Been using Steam since HL2 came out and while I prefer to buy stuff as a box (especially if there's a CE or steelbook available) I do like that I can queue up all my games after an OS refresh and go do something else. Steam's servers/CDN normally appear to provide content (bacon?) at the maximum my internet connection can handle (around 10MB/s or 80Mb/s). I had about 50GB of games download and install the other night while I was out of the house at an osteopath appointment.
Offline mode "issues" have been identified as an issue by Valve rather than "by design" to force people to login but apparently it's a complex thing to solve (hopefully not as complex as Eve's POS coding which was heavily enmeshed with the NPC branch of coding ... )
Agree that the Steam sales are the biggest "con" to my addiction to PC games.
Woot!! Just purchased! .. Maybe steams not so bad...
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I still not like Steam that much, but I gradually accepted that there is no way around it (unless you walk the "dark side" to play games, witch I wont).
I must admit that Steam sparked porting games to Linux (because there is a Linux Steam console coming). That earned some sympathy from me, although I realize this was just an economic decision and not some kind of charity or idealism.
I must admit that Steam sparked porting games to Linux (because there is a Linux Steam console coming). That earned some sympathy from me, although I realize this was just an economic decision and not some kind of charity or idealism.
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Hardscript
- Posts: 226
- Joined: Mon, 16. Mar 09, 10:32
meh, i still hate steam. freakin thing won't even let me install games where i want them. i certainly don't want to browse a steam directory for my games, nor tie myself to its launcher. gamesaves are also placed in odd places. and you need to move the whole steam directory if you have an ssd and can't afford to put all the games on it. sorry, but too much pain for no gain. i'll be happy when the no-steam download is available from egosoft (hopefully not in 7 years:P). i asume they have a contract preventing it's release too soon, though.
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CutterJohn1
- Posts: 563
- Joined: Sat, 27. Jun 09, 23:21
While that is true, it is not legally required of them. They do it because they want to, not because they have to.Hopscotch wrote:And in case you do something that gets your account banned from Steam you will still be able to access your games, you just won't be able to buy new games with that account or use multiplayer features.
It may be an unlikely concern, but it is not a frivolous concern.
Just pointing out that Steam lets you install games on any hard drive. The only limit I've faced so far is that it allows only one folder per drive.
Plus, you can move the game folders anywhere you want with Steam Mover (link) which is made for Steam games or Junction Link Magic (link). JLM is a bit more complex program.
Plus, you can move the game folders anywhere you want with Steam Mover (link) which is made for Steam games or Junction Link Magic (link). JLM is a bit more complex program.
Steam was a life saver for me. Several deployments and constant moving does a terrible number to CD/DVDs and the drives that read them. Dust and dirt get in there and can't easily be cleaned even with the tools you might buy to do just that. The dust out there is simply too fine.
X3:R and TC were casualties of this as well. I originally bought X3:R in Germany where I first heard of it. However the discs eventually degraded to the point I couldn't install any longer. I went to the store there to find another copy and found X3:TC in a bundle with X3:R. I bought that and really enjoyed X3:TC so much more than X3:R.
However during my deployment to Iraq the DVD drive of my laptop died and the discs were irreparably scrateched in the drive. I had no easy access to new discs, nor a way to use them, but then I found out it was available on Steam. It may have taken a week to download it, but it was well worth it.
To date, I have bought X3:R three separate times, X3:TC twice, X3: AP once, and X: Rebirth. I still believe it was worth every penny, and never again should I need to worry about my discs or drive not performing to standard.
Steam isn't perfect mind you. I had plenty of trouble with it, but it was more because of bad internet connection than actual Steam problems. It really isn't fair to blame Steam for those kinds of problems. Instead you should blame your ISP, and demand better service. It may not work, but if enough people in your area do so, it might change for the better.
X3:R and TC were casualties of this as well. I originally bought X3:R in Germany where I first heard of it. However the discs eventually degraded to the point I couldn't install any longer. I went to the store there to find another copy and found X3:TC in a bundle with X3:R. I bought that and really enjoyed X3:TC so much more than X3:R.
However during my deployment to Iraq the DVD drive of my laptop died and the discs were irreparably scrateched in the drive. I had no easy access to new discs, nor a way to use them, but then I found out it was available on Steam. It may have taken a week to download it, but it was well worth it.
To date, I have bought X3:R three separate times, X3:TC twice, X3: AP once, and X: Rebirth. I still believe it was worth every penny, and never again should I need to worry about my discs or drive not performing to standard.
Steam isn't perfect mind you. I had plenty of trouble with it, but it was more because of bad internet connection than actual Steam problems. It really isn't fair to blame Steam for those kinds of problems. Instead you should blame your ISP, and demand better service. It may not work, but if enough people in your area do so, it might change for the better.
Streaming most nights 1800-0000ish at www.twitch.tv/chthonicone/
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Vandragorax
- Posts: 1183
- Joined: Fri, 13. Feb 04, 04:25
You can request refunds through their support ticket system (although you need to have a damn good reason, or they will just say no).CutterJohn1 wrote:Steam has recently, due to actually having a bit of real competition from Origin, been putting some serious work into the client. One of their focuses is going to be offline mode. They are currently reworking it to function better, and also allow it to remain in offline mode forever.danskmacabre wrote:Cons:
Offline mode is pretty unstable, so you can't play games if you're not connected to the internet.
Usually offline mode works and I'm almost always online anyway, except sometimes when I use the Laptop on the move.
You can't give you games to anyone else or trade them in.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/11 ... efinitely/
For myself.. The biggest con I can think of for steam is the complete lack of a refund mechanism, and inability to determine which drive my games are going to be installed to.
Also you CAN install or move steam games onto other drives now, they added that feature in a few months (i think) ago. Just check through the settings or properties on a game in your library, I can't remember where they hid the option
You can move the game folder, not games individually.BlackDemon wrote: Also you CAN install or move steam games onto other drives now, they added that feature in a few months (i think) ago. Just check through the settings or properties on a game in your library, I can't remember where they hid the option :)
Thanks, makes it really simple to move from the HDD to the SDD when I want that little extra loading boost.flaicher wrote:I've used this little program for moving Steam games from/to SSD/HDD. http://www.traynier.com/software/steammover
yeah, or make junctions manually in windows. though the gui aid sure is welcome.
still, it's hardly great customer experience when you need to employ 3rd party sollutions. couldn't you just install where you wanted and then add the links to steam so it can make a library of them? it couldn't have been that hard. ah well. x-rebirth is the only game i'm biting the steam bullet for. i'll just think of it as another of egosoft's quirks
still, it's hardly great customer experience when you need to employ 3rd party sollutions. couldn't you just install where you wanted and then add the links to steam so it can make a library of them? it couldn't have been that hard. ah well. x-rebirth is the only game i'm biting the steam bullet for. i'll just think of it as another of egosoft's quirks
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danskmacabre
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Wed, 6. Aug 08, 12:59
You can choose which drive to install on, you don't have to move the "whole" common folder and the individual game subfolders.Haysand wrote:You can move the game folder, not games individually.BlackDemon wrote: Also you CAN install or move steam games onto other drives now, they added that feature in a few months (i think) ago. Just check through the settings or properties on a game in your library, I can't remember where they hid the option
There are however some games that don't support this for one reason or another and then you are not given the choice when you install a game through steam to pick where you want it installed.
You can also basically have unlimited amounts of steam folders to install your games, so I could have something like
D:\SteamGames on D\
D:\My Favorite Steam Games\
F:\More Steam Games\
etc. etc. etc.
I've looked through all the options but failed to find anything in Steam that would allow me to "move" game installations from one drive to another, so I just delete the game content and reinstall from Steam onto the drive and into the folder where I want them. Even though my Internet speed is capped at something like 6.8MB, it's not so bad to re-download games to get them installed onto the drive where I want them since my SSD drive is only 185GB and my other drives are all 1 and 2 TB drives.
Last edited by kuplo on Fri, 15. Nov 13, 11:41, edited 1 time in total.
Actually, you can pick where to install games. Other than the default location (which is set via the global settings dialog) you can install individual games to different locations by changing the Install To setting in the install dialogs. They added this a few months agoCutterJohn1 wrote: For myself.. The biggest con I can think of for steam is the complete lack of a refund mechanism, and inability to determine which drive my games are going to be installed to.