Which...makes it DRM. And the fact it has to phone home once in a while.
As Slim pointed out, Steam IS DRM, because the fact is though if you uninstalled steam, the games would not work, thus you actually require the 3rd party software to run the game. Online or Offline are of no consequence.
Which is not the same as what DRM means. Just because you need the program to launch the game means absolutely nothing if you can still use the program while offline, which you can.
As a side note, I personally I love having steam be able to do that because it means no matter what I can always log into steam and my games will always be there, even if I switch computers or wipe my hard drive.
Really don't see what the problem is that you guys seem to have with steam.
No. DRM-free means that I can still install and play a game in 200 years when I'm zombified regardless of whether or not a client, digital distribution service, or authentication server is still around.
It's not like Steam will be around forever, because nothing ever is, but something like GOG going down wouldn't affect the games I've downloaded from them and burned to discs/copied to external HDDs. If Valve/Steam fell apart (as so many companies have before), on the other hand, all anyone has is a mysterious, rumored promise that they'll magically patch Steam out of games using some kind of technological magic that pirates have inexplicably not thought up yet. Thus DRM.
You can't play a Steam game without the client. You can't play a Steam game without an internet connection. Two forms of DRM right there.
Well. You -can-, you just have to acquire other files first. Tee.
Keep in mind, it's major work to make a title from 10 years ago work a lot of the time. Before GoG, it was flat out impossible on some games on modern hardware. That's not DRM.
So I worry less about DRM crippling my future ability to play old games and more about those games running on my Intel Mirage Alpha Holodeck in 2050.
Not that I'm likely to care by then - I haven't played Pong in years. I understand that's not the case for everyone.
Betcha Steam is around in 2050 anyway.
GOD THE URGE TO GIVE SLIM POINTS IS HARD IN MY..ORGANS. Just one more. Ahhh.
I love how we've totally polluted Slim's "legit" earned appreciation points.
Keep in mind, it's major work to make a title from 10 years ago work a lot of the time. Before GoG, it was flat out impossible on some games on modern hardware. That's not DRM.
So I worry less about DRM crippling my future ability to play old games and more about those games running on my Intel Mirage Alpha Holodeck in 2050.
Not that I'm likely to care by then - I haven't played Pong in years. I understand that's not the case for everyone.
Betcha Steam is around in 2050 anyway.
GOD THE URGE TO GIVE SLIM POINTS IS HARD IN MY..ORGANS. Just one more. Ahhh.
I love how we've totally polluted Slim's "legit" earned appreciation points.
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Yeah going for GOG also so the actual developers get moar money!
Other than that I don't have problems with Steam. Plus I like collecting those cards...
Other than that I don't have problems with Steam. Plus I like collecting those cards...
Steam is a DRM, only when Devs want its to be a DRM. All Paradox games are steam only but they dont need the steam apart from patching; You can download Crusader Kings 2, copy the game files to elsewhere and uninstall the Steam. I didn't try it with Witcher but i am sure this can work for CDPR games too. Even if its not work, probably you can redeem a GOG copy with your steam key
... don't worry my friend. Assuming you can find the electricity for your computer when the world is covered by zombies, you will still be able to use steam offline and play your game lol.
Yeah, you won't be able to install a game that you don't already have installed, that's the digital world we live in though.
Also, you, me, and everyone else here posting in this thread will likely be in the ground LONG before steam ever gets terminated as a service. It won't happen in our lifetimes.
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No, it isn't. That's the point; DRM-free means that you can freely install games whenever you want without needing to rely on systems that may not be around anymore, and giving up that ability means putting an unnecessary expiration date on games. I still have Game Boy cartridges from 20 years ago that work (and that I occasionally revisit), so why should I accept a completely unnecessary restriction that could potentially lock me out of what I've similarly paid for?
And for the record, Steam forces you to check in. It's not often (I've heard it's anywhere from 3-4 weeks to several months), but it definitely does, and anything you own would simply cease to work after a certain amount of time if Steam wasn't around anymore.
Steam is what, a little over 10 years old? Companies crash and burn all the time, and current popularity is no indication of longevity. Besides, even if Steam doesn't cease to exist within our lifetimes, different people with a different business philosophy could end up in control of the company and turn it into something completely different than it is now. With games tied to the service, the user would be completely helpless should something like that happen. To contrast that, in 200 years I'll be able to install version 1.0 of The Witcher 2 without any problems and play it forever and ever and ever because of my GOG backup.
Run your holodeck in compatibility mode. Duh.
So, wait....Steam could go down at any minute because "companies crash and burn all the time", ( which is a whole other hilarious idea - trust nothing ever because entropy!), but your GoG backup will be around 200 years from now?
Makes perfect sense.
My holodeck won't run compatibility mode with Winnux 12 - patch incoming, har.
Makes perfect sense.
My holodeck won't run compatibility mode with Winnux 12 - patch incoming, har.
Backed up on DVDs and multiple external hard drives, yes. I have no need to download them because they're all backed up.
And I didn't say "at any minute," but that it could eventually happen, hence the 20 year-old cartridges bit. Did you even read my post?
Valve doesn't have to crash and burn, their client can fuck things up just fine. At any rate, I don't advocate CDPR not using Steam, but I've never had issues with accessing a game on GOG. Not once. But I have had said issue with every software client I've had to put up with. Steam, Origin, GFWL, Uplay. Clients are a particularly insidious form of DRM imo.
I've had issues updating Witcher 2 on GoG - more than once, actually. I've also had issues running nearly every kind of software, period. Some are minor glitches, others significant crashes.
I say "nearly" only because I haven't kept records. I can't think of the last time I ran something for longer than a few hours without some kind of issues.
I never did finish Alpha Protocol after my system bluescreened and forced a HDD format. Too afraid.
I don't really care that much about Steam - just don't get the idea GoG is proof to bugs or that your software will work 10 years from now merely because it wasn't offered on Steam.
I love you too much to lie to you, baby(s).
I say "nearly" only because I haven't kept records. I can't think of the last time I ran something for longer than a few hours without some kind of issues.
I never did finish Alpha Protocol after my system bluescreened and forced a HDD format. Too afraid.
I don't really care that much about Steam - just don't get the idea GoG is proof to bugs or that your software will work 10 years from now merely because it wasn't offered on Steam.
I love you too much to lie to you, baby(s).
Not just that, but both 1 and 2, with all patches and DLC backed up. I could even patch W2 to version 1.3 if I wanted to; I'm a bit of a control freak, so having that kind of freedom makes me happy (especially since I like some of the older patches better for blur/performance reasons). Of course, that could also be considered a bit of a criticism aimed at GOG because they don't offer older versions for download anymore, but the DRM-free element allows me to still play the vanilla game without any DRM while anyone who bought on Steam is unable to play using older versions.
I'm a bit of an archivist when it comes to games, so having them reliant on external software is contrary to my instincts. I mean, what happens in thirty years when I want to revisit Arkham City? Will I even be able to? It seems incredibly backwards that pirates can have backups that last and paying customers don't, effectively making those pirate versions superior.
That being said, there are a few games on Steam that really are DRM-free and don't require the client, allowing you to back them up and run them without the client. Until all of my Steam games are like that, though, I'll worry about their future availability and consider Steam to be DRM.
EDIT: And of course software not working because of new OSes is a potential problem, but I have multiple OSes on multiple partitions for maximum compatibility. I'm considering installing Windows 95 just to have the option to play some older games like F22 Lightning 2 (which I still have the disc for). Getting around problems like that isn't really a big deal, honestly. Compatibility with newer OSes is just more convenient for most people, which is why it's a draw of GOG.
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