Steam Makes DRM Obsolete

[Grimes]

http://store.steampowered.com/news/2372/

 

 

Wink Wink, nudge nudge, say no more? :music_whistling:

[EtherealN]

I do wish more developers and publishers would hop onto the Steam bandwagon. I think the system is clearly superior to most DRM solutions out there since most of them (especially when delivered on physical media) do end up causing issues for legitimate customers. The expansion of DRM in the PC sphere has actually caused me to be buying most of my games for the Xbox. It may not be as powerful but it evades the problems one would so often run into on PC games.

 

However, Steam is not without it's problems. I've been vocal on several occassions on the Steam forums, though ironically that has usually been when a Steam game I pre-purchased ended up including rootkits and install limits in spite of Steam advertising the lack of such as one of it's main advantages.

 

All that said, I am relatively happy with the solution used with the download version of DCS:BS. It's not perfect, because the old "rental" argument still does apply, but at least it is generous enough that it genuinely should not be a big problem, and I've seen people indicate that they will get activation refills when they have had legitimate problems. (I'll be there soon, I'm about to find one of my three LockON discs so I can install FC on this computer, which will be my final activation of that one...)

 

Not perfect though, and if ED were to consider offering an activation-free version of DCS:BS through Steam I would definitely consider buying it again just to support that move.

[Acedy]

:detective:

 

Just FYI and to prevent what this thread might turn into, we won't tolerate yet another SF debate. Please keep this in mind.

[HansRoaming]

Steam gets my vote, and their sales really work, lower the price for a sale and you bring in increased revenue.

[Groove]

Right, because STEAM is no DRM :D

 

Also they try to make DLC something groundbreaking while its out there for years :D

[Groove]

Steam gets my vote, and their sales really work, lower the price for a sale and you bring in increased revenue.

 

Right, thats why Total War on STEAM is for 49,99 Euro and in my local gaming shop for 49,99 ;)

[Grimes]

Groove.

 

They have had sales quite frequently. Around New Years they had a sale of some sort on everything available in their store. I got 3 top notch games for under 10 bucks. One of which was Bioshock for the insane price of $5. This week they have sales on Ubisoft Products. They posted an interesting fact recently...

 

"- Steam sales don't increase sales. "Increase" is doing the benefit a disservice. Team Fortress 2 sales go up by over 100% when there's a free update on the PC. And the recent Left 4 Dead sale? That saw sales of the game increase by 3000%. And no, that's not a typo." -kotaku.com

 

I don't know the percentages of what goes to them vs the developer/publisher for items for sale, however they do cut out retailers, physical copies, and other associated costs with selling a game in a brick and mortar store.

 

The thing about the DLC.... They just made it so you can purchase and browse DLC from WITHIN the game.

 

Yes, one must be logged into the internet or log into Steams "offline mode" in order to play a game. Considering this would be ideal for a North American/European market thats not too big of a deal as alot of us have broadband. Obviously its not a Steam exlussive. People still have the option to buy it in a store or digital download via EDs site. Its simply just another place to get it.

 

Only reason why I bring this up is because I trust Steam alot more than Starforce. I've just had an extremely possitive user experience with Steam over the years, and so have many many other people.... and thats all im going to say on THAT subject matter :D

 

Outside of the DRM for the game, theres a few other perks.

 

-Friends List

-Can chat with friends outside of game or with specific players in game

-Can VOIP with those friends

-Autojoin/launch the game to join a friends server

-Groups/Events, can create groups and events for others join

 

Basically it has some of the features of hyperlobby with some extra useful features.

[Groove]

Don't get me wrong with STEAM, i have tons of games in my account. But they are DRM too.

 

Last game i bought was World Of Goo - 75 % off the regular price :D

[Grimes]

Yes it is DRM. But it doesn't feel like DRM. To me it feels like Logging on to AIM or even Hyperlobby. While I can join LockOn games without Hyperlobby, I still have to login to see the game lists/ who is online/ or to chat with people. heh, thats ALL Im trying say.

 

Hopefully they will have IL2 or World in Conflict on sale sometime this week. I may have to make some purchases....

[PoleCat]

Still just do not like it. Steam.

 

Out

[Shaman]

I say NO! @home I have cable 512kbps, on the move I have expensive 3G connection. Unless internet connection becomes free wireless common good everywhere. I say no to bandwagon like steam. I will pay more for the Internet, both in time (download), bucks (bandwitch), and frustration (lack of connection), then for a game that doesn't require this. I also hate running background apps that I do not need - but distributors force me to use them. I wanted to buy new Total War, and I skipped the purchase. Same thing with GTA4, I skipped the game, because all of the bandwagon that comes with it.

Edited March 25, 2009 by Shaman

[EtherealN]

Like Groove mentioned, the cheapness argument flies a bit in the face of experience. With almost every game I've purchased from Steam over the last year and a half, it would have been cheaper to buy it from a brick and mortar store here - and that's in spite of us having a 25% VAT!

 

But I am notoriously poor at keeping track of my DVD's, so I usually don't mind the price premium all that much. Oh, and I have quite a mileage to cover to get to the nearest brick and mortar store, so gasoline expenses would kill the difference. :P But in my experience Steam really is only cheaper when they're doing targeted sales of specific games - but regular retail outlest can do that too...

[TucksonSonny]

I say NO! @home I have cable 512kbps, on the move I have expensive 3G connection. Unless internet connection becomes free wireless common good everywhere. I say no to bandwagon like steam. I will pay more for the Internet, both in time (download), bucks (bandwitch), and frustration (lack of connection), then for a game that doesn't require this. I also hate running background apps that I do not need - but distributors force me to use them. I wanted to buy new Total War, and I skipped the purchase. Same thing with GTA4, I skipped the game, because all of the bandwagon that comes with it.

 

 

The major problem with steam is when the steam-server is down.

the only way to play for example total war empire in off-line for me is:

1- disconnect the network

2- steam propose the "play off-line" option because there is a connection error

If your internet connection is fine and the steam server is off then it is impossible to launch the game, except with the previous method.

@shamandgg,

Anyway you can play via steam any time without any internet connection and without DVD in your drive...:D

[Buran-Pilot]

I don't know... having this strange software always in the background, which always communicates with their server... don't know what they send back... this whole "always online" thing just makes me nervous

 

I'd rather put in a DVD in a drive