5 ms·

It has to do with the way Valve has approached it. From day one it wasn't, "How do we stop people from pirating?" It was, "How do we make a more convenient serv

by ddt 14y ago

It has to do with the way Valve has approached it. From day one it wasn't, "How do we stop people from pirating?" It was, "How do we make a more convenient service than the pirates?" And that's where they won. In the early days, people pushed back. But then the brand of Valve as people won out over the brand of Valve as the makers of Half-Life. If you make a good product that has convenience over the alternative (piracy) and charge a reasonable amount, people will pay when they used to pirate. The DRM is incidental to the experience. Valve realized it first, and now you're seeing it replicated in things like Netflix and Hulu.

jiggy2011 14y ago
Steam also succeeds because it is cheap, unless a game is selling well they drop the price by a lot very quickly. I've bought games that are only a year or so old for as little as £7.99 (Saints Row 3, Deus Ex HR etc). At highstreet stores it was very difficult to get games for less than £15 or so.
Foy 14y ago
My options are: 1) Pirate a game + free - slow download - maybe doesn't work, maybe it's a virus - whatever cracked the DRM might cause bugs - multiplayer rarely (if ever) works 2) Buy from Steam - not free + but, cheap + 2 to 3MB/s download speed + automatic updates + always works, always seamless + "defragment game folder" options, etc, built in + fast, free, re-downloads for life (install as many times as desired)
- jokermatt999 14y ago
  To add to 2), most games also back up your saves via Steam Cloud now. Not necessarily something you'll always use, but after a reformat, I greatly appreciated it. However, I have noticed that Steam's offline mode is rather fickle. I try use it when I'm at my friend's house (lack of wireless and a lack of an ethernet port. Weird, unusual scenario, I know), and half the time "Play offline" simply doesn't work. It's put me in the weird position of considering downloading cracks for games I legally own so that I can play them.
  - Dylan16807 14y ago
    Are you putting it in offline mode before you head over or after you get there?
    - jokermatt999 14y ago
      After I get there. I have a desktop PC, not a laptop. I can't really leave it on and then head over. Unless what you're implying is that I need "activate" offline mode on my computer by using it when I'm online here? If so, I really wish Valve would make that much clearer than the infuriating error that pops up now when I try to use offline mode while offline.
      - Dylan16807 14y ago
        Yes, the prescribed way is putting it into offline mode before you lose the connection. It sometimes lets you go into offline without a connection but I don't understand the method it uses to make that decision.
        Foy 14y ago
        Yeah, if I'm headed to my cottage or some place without Internet access I make sure whatever games I want to play are updated then I switch to offline mode. Sometimes I can go straight to offline mode but to be on the safe side, switch before you lose network access.

by ddt 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago

Steam also succeeds because it is cheap, unless a game is selling well they drop the price by a lot very quickly. I've bought games that are only a year or so old for as little as £7.99 (Saints Row 3, Deus Ex HR etc). At highstreet stores it was very difficult to get games for less than £15 or so.

Foy 14y ago

My options are: 1) Pirate a game + free - slow download - maybe doesn't work, maybe it's a virus - whatever cracked the DRM might cause bugs - multiplayer rarely (if ever) works 2) Buy from Steam - not free + but, cheap + 2 to 3MB/s download speed + automatic updates + always works, always seamless + "defragment game folder" options, etc, built in + fast, free, re-downloads for life (install as many times as desired)

jokermatt999 14y ago
To add to 2), most games also back up your saves via Steam Cloud now. Not necessarily something you'll always use, but after a reformat, I greatly appreciated it. However, I have noticed that Steam's offline mode is rather fickle. I try use it when I'm at my friend's house (lack of wireless and a lack of an ethernet port. Weird, unusual scenario, I know), and half the time "Play offline" simply doesn't work. It's put me in the weird position of considering downloading cracks for games I legally own so that I can play them.
- Dylan16807 14y ago
  Are you putting it in offline mode before you head over or after you get there?
  - jokermatt999 14y ago
    After I get there. I have a desktop PC, not a laptop. I can't really leave it on and then head over. Unless what you're implying is that I need "activate" offline mode on my computer by using it when I'm online here? If so, I really wish Valve would make that much clearer than the infuriating error that pops up now when I try to use offline mode while offline.
    - Dylan16807 14y ago
      Yes, the prescribed way is putting it into offline mode before you lose the connection. It sometimes lets you go into offline without a connection but I don't understand the method it uses to make that decision.
      - Foy 14y ago
        Yeah, if I'm headed to my cottage or some place without Internet access I make sure whatever games I want to play are updated then I switch to offline mode. Sometimes I can go straight to offline mode but to be on the safe side, switch before you lose network access.