make a patch and make all the games bought standalone.

[QUOTE="zomglolcats"]

My main concern with these digital distribution methods, is what happens when the company stops supporting it? Now granted, Steam has been around for years, and I'm sure it will continue to do so, but nothing is ever 100% certain. That's my only problem with DD. Since you have to authenticate a game, instead of just installing and playing, there is the possibility that if the company stops supporting it, you're stuck with a copy of the game you can't use, whereas if you owned the DVD version, you could just reinstall and play anytime you wish.

Of course, as more and more games get shackled with things like Securom (although you CAN get around it, but not legally), won't really matter anymore, as everything will require some form of authentication. I just hope that companies of DD systems have the foresight to patch a game to not require authentication if and when they stop supporting their DD system.

One example I can think of for customers getting screwed over is Microsoft's music download service they discontinued because they couldn't compete with iTunes. People were stuck with DRM'ed music they couldn't activate on a new computer, thereby wasting all the money they ever spent downloading the music from Microsoft. One reason I won't use iTunes or anything else for my music. If it's worthy of a purchase, I'll just buy the CD. Granted, this example involves Microsoft and music, but it's not too far-fetched to imagine things happening like this in the gaming world.

stappy

Valve has already stated several times if they were to stop using Steam, they'd make a patch and make all the games bought standalone.

But what if you didn't have the game currently downloaded? Would you be able to download some installer? Or would your games not currently installed just disappear?

Yes i use it and yes i did read your post

While i agree that their "support" is not best Steam is awesome service,you can allways BACKUP your game on DVD and install it later,so if you dont have bandwidth - just install it from dvd. Its really easy,just go to My Games section,right click on game you wish to backup and than backup

+ it makes chating with your friends easier,and you can buy games with few clicks and support some indie devs + tons of mods demos and free stuff + really cheap games etc.

STEAM is one of best things i used lately

i'm a steam user

the seperate acounts you need arte pretty anoying but i think for some part they're to stop fraud, i had that DVD problem too when i reinstalled but i just downloaded them whilst i installed my other games

178 games on Steam says yes, I am a Steam user ;)

Alan

Yes, I'm a Steam user. I won't bother reading your OP. :Pbangell99

haha same here

I love steam, great service for me personally as im stuck in bed alot over the last 5 years. So steam allows me to download new games for a fair price and its very convienient.kozzy1234

Wow bro, that doesn't sound good...at all. No need to explain or correct me if I might have misunderstood, but at least it sounds like you are enjoying gaming, and Steam as well! ;)

Yes i use it and yes i did read your post

While i agree that their "support" is not best Steam is awesome service,you can allways BACKUP your game on DVD and install it later,so if you dont have bandwidth - just install it from dvd. Its really easy,just go to My Games section,right click on game you wish to backup and than backup

+ it makes chating with your friends easier,and you can buy games with few clicks and support some indie devs + tons of mods demos and free stuff + really cheap games etc.

STEAM is one of best things i used lately

Lidve

I used to have a problem with the backup process. When I went to back it up, for whatever reason, the files were corrupted and wouldn't install. Don't know if that was an issue specific to the computer I had at the time, if they fixed it, or what. But for me at least, I was having problems creating backup copies of my Steam games.

[QUOTE="kozzy1234"]I love steam, great service for me personally as im stuck in bed alot over the last 5 years. So steam allows me to download new games for a fair price and its very convienient.Nitrous2O

Wow bro, that doesn't sound good...at all. No need to explain or correct me if I might have misunderstood, but at least it sounds like you are enjoying gaming, and Steam as well! ;)

Digital Distribution is great for people who are disabled or have troubles getting out of the house.

Yes.

It got me back into PC gamig.

[QUOTE="kozzy1234"]I love steam, great service for me personally as im stuck in bed alot over the last 5 years. So steam allows me to download new games for a fair price and its very convienient.Nitrous2O

Wow bro, that doesn't sound good...at all. No need to explain or correct me if I might have misunderstood, but at least it sounds like you are enjoying gaming, and Steam as well! ;)

Just had a rough go as far as health problems go the last while, but things are looking up now, thanks)

Gaming definatly keeps my mind off of things and steam is nice and convienent, as i cant get out everytime i would like to :)

nuh-uh. nope. and so far i'm feeling fine.