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STEλM

SudsSuds Registered User regular
edited April 2011 in Games and Technology
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Most Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I register this __Insert Game Here__ on Steam?

Here's a list of games you can register on Steam. You can always add a non-Steam game to your Steam games list, so that people can see you playing it.


2. If I buy a game pack that already includes a game I own, can I gift that game?

No, this was a one-time thing for people who already owned Half-Life 2 and bought the Orange Box. Additional copies you own are lost forever to the ether.


3. Why isn't __Insert Game Here__ available in my region?

Many Steam games might be unavailable in your country if you have the temerity to live outside of the United States. This is not Steam's fault. Regional game availability is determined solely by the publisher, who should be the source of your ire. Gifting works regardless of region so you might find some helpful person in North America who can gift you the game.


Helpful Stuff

Steam Price Guide
Do you have the misfortune to live somewhere other than America? Steam hates you! Luckily, this cool website with prices for Steam games all around the world is here to help, so you can know if you want to ask an American friend to buy the game for you or not.
AUSTRALIANS!!!!

You need this program.

It reconfigures your Windows IPSEC settings (run it as an admin) to block out all but the servers which don't count towards your download quota on Steam. Now supports a bunch of ISPs through a graphical interface.

Basically guarantees you won't add to your download quota with Steam.

Ampix wrote: »
LaCabra wrote: »
150KB/s :(

Download TCPview: TCPView

Then, use TCPview (run as admin if you're on Vista) to close all Steam TCP servers (this is important, NOT the UDP ones, just the TCP ones). Steam will then reconnect to a different server, which will hopefully get you a better speed. If you don't go faster in a couple of seconds, retry until you get a speed you like.

This shit totally needs to go into the OP, I've tipped this to so many people already.


Cool Community Add-Ons
Steam Signatures
With such a cool service, someone must have done some extra things to build on it. The forums have one such man, who made some super cool Steam signatures. Suds is his name and killing is his game. Except for the killing. The signatures automatically use backgrounds for the games and the correct icon. Pretty neat, and they're 100% free!

Sample signature:
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Avatars
http://www.ddgamer.com/signatures.php. Select Avatar from the drop down list.

You need to delete your Avatar under:
Edit Avatar

Then add that URL in the Avatar URL field in:
Edit Your Details

Also, the border changes colour based on if you're online, offline or in-game.

Steam Calculator
You can also use a script on his Steam Calculator page to see how much your Steam account would be worth if you had taken advantage of some obscure, arcane combination of special deals that nobody could ever have taken advantage of. Or something sort of like that.

Steam Sales Tracker
This is apparently a sortable list of all the cool stuff on Steam that you can narrow down via categories (like "on sale") but it may have ceased to work.


The Mis-Adventures of LewieP
As funny as the following comic is, LewieP does spend a lot of time looking for bargains, for us.
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The Steam Circle of Life
This image is from the SomethingAwful forums Steam thread. Hilariously enough it basically describes our Steam thread too:
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More fun comics
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Suds on
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Posts

  • ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I vote for a title something along the lines of

    NAZI DINOSAURS, FUCK YEAH

    Arthil on
    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
  • SudsSuds Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I'm keeping it simple until something strikes me.

    Suds on
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  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I do really love the lambda in the title. It sort of ties together Steam's origin and our obsession with Half Life.

    Icemopper on
  • DisruptedCapitalistDisruptedCapitalist I swear! Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Those LewieP comic edits still make me giggle. Timeless.

    DisruptedCapitalist on
    "Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Suds wrote: »
    I'm keeping it simple until something strikes me.

    Linking, because it is hooj

    http://i.imgur.com/09QFI.gif

    darleysam on
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  • Big ClassyBig Classy Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    that is freaking priceless

    Big Classy on
  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    steam steam lol
    Remember when that was a meme?

    SteevL on
  • Rubix42Rubix42 Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I heart new threads.

    I also heart VVVVVVVV. That game is silly hard. But so checkpoint friendly it doesn't bother me much.

    Rubix42 on
    signature goes here
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Mmmm, new thread smell.

    Just a week and a half until Portal 2, though oddly I've found myself playing fewer and fewer games lately. I keep meaning to pick ME2 back up to complete my latest run, but instead I'm just marathon'ing Fringe.

    Probably for the best though; I figure P2 will eat up a good chunk of time, then I'll have plenty of spare evenings to catch up on random series people keep raving about before The End Times hit and ME3 (and a non-zero chance of Diablo 3) hit in Q4 and I never see the sun again.

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    SteevL wrote: »
    steam steam lol
    Remember when that was a meme?

    Man, those were good times. And so long ago it seems...

    12 DOZEN KRSPY KREM DONUTS PLZ K THZX

    And the like...

    Icemopper on
  • AriviaArivia I Like A Challenge Earth-1Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    2 in the op isn't correct, at least for the Potato Sack.

    Also wtb Sims Generations plz.

    Arivia on
    huntresssig.jpg
  • EggPuppetEggPuppet Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    this title is highly resistant to detection by both radar and the control+F feature

    EggPuppet on
  • DecoyDecoy Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Arivia wrote: »
    2 in the op isn't correct, at least for the Potato Sack.

    Also wtb Sims Generations plz.

    Hah, I saw they actually officially announced it. I'm sad though because I bought the Sims 3 Ultimate pack from Steam, but the chances of Gen being on Steam day 1 is probably nil.

    Decoy on
  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    That ARG is still crazy and every time I check the website there's more of it.

    Peewi on
  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Major solutions to most steam problems

    #1 Verify Integrity of game chache
    open steam library and right click your game. Go to properties. Go to local files. Click "verify integrity of game cache" Click yes, steam checks to see if all the files are there and re-downloads those that didn't before. Incase of shoddy internet or if you turned your computer on and off a lot while download, this can help.
    #2 Delete Client registery.blob or rename it. I'm not exactly sure what this does but steam downloads/creates a new one when you make the old one disappear.

    #3 Install steam in its own folder outside of Program files. Copy steamapps folders to somewhere else on your harddrive and uninstall steam, then reinstall and then copy the folders back.

    Solution #1 should be tried every time something goes wrong or even before you start playing the game.

    Solution #2 should be taken as a last resort after you have googled your problem and several synonyms to make sure you have no recourse.

    Solution #3 may have been explained wrong by me and I will gladly edit so as to not be a troll.

    RoyceSraphim on
  • TalkcTalkc Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    What about the Classy Gents Banner?

    Remember... this place is a place of CLASSY GENTS.

    Talkc on
  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Peewi wrote: »
    That ARG is still crazy and every time I check the website there's more of it.

    Yeah, insanity. The wiki should be linked in the OP for the time being:

    http://valvearg.com/wiki/Valve_ARG_Wiki

    Icemopper on
  • DecoyDecoy Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Talkc wrote: »
    What about the Classy Gents Banner?

    Remember... this place is a place of CLASSY GENTS.

    I have to agree with this statement. I wear a monocle and hold my pinkys up when play games for this very reason.

    Decoy on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Icemopper wrote: »
    SteevL wrote: »
    steam steam lol
    Remember when that was a meme?

    Man, those were good times. And so long ago it seems...

    12 DOZEN KRSPY KREM DONUTS PLZ K THZX

    And the like...
    usmcssl.jpg

    Darmak on
    JtgVX0H.png
  • ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Decoy wrote: »
    Talkc wrote: »
    What about the Classy Gents Banner?

    Remember... this place is a place of CLASSY GENTS.

    I have to agree with this statement. I wear a monocle and hold my pinkys up when play games for this very reason.

    I wear one of those new years eve plastic top hats.

    Closest I got.

    Arthil on
    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
  • BolthornBolthorn Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Decoy wrote: »
    Talkc wrote: »
    What about the Classy Gents Banner?

    Remember... this place is a place of CLASSY GENTS.

    I have to agree with this statement. I wear a monocle and hold my pinkys up when play games for this very reason.


    How the heck to do you press the Ctrl or Shift keys in FPS games then? Seems like you would put yourself at a disadvantage. I challenge you to a deathmatch good sir!

    Bolthorn on
  • NailbunnyPDNailbunnyPD Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Bolthorn wrote: »
    Decoy wrote: »
    Talkc wrote: »
    What about the Classy Gents Banner?

    Remember... this place is a place of CLASSY GENTS.

    I have to agree with this statement. I wear a monocle and hold my pinkys up when play games for this very reason.


    How the heck to do you press the Ctrl or Shift keys in FPS games then? Seems like you would put yourself at a disadvantage. I challenge you to a deathmatch good sir!

    Mouse hand pinky.


    (edit) Gabe Interview: http://www.industrygamers.com/news/better-know-gabe-newell/
    GN: I got fired from a German gymnasium working as a towel boy after one day.

    NailbunnyPD on
    XBL: NailbunnyPD PSN: NailbunnyPD Origin: NailbunnyPD
    NintendoID: Nailbunny 3DS: 3909-8796-4685
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  • LockeColeLockeCole Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Peewi wrote: »
    That ARG is still crazy and every time I check the website there's more of it.

    Can you imagine the guy who has to come up with this stuff? "What can I do next that will take them longer than 6 hours to find?"

    LockeCole on
  • CentipeedCentipeed Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    After seeing the PA comic about the Valve/Vivendi lawsuit in the OP again, I decided to look it up and find out what they're referring to.

    In the article detailing the lawsuit, I find this gem (Emphasis mine):
    "During the parties' negotiations...Counterclaim Defendants [Valve] repeatedly and falsely assured Sierra and VUG that retail sales would remain "the key to [their] strategy." In September 2000, for example, Newell told Hubert Joly, then VUG's CEO, that "online is a way to nurture the retail business" and that he 'could not understand how one can make money online today.'

    "Sierra and VUG would later learn that these statements were flatly false...Incredibly, Counterclaim Defendant Newell also stated that he 'could not understand how one can make money online today,' plainly with the intention to falsely imply that Valve had no present or future strategy to engage in widespread online distribution of the games. This misleading half-truth was Newell's deliberate concealment of the extent to which Valve intended through the parties' negotiations to appropriate the substantial value of the distribution rights to Valve, rather than to Sierra and VUG."

    OH GABE I LOVE HOW DASTARDLY YOU ARE!

    I made this to celebrate Gabe's dastardly-ness:

    AHpBX.jpg

    Centipeed on
  • Hank_ScorpioHank_Scorpio Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I will eat my own cock if no Half-Life news is disclosed by the end of E3 2011.

    Hank_Scorpio on
  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    LockeCole wrote: »
    Peewi wrote: »
    That ARG is still crazy and every time I check the website there's more of it.

    Can you imagine the guy who has to come up with this stuff? "What can I do next that will take them longer than 6 hours to find?"

    0001244Small.jpg
    "Hello Portal fans. You don't know me, but I know you. I want to play a game.."

    darleysam on
    forumsig.png
  • XeddicusXeddicus Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Centipeed wrote: »
    After seeing the PA comic about the Valve/Vivendi lawsuit in the OP again, I decided to look it up and find out what they're referring to.

    In the article detailing the lawsuit, I find this gem (Emphasis mine):
    "During the parties' negotiations...Counterclaim Defendants [Valve] repeatedly and falsely assured Sierra and VUG that retail sales would remain "the key to [their] strategy." In September 2000, for example, Newell told Hubert Joly, then VUG's CEO, that "online is a way to nurture the retail business" and that he 'could not understand how one can make money online today.'

    "Sierra and VUG would later learn that these statements were flatly false...Incredibly, Counterclaim Defendant Newell also stated that he 'could not understand how one can make money online today,' plainly with the intention to falsely imply that Valve had no present or future strategy to engage in widespread online distribution of the games. This misleading half-truth was Newell's deliberate concealment of the extent to which Valve intended through the parties' negotiations to appropriate the substantial value of the distribution rights to Valve, rather than to Sierra and VUG."

    OH GABE I LOVE HOW DASTARDLY YOU ARE!

    I made this to celebrate Gabe's dastardly-ness:
    AHpBX.jpg


    What, lying (while not under oath or in writing) is illegal now (then) or something? Lot of lawsuits need to be filed.

    Xeddicus on
  • CangoFettCangoFett Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I will eat my own cock if no Half-Life news is disclosed by the end of E3 2011.

    A lot of people have made and lost these bets, yet not a single person has provided evidence of their meal

    CangoFett on
  • ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I will eat my own cock if no Half-Life news is disclosed by the end of E3 2011.

    Shall I tell the chef to be prepared on new years evening again?

    Arthil on
    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
  • projectmayhemprojectmayhem Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Holy shit Dino-D Day is amazing.

    projectmayhem on
  • curly haired boycurly haired boy Your Friendly Neighborhood Torgue Dealer Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    blue dottin'

    dead space 2 needs to go on sale :|

    curly haired boy on
    RxI0N.png
    Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
  • MannyTheManateeMannyTheManatee Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I love dinosaurs and I also love Nazis so I should love Dino D-Day right?

    Not sure if want.

    Info plox.

    MannyTheManatee on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Rubix42 wrote: »
    I heart new threads.

    I also heart VVVVVVVV. That game is silly hard. But so checkpoint friendly it doesn't bother me much.

    :D :^: :D

    I'm really stoked that you are enjoying it. And how about that soundtrack? It has nothing to do with the gameplay, but it really does just enhance everything about it for me.

    I love how games like VVVVVV and Super Meat Boy have taken out the dreaded GAME OVER screen and gone in the direction of bite sized, intense platform action. In my opinion, it's made the genre more enjoyable by an exponential factor.

    Drake on
  • MistaCreepyMistaCreepy Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Woot new Steam thread.

    Im going to try to organize some Killing Floor games with my friends this weekend... I shit you not, 4 people sitting in the same room yelling communication at each other while massacring mutants is top notch gaming.

    MistaCreepy on
    PS3: MistaCreepy::Steam: MistaCreepy::360: Dead and I don't feel like paying to fix it.
  • projectmayhemprojectmayhem Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I love dinosaurs and I also love Nazis so I should love Dino D-Day right?

    Not sure if want.

    Info plox.

    Its Day of Defeat Source + Nazi Dinosaurs.

    Did I mention one of the Dinosaurs can pick up goats with its mouth and throw them at allies? Because that can happen.

    projectmayhem on
  • MistaCreepyMistaCreepy Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I love dinosaurs and I also love Nazis so I should love Dino D-Day right?

    Not sure if want.

    Info plox.

    Its Day of Defeat Source + Nazi Dinosaurs.

    Did I mention one of the Dinosaurs can pick up goats with its mouth and throw them at allies? Because that can happen.

    So can I just stuff my cash into the ethernet port now or...

    MistaCreepy on
    PS3: MistaCreepy::Steam: MistaCreepy::360: Dead and I don't feel like paying to fix it.
  • HawkHawk ColoradoRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    blue dottin'

    dead space 2 needs to go on sale :|

    I agree, but it's already down $20 since launch.

    Hawk on
  • SoulGateSoulGate Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    OP is old. We need a new OP.

    So much fail!
    j/k I <3

    SoulGate on
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  • curly haired boycurly haired boy Your Friendly Neighborhood Torgue Dealer Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    Hawk wrote: »
    blue dottin'

    dead space 2 needs to go on sale :|

    I agree, but it's already down $20 since launch.

    oh, i already have the game. i just want more PA regulars to get it so we can do multi with people who are reasonably competent/have mics that aren't crap/etc.

    it's teamwork-based and that's why i think it's worth playing, but the price point is the barrier for pretty much everyone here i've talked to.

    curly haired boy on
    RxI0N.png
    Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
  • TheCanManTheCanMan GT: Gasman122009 JerseyRegistered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I love dinosaurs and I also love Nazis so I should love Dino D-Day right?

    Not sure if want.

    Info plox.

    Its Day of Defeat Source + Nazi Dinosaurs.

    Did I mention one of the Dinosaurs can pick up goats with its mouth and throw them at allies? Because that can happen.

    So can I just stuff my cash into the ethernet port now or...

    It's exactly stuff like this that makes me hesitant about getting this game. I mean, it's basically impossible for something to actually be as awesome as that sounds.

    TheCanMan on
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