4 ms·

Unfortunately many game disks only contain a downloader nowadays and you often need to bind them to an account to play. Plus the version on disk without updates

Unfortunately many game disks only contain a downloader nowadays and you often need to bind them to an account to play. Plus the version on disk without updates is probably buggy. Baldur's Gate 3 Collector's edition is an example that has a disk, but isn't really any better than a Steam key. On the other hand you can back up a DRM free download, like the games on GOG, despite these being a purely digital download. So overall I don't think the physical form matters that much compared to DRM.

add-sub-mul-div 3mo ago
It's disgusting how a previously open platform for gaming (PC) was turned into what it's become with Steam. Young people either don't know or don't care that it used to be the norm to buy and install a game without a middleman "service".
- doginasuit 3mo ago
  That argument has been harder to make with time. A couple years ago I made the difficult decision to get rid of some old game copies. I wasn't realistically going to use them ever again, and the sentimental value for me is entirely about the memory, not the media. Part of my steam collection is nearly as old and it is on track to greatly outlast. It is also significantly easier to own and use in just about every aspect, even if it is technically just a revocable license. Beyond that, Steam and the digital media model allowed a great many people to publish games that wouldn't otherwise have been able to publish games. It made the indie world of games possible. It also did more than anyone to bridge the platform gap between windows and linux.
  - cube00 3mo ago
    I'm really worried about what will happen to Valve when Gabe retires. I can see a bean counter making a very convincing case that it's cheaper to go back to Windows and avoid all this Linux reverse engineering gubbins which isn't bringing in an immediate profit, especially when they're giving away all theirs efforts by open sourcing Proton.
    - tayo42 3mo ago
      Is that how things work at valve? I thought employees do whatever they want and there's minimal structure.
      - cube00 3mo ago
        Gabe allegedly (nobody knows because it's a private company) owns 50.1%, it's not majority employee owned. It's possible he might turn it over to the employees or some kind of co-op style board but who knows if he's offered the right price by a cashed up investor. He's got children to consider and could reasonably want to set them and his grandchildren up for generational wealth.
        thewebguyd 3mo ago
        Which just further highlights the importance of actual DRM free ownership. Even in the face of a relatively benevolent corporation, that corporation won’t be that way forever. Leaders and cultures change, sometimes overnight (look at what happened when Broadcom bought VMWare, they started extorting customers immediately). Adobe is another good example that pulled the rug out from underneath creatives and started renting software instead of selling it.
        3eb7988a1663 3mo ago
        Gabe Newell is estimated at $11 billion net worth. I think his grandchildren are already set. Granted, his money, he can do as he pleases, but the Newell dynasty already exists, regardless of what happens to his shares.
  - frollogaston 3mo ago
    Steam was beneficial for small devs who otherwise had no good distribution options and were way too easy targets for piracy. Otherwise, it's just a pain. Like my favorite PC game Age of Empires 2 was a CD, then when they finally remade it, it was like oh you gotta sign up for Steam first, and now you gotta launch this adware to play your game, which btw is an entire Chrome browser, and sometimes it'll refuse to launch your stuff too. Then several game publishers made their own Steam-like launchers except even worse. The situation is worse now, good thing I don't really care about video games anymore.
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- frollogaston 3mo ago
  PC game piracy was pretty mainstream back then. It was a real problem for video game creators. But Steam is also more annoying than it needs to be, especially forcing updates and not letting you transfer games so it's not comparable to owning a disc.
- account42 3mo ago
  Yes and gamers keep hailing Gabe as their savior just because hes not quite as bad as the competition that has shown up since then.
tancop 3mo ago
[dead]
cassianoleal 3mo ago
I'm not sure how BG3 Collector's Edition might be different, but the game is DRM-free on Steam.
weakened_malloc 3mo ago
Definitely not the case with the PS5 version, which I can install and play offline to my heart 's content.

add-sub-mul-div 3mo ago

It's disgusting how a previously open platform for gaming (PC) was turned into what it's become with Steam. Young people either don't know or don't care that it used to be the norm to buy and install a game without a middleman "service".

doginasuit 3mo ago
That argument has been harder to make with time. A couple years ago I made the difficult decision to get rid of some old game copies. I wasn't realistically going to use them ever again, and the sentimental value for me is entirely about the memory, not the media. Part of my steam collection is nearly as old and it is on track to greatly outlast. It is also significantly easier to own and use in just about every aspect, even if it is technically just a revocable license. Beyond that, Steam and the digital media model allowed a great many people to publish games that wouldn't otherwise have been able to publish games. It made the indie world of games possible. It also did more than anyone to bridge the platform gap between windows and linux.
- cube00 3mo ago
  I'm really worried about what will happen to Valve when Gabe retires. I can see a bean counter making a very convincing case that it's cheaper to go back to Windows and avoid all this Linux reverse engineering gubbins which isn't bringing in an immediate profit, especially when they're giving away all theirs efforts by open sourcing Proton.
  - tayo42 3mo ago
    Is that how things work at valve? I thought employees do whatever they want and there's minimal structure.
    - cube00 3mo ago
      Gabe allegedly (nobody knows because it's a private company) owns 50.1%, it's not majority employee owned. It's possible he might turn it over to the employees or some kind of co-op style board but who knows if he's offered the right price by a cashed up investor. He's got children to consider and could reasonably want to set them and his grandchildren up for generational wealth.
      - thewebguyd 3mo ago
        Which just further highlights the importance of actual DRM free ownership. Even in the face of a relatively benevolent corporation, that corporation won’t be that way forever. Leaders and cultures change, sometimes overnight (look at what happened when Broadcom bought VMWare, they started extorting customers immediately). Adobe is another good example that pulled the rug out from underneath creatives and started renting software instead of selling it.
      - 3eb7988a1663 3mo ago
        Gabe Newell is estimated at $11 billion net worth. I think his grandchildren are already set. Granted, his money, he can do as he pleases, but the Newell dynasty already exists, regardless of what happens to his shares.
- frollogaston 3mo ago
  Steam was beneficial for small devs who otherwise had no good distribution options and were way too easy targets for piracy. Otherwise, it's just a pain. Like my favorite PC game Age of Empires 2 was a CD, then when they finally remade it, it was like oh you gotta sign up for Steam first, and now you gotta launch this adware to play your game, which btw is an entire Chrome browser, and sometimes it'll refuse to launch your stuff too. Then several game publishers made their own Steam-like launchers except even worse. The situation is worse now, good thing I don't really care about video games anymore.
deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
frollogaston 3mo ago
PC game piracy was pretty mainstream back then. It was a real problem for video game creators. But Steam is also more annoying than it needs to be, especially forcing updates and not letting you transfer games so it's not comparable to owning a disc.
account42 3mo ago
Yes and gamers keep hailing Gabe as their savior just because hes not quite as bad as the competition that has shown up since then.

tancop 3mo ago

[dead]

cassianoleal 3mo ago

I'm not sure how BG3 Collector's Edition might be different, but the game is DRM-free on Steam.

weakened_malloc 3mo ago

Definitely not the case with the PS5 version, which I can install and play offline to my heart 's content.