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Well, I've just given up on this stuff.

I would love to be a law abideing citizen, but every time I try, anti-pirating products just keep dragging me down.

I want to Play DOW2. I really do. but I'm not prepared to download 6 gigabytes just to do it.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I wouldn't even mind if It was that I had to be online to play. thats fine.

but how can you not offer a customer the option to cancel a download.

this is rediculous.

I hate steam, always have and always will.

If PC gameing ever goes completly direct download, I will never play another game on my PC again.

From someone who didn't know of steam before I bought DOW2 (never been big on pc gaming). I have to say it's about as user friendly as the lunar space module. And for someone who just wanted to play the game it's just a pain in the neck.

Im all for allowing Game companies to protect their intillectual property, and steam does that. However its a crappy system, I wish they would go to something that more closely resembled the new Battle.net

Yeah, I pretty much stopped using any PC game tied into Steam soon after it launched.

It seemed pretty good until you did anything to make it unstable, then it was an absolute nightmare. I hate not having physical copies of games. At least then I can reinstall them if it all goes wrong and, say, all my account information is lost.

*shakes fist at Steam*

The only thing, that I can think of thats worse then Steam, is PunkBuster

Catyrpelius wrote:The only thing, that I can think of thats worse then Steam, is PunkBuster

What about gamespy, that thing messed up my computer for years untill we changed the admins around. It never worked as well IIRC.

Im not even sure I would classify Gamespy as a form of DRm, I think that one clearly falls into the category of Malware/Spyware.

While I'm not a huge fan of Steam, I've also never had any big problem with it either.

What exactly is killing you guys over it?

Personally i love steam , here is why:

They give discount on weekends , just watch for it if you have a game you are thinking of getting.

NO CD required , for someone like me that always lose CD , the CD Keys , this is too good to be true.

You can install it on any computer you feel like.

The DLs are incredibly fast , faster than any server that lets you DL games from.

What exactly is killing you guys over it?

Im guessing as the games are getting larger , the DLs might take longer on slower connections.

Only major downside to Steam is that when a popular game comes out (as an example: crappy warfare 2) the entire system comes to a halt because the servers are overloaded. I couldn't install games on it for over a week, or even log into it properly. Other than that, wonderful system.

I have had no problem with Steam either. I like being able to get my games on a few different PCs easily, and I like the ability to get a new game when I want, not just when the stores are open.

Plus, some of my favourite games are developed by Valve (Portal, L4D).

@Alpha
It doesn't allow you to cancel downloads.
@ luna
I like the ease of acsess, no CDs: your right!
but, I'm not interested in buying games. that entire facet isn't any good for me.

I also like the ease with more then one PC.

I'm not that interested in having the latest version of games, I've got fair internet [15GB, 256KB/s [shared]] means that I usually get smaller downloads very quickly.

I don't feel like downloading something every 6 seconds though. Literally. tried to log onto DOW2. Failed miserably. ... loading ... loading ... Oh we found an update >:O We must download it, or purge heretic!

Captain Solon wrote:
but, I'm not interested in buying games. that entire facet isn't any good for me.

I dont follow what you are saying

I don't see why there's so much Steam hate, either. The only issues I've ever had are, like BrookM said, when a new, popular game comes out and millions of downloads are going on at once, the servers tend to get overloaded and shut down. I for one enjoy not needing a CD or a CD-key - I've lost plenty of them over the years - and the weekend deals are fantastic. Why, yes, I would like to get every Myst game for 5 bucks.

(Well, not that I actually do, but hey - five bucks for a couple different games)

I'm pretty sure you can exit STEAM while its downloading a program and then when you return it'll resume. Also nearly positive that you can cancel downloads.

I love STEAM since you skip pricier middlemen like shipping centers and brick and mortar Gamestops and STEAM offers great deals online. I'm also a fan of having a friends list within a large gaming network as well.

I can see it being a hassle if you have a shoddy high speed internet connection though and/or a subpar PC.

Solon, once again you demonstrate a lack of connection with reality. With your mental bandwidth, I can see why Steam might get you a little hot around the collar.

You can pause, cancel and even resume downloads.

That said, Steam has frustrated me many times in the past, and I simply expect problems every now and then. Most of the time there are none. Most of the time I run Steam in offline mode anyway.

Captain Solon wrote:
but, I'm not interested in buying games. that entire facet isn't any good for me.

This just further invalidates your opinion.

Captain Solon wrote:@Alpha
It doesn't allow you to cancel downloads.

Sigh. Some people are just ..... Right can't state the obvious about someone that might get me in trouble with admins.

So on to the big reveal!!!!!!

How to Pause DLs:
- Right click the download. Click "Pause Updating/Downoad".

If its a game you no longer care about and don't want it to update on the fly immediately every time:
- Right click. Go to the Properties->Updates->Set it to not Automatically update.

Creating a physical copy of your steam games:
- Right click on the game. Backup Game Files. Follow the prompts and point it to an HD/DVD/CD/Whatever.

Bitching about the constant updates in DoW?
- Stop supporting games that use WINDOWS LIVE!!!! Thats where all the stupid, slow, forced reboot updates in the game are coming from, not steam.

I can't belive people can't figure out how to use google or the bloody help menus/forums to figure out the most basic of tasks within a progrm.

I'm ruling everyones hate on steam to a PEBKAC scenario. Have a nice day.

never have had a problem with steam, and I've been using it since half-life 2 was released. Although I have to admit, that first couple months after HL2 came out, it was pretty gakky. Lately though(past couple years), no problems at all.

Captain Solon wrote:@Alpha
It doesn't allow you to cancel downloads.

Then you're doing it wrong.

If you bought the game in the same month, then you can contact Steam's Customer Service, tell them you aren't satisfied with the product, and ask them to remove it. They'll take it off of your account, and from what I understand, even refund you. After a month, you're SoL. But most people can decide, within 30 days, whether or not they like a product. I've done this with The Witcher, as it was an absolute abomination and an insult to the RPG genre.

I've never had much trouble with steam. About the only problem I ever had were with PB and CoD4 thinking the steam overlay was something it wasn't and kicking me from servers. And that was PB's darn fault

Steam is a helpful little tool. Even if you don't plan to buy much from the service it's useful (Which is a shame, they do have good sales, granted I always seem to miss them). I never liked xfire. Steam fit my fancy much better for dealing with friends across multiple games. Steam makes dealing with corrupted and damaged files simple too. Which is a good thing... I might like going into game files and making changes. Sometimes the game doesn't like them and I have a nasty habit of forgetting to make a backup of the original. Don't even have to bother patching myself anymore.

Im all for allowing Game companies to protect their intillectual property, and steam does that. However its a crappy system, I wish they would go to something that more closely resembled the new Battle.net

You'd rather use a system that requires a constant internet connection than a one time authentication at execution that only needs a connection the first time you start the program?

@ luna.
How?
@Artik.
I'd prefer it if first, you don't insult me.
And, How?
@ Stirmen
I know pause a download.
I know how to cancel auto updates: heres the thing, when I update steam [a must] It resets these updating statuses. That annoys me. [I don't know why. it just does.]
Stirmen, you've just presented the most irrational take on my opinion. I applaud you.
@ metal fan, what?
I'm trying cancel updates. Not downloaded games [of which I have no interest in getting.]
@ lordofhats:
Steam is good. it can be. it's only drawback is there is not a clean-cut way of canceling downloads.

You've all pretty much said that I'm being stupid. but none of you have been able to answer my quarrel.

if your going to insult a problem, at least have a solution.

Also, arctik, because I don't want to buy games, how in the world does that make my argument valid.


I can understand why you all think I'm being irrational, My problem is that I've not quite been clear:

1. not downloading new games.
2. don't want updates.
3. really don't care for multi-player.
4. really don't want to buy nonphysical games.
5. I know how to save a game to my hardrives. I keep every game I've ever had on at least two.

Captain Solon wrote:Well, I've just given up on this stuff.

I would love to be a law abideing citizen, but every time I try, anti-pirating products just keep dragging me down.

I want to Play DOW2. I really do. but I'm not prepared to download 6 gigabytes just to do it.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I wouldn't even mind if It was that I had to be online to play. thats fine.

but how can you not offer a customer the option to cancel a download.

this is rediculous.

Six gigs took me slightly over two hours, the winlive integration was annoying but I think you're overhyping this. Also, as an aside, you can cancel all steam game downloads. I would suggest learning the interface or at the very least using the right mouse button on things occasionally to see what comes up.

You can turn off automated updating in preferences and you can right click and pause downloads at any time you want. Why are you pissed off at automatic background updating?

I can understand why you all think I'm being irrational, My problem is that I've not quite been clear:

1. not downloading new games.
2. don't want updates.
3. really don't care for multi-player.
4. really don't want to buy nonphysical games.
5. I know how to save a game to my hardrives. I keep every game I've ever had on at least two.

None of these are problems, these are just statements.

The thread has just become serious

Really? I didn't notice.

As for shuma, You seem to have missed a vital part of that sentence:

"the problem is I've not made myself clear"

Really smart there.

Captain Solon wrote:Really? I didn't notice.

As for shuma, You seem to have missed a vital part of that sentence:

"the problem is I've not made myself clear"

Really smart there.

Ahh, you see, when you stated that you had not made yourself clear I had figured you had taken the opportunity to attempt to clarify and had just done a poor job. Rather you were making a blank statement and then following it with other blank statements with numbers so that you could further complain about a computer program that you have very clearly done little investigation of without actually making any concrete complaints of the systems flaws (it has a few).

Fascinating.

LunaHound wrote:

The DLs are incredibly fast , faster than any server that lets you DL games from.

I'm going to call bs here. Fast downloading in Canada? Yeah, right.

For the record, I love Steam.

ShumaGorath wrote:Ahh, you see, when you stated that you had not made yourself clear I had figured you had taken the opportunity to attempt to clarify and had just done a poor job. Rather you were making a blank statement and then following it with other blank statements with numbers so that you could further complain about a computer program that you have very clearly done little investigation of without actually making any concrete complaints of the systems flaws (it has a few).

Fascinating.

Well, first off, no need to be rude.

anyway, as for what your saying:
I presented statements. call them blank if you will.

I've nothing against steam as a whole. it is a lovely system.

it has one really annoying flaw.

thats it.

Fafnir wrote:

I'm going to call bs here. Fast downloading in Canada? Yeah, right.

I'm calling... counter bs (?) on this

My downloads from Steam have always been ninja-fast. Longest I've had was probably 4.5 hours, but that was because the game was 7G's and I had 2 updates going for other titles at the same time.

Captain Solon wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:Ahh, you see, when you stated that you had not made yourself clear I had figured you had taken the opportunity to attempt to clarify and had just done a poor job. Rather you were making a blank statement and then following it with other blank statements with numbers so that you could further complain about a computer program that you have very clearly done little investigation of without actually making any concrete complaints of the systems flaws (it has a few).

Fascinating.

Well, first off, no need to be rude.

anyway, as for what your saying:
I presented statements. call them blank if you will.

I've nothing against steam as a whole. it is a lovely system.

it has one really annoying flaw.

thats it.

So, if I understand the above conversation, you're saying that flaw is the auto-updating? Or is it that the auto-updating preferences get re-set when Steam updates? I'm a little confused

Speaking for myself, I think the auto-updating that Steam, Impulse, Battlenet, etc provides is a good thing. Since those systems went into place, PC gaming has become a lot less fiddly for me. It has been a long time since I've had to horse around with the drivers and installs to get a game to run for me.