Digital Distributors Or Not?

[Ulquiorra Schiffer]

http://www.techist.com/forums/f15/far-cry-2-xfire-209852/

As you can see, some of us are talking about buying games and then having to install extra programs just to play it. This brought me to another question.

Do you prefer buying store copies of a PC game or buying it off of Steam? Doesn't really matter to me, but some people argue that there are limits to installing games from the disc and using the CD key. You can say the same thing about certain Steam games, such as Crysis.

This is what I do... if I find a game I like, I buy it from Steam. If it isn't available on Steam, I'll grab a copy at GameStop/Target/Walmart/etc. or from an online shop like Newegg. I'll use eBay as my last resort.

 

[veg1992]

Re: Steam/Xfire Or Not?

Usually my scheme for getting games is like this:

Check out what my friends play -> See their opinions on it -> Ask to borrow it -> Play it (if they say yes) -> Hate it or love it -> Choose to buy a game (usually Newegg or Fleebay) if I like it

I have both Xfire and Steam, and usually the latter is never running unless I'm playing a Steam game, plus more of my friends use Xfire anyways

 

[Ulquiorra Schiffer]

Re: Steam/Xfire Or Not?

Poll added.

So vernong, do you ever buy games off of Steam?

This isn't on topic, but I noticed that you play Soldier Front too. I used to spend 50 dollars each month for the G Coins, but that was because my computer couldn't even run Counter-Strike: Source smoothly. When I got this computer, I started to playing games such as Call of Duty: World at War, Crysis, Far Cry 2, etc. I still play Soldier Front or Korean Soldier Front once in a while though, so I haven't totally forgotten it.

 

[veg1992]

Re: Steam/Xfire Or Not?

Poll added.

So vernong, do you ever buy games off of Steam?

This isn't on topic, but I noticed that you play Soldier Front too. I used to spend 50 dollars each month for the G Coins, but that was because my computer couldn't even run Counter-Strike: Source smoothly. When I got this computer, I started to playing games such as Call of Duty: World at War, Crysis, Far Cry 2, etc. I still play Soldier Front or Korean Soldier Front once in a while though, so I haven't totally forgotten it.

I usually don't because my parents still don't trust it because the games are so cheap hahaha. The only games I have are ones that people on Tech-Forums gave me, Orange Box and L4D is a game that I split with my friend to buy on his account.

I don't have that kind of money for G-Coins, but I used to play it like devoutly when two years ago...but that was when I had a lousy Intel Pentium 4 Rig that wouldn't run many games, so back then I was immensely into the Free-games and abandonware stuff.

 

[Ulquiorra Schiffer]

Re: Steam/Xfire Or Not?

I usually don't because my parents still don't trust it because the games are so cheap hahaha. The only games I have are ones that people on Tech-Forums gave me, Orange Box and L4D is a game that I split with my friend to buy on his account.

I don't have that kind of money for G-Coins, but I used to play it like devoutly when two years ago...but that was when I had a lousy Intel Pentium 4 Rig that wouldn't run many games, so back then I was immensely into the Free-games and abandonware stuff.

We both have the same kind of story...

The ijji forum community sucks though. It's full of reputation traders, jerks who think they know everything, and trolls/spammers. And most of the time ijji ignores these people and hands infractions out to the good members. Very strange...

 

[philbar71]

i do not like the whole downloadable games stuff/steam. i personally hate it. i think it is a bad idea. i prefer to go to a store or order a game off of newegg rather than buying it from steam. steam sucks imo. it is just another program taking up resources that i need for other things.

and i do not like this whole "cloud computing" thing either. i think our dependency's on the internet are getting to bee a bit much. i dont want to have to play games over the internet and have some "supercomputer" running the game for me.

 

[tastegw]

being able to download your software (not just games) is excellent imo. (not talking about steam here)

you can always find manuals online if you happen to need them.

my piantshop trial ended yesterday...and when i realized it costed $100 bucks localy, i thought i would just come back home and check online, newegg had it for $50 on the downloadable version. I saved $50 bucks.

 

[marblez]

I love Steam. I think the last disc game I bought was Gears of War back in 07. With that said, on my PS3 I don't see myself downloading any games. I'd rather have a disc for consoles for whatever reason. The only downside of Steam is not being able to sell games. I'll have Left 4 Dead forever plaguing my Not Installed list, mocking my waste of $50.

 

[Ulquiorra Schiffer]

I love Steam. I think the last disc game I bought was Gears of War back in 07. With that said, on my PS3 I don't see myself downloading any games. I'd rather have a disc for consoles for whatever reason. The only downside of Steam is not being able to sell games. I'll have Left 4 Dead forever plaguing my Not Installed list, mocking my waste of $50.

That's a big problem for some users. Some people would try selling their Steam account, but most people try to buy it off of you for extremely low prices.

For an example, you buy the Complete Valve Pack on your Steam account, and then after a month you don't like any of the games. You can try selling it online, but people will offer prices as low as 20 dollars... saving them 80 dollars. Why is this? Steam accounts get hijacked so often that people think that the account they are buying was once hijacked. Of course there could be different reasons, but this is the most common one.

 

[wafflehammer]

I think one of the biggest issues with downloadable things is connection speed and reformatting.

Someone who has dial up would stay far far away from buying games online...That doesn't turn me away. But the reformat thing does.

I hate the idea of having to redownload things after a format. And 50gb+ of games wouldn't add any happiness into that.

Good idea to download stuff online...but meh..i'd rather have a hard copy in my hands.