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The Steam client was always, and is still, a gigantic pile of shit. The massive CPU usage when idle, the crazy game start delays, it's all plain and obvious to

The Steam client was always, and is still, a gigantic pile of shit. The massive CPU usage when idle, the crazy game start delays, it's all plain and obvious to anyone who installs it. But for some reason people will insist on ignoring those problems, or instead compare it to some earlier experience with standalone games or some Microsoft pile of garbage, and will defend Steam in places like this. Valve's Steam service is super nice for consumers (though developers get squeezed terribly), but the client is just horrible.

deelowe 3y ago
Odd. I have no issues with the client and it's miles better than any other client out there.
Kuraj 3y ago
I wonder if it's going to become even more web based but it has also accomplished things like a sorta unified desktop/web/mobile experience and the steam deck. So there's that.
vunderba 3y ago
When I ran Windows 7, I was pretty fastidious about cpu consumption, and never observed Steam consuming more than 1-2 CPU percent on average assuming it was collapsed to the system tray and wasn't downloading game updates in the background. I don't think there's any grand conspiracy like you make it out to be, perhaps you've had an outlier experience.
reactordev 3y ago
Wait, how do developers get squeezed? As a developer I need to know if I’m standing in quicksand. Having access to so many gamers, at once, without me having to setup a storefront, and pci compliance, and credit card data, is actually good for me. If you live in part of the world where there isn’t a tax treaty with the United States, that’s not exactly Valves fault. Blame your government for the squeeze.
dpkonofa 3y ago
I disagree wholeheartedly here. The Steam client has its problems but it's not shit. I use Big Picture mode exclusively on my gaming PC that's hooked up to my TV and I never have problems with Steam unless some other garbage launcher (I'm looking at you, Ubisoft) crashes and doesn't return focus. That's it. Other than that, all my games stay updated, the client updates on restart, and I never have to mess with it. I'm not sure what more you can ask for.
PhasmaFelis 3y ago
It was shit for a very long time, but it's actually been improving, slowly but steadily, for years. It's honestly pretty good these days.

deelowe 3y ago

Odd. I have no issues with the client and it's miles better than any other client out there.

Kuraj 3y ago

I wonder if it's going to become even more web based but it has also accomplished things like a sorta unified desktop/web/mobile experience and the steam deck. So there's that.

vunderba 3y ago

When I ran Windows 7, I was pretty fastidious about cpu consumption, and never observed Steam consuming more than 1-2 CPU percent on average assuming it was collapsed to the system tray and wasn't downloading game updates in the background. I don't think there's any grand conspiracy like you make it out to be, perhaps you've had an outlier experience.

reactordev 3y ago

Wait, how do developers get squeezed? As a developer I need to know if I’m standing in quicksand. Having access to so many gamers, at once, without me having to setup a storefront, and pci compliance, and credit card data, is actually good for me. If you live in part of the world where there isn’t a tax treaty with the United States, that’s not exactly Valves fault. Blame your government for the squeeze.

dpkonofa 3y ago

I disagree wholeheartedly here. The Steam client has its problems but it's not shit. I use Big Picture mode exclusively on my gaming PC that's hooked up to my TV and I never have problems with Steam unless some other garbage launcher (I'm looking at you, Ubisoft) crashes and doesn't return focus. That's it. Other than that, all my games stay updated, the client updates on restart, and I never have to mess with it. I'm not sure what more you can ask for.

PhasmaFelis 3y ago

It was shit for a very long time, but it's actually been improving, slowly but steadily, for years. It's honestly pretty good these days.