Why buy games off Steam???

[AJ!]

Has anyone else noticed that on almost all occations the digital downloads they have are far more expensive then most retail and online stores prices for hard copies.. :shifty:

Empire TW - Steam £30 Amazon £19

Napoleon TW - Steam £25 Amazon £17

MW2 - Steam £40 Amazon £30

MW - Steam £30 Amazon £20

Chaos Rising - Steam £30 Amazon £18



Now this was just a quick comparison with amazon but i know there are cheaper prices out there. What i dont understand is how steam can charge this for downloads when you can get a hard copy of the game for much less :-?

When i bought Dawn of war 2 from Amazon i got it for £15 while Steam was charging over £30. I now have it installed which means i can redownload it off steam whenever i want or use the disk when the steam servers are playing up......

I dont see why anyone would want to use the steam service to buy games :doh:

[Ubergeek87]

It must be something with that side of the pond. I just checked all those games and Steam's price was identical or better than Amazon.

As a general rule of thumb (and also because I'm cheap) I don't buy games on Steam unless they're on sale which has saved me more money than I care to admit. I also like the convenience of not having to go to the store or wait for shipping, the achievements, and the community overlay.

[CCIP]

I just buy stuff off Steam when it's on one of their sales or in packs - very rarely do I bother with their regular prices. Their sales are rather sweet at times however (snagged a few games for $5 over Christmas, including Mass Effect and GTAIV). As a result of those, I have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 games on Steam now. Also like to buy stuff for friends via that.

[Rilder]

Steam despite my slow connection is still worth buying games off of, their sale prices are just mad sometimes, ETW for 10 bucks, hell yeah! :)

[Arclight]

Yep, only buy the specials as well. :yep:

[Falkirion]

I only buy games off Steam when there's a sale on. Its a great service though, they had a 12 day sale last xmas. Hoping for another one this year round Xmas too

[ajrimmer42]

I just buy stuff off Steam when it's on one of their sales or in packs - very rarely do I bother with their regular prices. Their sales are rather sweet at times however (snagged a few games for $5 over Christmas, including Mass Effect and GTAIV). As a result of those, I have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 games on Steam now. Also like to buy stuff for friends via that.


GTA IV for $5!!! No way!

[CCIP]

GTA IV for $5!!! No way!

Yes way :88) Great deal, isn't it? (well, I might be wrong, it could have been $7 and not 5 - but, you know, still in that neighbourhood)

A lot of games were there to be snagged for great prices over the Christmas sale, so it was sure worth keeping an eye on. There was a WWII pack (from Ubi I think) which included IL-2 1946, SHIII and SHIV Gold and 3 or 4 other games, which went for a total of $24. At two points during that sale, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl (really fantastic game with mods, much like SHIII, by the way) was going for $4.

[Ubergeek87]

Yes way :88) Great deal, isn't it? (well, I might be wrong, it could have been $7 and not 5 - but, you know, still in that neighbourhood)

A lot of games were there to be snagged for great prices over the Christmas sale, so it was sure worth keeping an eye on. There was a WWII pack (from Ubi I think) which included IL-2 1946, SHIII and SHIV Gold and 3 or 4 other games, which went for a total of $24. At two points during that sale, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl (really fantastic game with mods, much like SHIII, by the way) was going for $4.

I think it was $7.50 or £4.99

Here's a list someone put together of the sale
http://savygamer.co.uk/2009/12/23/steam-christmas-sale/

[stabiz]

I actually gladly pay MORE for a hard copy, still dont like the digital method. Besides, lately I have also found the hard copies cheaper.

I paid 18 euros for Napoleon: Total War at play.com.

[HunterICX]

Same here, not into the digital purchase&download thing.

I rather go to a shop and get myself a hardcopy from the shelf.

but when the case says it's powered by steam the better as I'm certain that I can change the game's language to english (most of the games here in spain are dubbed over)
I can live with the text but the voices are a instant atmospheric murderer.:dead:

HunterICX

[CCIP]

I used to be a hardass for hard copies. Now most of them are sitting in my parents' basement, while I haven't got enough storage for them :damn:

I have to admit, I'm no Steam enthusiast. Their system has its faults (although looks like heaven compared to UBI DRM and DOES provide something which could be called good online service features). But I've now had 4 (and a half, due to major upgrades) different machines on which I operated my steam account since 2006 and it's honestly proved to be more reliable and convenient than my actual discs.

If hard copies of games these days came with good supplements, I'd probably be more keen to defend them, but honestly, as far as media formats go, I no longer really see the superiority of the CD/DVD as a digital media format, as compared to a stable online platform like Steam. They're just as potentially unreliable and a jewel case isn't much nicer to look at than a .jpg file.

But I'll totally go an extra mile for a game that actually ships with good physical supplements. I'm the same way with music these days - as with games, I don't really pirate anything, but I've now gone mostly to buying digital-download music from independent labels/online services (i.e. not iTunes - which in many respects is similar to Steam). On the other hand if an artist can put together a good package with supplements, I am glad to invest a little extra in it. Sadly it's rare these days, but it's gradually becoming more and more common. Bring on more LP-sized box sets!

[AJ!]

I actually gladly pay MORE for a hard copy, still dont like the digital method. Besides, lately I have also found the hard copies cheaper.

I paid 18 euros for Napoleon: Total War at play.com.

This is what i am getting at. It seems completely mad to pay more for a download then a hard copy.

On the other hand i have also bagged some great deals on steam during the sales. Some games drop by about £25-30 during a good sale. I picked up stalker, Prey, dangerous waters, Defcon and both max paynes at the same time for under £10 :up:

[Dowly]

Only buy digital copies myself (if available). The price is the same as if I'd go to the local stores. Which blows, digital copies should have lower price tag as there's no extra expenses involved in making the case & manual.

Amazon doesn't ship here or if it does, it'll double the price with shipping so that's a no go.

I'm just waiting when the people on the worse side of the pond (na na naa :O:) start to pay the same amount of money for their games as we do on this side. :stare:

[Archangel]

I like Steam primarily because of the good deals they have during the sales, I saved alot of money during the christmas sale and filled up a decent backlog of games now that will keep me occupied for quite some time.

In addition I do not mind having digital copies as opposed to physical ones, I do in that regard however buy the 'Must haves' in the store, other games I can do without and get on Steam, and I also like the friends list which has made many of my L4D1-2 games much more enjoyable, and community wise there is alot of information tied to one place in the forums.

Furthermore like others have mentioned it is rather nice to just log on and purchase a game and DL it within an hour or so instead of going for the shop in all kinds of weather.

I have only used Steam for about 7 months though, but I am very happy with it so far and I will for sure continue to do so, primarily keeping to the sales, because I do think their prices are rather high, but it is about the same in regards to retail prices here in Norway so it is not very bad, just a comment due to the online part production wise. Other then that then I would like however to have an option to pay in dollars and not euros.

Funny thing is that I have never bought a full-price game on Steam until this saturday when I got BFBC2 in order to tie me over until BF3 as I have basically stopped playing BF2. The reason I used to justify the price as I originally would wait for a discount was that I skipped purchasing another game I removed from my list, SH-V.

[Der_Meister]

I recently picked up AvP Classic 2000 for 4.99, and Red Orchestra for 4.99 a few months ago! Steam has great deals sometimes.

[Flopper]

I picked up sh3 for $5 around Christmas, and last week picked up IL2 Sturmovik 1946, also $5, or was it 10? And Railworks Mega Bundle was 66% off and I picked that up too. I didn't have to drive somewhere and see if they were available, and there's an offline mode. I had my doubts at first, but so far, so good.

[Camaero]

I seem to find great deals on steam... I'm actually a fan of the whole thing. Steam takes care of patches and puts everything in one nice and neat place. Plus for MP games it's *very* nice being able to have a friendlist and see who's playing what and blah blah. Meh... I can't say I have much to complain about as far as Steam goes.

Actually I will say this: I have impulsively bought games on Steam that I would have otherwise never bought had I needed to drag myself to the store or was forced to wait and have it shipped to me. Sometimes this has lead to regrets and a waste of money... but I blame being part of the "now" generation more than I blame Steam. :nope:

[Eyebiter]

Steam is fine for games without any additional DRM. Things get ugly though when the publisher uses Steam for distribution with an invasive copy protection method like Starforce.

[TteFAboB]

The first game I bought on Steam was Dangerous Waters, because I couldn't find a hard copy anywhere. Then the convenience of just pushing a button and having a game installed on my machine tempted me to buy another game on Steam, and another, and another, etc.

So now I have about a dozen or so games on Steam, and 4 on Impulse, the tiny competitor.

And I regret it immensely.

Because when you buy a game on Steam, while for all practical purposes you do "buy a game" like in a store, technically you are actually paying a one-time fee for an indefinite rental service, which means that if or when Steam disappears all your purchased games will go down with the service.

So they better keep that boat afloat... You could compare it with buying a real bar of gold and a piece of paper that states your right to withdraw a bar of gold from bank Rupt. Gold, diamonds and jewel cases are forever (except when targeted by giant laser cannons).

Gladly, most games on my Steam (and most games in general) won't be worth playing or having in the next decades anyway, but some of them will, and for these I miss a disc from which I can install anytime, anywhere, regardless of the financial status and history of Company A or B, internet connections, etc.

So I'd recommend buying a disc of the games worth keeping through the times, even if you have a Steam version as well for Steam's conveniences.

Having said that, as the service it intends to be Steam is way better than alternatives with limited activations, fixed hardware requirements, E.T. phoning home every week or bust, internet connection required to start, etc., and it works most of the time, though I've been caught off guard by server maintenance in L4D2 a few times, but that won't be a problem with off-line games.

[Flopper]

I'm missing one of my FS2004 disks. I've looked everywhere... can't play it.

[Task Force]

Ive never had any issues for steam, been useing it for around a year now... Kind of like it actualy...

[Skullcowboy]

Sale prices on good games is my main draw to Steam. Just got Stalker: Call of Pripyat for $19.99 USD because I had purchased Stalker: Clear Sky ($9.99) on Steam. And I too used to be a hard copy fanatic, but truth be told most brick and mortar stores are carrying less and less PC games in their inventory. I still order boxed games via the interwebs but I have an instant gratification problem. I don't want to order it and wait a week for it to get here. I either jump in my car and go get it or hit Steam or Impulse or even GOG so I can have it NOW.

[Highbury]

Like most people have said, I rarely buy new games on Steam, just the deals and they are usually very good.

Il-2 1946 is my best example. I had a case here with all of the disks from the day Forgotten Battles came out, every expansion.. was getting to be a good stack. Then I saw the whole lot for $4.99... done.

[Ilpalazzo]

I used to hate steam. Now I see it as a sort of all in one game program where I can easily find and communicate with friends as well as purchase, update and install games without really doing anything. I used to be pissy about needing steam to load up to let me play something but now I kinda don't care as I tend to leave it running anyway. I mostly like it now because of the ridonculous deals that are oh so common on there. over the last year I've been buying a lot of games on steam. I would have passed on all of them for retail price, but jesus man when it tells me I can get this that and/or the other for less than 30, 20 or 10 dollars I can't stop myself. I can't remember the last time I paid retail price for a video game.

I do still hate how a game's files are buried under the steam folder. Somehow I never get used to that. So if I know I'll be poking around in a game's files I have to make a shortcut to it.

I'm sure steam wouldn't like it, but I wish I could pass off steam games I no longer want to friends or even let others borrow them.

[Dowly]

I either jump in my car and go get it or hit Steam or Impulse or even GOG so I can have it NOW.

Ah, Impulse is great place. Nice they convert the prices from $ to € instead of having the Steam way of having the same price for the same game i.e. $49 and 49€. The downside is that many of the new/better selling games are only available on that side of the pond. Otherwise very nice place to buy games from. :salute:

[Zachstar]

I like the deals at steam. Also I like how its DRM is effective but gives lots of choice to the owner and customer.

I have spent over 700USD on steam so far. I don't regret spending that much.

[Sailor Steve]

I tried to by SH4 UBM from them back when that was the only way you could get it. For some weird reason their system thought I lived somewhere else and wouldn't talk to me. The customer service girl was very nice and did everything she could to help, but no dice. When SH4 Gold was released I bought it in a store.

I like owning things. Property on my computer just isn't the same.

[stabiz]

I like owning things. Property on my computer just isn't the same.

Yep, me too. I only buy stuff from/on steam if I have no alternative. Lets say I buy Napoleon: Total War on steam (I didnt, got the dvd) and my computer implodes forcing a reinstall of OS. Well, that means downloading damn close to 20GB while with a dvd its installed in 2 minutes. Sure, i could backup the game files and put them on an external hd, but why should i have to?

http://static.flickr.com/18/24172962_451f34da6e.jpg

[Nordmann]

I like owning things. Property on my computer just isn't the same.

QFT.

As someone else mentioned earlier in the thread, Steam's prices (at least for UK residents) are a bloody rip off. They are often twice, or even three times, what the same game is selling for on Amazon UK. I just cannot see the advantage of paying more, and also being tied to the Steam client.

I'll use it if forced to, but only under protest, and I sure as hell won't buy from them if the game is available elsewhere for much less.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

I'm guessing I will be echoing a lot of what others have said:

I only buy Steam games when they're on sale. Also, I can't "lose" the game.

That's about it.

I can also chat w/others w/their IM!! :D

[Zachstar]

If steam was ever forced to shut down they would likely do a patch to make the installed client work in offline mode permanently. Tho even if things went really south for the company it would be what a decade before that would happen?

[Nordmann]

I doubt they're going anywhere yet, but there's always the chance that someone messes their finances up in a big way (stranger things have happened lately). A lot of big companies have gone bust recently, for one reason or another, so it's illogical to assume that even Valve are completely immune.

If they fold, who's going to be on site to make the patch? Would you come to work after being made redundant? I know I wouldn't.

[CCIP]

I don't think we need to fear that just yet though. I've watched Steam grow for the past 5 years or so, and it seems to be nowhere near having trouble. My understanding is that it's racking in a lot of money for Valve and its catalogue has practically exploded in the last year or so. So I'd take any death-of-Steam predictions as a really distant possibility for now.

[Nordmann]

I don't think we need to fear that just yet though. I've watched Steam grow for the past 5 years or so, and it seems to be nowhere near having trouble. My understanding is that it's racking in a lot of money for Valve and its catalogue has practically exploded in the last year or so. So I'd take any death-of-Steam predictions as a really distant possibility for now.

Indeed, but nothing lasts forever. Personally, I try to stick with discs as much as possible, as I feel that I have more control of their use than with a system like Steam. Not to mention their insistence on charging on a basis of $1 = £1, which is just damned stupid.