Explain how Steam spies on your family?Originally Posted by Sombrus
Explain how Steam spies on your family?
You do realize they track you, right? I'm not running a single game right now yet steam's still up and running. Is always up and running. And consuming a fair amount of resources too. About as much as Chrome is right now.
Why do you think that is?
Because it's a software/DRM platform with a store/community hub/web browser.
Edit: Also, if you're not running a game or using one of the other Steam features, you can always close it.
But if I'm not running a game why is it still running at all? Shouldn't it, you know... close itself?
You could always, you know close it yourself?
I'm going to use one of your analagies now, about buying a Toyota, that Toyota isn't going to turn itself off now, is it?
It's running in case you want to run another game, browse the store, view the community/news pages, or chat with people. If you don't want it running, close it.
I'm not much of a fan, simply for the fact that it has now become somewhat of an industry monopoly.
It's a bit of a double-edged sword in that it offers unrivalled exposure to new and indie-developed games, but siphons an enormous component of the sale price to continue to grow fatter and fatter. It's getting to the stage where your new game has to be offered on Steam or people start wondering "What's wrong with it?" New ideas and indie developers are the lifeblood of a dwindling PC gaming industry and they are being bullied out of the marketplace by distribution platforms such as Steam...
The influx of social networking, cross-platform gaming and catering to every whim of the console generation demands meaningless meta-fluff such as achievements, online leaderboards or exclusive digital-deluxe content and other things devlopers start to feel pressured to include.
Much like Apple's iTunes/Appstore it starts to turn into a bit of a monopolising fat-cat. Everything directs the consumer to Steam these days, yet purchasing digitally distributed software denies consumers (especially international customers) of many rights they would traditionally hold by buying physical copies of software from a local source. Here in Australia, for example, all Steam content must be purchased and paid for in USD, since we dont have an AUD option. Not all fans of games have credit cards to purchase digital-exclusive content (Such as recently released Steam-exclusive Mafia II DLC), and even the people that do are forced into paying bank and foreign exchange charges for making international purchases.
I realise these are more objections to the concept of Steam, rather than the practical use of it. For what it's worth I find it reasonably unintrusive once you have configured it not to auto-start and hide ads as has been discussed above. The biggest practical frustration for me is waiting for mandatory updates to games.
My biggest pet peeve of ANY 3rd party management software is the remote management of save files - either via a ridiculous and mandatory autosave feature or by associating saves with mandatory online sign-in's, a la GTA IV.
So far, Steam hasn't been too guilty of that in my own experience.
Thanks for reading.
I don't want it running period. Is there an option for that? Sure, not play the game I blew fifty bucks on. Think I'll get a refund? Prolly not!
BUT IT'S ON THE BOX!!!
Sure, it's on the box... but it doesn't exactly spell out that this bloatware can be incredibly intrusive and ridiculously difficult to cage in.
Intrusive how? It is on the box and any bit of quick research can tell you everything about it and how it functions. I've researched nearly every game I've purchased to see what it includes and I don't get it if I don't like it, for example the new Ubisoft DRM that requires 100% uninterrupted connection in order to play even single-player games. I don't buy anything with that since I often play with spotty or no internet connection.
And right clicking and choosing "exit" is not that difficult to "cage in" Steam.
Here are some thoughts.
The people who bought this game want to play Civ 5.
They did not buy Steam,
but are forced, ... let me repeat, forced... despite hints that it is optional, to install it. If people wanted it -- for any and all of the reasons that the many apologists and the few sycophants suggest here on this thread -- they would buy it, or at least download it themselves, if it were free.
I would not buy it, nor download it, as I suspect many other posters here would not.
Now the apologists on this thread may argue that other things like Direct X and drivers are also requirements of the game, but I do not believe Direct X has the chance, nor the intention, to share my account information with others.
That, however, is the purpose of Steam; to share information with others, including marketers, advertisers, and the myriad of other 'others' who want to sell more things and put more things in front of you, that you do not want to see.
Some have said the information was on the box, but If people are to review computer games like legal contracts now, I hesitate to speculate what that might do to the company's sales. I suggest, it would not have a positive effect.
Now, if you use a free service, like Facebook, or MSN Mail, or watch TV, then sure, the producers have to pay for their production. Civ, however, is not free, so far as I know.
I bought this game to play Civ 5.
I paid for Civ 5,
not for Steam,
not for more marketing,
not for more tracking,
not for more clogging up of my computer.
Perhaps I can sum it up more succintly by way of synonymn...how about
Vista.
Except that you did pay part and parcel for Steam and everything that comes with it. As was said above, it is pointed out that it is a Steamworks game that requires Steam. Purchasing it does purchase Steam, same as how purchasing Assassin's Creed 2 gives you Ubisoft's own DRM platform or how a GfWL game will give you GfWL whether you like it or not.
If you don't want whatever DRM platform comes, don't buy the game. It's as simple as that. I have no problem with Steam, and use it to purchase games digitally. I do have problems with GfWL and Ubisoft's system, so I do not purchase games that have them included. If you don't want Steam for whatever reason, don't get Civilization V for PC.
Lets not forget about hacking...hackers are hacking all the online accounts everywhere, and the user gets blamed for the lack of security on the server. Why would steam be any exception to hacking.
How about his senerio...
A steam account gets hacked.
The hacker logs in and cheats on that hacked account
The person who owns that account, now has a banned VAC status
The person has just lost all their games, they can no longer play unless they go buy new copies, put those new copies on a new steam account, which could be hacked again.
I hate steam and will not buy any more games which use steam or any game that forces me to go online to play or install. All the game companies know it doesn't hurt the pirates, it just hurts the paying customers. The pirates just hack out the copy protection, and it really isn't that hard to do if you understand computer code. A CD-Key is sufficient for online multiplayer, and as for the the single player component ... well if someone wanted to play it for free there are plenty of ways to do that without a hacked copy anyways (such as borrowing it from a friend).
I don't object to digital distribution. That's the future. I do object to having to install software on my computer that has to be on. I get tired of having to constantly go on my computer and disable all the bloatware, ad-ware, automatic updates and all the other horse-squeeze that every developer thinks is their God-given right to install on my computer. And too often turning this off takes more time and effort than it should because they don't WANT you to turn it off.
If I want to download a new game, I'll surf the web for it. If I want to update my game, I'll look for the update. Funny, I got along for a long time surfing for updates before Steam came along. Offering these features is fine. Here's a novel concept... EXPLICITLY OFFER THE FEATURES!! Let people decide when they install!! How friggin simple is that?
Secondly, when access to software becomes tied to things other than the legal right to own (like cheating) then something is going wrong with the system.
I especially despise the Steam fanboys who think just because THEY like it, everyone else is full of crap. Many of us don't want all these extra features and don't think we should have to jump through hoops to get rid of them.
Maybe Valve needs to listen to the complaints and address them. Nothing is being said that is unreasonable.
Great post.
I like Steam, but they are a bit overwhelming in their market share and control. At least they've been good to the smaller ones and the indies, unike WalMart and GameStop...
A pro and con I didn't see posted:
Pro
I love their deals on bargain bin classics - offering Star Wars KOTOR right now for $2.50
Con
Mods and skins can require tweeks and special files installed (FILES THAT YOU'VE MADE AGREEMENT TO NOT USE)
That's a pretty big con for games that you can easily mod the box version, but causes problems in Steam.
If you doubt me, just check their forum, it has a good deal of grief regarding steps needed to get user created modifications to work.
I am new to these forums but I personally love steam, I have nothing against the fact that you have to be online in order to play your games because my internet is connected 24/7 (and I think it is available for most of the people. What's bad that Steam became a monopoly? I really like that Valve created this industry - they earn a lot of money and they create awesome services for that.
there's so much wrong with your post that it just makes me shake my head,
Steam is fantastic, it's not perfect but it's definitely worth using.
Go with Impulse....much better.
-.-
Moving this over to the new Video Games forum.
hmm one more reason is that it takes much time to load.
People who have bad net connection get annoyed by it because it takes sometime more than 10 minutes
Since I have 512kbps net speed, It takes 2 minutes for me too.
When my speed was 100kbps, it was taking more time
All dont have good net connection, Requires good money for it
But
The steam software is very good for chating and playing games after chating
Its good to relax for sometime. Better than other softwares like xfire cuz it gives gaming +
We can surf homepage of steam and check out other exciting game to play as demo or to buy
PS: I dont hate it
Here's why;
1. Support staff is excellent but WAY understaffed. It is sometimes DAYS to get a response.
2. To play the game requires the Steam software, which sometimes goofs and can't start the game or doesn't have the perms set correctly, or continuously installs a service pack when you start a game.
3. Valve's Steam forums are pretty bad - 60 seconds between searches? 24-72 hours to activate your account? Man that's frustrating.
That's about it. I like all the other providers better.
Oh and the final caveat - if they decide they don't like you at Steam and ban your account, you lose ALL your video games purchased through them. Sounds like a future class-action lawsuit to me.
why would they just decide not to like you?if they decide they don't like you at Steam and ban your account, you lose ALL your video games purchased through them.
do the staff at Steam ban people becasue they are bored? or maybe some other reason.....
apart from the odd issue installing a game (which took about 30 secs to fix) I've never had a problem with Steam, and I don't buy all the stupid conspiracy theories.
there is no perfect solution, one persons "better provider" will also have people who don't like that, Steam is established and popular, I really dont know why consumers expect publishers to stop using it.
I've always liked Steam. Without it, I might have never played games like Team Fortress 2.
I don't like Steam. I prefer to buy something and own a physical medium (e.g. a disc) and thus actually possess something. Plus, having Steam on my computer is just yet another application using up resources I don't need or want used up.
Steam is spyware it spies on you and steals your credits cards.
Sometimes it works awesome though like on MW2, because MW2 disabled the spyware because EA paid Steam to tell VALVE to disable their spyware for MW2.
None of that is true, now please put your tinfoil hat back on. Valve has NEVER had spyware.
For those of you who dislike Steam constantly requiring you to be online, why not try EA's Origin service?
I have both an Origin and a Steam account. I've never had any issues with Steam before- every game I own from them, I can play offline just fine. All the games work fine (even if my computer can't keep up with some of them), and I prefer Steam's larger selection of games.
What that guy said about Steam stealing your credit card is just nonsense. I'm a pretty paranoid guy, but damn. If Steam stole your credit cards, we'd know by now.
Yeah, seriously.
I'm curious about Origin. I dislike how EA tries to monopolize everything about games, but it offers some functionality that Steam lacks.
Origin is alright, but as far as I know it only sells EA games. I use Origin to download Sims expansions, but that's about it. They've got Mercenaries 2: World in Flames for $10. I've been thinking of getting that, but I just know it wouldn't work on my computer.
What worries me is their policy on multiple computers. I think there's a limit to how many times you can install a game on Origin.
First be it know that I am a software Architect/Project manager, I show programmers how to get the job done on time and on budget. I am intimately aware of how machine, software and human interactions.
Hate #1. Full Disclosure; Some game developers find it unnecessary to disclose the fact the game cannot be played without an internet connection and that it requires the installation of Steam.
Hate #2. Waste of Time; Installing Steam and installing games under Steam take an inordinate amount of time.
Hate #3. Inability to enjoy the game while offline; I often like to play my games while I travel and when out of town, Steam does not let one use the software unless one is online.
Hate #4. Steam may protect the developers from fraudulent use, but it is not sensitive about letting game owners enjoy the games they bought.
Hate #5. Steam Technical Support is non-existent. They put on a pretty face of pretend support but have no meat to offer. They cannot even read a simple DXDiag Report.
Hate #6. Connectivity; We have excellent connectivity here at my home office but any time I install Steam it disrupts all my bandwidth with constant uploads and downloads of who knows what, to the extent it squeezes out any other connectivity.
Hate #7. Program loads and stays loaded all the time the computer is on and it consumes a tremendous amount of resources.
Last edited by davidclaywood; 08-24-2011 at 12:29 PM. Reason: sentence structure
I'm there.
10 Days my Steam Account is Suspended for gods only knows the reason.
What kind of message do they give me after 10 days:
That's a funny one if you ask me. Although I did all they asked I'm still left waiting 2-3 business days between each reply.Hello Kan,
Your account security appears to have been compromised.
You must do the following to ensure that the account is secure before it will be enabled again:
1) Scan your computer for viruses, key loggers, spyware, and other malicious code with a virus scan utility that has the most recent virus definitions.
2) Do not access the Steam Account from internet cafes or shared computers which the hijacker may have access to.
3) Change your SteamPowered.com Support Account password and the password for the e-mail account you are using to contact Support.
The account will be disabled until you have completed the list above (in the order provided).
Please notify us when you have completed the checklist. We will enable the account and reset your password once more.
Not only did they suspend my account without prior warning but they were unable to clarify the reason in previous message, all they could tell me is that it sometime happen and that it is done to protect us the customer.
Honestly, how am I being protected when I'm not even able to access any of the game I paid for.
I always wondered why peoples hate Steam but in the past 10 days I did a gazillion of research in the web about Steam Suspending account due to unknown reason and I was left speechless at my discovery and the sheer amounts of query that were found in Google when searching 'Steam Suspended Account".
I still believe they will reactive my Account, but regardless, those kind of Draconian measure are certainly not going to let me feel happy that I finally decided to accept Steam because of 2kGames allowing their games to fall into the hands of those devils.
sigh i see both points one is that the ads and other problems that are on steam... the spyware that was on my cp took my card info well my moms off the steam app and there are other problems aka i have Rome total war for pc well i tryed to get Sega to give me it for steam but they cloud not only the creative assimilable or WTG they call it that has to be registered and i play it on any cp off my external hard drive 5 min per cp than to a another this is cp 1 of 5 i can and i have used 4 of the 5 of them and if trying to find out how to get its base code on to my cp wich is a pain
this is 1 year old lol
Yeah, after hearing that Steam can take away all of the games you paid for... well, let's just say I'm not a die-hard Steamer anymore.
if you use a little common sense & stick to the ToS you agree to when you sign up there's no reason for them take away all your games, of course mistakes happen, millions use the service.
the idea that all your games will suddenly be taken away for no reason without it being resolved is not something that happens all the time, and yes I know it does happen but I suspect it's really no different to the comedy of XBL ban forums
I've used Steam for many years, not once have I thought "oh no, all my games might be taken away!" when using it, if I thought like that I probably wouldn't do anything......
☺☺☺☺ you Steam!!! Why!? Well, it because I'm done with the need to download my games (that I bought from a store), lack of customer service assistance, consent software errors/glitches, slow or faulty servers, demanding we download this piece of ☺☺☺☺ software in-order to play our games that requires a large amount of memory/data to run and having to repurchase games I ALREADY PAID FOR due to lost account, CD Key Code information, hackers, etc. I use to play games because I ENJOYED IT, however because of the multiple PERSONAL ISSUES I've encountered with Steam I NO LONGER ENJOY my PC gaming experience with Valve. Great game concepts/developers attached to the WORST software network/hosting system EVER! So, again, ☺☺☺☺ you ☺☺☺☺☺ES at Steam for killing the PC gaming industry. I hope you all rot in Hell!!!
.... frelling Thread Necromancy ...
Yes, I stopped counting at three times this thread has been necrobumped since 2010.
If anyone would like to further discuss this topic please create a new thread, optionally link to this one, and summarize the important parts to yourself out of this thread. That way, in a new thread, people don't have to read through 78 comments just to be up to speed for yours.
Closing under Guideline #11.
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2K David
