I see a lot of negative response to games on steam. Why?

Also the games you download on there can they be accessed to play after a year?
With The Adventure Shop, I still can replay games I bought after two years...Same for Amazon.

Also are all games on there Kick Starter games?

I'm still playing games I purchased from Steam several years ago. This was discussed in great detail in another thread here...

Click here.

Thanks, Drac

The link is broken you posted. Plus I never seen a thread about steam.

Hmmm... I copied and pasted the URL. Just go to page 2 in this forum and click on the Frogwares, Dracula and Steam subject. Lots of explanations and rebuttals.

Steam offers all kinds of games across all genres, from big budget studio releases down to the small indie ventures. If you take a look at their site then you'll see what they have.

just like GOG they never expire. I've got games from 7 yrs ago that I still play.
Never have any problems with steam.
Richard

Thanks, Ana...For fixing the link.

I figured I better get familiar with steam. I think, Ana said when Jonathans games comes out it will be available there first.

Also does steam have a download manger like Amazon has?

In order to download games on Steam, you need the Steam client, which can be found here.

Thanks ,Marian

Thanks, Richard.. I feel better that you are giving a Great review for steam.

I,too, felt a slightly chilly response to people's remarks about Steam. Recently, I mentioned Still Life (a game I have on CD, but cannot play on my Win7 PC). Someone mentioned Still Life could be bought at GOG (which I like also) and said Steam charged a lot more for that game. I was able to get S.L. for a ridiculously low price ($2.49) from Steam (which I'm playing and enjoying now.) The only thing I want to know is are the game DRM-free like at GOG?

Bubbajake, there are more of us that use Steam than not and have no issues. They are not DRM free except for a few games on there, but unlike old DRM like Starforce it is not invasive and cause trouble with computers.

I need some clarification. On steam you can also order a DVD from them that has DRM?

Ok I am stupid, but. What is DRM?, and What is Star force?

Does this effect downloads?

No. You order a game on DVD. Then you try to install it and find out it uses Steam as DRM. If you don't use Steam and don't already have an account, you have to create a Steam account and give them personal information. Otherwise you can't play the game.


DRM is Digital Rights Management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management
These days it's usually synonymous with copy "protection" and can be used with games, movies, and software.

With respect to games it refers to various things which can be done "digitally"/"electronically" to control your use of a game -- whether it can be played, whether it can be backed up, whether the game "phones home" etc. DRM can refer to almost any form of control that is done digitally. It's supposedly to ensure copyright is not violated. Of course it has also blocked legally purchased games from playing, though the publisher's tech support will never admit it.

Disc checks on CD's and DVD's are a form of DRM.
Online authentication is a form of DRM.
Forcing the use of a client is a form of DRM.


StarForce v3 was the first really bad (invasive) disc-checking copy "protection." Some versions required typing in a code, some didn't. The real "checking" part was not handled by the code that the user typed in, but by the way the copy "protection" data was burnt into the CD or DVD, and the ability of the CD or DVD drive to read the data. StarForce v3 used filter drivers that could affect the use of a drive or the speed at which a drive could burn (if it was a burner). There were any number of things that could cause it to fail, including a drive that wasn't reading data quite as fast or slow as StarForce expected it to. StarForce v3 was invasive enough that it will longer install on versions of Windows that have heightened security (Vista and later). So any games you bought that had StarForce v3 on them will not work on anything after XP -- unless you can find a NoCD crack to remove the StarForce. Games with StarForce v3 on the disc include Black Mirror (2003), Broken Sword 3 (2003), and Still Life (2005) from Dreamcatcher/TAC in the US and Moment of Silence on DVD (2004) from Digital Jesters in the UK. After Vista came out, manufacturers stopped using StarForce v3 on games because it was incompatible. Of course discs which are "old stock" won't have magically gotten rid of it. But you can't "update" the StarForce on a game that shipped with StarForce v3 and get it to work.

StarForce v5 is nowhere near as invasive as StarForce v3, and works with Vista and later. It is no longer the worst form of disc-based copy "protection." And there are online versions of StarForce that are no worse than any other online authentication copy "protection."


Does what affect downloads?
StarForce v3 was never used on downloads.
Nor is it used on any game made for Vista or later.
The StarForce company does make a type of online authentication, but it is no worse than any other.

Thank You so much ,Jenny

The in depth explanation of these things I understand better. From what I now understand is that the DRM, and Star force are for protection from pirates.

That's a good thing. Too many games throughout the years has been pirated.

So downloads are not effected. Its only for the DVD's.

Thanks again..

Not really. The pirate versions often included NoCD's.
Code-based online authentication isn't ideal either, because they include key generators with pirate versions. If you've ever had a game with online authentication that didn't take the key you typed in, it can be because someone with a key generator happened to generate that key.


Unfortunately it has never worked as advertised and has caused some people who bought the game not to be able to play it.


Downloads won't have StarForce v3 or any other form of disc-based DRM.
But many downloads have some form of DRM.

GOG and DotEMU advertise DRM-free downloads.
Some games at ShinyLoot are DRM-free, but you have to check the individual game.

Steam is its own form of DRM through its client, but it may have other DRM in addition. You have to check the individual game. Some of them have the 3rd party DRM removed by a steam patch after the game is no longer new.
Here's a list of Steam games that have 3rd party DRM
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Big_List_of_3rd_Party_DRM_on_Steam
Notice that some of them say the additional DRM was removed by a Steam patch.

But a downloaded game will not have disc-based DRM, and if you get an "insert CD" message it means you have a corrupt or incomplete download and need to re-download the game.

Thanks Again, Jenny

I will have to download a game. and see how it goes.