To Steam or not to Steam

[Gryzor]

Or maybe...

Ah yes, been wanting to play this! Have you?

[McKlain]

Only the demo, I refuse to play it by ilegal means 


I will buy it if I catch a good offer on any of the digital distribution platforms.

[Gryzor]

I've been buying more than before lately, even stuff I get for free I'll pay for after I try them; except for one thing: Steam releases. No way I'm going through Steam...

[McKlain]

Well, my steam library is more than a hundred games now. Those sales...

[Gryzor]

Well, my steam library is more than a hundred games now. Those sales...

What? Sales cheaper than 'free'? Seriously though, tried once, but never again. Most of these games don't even need an installer and can be played in portable form, let alone need a DRM-ridden scheme.

[McKlain]

Honestly, the only DRM that gets in the way is the additional layers over steam that companies like ubisoft add to their games. Steam doesn't molest you at all when you want to play a game.

[Gryzor]

Oh, wait -so you're saying if Steam goes tits-up I get to keep my games and install them on other machines etc? Not even talking about Ubi, they such so hard they'll gulp their own teeth.

[McKlain]

Well, steam going tits-up is as probable as google going tits-up, but still steam has an offline mode, and that lets you use your installed games on as many computers as you want (in my case, 3 computers). The only limitation is that you can't use the same account online on more than one machine at the time.

[Gryzor]

Nonono, please don't assume things, the question remains: if Steam goes tits-up (not impossible and you can't compare it to Google, who can also go tits-up), or if they just change their minds about something like Amazon does, can I keep the installers and install it on another machine ten years down the road? If yes, then what kind of DRM do they have??

[McKlain]

Well, there are no installers on steam, you just carry the game directory from one machine to another and it works. If you want to make a "backup" of a game, then it makes a packed installer for you that includes steam. Also the games now can use "the cloud" to save your progress and your configuration, so that you can keep the same progress on multiple machines. Of course everything uses the steam drm, the games won't work as stand-alone products.

Steam doesn't remove content from their catalog, it's the publisher's choice. EA has done that with some of their games and people who bought them before, ketp the games on their steam library and were offered codes to download the game on origin (now, if you think that steam is bad or evil, take a look at that).

Yes, Steam could go down the hill and you could lose your entire games library and the wold may end in a few months, but with a 50 million people userbase that keeps growing, I'm not particulary worried about it.

If you don't like steam you have alternatives without drm like gog.com, that also have a more fair pricing policy towards the users outside the usa.

[Gryzor]

You're missing the point. I don't care if it's Steam, the producers or Hitler himself. As a platform I find it less than trustworthy because I can't say the games are my own. Not only them, of course, but every platform which uses a perpetual DRM. Physical DRM is much friendlier (o! the irony!) because once you buy it at least it works later on.

And then you say I can just do a backup which includes Steam but then you go on to talk about their DRM which exists, of course, and about how games cannot stand alone; and you seem to ignore the fact that far, far larger and more entrenched companies than Steam have died gruesome deaths in the past Steam really is but just a tiny blotch, one doesn't need to wait for the end of the world to see that Steam may follow suit... 

Gog.com - yup, been there since they were in beta, have bought my fair share from them.

[McKlain]

Steam is the biggest content distribution platform for games on PC an Mac (and soon Linux), so they may not be a giant but they are doing good. A company falls mainly because of bad management, and with steam's trajectory this doesn't seem to be the case. And I'm sure that if something bad would happen, you could keep your games in a way or another. I've always had the impression that, after all, this guys play fair.

I used gog when they weren't selling "new" games yet, and I like a lot their business philosophy. And their prices. Giana is 14,99$ on gog and 14,99€ on steam.

[Gryzor]

Hint: every big company was managed well before its fall

[Octoate]

I am a backer of this Kickstarter project and have received a Steam key and also a download version which you can also get Project Giana from GOG. The game itself is great and fun to play, but I would recommend to use a gamepad with it :-).

[TFM]

Looks absolutely amzing, but for my taste totally overloaded (like nearly all new games). They got (or took) a lot of great ideas for enhance the classical gameplay. Definitely a game worth to be considered.
Well, one has to do a project for the PC, guess there would be no funding for CPC projects. People are just to few.

[MaV]

Physical DRM is much friendlier (o! the irony!) because once you buy it at least it works later on.

Hm, physical DRM is history ever since games' DRM needs an online connection to the game's company server, even if the game is single player only. I think it started with Assassin's Creed or was it Spore? Once the server is shut down, the game won't work.

If I have to "trust" one company at the moment, my vote goes to Steam for the mentioned reason that the user base is big. But you're right, Gryzor, a change of management and the game is over.

[Gryzor]

Yeah, Spore was a big FUBAR indeed... But yeah, I'm not saying Steam are bad, just that in my book they're not good enough.

That said, with my Android device I've become accustomed to market-like distribution channels, but: 
a. got apk backups for the apps/games I've bought
b. I don't expect I'll be using the same apps/games a few years down the road
c. who cares for one or two euros.

[Devilmarkus]

1.3gb for a Giana Sisters remake? 
Ouch!

[TotO]

1.3gb for a Giana Sisters remake? 
Ouch!

Can I send you 3600 3" floppies to store it? 

[TFM]

Well, actually, it contains a Giana-like character, but the game itself is somthing completely different.

[awergh]

Well, actually, it contains a Giana-like character, but the game itself is somthing completely different.

But its still in the title so I still have to play the original one first right? (Thats what my must play in order directive is telling me)
But its a 128K game so I can't play it


Ah well at least its on GOG so I don't have to use steam evilness.

[Gryzor]

See? Evil!

[Metr]