He makes some decent points such as the customer service. I would love steam to increase this greatly. At the moment it is some what lacking, but Steam offers tons of positives as stated in the article that many companies like Microsoft and EA have a hard time getting grasp of.
[EDGE] why the age of Steam may not last.
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Exactly.
How or why people think Stardock is some STEAM killer is beyond me. Its another alternative - sure, but its guaranteed to never be as big as STEAM. I'm not bashing it but it just will never be.
Originally Posted by nathris Impulse looks like Steam's biggest competitor, but Stardock is far from Valve, and even though GalCiv, Sins of a Solar Empire, and the soon-to-be-released Demigod are all good games, they just don't compare to the Source engine. |
How or why people think Stardock is some STEAM killer is beyond me. Its another alternative - sure, but its guaranteed to never be as big as STEAM. I'm not bashing it but it just will never be.
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Never Say Never
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The next major competitor will be the one that can ink deals with the most publishers to sell games under what the boxes go for. At this point in time, there's no reason to switch to another one, other then exclusives and it'll just go back and forth until we see some major releases at discounted prices.
I'm not sure there's any amount of social networking/chatting/game points that will pull people from one service to another, it's all about buying games and whoever can take that trophy will win the game.
Originally Posted by OmegaNemesis28 Exactly. How or why people think Stardock is some STEAM killer is beyond me. Its another alternative - sure, but its guaranteed to never be as big as STEAM. I'm not bashing it but it just will never be. |
The next major competitor will be the one that can ink deals with the most publishers to sell games under what the boxes go for. At this point in time, there's no reason to switch to another one, other then exclusives and it'll just go back and forth until we see some major releases at discounted prices.
I'm not sure there's any amount of social networking/chatting/game points that will pull people from one service to another, it's all about buying games and whoever can take that trophy will win the game.
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Really...? I doubt that. Now I'm not saying it will be as big as steam but to say that its guaranteed to never be as big as steam is silly.
Originally Posted by OmegaNemesis28 Exactly. How or why people think Stardock is some STEAM killer is beyond me. Its another alternative - sure, but its guaranteed to never be as big as STEAM. I'm not bashing it but it just will never be. |
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Never having to dig up a disk again and being able to count on the service to actually work: priceless. (yea, I'm looking at you Blizzard, answer my god damn email!)
Originally Posted by Mjolnir And don't discount brand loyalty. I am a fan of ValvE and their generally fair approach to things. I tend to try to get most of my games from STEAM. Usually at a discount. Never having to dig up a disk again: priceless. |
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I always like the hard copy, because no matter what happens to steam or their servers, if they screw me over somehow I will always have a hardcopy and key to prove I own the game. This is the only reason I like disks better.
Originally Posted by venom55520 this is just me, i personally prefer a physical game. |
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Steam used to be buggy as hell. It still has issues, like all software does, but its great now. About getting banned. I have over $1,500 in games on my account. I'm not afraid of it getting banned, but then again, I have common sense and don't give out my password, don't use cheats or pirate games. So I have nothing to worry about.
I only by my games on Steam now, especially if a game has Steamworks incorporated into it. I have Steam installed on a separate drive. Never have to reinstall any games again. Just download Steam again and install it to that directory. Makes life so much easier.
As for not selling games. No developer wants you doing this. Valve are the only ones doing something about it. They lose alot of money off of it. Wouldn't be surprised if something stopped you from selling your games on next-gen consoles.
Originally Posted by Murlocke I avoid steam whenever possible. It makes me bad when I buy a game and it requires stream, even when its not a valve company. Steam is extremely annoying, and its one of the most buggy programs i've ever used (And it updates near daily!). I have friends that buy everything on steam, and if they got banned.. they lose like $1,000 in games. Also the fact that steam makes it so you can't resell your games. You'd have to sell your entire steam account. I just bought Empire: Total War, and it REQUIRES you install it on steam... $80 for the collector's edition, I loved the previous games so I decided it was worth it.. However I absolutely hate the game and its nothing like the previous titles. So i'm out $80, were it any other game that didn't require steam I could sell it on ebay and atleast get $50 back. |
I only by my games on Steam now, especially if a game has Steamworks incorporated into it. I have Steam installed on a separate drive. Never have to reinstall any games again. Just download Steam again and install it to that directory. Makes life so much easier.
As for not selling games. No developer wants you doing this. Valve are the only ones doing something about it. They lose alot of money off of it. Wouldn't be surprised if something stopped you from selling your games on next-gen consoles.
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I think one of the most buggy programs is a bit of an overstatement, or you just use really good programs
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I myself, don't have a problem with steam. I love it. I love not having to fuss over discs.
Originally Posted by Murlocke I avoid steam whenever possible. Steam is extremely annoying, and its one of the most buggy programs i've ever used (And it updates near daily!). |
I myself, don't have a problem with steam. I love it. I love not having to fuss over discs.
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It tends to bug out alot for me when i'm updating games, i'll have to keep pausing/unpausing the downloads to keep it going, wether this is a issue with steam.. or the servers steam uses, i'm not sure. Most of the time it shows 100% Ready and when I try to launch the game it'll start downloading stuff. I also get alot of "This game cannot be played right now" error messages, and have to restart steam all the time.
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Maybe steam just doesn't like me.
Originally Posted by SugarySnack I think one of the most buggy programs is a bit of an overstatement, or you just use really good programs
I myself, don't have a problem with steam. I love it. I love not having to fuss over discs. |
Maybe steam just doesn't like me.
I like having a physical copy of a game. I like knowing that I can install it and run it anytime I want, even years from now. (I still play Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire, which is now ten years old.) There's no guarantee that Steam/Impulse/Whoever will be around in ten years; why would I want to risk having all my games disappear just because the distribution network goes away? And in the short term, why should I be denied access to my games when my internet provider has problems?
On the other hand, there is a great deal to be said for the portability inherent in the online distribution platform. It's a lot easier to download the client, sign in, and download fresh copies of all your games than to hunt for a stack of CDs. Plus, if I can download a legitimate copy, I'm likely to be less angry at the child who just put my disc in the microwave.
What I, as a customer, really want from an online distribution service is the best of both worlds. I want the ability to download a replacement for as long as the distribution service exists. I also want the security of having the game on physical media, available for use if either my internet or the distribution service goes offline.
When I buy a game online, I should have the ability to download and install it. I should also have the ability to download an ISO image, which I can then use to burn a hard copy of the game disc. By the same token, when I buy a game in a B&M store, I should be able to connect to a distribution service, have them acknowledge that my disc is genuine, and then get future download rights as though I had purchased online. The service and developers who agree to that combination will get my business. Well, as long as the games are good.
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On the other hand, there is a great deal to be said for the portability inherent in the online distribution platform. It's a lot easier to download the client, sign in, and download fresh copies of all your games than to hunt for a stack of CDs. Plus, if I can download a legitimate copy, I'm likely to be less angry at the child who just put my disc in the microwave.
What I, as a customer, really want from an online distribution service is the best of both worlds. I want the ability to download a replacement for as long as the distribution service exists. I also want the security of having the game on physical media, available for use if either my internet or the distribution service goes offline.
When I buy a game online, I should have the ability to download and install it. I should also have the ability to download an ISO image, which I can then use to burn a hard copy of the game disc. By the same token, when I buy a game in a B&M store, I should be able to connect to a distribution service, have them acknowledge that my disc is genuine, and then get future download rights as though I had purchased online. The service and developers who agree to that combination will get my business. Well, as long as the games are good.
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