That's why it's so great :) I know they do have some kind of DRM going on but as long as you bought the game on a valid account you won't notice it. You can switch to offline mode and play any game you want while another computer is logged in, it won't check even if you have an internet connection. Though that probably violates the terms of use or something.
The games are tied to an account though. If you have two accounts that own different games, I think you have to be logged in on the correct account to play the game, even if it's already installed and up to date. When you switch to offline mode, it knows which account you were logged in as last, and I think only those games will be playable. Something like that, I haven't played around with it.
However I should mention that, some publishers do force Valve to let them keep their own DRM. A couple games in Steam run Securom or otherwise, but Valve requires them to indicate this on the game's store page I think. For example, I picked up Red Faction Guerrilla during a sale and spent a good hour trying to get the damn game to run, between its own stupid DRM, trying to force me to install Raptr, and then forcing me to sign up for GFWL just to play the offline single player campaign >_> Then I finally got into the game and it crashed a couple minutes later, full PC lockup. So it's not perfect. I definitely regret that purchase :P
The games are tied to an account though. If you have two accounts that own different games, I think you have to be logged in on the correct account to play the game, even if it's already installed and up to date. When you switch to offline mode, it knows which account you were logged in as last, and I think only those games will be playable. Something like that, I haven't played around with it.
However I should mention that, some publishers do force Valve to let them keep their own DRM. A couple games in Steam run Securom or otherwise, but Valve requires them to indicate this on the game's store page I think. For example, I picked up Red Faction Guerrilla during a sale and spent a good hour trying to get the damn game to run, between its own stupid DRM, trying to force me to install Raptr, and then forcing me to sign up for GFWL just to play the offline single player campaign >_> Then I finally got into the game and it crashed a couple minutes later, full PC lockup. So it's not perfect. I definitely regret that purchase :P
Well i am against any form of DRM. Or spending cash on expensive ways to make your game uncopyable. This is a BIG ************. And totaly wasted money. Ye-old CD-Key system is enaugh... Just look at Blizzard... They dont give a **** about piracy... they even made something called "Open BN" that was heaven for piracy Diablo 2... ppl still bought it...
So if you do good game, no DRM **** is nessesary. Ppl will still buy it ofc if you dont price it like they did in my country with SC:2.
Would you buy Starcraft 2 if it would cost you 199€ ?
All those DRM are laughable **** that is getting easily cracked sooner or later... And this is a pure waste of money that could be given to ppl making the game for more staff/testing bla bla bla.
So far i didnt buy a single game via Steam since i like to have box versions. But the prices sometimes are realy REALY low here on steam, and sometimes you can get a game that is not avaible in box version anymore.
Atm i got Dark Messiah of Might and Magic from a games magazine, with multiplayer key... and damn i loved that game in closed beta testing. Pitty the multiplayer scene is not so big... But i was considering getting it via steam soonish.
So if you do good game, no DRM **** is nessesary. Ppl will still buy it ofc if you dont price it like they did in my country with SC:2.
Would you buy Starcraft 2 if it would cost you 199€ ?
All those DRM are laughable **** that is getting easily cracked sooner or later... And this is a pure waste of money that could be given to ppl making the game for more staff/testing bla bla bla.
So far i didnt buy a single game via Steam since i like to have box versions. But the prices sometimes are realy REALY low here on steam, and sometimes you can get a game that is not avaible in box version anymore.
Atm i got Dark Messiah of Might and Magic from a games magazine, with multiplayer key... and damn i loved that game in closed beta testing. Pitty the multiplayer scene is not so big... But i was considering getting it via steam soonish.
Yeah, these things like Securom and such are awful, they end up hurting the legit buyers more than the pirates. I actually don't like having boxes though, I have a small place and they clutter it up quickly, but I feel like I can't throw them out hahah... Then I have to worry about the disc or search for it when I want to play an old game.
Steam is awesome on both counts. All the games I own are available wherever I am, no matter how long ago I bought them. I've never once had a problem with Steam's method of DRM. It's also great because the games all install under the Steam folder and don't muck with your system, Steam manages all of that and the patches as well.
It's rare that I can bring myself to spend $50-60 on a game at release. Either has to be a game I REALLY want, or I need a seriously expendable income :P Steam, things are always dropping, they have something on sale almost weekly, and the sales are actually really good. If you're patient, the game will probably show up under $20 after a few months. AvP was $50 or so new, I was pretty interested in it... But I held off and now I grabbed it for $10 :)
Steam is awesome on both counts. All the games I own are available wherever I am, no matter how long ago I bought them. I've never once had a problem with Steam's method of DRM. It's also great because the games all install under the Steam folder and don't muck with your system, Steam manages all of that and the patches as well.
It's rare that I can bring myself to spend $50-60 on a game at release. Either has to be a game I REALLY want, or I need a seriously expendable income :P Steam, things are always dropping, they have something on sale almost weekly, and the sales are actually really good. If you're patient, the game will probably show up under $20 after a few months. AvP was $50 or so new, I was pretty interested in it... But I held off and now I grabbed it for $10 :)
Also, Blizz is really pushing the online portion of their games. WoW you can't exactly pirate, Starcraft you could pirate the single player campaign but most people want to play online, and you need a valid bnet account with the game unlocked. Diablo 3 will be tied to bnet too with plenty of online integration. Really Blizzard has just created their own mini-Steam for their games, the DRM is just a part of the design. I read an article earlier about the possibility of Blizz selling other people's games on bnet, just like Steam hahah...
hypershatter wrote:
LOL SCRAX I SAW UR EVELYN VIDEO
*shake head repeatedly in disgust
Mwhahah :D
And love you too, Restrictnine <3 Mehehe :D
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2mKC3l/www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-mt4BpnfAN-o/how_anti_piracy_screws_over_people_who_buy_pc_games/
sure he mad but hes right.
idk this seemed related to your guys topic.
sure he mad but hes right.
idk this seemed related to your guys topic.
I like things that make me feel stupid. - Ken Levine
Lol that's great. He super mad :D I was raging as hard as that guy when Red Faction was pulling all its ********. I bought FEAR 1 and 2 on Steam though and had no problems at all, I have to say. Not sure if they stripped the securom (Which they sometimes do! Many games in retail have ****ty DRM and then strip it out for Steam), or if it just didn't matter because it knew it wouldn't be running from a disc or what.
I feel like digital distribution and eventually streaming games are gonna slowly replace retail. Look at how many games now are digital only, no retail copies. Right now it's mostly only the indie devs doing it, or bigger companies doing one-off games (Lara Croft, Crystal Defenders, etc) but the bigwigs will start doing it too. They want to dodge used game sales, they want to save money on distribution and packaging costs, they want to release their games broken and patch later, they want to increase sales by making it as easy and instant as possible to buy their games on impulse. It is so integrated in PS3 and XBox now (Nintendo is always behind), and there are how many digital distribution shops on PC... Steam, D2D, gog.com, Impulse, EA, bnet, etc... Now we have services like Onlive and Gaikai surfacing, if they ever get their technical and licensing issues sorted. Even with retail games now, they are including online components that you can't sell, to curb used game sales. EA is doing this with lots of their games, you buy an EA game used and you can't play half the game because the key has already been used on someone else's account and you have to pay another $20 to unlock it hahah....
Anyways, retail definitely has its pros but, I'm not gonna cry about things going digital, as long as they don't expect me to pay a ridiculous $60 price tag for a virtual copy I don't really own and can't sell or even return :P Blizz has this attitude that you don't own their games when you buy a copy, you're just buying a ticket to see their game and if you try to do something they don't like to their game then you lose your right to play it. Makes sense in WoW, but Starcraft single player campaign? Come on...
I feel like digital distribution and eventually streaming games are gonna slowly replace retail. Look at how many games now are digital only, no retail copies. Right now it's mostly only the indie devs doing it, or bigger companies doing one-off games (Lara Croft, Crystal Defenders, etc) but the bigwigs will start doing it too. They want to dodge used game sales, they want to save money on distribution and packaging costs, they want to release their games broken and patch later, they want to increase sales by making it as easy and instant as possible to buy their games on impulse. It is so integrated in PS3 and XBox now (Nintendo is always behind), and there are how many digital distribution shops on PC... Steam, D2D, gog.com, Impulse, EA, bnet, etc... Now we have services like Onlive and Gaikai surfacing, if they ever get their technical and licensing issues sorted. Even with retail games now, they are including online components that you can't sell, to curb used game sales. EA is doing this with lots of their games, you buy an EA game used and you can't play half the game because the key has already been used on someone else's account and you have to pay another $20 to unlock it hahah....
Anyways, retail definitely has its pros but, I'm not gonna cry about things going digital, as long as they don't expect me to pay a ridiculous $60 price tag for a virtual copy I don't really own and can't sell or even return :P Blizz has this attitude that you don't own their games when you buy a copy, you're just buying a ticket to see their game and if you try to do something they don't like to their game then you lose your right to play it. Makes sense in WoW, but Starcraft single player campaign? Come on...
Gigaffect
<Member>
<Member>
Oh. My. Goodness. I am SO GLAD I saw this. Just bought Dead Space, Overlord II, and Bioshock for TWENTY DOLLARS. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Click on them. You know you want to. Except Jax. He's just there for color.
Yo, I'm Urgot. See that plane? BOOM.
You need to log in before commenting.
<Retired Moderator>
Thanks to jhoijhoi for the sig!