Thunderdome 2015 » Printable Version of Topic » Steam

Forum: Games
Topic: Steam - The Future
started by: Leisher

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 23 2006,19:52

Bad news for those waiting for Steam to disappear *cough*Gordon*cough*.

The sequel for Half-Life is going to come out in episode format. Four episodes are due to be released starting with #1 sometime soon. They will be released via Steam and have boxed versions, but Steam will still be required.

Several other games, not just Valve ones, are moving to Steam for distribution including the new SiN game which is also doing the episode format.

Valve claims Steam has fought piracy in a big way (I doubt this is as true as they want people to think) and they claim sales of certain titles have actually outsold their boxed counterparts through Steam. That's all well and good, but Steam can still easily be viewed as yet another program that runs in the background of a PC and let's not forget the controversy of the game verifying itself online (although it should be noted that Valve claims all the issues from the early days of Steam have been fixed).

On the plus side, Steam has allowed Valve to make user created mods available to its users for free and in one easily accessed place. So a lot of mod makers whose work would never be seen by the majority of game players get a bigger audience. Valve also has gone out of its way to release a lot of professional free content.

To sum up, it's not going away anytime soon and I think you'll see it becoming more of a standard.

With broadband becoming more common in homes, I'd bet money that within the next decade or two we'll see them distribute games in this way as well. Not only will it eliminate the costs of middle men, but if they can figure out a way to make it so you can rent games this way they could put people like Blockbuster and Netflix out of the game rental business.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 23 2006,20:08

God damn it.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 29 2006,10:39

On a sidenote, < Penny Arcade > was discussing HL Episode I today and how it compared to the big name release Black.

Black is for the consoles as I'm sure you're aware due to the millions they spent on marketing. Anyway, it's not getting great reviews and has about 6 hours of gameplay for $49.99.

Valve is releasing HL: Episode 1 for half that cost and has about 7 hours of gameplay.

That's the problem with Steam. The technology is hated, but the company behind it just kicks ass.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 29 2006,11:35

#s like that make Eve look cheap.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 29 2006,13:35

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#s like that make Eve look cheap.

You mean to say, #s like that make ALL MMOs look cheap and you would be correct if you only wanted to play one game. Most gamers, including those who play MMOs, do not. That has been proven in marketing surveys done by various companies and mags.

And truthfully, there are free MMOs, so if you were focused on cash, they make pay to play MMOs look ridiculously expensive.

Hell, pogo.com has hundreds of thousands of users, if not millions, is free (you can pay for extra content and the price is cheaper than any other commercial MMO), has over 50 quality games, and gives out prizes (cash and other) daily.

So please stop trying to compare apples to oranges.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 29 2006,13:49

Well, screw other gamers. I prefer 1, maybe 2 games on which I can focus.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 29 2006,15:03

In the past my routine was to have a game I liked for quick multi, like Team Fortress Classic, and then a game I could play solo... depending on my mood.

And then UO on and off for 7 years, or so.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 29 2006,18:30

I play one at a time, all obsessive-like.

Auto-assualt might tempt me away from Eve. It's looking tasty.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 29 2006,19:07

All right, on the topic of Steam:

I've decided I'll purchase Steam-requiring games when they hit the bargain bin. That means waiting until these Half Life "episodes" are sold for less than full price. Hopefully when each 6-8 hour "episode" is released the previous episodes will drop in price... because I aint paying $80 for what amounts to one full $45 dollar game from Best Buy.

Is Half Life 2 sub-$20, yet?

Doesn't look like it. < http://storefront.steampowered.com/v2/index.php?area=game&AppId=220 >

Also, I'm going to start actively looking for games on 1 DVD instead of 5 cd's.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 29 2006,19:50

oh, yeah, the topic:

I will never buy a game using Steam. If all games become Steam-driven, I'd stop playing games before buying a game using Steam.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 29 2006,23:37

I'm already boycotting EA, and I don't intend to buy anyting via/requiring Steam either.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 30 2006,05:53

I usually have two games I'm playing at a time and they are selected to have different gameplay. So I won't play two RPGs at once, etc. That way, I can take a break from a game and not feel like I'm still playing it.

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Auto-assualt might tempt me away from Eve. It's looking tasty.

You think so? I'm a big Autoduel fan and this is sort of a child of that game and the more I read about it, the more it sounds like it'll suck to me.

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I've decided I'll purchase Steam-requiring games when they hit the bargain bin. That means waiting until these Half Life "episodes" are sold for less than full price.

You'll have them in about two years then. They'll release them all over one year. (4 are planned, but I think #4 might start a new storyline so it may not be associated.) Once all are out, they'll release a pack with them all, and you'll just have to wait until that price hits $20.

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Hopefully when each 6-8 hour "episode" is released the previous episodes will drop in price... because I aint paying $80 for what amounts to one full $45 dollar game from Best Buy.

Actually, your math is wrong there. At 6-8 hours each, these episodes represent 24-32 hours of gameplay over the course of the 4 episodes.

Consider that a lot of full releases (Black and that Mars one with the destructible environments come to mind) only have 6-8 for the full $45. Other FPSs might run you 10-12 hours, and still other may get you a max of 15.

So at best, you're getting $200 of gaming at the normal price for your $80. At worst, you're getting $80 for your $80.

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Is Half Life 2 sub-$20, yet?

Nope and you can blame the modders. They've been having a field day with HL2. There are dozens of mods from new multiplayer maps and modes to full single player adventures to things like Gary's mod, which is apparently the best thing since sliced bread.

Let me check Steam itself tonight. Maybe you can get it cheaper through it.

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I will never buy a game using Steam. If all games become Steam-driven, I'd stop playing games before buying a game using Steam.

Out of curiousity, why?

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I'm already boycotting EA, and I don't intend to buy anyting via/requiring Steam either.

Same question.

I mean, you both play MMO games and they require you to register and log onto a server everytime you play, so what's different about STEAM in your minds?

Keep in mind that I'm not a fan of it either, but I realize why it exists.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 30 2006,06:13

(TPRJones @ Mar. 29 2006,21:30)
Q U O T E	I play one at a time, all obsessive-like. Auto-assualt might tempt me away from Eve. It's looking tasty.

Tell me about it. Cuz I tried their website, and it sucked.

Took me 5 minutes just to figure out it was a MMOG. Still couldn't figure out if it had a per-month cost or not.

Bah.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 30 2006,08:42

Well, I don't know much about it, except it's in some ways a car-based game similar to Eve. Although I'd miss the nifty trading and market stuff. But the trade off looks to be direct control of the vehicle, and the one thing I absolutely HATE about Eve is the point-n-click flying of the ships. I want to fly my Ferox by joystick something fierce.

But I admit I don't know squat. I don't do first-day anyway, it'll be around for a few months before I realy consider it. Should be more info around by then.

As to Steam, I have no problem logging into MMOGs to play. But if it's a single-player game, then I want to be able to play it when internet is down, or after the Steam service goes out of business. If I can't be sure I'll be able to play it again 20 years from now when I find the disks stuck in a box in the basement and want that blast of nastalgia, then forget it.

With an MMOG I'm buying a service, so I know someday it will be gone. With a traditional non-networked game, I'm buying the game, and want to have access to it forever.

Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 30 2006,09:08

You know, back in my day, we didn't need Steam for Ultima I, Pong, or any other shit. And we liked it, goddamnit.

Posted by Troy on Mar. 30 2006,09:20

In Soviet Russia, Steam registers you!

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 30 2006,09:55

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Don't worry, ALL MMOs will have some form of trade/market. You will be smart to wait a few months though as it may become free to download (ala EVE), they'll get rid of some bugs, and it'll give you time to check out reviews and such.

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As to Steam, I have no problem logging into MMOGs to play. But if it's a single-player game, then I want to be able to play it when internet is down, or after the Steam service goes out of business. If I can't be sure I'll be able to play it again 20 years from now when I find the disks stuck in a box in the basement and want that blast of nastalgia, then forget it.

With an MMOG I'm buying a service, so I know someday it will be gone. With a traditional non-networked game, I'm buying the game, and want to have access to it forever.

You have bought into hysteria about Steam. You can, in fact, play offline.

When you install your game, Steam registers it online. After that process is done, you can set your game up to be playable without connecting to Steam.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 30 2006,11:09

(Leisher @ Mar. 30 2006,12:55)

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Yeah but wht about his example... he finds it in the basement in 20 years and wants to load and play it, but Steam is gone... since he can't register, he can't play?

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 30 2006,12:43

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Yeah but wht about his example... he finds it in the basement in 20 years and wants to load and play it, but Steam is gone... since he can't register, he can't play?

This stuff has been discussed on the Steam forums and I know there are workarounds. Besides, in what fantasy world do you live where a person can pop a 20 year old game into his PC and just start playing?

I think there are 3 working Ataris left, but people can still play their whole library via the magic of emulators. So, in 20 years I'm sure his game will be available via free download that won't require a registration.

I should note that his game also won't play if the CD gets broken. Is that Steam's fault too? If he becomes homeless and can't afford a PC to play it on, is that Steam's fault?

Besides, Steam IS going to be around in 20 years. Steam isn't just about Valve games. Other companies are releasing their games through Steam too. It's becoming an industry thing. You MMO peeps better get used to this type of thing too because Sony has already been toying with the idea.

Imagine Steam becoming your "hub" of gaming. You can buy games, rent games, get news, reviews, and trailers, launch your single player games, download mods, jump into MMOs, etc. and all of it delivered through one program despite all the content being delivered from multiple companies that probably aren't working together.

That's the future of Steam.

Not saying I like the idea any more than anyone else here. I'm just spreading the news.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 30 2006,12:44

I boycott EA because they kill games and game companies in the interest of making money. They buy companies that make good quality fun games, and kill both the company and the game. EVERYTHING they do is in the interest of making money. Too many startups with the GAME being the priority were bought, eliminated and their games modified for maximum profit. Etc.

Steam killed Counter Strike. Counter Strike was the most played online FPS ever. HUGE number of servers. LARGE community. Many add-ons that made cheating damn near impossible. Many variations of the game to choose from (War Craft mod was wacky). Then EA bought Valve, got rid of WON, made everyone load Steam and NONE of the anti-cheat software worked. 9 out of 10 servers I tried had cheaters. You were FORCED to upgrade to the latest version of CS even though the version just prior to that was far more popular. You couldn't play it any more. (The latest version added shields and changed many of the gun physics, etc) No more War Craft mod, etc. Granted, all those issues might be fixed now. I don't know. I uninstalled Half Life and just don't care enough to try Steam. It was buggy, FAR too invasive, and I won't participate because they didn't do it for ME, the end user. They did it to make sure their wallets got fatter. CS started out free. They did it for free. And it was damn damn damn good. Then EA bought it and made sure they made money from it. Made it too hard to play. Had to play THEIR way. Not the way 100's of thousands of people were already happy playing it.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 30 2006,13:00

(Leisher @ Mar. 30 2006,15:43)

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Yeah but wht about his example... he finds it in the basement in 20 years and wants to load and play it, but Steam is gone... since he can't register, he can't play?

< I was playing this a few months ago. >

< And I killed another weekend play this one. >

22 and 12 years, respectively.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 30 2006,13:03

(Leisher @ Mar. 30 2006,15:43)
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I think there are 3 working Ataris left, but people can still play their whole library via the magic of emulators. So, in 20 years I'm sure his game will be available via free download that won't require a registration.

How?

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I should note that his game also won't play if the CD gets broken. Is that Steam's fault too? If he becomes homeless and can't afford a PC to play it on, is that Steam's fault?

You're starting to get crazy

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Besides, Steam IS going to be around in 20 years.

And you're overboard. Just can't buy into that for another 15 years... maybe more.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 30 2006,13:06

(Leisher @ Mar. 30 2006,15:43)

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Yeah but wht about his example... he finds it in the basement in 20 years and wants to load and play it, but Steam is gone... since he can't register, he can't play?

I my world, I recently turned an old pc into a Win98 machine that could run DOS so I could play Ultima I.... that's 20 years old, isn't it?

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 30 2006,13:14

< Wikipedia says yes. >
Technically 26 years old, but re-written/re-released in 1986.

Some really solid games were written back in the 80's, I think because people weren't so damned concerned with getting every little blood-drop's physics right for rendering on 1% of the computers in the world.

Back in my day, we used to have to walk both ways uphill to play computer games. And write them ourselves, with pieces of wood.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 30 2006,13:17

Actually, "writing them ourselves" isn't far from the truth.

Before the C64 I had an Atari computer for about 5 seconds (before the keyboard stopped working) and I had no form of storage device. So I ended up keying a bunch of programs out of the manual when I wanted a small game to play.

Several times.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 30 2006,13:19

Now that I think about it, I could fire me up some Duke Nukem on that Win98 box. That game's about 10 now, if memory serves.

Good thing 3D-Realms didn't use some propriatary online activation scheme for it, that's all I know.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 30 2006,13:22

ACTUALLY........... now that I think about it, when Quake was first released they had a brand new marketing scheme that I tried out. You bought the first level in a store for $5 or $10, then you could unlock the rest of the game for $50, if you wanted, to play the full version.

Now, I only had a dial-up modem in those days, so I want to say that I must have dialed some number at iD to unlock this game. MAYBE I had AOL. Don't remember the time frames... though I'm pretty sure at that time AOL still charged you by the hour for access.

That was 10 years ago.

Think I could grab that CD and unlock the game again, right now?

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 30 2006,13:36

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While I don't boycott their games as actively as Cake does, I'm with him on EA sucking. It's not that I'm a gainst their corporation, it's that their corporate environment and suits have killed all the creativity in their products. They killed Origin and Westwood and, in turn, Ultima Online and Command & Conquer.

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Steam killed Counter Strike. Counter Strike was the most played online FPS ever. HUGE number of servers. LARGE community. Many add-ons that made cheating damn near impossible. Many variations of the game to choose from (War Craft mod was wacky). Then EA bought Valve, got rid of WON, made everyone load Steam and NONE of the anti-cheat software worked. 9 out of 10 servers I tried had cheaters. You were FORCED to upgrade to the latest version of CS even though the version just prior to that was far more popular. You couldn't play it any more. (The latest version added shields and changed many of the gun physics, etc) No more War Craft mod, etc. Granted, all those issues might be fixed now. I don't know. I uninstalled Half Life and just don't care enough to try Steam. It was buggy, FAR too invasive, and I won't participate because they didn't do it for ME, the end user. They did it to make sure their wallets got fatter. CS started out free. They did it for free. And it was damn damn damn good. Then EA bought it and made sure they made money from it. Made it too hard to play. Had to play THEIR way. Not the way 100's of thousands of people were already happy playing it.

I have all kinds of problems with this whole paragraph.

-Let's start with EA does NOT own Valve. One of the reasons Steam was created was so Valve wouldn't have to give most of their profits to a distributor such as EA.

You may see an EA logo on a game, but that doesn't mean they made it. Distributors get to put their logos on products too.

-Steam did NOT kill Counter-Strike. The community is very much alive and well and playing via Steam. Sorry to burst your bubble.

-Cheating is completely impossible through Steam. It might have started off with exploits, but they are gone.

-Ditto for the "FAR too invasive" stuff and the bugs.

-While they did take away your free CS, they have given their users dozens of mods (professional and amatuer) and other free games like CS. They have done so all through Steam, all on the company's dime.

-And Steam does help you and your PC Gaming habit. If it has helped stop piracy, if it takes profits out of ditributors' pockets and put it back in the developors pockets that is all money that goes back to PC gaming. That's money to make games that the big corps like EA would never make because it's not a sports game or sequel. Proof is in who is distributing games through Steam, the indy development houses and the smaller ones and they're doing it to get around giving most of their money to distributors like EA. Now isn't the enemy of your enemy supposed to be your friend?

We can all talk about how EA is evil because they kill small companies, but those companies sold out because they couldn't turn down a big money offer when they don't really have the means to bring their products to market without giving away so much of their product AND creative control to distributors. Steam was created to solve this problem.

And if you hate EA, and you hate Valve (for Steam and because you think EA owns them for some reason), then shouldn't you also hate Blizzard? Blizzard has turned their back on PC Gamers shunning them by taking Starcraft to consoles. Then their was the huge failure in the Diablo II launch (the multi servers), the rampant cheating on the Diablo servers, and the enormous failure of WoW's launch.

And how about hating Origin and Westwood for selling out in the first place?

Chris Taylor sold out and lost us a great series in Total Annihilation.

Interplay sold out and is in ruins. Bioware screwed up something recently too, but I'm not remembering the details at the moment. Vivendi is owned by the French and have put anti-American sentiment in games recently (really).

That leaves only two groups, the small developers and Microsoft. Microsoft is Microsoft and they have a love/hate relationship with gamers.

But those small developers who are making games for you are best friends right now with Valve, and yes, Steam.

So again, you and I may hate it (especially when it launched), but the reality of the situation is that it is here to stay and it does do us some good.

I'm just trying to stay positive on the whole thing. I think after the initial pains, Valve has really gone through a lot to make the service a lot better. Had EA made this thing (and they hate it) they would have told us how it's going to be and they wouldn't have helped to distribute all the free content that Valve has.

Boycotting Steam is like try to stop a sun from going supernova by giving it a dirty look.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 30 2006,13:38

(Leisher @ Mar. 30 2006,16:36)
Q U O T E	And how about hating Origin and Westwood for selling out in the first place? Chris Taylor sold out and lost us a great series in Total Annihilation.

I do in fact hate them for those very reasons.

I've always said that as soon as the accountants get control in a game company, that game company sucks for ever more.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 30 2006,13:47

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How?

Many game companies (Valve included) have released their older content as free downloads and even upgraded them to run on newer systems. Rockstar does it every time they come out with a new GTA and LucasArts did it for Sam & Max.

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You're starting to get crazy

I was being sarcastic. The example of the guy firing up a 20 year old game is the same as programming a game's physics for the small percentage of PCs that can pull it off.

You can't make all the people happy all the time.

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And you're overboard. Just can't buy into that for another 15 years... maybe more.

No, I'm not. TV was a fad. D&D too. Movies. Popcorn. Rock & Roll.

The simple fact is that Steam is a new distribution system. Not only have many companies embraced it, but others are even looking into making their own Steam-like programs. So even if Steam goes away, something else will replace it, like say X-Box Live which is Steam for X-Boxes and will be compatible with Vista.

The future is here.

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I my world, I recently turned an old pc into a Win98 machine that could run DOS so I could play Ultima I.... that's 20 years old, isn't it?

FYI, Nearly ALL the Ultimas, including I, have been updated to run on Windows XP, some have even been totally recreated with 3D grahics like ultima V.

I believe I have a CD somewhere with all the Ultimas and they all run on XP.

(P.S. That also answer's Catt's "How?" from above.)

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Think I could grab that CD and unlock the game again, right now?

Try it and see.

Although, I think a quick look at ID's website would probably have a solution to your problem if you couldn't.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 30 2006,13:52

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I do in fact hate them for those very reasons.

I've always said that as soon as the accountants get control in a game company, that game company sucks for ever more.

Agreed.

The worst part is that Richard Garrott and Chris Taylor know they fucked up. I've heard guys from Westwood say the same thing. However, they all cited the fact that they couldn't get out from under distributors like EA. And those distributors took enough of their money and got involved in theri products so the easiest thing to do was sell out.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 30 2006,13:53

Well, you give a lot of probably definately maybe's.

As I said, since I'm taking a gamble with it not working forever, I'll wait until Steam games are in the bargain bin so I'm not putting as much cash on the blackjack table.

And, when the occasional garage-based company surprises us all with a great game, that's where my money will go.

Valve got full price from me when I bought Half Life. New-and-improved Valve will not get full price from me for a HL2 license. Period. That's it.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 30 2006,15:06

Mainly I don't like Steam because I can see where it's headed. It won't be long before you can no longer buy any software at all, but rather have to deposit money with Steam (or a similar company) and rent it by the hour/day/month/year. There is the advantage that you don't waste as much money on crappy products, but the disadvantage is that you can't just buy a copy of anything and have it forever.

If I want to rent games, I'll get a damn console and a Blockbuster card.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 30 2006,19:46

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That's why I hate it too despite Valve's guarantee that they always want to have a shelf presence.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 31 2006,06:55

My bubble wasn't burst. . . I just wasn't clear enough in my rant. I should have added a 'for me' in there. I knew the masses wouldn't shut down like I did. I place alot of value on 'principle'. I did say 'probably been fixed' though. I know CS isn't dead, etc. It's dead to me. My problem with the whole thing was, it wasn't boroken, why'd they 'fix' it? And I forgot about the fact that you have to pay for CS now! I was just talking about how it was made by fans, for fans, and it was free. Then a company bought it, and put a bullet through it's head (even though it didn't kill it).

Yes, I'm upset that many people sold their products to EA and then the product died. But, as has been pointed out, I'm not sure they had a choice. Garriot did. Fuck him. Chris. . I do think his hands were tied. He's continued to make quality games, I hear. Haven't played them for no other reason than I just haven't taken the time. I blame EA more than I do the people that sold out.

I saw EA's name on Half Life and figured they bought it.

I'm disappointed in all the other companies (Blizzard, WestWood [sort of. They were chat room nazis that would ban you for saying something in their chat rooms even though a character in their game said the same DAMN thing so fuck them and their forcing you to use their chat room crap to multi], Chris Taylor, etc). But, I don't hate them, and could forgive them. EA has a STRONG hold on the game market.

I'm not really boycotting Steam. I just don't like it and choose not to participate. And do I think EA cares that I'm boycotting them? No. But, you're not going to laugh at me and dare me to not buy your stuff anymore when I have a legitimate complaint, and expect me to ever give you another dime again ever.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 25 2007,17:48

Well, shit. Portal requires Steam. Finally a game has come along that I really really want to play, but would have to do it through Steam.

Quandry!

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 25 2007,19:36

I found it interesting that id is now selling games via Steam.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 25 2007,19:41

Wasn't Half Life written on the Quake 2 engine?

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 25 2007,19:55

A heavily modified Quake engine, yes.

However, despite using id's tech for their first game, Valve now uses their own and has surpassed the original "masters" at id.

The gaming media has created a natural rivalry, but apparently its not that big between the entities themselves.

Maybe Carmack is concentrating on mobile gaming too much?

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 25 2007,21:36

And this is the kind of bullshit I have always been worried about:

< http://consumerist.com/consume....690.php >

QUOTE

According to reader Todd, there are quite a few customers are finding their "Orange Box" games have been deactivated by Valve because they bought them from a seller that wasn't authorized to do business with US customers.

The seller made the mistake, but the gamers are paying the price.

Todd says:

This complaint is about Valve, a PC video game company which makes games like Half-Life 2.

This effects many thousands of customers.

They recently released a product called the "Orange Box", which is a bunch of games.
All their products are activated online via unique serial numbers through the Steam service.

Many of us bought the product (and hence, the serial numbers) legitimately online via well known international game stores, as they sell them significantly cheaper than American stores.

We were able to activate the products without a problem.
One week later, Valve, via the Steam program, inactivated all Orange Box games (after they had already been active for some time), stating that they are in the "incorrect territory."
There was no warning or anything, just completely inactivated.

The thread that was started on < www.valve.com > has been removed by the operators there.

I think this is absolutely reprehensible customer care. We paid for our products, and they just go and remove it without warning from our computers.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 25 2007,22:28

Remember when games used to ship completed? Like you had the physical data & the game company couldn't take shit from you?

Posted by WSGrundy on Oct. 26 2007,09:44

I was ready to buy the orange box but deactivating the games of people who didn't do anything wrong has turned me off to it again.

I will play HL2 someday but I will wait until it is $1.98 like the HL anthology was that I just bought and played a month and half ago was.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 26 2007,13:38

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I was ready to buy the orange box but deactivating the games of people who didn't do anything wrong has turned me off to it again.

Please explain that statement. I mean, explain how these people weren't, at the very least, partially responsible.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 26 2007,14:03

All they did was get a bargain by shopping overseas, even including shipping, apparently. I can't see how any wrongdoing was done on the part of the consumers. It isn't like that had to mod their PC to make it region-free.

But the consumer is getting hit with a Microsoftian move that uses ~~Windows Update's~~ Steam's "always on" characteristic to disable their legally purchased software.

I've always said shit like this would happen.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 26 2007,14:05

Some of them may have known they were purchasing games from the wrong region, but I bet many had no idea. They go online, shop for the game, and see it's on sale on some site somewhere for less. Looks like a good deal on a legitimate product, so they buy it. Next thing they know they're told that if they want to play the game they've bought they'll need to move to Thailand.

If you could seperate the customers that knew it wasn't legit from the ones that got screwed over by a vendor, then by all means punish the knowingly guilty. But the ones that had no idea just got screwed, and from their point of view it wasn't the vendor that screwed them because the game worked fine at first, it was Steam that screwed them when they yanked back their access. It's not good PR. And if they don't find some sort of compromise with these people, then I don't want to do business with them because who knows what'll happen? I can't trust them to always let me play the game I bought and paid for.

When copyright validation gets in the way of using the product, then fuck 'em, there are other products out there that someone will sell me and not keep checking up on me about from now until eternity.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 26 2007,14:17

(TPRJones @ Oct. 26 2007,17:05)

QUOTE

Some of them may have known they were purchasing games from the wrong region, but I bet many had no idea.

I've never even heard of PC software regions. It's done with the key, apparently. Again, I've never even heard of this practice outside of DVDs.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 26 2007,15:52

One wonders if STEAM was the sick revenge of the RIAA on all the nerds that they think downloaded their music.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 26 2007,16:02

On the other hand, I really want to play Portal and it's only $20, so I'll eventually do it. But I won't expect to actually own a copy of the game I bought. I just get to play it for a little while until Steam gets pissy.

Posted by WSGrundy on Oct. 27 2007,14:00

(Leisher @ Oct. 26 2007,13:38)

QUOTE

I was ready to buy the orange box but deactivating the games of people who didn't do anything wrong has turned me off to it again.

Please explain that statement. I mean, explain how these people weren't, at the very least, partially responsible.

Same as the others have said. People looked online and the game was a cheaper price at this store so they bought it.

Valve said in their statement that it was the sellers who made the mistake, but they don't punish them.

I don't see any fault at all with the buyer.

Beyond that what the hell does Valve care where you buy it. I could see EA getting pissed that people are buying from a different region but at that point it is out of Valves hands and they are getting their money either way.

Posted by WSGrundy on Oct. 27 2007,14:04

(TPRJones @ Oct. 26 2007,16:02)

QUOTE

While the orange box is a good deal if you don't have any of the games. $20 for one game that only take 2 hours the first time through seems a bit steep.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,08:42

QUOTE

I'm quoting you here because you were the first to respond, but my counter point (I'm countering whether the buyers have fault, not whether Valve was wrong or not) applies to any argument defending the buyers.

"Buyer Beware."

In this case, you've got people buying brand new software for a discount from foreign countries not known for their strict anti-piracy stances. Shouldn't anyone with half-a-brain understand there might be some risk there? Doesn't the fact that many are having trouble getting refunds prove my point?

As for Valve...

The first sentence I had typed right here was "I didn't know about regions for games." then it struck me that I actually did. We all know about them. Think about it.

First, there's the language barrier. Games do get released in different languages in different countries.

Second is the culture barrier. For example: WW2 era games in Germany don't have swastikas. They do here.

Third, is another cultural thing, but we'll call it "market". Games released in Japan or Europe may not appeal to the mass market here, and thus, never get released here.

None of that is a defense for breaking a game to ensure they're maximizing profit, if that's what they were doing. It's just examples of the fact that games are made differently for different regions.

Now...

QUOTE

But the consumer is getting hit with a Microsoftian move that uses Windows Update's Steam's "always on" characteristic to disable their legally purchased software.

Had the games not worked out of the box, there would be no chain here discussing this and that's a luxury the DVD enjoys as Region 1 players won't play a region 2 disc. PCs are setup the same way.

Now, if Valve was doing it to maximize profits based on returns from domestic versus overseas sales, yeah, it's a shitty move, but what if they're not? What if it's genuine concerns over region compatibility? Obviously, such things wouldn't really affect single player issues, but it may affect multiplayer issues.

Although, I sure as hell do notice that patches for games come out in various flavors (Russian, Chinese, etc.). So isn't it possible that Valve disabled the games to avoid compatibility issues that might have come up from these "other region" games? How about disabling them to avoid technical support issues from people who bought from overseas and then are stupid enough to apply an English patch to their game?

I am NOT saying Valve was in the right here, I'm just pointing out that they might have had legit reasons other than what the knee jerk reactions might assume.

Actually, if you look around your home and office, I think you'll see a lot of examples of consumer products that have similar "fuck you" types of protections which limit our freedom as users. Examples: How many devices do you use that has proprietary technology or parts? How many things do you own where the warranty is voided if you do anything to it? (How many X-Boxs had their warranties voided because people altered theirs to play Japanese games?)

Not saying it's right, just pointing out that as consumers, we swallow a lot of shit, and sometimes forget that we have come to expect certain treatment as standard unless someone else tries to get away with it.

So while I don't think this reasons behind this incident are as horrible as it's being played up to be, I understand and agree that them being able to disable games sucks.

Still, what are you going to do about? Boycott them? I hope you hate PC Games because eventually, they'll all be this way. I've heard Bioshock had some sort of activation, although I never noticed it when I installed it or booted it up.

I think the real thing to do would be to write your congressman and start the fight there. Have them get guarantees that they won't disable games just for profit or to be malicious. Have them get guarantees that games will still work if a distribution service goes under or that games shouldn't be activated upon each use.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 29 2007,08:56

I think you're way too lenient with Steam when it comes to this stuff. It was one thing to defend it when it started and all anyone had was suspicions... but this is the straight-up disabling of legally purchased software, and you're still defending it. You mentioned "you know pirating is illegal," but this software wasn't pirated. Maybe buried on Valve's website somewhere is fine print saying you shouldn't shop outside of your country's borders, but it surely isn't public knowledge. I follow the industry better than most and until now I wouldn't have thought twice about purchasing a game from a website with a server that sits in some other country. And I especially would not have expected this customer-fucking behavior from Valve. How many of these people who legally purchased the game are ever going to legally buy from Valve again, and instead will just pirate a cracked copy?

Steam may be great for small software companies to publish in spite of large distributors, but you've got to be willing to be critical of missteps, or they'll never improve.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,09:27

QUOTE

"Buyer Beware."

What happened to "I paid for your shit, now let me use it," that's been the rallying cry of the consumer since someone first got screwed out some shiny rocks? If folks got this game from vendors they shouldn't've been able to, punishing the end user doesn't seem intelligent. Why not punish the fuckers that did the selling? Maybe some rudimentary checking of geographic location or some shit? The most Stalinistic, iron-fisted move they could've done was deactivate those copies. Good to know what they really think of their customers now. Nothing encourages more sales than fucking over your clients.

QUOTE

I am NOT saying Valve was in the right here, I'm just pointing out that they might have had legit reasons other than what the knee jerk reactions might assume.

Legitimate reasons notwithstanding, such shit should've been addressed before they pushed their product out the door. The feels like a very real example of "release now, patch later," except that "patch" means "turn off."

QUOTE

Still, what are you going to do about? Boycott them? I hope you hate PC Games because eventually, they'll all be this way. I've heard Bioshock had some sort of activation, although I never noticed it when I installed it or booted it up.

If there comes a day when the ONLY way to get games is thru services like STEAM, I'll jump on board w\ the pirates & steal them, just on general fucking principle.

QUOTE

I think the real thing to do would be to write your congressman and start the fight there.

While I have no doubt in the honest, forthright, and speedy actions of the U.S. Congress, I'd rather just buy from companies that don't fuck me over.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 29 2007,09:29

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,08:42)

QUOTE

In this case, you've got people buying brand new software for a discount from foreign countries not known for their strict anti-piracy stances.

This is the problem, though. I doubt there was anything on the site saying in big flashing letters "THIS IS A RUSSIAN WEBSITE". More likely it was named something like "Bob's Discount Software" and didn't mention where they'd be shipping from. You pay with a credit card or Paypal, so you don't see an address when you are buying the software. Just when the box shows up at your door and the return address is printed in the cyrilic alphabet.

Now if someone bought software from some random website and got ripped off directly (the software never showed up, it was an illegal copy, etc) that would be one thing. Then by all means buyer beware. But this software worked just fine for awhile and isn't pirated, it was Steam that directly killed it because it didn't like the region. That's different.

As to the rest of your post, I have no arguements and agree with much of what you say. But if they did kill their codes for technical compatibility reasons then they should have said so very clearly. They didn't.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 29 2007,09:36

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,08:42)

QUOTE

Still, what are you going to do about? Boycott them?

Yes. I am boycotting Steam and will not use it to purchase any games. Ever.

Portal is indeed a lot of fun, btw. Short but excellent.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,09:40

QUOTE

From Gordo's article:

QUOTE

Many of us bought the product (and hence, the serial numbers) legitimately online via well known international game stores, as they sell them significantly cheaper than American stores.

Let speculation run wild regarding "well known international game stores". If they are so "legit" why are people having trouble getting their money back? Particularly since this situation is now well publicized, so the stores should know the person isn't scamming them.

Personally, I'm going with the "well known international game stores" being "online sites" and nothing more. If it was a big name retailer, they would've named them.

QUOTE

But this software worked just fine for awhile and isn't pirated, it was Steam that directly killed it because it didn't like the region. That's different.

As to the rest of your post, I have no arguements and agree with much of what you say. But if they did kill their codes for technical compatibility reasons then they should have said so very clearly. They didn't.

See and I think that's where we have a problem om figuring out who is right and who is wrong. Can computer manufacturers break a game out of the box without online verification? If they can be sued in Germany (using the swastika example) for their American region game being played there (and they can be), shouldn't they reserve the right to make sure that American region game can't be played in Germany?

(Again, not defending any move based on monetary gain, although I don't think that's the case here as someone pointed out...Valve already got paid no matter where the people go their copies from.)

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 29 2007,09:42

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,12:40)

QUOTE

From Gordo's article:

QUOTE

Many of us bought the product (and hence, the serial numbers) legitimately online via well known international game stores, as they sell them significantly cheaper than American stores.

Let speculation run wild regarding "well known international game stores". If they are so "legit" why are people having trouble getting their money back?

Go try returning for a refund an opened game to Best Buy, a well-known American company.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,09:46

QUOTE

Yes. I am boycotting Steam and will not use it to purchase any games. Ever.

Wait, do you mean boycotting the purchase of items off Steam or buying any product that uses Steam? (And I guess you should include any product that includes online activation through Steam or any service.)

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,09:48

QUOTE

Go try returning for a refund an opened game to Best Buy, a well-known American company.

Wrong argument.

You can. Very easily.

In this case, Valve was asking people to return the game and get it from a legit source. IE: The game was broken.

If you go to Best Buy, a legit source, and return a broken game to get a working copy, they'll do it.

Oh, and once again, "Buyer Beware". You seem to know Best Buy's policies well. If you don't like the return policy, don't shop there.

If you're going to use an argument like that, let's make it apples to apples.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,09:55

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,11:48)

QUOTE

Oh, and once again, "Buyer Beware".

How can you use that argument in a country where a cup of coffee has a warning label that says "CAUTION : HOT" even as you see it being poured & columns of steam wafting from it? Or where shampoos need to explain that shampoo for "dry hair" will not actually give you dry hair? How many useless fucking consumer warnings go on products everyday? Shit, I'm surprised knives don't have warning labels that say, "Don't cut yourself."

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,10:00

QUOTE

Because I believe in capitalism?

Because I'm against social programs that feed a person instead of helping them feed themselves?

Because I'm not suggesting a warning label be slapped on every product in the world with "Buyer Beware"?

In fact, I'm not even sure how you came up with that argument. Aren't you one of the biggest proponents of weening people off the government tit? Why do you want to give them a corporate one to nuzzle?

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 29 2007,10:00

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,09:46)

QUOTE

Yes. I am boycotting Steam and will not use it to purchase any games. Ever.

All of the above, and I stand corrected on the issue of uncertainty about the location of the stores. At least that commenter knew it was an overseas purchase (and maybe all of them did, don't know).

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,10:11

(TPRJones @ Oct. 29 2007,13:00)

QUOTE

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,09:46)

QUOTE

Yes. I am boycotting Steam and will not use it to purchase any games. Ever.

All of the above, and I stand corrected on the issue of uncertainty about the location of the stores. At least that commenter knew it was an overseas purchase (and maybe all of them did, don't know).

Well then stop buying games. Hell, stop buying software all together.

Seriously.

This is not some fad like "Rock and Roll". It's not going away and it's not going to be limited to games. Anyone notice they're started online distribution with movies?

This isn't just a Steam thing. It's other games from other companies that aren't even associated with Steam. Some games have no component like Steam, yet still do online checks without warning you. Fucking Bush and his damn software policies.

Boycotting is akin to sticking your head in the sand. Stand up and fight it now or stop bitching about it. In ten years you won't be able to get a game (console or PC) without it needing some online activation.

And if you plan to stop playing, well then, stop now. Then vote Democrat since you like people telling you how to live.

Ok, I'm purposely trying to take this thing to the limit, but that's the point of this all. I'm not defending Valve, I'm playing Devil's Advocate.

(P.S. I added the Bush comment to heighten the chances of this post being picked up by the AP.)

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 29 2007,10:14

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,12:48)

QUOTE

Go try returning for a refund an opened game to Best Buy, a well-known American company.

Wrong argument.

You can. Very easily.

I have no idea how. It says on the wall in big letters that they don't refund opened software, they only exchange it.

At least it did last time I tried to return opened software, and they wouldn't let me.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,10:16

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,12:00)

QUOTE

Cos "Buyer Beware" is no longer the credo in this country. It's "I'll sue your ass." Merely presenting reality, regardless of how much I despise it.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,10:18

(GORDON @ Oct. 29 2007,12:14)

QUOTE

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,12:48)

QUOTE

Go try returning for a refund an opened game to Best Buy, a well-known American company.

Wrong argument.

You can. Very easily.

I've gotten cash refunds from Best Buy before for opened software, but I did some extensive verbal wrangling w\ the drone at the customer service desk. & even as far as drones go, he wasn't that bright.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 29 2007,10:19

If Leisher would just admit that this was a dick move on Valve's part, we could move on. If he keeps defending it I'm going to start suspecting he's on Valve's payroll.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 29 2007,10:20

(Malcolm @ Oct. 29 2007,13:18)

QUOTE

(GORDON @ Oct. 29 2007,12:14)

QUOTE

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,12:48)

QUOTE

Go try returning for a refund an opened game to Best Buy, a well-known American company.

Wrong argument.

You can. Very easily.

Would you consider that refund "easily done," as was claimed? When I think "easily done" I think, " Hi, I'd like a refund for this, please." "Ok."

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,10:36

QUOTE

Actually, as Malcolm states, you can get refunds. In the case I've seen it's either because the CD or CD Key is broken (usually an exchange situation) OR the software itself is broken (refunds). I remember Ultima IX being a game that was widely accepted for full refunds.

Still, I have to once again point out that this doesn't matter at all to the debate we're having in this chain.

QUOTE

If Leisher would just admit that this was a dick move on Valve's part, we could move on. If he keeps defending it I'm going to start suspecting he's on Valve's payroll.

As evidenced by your continuing argument about Best Buy's return policies, you're not reading what I'm writing or you wouldn't be arguing with me anymore.

I'm NOT defending Valve's move as I (and YOU) don't know what their reasons were. I realize everything we read on the web is true, particularly when it's we're going on the word of the person with the complaint (In this case, people brilliant enough to shop for game software via international markets known for piracy.), but I still am trying to err on the side of caution here for the reasons I stated.

QUOTE

Cos "Buyer Beware" is no longer the credo in this country. It's "I'll sue your ass." Merely presenting reality, regardless of how much I despise it.

You need to go back and re-read. I'm not advocating that we protect stupid people through "Buyer Beware", which I think you're assuming. Actually, if that is what you're assuming, then you should be on my side of this debate.

I'm using "Buyer Beware" as a "tough shit" to people who take risks when shopping.

Every store on this planet isn't legit and people need to use more caution.

If you saw a 52" plasma TV for sale in a pawn shop for $200 would you immediately think "Wow, the deal of the century, I'm buying it!" or "What's wrong with this picture?"

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,10:52

QUOTE

I'm not advocating that we protect stupid people through "Buyer Beware", which I think you're assuming.

That philosophy does not seem to be embraced by the Western world. If it were, I could buy damn near anything from anyone & that's simply not the fucking case. "Buyer beware" went out the window when biz got too heavily regulated. In fact, I can't think of any gov't in history that's actually gone full tilt w\ it. Even Hammurabi had laws about craftsmen that didn't do their work properly. Certain states have various "Lemon laws" about selling crappy used cars. The only time I saw "Buyer beware" actually implemented was when the Star Trek episodes involved Ferengi.

The philosophy doesn't seem to be caveat emptor. It appears to be the biz having to conform to whatever bodies get to regulate it.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,11:04

Exactly!

My point, Malcolm, was that the buyer is at least partially responsible in this situation. Others disagreed.

Thus, my invoking of "Buyer Beware".

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 29 2007,11:14

I'm with TPR. I don't need this centralized activation BS.

Of course, I don't really play games either. So we'll see if it ever matters to me.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,11:21

QUOTE

I'm with TPR. I don't need this centralized activation BS.

Am I typing in a different language? TPR and I are in agreement about centralized activation being BS. In fact, I don't think anyone is arguing "for" it.

Where we don't agree is what to do about it.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,11:25

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,13:04)

QUOTE

Exactly!

My point, Malcolm, was that the buyer is at least partially responsible in this situation. Others disagreed.

Thus, my invoking of "Buyer Beware".

I suppose that they didn't have a gun pointed at their heads, forcing them to buy the software in what they perceived to be the easiest, cheapest way available. If you want to get down to brass tacks, then any time you give your cash to someone, you should be wary. After all, they're really just there to take your cash. That being said, while I doubt some exec at Valve said, "Dude, you know what'd be totally awesome? Deactivating copies of games in regions where they don't belong," the very, very, VERY FUCKING LEAST they could've done was announce recalls like most other companies do. And as stated in the original article ...

QUOTE

There was no warning or anything, just completely inactivated.

The thread that was started on < www.valve.com > has been removed by the operators there.

The first point tells you exactly what Valve thinks of everyone that spends cash on their shit. The second point I might be able to understand, had any kind of heads up been given. Seriously, you take away someone's toy w\o warning & then get pissed when they get uppity? While what was done may've been done for the best of intentions (saving Valve from legal infringements or what have you), the fact remains that it makes Valve look like a gargantuan asshole that doesn't give a flying fuck about treating their market like anything beyond fields in which cash grows. Who the fuck green-lighted this decision? Who said, "Well, the best option at this point is to just flat out kill things." Do they have a PR department? Were they on fucking vacation? Then again, this is the Great and Holy Half-Life, so they could probably kick most of their customers square in the 'nads & no one would care, as long as they can blast aliens eventually.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 29 2007,11:57

There is no doubt in my mind that it was a money issue for Steam/Valve. I have no doubt that the games they produce and sell over seas are done at a reduced rate. And that's why those people can sell them cheaper to us via ebay and what-not. If it was simply a region incompatibility thing, then valve would have simply flipped a bit or two on the Steam server and those people would have been reloaded with the correct region version for the region they were actually playing in. I mean come on. Isn't that the neat thing about Steam? Easy updates and software installs and stuff? Valve made less money on the copies coming in from Malasia. That's it. At no point did valve say "Sorry, those keys are pirated or invalid" or anything like that. They said "Wrong region". Which means, they want the full US retail price paid so they get more money.

If Valve was making the same amount from the overseas sales, then they would have no problem with giving the customers the correct version for the region they are playing in. After all, a legal/valid key is a legal/valid key.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 29 2007,12:13

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,14:21)

QUOTE

I'm with TPR. I don't need this centralized activation BS.

Where we don't agree is what to do about it.

Right, and I'm with TPR. on the boycotting of it.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,12:24

QUOTE

That being said, while I doubt some exec at Valve said, "Dude, you know what'd be totally awesome? Deactivating copies of games in regions where they don't belong," the very, very, VERY FUCKING LEAST they could've done was announce recalls like most other companies do.

Two things there: That is why I'm not jumping to conclusions and judging. I never said they weren't at fault for not informing people of what was happening.

That being said, maybe they aren't ready to make a statement? This is a corporation we're talking about here. That means a legal department. The legal department may be forbidding anyone from commenting on what's going on until they prepare a statement. We don't know. All anyone is going on is one side of the story. That's was my only point.

QUOTE

The first point tells you exactly what Valve thinks of everyone that spends cash on their shit.

Again, it goes to the legalities of the situation. If nothing is ever said, then yes. However, if a statement does eventually come out to explain, then your statement would be unfair.

QUOTE

The second point I might be able to understand, had any kind of heads up been given. Seriously, you take away someone's toy w\o warning & then get pissed when they get uppity? While what was done may've been done for the best of intentions (saving Valve from legal infringements or what have you), the fact remains that it makes Valve look like a gargantuan asshole that doesn't give a flying fuck about treating their market like anything beyond fields in which cash grows. Who the fuck green-lighted this decision? Who said, "Well, the best option at this point is to just flat out kill things." Do they have a PR department? Were they on fucking vacation? Then again, this is the Great and Holy Half-Life, so they could probably kick most of their customers square in the 'nads & no one would care, as long as they can blast aliens eventually.

Keep in mind what you're basing your opinion on too. One side of the story, which may or may not be the real story. Would it be the first time in human history that someone was bitching about something and wasn't revealing the whole truth? Hell, it wouldn't be the first time peeps on this forum got worked up over a story that turned out to be bullshit. NOT SAYING IT IS, just making a point.

There is a bit of truth in Valve's stupidity whether they were in the right here or not. If they saw this coming, they should've prepared some sort of statement before acting. It is 2007 and word travels way too fast these days. Corporations have to come to realize that moves like this are going to be pre-judged before they get a chance to counter. They need to prepare their counter before taking the action.

QUOTE

So what you're saying is that despite the fact that Valve gets paid up front and this is really the distributor's money we're talking about, this is all due to Valve's greed? Because there's such an enormous segment of the market that shops overseas for video games so they can save $5?

Why hasn't Valve sued eBay to prevent their games from being re-sold there? All the MMOs have done shit like that.

As for the "switch a bit" thing, you must've been in a coma during the whole "Hot Coffee" debacle.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2007,12:25

QUOTE

Right, and I'm with TPR. on the boycotting of it.

I hope the sand tastes good.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 29 2007,13:53

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,10:11)

QUOTE

Boycotting is akin to sticking your head in the sand. Stand up and fight it now or stop bitching about it. In ten years you won't be able to get a game (console or PC) without it needing some online activation.

Just to clarify, I have no problem at all with online activation. I also don't mind digital distribution. I rather like it in fact. I prefer downloads.

I do not agree with and will never purchase a product that either 1) the seller can deactivate my product at any time they wish, or 2) requires regular reactivation (which is similar to #1 in that they can stop allowing reactivation at any time). If I buy it, I want to be able to use it when I want to use it.

With the Steam service, you can't purchase a game. You only rent them for an indeterminate length of time for a one-time fee. As long as they control your access to it you simply do not own your copy of it.

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 29 2007,13:57

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,11:21)

QUOTE

I'm with TPR. I don't need this centralized activation BS.

Am I typing in a different language? TPR and I are in agreement about centralized activation being BS. In fact, I don't think anyone is arguing "for" it.

Where we don't agree is what to do about it.

Well, throwing more money at them probably isn't going to deter them.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 29 2007,15:06

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,15:25)

QUOTE

Right, and I'm with TPR. on the boycotting of it.

I hope the sand tastes good.

Yeah, I don't understand your thinking.

Capitalism works by where if you don't give things money, they stop existing.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,15:46

Yeah, like the airline industry. Oops, wait.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 29 2007,16:08

(Leisher @ Oct. 29 2007,07:24)

QUOTE

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here. Are you implying that the distributors lose from overseas sales instead of Valve? Valve makes $X.XX regardless of how much, or where the distributor sells the product? Which then implies the distributors control Steam? So Steam isn't about making things happen without the distributors?

QUOTE

Why hasn't Valve sued eBay to prevent their games from being re-sold there? All the MMOs have done shit like that.

Good question. Why didn't they? Instead, they went after the people who thought they were customers of Valve. Thus, people questioning the customer service aspect of Valve/Steam.

QUOTE

As for the "switch a bit" thing, you must've been in a coma during the whole "Hot Coffee" debacle.

I have no idea what that means. I was saying that Steam could easily make sure the right regional version of software got to the person. Because really, that's all we are talking about here, is a key. A key that allows you to play a game that is attached to the Steam server. Sure, you can jump through hoops to play without the server. But that's not what Steam is all about. You buy a key, and you play the game for as long as Steam allows you. They bought their keys from a cheaper source overseas. Which means someone here (Valve, Steam, EA, whatever) didn't get as much money as they wanted. This isn't about consumer protection, it's about money.

And I'm with Catt. I vote with my dollars. Just because I don't start a campaign and make youtube videos speaking out about the evils of EA, doesn't mean I'm burying my head in the sand. I choose not to give them my money any more. I'm actively hurting EA. Burying your head in the sand is KNOWING how bad EA, and yet, still buying games from them. It's not my fault all the other people are to weak to make a stand. Everyone knows EA is bad for video games, but they keep supporting them. I can't help it so many people are retarded. :-) I'm doing my part.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 29 2007,16:33

Leisher... don't read this.

Everyone else:

What if I purchase the Orange Box from an amazon.com warehouse in California, and then Valve decides I'm using the key that was sold to California at a discount and then got registered in Ohio?

A global economy... such as not realizing "Bob's Gaming Warehouse.com" is actually located in malaysia... means this is a legit concern. We now know that Valve will just up and deactivate legit purchases without warning, as they see fit.

Mass deactivations was a misstep. Even if it was a straight-up shady website... and there is no reason to believe that... the "cool" thing to do would be to say, "Hey, there's a batch of illegitimate keys out there. If you get this message, you got one. Contact us and we'll resolve this. We'll be shutting everyone else down in 7 days." But nope. Peeps got Microshafted.

Yes, I realize Valve is a business like any other... but there's still such a thing as pissing off your core demographic when there ARE alternative software companies out there. This thread is evidence that SOMETHING got fucked up, and the user base is riled, even if this was all just a massive misunderstanding.

I was planning on ordering the Orange Box this week. Not now. If this situation gets backed up and fixed properly, then I'll still get it. If not, I'll be picking it up in two years out of the $10 bin.

But I'm talking to everyone not Leisher, now... he'll never be convinced. He seems to be in a religious ecstacy over Valve and Steam, so complete is his Love.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 29 2007,16:50

They had him at 'download'.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 29 2007,17:17

No offense, Gordon, but Microsoft generally warns you before just killing you. And, they also let you run with lower levels of functionality, not just disabling you.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 29 2007,17:20

(TheCatt @ Oct. 29 2007,20:17)

QUOTE

No offense, Gordon, but Microsoft generally warns you before just killing you. And, they also let you run with lower levels of functionality, not just disabling you.

Yeah... my memory is tainted by my brush with WGA one time. I left the pc off for a month, cme back, and it wouldn't boot any more at all.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 29 2007,18:50

In order for Valve to get my sympathy, they need to come up w\ a concrete example of how keys not in their proper regions could've ended up costing Valve an appreciable sum of cash in some legally binding way. I can understand a company treating some of its users like shit to cover up mistakes when the company's bottom line could be involved in legal issues. Then they need to do something to make up for fucking over the folks that got hammered w\ this key thing. Like give them $(Orange Box cost) towards a future purchase or something.

Either that or prove to me how a few keys in the wrong locales makes the world blow up.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 29 2007,19:26

They don't even need to give them credit. Just give them the correct regional version. Once you buy a Steam game, you NEVER need the CD media again. They can tell all those users "Uninstall the version you are running, start Steam and all will be well" cause they will give the user the correct version. Since buying HL2 and the stuff that came with it, I haven't pulled the CD or my key off the shelf again. I've reloaded my system twice. I just download Steam, install it, log in, and all my software "HL2, CS, all the multiplayer stuff, etc) is automatically downloaded and installed on my PC. That's been the ONLY thing I've liked about Steam. I can walk away, and 4 hours later (or however long it takes) all my stuff is back and ready to go, fully patched. So that can give those people the stuff they want/need them to have. But they didn't, cause they want more money.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 30 2007,12:57

You know, if people actually read instead of just skimming, this would be a lot easier.

TPR -

QUOTE

I do not agree with and will never purchase a product that either 1) the seller can deactivate my product at any time they wish, or 2) requires regular reactivation (which is similar to #1 in that they can stop allowing reactivation at any time). If I buy it, I want to be able to use it when I want to use it.

With the Steam service, you can't purchase a game. You only rent them for an indeterminate length of time for a one-time fee. As long as they control your access to it you simply do not own your copy of it.

QUOTE

Well, throwing more money at them probably isn't going to deter them.

Yeah, I'm not really debating any of that because for the most part, I agree. I just disagree with the theory of "boycotting" for reasons I'll get to in Catt's section.

Catt-

QUOTE

Yeah, I don't understand your thinking.

Capitalism works by where if you don't give things money, they stop existing.

Eh, I think you were just skimming. My point was that boycotting really isn't going to do shit. Not at this juncture. You might as well start boycotting gasoline. Unless, of course, you're planning on getting everyone, everywhere to boycott, then yes, your "not giving things money" plan works.

Interestingly, I just cracked open my latest issue of the former Computer Games Magazine (now OGFW Magazine or something) and the first letter in the letters sections was from a reader pissed about online distribution and online activation. The response to his letter was along the lines of "Yeah...it sucks, but tough shit. Sooner rather than later, it will be the norm for most games."

That's my point. Boycotting doesn't do shit as it's already out there and it's spreading like a virus. It's already not just Steam distributed games, so how does boycotting Steam send a message? Won't you eventually, have to boycott every company out there? And at that point, haven't you surrendered your enjoyable past time?

I mean should someone just quit doing something they enjoy or fight for it? If this technology is that objectionable, shouldn't people be actively fighting it since it's spreading to every game company, and thus, to every game?

I wasn't saying run out and buy games using Steam, I was saying if you're going to fight it, it's going to take more than a boycott to win the battle.

Malcolm-

QUOTE

Well, there are more issues than just a few keys being out of region. I wrote about them earlier in the chain. The German/swastika example resulted in a lawsuit according to OGFWMagazine in a feature article they had earlier in the year. That was a situation in which an American version of the game ended up in Germany and the company had to pay some fines. I remember the same issue being talked about in the sequel to Wolfenstein (I think? Pick one of the 4,987,398 WW2 based games). The developers were very careful to leave out swastikas and to be totally safe they didn't include them in any countries version.

As for Valve's responsibility, I'd really like to know where you all shop. Here's why:
-Last year, a man got on eBay and sold Ohio State-Michigan tickets. The problem is he sold a bunch and he didn't have a single one. He got busted by the law, but should Ohio State, Michigan, or eBay have been responsible for his actions? Should they have compensated those who bought those "tickets" in good faith? Fuck no.
-Earlier this year a LEGIT U.S. company sold Microsoft software. A scandal occured involving China (the king of piracy and one of the places where one can get discount games) and the Microsoft software this company was selling. I believe they were getting it all from Chinese "discounters" and as it turns out, it was all pirated. Now these things were coming in legit boxes on legit CDs/DVDs, etc., but they were pirated. The U.S. company filed bankruptcy and all of their customers were fucked. Does that make Microsoft responsible for stepping in and providing financial relief to help them get the right software? Fuck no.

In the first case, had OSU, Mich, or eBay stepped in, it would've been pure charity to people who got scammed.

In the second case, MS had zero responsibility to step in (I honestly don't know if they did or didn't), but I do know it would've been good business to do so. They can afford the hit and they would've made some screwed over people into happy customers.

Point being, yes Valve should've stepped up and been more vocal about their actions, but if these consumers simply hit a "Buyer Beware" situation does Valve really bear any responsibility to them at all?

Al Gordon-
I'm anxiously awaiting your film about Steam's threat to humanity based on "proof that you've obtained from the brightest anonymous minds of the internet". (Yeah, I'm stretching the joke, but I think Al Gordon is hilarious.)

You say I'm in a religious ecstasy over Valve and Steam, fine. I guess that makes me no different than two EA stooges I knew back in the day. Oddly enough, one of them was actively boycotting EA at the time.

And for the last time, I'm not defending Valve. My whole point was that these consumers most likely aren't guilt free. Are we really saying that "Buyer beware" no longer applies? This from a forum full of intellectuals who bitch daily about a government that gives free handouts and assholes whining about how everything in their life isn't their fault? Now all of a sudden because it fits our agenda, we're supposed to side with people, stupid or not, who bought from an illegitimate source or got a illegitimate copy? We think the corporation who made the product, NOT the one that distributed it, is ultimately responsible for giving them all their money back?

I know what I'm getting you for Christmas, a "Flower Power" t-shirt you can wear to all your hippie gatherings.

The thing that irks me about your accusation is that I made one statement about how the consumers probably weren't completely without guilt, and now I'm labeled as Valve's lackey. Are we no longer allowed to debate anything that is posted on the web? Shouldn't you be screaming "Bush/Haliburton" at me?

As for Valve, if you really wanted me to defend them, I'd say something like this: Despite however bad they are at public relations, which they DO suck at, they do make good games. On top of that, they are doing more to get unknown games, from publishers that can't get or afford a distribution deal, out to the public. Yeah, they made Steam, which apparently is the end of the world, but they're doing a lot of good too. It's just too bad they can't do nothing but good like EA or Microsoft, huh?

Cake-
Debating with you is a love-hate thing. I hate knowing it's going to be a long winded affair, but I love the fact that you actually read the posts.

QUOTE

Steam was created as an alternative to entities like EA (specifically them in fact). So when you boycott Steam, you support EA. Now, Steam was NOT used as the distribution point in this case, so Steam isn't part of the distribution debate. Steam was just the online activation (and deactivation) tool, a point I've never debated so we can stop talking about Steam.

And yeah, the distributor doing the physical sales is taking the lion's share of the money, leaving little for the developer (whom we don't care about, right?). I'm sure they pay some pittance to the developer initially and I'm certain some rewards are given based on sales performance. However, you'd have to show me how big an issue this is in terms of sales. For it to actually hit Valve's wallet, it'd have to be a LOT of sales. On top of that, it'd have to be something they were actively looking for...

Think about it. You guys are focusing on where the game was bought, but have you yet equated it to "How does Valve know where they live?" This indicates that they'd have to be running and querying databases comparing addys to license keys or something to that effect, right?

OR perhaps these folks were using a license key that was stolen or maybe even marked as bogus and Valve was waiting until they saw who was buying what from where.

It HAS happened before. I know for a fact, a similar thing was done with Half-Life 2.

QUOTE

Good question. Why didn't they? Instead, they went after the people who thought they were customers of Valve. Thus, people questioning the customer service aspect of Valve/Steam.

Because Valve doesn't give a shit about their games being resold for less. hell, they could sue EBGames too. That alone points to me being right about there being more to this story than what we're hearing from one source.

Again, wouldn't be the first time something posted out the web turned out to be bullshit or without all the facts.

QUOTE

I have no idea what that means.

Hot Coffee was a scandal with GTA 4. The programmers had put stuff into the code, but disabled it when the game shipped. The problem is that someone dug out the code and activated it. The code turned out to be the ability to make the main character have sex with his girlfriends and watch it in all its pixelated nakedness and glory. Pretty tame and boring actually, but the point is, if it's there, someone can dig it out. You can't just "Turn it off", which is what you were suggesting. That's why I used the swastika/Germany example. If Valve was found to be selling games there with swastikas in them "disabled" or not, they'd be in serious shit.

So yes, there are regional games. How that all translates to this, I have no fucking idea. That's on Valve to point out and they're pretty shitty at communicating with customers.

QUOTE

I was saying that Steam could easily make sure the right regional version of software got to the person. Because really, that's all we are talking about here, is a key. A key that allows you to play a game that is attached to the Steam server. Sure, you can jump through hoops to play without the server. But that's not what Steam is all about. You buy a key, and you play the game for as long as Steam allows you. They bought their keys from a cheaper source overseas. Which means someone here (Valve, Steam, EA, whatever) didn't get as much money as they wanted. This isn't about consumer protection, it's about money.

I answered all this above.

QUOTE

And I'm with Catt. I vote with my dollars.

I answered this under Catt's section. Boycotting is fine, I was just pointing out that it's too little, too late.

Want to play FPSs anymore? Better have an online connection for activation. Bioshock apparently has it and I'd bet you money that Crysis will have it too.

Hell, I'll bet that by the end of 2008 all PC games and possibly all consoles will be coming out with online activation required.

QUOTE

Just because I don't start a campaign and make youtube videos speaking out about the evils of EA, doesn't mean I'm burying my head in the sand. I choose not to give them my money any more. I'm actively hurting EA. Burying your head in the sand is KNOWING how bad EA, and yet, still buying games from them. It's not my fault all the other people are to weak to make a stand. Everyone knows EA is bad for video games, but they keep supporting them. I can't help it so many people are retarded. :-) I'm doing my part.

Remember, they're not just a developer, they're a distributor too. Good luck finding games that aren't at least published by them. Ditto for MS who also is "evil".

Time to just give up gaming huh?

To sum up for all of you (consider this crib notes):
-I'm not defending Valve's actions, I'm just saying that there might be more to the story than what we're hearing. Call me crazy, but I'm become conditioned to the fact that people lie and not everything on the internet is 100% true.
-Keep in mind, Valve has sent out bad codes before to track down pirates and illegal vendors.
-Valve's PR and customer service sucks. Nobody is arguing that.
-Boycotting Steam, while buying EA and Microsoft products might be about as effective as putting the UN in charge of anything.
-Online distribution and activation are here to stay, boycott or not.
-I'm not nuts about it either.
-Al Gordon is hilarious.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 30 2007,13:37

I told you not to read my post. You directly defied me.

You're well on your way to a smacked bottom.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 30 2007,15:12

Sure, I'll boycott anyone. I don't see the issue. Two other people in this thread said they'd boycott as well. We're going grass roots.

I won't give up the past-time, because there will always be people who will make enjoyable games without that crap. Not everyone sells songs via DRM-laced iTunes, but many say that's the way that industry is going. Radiohead even offered their album for whatever you wanted to pay for it. Sure, my choices will be more limited, but that just means more time with my MAME games.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 30 2007,15:30

(TheCatt @ Oct. 30 2007,17:12)

QUOTE

Yeah, there's umpteen zillion games out there that I can get for free. There's emulators. There's ROMs. & I assure you, there is NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING, that the vid game industry or regulatory bodies can do to prevent piracy completely. The more people that get pissed off, the more are inclined to fuck over the industry, adding to the pool of pirates. Hell, torrenting a game isn't much more difficult that torrenting a mp3. The more sledgehammer moves made by major game companies on major products, I bet you the more prevalent & easier piracy will become.

If you want to push potentially some blame on the folks that bought the game, that's fine. But Valve'd best not be surprised when folk get pissed at their actions (even done w\ ideal intentions) when they just do mass deactivations w\ no warning other than, "Your key is in the wrong region," & then squash complaints w\ no explanation.

& I wait for the day when companies will self-publish their software (for download) much in the same way that some musicians/authors/whatever self-publish their shit online now. I do not wish to see the vid game industry equivalent of the RIAA coalesce.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 31 2007,07:28

QUOTE

You're well on your way to a smacked bottom.

Tease.

QUOTE

Sure, I'll boycott anyone. I don't see the issue. Two other people in this thread said they'd boycott as well. We're going grass roots.

Let me know when you march on Washington, I'll join you.

QUOTE

I won't give up the past-time, because there will always be people who will make enjoyable games without that crap. Not everyone sells songs via DRM-laced iTunes, but many say that's the way that industry is going. Radiohead even offered their album for whatever you wanted to pay for it. Sure, my choices will be more limited, but that just means more time with my MAME games.

Wouldn't it be great if the gaming industry was like the music industry in that an independent with no financing could make something just as good as a studio?

I mean, if Urban Dead can be fun with 10 moves a day and no graphics outside of a map, imagine what it could be like with a budget.

QUOTE

So the solution is to steal everything?

As Catt says,

QUOTE

Capitalism works by where if you don't give things money, they stop existing.

I endorse pirating when a publisher deliberately shits on the public by releasing substandard crap, because they deserve it. However, if we're being realistic about it, if everyone pirated games, there'd be no more games.

So while it is an answer for rebellion, it's not the solution.

QUOTE

If you want to push potentially some blame on the folks that bought the game, that's fine. But Valve'd best not be surprised when folk get pissed at their actions (even done w\ ideal intentions) when they just do mass deactivations w\ no warning other than, "Your key is in the wrong region," & then squash complaints w\ no explanation.

We covered that and Valve is 100% wrong in that respect.

QUOTE

& I wait for the day when companies will self-publish their software (for download) much in the same way that some musicians/authors/whatever self-publish their shit online now. I do not wish to see the vid game industry equivalent of the RIAA coalesce.

Uhm...Steam IS a company self-publishing their software. Valve got into a fight with its publisher, EA, and they created Steam to cut them out of the process. The controversy about Steam stems from it's activation (and apparently deactivation) abilities.

I guess in a way, by boycotting Steam, one would be supporting EA. No company represents corporate greed and a total lack of respect for the customers more than EA.

Hey boycotters, I'm just curious, does the boycott apply to your kids? If your kid wanted a game from a publisher for Christmas, would you get it for them or would you force your boycott on your kid?

I think the compromise would be to give them a gift card to Best Buy or something and tell them they can get what they want.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 31 2007,07:35

Boycott apply to my kid(s) - Absolutely. They could buy their own with their own allowance, but I wouldn't buy it for them, nor give them a directly enabling gift like a gift card. If a kid wants something, earn it.

Babies, on the other hand, can have anything they want. Even slaves.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,07:39

I thought Valve got pissy w\ Vivendi/Sierra.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 31 2007,08:09

Also, I take issue with your graphics argument. Most games these days spend ridiculous amounts of time on graphics, and not enough on game play. Wii Sports has taken up most of my gaming time in the past year, and those graphics are rather plain. But it's fun.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,08:13

(TheCatt @ Oct. 31 2007,10:09)

QUOTE

The more I think about it, most of the games I've'd some of the greatest fun playing weren't exactly graphics heavy. Zork, Gold Box Series, etc.

& piracy is always an option. I typically don't like doing that sort of thing unless there's no other way to get my software. Piracy is the black market balance to companies getting too full of themselves.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 31 2007,08:21

Elder Scrolls: Oblivian, the best selling game of... the year? All time? Didn't have any copy priotection at all, not even a key to be typed in.

As far as I'm concerned, that's the last word on the "copy protection" debate.

If it is a good game, people will buy it.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 31 2007,08:23

QUOTE

I thought Valve got pissy w\ Vivendi/Sierra.

Eh, they got pissy with someone. Vivendi/Sierra, EA, Microsoft, etc. They're all the same.

QUOTE

So when a baby turn into a kid?

QUOTE

Stop right there. Go search through these chains and you'll find that I'm the biggest proponent of gameplay over graphics. Graphics are just easy to make an reference when talking about new technology rather than physics or innovations in gameplay.

I have always said the graphics are nice, but the gameplay and story is what makes a game fun and entertaining.

So no argument from me regarding graphics.

Hell, Crysis is all the talk of the gaming world and personally, I've been thinking that they're pushing the envelope too much with the graphics and they need to worry about the gameplay being fun. That's one thing about FarCry (a previous game by the company), it was gorgeous, but what they put into the graphics was missing from the AI and gameplay.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 31 2007,08:25

(Leisher @ Oct. 31 2007,11:23)

QUOTE

That's one thing about FarCry (a previous game by the company), it was gorgeous, but what they put into the graphics was missing from the AI and gameplay.

I disagree. Far Cry might be the best game I've ever played, easily top-3.

I know this is an old debate, but still.

That's, like, just your opinion, man.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,08:59

(Leisher @ Oct. 31 2007,10:23)

QUOTE

I thought Valve got pissy w\ Vivendi/Sierra.

Eh, they got pissy with someone. Vivendi/Sierra, EA, Microsoft, etc. They're all the same.

Maybe, but EA still holds a special place of hatred in my blackened, carbonized heart. Interplay runs a relatively close second.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 31 2007,09:13

(Leisher @ Oct. 31 2007,11:23)

QUOTE

Sorry, I interpreted the following as an argument, thinking your mentioning of graphics with regards to UD was part of the budget/studio constraint.

QUOTE

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,09:34

I do miss the days when you could make kick-ass, industry standard-setting games from your garage.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 31 2007,10:25

QUOTE

I disagree. Far Cry might be the best game I've ever played, easily top-3.

Seriously? Top three?

I honestly thought FarCry was a gorgeous "also ran". Looks like I need to reload it and give it another go. If it doesn't measure up again, I'll going to hurt you. That's right...no lube.

QUOTE

That's, like, just your opinion, man.

I am the law!

QUOTE

Maybe, but EA still holds a special place of hatred in my blackened, carbonized heart.

I fucking hate EA. There is no company that hates its customers more.

Hey, here's another question for the boycotters: EA (or whomever you're boycotting) didn't make the game, but they are publishing it. Do you still boycott the game? If so, why? We're talking about a product that EA has NOTHING to do with outside of distributing it.

QUOTE

I do miss the days when you could make kick-ass, industry standard-setting games from your garage.

Ditto. Some of my fondest gaming memories are from games that could be made in a garage, not games with million dollar budgets and a team of 200.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,10:58

(Leisher @ Oct. 31 2007,12:25)

QUOTE

Hey, here's another question for the boycotters: EA (or whomever you're boycotting) didn't make the game, but they are publishing it. Do you still boycott the game? If so, why? We're talking about a product that EA has NOTHING to do with outside of distributing it.

Tough call. While I'd like to say that I'd flat out just not get it, Christ knows I can't imagine every possible instance in which EA publishes a game I might be interested in. My instinct is that unless there was a very, very compelling reason to give cash to EA (cos some of my cash will indeed be going to them should I purchase this product), I wouldn't get it. Particularly if it's EA, too, cos they've just got the anti-Midas touch from my view.

Now, if Interplay & a magically vintage Bioware & Black Isle got together for another BGesque game, I'd probably get it. I dunno, if EA came out w\ Privateer III, I might have to make a difficult decision as well.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 31 2007,11:04

QUOTE

My instinct is that unless there was a very, very compelling reason to give cash to EA (cos some of my cash will indeed be going to them should I purchase this product), I wouldn't get it.

That's the interesting part of all this boycott talk to me.

If you buy a game in a store (online or off), the distributor (EA, Vivendi, Microsoft, etc.) gets the lion's share of the profits.

If you buy it off Steam the developer gets the lion's share of the profits.

If you buy it directly, the developer gets it all (?).

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,11:10

I'd kill for a direct purchase from the creator. That'd be bollocks. I thought the shareware model that Doom abused in the early '90s was fucking brilliant. If you could get something similar to that going, it'd be sweet. Problem is how do you initially tip off the gaming public at large to your newly created game if you're some dinky-ass, nothing company that hasn't done anything noteworthy yet?

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 31 2007,11:19

Viral marketing campaign.

Only do it tongue-in-cheek and so over the top that nobody gets upset.

Such a beast would do very well on Al Gore's interweb.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,11:24

(Leisher @ Oct. 31 2007,13:19)

QUOTE

Viral marketing campaign.

Only do it tongue-in-cheek and so over the top that nobody gets upset.

Such a beast would do very well on Al Gore's interweb.

I have no doubt that creative advertising could do the trick. I have several doubts, however, as to an advertiser's ability to distinguish between "creative" & "very fucking invasive & annoying."

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 31 2007,13:56

I don't force my boycott on my kids/family. But I make them feel very guilty about their purchase and let them know I see it as a direct insult to me.

There's nothing EA could make that would make me buy it. Had TA2 been an EA production, I would have it. The ONLY way I MIGHT consider buying an EA product is used. That way, I'm not directly contributing to the company. And the only reason I'd do that is if everyone else has it and I'm missing out on some mad multi-playing stuff.

As far as buying stuff that others make, but EA publishes. I think HL2/CS was the last product where I did that. I was torn. I hated that EA was getting some of my money, but I wanted to support Valve. Steam might be all about working around the publishers, but it's too damn expensive. WAY too expensive. They should be offering MUCH better deals there. I'm convinced that EA has their hands on Steam as well. Making sure they don't undercut EA's copies and/or making Steam disable regionaly challenged copies. Why doesn't Steam price the software just above what they'd get going through a publisher? Cause they are forcing people to buy from the publisher anyways with their prices.

And at this point, my boycott may extend to anything EA publishes. I hate the fact that they got some of my money in my attempt to dollarly vote for a non-EA product.

And yes, I will stop playing games all together if EA eventually takes over the whole industry.

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 31 2007,14:13

(Cakedaddy @ Oct. 31 2007,15:56)

QUOTE

And yes, I will stop playing games all together if EA eventually takes over the whole industry.

Well, should that occur, I will hoist the Jolly Roger from my virtual sloop.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 31 2007,14:56

Actually, that's what I meant to say. I'd steal from EA all day long and smile while doing it. So, I'll be your first/best customer! Hell, I'd steal games from them that I don't even intend to play.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 31 2007,16:47

I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but if you get economic value from something, you should provide economic value in return.

If you seriously have issues with what they're doing, just don't buy it.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 01 2007,10:15

QUOTE

I don't force my boycott on my kids/family. But I make them feel very guilty about their purchase and let them know I see it as a direct insult to me.

Damn that's evil. Bravo.

QUOTE

Steam might be all about working around the publishers, but it's too damn expensive. WAY too expensive. They should be offering MUCH better deals there.

I agree and disagree. For the older stuff, they charge way too much. The Opposing Force expansion pack for the original HL should not cost $10. That's horseshit. Ditto for charging more to buy the orange box items individually (although, that move, while greedy, does lend into my theory about the "foreign copy controversy" being a Valve plan from day one to weed out pirated copies, ala what they did with HL2.) than to just buy the orange box. However, for the vast majority of the rest of their games, they're $5 less than you'd find in the stores. A discount, but that's not enough, true. Particularly since we're not getting anything physical.

QUOTE

I'm convinced that EA has their hands on Steam as well

Nah. There's not a single EA developed game in there. Since EA is a publisher, publishing their games through Steam makes no sense. You're giving up profit you don't have to give up and giving it to a competitor. I've heard EA is working on their own Steam. Ditto for other publishers. Hell, Microsoft already has it and it's called X-Box Live and get this, THEY CHARGE YOU FOR IT.

QUOTE

And yes, I will stop playing games all together if EA eventually takes over the whole industry.

And that's why I was saying people should do more than boycott. Don't let your hobby be destroyed by some corporate greed or whatever. We always bash the UN for its apathy, but in this area, aren't we guilty of the same?

QUOTE

And yes, I will stop playing games all together if EA eventually takes over the whole industry.

In that specific case...I would agree.

QUOTE

Go look throughout this forum and you'll see that's been my stance since day one.

If you make a piece of shit and release it onto the public, you deserve to have it pirated.

If you make a masterpiece, you deserve to have it supported.

That's been my only real complaint about piracy. Sometimes pirates need to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that they need to support the people who make good games or the hobby suffers.

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 02 2007,09:15

Instead of the Orange Box, I just ordered "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars," instead.

Until I see some sort of satisfactory explanation for what happened.

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 02 2007,18:25

I'm searching the web, but I can't see that there has been any resolution to this, yet.

All current threads addressing it on the Steam forums are locked.

One person claims to have owned TF2 before the orange box, then bought the Orange Box from a company in Thailand, then had his TF2 deactivated along with everything else.

But.... I can't imagine a whole shitload of American gamers shop at a Thai game store...
< http://www.zest.co.th/www/main/index.php >

But maybe they do and I'm just old and lame.

Here's an article about it from the COnsumerist.
< http://consumerist.com/consume....690.php >

This is peeps talking about where to get the good prices for it...
< http://www.fatwallet.com/forums....start=0 >

< http://digg.com/pc_game....ox_keys >

QUOTE

Yeah i bought a CD version of half-life 2 game of the year edition 9+ months ago from Thailand. I still have the box in my room.
This week i find my all of my Half life 2 games disabled, no CS, No HL2, nothing except the original half life on my account. This is after i bought a legit version of the orange box from Steampowered.com
WTF is this BS.
You cant retroactively punish 9month old customers who has a whole range of games on the steam system???
What am I supposed to do?

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 02 2007,18:34

That website is refunding peeps who got screwed over by Valve. At least one company involved in this has good customer service...

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 30 2009,11:46

(TPRJones @ Oct. 29 2007,15:53)

QUOTE

With the Steam service, you can't purchase a game. You only rent them for an indeterminate length of time for a one-time fee. As long as they control your access to it you simply do not own your copy of it.

With my recent purchase of my dozenth Steam game, I thought it only fair to come back to this thread and admit to being sold on Steam.

Although, in my defense, I still have not (and probably never will) paid full price for anything on Steam. Because I don't feel like I own these games. I just rent them without a recurring fee. I haven't paid more than $10 for anything on Steam yet, and probably never will as I view it more like a movie ticket than a DVD purchase in terms of ownership.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 30 2009,11:56

I'm OK with STEAM, but I still think it is a ticking bomb. I don't think it will be around forever, and every person who bought a boxed game that requires STEAM for activation is going to get screwed. Assuming they ever want to replay it. Which I do.

I don't have the new mindset. When I buy a game, I expect it to be playable forever. I want my great grandchildren to be able to load it on a Windows emulator in 150 years and play it. Steam will not be around forever.

Posted by Troy on Jan. 01 2010,23:32

Jeez, this steam sale is killing me. I've bought a ton of games. Most of them have been under 3-4 bucks, but still. I don't even know what to play.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 04 2010,07:49

Either the Steam holiday sale or just this specific one ends in a little over an hour (it's 10:47 a.m. EST), but here's what's available at the moment:
GTA IV - $7.49
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - $2.00
BioShock - $4.99
Defense Grid - $2.49
Torchlight - $4.99
Left4Dead 2 - $33.49

All highly rated and recommended games.

Killing Floor is also $4.99. It's a co-op survival horror. I want to do some quick research on this one, but I might buy it.

Also...
Borderlands - $33.49
The Witcher - $13.59

Posted by Troy on Jan. 04 2010,08:03

I bought a bunch of pirate and naval games (after watching Master and Commander in Blue Ray)

Also, King's Bounty, and a few Star Wars games, including KOTOR.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 04 2010,09:17

I bought about 8 games total during their holiday sales.

Steam and Amazon have completely changed the way I buy games and movies.

I can't walk through a retail store anymore without thinking "I can find it cheaper online."

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 04 2010,12:11

My total sale purchases are about 15 games. Some came in a bundle and won't be played. I fired up Red Faction II and it's way outdated. It came out in 2003, but looks more like 1999. It's like Duke Nuk'em got a slight face lift. But still, close to 20 new games in my library. Good ones are:

Torchlight
KotOR
Fallout 3 and all expansions
Titan Quest w/ Expansion
Borderlands
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Dawn of War II
Company of Heros (at least I think it's a good one based on reading. Have not played.)

Currently playing KotOR and Borderlands. Soon to start Titan Quest. Torchlight might be my on the road laptop game.

I still like to play Forged Alliance. I want to play DoWII. I never finished HL:Ep1, 2 or Lost Coast. Or Portal. I never even installed Far Cry 2. Wanted to play Call of Duty 4.

Then there were console games I wanted to play (Ace Combat games and more Halo). Not to mention really old games I played as a kid that I never finished (The entire Wizardry collection).

Life is just too short.

Posted by Troy on Jan. 04 2010,12:36

I'll multi you in COH or DOW 2, i bought both a while ago...

Posted by TPRJones on Jan. 04 2010,13:32

I bought a lot of games. Several are games I already own, but with prices in the $5 or less range I might as well buy 'em on Steam, too, so I don't have to dig out the disks to play 'em. That and achievements are fun.

Say, anyone here know if you can delete a game from your Steam account? I've got a couple that are so awful I never played them past a few minutes and never will again, and it would be nice to remove them from the clutter permenantly. I emailed a question to Valve but they've never responded.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 04 2010,19:09

(Troy @ Jan. 04 2010,05:36)

QUOTE

I'll multi you in COH or DOW 2, i bought both a while ago...

It's a date. But, I'll have to learn them first. I'll be doing DoW2 first. My son plays as well, so, maybe we'll team up against you while we're still newbs.

How good is CoH?

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 22 2010,07:13

COH and both expansion packs are $12 on Steam right now. (Down from $40+)

Posted by Troy on Jan. 22 2010,09:33

(Leisher @ Jan. 22 2010,07:13)

QUOTE

COH and both expansion packs are $12 on Steam right now. (Down from $40+)

If anyone hasn't played this game, do it.

It's massively fun.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 22 2010,16:25

Which version of COH is the best? I have all three, which should I be playing?

Posted by Troy on Jan. 23 2010,08:15

(Cakedaddy @ Jan. 22 2010,16:25)

QUOTE

Which version of COH is the best? I have all three, which should I be playing?

I actually don't have Tales of Valor.

Opposing fronts is really fun though.

Playing on hard is tough, especially if the maps starts off with three different locations in need of micro attention, it's easy to get overwhelmed.

Posted by Troy on Jan. 24 2010,11:53

(Troy @ Jan. 23 2010,08:15)

QUOTE

(Cakedaddy @ Jan. 22 2010,16:25)

QUOTE

Which version of COH is the best? I have all three, which should I be playing?

Lord, going through this game on hard player through can sometimes be aggravating.

Especially when you finally figure out a strat for a mission, and the game decides to freeze on you. FUCK!

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 29 2010,12:11

Weekend Deals (Jan 29th-31st)

"Freedom Pack" - Includes Freedom Force and Freedom Force Vs. The Third Reich for $2.

"X-Com Complete Pack" - Includes X-Com: UFO Defense, X-Com: Terror From the Deep, X-Com: Apocalypse, X-Com: Interceptor, and X-Com: Enforcer for $2.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 29 2010,12:34

My steam is getting cluttered.

Posted by Troy on Jan. 29 2010,13:14

Someone play me in Company of Heros this weekend.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 31 2010,15:20

I fired up CoH for the first time this weekend. Not too bad. Still learning the units and stuff. Can beat the easy enemy regularly. Have a ways to go for the harder stuff I'm guessing. Will be a bunch more games before I'm any kind of challenge for you I'm sure. I'd do co-op if the game supports it though.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 03 2010,13:52

Titan Quest: Gold Edition (includes the expansion pack) on sale this week for $4.99.

So it's just like Torchlight?

Posted by Cakedaddy on Feb. 03 2010,16:17

Same game play, very different graphics. Much more like NWN. If you are enjoying torchlight for the game play, then you'll like Titan Quest as well. I'm running through it with 5 other people and it's fun as a group. It ramps up difficulty as you add players, which is good.

You can play through it 3 times with the same character so you can keep leveling up and getting stronger, etc. Normal, Epic and Extreme are the levels of difficulty. You unlock the next one by finishing the one before it.

Well worth the $5.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Feb. 03 2010,16:22

Oh, for more comparison, there's like 10 different character classes you can choose from. At level 8 or so, you can pick up a second class. So, you can be a hybrid fighter/mage or something if you wanted to. Each class has skill points you spend for special attacks or spells and stuff. Each ability has different levels, meaning, you can put more skill points into one special attack to make it stronger and stronger. So, it's similar to Torchlight, but, different. Ummmmm. Those are the highlights. The game play is the same though. W key switches between equipment load outs. Hold shift to attack without moving. 1-0 are hot keys. TONS of magic item variations.

That's all I can think of right now.

Posted by WSGrundy on Feb. 09 2010,07:10

Steam is have a great deal on Total War games. Rome, Medieval, and Empire. You can get the latest Empire for about $14 or all 3 of the games and their expansions for around $30.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 11 2010,10:16

Trine is $5 this week.

I honestly don't think I had ever heard of it, but it's metascore is 80, so I bought it.

These Steam sales are fantastic. They're getting me to give chances to titles I'd never buy normally, and they're doing so at a price I wouldn't find in any brick and mortar. It's also a great chance to play titles you might have missed like the Far Cry deal a week or so ago.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 25 2010,07:43

Serious Sam HD is $7.99 this week.

Posted by GORDON on Feb. 25 2010,07:47

I'm not giving Croateam any more money.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 25 2010,08:11

I'm not grabbing it either. For all I know if I entered my original SS code into Steam, I might be given the update for free.

Being that it's already 50% off of 50% off, it can't be selling well.

Plus, I already have far too many games waiting to be played, and more waiting to be purchased. I don't have time to trek through a game I've already beaten multiple times.

I forget, why are you pissed at them? Besides because SS2 was such a piece of shit...

Posted by GORDON on Feb. 25 2010,08:59

Basically SS2. It was seriously unfinished at release, and though it was PROBABLY fixed, it still screwed up our multi games when we couldn't even password protect a game.

Add to that the coateam forum admins being dicks about all constructive criticism, they alienated me, and I'm not giving them any more money.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 20 2010,13:32

Aliens vs Predator (the new one) is $33 this weekend.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 25 2010,12:23

Left4Dead 2 is 50% until 4 p.m. PDT today (3/25/10).

Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 25 2010,12:50

Where do you see that? On Steam, it's $50. Unless it's normal price is $100!!

Posted by WSGrundy on Mar. 25 2010,13:19

(Cakedaddy @ Mar. 25 2010,12:50)

QUOTE

Where do you see that? On Steam, it's $50. Unless it's normal price is $100!!

For some reason the sale ended earlier than it was suppose to. It had been 50% off for the last few days.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 13 2010,11:52

Original Aliens vs Predator on sale for $2 through Thursday (April 15).

Posted by GORDON on Apr. 13 2010,12:28

Ha, I missed when you said "Original" and was going to jump on it. ;-)

Posted by Leisher on May 13 2010,22:27

Steam just went live on Macs. To "celebrate" Portal is FREE until May 24th. I highly recommend that if you have never played it, you go grab Steam and download Portal.

Also, Torchlight is on sale for $10 again.

Posted by WSGrundy on May 14 2010,16:29

Posted by TheCatt on May 14 2010,16:57

The steam servers are too busy to handle your request.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 27 2010,11:19

Picked up the entire Red Faction franchise for $10 on Monday.

Grabbing Metro 2033 for $13 today (Oct 27).

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 05 2010,08:25

Weekend sales (November 5th-7th):

GTA, GTA2, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas, GTA 3 - $7.49
(Each is also individually priced, and to be fair, GTA and GTA 2 are free.)

Supreme Commander 2 - $5.10
SC 2 Infinite War Battle Pack - $3.40

Posted by WSGrundy on Nov. 24 2010,16:36

Another big steam sale is starting today and going until the 29th with stuff changing each day.

They are also selling game is large numbers so you can give to friends. 10 copies of Half-Life 2 for $20, 6 copies of Borderlands for $40, Deus Ex and R.U.S.E. are have group deals.

Then a bunch of individual games for sale also.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 30 2010,06:19

QUOTE

Ha, I missed when you said "Original" and was going to jump on it. ;-)

Aliens vs Predator is $6.80 for the next 3 hours and 40 minutes.

Posted by Troy on Nov. 30 2010,08:35

Was AvP worth 7 bucks?

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 30 2010,08:41

The original? Now? No.

However, that's the sequel. I never played it, so I don't know if it's worth it or not. Per the reviews I remember, I think the humans were dull to play as were either the Aliens or the Predator, and one was awesome to play (again, the aliens or the predator).

Posted by Troy on Nov. 30 2010,08:55

Bummer.

Metro 2033 so far has been like playing like a Marine in AvP. Only with apocalypse and Nazis and some kind of Psychic thing I don't completely understand yet.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 30 2010,11:32

I bought Metro 2033, but I won't get to it until I'm done with Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 07 2010,17:45

< Steam Treasure Hunt >

Posted by Troy on Dec. 09 2010,17:03

(Cakedaddy @ Mar. 30 2006,12:44)

QUOTE

I play CS:S every now and then(today). Never seen a shield. They all use anit-cheating software. too.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 09 2010,17:05

Oh good, you wrote that it 4 years ago. Way to click a thread and not pay attention to what page I was on.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 09 2010,22:58

I was wondering where that was coming from. heheh

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 13 2010,09:27

Does anyone want Half-Life 2 and/or Half-Life 2: Episode 1? I have gifts to give and the timing is perfect for the Steam contest going on.

First come, first serve. I'm asking some folks off the board too.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 13 2010,10:50

I don't have them, so if no one else wants them, I would certainly take them.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 13 2010,12:47

Sent.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 13 2010,12:54

woot -thanks!

Posted by Troy on Dec. 13 2010,15:22

Random thought, I LOVE Day of Defeat:Source. Just an all around great online team-FPS.

Did anyone play Call of Duty 5? Does that still have a good WW2 online multi mode?

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 13 2010,16:20

I mostly play with myself.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 13 2010,16:46

(TheCatt @ Dec. 13 2010,19:20)

QUOTE

I mostly play with myself.

Me too.

What were we talking about?

Posted by Troy on Dec. 20 2010,12:48

Yearly ridiculous sale going on right now. Still sorting through all 100+ games, but there are some gems.

Posted by WSGrundy on Dec. 20 2010,13:15

(Troy @ Dec. 20 2010,12:48)

QUOTE

Yearly ridiculous sale going on right now. Still sorting through all 100+ games, but there are some gems.

Yay for Steam Xmas!

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 20 2010,15:24

So, what are the hot ones?

Posted by Troy on Dec. 20 2010,16:41

(Cakedaddy @ Dec. 20 2010,15:24)

QUOTE

So, what are the hot ones?

The big sale looks like it will go until Jan 2, so wait and shop the daily deals, as already discounted stuff may get super low cut for the daily deal.

Today:

Battlefield Bad Company 2 stands out.
Great multiplayer, and for less than 7 bucks? I bought it at 20 and didn't regret it, and that was last week.

Edit: I also added Medival 2 Total War, also for 7 bucks, as I can't find my disk and was itching to try some of the user mods.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 21 2010,10:13

Day 2's sale just began.

The biggies from the daily featured items:
The Witcher - $5 (If you've never played it, do so. Great RPG.)
Bioshock 2 - $10
The latest Tomb Raider - $5

All of the other offers, the packs and catalogs, are available until Jan 2nd. Some of those are amazing, like the SquareEnix/Eidos catalog which is 88% off from $606 to $75 for their whole catalog of games.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 21 2010,17:26

I got the F.E.A.R. collection, to continue my scary shooter binge lately.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 23 2010,18:59

Been buying lots of 5-10 dollar games this go around.

Just got:

Mass Effect 2 (it's supposed to be pretty great)
Wings of Prey
Alpha Protocol

Posted by WSGrundy on Dec. 23 2010,19:59

(Troy @ Dec. 23 2010,18:59)

QUOTE

Mass Effect 2 (it's supposed to be pretty great)

Did you play the first one? If not that one was awesome and a bunch of choices you make carry over to 2. Mass Effect one was a great game. It is only $10 on steam.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 23 2010,21:59

(WSGrundy @ Dec. 23 2010,19:59)

QUOTE

(Troy @ Dec. 23 2010,18:59)

QUOTE

Mass Effect 2 (it's supposed to be pretty great)

Did you play the first one? If not that one was awesome and a bunch of choices you make carry over to 2. Mass Effect one was a great game. It is only $10 on steam.

Done. And now I have enough games to last me halfway through 2011.

Posted by WSGrundy on Feb. 07 2011,15:08

Steam currently has Railworks DLC Complete Pack on sale for $199.99.

That is 78% off the normal $1073.35 price.

Since it says DLC Complete Pack I don't know if that comes with the main game you need to play the DLC.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 08 2011,05:57

WSGrundy, are you a foamer?

Just curious as I have two here at my office who were excited by that news.

Posted by WSGrundy on Feb. 08 2011,09:53

No I made my comments because I thought it was crazy that anyone would buy enough DLC to break the $1000 mark. You can pick and choose but after the 20 DLC pack I would think your sales would drop.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 08 2011,10:04

Crazy? Yes.

For train geeks? No way.

But to avoid derailing this thread (pun intended), I'll take this discussion elsewhere...

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 11 2011,08:34

One of the current deals on Steam (as of 2/11/11) is:
Pre-Purchase Homefront, which looks good, for $49.99 and receive a free copy of Metro 2033, which is amazing.

Go read what < Troy and I thought of Metro 2033 > and if it sounds good to you, I think this is a damn good deal.

I'm disappointed that I don't get to take advantage of this offer. Of course, if anyone just wants Metro 2033 and doesn't want Homefront, call me. I'll give you Metro 2033 for $25 saving you $15, and I'll keep Homefront for $25.

Posted by WSGrundy on Feb. 15 2011,13:42

Square Enix games on sale all this week. Different one each day.

Today is Just Cause 1 & 2.

They don't have the greatest PC library though so I am not expect too much.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 22 2011,12:31

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 is $1.99 today until Thursday. I cannot recommend it enough.

Posted by WSGrundy on Mar. 09 2011,16:49

Mafia II is $7.50.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 09 2011,17:22

QUOTE

Mafia II is $7.50.

Still priced too high.

< My review. >

Posted by WSGrundy on Mar. 09 2011,18:48

(Leisher @ Mar. 09 2011,17:22)

QUOTE

Mafia II is $7.50.

Still priced too high.

< My review. >

Did you like the first one?

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 09 2011,21:24

The first one is MUCH different than this one.

If I remember correctly, the first one was more like GTA with its open play. Go do missions whenever, collect things, take over areas, etc.

This is more like a movie. It pretends to have open play, but there's nothing to do except follow the storyline.

It's ok, and perhaps I'm judging it a bit harshly at $7, but I wouldn't have felt ripped off at $5...so the extra $2 is up to you.

It's not a bad game, but it's very linear.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 13 2011,10:16

Not sure if it's just today,(UPDATE: Yes, it's just today. Yesterday was Bioshock) but 2K Games is the featured developer this week, and Borderlands (which is fucking awesome) plus all 4 DLC packs in $7.50. That purchase also gets you an entry into a 2K Games contest where they're giving away their entire catalog. It also gets you membership into the Duke Nukem First Club...

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 25 2011,06:34

Metro 2033 is only $9.99 until 1:00 P.M. EST today (Monday, April 25th).

For you FPS fans, this is a must play.

< Review. >

Posted by GORDON on Apr. 25 2011,08:09

(Leisher @ Apr. 25 2011,09:34)

QUOTE

Metro 2033 is only $9.99 until 1:00 P.M. EST today (Monday, April 25th).

For you FPS fans, this is a must play.

< Review. >

Ok I bought it.

Gonna miss having the box, though.

Posted by Troy on Apr. 25 2011,12:17

Shogun 2 is awesome.

Best Total War since Rome awesome.

Posted by WSGrundy on Apr. 26 2011,12:52

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 15 2011,19:33

Ever notice how in Steam chat windows the font is really goddam small and there doesn't seem to be any goddam way to make the font bigger?

Yep, there isn't a built-in way to do it because this is like 1996 or something, but here's a way to edit a config file to get a font that is readable on a high resolution screen:

< http://www.overclock.net/pc-game....ze.html >

I set my font sizes for 20, and I think that will work.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 04 2011,14:45

(GORDON @ Sep. 15 2011,22:33)

QUOTE

I got back from 2 weeks of vacation and my font is small again. I guess it must have updated and overwrote my changes.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 04 2011,14:54

I have never noticed a small font.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 04 2011,15:05

When I lean back in my chair my eyes are about 3 feet from my screen, and I can barely read the letters of the standard font. Need to focus and concentrate to make them out. No good when I am gaming and need to glance over and read something.

I have high resolution settings, your mileage may vary. I know how you like 640x480 so it probably isn't an issue with you.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 04 2011,15:14

QUOTE

I guess it must have updated and overwrote my changes.

If that's the case, you'd better research something more permanent. Steam updates every two days.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Oct. 04 2011,18:31

640 x 480 is all the VGA driver will allow. You get different numbers?

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 24 2011,12:39

< TF2 user base has exploded since it went F2P. >

Posted by TPRJones on Oct. 24 2011,15:05

The bit about their conversion rate, that's not necessarily crazy impressive. See, they put in some REALLY good deals in the store awhile back: you can get a hat and the older first set of alternate weapons for each class for 99 cents each. That's quite a value for a newish player. Especially when you consider that people are now trained by Apple to toss 99 cents around for digital goods without a second thought.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 11 2011,07:01

< Steam was hacked. >

Change your password.

Posted by Troy on Nov. 11 2011,08:07

(Leisher @ Nov. 11 2011,07:01)

QUOTE

< Steam was hacked. >

Change your password.

What is a salted password?

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 11 2011,08:28

I wondered that myself.

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 11 2011,08:53

Getting tired of this shit.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 11 2011,10:49

(GORDON @ Nov. 11 2011,11:53)

QUOTE

Getting tired of this shit.

Are you going to un-invent technology?

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 11 2011,11:16

Going to stop putting my trust in online companies with my credit cards. They obviously can't be trusted.

I got dinged by the Sony fiasco, and now this. Starting to get nervous about Amazon having my credit card numbers.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 11 2011,11:31

For a long time now I've been meaning to get a "online card".

Basically, get a card with $1000 limit or something in that range. An amount that allows me to spend freely, but that I could cover in case of emergency.

Then for any and ALL online transactions I'd use that card ONLY.

Of course, the flaw in my plan is that your credit card is even more vulnerable when you hand it over to any waitress, sales clerk, etc.

Point being that the credit card is the weak point, not the sites with your info.

Posted by WSGrundy on Dec. 19 2011,10:47

STEAM HOLIDAY SALE HAS BEGUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Portal 2 is $7.50.

They seem to be having some issues though because the prices change if you refresh the screen. Portal 2 was both 75% and 50% off and my wish list games prices were jumping around also. So just double check how much you are paying.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 19 2011,11:46

This is the most wonderful time of the year for gamers.

I recommend Limbo and Bastion at $5 and under!!!

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 19 2011,12:23

havng a hard time purchasing these things since their site doesn't want to work.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 19 2011,12:26

Takes forever and several reloads to get the items in your cart, and after the 2nd attempt to check out and pay for my items which failed, and cleared out my cart for me, I am going to stop trying for now.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 19 2011,12:32

Quitter.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 19 2011,12:48

That may be, but at least I aint masochistic.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 19 2011,16:25

It is working smoothly now.

Grabbed Portal 2 and Limbo.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 19 2011,21:01

Metro 2033 and Amnesia: The Dark Descent are both $5. Highly recommend both.

Also, make sure you check the "objectives" for the day. One is to simply check your inventory and you get some gifts. I was given Day of Defeat Source, Frozen Synapse, and a 50% Duke Nukem coupon.

I doubt anyone wants Day of Defeat, but if you do, let me know. Ditto for the coupon.

Frozen Synapse I already owned, and would be willing to trade if anyone gets anything good they don't want. Or I'll gift it to someone who really wants it.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 19 2011,22:31

I got a 33% off Valve coupon. It's valid AFTER 1/12/12, but, it's not valid on anything released after 1/12/12. So, it's only good for old stuff and I can't pile it on to the sale stuff.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 19 2011,22:33

I'd take Day of Defeat. That's a HL mod, isn't it? I'll see what I get and maybe we can trade.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 20 2011,05:58

How do I check objectives?

Ah, it's on the website. 50% off a Valve title after 1/2/12

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 20 2011,06:40

I'm not sure you guys are doing things right. What free games did you get?

Go to "The Great Gift Pile", and the day 1 objectives includes "Check your inventory". If you click the link, it takes you to your "inventory", NOT your library of games.

In there is where I received two free games, and the 50% coupon.

Or did I just get more? (Maybe it has to do with number of games purchased through the year?)

Cake, I'll send you Day of Defeat when I get home, unless you discover that you were also gifted it.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 20 2011,06:54

I also got a lump of coal. You just got more than us, I assume. Nothing new in my library.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 20 2011,06:58

It says I completed the objective, but there's nothing of any sort anywhere in my inventory. I can't even find any sort of coal or whatever. What?

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 20 2011,07:07

Nope. All I got was a coupon. Bastards. My completed objectives is '1'. Clicked on "View your Steam Inventory". I have 3 pages of TF2 items. Maybe they gave me some extra items in there. I'd never know though.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 20 2011,07:15

Weird.

Ok, Cake gets DoD.

Anyone want dibs on my Duke Nukem coupon?

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 20 2011,07:53

Anyone want my Valve coupon?

I picked up Portal 2 yesterday... although, I still haven't played Portal 1.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 20 2011,08:02

Where do you go to see your coupons? Maybe I have one of those somewhere...

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 20 2011,08:30

Steam Inventory.... I got there by click on the great gift pile, then the Steam Inventory link in the first item.... which is what you do to finish the task

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 20 2011,09:40

I go to Steam Inventory, I see TF2 (183), Portal 2 (3), Spiral Knights (97), and Pending Gifts (0). Nothing about coal or coupons or anything at all that would appear to indicate there's anything special going on right now.

Are you seeing another separate tab for the givaway and coupons? Or a special section on the page? Or what?

I guess this means I got nothing at all for my gift. But I'm curious as to what I would be looking for if I had gotten something.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 20 2011,09:43

Yeah, it's another tab in that same place you see TF2, Portal 2, etc.

Posted by WSGrundy on Dec. 20 2011,10:17

Ok so don't try to access the steam store right when the new deals go up at 1.

The page won't even load for me.

If anyone else can get it to load look and see how many people are on steam at that moment. I would be interested to know how many are sitting around at 12:59 waiting for the new deals to load.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 20 2011,11:18

I think I got right in.

Nukem, Witcher, and HL titles are the stars today. Although, I think I'm going to grab three of the indy titles.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 20 2011,17:07

Dungeons of Dredmor is a fun game for a dollar.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 20 2011,18:31

Bought "Witcher: Extended" for $2.50.

Never played it before.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 24 2011,10:42

I have purchased about 7 games so far, and spent less than $50. That includes Rage.

Also, one of the task in the big gift giveaway is to do a trade in Steam. If anyone knows how to do that, please send me a trade request or whatever, and we'll each get a free gift or something like that.

BTW, highly recommend Borderlands and Plants vs Zombies which are both under $5 today.

I'm pissed that Skyrim is only 33% off.I was hoping for 50%.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 24 2011,11:10

Eh, game is new, best price I've seen anywhere.

I'd get it if I had time to play

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 24 2011,15:10

I'm debating it.

Getting a new PC in Q1, and it'll have a lot more horsepower than the one I currently have. Thus, I've held off on playing Duke, Rage, and several other games. So I have those waiting for me. Not to mention LoL.

I might wait and see if another sale drops the price further. I've seen several new titles drop from full price to $19.99 within 6 months. Although, I doubt that will happen to Skyrim.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 24 2011,15:57

You can trade TF2 items. That might be the easiest route to go. Next time we're on Steam, we'll do that.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 25 2011,13:31

Skyrim may be expensive, but you get a LOT of hours for your money.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 28 2011,13:01

Bought Dungeon Defenders 4pack. Gave ones to Leisher and Gordon. Sorry TPR, looks like you bought it today? Cake already had it before.

Have 1 extra. Anyone?

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 28 2011,13:05

Hey, thanks.

But I just looked and I don't see it in Steam.

Probably delayed.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 28 2011,13:57

(GORDON @ Dec. 28 2011,16:05)

QUOTE

Hey, thanks.

But I just looked and I don't see it in Steam.

Probably delayed.

You're doing it wrong.

Look under View --> Inventory.

Just looked and I have two unopened gifts...Hmmmm...will have to investigate when I return from Costco.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 28 2011,14:18

No, I'm not doing it wrong. It isn't in my game library, it isn't in my inventory, and I have Pending Gifts (0).

I'm not whining, just wouldn't want to see Catt get ripped off.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 28 2011,14:56

Hmm. May have been me doing it wrong? Never done it before. Well check later when on the real pc

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 28 2011,15:03

OK, try again. I may have only sent it to Leisher, misunderstanding the radio buttons for check boxes.

Although, I still see all 3 in my inventory.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 28 2011,16:57

Sent you a return gift that is still in my inventory, but under gifts pending, it's also there.

I have not received your gift.

Did you send via email or Steam?

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 28 2011,17:50

Got it, thanks!

OK, according to Steam, you and Gordon each have it as pending, now. It looks like I somehow sent 2 to Gordon earlier. (Both sent via Steam)

Computers are hard.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 28 2011,19:16

Received, thanks!

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 28 2011,19:40

Also received and thanks!

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 29 2011,00:19

Prior to everything changing at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, there are a bunch of good grabs in today's deals.

Also, Dungeons of Dredmor is fantastic. It's "Rogue", but with graphics and a lot more comedy.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 01 2012,10:22

I still need the trade achievement, anyone else need it from the 23rd? Then I'll have 7 pieces of coal, which has to be enough to win the grand prize, right?

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 01 2012,15:11

I need it for 7 pieces as well

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 01 2012,19:24

Hmm, of we both have 7 you might wan the grand prize instead of me.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 01 2012,19:47

Give me 6 then I can win.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 02 2012,10:49

Regarding the 50% off coupons:

Near as I can tell, if you have a 50% off coupon in your inventory, then the prices you see when you click "Show eligible games" is the price with the discount already applied. It's a somewhat strange way to do things, since 3 of us who are arguably internet experts didn't know what we were looking at and couldn't figure out how to apply the coupon, and I only figured it out after researching the issue for 15 minutes. You'd think Valve would have some real-world examples of online shopping and shopping carts and the application of coupons from which to copy.

Also, one discount per item. They don't stack. I also learned this through googling, and not at a glance in the description of the coupon... also dumb.

Steam Store is nice, but still needs some polish.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 03 2012,06:37

< Steam has become sort of popular. >

Posted by TPRJones on Jan. 03 2012,07:17

Man, I made out like a bandit during the Steam sales. I'd have to look to be sure, but I think I bought something like 30 interesting games this time around. That should keep me busy until next Winter Sale.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 03 2012,07:27

I probably purchased between 15-20 games. Only 1-2 were over $5.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 03 2012,07:36

I bought, uh... 3 games. Which, at the rate I play games, will keep me occupied until 2015. Although, I'm hopeful that as my youngest gets older, I'll finally get some me time again.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 03 2012,07:39

I bought 3 or 5. Was also going to buy Mass Effect for $5 one day but for some reason Paypal wouldn't let me pay out of my back account, the option was grayed out. I shopped out of that account the day before and the day after, so I don't know what happened there.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 03 2012,07:48

If you have a PayPal balance, you have to pay out of that first. If you didn't have a balance, no idea.

Posted by Troy on Jan. 03 2012,12:20

I bought Civ 5. What a sweet game.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 06 2012,05:29

You guys getting frequent spam from that STEAM 2011 Holiday Group?

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 06 2012,05:52

Spam where? In steam? I'm getting nothing.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 06 2012,05:58

I get these STEAM notifications that keep popping up about getting "Skyrim FREE" and stuff like that, which requires you to sign up with some game service. I get 3-4 all at once, 3-4 times a day. All from the 2011 Holiday Group.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 06 2012,06:01

Nope, but maybe I didn't join it. I'll look when I get home tonight.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 06 2012,11:35

I'm a member of the "Holiday Sale Community Group" (I thought it was an achievement), and I receive no spam that I know of. Not a member of the "STEAM 2011 Holiday Group".

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 06 2012,11:45

Actually opened the "HSCG" chat. It's tons of people trading gifts and stuff. One guy had HL2 and wanted to trade it for Skyrim. So, if you have an extra copy of Skyrim, you could trade it for HL2.

Most people weren't idiots though. Lots of low end game trading. Dungeon Defenders for Terarria and stuff like that. One guy was offering 10 refined metal (TF2 I believe) for Dungeon Defenders.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 06 2012,11:50

(Cakedaddy @ Jan. 06 2012,14:35)

QUOTE

I'm a member of the "Holiday Sale Community Group" (I thought it was an achievement), and I receive no spam that I know of. Not a member of the "STEAM 2011 Holiday Group".

I must have the wrong one, then. Getting hit by a ton of spam today, and most of it from a guy whose steam profile is in russian.

Leaving that group.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 06 2012,12:04

So... did everyone else win the same nothing I won?

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 06 2012,12:31

Yep.

Posted by WSGrundy on Jan. 13 2012,17:01

Anyone else have their download speed cut in half? I have been at 1 MB/s and all of a sudden the last few days I am lucky to hit 500kb/s.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 13 2012,18:12

Haven't noticed...

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 26 2012,12:46

< Steam is coming to iPhones/iPads and Droids. >

Keep in mind that it'll already be on all Windows devices IF W8 does what they claim it'll do, and it's already on PS3...or X-Box...one of them. I believe soon heading to the other too.

Posted by Troy on Jan. 26 2012,16:19

So... turns out Supreme Commander 2 isn't a terrible game like I thought it was, oops.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 26 2012,21:24

I think it's on par, if not better, than Star Craft 3. Or 2. Whatever that latest one is.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 17 2012,07:54

< 14% off Alan Wake. >

It just hit Steam. I think I'll wait for the summer sale when it'll be $5.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 17 2012,10:26

< Wolfenstein $5 this weekend. >

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 20 2012,06:16

< Gabe Newell says DRM is stupid. >

Posted by TPRJones on Feb. 20 2012,06:37

(Leisher @ Feb. 20 2012,08:16)

QUOTE

< Gabe Newell says DRM is stupid. >

Gabe Newell's a smart guy. I've been saying for awhile that as the new digital economy starts taking over, the only way for corporations to battle piracy is goodwill. They have to make sure they are so good to their customers that people will be eager to pay them for stuff. Because if you piss them off they'll find ways to cheat you, and with digital goods it's very easy to cheat you.

DRM is an aberration. It's the result of businesses applying a traditional brick-n-mortar mindset to the digital economy. Companies that continue to insist on DRM will eventually go out of business.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 20 2012,07:05

QUOTE

I've been saying for awhile that as the new digital economy starts taking over, the only way for corporations to battle piracy is goodwill.

There's your million dollar idea right there.

Travel the country as a consultant explaining this very concept to gaming companies, music companies, movie studios, restaurants, etc.

With money not going as far as it used to, folks are going to shop where they can stretch it farthest, or at least, with someone they like (and trust?).

Posted by TPRJones on Feb. 20 2012,09:32

It's not a new idea. That's how businesses used to be run, back before they got so big that they could afford to treat their customers poorly because they could reach so many they didn't need to worry much about repeat business.

But the internet has made the world a much smaller place. It's given a way for far-flung people to easily inform each other of their experiences, making word-of-mouth a big player again. And so big business will have to go back to that old personal touch, in the long run, to stay competitive with whatever company does it first in each industry.

I think of this as "Wheaton's Law of Business"

DRM is just a specific case of that general principle.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 20 2012,10:09

QUOTE

It's not a new idea.

My apologies, I didn't realize people could market and sell old ideas.

Hollywood does this shit every weekend.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 05 2012,06:32

< Steam has gone mobile. >

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 20 2012,12:29

< Check your Steam stats. >

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 20 2012,16:09

Username: *DEAD* TPRJones
Steam member since: 2008-08-22
Found 123 Games with a value of: $1,538.78 USD

Username: *DEAD* TPRJones
Games Owned: 135
Games Played: 88
Games Never Played: 47
Percentage Played: 65.19%
Total Hours: 2591.90

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2012,17:27

Username: TheCatt
Games Owned: 18
Games Played: 6
Games Never Played: 12
Percentage Played: 33.33%
Total Hours: 10.80

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 20 2012,19:24

Many many many of my hours aren't included. I've been a steam member for a very long time and have played WAY more than 44 hours of counter strike. And my TF2 numbers are way off. Plus, there are a bunch of DLC packs that it says I never played, but I have. Steam lies.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 21 2012,04:24

Yeah, I'd find it hard to believe I played less than 11 hours of Portal + TF2... although the numbers probably aren't way off.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 21 2012,07:37

The dollar figure is also pretty misleading. I've only paid them $652.31 for those games.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 21 2012,12:50

I did not have a dollar figure.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 21 2012,13:57

That was from another link from the article: < http://www.steamcalculator.com/ >

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 03 2012,07:06

< EA going 100% digital in the future. >

Duh? Everyone will you twat.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 03 2012,11:35

In other news, steam powered engines may soon be replaced by machines powered by petroleum products!

Posted by WSGrundy on Jul. 12 2012,11:01

Steam summer sale has started.

First two times I tried to log on it said the store was down do to heavy usage.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 12 2012,11:47

Well then, Valve's going to get a lot of my money in the next week.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 12 2012,15:25

Legend of Grimrock today.

< http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/legend-grimrock-review.php >

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 13 2012,08:05

< Greenlight >

Consumers will soon be able to vote indy games onto Steam.

I think EA is right. Valve is ruining the industry with their sales, huge selection, solid software, award winning games, and giving their consumers so much power.

They should be more like EA, and force feed their consumers recycled garbage at inflated prices, all while insulting them.

Posted by WSGrundy on Jul. 15 2012,10:39

Just a heads up during the steam sale lost of games have two prices. Once price is it sale during the whole sale and then another if it is one of the 9 games picked for the main page or the community choice.

So Skyrim has been both $39 and then $29 for yesterday and a bit of today.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 15 2012,11:33

I've noticed that too.

I think I'm going to skip Skyrim again. I still have games from the Christmas sale I haven't played, and I've already bought a dozen or so new games.

By the time the Christmas sale rolls around, I figure I'll be able to get it for $20.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 15 2012,15:38

I was about to do another playthrough, but the expansion drops next month. I will wait.

Posted by Stranger on Jul. 17 2012,08:12

i bought the 2 cheapest games i could find for a grand total of $4.98.

i got some Indie game thats called the Binding of Isaac, its ok, played it for like 5 mins then quit. It remindes me of the original Legend of Zelda when you're in the dungeon levels and you go from room to room shooting shit and finding keys and secrets to get to the next room with bombs and that sorta stuff. The cool thing is that its dark and gory as all hell, shit explodes into a satisfying pool of blood and i can get into that. I have a hard time with computer controls for games like this, unless its League of Legends all PC games feel really clunky and hard to control for me.

The other game i bought was only like $3.25 and its called From Dust i believe. I can't play this game cause evidently my graphics card is a POS that wont support this game. I kinda figured this might be the case with my arcaic PC but it looked cool playing God and all that. So i guess i won't be playing this game untill i get my new PC. Which is my first purchase after the wedding.. i have already ok'd this with my future wife!!

So i guess i just wanted to be a part of this huge Steam sale, and be able to join the chat channels at free will. So no more restarting chat just for me now. I must say, the sales are awesome. Great games for super cheap. I mean c'mon.. Borderlands for only $5 bucks!! its one of the greatest games of all time in my opinion. I'm thinking of stocking up on some good MMO's and RPG's if there are any out there that you can all suggest. I will just have to wait untill October to play them

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 17 2012,10:00

Metro 2033 is a fantastic FPS that you'll love. It'll be one to play on your new PC, but it's only $5 right now. A sequel is coming.

Dungeons of Dredmor will be on sale at some point for under $5, and you'll be able to play it on your current machine. It's funny, and addictive. A new expansion for this is coming soon too.

You might like Trine and Trine 2. You use a wizard, thief, and warrior to travel through a 2D world, and solve any obstacles in your path. Not the toughest games, but beautiful, charming, and fun.

All I can think of at the moment.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 17 2012,11:20

Limbo is $2.50 today.

Go buy it. You'll beat it by tomorrow, but it's a well spent $2.50.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jul. 17 2012,17:40

Torchlight. Hit it.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 17 2012,20:42

I second Torchlight. It's like Diablo, except better.

Posted by Stranger on Jul. 18 2012,08:35

got Torchlight, only $3.00. looks like the kinda game i like. Is it multiplayer?

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 18 2012,10:19

I don't remember.

Bastion is $3.74 for the next 7 hours, and that's a pretty cool game. Should play on any system, and wait until you realize how the story is being told. It's a pretty awesome feature.

Dungeons of Dredmor is $1.99 as part of indy bundle VII. Buy it!!!! It's "Rogue", except with graphics and humor. A fantastic RPG.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 18 2012,11:57

No Torchlight multi yet, but T2 should be I think.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 21 2012,11:55

Torchlight is $3.74 or something like that today.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 21 2012,14:11

Crisis 2. Plotline is new and bizarre.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 21 2012,16:54

Double post, Arma 2 is 40% off, finally makes it worth it for me to play Day Z.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 23 2012,05:49

Well, sale's pretty much done. Looks like I spent $171.44 on $883.53 worth of games, for an overall savings of 81%. Not bad!

That should keep me going until the Winter Sale.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 23 2012,08:38

Still need to finish Portal 2

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 23 2012,09:14

Portal 2 is the shit.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 23 2012,09:46

Indeed

I wish I could play it for the first time again. If I ever get amnesia or brain damage effecting memory, someone remind me I should play that game again.

Posted by Leisher on Aug. 09 2012,07:02

< Steam to start hosting non-game software. >

Posted by TPRJones on Aug. 09 2012,10:14

"TPRJones is now playing Microsoft Excel"

Will there be achievements? 'Cause that would be kind of cool, actually.

Posted by Troy on Aug. 09 2012,11:17

Steam summer sale, Adobe products 75% off.

One step closer to me becoming a freelancer!

(that would never happen)
(the Adobe part, not the freelancer part)

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 11 2012,16:01

< Steam Big Picture mode >

A step towards competing with consoles.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 11 2012,16:05

In other Steam news, < the first 10 Greenlight games have been determined. >

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 13 2012,06:04

< Now on Linux >

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 14 2012,13:23

< Black Mesa Source is out now. >

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 19 2012,07:41

I don't know what Valve is up to, but < it's awesome. >

Can't wait until I can take my kids to soccer practice and play Borderlands 3 on my hoodie.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 03 2012,10:35

< Non-game software now on sale. >

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 09 2012,16:37

< Beta Survey for Valve hardware >

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 29 2012,10:32

Halloween sale has begun...

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 21 2012,10:05

Steam Autumn sale begins today.

Just FYI:
At $2.49 for the next 8 hours, Limbo is a must buy.

Posted by TheCatt on Nov. 26 2012,11:22

Bought Borderlands, Borderlands 2, The Walking Dead, and The Witcher 2

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 03 2012,11:23

(Leisher @ Sep. 11 2012,19:01)

QUOTE

< Steam Big Picture mode >

A step towards competing with consoles.

< Big Picture Sale >

Anyone tried big picture mode? I guess the only reason is for local multiplayer, right?

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 14 2012,06:14

< They've added guides. >

< Valve going after the Pop Cap market? >

And where the fuck is HL2:Ep3?

Posted by WSGrundy on Dec. 20 2012,09:48

I am finally going to buy some outfits for TF2. There is also Dr. Rockzo but couldn't find a decent picture.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 20 2012,10:25

Winter Sale is on. BL and BL2 are on first day, everything is on sale except BL2 DLC.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 20 2012,15:56

Holy shit, a Monarch henchman.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 20 2012,15:56

And holy shit, a Brock Sampson.

Posted by WSGrundy on Dec. 22 2012,15:51

And Carl.

I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 22 2012,16:30

(WSGrundy @ Dec. 22 2012,18:51)

QUOTE

And Carl.

I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!

Foreigner rules!

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jan. 08 2013,00:51

Just noticed that Steam lets you install games on other drives now. In the past, when you installed the steam client, you told it where to install stuff. And that's where EVERYTHING went. Now when you select a game to install, it asks which drive you want to install on. Cool. And about time.

Posted by Trooper on Jan. 16 2013,15:14

Brock Sampson and the Monarch minion are a must have heheh, Carl was pretty funny though, didn't catch that one at first.

Posted by WSGrundy on Jan. 27 2013,11:10

Deadlight
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Iron Brigade
Mark of the Ninja
Toy Soldiers

Are all available on < Amazon > for $10 or $3.75 a piece.

They all activate on steam.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 30 2013,12:38

< Steam is still growing. DOTA2 too. >

Posted by TPRJones on Jan. 30 2013,12:44

It's interesting that Counterstrike player counts are right there with TF2, but it's almost flat with none of the daily spikes. What does that say about Counterstrike players? Do they never sleep?

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 30 2013,13:28

(TPRJones @ Jan. 30 2013,15:44)

QUOTE

It's interesting that Counterstrike player counts are right there with TF2, but it's almost flat with none of the daily spikes. What does that say about Counterstrike players? Do they never sleep?

They never log off?
The dont have jobs?
They are more international?
The stats are messed up?

Posted by Trooper on Jan. 30 2013,15:52

Counter-strike is played alllll over the world. I'm a big fan of the CS series, and i've found that 75% of the servers are foreign. Mostly German/Swedish. CS is really big in Germany. And no, CS players really don't have lives/jobs, thats the thing with CS. You have to spend an unbelievable number of hours at a time playing just to get anywhere close to competing with those guys. TF2 you can log in with almost any skill level and do alright, CS, you'll find yourself throwing your keyboard through the monitor before you're at the "across the map Deagle headshots" level heheh.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 18 2013,09:51

< Castlevania coming to Steam? >

Posted by WSGrundy on Jun. 19 2013,12:55

< Game sharing on the way? >

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 21 2013,08:14

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 21 2013,08:52

Nice.

I'm ready this time. I've got a long shopping list, a notification service, and a twitchy paypal finger. Bring it.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 01 2013,10:57

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 10 2013,10:56

< The summer sale might be starting tomorrow, July 11th. >

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 11 2013,11:09

And so it begins.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 11 2013,11:40

QUOTE

The Steam Store is experiencing some heavy load right now. Please try again later.

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 11 2013,11:58

How long do these things last? I'm debating whether or not to invest in a...

1) media PC
2) desktop development/gaming PC
3) single PC to do both

More than a couple games I'd like to pick up from the library.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 11 2013,14:06

This sale will continue until July 22nd, although specific extra-good deals will come and go throughout that time. Some deals are daily, and others swap out every eight hours.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jul. 11 2013,16:16

Hey. Remember that time when Valve was giving EA all kinds of shit about servers being overloaded? Ya. That was cool.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jul. 11 2013,16:17

Did manage to buy CS:GO though. It only took a few minutes longer than normal.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 11 2013,19:03

Someone tell me if there are any games worth a damn that come up. It's overload.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 11 2013,19:49

I finally bought Skyrim.

I'm eyeballing Don't Starve too. UPDATE: Apparently they must have hit a sales goal because it just went from 40% off to 20% off. No thanks.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 11 2013,21:13

It's still 40% off for me.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 12 2013,04:18

Dont starve shows 40% for me too. I dont have time for Skyrim...

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 12 2013,07:42

TheCatt is my hero.

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 12 2013,07:52

Skyrim. Best described as a game company listening to the high school you that bitched your new game had less than 80 hours of playtime, then upping the bet drastically.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 12 2013,18:08

QUOTE

The Steam Store is experiencing some heavy load right now. Please try again later.

Like half the time I've tried to use the bloody thing.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 12 2013,18:17

I'll give it a heavy load.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jul. 12 2013,19:15

Took 7 attempts to buy my last game. At the end of the 7th, it said that it failed. But, it was in my library.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 12 2013,19:24

Your shit is broke.

I'm able to buy stuff, but I've noticed percentages changing on me. Weird.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 12 2013,21:07

Borderlands and Walking dead are the latest casualties.

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 12 2013,21:38

EA's availability problems: GODDAMNIT, why can't I play the fucking game I paid for?
Steam's availability problems: FUCK, why can't I pay for more games?

Posted by Troy on Jul. 13 2013,16:07

Thanks TPR, you rock!

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 13 2013,16:47

Yes, thanks TPR. Although, it may be a while before I get to play it

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 13 2013,17:37

No worries.

It remains my favorite game, so whenever it goes on deep sale I have to spread around a few copies.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jul. 13 2013,18:26

Thanks from me as well!

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 15 2013,10:56

All this sale does is remind me how little time I have to play games.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 15 2013,11:29

I spend a lot of my time playing games. I still don't have enough time.

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 15 2013,11:33

(TheCatt @ Jul. 15 2013,12:56)

QUOTE

All this sale does is remind me how little time I have to play games.

Seconded.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 15 2013,12:05

Sleep is for pussies.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 15 2013,15:15

Another thing this makes me want to do is hook up my PC to my TV and try out the big screen support.

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 15 2013,15:18

(Leisher @ Jul. 15 2013,14:05)

QUOTE

Sleep is for pussies.

The insomniac in me from a decade ago agrees. The current me ... not so much.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 15 2013,16:13

I was up until 4:15 and 4:30 Friday and Saturday due to gaming.

Trust me, the non-gaming side of me hates it.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 15 2013,17:31

Trading Cards: I have an extra Bioshock Infinite and an extra Chivalry if anyone wants them.

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 15 2013,20:23

(Leisher @ Jul. 15 2013,18:13)

QUOTE

I was up until 4:15 and 4:30 Friday and Saturday due to gaming.

Trust me, the non-gaming side of me hates it.

So was I, technically. My game was just moving and unpacking. Yours was probably more fun.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 16 2013,15:31

(TheCatt @ Jul. 15 2013,19:31)

QUOTE

Trading Cards: I have an extra Bioshock Infinite and an extra Chivalry if anyone wants them.

I have the following extras if anybody wants them:

5 x Bioshock Infinite
6 x Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
6 x Dead Island Riptide
1 x Kerbal Space Program
2 x Torchlight II

If anyone can spare a Football manager 2013, Reus, Skyrim, or Tomb Raider, I'd be much appreciative.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 16 2013,15:41

You can buy and sell them in the marketplace fpr small amounts of money. But I cant use the marketplace for 3 more days.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 16 2013,18:30

I will look at my cards this evening to see if I have any I can give away.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 19 2013,06:17

I put 2 of my extras up for sale and got $0.13 each. So there's 26 cents I can spend on games now.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 22 2013,07:24

Yeah, I figured after the sale is over I'll put up have of the duplicates, and the other half in about 9 months when they are less common.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 22 2013,07:27

Bought three games, tried them all, mostly liked them.

Then I got tired of them by the end of the weekend and ended up downloading and installing Dwarf Fortress again.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 22 2013,08:00

I bought way too many games, as usual.

But I also bought a much bigger hard drive so I can have more of them installed at once. I might get around to playing some of them now.

Posted by TheCatt on Jul. 22 2013,10:35

Bought some games, tried a few of them.

Finally crafted that badge. It gave me a background, an emoticon, and another trading card. Bha.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 22 2013,10:44

It is finished.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 22 2013,12:47

All these sweet deals, and now when I log in all I see is Planetary Annihilation for the cheap price of 90 dollars. Mother of god.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 05 2013,10:10

< Some new trading feature. >

Posted by TheCatt on Sep. 23 2013,10:37

< Steam OS >

Allows streaming from your PC running Steam onto crappy hardware.

Not sure what this really means.

Posted by TPRJones on Sep. 23 2013,10:50

Sounds to me like they are trying to do games sort of like how < On Live > does, but streamed to your TV on your local network from your own PC instead of from elsewhere online to your PC.

Posted by TheCatt on Sep. 25 2013,10:40

< Steam Machines >

You can enter to < beta >1 of 300.

I applied, just need to play a Big Picture mode game.

Posted by TheCatt on Sep. 27 2013,16:27

Today they introduced a controller with no sticks.

I'm intrigued. I'm tired of how expensive consoles are. I love PCs, and own lots of Steam games. Making them easier to play on my PC would be a plus, especially if said PC could stream my media and do all the other things I want.

Posted by GORDON on Sep. 27 2013,16:55

Yeah, so far nothing they have released has caused me to say, "No, that won't work."

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 03 2013,11:08

< Someone hacked Valve or something to that effect. >

Long story short, within are project crew listings, and apparently, there's both a HL3 crew and a L4D3 crew.

Been a long time since Valve released anything new...

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 03 2013,11:17

Noticed Valve started the process of getting the HL3 trademark going in Europe.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 03 2013,16:23

QUOTE

You are now one out of 285,770 eligible beta candidates.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 04 2013,10:20

< Bioshock 2 leaving Games for Windows Live in favor of Steamworks. >

Apparently, this is becoming a trend as other franchises are looking to do the same thing.

GFWL was a huge fuck you to gamers by Microsoft (along with Halo), so I take some joy in this news.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 04 2013,14:26

QUOTE

GPU: some units with Nvidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
CPU: some boxes with Intel i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)
Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 inches

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 11 2013,12:15

< Steam box controller. >

That's nice...

Can I just use my mouse and keyboard?

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 05 2013,10:40

< The latest pictures of the Steam machine. >

Posted by Troy on Nov. 05 2013,11:28

It um... looks like a sideways desktop computer.

And the control pad looks like it came from one of those knock-off PS2s.

not that i'm being critical

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 05 2013,11:43

(Troy @ Nov. 05 2013,14:28)

QUOTE

It um... looks like a sideways desktop computer.

So basically.... it looks like most desktop computers made prior to 1995 before towers came into fashion....

Posted by TheCatt on Nov. 26 2013,10:48

QUOTE

The dates listed for the two upcoming sales are listed on the email as 27 November – 3 December (for the autumn/Thanksgiving sale) and 19 December – 2 January (for the winter/Christmas one.) Those are periods you could probably have roughly predicted if you’re a dedicated Steam sale watcher.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 28 2013,09:24

The Autumn sale has begun.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 03 2013,05:13

< Hits another user milestone. >

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 17 2013,11:29

I hate it when places that are not Steam sell games. For some reason, I only want to buy from Steam. Or games that activate on Steam.

Winter sale in 2 days. Update your wishlists, people.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 17 2013,12:12

You can register a lot of your non-Steam bought games through Steam. For example, I have LoL registered in Steam.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 17 2013,12:42

I plugged in Homeworld to play through Steam a while back, but it isn't like it downloaded patches or anything for me.

That I recall.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 17 2013,12:43

If it's available on Steam it will.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 19 2013,10:43

Sale has begun, please contribute opinions on games worth buying if you have them. I'm winning $250 in a weightloss competition tomorrow, so I have a bit of free money to blow.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 19 2013,10:55

Bioshock Infinite is 75% off today. That's a good one. Haven't tried the multiplayer, though.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 19 2013,11:08

Batman Origins is awesome. Hours upon hours of game play, and one of the greatest surprises at the end of a game ever.

Dead Island is a pretty cool zombie game. Takes a minute to get used to it, but it's fun.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 20 2013,10:06

Continuing recommendations based on what's for sale day by day...

Farcry 3 is pretty awesome.

FF VII is a gaming legend.

Nether looks interesting.

I own Crysis 2, but haven't played it yet.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 21 2013,06:20

I have 2 Snow Globe #8s (football mgr) if anyone wants to trade.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 21 2013,07:45

I have 2 #9 cards. Feel free to offer the trade.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 21 2013,10:12

(TheCatt @ Dec. 21 2013,09:20)

QUOTE

I have 2 Snow Globe #8s (football mgr) if anyone wants to trade.

I have a couple as well. The steam store told me they were worth approximately $10 each. What do I use them for, and how do I get my ten bones each?

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 21 2013,10:19

(GORDON @ Dec. 21 2013,13:12)

QUOTE

(TheCatt @ Dec. 21 2013,09:20)

QUOTE

I have 2 Snow Globe #8s (football mgr) if anyone wants to trade.

I have a couple as well. The steam store told me they were worth approximately $10 each. What do I use them for, and how do I get my ten bones each?

Probably more like $0.40

You have to sign-up for the Steam Market, and sell them there.

I have another #8 now if anyone else wants to trade.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 22 2013,23:31

I have a spare snow globe #8 and #10.

I'm looking for a #6.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 23 2013,12:13

Contagion is $3.74 today and looks fun. Like L4D.

All multi and co-op.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 24 2013,13:48

Leisher: Rise of the Triad is $3 on steam today. I remember you were a fan.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 24 2013,13:53

(Leisher @ Dec. 23 2013,02:31)

QUOTE

I'm looking for a #6.

I just got a #6, still want it?

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 24 2013,14:55

I believe so. I'll check tonight.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 25 2013,14:02

Left4Dead 2 is apparently free now.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 25 2013,14:26

(Leisher @ Dec. 25 2013,17:02)

QUOTE

Left4Dead 2 is apparently free now.

Too bad the Steam store appears to be down.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 25 2013,15:48

(GORDON @ Dec. 25 2013,17:26)

QUOTE

(Leisher @ Dec. 25 2013,17:02)

QUOTE

Left4Dead 2 is apparently free now.

Too bad the Steam store appears to be down.

Store is slammin today. After a couple hours I was able to get it loaded on my kid's Steam account.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 30 2013,12:08

Today's sale has some good ones.

The Metro series is a favorite of mine. Just finished Last Light this weekend. I love the atmosphere, the story, and the graphics. It's VERY linear, so don't go for the game play. Go for the story.

GTA IV for $5 is a no brainer.

I own Outlast, but haven't played it yet.

Game Dev Tycoon is a simulator and interesting, but I think it's missing...something. For $5 though, it's a good buy for anyone on the fence about it.

Alan Wake at $3 seems right. They can't give away copies, but I've heard it's not horrible, just not great.

Buy Limbo at $2 for the next 6 hours.

Anyone know anything about Rising Storm?

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 30 2013,12:15

QUOTE

Alan Wake at $3 seems right. They can't give away copies, but I've heard it's not horrible, just not great.

Posted by Paul on Jan. 04 2014,10:49

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 07 2014,15:41

Email from the wife

QUOTE

I just went through our credit card and we have a bunch of charges from Steam. They're charging us money all the time! Did we authorize all those charges?

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 07 2014,16:01

I warn the wife when the sale starts.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 07 2014,16:28

Total damage: 118.91

$8 of that was for her, though.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 07 2014,16:35

Then what is she coming about? She sounds ungrateful!

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 11 2014,13:23

Regarding the Steam Machine...

The other day I saw some headline that said, "14 different Steam Machine configurations examined," but I didn't have time to read the article and just thought, "Wow, 14 configurations? They are going to be confusing the grandmas when they are buying xmas presents for little johnny. I mean aiden."

So now I see this article about Dell's Steam Machine.... is the Steam Machine just a minimum hardware specification and an OS that Steam is farming out to hardware manufacturers?

< link >

edit:
Link is too long or something.

edit 2:

Link is even too long for the /code command

edit 3:

Fixed when I was drunk.

Posted by WSGrundy on Jan. 11 2014,21:46

(GORDON @ Jan. 11 2014,13:23)

QUOTE

So now I see this article about Dell's Steam Machine.... is the Steam Machine just a minimum hardware specification and an OS that Steam is farming out to hardware manufacturers?

I believe so. I don't know if just anyone can make steam machines or not but there has to be 10 or 12 developers last time I saw. All ranging from like $400 to $6000.

Basically its just someone else building you a PC that looks like a console to go next to your tv.

Valve has said they will not be making any steam machines just providing the OS but I haven't seen them say if they are picking who can make them.

I have seen a couple that come with 7 and Steam OS.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 12 2014,14:14

So until someone says otherwise, all you get by purchasing a "Steam Machine" is a logo on the case. It is looking like anyone can build their own system, not pay the premium for the logo, and load up the Steam OS.

< http://www.pcmag.com/slidesh....-at-ces >

QUOTE

On the high end, Digital Storm showed the Bolt II, and Falcon Northwest displayed the Tiki. The Bolt II has an expected price of $2,584, while the Tiki will run from $1,799 to $6,000 depending on configuration. They pack the hardware of high-end gaming PCs, with an Intel Core i7 CPU confirmed for the Bolt II and an Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan GPU in the Tiki.

For more modest boxes, iBuyPower, CyberPower, and Zotac had Steam Machines with list prices ranging from $499 to $599, with Intel Core i5 or AMD CPUs and less-beefy graphics cards.

This all seems insane for a machine that is doing nothing but acting as a network PC, for the most part. Didn't we decide that you still need a PC to run the game, and this "Steam Machine" is just going to feed video and audio to a TV?

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 12 2014,15:04

I have to assume the end goal is Steam as a console box in the living room for gaming, without streaming. I don't quite get the point of Steam OS until that happens. I assume they are making work on getting games to work under *nix or something.

Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 20 2014,17:54

Wtf are snow globes for?

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 20 2014,18:21

To show up and look at.

Sometimes I wonder about you.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 07 2014,10:54

< Steam adding music player. >

You'll be able to use it in games.

Beta is going on now, so join if you want to try it out.

Posted by WSGrundy on Feb. 28 2014,23:22

Anyone try the < Family Sharing >yet?

From what I gather up to 5 people can play games you own. I haven't used it yet so I don't know for sure but it sounds like I can play another persons game if they aren't playing a game on steam. Not the same game but any game. So if I am playing TF2 then no one can play skyrim or whatever since my account is in use.

Not as useful as it sounded when first leaked but better then what I we had before.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 01 2014,06:29

Yes, my wife and I use it. Basically, you can share you entire library with others, and vice versa. As long as the owner of the library is not playing any game in it, the entire library is available to the others. If you are playing, the entire library is locked.

Your understanding is correct.

Posted by GORDON on Mar. 01 2014,07:59

That's... about 25% useful.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 01 2014,09:45

I would say about 50% useful. As long as they have something you want to play. Unless a single person locks both.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 01 2014,10:14

I think it's completely worthless.

They can play on my account, unless I'm on. So exactly how it is now?

They need to do the Netflix model where two people/devices can be on per household/device. They can add the stipulation that they can't be playing the same game.

It'd be nice if while I'm playing Rust or whatever, my wife can play Rollercoaster tycoon upstairs.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 01 2014,10:59

I guess the only difference is not having to sign in and out of accounts, and not let someone on your actual account.

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 01 2014,11:54

Exactly, and honestly, who gives a shit about that?

Again, Netflix has different user logins, but they're all tied to the same account.

I understand what Valve is trying to do, and the abuses they are trying to avoid, but so far, this wouldn't be something I see most people using.

Posted by WSGrundy on May 21 2014,12:52

I think it started today but has anyone tried in home streaming yet? I only have my desktop but I would be interested in knowing how well streaming the game from your desktop to your laptop worked.

According to Valve it works perfectly.

Posted by TheCatt on May 21 2014,16:52

I dont understand the point of in-home streaming yet. So I haven't tried it.

Posted by WSGrundy on May 22 2014,09:45

(TheCatt @ May 21 2014,16:52)

QUOTE

I dont understand the point of in-home streaming yet. So I haven't tried it.

From what I gather if you wanted to play a game in bed on your laptop you can stream it from you ultra powerful PC to your weak ass laptop in bed and according valve not notice a difference. Again until I see it for myself or hear form a source beyond valve I won't go all in. Not that valve has ever lied to players beyond when they use to give release dates.

If it works and the only important part is a strong PC then I can see myself getting the cheapest steam machine for my living room.

Not sure why but I don't enjoy third person action games and sports games on my desktop. It just feels out of place with a controller playing on my monitor. So if I can get one of the low end rumored $100ish steam machines. I would totally play my God of Wars, Marios, Zeldas, Assassins Creeds, Metal Gears, and GTAs streamed to my TV.

Thats more of an example GoW, Mario, Zelda aren't going to be on steam but cross platform games like Assassins Creed and such are more enjoyable on the couch with a control and my TV. Not to mention they are cheaper on steam and some of their DLC only goes on sale for the PC.

Posted by TheCatt on May 22 2014,10:25

Ok, that helps me understand. I agree, my super powerful server lives in my office. But it's not a place I spend a lot of time, so if I could use the steam machine to play the game at my TV, that would be nice.

Posted by Malcolm on May 22 2014,11:53

QUOTE

...games like Assassins Creed and such are more enjoyable on the couch with a control and my TV.

Outside of nostalgia, I can't think of why I'd game with the console gamepad versus keyboard + mouse.

Posted by TPRJones on May 22 2014,11:57

Depends on the game. Some are just better with a gamepad, like Super Mario Brothers type stuff or Journey.

Posted by Malcolm on May 22 2014,11:58

I've played Super Mario on the TV using keyboard. It feels weird to the muscle memory at first. It feels way, way better on the thumbs, though.

Posted by Leisher on May 23 2014,05:53

For a single gamer this streaming thing is cool.

For family sharing, it's the opposite of a solution. I'm honestly not really sure what is in place to stop my wife from logging into Steam and fucking with my controls while playing a game. On top of that, I might not even be in Steam and if she launches it, I can't do anything else on my PC, which is running the installed games.

Posted by TheCatt on May 23 2014,06:12

I guess streaming is a lot like the Wii u gamepad, if you are playing on the game pad. Wii is ahead of its time!

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 03 2014,11:17

< PC Gamer essentially calls out Valve for poor quality standards. >

I agree.

Steam is filled with awesome games, including some that deserve to be a part of Early Access.

However, there's some complete shit out there too.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 05 2014,06:16

< They changed their early access policy. >

Posted by Stranger on Jun. 19 2014,11:18

Steam Summer Sale!!! Let the madness begin!

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 19 2014,17:21

VOTE FOR CARDS!

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,09:27

Why are we all on the pink team?

AND WHY ISN'T PINK WINNING?

Gordon, Stranger, and Malcolm appear to be missing from the adventure.

Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 20 2014,09:40

(TheCatt @ Jun. 20 2014,11:27)

QUOTE

Why are we all on the pink team?

AND WHY ISN'T PINK WINNING?

Gordon, Stranger, and Malcolm appear to be missing from the adventure.

Of what the fuck are you speaking?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,09:47

Summer Sale / Adventure on Steam.

Posted by Stranger on Jun. 20 2014,09:58

not really sure what its all about, but i guess i got put on the purple team and it looks like we're kicking ass!
GO PURPLE!

What do we do? collect cards and create shit? i'm confused.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,10:23

(Stranger @ Jun. 20 2014,12:58)

QUOTE

not really sure what its all about, but i guess i got put on the purple team and it looks like we're kicking ass!
GO PURPLE!

What do we do? collect cards and create shit? i'm confused.

If you click on the Summer Adventure, there's a big text blob describing it.

QUOTE

Craft badges
Collect all 10 Summer Adventure trading cards to craft the badge.

You can get trading cards in a few ways: as a reward for purchasing from the Steam Store (1 card per $10 USD or equivalent), crafting game badges, voting in the Community’s Choice sale (1 card per 3 votes), by trading, or by purchasing them in the Community Market. Read more specifics in the FAQ.
Earn rewards and points
Crafting the Summer Adventure Badge gets you:

1 in-game item (or 5 for the foil badge)
1 emoticon
1 profile background
a chance at a Team Token
10 points (or 100 for the foil badge)To earn more points you can keep crafting the badge during the sale.

Summer Adventure Badge - 10 points
Summer Adventure Foil Badge - 100 points
any other game badge - 1 point
any foil game badge - 10 points
Each day 1 team wins
Everyone is randomly assigned to a team when they click the "Join a Team" button above or when they craft a badge. Your points count toward your team’s daily total.

Each day the team with the most points wins. 30 members of that team who contributed points that day will win 3 games off their Wishlist. Make sure to update your Wishlist.Anyone who contributed points to that win will get 2 bonus Summer Sale trading cards. Everyone else who contributed points that day will get 1 bonus card.

The points are totaled and a new day begins at 10am PDT.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,10:43

My wife's account is on purple, but didn't sign up for the adventure until I just now remembered that she had an account.

Posted by Stranger on Jun. 20 2014,10:59

i guess you've gotta be Steam level 8 to earn any cards for voting... LAME! i'm only level 4, not sure how you even go up levels in Steam, my guess is spend money?!

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,11:04

(Stranger @ Jun. 20 2014,13:59)

QUOTE

i guess you've gotta be Steam level 8 to earn any cards for voting... LAME! i'm only level 4, not sure how you even go up levels in Steam, my guess is spend money?!

Hmmm... buying games does help, but I'm level 11, and that wasn't just from buying, I don't think.

You can gain some # of levels just by doing various things. Like making a post, or hosting an image, etc. Years of being a member helps too.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 20 2014,11:04

Ok, ya. That is lame. I'm level 7. I've gotten cards during every other steam sale. But not this one I guess. Fuckers.

Posted by Stranger on Jun. 20 2014,11:07

Lets ask TPR.. He's level 19! he should know how to go up some levels!

Posted by Stranger on Jun. 20 2014,11:23

i see now. i've never really paid much attention to the levels and trading cards. Looks like i can get some XP from completing sets of cards. I need a few B2 cards and i believe some of you have them. Gimme!

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 20 2014,11:33

Actually, I am level 8. But still didn't get my card. Double fuckers. I have 7 years of service, but I'm level 8. Was still farming the Pillar achievement to get another level. So, someone post a screenshot so I can comment on it. I posted one too. I think. It's a Rust shot.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 20 2014,11:40

Has anyone ever multi'd Sins of a Solar Empire?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,11:41

(Cakedaddy @ Jun. 20 2014,14:33)

QUOTE

I have a screenshot unde rmine from when I did pillar.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 20 2014,12:03

(Troy @ Jun. 20 2014,14:40)

QUOTE

Has anyone ever multi'd Sins of a Solar Empire?

I used to want to back when I was playing a few years ago.

Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 20 2014,12:57

How do I know what level am I or any of this other shit?

EDIT: Nm. I'm still rocking level 1.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 20 2014,13:03

Level 9 after some badge mining and STILL no fucking card. Fuck them and their fucking card fucking ass fuckers.

I want my card.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,14:23

You ahve to vote 3 times to get a card.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 20 2014,17:33

I much prefer the Winter sale. Cuz then I'm like "It's Christmas! Of course I can buy games for myself and others." Now it's like "Man, I need to save money or something"

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 20 2014,19:00

Finally got my cards. BAM! 2 cards out of no where. One was the one I was expecting for voting, the other was for joining a team. Didn't know I got one for that.

Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 20 2014,19:13

(TheCatt @ Jun. 20 2014,19:33)

QUOTE

I much prefer the Winter sale. Cuz then I'm like "It's Christmas! Of course I can buy games for myself and others." Now it's like "Man, I need to save money or something"

You think too much. Just click.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 20 2014,23:21

FYI: You only have a chance to get 3 free games for the team win if you crafted badges contributing to that day's points. No contribution, no games.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 21 2014,05:47

Are you collecting your cards, or selling them? So far I've sold mine for whopping $1.08!

Posted by WSGrundy on Jun. 21 2014,10:54

Son of a Bitch!

Come on Pink Team!

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 21 2014,20:24

Selling. Only had two and I'm up to $.78!!

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 21 2014,23:05

Anyone interested in 7 Days to Die? It's in Alpha, but it's a zombie survival game, and it seems like we could do our own server? I know the max they're recommending is 8 people on a server. Seems like it's mostly PvE coop type play.

Btw, offer all the trades you want to me. If I can accommodate them I will make the trade.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 22 2014,07:19

I would love for someone to try out 7 days and give a trip report.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 22 2014,10:51

Well, I made a purchase, so I'll let you know sometime in the future.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 22 2014,18:36

I sent trades to Stranger (accepted), Troy, and TPR.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 22 2014,18:55

i can't even figure out how to join a fucking team

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 22 2014,19:54

I think it joins you to one when you do your first vote.

I agree though that it's all a bit more confusing this time around.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 22 2014,19:56

well how in the fuck do you vote

Posted by Troy on Jun. 22 2014,20:09

Fuck yeah - a trade. accepted

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 22 2014,20:43

On the main Steam page and below the map picture, you should see Community's Choice.

There should also be a whitish-gray rectangle that says "Vote on the next set of games..."

Click that.

On a different note, has anyone clicked a game thinking, "That looks interesting" only to be told you already own it? It's happen to me a dozen times this weekend.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 23 2014,04:23

Front page:
Scroll down to Summer Adventure, and click on the big map.

Next screen: join a team.

The voting happens right below the map.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 23 2014,07:05

(Leisher @ Jun. 22 2014,21:54)

QUOTE

I think it joins you to one when you do your first vote.

Nope, I've been voting whenever I remember to as usual, but didn't know to click and join a team until reading this thread and wasn't on a team yet.

Now I'm on Team Blue. You can know which one that is because that's the team to good to have any of y'all on it.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 23 2014,10:50

(Leisher @ Jun. 22 2014,20:43)

QUOTE

On a different note, has anyone clicked a game thinking, "That looks interesting" only to be told you already own it? It's happen to me a dozen times this weekend.

It's why I fired up Sins of a Solar Empire:Rebellion this weekend. Stomped 3 normal AIs in a 4 player FFA. Looks like there is a larger ship class now, but the game was over before I teched that high.

Team based 3v3/4v4 against Hard AI's would be good fun.

Other times I click a game, think it looks cool, but then i'm like "would I play it?" and then it just sits there in my cart and I don't checkout.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 23 2014,11:13

Considering that I've gotten around to playing less than 1/4 of the games I've bought, yes. That happens a lot.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 23 2014,12:15

(Troy @ Jun. 23 2014,13:50)

QUOTE

(Leisher @ Jun. 22 2014,20:43)

QUOTE

On a different note, has anyone clicked a game thinking, "That looks interesting" only to be told you already own it? It's happen to me a dozen times this weekend.

I'm in your solar system firing my Nova Cannon.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 23 2014,13:21

I bought one game so far. State of Decay. Every time I look at a game, I consider how many games I haven't played and don't buy any. So, are there any games that are going to be multi-played now? That Solar Storm game, or whatever it is. That zombie game on a server game that Leisher mentioned? I'll buy something that is going to get played. But, I don't need any more single player games. I have about 1000 hours back logged right now. But I always have time to multi.

Anyone buy Planetary Annihilation at $17? Payday 2? Still want to finish the first one. Anything else?

Posted by Troy on Jun. 23 2014,13:28

It's about time for a few more games of PA. There have been a lot of patches since last I tried it.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 23 2014,14:05

(TPRJones @ Jun. 23 2014,10:05)

QUOTE

Now I'm on Team Blue. You can know which one that is because that's the team to good to have any of y'all on it.

Well, today looks like your day so far, so make some points to have a chance!

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 23 2014,15:38

Soon as I get home I'll whip up a completed set of Summer cards. That might do the trick.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 23 2014,19:10

I had earned 15 poins the day Pink won, and didn't get shit.

QUOTE

I own PA and have it installed. Ditto for Payday 2.

I've tried 7 Days to Die, and it seems to have a steep learning curve. Might be interesting to try with a group of us playing though. It's an alpha game though, so...

Not sure about the Solar games. Have to have Gordo and Troy talk on those.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 23 2014,20:04

I played the shit out of Sins of a Solar Empire for a while. Wanted to multi back then but no one else had it. Games would be long.

There have been 2 or 4 expansions since it was released, I bought 2 of them. Skipped the "Diplomacy" expansion because fuck diplomacy. At this point I would probably have to rebuy it to be on the same version as everyone else, if it ended up being a multi game.... and then people would play 2 multi games and be tired of it.

So I don't really want to buy it again just for that.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 23 2014,20:15

I recommend Game Dev Tycoon if it goes on deep sale again. It's sort of like playing a spreadsheet, but if you like that sort of thing it's enough fun for the sale price. Some amusing references for old-school gamers included.

Prison Architect seems to have potential, too. Nowhere near as awesome as Evil Genius, but good enough to enjoy if on sale. Again, if you like that sort of game.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 24 2014,12:56

< Scandal in the Steam Sale. >

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 24 2014,13:09

The moment I saw there were teams I thought "People should organize and rig the contests... I don't have time for that crap though. I wonder how quickly they could organize and do it?"

When I saw the scores yesterday, it sure looked rigged.

Good for them.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 24 2014,13:09

I had noticed that things were clearly rigged, but I just assumed Valve did it. I didn't really consider the promotion as some sort of real competition, especially once the days came up clearly rigged. But I went along with it and didn't do my badge crafting and whatnot until Blue Day yesterday, thus increasing that trend.

It's interesting knowing what was really going on.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 26 2014,07:21

Looks like the truce is over, and the red team will be winning the rest of the days.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 26 2014,07:37

The whole concept is stupid.

Who spends the most money gets the prize? A very poor move by Valve.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 26 2014,07:56

I doubt they looked at it that way. They aren't that evil. They probably thought more about voting and commenting and the other activities that generate points. But in the end, yeah, spend money = make points. And random team assignment didn't really work out very well for balance, apparently.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 26 2014,08:01

(TPRJones @ Jun. 26 2014,10:56)

QUOTE

Um... maybe I misread, but the only way to make points I read about was crafting badges, which means $.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 26 2014,08:21

Yeah, the PC Gamer article mentions $ as well. Valve is apparently making a couple thousand a day on this contest.

You don't earn points by voting. It's all about crafting badges. Although going up levels gets you points too...are there ways to level up without spending money?

There's complaining about the whole thing going on in the Steam forums, as you would imagine. My favorite quote:

QUOTE

I miss when valve worked on games and not just ways to get people to practically give them money for nothing.

Less stupid shit like this, more HL2:Ep3...

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 26 2014,08:21

QUOTE

Um... maybe I misread, but the only way to make points I read about was crafting badges, which means $.

Not exclusively. You need cards to craft badges and you get the most card drops for purchases sure, but you also get them for voting and participating in the community by doing reviews and various other things.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 26 2014,08:49

(TPRJones @ Jun. 26 2014,11:21)

QUOTE

Um... maybe I misread, but the only way to make points I read about was crafting badges, which means $.

I've never seen card drops for those things.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 26 2014,09:38

You get a Summer card for every three votes. Also non-Summer badges count for competition points, too, so doing game reviews, playing games, and doing the other things that make regular game cards drop and give you a chance of making a badge all count. Well, as long as you make the badges during the competition.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 26 2014,11:57

Well, if you've already played games you own enough, you won't get anymore card drops, so purchasing new games will give you card drops...

Meaning you'll have to get new games (spend money).

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 26 2014,12:01

And how many of us have played all our games at all, much less enough to get all the drops? I sure haven't.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 27 2014,15:40

It's annoying me that Dead State hasn't gone on sale yet.

What is the "Friends List Slot 5 Slot Level Bonus Not tradable" I get when leveling in Steam?

Pink is winning today, so score points.

I figured out how scores go down. I just completed my third summer adventure card, and one of the rewards I received was a token that I could activate to steal 100 points from another team, and give them to the team of my choosing.

Anyone else level up or complete a badge and get a window that pops up with a picture that doesn't load, and a button saying "Manage Guest Passes"? What the hell is that?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 27 2014,15:49

I'll wait til tomorrow to see if I need points.

It lets you expand your friend limit by 5. Of all the useless....

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 27 2014,17:46

I made a point.

Holy fuck - Leisher made 124.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 27 2014,21:00

I have no idea how. I did finish off a few badges that I was only 1-2 cards away from, but I thought they were only 1 point each. Hell, even if they were 10, I didn't complete 10 of them today.

OH! I just realized 100 points were from that token I discussed in my previous post in this thread.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 28 2014,04:31

I somehow missed the 2nd half of your post. I see now.

And I finished a badge, but didnt get a guest pass window.

As I understand it, anyone who gets a point is eligible for the 3 games, right? Doesnt matter how many points?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 28 2014,19:33

The points for the final day are suspiciously close to each other. Steam rigging the last day themselves?

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 28 2014,19:45

To make up for the horribly designed competition, it'd be cool if they had a five way tie to end it.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 29 2014,05:14

Still looks like it. I went ahead and made a point.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 29 2014,11:01

I got two more cards today. Sold them for 20 cents.

I made $3.11 on this sale!

Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 29 2014,19:56

My contribution to the Steam Summer Sale economy:

Witcher: Enhanced Director's Ed. Cut
Velvet Assassin
Thief I-III
Nethergate Resurrection
Payday I
Witcher 2: Enhanced Ed.
BL2 Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2

Total: $20.08

Shit, I spent that much on beer today.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 29 2014,20:01

I'll blow my money in Winter like normal.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 08 2014,10:28

< PC Gamer is confused by these reviews on Steam. >

Posted by Troy on Sep. 08 2014,10:38

(Leisher @ Sep. 08 2014,10:28)

QUOTE

< PC Gamer is confused by these reviews on Steam. >

These are golden

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 10 2014,10:52

< The problem with developing games for the PC is PC users. >

Apparently, half of us DARE to wait until a product goes on sale before buying it. The article actually blames the consumer! How about not charging stupid amounts of money for your games and shitty DLC?

Posted by TPRJones on Sep. 10 2014,11:26

The mountain of shame exists because of Steam sales and is the very thing currently driving the PC games industry. If it weren't for buying the games on sale, that 50% of buyers would probably have never bought those games at all. The PC games industry is thriving in large part because of those sales and that shame.

Shaun Prescott is an idiot.

Posted by TheCatt on Sep. 13 2014,09:43

< Steam Roulette >

Was having performance issues when I tried it.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 15 2014,10:12

If you play CS or watch stuff on Twitch, give this a look.

< There's a nasty Twitch bot out there. >

It can empty your Steam wallet among other things.

Posted by TPRJones on Sep. 16 2014,16:40

Steam Roulette breaks a lot. And it changed too much a while back, taking away most of the best options.

I've started using < Steam Checklist > instead.

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 23 2014,09:40

< Over 100 million active accounts. >

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 23 2014,09:43

(Leisher @ Sep. 23 2014,11:40)

QUOTE

< Over 100 million active accounts. >

Waiting for EA to come out with a new press release that says, "Oh yeah, we got that many."

Posted by Leisher on Sep. 23 2014,10:00

I swear on all that is holy that my original post had the line: "I fully expect EA to come out tomorrow and say 'We have 101 million active accounts.'"

Posted by TheCatt on Nov. 13 2014,10:23

< $50 of Steam credit for $40 >

You know, for the upcoming winter sale.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 13 2014,10:46

I'm in.

Posted by Troy on Nov. 13 2014,11:15

If Life is Feudal goes on sale I might get it just to see what it feels like.

e: or the Repopulation

Posted by GORDON on Nov. 13 2014,11:54

(TheCatt @ Nov. 13 2014,13:23)

QUOTE

< $50 of Steam credit for $40 >

You know, for the upcoming winter sale.

I read that wrong, at first. I thought it was $40 off. Not as great a deal as I initially thought.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 13 2014,12:01

It's still money I will be spending, so any discount is a discount.

Posted by TheCatt on Nov. 13 2014,12:08

(Leisher @ Nov. 13 2014,15:01)

QUOTE

It's still money I will be spending, so any discount is a discount.

Exactly.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 26 2014,16:48

Their Black Friday sale has begun.

Posted by TheCatt on Nov. 26 2014,17:23

Wake me up when the real sale starts.

Posted by Troy on Nov. 26 2014,17:28

Good deal on beyond earth, not that Catt cares cause he already bought it. (me too)

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 26 2014,20:09

I bought The Long Dark.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 30 2014,19:35

The Secret World is on sale and there's no monthly subscription.

Just putting that out there.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 02 2014,09:07

Castle Crashers is a 4 player co-op side scroller. Very much like any fantasy rpgish arcade game you've ever played and lost quarters to. My wife and I had a BLAST playing it together on the Xbox.

It's a 1.50 on the steam sale. Not sure how it ports over to the PC but it was a blast in my living room.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 11 2014,07:10

< Winter sale probably starting on the 18th. >

This won't be the "Black Friday" mediocre sale. This will be one of their four times a year and comes with activities and badges sale.

Get those wishlists updated.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 11 2014,07:43

I love this sale. Although I mostly just buy stuff I'll never play.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 11 2014,07:54

Same here. I have games from three years back I haven't gotten around to playing yet.

And still I will buy more when they hit 75% off.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 11 2014,08:55

I bought that Lich-Battlemage game for 70% off. FPS shooter craft your own magic or something. Fuck it.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 11 2014,09:00

My Steam Pile of Shame is quite large and I'm very proud of it.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 11 2014,09:04

Kid glanced at my Steam library the other day and asked, "What's LIMBO?"

I don't know, kid. I don't know.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 11 2014,09:38

Limbo is one you can knock out in an evening and do it with the kid. It's very safe, and kind of cool. Definitely one you shouldn't skip.

How do you all sort your library?

I have:
Completed
Meh
Multi-Only

and then everything I haven't touched or am currently playing in the main group.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 11 2014,09:51

Favorites/Not Favorites

Weekly Culling. ~15 game fav list.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 11 2014,10:12

About a dozen favorites at the top that are the will-play-anytime games. Categories below that are:

Currently Installed
Not Yet Played
Play Again Someday
Played, Maybe Replay Maybe Not
ZZZ Never Bother With This Shit Again

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 11 2014,10:19

I don't sort anything... I mean, I guess it defaults to sorting alphabetically.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 12 2014,05:23

< Steam Holiday Auction! >

< Hacked and shutdown. >

Posted by Troy on Dec. 12 2014,07:30

The Lich:Battlemage game was incredibly satisfying for the 30m I played. Seems like a first person Magicka with crafting.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 13 2014,07:16

I turned in some crappy emoticons and stuff I had for gems. I went to bid, and prices were insane. (relative to my 1k gems). I ended up trading them in for a pack of 3 cards. So I have a complete pack of Borderlands pre-sequel cards now. Yay?

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 15 2014,18:07

< Steam won't greenlight a game cuz it's too violent. >

Don't be < Apple >, Steam.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 15 2014,18:16

(TheCatt @ Dec. 15 2014,20:07)

QUOTE

< Steam won't greenlight a game cuz it's too violent. >

Don't be < Apple >, Steam.

Amen.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 15 2014,19:26

I don't understand. Postal has been advertised in the store for the last few weeks. Do the close up kill shots really warrant not carrying this game over Postal?

I am really enjoying the comments I'm seeing about this game though. Peeps going off saying it shouldn't be released because kids will see it even though it's rated Mature. They're the same folks who want to ban guns and think it'll solve the problem of criminals getting them...

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 15 2014,19:38

"You can't ban steak because babies can't chew it."

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 15 2014,22:11

I watched the trailer. The whole time I'm thinking "No one in that crowd has a CC to take him out with?". This game is nothing but CCW propaganda.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 17 2014,11:18

< And Hatred is back. >

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 17 2014,11:23

QUOTE

The developer described Hatred as a reaction to a trend of political correctness in video games, and sought to make a game that eschewed politeness, colorfulness, and games as art. In this way, they also sought to make a game that recalled the industry's history as "a rebellious medium" and surface-level entertainment with no insertion of "any fake philosophy".

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 18 2014,10:47

As predicted, it has begun...

Grow your pile of shame!

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 18 2014,12:18

Got my wife's account up to level 8 today just so she could get cards by voting.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 18 2014,12:27

Original X-Com games were under $4 in a bundle, so I got them for me and my kid.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 18 2014,12:28

< Playfire is giving away a free Steam key. >

Anyone use Playfire? The list of games don't make this tempting, but I love the idea of stat tracking and earning rewards while playing.

Still, I'm not signing up without more info.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 18 2014,14:21

I signed up for Playfire a while ago, but I'm not aware it's done a damn thing for me.

I bought Pixel Piracy today ($2.50)

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 18 2014,15:33

(TheCatt @ Dec. 18 2014,17:21)

QUOTE

I bought Pixel Piracy today ($2.50)

Nice. I believe that's on my wishlist. At that price I'll grab it.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 18 2014,15:33

(Leisher @ Dec. 18 2014,18:33)

QUOTE

(TheCatt @ Dec. 18 2014,17:21)

QUOTE

I bought Pixel Piracy today ($2.50)

Nice. I believe that's on my wishlist. At that price I'll grab it.

I'm pretty sure you already own it. I didn't see it on anyone's wishlist.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 18 2014,18:34

I do.

My shame is great.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 18 2014,20:01

Saw Endless Legend was on sale today. It's a lot like Beyond Earth and Civ 5. But somehow I like it more than both and it's kept my attention.

< Link >

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 19 2014,04:47

(Troy @ Dec. 18 2014,23:01)

QUOTE

Saw Endless Legend was on sale today. It's a lot like Beyond Earth and Civ 5. But somehow I like it more than both and it's kept my attention.

< Link >

Was it 50% off when you bought it? Showing 33% off now.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 19 2014,06:12

QUOTE

and it's kept my attention.

I'll be impressed if you're playing it in two weeks.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 19 2014,07:51

(Leisher @ Dec. 19 2014,06:12)

QUOTE

and it's kept my attention.

I'll be impressed if you're playing it in two weeks.

Ha - it's true for MOST games. BUT, this specific game I bought when it was in early access and have been watching it develop for a while and playing a bit with each update. I may have even paid full price months ago.

The big sales pitch is that it's fantasy Beyond Earth/Civ 5. With 6+ very different factions, with very different approaches to the how they play.

You unlock units and can assimilate NPC villages, and use their units. I've found success using Elves and assimilate a few Minotaur villages for some beef.

Everything is very streamlined and there is less micromanagement then i'm used to in other games. Also there is a unit editor so you can take your basic units and upgrade them with weapons and armor, including magical weapons you can make from the two strategic resources.

It's a really good 4x, and my favorite game mode is like 5-6 Hard NPCs on a small "scarce resource" map. It's crazy fun, even if I get rolled 2/3 games before I can get some meat shields for my weak-ass elf dudes.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 19 2014,13:55

(Troy @ Dec. 18 2014,23:01)

QUOTE

.... and it's kept my attention.

That's saying alot.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 19 2014,14:31

(Cakedaddy @ Dec. 19 2014,13:55)

QUOTE

(Troy @ Dec. 18 2014,23:01)

QUOTE

.... and it's kept my attention.

That's saying alot.

in regards to Archeage, may the records show: (me, early September)

QUOTE

I don't know if this will keep me long term, and I think all the fun will be early and group centric.

And it was fun, and then it wasn't.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 19 2014,14:59

But what about ANY game? Rust, 6 weeks, max. Planetary Annihilation? 4 games? LoL, 3 or 4 weeks? Ummmm. I can't think of anything else. The moments are so fleeting. :-)

Posted by Troy on Dec. 19 2014,15:21

Definite problem. especially to my wallet.

I can't tell if the games are getting worse, or they aren't making the ones I used to like any more?

Most of my gaming time this year is in Rogue likes and Civ 5 variations.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 19 2014,16:49

Well, step one is covered. You admitted you have a problem!

I think it's like the old days with CBS, NBC and ABC being the only channels you could watch. Miss America had huge ratings because so many people watched it. Because Little House on the Prairie and who the fuck knows were the other two options. Now that we have cable and there are a brazilian channels to watch, MA isn't watched any more. Point is, there are so many games to play, jumping around is an option. Back when we played UO, what were our options? Not many.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Dec. 19 2014,19:30

Anyone think Beyond Earth will go lower than $30 during this sale? $30 only lasts another 12 hours.

Also, there are a shit ton of down votes. This game any good?

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 19 2014,21:36

I sort of enjoyed it. It's a step down from V, though, which I thought was a step down from IV. Like V it'll probably get major DLC later that will make it better. Hopefully.

I doubt it'll go cheaper this sale, though, since it's still pretty new.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 20 2014,09:17

(Cakedaddy @ Dec. 19 2014,22:30)

QUOTE

Anyone think Beyond Earth will go lower than $30 during this sale? $30 only lasts another 12 hours.

Also, there are a shit ton of down votes. This game any good?

No, I'm guessing it doesn't get lower.

I enjoyed it, but those types of games are enjoyable for me. I enjoyed it as much as Civ V.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 21 2014,14:55

(Troy @ Dec. 18 2014,23:01)

QUOTE

Saw Endless Legend was on sale today. It's a lot like Beyond Earth and Civ 5. But somehow I like it more than both and it's kept my attention.

< Link >

< Review >

Bought it.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 22 2014,19:12

This is relevant:

Posted by Troy on Dec. 22 2014,20:54

getting a lot of buzz lately, is Legend

< http://www.pcgamer.com/commend....s_fee=0 >

It's definitely different and very polished. has some form of timed turn based multi

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 23 2014,04:57

And is now 50% off, instead of 33% off.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 23 2014,12:42

How do games appear in my inventory? I'm not talking about those 4 pack ones, but just a copy of a game will be randomly dropped into my inventory.

Is there a random chance of that occurring when you purchase other games?

Posted by Troy on Dec. 23 2014,12:47

Sometimes games that are "free for the weekend" show up in your library? Other than that, dunno.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 23 2014,12:49

I've got four games in my inventory (not list of owned games, but inventory like where the cards are) that I have no idea how they got there. Not sure yet what to do with them.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 23 2014,12:52

(Leisher @ Dec. 23 2014,15:42)

QUOTE

I am not aware of such a thing?

What game(s) showed up?

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 23 2014,12:57

I've got packages of Dead Island Epidemic, Spacechem, Spacechem 63 Corvi DLC, and Contraption Maker. Anyone want one?

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 23 2014,16:57

Packages of dead island epidemic?

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 23 2014,17:28

I've got a bunch of those Dead Island Epidemics too. Hack N Slash is the other game that appeared in mine. I never bought it, but it's there. I've had this happen during sales in the past. It's never an AA title, but a cheap indy.

I've got several other leftover 4 pack titles.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 23 2014,17:30

What is di:e?

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 23 2014,21:59

< http://store.steampowered.com/app/222900/ >

Although it looks like it's free, so no idea why I have a packaged up one in my inventory that I can give away.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 26 2014,10:05

Anyone want to trade me a Zippy or two?

I can offer: Clementine, Rhombus, Tender, or Sparkles.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 26 2014,10:25

Offer me a trade in steam

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 26 2014,11:32

How does one look at a friend's wishlist?

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 26 2014,12:28

That was harder than I would have thought.

Just above Comments, and below Achievements, on a person's profile, look for:

And click Wishlist

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 26 2014,15:19

Interesting. One of the reasons I couldn't find it is because two of the people I searched didn't have wishlists.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 26 2014,15:55

(Leisher @ Dec. 26 2014,18:19)

QUOTE

Interesting. One of the reasons I couldn't find it is because two of the people I searched didn't have wishlists.

Yeah, Gordon has no list apparently.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 26 2014,15:57

(TheCatt @ Dec. 26 2014,17:55)

QUOTE

(Leisher @ Dec. 26 2014,18:19)

QUOTE

Interesting. One of the reasons I couldn't find it is because two of the people I searched didn't have wishlists.

Yeah, Gordon has no list apparently.

It's not a game he wants without coloured cardboard artwork. Hmm, perhaps Steam can partner with someone to ship empty boxes?

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 26 2014,16:29

I'll see you all in hell.

I can't think of anything I want that I haven't already bought. I will go through the store later.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 26 2014,17:49

QUOTE

I'll see you all in hell.

I hear they only offer digital downloads there. Maybe you need some churching up to avoid the fire, brimstone, and Steam of the afterlife.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 26 2014,17:57

(Leisher @ Dec. 26 2014,13:25)

QUOTE

Offer me a trade in steam

Offered

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 26 2014,18:34

Turns out I need Sliver. Anyone got it?

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 26 2014,18:49

I wish listed a little bit.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 26 2014,18:59

(Leisher @ Dec. 26 2014,20:34)

QUOTE

Turns out I need Sliver. Anyone got it?

Yo. Granted, I have no idea what badges, inventory items, or gems, or any of that shit is used for.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 26 2014,22:38

Sent you a trade offer and included that DI:E you asked about. Not sure if it's worth anything anymore.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 27 2014,09:01

(Leisher @ Dec. 27 2014,00:38)

QUOTE

Sent you a trade offer and included that DI:E you asked about. Not sure if it's worth anything anymore.

Sold to the man with the Johnny the Homicidal Maniac avatar. Ah, so DI:E is the battle arena version of DI.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 27 2014,09:32

He prefers Nny.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 27 2014,09:51

(Leisher @ Dec. 27 2014,11:32)

QUOTE

He prefers Nny.

Been an age and a half since I read it.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 27 2014,10:38

Is voting over alreayd?

*EDIT* Showing up now.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 27 2014,10:50

I need a Sage. Can trade: Tender, Rhombus, Silver, Sparkles, or Clementine.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 27 2014,10:56

Sage sent.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 27 2014,11:04

Thanks! Crafted the badge, and got a bunch of crap. Has anyone ever gotten something valuable from crafting?

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 27 2014,11:44

I've never gotten anything worth a damn.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 29 2014,16:31

Had minor surgery today. Thought it would give me a chance to work through my pile of shame. The percocet is so strong I barely want to breathe.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 29 2014,16:32

I would hardly call gender reassignment "minor surgery."

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 29 2014,16:58

(GORDON @ Dec. 29 2014,19:32)

QUOTE

I would hardly call gender reassignment "minor surgery."

They already did most of the work in earlier batches. And the surgeon wants to thank you for donating part of you big, giant pussy.

Or something.

Did I mention I'm on percocet?

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 29 2014,17:35

Never been. Vicodin is nice though.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 29 2014,17:48

Percocet is like a roller coaster version of vicodin. Higher highs, lower lows, and all the fun of puking. I prefer Vicodin, since I tolerate it better (no puking), but this level of pains needs more meds.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 31 2014,18:34

Cleared mine out once the voting was done, sorry.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 31 2014,18:37

Got a full set anyhow.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 31 2014,18:40

Enjoy your emoticon, wallpaper, and extra trading card!

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 18 2015,18:26

< How long will your pile of shame take to play? >

Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 18 2015,19:14

(TheCatt @ Jan. 18 2015,20:26)

QUOTE

< How long will your pile of shame take to play? >

I figure that if there's an afterlife, I might get a crack at making it 50% of the way through.

Posted by Troy on Jan. 18 2015,19:40

(TheCatt @ Jan. 18 2015,18:26)

QUOTE

< How long will your pile of shame take to play? >

I tried like 3 ways to get this to work and I think all it did was steal my Steam info. HACKERS EVERYWHERE

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 19 2015,06:25

I'm too ashamed to even look at that link.

Can't wait for the next Steam sale either. This last one was kind of a dud. There was a real lack of interactivity like previous sales.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 19 2015,07:14

QUOTE

TheCatt
It would take you...
1054 continuous hours
43 days,22 hours,56 minutes
of gameplay to complete your Steam library

Not bad, honestly.

Mine didn't work at first, but then I realized I had set a different custom URL for my profile than my profile name.

Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 19 2015,21:08

Speaking of my PoS, time to build up the wishlist again. Frighteningly enough, I just got another half dozen things by browsing on sale section in the store this week. About $25 if I wanted them all (decent chance). Where the fuck was Steam when I was in grade school and dropping $50 per Nintendo cartridge and had a good twelve hours a day to devote to gaming? Kids nowadays got it easy.

Posted by TPRJones on Jan. 31 2015,19:50

QUOTE

*DEAD* TPRJones
It would take you...
5397 continuous hours
224 days,21 hours,19 minutes
of gameplay to complete your Steam library

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 06 2015,05:51

< Square Enix is apparently giving their titles away this weekend. >

Ok, not really, but the entire Tomb Raider collection for $16? All the Hitman games for $8?

Pretty awesome.

Posted by Malcolm on Feb. 06 2015,14:53

< I'll see your Square > and raise you an Eidos.

EDIT: I splurged $0.62 on a trio of Thief twink DLCs. 2250 extra gold, some bonus items, bigger quiver, better lockpicks.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 07 2015,09:34

Anachronox is part of the sale! $1.74

I HIGHLY recommend it. It's dated, but this game is in the top ten list for "best game you never played."

Posted by Troy on Feb. 07 2015,09:37

< Darkest Dungeon > is available on Early Access.

It's an Xcom/Fantasy/2d scroller/roguelike... thing. Not sure how else to describe it, but the art style and narrator and sound and everything is amazing.

Posted by Malcolm on Feb. 07 2015,09:51

A dungeon crawler with a psychological stress feature?

Posted by Troy on Feb. 07 2015,09:58

Yes. It's super hard. You have to give your heros gold for booze, or access to the temple to bring their sanity down (other stuff too). It's super expensive. On the other hand, if you don't spend enough money on provisioning your next adventure you can't get past 3-4 big fights without pushing it or turning back. And getting a party wiped can really set you back.

< RPS >

Posted by Malcolm on Feb. 07 2015,10:03

The psych factor worked for me in shit like < this >, when it's first person and I can see the effects on the monitor. I don't know what it'll be like if two of my four dudes are "paralyzed by fear" or one decides to be a greedy bitch because he didn't get enough poontang in town.

Posted by Malcolm on Feb. 09 2015,21:20

Holy balls. < MDK > 1 and 2 on sale this week. Back from when Interplay didn't suck. Which was so long ago, it was when EA didn't suck.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 11 2015,10:08

< Mystery Midweek Sale >

Posted by Malcolm on Feb. 23 2015,19:25

Original "Rise of the Triad" is packaged with "Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold" and a couple other old-school Apogee games. $2.49.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 25 2015,12:37

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 03 2015,10:49

< Early Access's current success rate is 25%. >

The Long Dark director kind of blames gamers, or at least, < the studios that listen to them. >

Notice they mention people are getting tired of being burned by Kickstarter projects too.

Kickstarter is what it is and buyer beware, but I do think Steam needs to separate Early Access games from finished games. Currently they promote and sell them as equals despite the light blue bar, that's sort of buried, specifying a game's Early Access status.

Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 03 2015,12:10

The key to Early Access is sell it and buy it strictly as "for the money I am paying now there is enough game here to make me happy". If it's not that far along yet it shouldn't be on Early Access. If it is then great, and future improvements are just gravy for the early adopter, but failure to finish is no skin off the buyers nose as they got their fun out of it.

The problem with Kickstarter is it's being used for the wrong things too much. It works best for small projects for specific physical or digital items, and if structured that way then even if it goes viral and explodes it still has a good chance of successfully completing. It's the over-promising stretch goals and way too many tiers full of special goodies that can't all be cost effective that are the problem. And once some key bonus items can't be fulfilled the resulting panic and despair crashes the whole project.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 27 2015,09:43

< Paid mods hit Steam. >

< Petition to remove paid mods hits 34k in one day. > (I just looked and it's up to 130K.)

< One paid mod already removed due to using content from a free mod. >

Personally, while I think folks should have the opportunity to make cash off their hard work, I'm not sure they should here. They're using technology they didn't pay for, licenses they didn't pay for, code they didn't create, and riding the coat tails of other people's work. And how do you police this stuff, as it seems like it'll encourage more theft as folks might try to do a quick cash grab via blatantly stolen content? Plus, Steam is already filled with a ton of shit games, and that's not counting the Early Access stuff. Do we really need to muddy the waters even more? Granted, this will be a very niche market thing (actually more like a niche market within a niche market), but still if you fill your store with too much shit, it makes it harder for folks to find stuff they want, and thus, sales drop. I know I'm getting more gun shy about indy and Early Access games based on some of the crap I've purchased.

I certainly don't want to discourage mods, but they weren't being paid before and things were working. Now I'm worried we'll see another Early Access situation where folks do just enough to get paid and then abandon their projects.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 28 2015,05:41

< Valve is removing paid mods because their customers asked. >

When asked for comment an EA spokesman said, "We don't understand what Valve is doing here. They have all the power over the suckers...I mean, consumers. Clearly all these people are thieves since they don't want to pay."

Posted by TPRJones on Apr. 28 2015,09:39

This was badly done.

I understand what Steam was trying to set up and I think their intentions were good. But there are WAY too many problems that haven't been resolved with the system they went with. I'm glad it's all been pulled down.

Posted by TheCatt on Apr. 28 2015,10:04

People should be free to sell mods.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 28 2015,10:16

(TheCatt @ Apr. 28 2015,13:04)

QUOTE

People should be free to sell mods.

I'm sure they can, just not on Steam at the moment.

And you're ok with them getting around all the licenses, using code they didn't create, using tools they didn't create and potentially don't have access to, using content from other mods, etc.?

So would you agree that if I filmed an alternate ending for Return of the Jedi, I could slap it onto the rest of the film and then sell that?

I'm just giving you a hard time, but this is clearly an area that the law isn't ready to cover. People should be free to sell their work, but there are flaws in this system where other folks would have their work ignored and they wouldn't be paid.

Posted by Malcolm on Apr. 28 2015,10:23

QUOTE

So would you agree that if I filmed an alternate ending for Return of the Jedi, I could slap it onto the rest of the film and then sell that?

Long as it didn't suck as much ass as the original.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 28 2015,10:40

(Malcolm @ Apr. 28 2015,13:23)

QUOTE

So would you agree that if I filmed an alternate ending for Return of the Jedi, I could slap it onto the rest of the film and then sell that?

Long as it didn't suck as much ass as the original.

That's why I went with Return and not Empire.

Posted by TheCatt on Apr. 28 2015,11:35

(Leisher @ Apr. 28 2015,13:16)

QUOTE

(TheCatt @ Apr. 28 2015,13:04)

QUOTE

People should be free to sell mods.

I'm not big on what the state of mods is.

But, I assume that people have tools generally provided by developers to make them. Artwork, etc may be part of that.

ie. Mods are encouraged by the developers.

Movies do not fit that.

But I lean towards people being able to be creative and do what they want.

Posted by TPRJones on Apr. 28 2015,11:38

QUOTE

So would you agree that if I filmed an alternate ending for Return of the Jedi, I could slap it onto the rest of the film and then sell that?

Doesn't apply in this case; developers had to opt in and allow it in order for people to monetize mods to their game. It's like having pre-approval from Lucas (now Disney) to do what you say in your example, so yes you could sell that. And some of the money goes to Lucas, too, not just to you.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 28 2015,11:48

QUOTE

But, I assume that people have tools generally provided by developers to make them. Artwork, etc may be part of that.

QUOTE

I don't know much about modding either, but based on some of the comments on the petition, there are people getting fucked in the deal. It's not just about the developers because sometimes they didn't create all the content or tools. Essentially, the argument being made was along the lines of someone getting paid for making a movie, but the writer never receiving a dime.

And that's assuming the game's engine was created by the company behind the game. What happens in a situation where they licensed the engine? Now folks are trying to charge for mods using an engine they don't have a legal right to use.

Like I said, I think there's a LOT of work to be done before this can become a business.

Posted by TPRJones on Apr. 28 2015,12:10

Well, in some cases people were uploading mods they didn't write or that included dependencies that they didn't write. Modders stealing from other modders. And that's a problem. But they were stopped from stealing form the game developer by how the process was set up.

Basically the setup was entirely geared towards protecting businesses, and had no tools in place for protecting the rights of individual content creators.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 28 2015,19:32

All Star Wars games are on sale through May 4th.

Posted by GORDON on Apr. 28 2015,19:46

Ha, Star Wars Day.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 30 2015,21:36

The Activision sale going on right now is the least impressive sale I've ever seen. Holy shit is their stuff over priced.

The original Call of Duty is $10 and that's at 75% off? Do they think they're EA and Steam is Origin?

Posted by GORDON on May 11 2015,17:45

Is Troy the "Captain Bill" who just appeared in my Steam friend list?

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 02 2015,11:48

< New Refund Policy. >

"Any Reason"

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 02 2015,13:28

Hmmm, there are a couple of games I bought in 2008 that were such total shit I never played more than 10 minutes of them. Too late for that refund?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 02 2015,13:29

QUOTE

The only conditions, generally speaking, is that the refund request must be made within two weeks of the original purchase, and the content in question must have less than two hours of playtime.

That seems entirely reasonable.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 02 2015,15:35

(GORDON @ May 11 2015,20:45)

QUOTE

Is Troy the "Captain Bill" who just appeared in my Steam friend list?

Yeah that's me.

I needed a Rust persona to make people not immediately shoot me. Using Bill Murray from Caddyshack:

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 05 2015,12:00

(TheCatt @ Dec. 17 2014,14:18)

QUOTE

< And Hatred is back. >

Here, but it didn't have it's own thread.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 07 2015,19:04

< Steam gift card $100 for $85 >

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 12 2015,10:53

Summer sale started yesterday.

There is some game to earn cards, but I cannot make it go, keep getting errors.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 12 2015,11:19

Finally got in a game... but it needs 1000 people before it can start.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 12 2015,11:59

and it crashed.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 12 2015,12:58

It crashed because TPR and I aren't participating yet.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 12 2015,14:23

It's basically like clicker heroes, cept less so.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 12 2015,18:01

It won't start for me.

And GTA V is still $60...*sigh*

Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 12 2015,18:14

(Leisher @ Jun. 12 2015,20:01)

QUOTE

It won't start for me.

And GTA V is still $60...*sigh*

Wow. Thought they'd cut it at least 25%. Wait until Christmas.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 12 2015,18:16

(Leisher @ Jun. 12 2015,21:01)

QUOTE

It won't start for me.

And GTA V is still $60...*sigh*

It took me about 5 times. Did you try joining my game? Was wondering if that made it easier.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 12 2015,18:49

Oh, their $80 package is being sold at $60, but it includes shit I don't want.

Fuck them.

I've been trying a LOT. I have my Monster Summer Fame 2015 badge crafted too.

It also won't let me join your game because you're over 10 levels ahead of me. (In game, not membership levels.)

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 13 2015,06:16

(Leisher @ Jun. 12 2015,21:49)

QUOTE

I've been trying a LOT. I have my Monster Summer Fame 2015 badge crafted too.

How did you craft your badge already?

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 13 2015,09:54

It worked for about five minutes.

Not enough servers?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 13 2015,10:09

I assume it ends from 12pm to 1pm... working for me right now.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 13 2015,13:57

I got one going this morning still going.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 13 2015,19:34

(Leisher @ Jun. 13 2015,16:57)

QUOTE

I got one going this morning still going.

Weird, I came back to mine and it said "game ended," I figured it was like the old reset where at 1pm it was a new day and you got new cards.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 13 2015,19:38

This game is not fun. I appreciate the effort, but instead of creating a game (that probably took a day to make) to eat up my time, how about you instead ask me to play the games you're trying to sell me?

This is not one of the stronger Valve ideas.

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 13 2015,19:41

I got it to work a little.

Multiplayer Clicker Heroes was not a good idea.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 13 2015,19:55

I would like it if it had a reason to it. But it's just blah.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 13 2015,20:35

(TPRJones @ Jun. 23 2014,23:15)

QUOTE

Prison Architect seems to have potential, too. Nowhere near as awesome as Evil Genius, but good enough to enjoy if on sale. Again, if you like that sort of game.

Any good?

Posted by TPRJones on Jun. 13 2015,21:40

I haven't played but a few hours and not recently, but it was fun and had a lot of potential. As long as the continued development didn't ruin it and it's on sale then I think it's worth it.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 14 2015,16:51

How to get 3 cards a day, apparently:

QUOTE

You do realize that you get 1 card for playing, another card if you join a friend (after playing already), and you get a 3rd if you kill the level 10 boss.
Here's how I do it, Start game ->get card-> kill lvl10 boss->get card->Join Friend->get card.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 15 2015,10:42

(TheCatt @ Jun. 14 2015,19:51)

QUOTE

How to get 3 cards a day, apparently:

QUOTE

Hmm, I only got two cards. I joined when my friend's game was still getting to 1000 players, so maybe that prevented it?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 16 2015,12:37

I need cards: 1, 2, 4, and 9 (up to 2 of each).

I can trade: 3, 6, 7, 8, and 10

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 16 2015,13:22

Even if all my time wasn't spent traveling during this summer sale, I found it to be very disappointing.

The game is TERRIBLE and was just a badly conceived idea from top to bottom.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 16 2015,13:58

Meh. At least it only takes about 10 seconds to get your cards.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 16 2015,14:30

Yeah, if you can join a game, which is iffy the later the day gets.

This sale sucked.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 18 2015,16:37

I've made 70 cents selling extra cards.

Do I sell the rest, or get the badge?

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 19 2015,17:00

I made $1.50 so far this sale, and I got the badge.

Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 21 2015,17:54

Time to sacrifice to the Steam gods before the sale's over.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 21 2015,19:04

I made almost $3!

Posted by Troy on Jun. 21 2015,19:05

Steam Tycoon - the game.

Posted by TheCatt on Jun. 22 2015,11:07

(Troy @ Jun. 21 2015,22:05)

QUOTE

Steam Tycoon - the game.

At least I can win that game.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 27 2015,06:56

< Are there too many games on Steam? >

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 27 2015,10:52

Are there too many books in the library?

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 27 2015,11:14

If you want to finish them all, yes.

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 27 2015,11:16

< Hackage >.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 27 2015,11:25

QUOTE

Are there too many games on Steam?

Yeah! I know what you mean. I miss the days when there were three television channels to choose from, and we liked it that way! Having choices is for hippies!

Posted by Malcolm on Jul. 27 2015,11:33

QUOTE

Those who point at the perpetual logjam of new releases feel that Valve has abandoned any semblance of quality control. They fear that Steam will become like the App Store, known more for what it rejects than what it showcases. And they have a point: who wants lazy mobile game ports, halfheartedly erotic pinball, soccer-fighting games, something called SpaceCorn, or Gynophobia, “a horror shooter about abnormal fear of women,” on Steam? How can deserving, independent gems to stand out in an ecosystem filled with junk?

By not sucking. For every decent game made, you figure at least 10 shitty ones are made.

QUOTE

Consider this prescient quote from 1986 by Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo’s president: “Atari collapsed because they gave too much freedom to third-party developers and the market was swamped with rubbish games.”

It ain't '86 no more. If your game is ass, the < internet will kill you > in a week, tops. I won't even talk about comparing the hardware back then with what we've got now, but it's about a thousand times better.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 27 2015,11:51

(TPRJones @ Jul. 27 2015,14:25)

QUOTE

Are there too many games on Steam?

Yeah! I know what you mean. I miss the days when there were three television channels to choose from, and we liked it that way! Having choices is for hippies!

You understand I was simply linking an article, yes?

I don't think there are too many games on Steam. I DO think Steam should be stricter about what games get put on Steam, and possibly change the way they do Early Access games.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 27 2015,11:56

I think they should have a "shitty games i'm never going to play" category. And populate accordingly. I don't care how.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 27 2015,12:13

(Leisher @ Jul. 27 2015,13:51)

QUOTE

You understand I was simply linking an article, yes?

Oh. When you inverted the intention of the article's title I thought you were making a statement. If you had linked it with the original title I wouldn't have taken it that way.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 27 2015,12:45

No statement. I actually used the same headline PC Gamer did for the article.

Posted by TPRJones on Jul. 27 2015,17:26

(Leisher @ Jul. 27 2015,08:56)

QUOTE

< Are there too many games on Steam? >

versus

(PC Gamer @ Jul. 21 2015)

QUOTE

< There aren't 'too many' games on Steam >

Thus my mistaken assumption. My apologies.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 27 2015,20:41

Nothing to apologize for as I never took any sort of offense. I was just confused about your interpretation of my link text.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 28 2015,08:05

< Valve made a lot of money last year. >

Great! How about spending some of that money to develop Half-Life 2 Episode 3?

Posted by Troy on Jul. 31 2015,08:38

Anyone got a good new multi game I should check out this weekend?

Posted by Malcolm on Sep. 17 2015,18:40

< 3P tool > for moving Steam files from one location to another. Going to test it.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 11 2015,16:23

Steam already nags me to verify my email address like once a month, and I can't get rid of the nag notification until I do. Now they are doing the same thing trying to get my cell phone number, which I am never, ever going to enter? That's annoying.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 11 2015,16:42

Steam never asks me for my email.

As for the cell thing, what are you worried about? Telemarketers?

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 11 2015,17:03

(Leisher @ Oct. 11 2015,19:42)

QUOTE

Steam never asks me for my email.

As for the cell thing, what are you worried about? Telemarketers?

Sure.

And I have already seen all the arguments for "don't worry about it just give them your phone number."

But I don't want to and I don't think I should be nagged about it every day.

We have 3 accounts in the house and we get the "verify your email" message frequently.

Posted by TheCatt on Oct. 11 2015,19:04

I get some weird thing about verifying who I am, or logging in as if I've never used a computer before periodically.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 11 2015,19:14

Stealing Steam accounts has become a thing, like stealing email accounts and whatnot. (That happened to me once, but I stole it back. The guy forgot to change the security question and answer.)

So I don't mind Steam checking to see if its me when I log in from a new PC.

My cell is an identifier for me in a couple sites, and to date, no telemarketing calls.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 11 2015,19:23

I try to keep my online footprint as small as possible... to my knowledge NO online service has my phone number (Facebook also asks for it frequently), but in this post-google world, it may be a moot point.

I bet google already knows my number because of the Andoid OS.

Posted by Leisher on Oct. 11 2015,19:34

What's going to get difficult is that cell phone numbers are going to get more and more fluid.

There's got to be an opportunity for an app to help people manage ALL of their social media and email accounts. Manage, post, do security settings, etch.

One app to rule them all!

But yeah, I respect trying to maintain some privacy, but I consider my cell number used by (somewhat) trusted vendors in a "security" capacity to be ok.

I've only regretted giving out the number once. Fucking Red Cross...

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 11 2015,19:44

I automatically punch numbers not in my contact list to voicemail.

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 11 2015,22:10

And if there was a phone app to enable you to have a blacklist for incoming numbers that coulnd't be spoofed, I'd have less of a problem with it. I know the tech exists but no company in the chain of voice-providing would want to eliminate a revenue stream of selling blocks of phone numbers to their "partners."

Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 12 2015,07:18

You're saying they'll guess the number of someone on my contact list and I'll be forced to hang up on them?

Posted by GORDON on Oct. 12 2015,07:33

"That can't be spoofed."

Posted by Troy on Oct. 17 2015,07:34

Saw a game I was looking forward to went on Early Release. < Warhammer:Vermintide >

Trying it out this weekend. Really fun so far, 4 man co-op and a mix of L4D-Chivalry-Diablo. It's really hard, I still have yet to get grouped with a team that has finished the 3 pre-release levels without getting wiped. Haven't found any loot yet either. Classes are Dwarf, Elf, Witchhunter, Soldier and Fire Mage.

Mostly going Witchhunter so far, who seems to be good at picking off special enemies and also dying.

Posted by Troy on Oct. 18 2015,08:14

Finally grouped with at team that had their shit together. We rolled through the first level and collected all the extra loot. I got a bunch of chances to get something good and pulled a rare crossbow out of the deal. reloads 50% faster.

Posted by Troy on Oct. 22 2015,13:15

< Releases tomorrow. >

Posted by Troy on Oct. 25 2015,09:11

I got to play some more Verminitide last night - wife's bro is in town and has been using my study so gaming time is sparse until he leaves.

I tried the new Steam streaming option to show Cake and Stranger a mission. Even though I died at the very end and didn't get any loot I think they they thought it looked interesting. Cake said the streaming option was really high quality.

I'd best describe it as steampunk L4D with diablo loot elements. Little borderlands in the weapon customization too I think.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 02 2015,12:24

I purchased 19 games during the Halloween sale for $8 and change.

Posted by TPRJones on Nov. 03 2015,11:25

Did I miss the fall sale?

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 05 2015,08:14

It was a minor one over Halloween weekend.

No events or activities and I believe only "spooky" titles were on sale.

GTA V counted because they were running Halloween events in their online content.

Posted by Leisher on Nov. 05 2015,12:19

< Microtransactions are going to get worse. >

This is not good, although if you look at it from the TKV perspective it's kind of awesome. Wars of attrition take on a whole new meaning when you're taking their real money away from them.

Posted by Troy on Nov. 05 2015,12:38

Eh - Rust is a bad example of "bad" micro-transactions.

It's not like you pay 3 dollars for a special red gun and suddenly you get it and own all the other naked who only have rocks.

In the red gun example, you have to first find the regular gun blueprint the red gun is based on, and then you have to craft the damn thing, and on crafting you get an option for it to be a red gun. And now you have a red gun that stands out like crazy and gets you even more killed than usual - and it's not any better than the regular version of the gun.

It lets people be really creative with model shading, which is kind of neat. I honestly really like the system, though I haven't bought any. Have seen a few people with "W33dlord420" and similar shirts, which makes me chuckle.

Posted by TheCatt on Nov. 20 2015,20:16

< Different this year >

Posted by TheCatt on Nov. 20 2015,20:19

QUOTE

The report says the Steam Fall Sale kicks off at 10 am PST on November 25 and runs until 10 am PST on December 1, while the Winter Sale will begin at 10 am PST on December 22 and end at 10 am PST on January 4.

Posted by TPRJones on Nov. 21 2015,11:38

Good news for my wallet. I get to keep my money this year.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 01 2015,10:50

I think the new method is a major fail.

For the first time in years, a Steam sale took place and I bought nothing.

Or perhaps it's because I know there's another one coming in a few weeks.

Two notes though:
1. Thank you Malcolm for voting "wait" on GTA V. It was marked down even more this sale than the one prior. I expect it to be the same at X-Mas.
2. Hitting the "Under $5" tab for me results in the first pages of games saying "In Library"... I imagine TPR's is probably similar.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 01 2015,14:07

I ended up spending about $70, half of what they usually get out of me. Not all that many titles on my wishlist hit the 75% off mark that triggers me to buy this time around.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 04 2015,11:43

< You can now delete items from your library permanently. >

Let's be honest, this is for the laziest of people who can't make a fucking list.

And you just know some dumbasses are going to delete a game and then re-buy it not realizing they had previously owned it.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 04 2015,12:06

There are lists?

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 04 2015,12:36

I'll use it.

Sure I have a list called "zzz Never Play These Again Ever!" but I'd just as soon delete them entirely.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 04 2015,13:28

Let me know when you end up buying a game you deleted. You KNOW it's going to happen!

that's why I won't delete them. I'd rather have them listed as "In Your Library".

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 04 2015,14:13

No it won't. There aren't many on that "wish I could delete list" and they're all of the "I'd rather shove bamboo under my fingernails than play that game again" variety. The only way I'd buy them again is if I forgot how awful they are, but they are all so bad that this is not a thing that will happen.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 04 2015,14:15

If they're so bad that you won't forget them, then removing the items from your list has minimal benefit.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 04 2015,14:18

I just have favorites and everything else.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 04 2015,14:31

(Malcolm @ Dec. 04 2015,16:15)

QUOTE

If they're so bad that you won't forget them, then removing the items from your list has minimal benefit.

Only in the sense that one never forgets having had cancer. Doesn't mean there's not a benefit to removing the cancer.

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 04 2015,14:42

(TPRJones @ Dec. 04 2015,16:31)

QUOTE

(Malcolm @ Dec. 04 2015,16:15)

QUOTE

If they're so bad that you won't forget them, then removing the items from your list has minimal benefit.

Only in the sense that one never forgets having had cancer. Doesn't mean there's not a benefit to removing the cancer.

I've seen many, many, many movies. Some good, some bad, with and without quotes around each. There are a few truly bad ones I still forget.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 04 2015,14:52

Still, if you had been forced to keep the DVDs of all the bad movies you had watched then one day there was an update to shelves and you could finally take those awful DVDs and throw them away, wouldn't you?

Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 04 2015,15:07

I don't have to keep DVDs the same way Steam doesn't make you keep games. The only time they arguably take up physical space is during a quantum existence that spontaneously occurs when your eyes lock onto the text in your menu. Can't you just tag or label games "Fuck this shit" and set up a library filter so you never see them anymore?

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 04 2015,15:46

I still have DVDs of movies I didn't like.

If they added a tag that said "Deleted" and it showed up for games you deleted from your library, that would make this feature far more useful.

And I still wouldn't delete any because a) you never know and b) I have shitty games under a "meh" list and know not to play them.

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 04 2015,16:31

To each his own, I guess.

My groups are:
Favorites
10 Currently Playing
20 Games Played w/ MentalClinic
30 Occasionally Playing
40 Never Played
50 Never Installed
60 Played & Loved
70 Played & Okay
80 Played & Meh
zzz Never Fucking Again

I will be happy to delete everything in that last one. It will be the most enjoyment I've gotten out of those games.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 11 2015,06:37

< Why Steam trading sucks >

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 14 2015,18:28

Steam updated on me and I got the "Restart Steam to apply changes?" message, and I hit restart, and it uninstalled Steam. Had to reload it. The website didn't even recognize my browser when I went to DL it again... it made me enter a verification code.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 22 2015,12:02

Sale is on. You have to make a lot of clickys to get 3 cards today.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 25 2015,13:58

< Oooops - Steam revealing other people's account information >

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 25 2015,15:13

If it IS a caching issue, I assume person B is seeing the customer info of the purchase person A made right before them. So I would be good, not having made a purchase in a couple weeks.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 25 2015,16:50

Ditto, didn't buy anything this sale.

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 26 2015,12:31

I haven't purchased anything since the Summer Sale.

I will be buying stuff this sale though.

Speaking of that, Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander (and expansion) can be had for $5 (for both) on Steam now.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 26 2015,13:19

I don't see the package deal

Posted by Leisher on Dec. 26 2015,13:25

I didn't mention a package deal.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 26 2015,13:33

I bought something today. I bought the Steam Link to see about gaming from my computer onto my TV, instead of buying an XBox.

Also bought Lego Star Wars to see if my kids like it.

Although, I bought the Link from Amazon cuz it was free shipping.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 27 2015,11:24

Bought some stuff today. Bought some local co-op games to try out with my family.

Posted by TheCatt on Dec. 30 2015,18:23

Sales is < more than just a sale >

Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 30 2015,20:30

What?

Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 22 2016,10:03

< Yes >.

Posted by TPRJones on Jan. 22 2016,10:44

Don't do it. If you are going to play old Atari games, don't do it on anything with a monitor or TV. Do it on a small screen, like your phone. It'll look so much better that way.

Atari 2600 games really did look best on old tube TVs that helped smooth the sharp pixels and smooth the color gradients. And they weren't so big as to make the low resolution a problem.

Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 22 2016,11:07

The devs wouldn't be stupid enough to force them in full screen, would they?

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 22 2016,11:16

We recently went to an old style arcade and some of the games were as awesome as remembered. Others not so much.

Sometimes it's better to leave the past in the past.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 22 2016,13:04

(Leisher @ Jan. 22 2016,14:16)

QUOTE

We recently went to an old style arcade and some of the games were as awesome as remembered. Others not so much.

Sometimes it's better to leave the past in the past.

Yeah.... well, same thing about movies you watched as a kid.

That being said, when I built my MAME I still loved most of the games.

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 22 2016,15:11

None of us could get past the 3rd wave of Tron.

Posted by TPRJones on Jan. 22 2016,15:27

I wonder if playing too much Tron caused my dislike of spiders.

Posted by Leisher on Jan. 22 2016,23:41

We also discovered that one of us is the greatest Galaga player in history.

Posted by TheCatt on Jan. 23 2016,05:30

(Leisher @ Jan. 23 2016,02:41)

QUOTE

We also discovered that one of us is the greatest Galaga player in history.

Yall were spying on me?

Posted by GORDON on Jan. 23 2016,06:02

Snap. I guess I am going to have to youtube the video I made.

Posted by Leisher on Feb. 05 2016,11:10

A new Steam sale started today.

Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 03 2016,05:49

Own a game? < Steam finally discounts the bundle >

Posted by Leisher on Mar. 03 2016,07:27

Finally!

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 06 2016,12:51

< Guy finds security hole in Steam and adds a game to the store. >

< A Steam competitor has applied to be added to Steam... >

Posted by Malcolm on Apr. 06 2016,17:46

< Hah >.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 06 2016,20:37

My Steam store has become a giant VR ad. It's kind of annoying.