I really feel sorry for you guys. Not using steam is like living in Southern California and refusing to use an Air Conditioner. It's like, why would you do that? I don't get it. It's nothing like the devils of DRM.
This. It's not like the DRM on games that you can only install like 5 times and then it's done.
I have almost 100 games on my steam account, and I've paid over 5 dollars for maybe like 3 of them. This is enough of a reason to buy games on steam.
But I mean, if you don't like saving money go ahead and do whatever you do.
As evidenced by the fact that I haven't played the original Portal, I just tend to not buy anything.
Games being cheap through steam doesn't really matter one way or another to me since I'm very rarely actually interested in a game and when I do want to purchase one its usually worth it to pay full price.
I swear I'm not trying to be rude, but out of curiosity, why are you in a games and technology forum then?
Well:
1) I have never used Steam directly so came to the Steam thread to ask how it worked before sinking my money.
2) Just because I only buy games rarely doesn't mean I don't buy and enjoy them. I'm usually just busy working or reading or cooking or whatever and only fit in a game occasionally.
3) I use the forum to keep myself up to date on the latest news within the industry. If I didn't I wouldn't even have known that Portal 2 was coming out this week, sometime I actually want to play once I've beaten the first.
4) I'm not a hater by nature, I'm just politically motivated most of the time and I guess my perspective is different than most gamers. Example: I won't buy microsoft products because I don't care for their business model. I don't judge those that do, I just choose not to myself.
I will continue buying hard copies of all of my other games though so I don't have to worry about all this DRM and meta-DRM stuff.
Ha! Ha ha! Wait. You aren't joking? You're being serious? *grin*
Hard Copy PC games are rife with DRM, especially now. DRM isn't only for digital downloads. Every single big budget game by big studios right now have a DRM scheme of some sort, from online activation to serial keys needed for multiplayer. DRM started with hard copy games, and have continued to do so. The complaints about Ubisoft's draconian DRM (the ones that require you to have an online connection to play) weren't from the online digital versions of their games downloaded through a digital distribution network. It was from the DVD versions of their offline games. If you buy PC games at all, you are going to deal with DRM in one form or another.
Hahnsoo1 on
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
I really feel sorry for you guys. Not using steam is like living in Southern California and refusing to use an Air Conditioner. It's like, why would you do that? I don't get it. It's nothing like the devils of DRM.
This. It's not like the DRM on games that you can only install like 5 times and then it's done.
I have almost 100 games on my steam account, and I've paid over 5 dollars for maybe like 3 of them. This is enough of a reason to buy games on steam.
But I mean, if you don't like saving money go ahead and do whatever you do.
As evidenced by the fact that I haven't played the original Portal, I just tend to not buy anything.
Games being cheap through steam doesn't really matter one way or another to me since I'm very rarely actually interested in a game and when I do want to purchase one its usually worth it to pay full price.
I swear I'm not trying to be rude, but out of curiosity, why are you in a games and technology forum then?
Well:
1) I have never used Steam directly so came to the Steam thread to ask how it worked before sinking my money.
2) Just because I only buy games rarely doesn't mean I don't buy and enjoy them. I'm usually just busy working or reading or cooking or whatever and only fit in a game occasionally.
3) I use the forum to keep myself up to date on the latest news within the industry. If I didn't I wouldn't even have known that Portal 2 was coming out this week, sometime I actually want to play once I've beaten the first.
4) I'm not a hater by nature, I'm just politically motivated most of the time and I guess my perspective is different than most gamers. Example: I won't buy microsoft products because I don't care for their business model. I don't judge those that do, I just choose not to myself.
All valid points.
Especially number 4. Not to be a fanboy. I love all the consoles, but I've been loving my PS3 more and more lately.
I will continue buying hard copies of all of my other games though so I don't have to worry about all this DRM and meta-DRM stuff.
Ha! Ha ha! Wait. You aren't joking? You're being serious? *grin*
Hard Copy PC games are rife with DRM, especially now. DRM isn't only for digital downloads. Every single big budget game by big studios right now have a DRM scheme of some sort, from online activation to serial keys needed for multiplayer. DRM started with hard copy games, and have continued to do so. The complaints about Ubisoft's draconian DRM (the ones that require you to have an online connection to play) weren't from the online digital versions of their games downloaded through a digital distribution network. It was from the DVD versions of their offline games. If you buy PC games at all, you are going to deal with DRM in one form or another.
Understood. I don't play any of them so its not a huge issue for me, I've avoided DRM pretty easily due to my natural dislike for big budget games. As a rule I don't even play FPS's, I am still a little leery breaking it for Portal but I've been sworn to by several different people that I usually trust that Portal is an enjoyable exception to my usual FPS dislike.
Gah. My girlfriend DID buy Majesty 2 a while back, but it's not re-downloaded on her new computer. So I can't tell you either way.
Just because Steam has all of these great benefits doesn't mean that people make use of them, I guess. Part of the point of Steam, in my mind, is that if you change computers, you can easily and quickly rebuild your game library on Steam on your new computer by just redownloading the games, without trying to hassle with CD/DVD installs. You can just set it to an overnight download.
Of course, she doesn't play Majesty 2 anymore, so it is also likely that she downloaded it again, then deleted it afterwards because she wanted to free up some space. *shrugs*
Understood. I don't play any of them so its not a huge issue for me, I've avoided DRM pretty easily due to my natural dislike for big budget games. As a rule I don't even play FPS's, I am still a little leery breaking it for Portal but I've been sworn to by several different people that I usually trust that Portal is an enjoyable exception to my usual FPS dislike.
What sort of games DO you play? I mean, they have to be published by someone, and that someone will typically insist on some sort of DRM. It's not only the big budget publishers that do this. Unless you mostly play browser/flash games or stick to console games (some of which now have DRM in the form of activation codes) or something.
Hahnsoo1 on
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proyebatGARY WAS HEREASH IS A LOSERRegistered Userregular
I really feel sorry for you guys. Not using steam is like living in Southern California and refusing to use an Air Conditioner. It's like, why would you do that? I don't get it. It's nothing like the devils of DRM.
I don't know dude, once you hit Ventura, it's pretty nice.
Understood. I don't play any of them so its not a huge issue for me, I've avoided DRM pretty easily due to my natural dislike for big budget games. As a rule I don't even play FPS's, I am still a little leery breaking it for Portal but I've been sworn to by several different people that I usually trust that Portal is an enjoyable exception to my usual FPS dislike.
What sort of games DO you play? I mean, they have to be published by someone, and that someone will typically insist on some sort of DRM. It's not only the big budget publishers that do this. Unless you mostly play browser/flash games or stick to console games (some of which now has DRM in the form of activation codes) or something.
I used to play MMOs until I ran out of anything interesting to dig through. These days I'm down to console games (Demon's Souls, Rock Band) and Starcraft II (which I compromised on DRM for because... its SC2).
Gah. My girlfriend DID buy Majesty 2 a while back, but it's not re-downloaded on her new computer. So I can't tell you either way.
Just because Steam has all of these great benefits doesn't mean that people make use of them, I guess. Part of the point of Steam, in my mind, is that if you change computers, you can easily and quickly rebuild your game library on Steam on your new computer by just redownloading the games, without trying to hassle with CD/DVD installs. You can just set it to an overnight download.
Of course, she doesn't play Majesty 2 anymore, so it is also likely that she downloaded it again, then deleted it afterwards because she wanted to free up some space. *shrugs*
That's a pretty reasonable argument. I've been doing the same thing via disk minus the bandwidth hit but hey, I'm not Canadian so no caps for me.
Steam is not a big deal at all. I mean, its a big deal, being one of the best things about PC gaming right now, but if you are just going to buy portal don't worry about it so much.
What exactly do you want to know?
1. You can download your games as many times as you want.
2. Their download speeds are incredible. Its rare for me not to get 1.5mb/s or more.
3. Its low key, just an icon on your tool bar which leads to a magical realm of really cheap games.
4. Most games can be played while offline.
Really if you don't play alot of games and would like to keep it that way, you might just want to avoid steam. Seeing triple A titles for $5 every other week would be enough to break a man
Understood. I don't play any of them so its not a huge issue for me, I've avoided DRM pretty easily due to my natural dislike for big budget games. As a rule I don't even play FPS's, I am still a little leery breaking it for Portal but I've been sworn to by several different people that I usually trust that Portal is an enjoyable exception to my usual FPS dislike.
What sort of games DO you play? I mean, they have to be published by someone, and that someone will typically insist on some sort of DRM. It's not only the big budget publishers that do this. Unless you mostly play browser/flash games or stick to console games (some of which now has DRM in the form of activation codes) or something.
I used to play MMOs until I ran out of anything interesting to dig through. These days I'm down to console games (Demon's Souls, Rock Band) and Starcraft II (which I compromised on DRM for because... its SC2).
My Irony meter is going way off the charts. *grin* (MMOs being the very definition of Big Budget and draconian DRM. Not only can you not play them offline, you have to pay a fee to play them on their servers legally, and they can pull the plug at any time.)
In any case, Portal and Portal 2 are both good buys right now. Well, Portal 2 is a good buy at any rate... I know a lot of people recently who got Portal 1 for free. The first person is more of the issue of perspective. It's hardly a shooter at all.
I won't try to sell you on Steam, because I barely use it myself. I buy games on it for cheap, and that's pretty much it.
Hahnsoo1 on
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INeedNoSaltwith blood on my teethRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
But they can only be played offline if you tell steam you're going offline before you do it!
If your internet cuts out or something you're fucked and you can't use any of the games.
But they can only be played offline if you tell steam you're going offline before you do it!
If your internet cuts out or something you're fucked and you can't use any of the games.
Only for some games.
edit: Just disconnected myself from the internet and steam started up VVVVV and Portal (though my GPU is messed up right now and it didn't actually get passed the steam splash screen) just fine. Did another test where I was not logged into steam when I disconnected, then booted steam in offline mode, and they again ran fine.
But they can only be played offline if you tell steam you're going offline before you do it!
If your internet cuts out or something you're fucked and you can't use any of the games.
Hmm, that hasn't been my experiance, I've been able to switch to offline mode after my ISP fails, and still played Civ 4, Fallout 3, and Defense Grid if I recall correctly, but it's been a while; but maybe the games I used don't have continual DRM checks, Fallout3/NV only checks DRM when changing DLC/Mod configuration I think.
My Irony meter is going way off the charts. *grin* (MMOs being the very definition of Big Budget and draconian DRM. Not only can you not play them offline, you have to pay a fee to play them on their servers legally, and they can pull the plug at any time.)
This is basically the first thing I thought as well.
MMOs are pretty much just DRM that happens to come with a game.*
*says the guy who just started playing Eve online :P
hatedinamerica on
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INeedNoSaltwith blood on my teethRegistered Userregular
But they can only be played offline if you tell steam you're going offline before you do it!
If your internet cuts out or something you're fucked and you can't use any of the games.
Hmm, that hasn't been my experiance, I've been able to switch to offline mode after my ISP fails, and still played Civ 4, Fallout 3, and Defense Grid if I recall correctly, but it's been a while; but maybe the games I used don't have continual DRM checks, Fallout3/NV only checks DRM when changing DLC/Mod configuration I think.
Well that's bullshit.
Anytime my internet cuts out, if I try to tell Steam to start in off-line mode, it tells me it can't because it can't connect to the Steam servers.
Gah. My girlfriend DID buy Majesty 2 a while back, but it's not re-downloaded on her new computer. So I can't tell you either way.
Just because Steam has all of these great benefits doesn't mean that people make use of them, I guess. Part of the point of Steam, in my mind, is that if you change computers, you can easily and quickly rebuild your game library on Steam on your new computer by just redownloading the games, without trying to hassle with CD/DVD installs. You can just set it to an overnight download.
Of course, she doesn't play Majesty 2 anymore, so it is also likely that she downloaded it again, then deleted it afterwards because she wanted to free up some space. *shrugs*
That's a pretty reasonable argument. I've been doing the same thing via disk minus the bandwidth hit but hey, I'm not Canadian so no caps for me.
I shall check it out when I get home, thanks.
Canadians dont have caps on their net. At least I dont, and dont know anyone else who does who lives here.
SparserLogic, in addition to great deals, Steam also has a couple of free games. Of not are Alien Swarm, Trackmania and Half-Life 2 Deathmatch (if you have an ATI or Nvidia graphics card).
But they can only be played offline if you tell steam you're going offline before you do it!
If your internet cuts out or something you're fucked and you can't use any of the games.
I was without internet a good portion of yesterday and played Portal 2 singleplayer just fine. I didn't activate offline mode until after I was without internet.
Was is JUST internet cutting out, or did some other aspects of your machine change? as in hardware or driver changes? (like undocking from a docking station, or installing on OS update) if a DRM system thinks it's on different hardware, it'll choke until re-activated.
Kaenneth on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
My Irony meter is going way off the charts. *grin* (MMOs being the very definition of Big Budget and draconian DRM. Not only can you not play them offline, you have to pay a fee to play them on their servers legally, and they can pull the plug at any time.)
This is basically the first thing I thought as well.
MMOs are pretty much just DRM that happens to come with a game.*
*says the guy who just started playing Eve online :P
You seem like a good guy, so I'm gonna give you some advice from personal experience. Get out. Just leave. Run. Don't look back.
The_SpaniardIt's never lupinesIrvine, CaliforniaRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
I tested this extensively when I went to Europe for a few weeks last year with my new laptop, and did not have net for 90% of that time. For the first week or so I was able to play games offline, then something bugged out and it said I couldn't log in because I couldn't connect to the Steam servers. Then I got connection for a few minutes at one point at a cafe to check my email, re-connected to Steam, and then for the rest of the trip it worked offline again. Though that couple of days that it didn't work were kinda lame. So not fool-proof but it works pretty well.
But they can only be played offline if you tell steam you're going offline before you do it!
If your internet cuts out or something you're fucked and you can't use any of the games.
Hmm, that hasn't been my experiance, I've been able to switch to offline mode after my ISP fails, and still played Civ 4, Fallout 3, and Defense Grid if I recall correctly, but it's been a while; but maybe the games I used don't have continual DRM checks, Fallout3/NV only checks DRM when changing DLC/Mod configuration I think.
Well that's bullshit.
Anytime my internet cuts out, if I try to tell Steam to start in off-line mode, it tells me it can't because it can't connect to the Steam servers.
If you save your login you're generally good to go. Do you normally enter your password every time you start up steam?
I really feel sorry for you guys. Not using steam is like living in Southern California and refusing to use an Air Conditioner. It's like, why would you do that? I don't get it. It's nothing like the devils of DRM.
This. It's not like the DRM on games that you can only install like 5 times and then it's done.
I have almost 100 games on my steam account, and I've paid over 5 dollars for maybe like 3 of them. This is enough of a reason to buy games on steam.
But I mean, if you don't like saving money go ahead and do whatever you do.
As evidenced by the fact that I haven't played the original Portal, I just tend to not buy anything.
Games being cheap through steam doesn't really matter one way or another to me since I'm very rarely actually interested in a game and when I do want to purchase one its usually worth it to pay full price.
Well do I have news for you. I used to not buy games because, you know, I was a broke ass student. Still I would get the occasional Halo or other game for XBOX. Anyway, now that I've had my Steampiphany, I've been introduced to so many great games I otherwise would've never known about. When people look back on gaming history, the establishment of Steam will be seen as a watershed moment that gave PC consumers the options that a retail store never could. It truly gives you more gaming bang for your buck than any other platform.
my general understanding of steam's offline mode is you have to toggle it on and off once WITH a connection, then afterwards you can lose connection at any time and steam will be cool with it.
i've had my router blip and generally do nasty things that disconnect me, and it's never been an issue.
curly haired boy on
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
edited April 2011
So I just installed Audiosurf. I've had it since last Thanksgiving, and it's pretty awesome. I feel bad about not installing it earlier.
I'm kind of confused about it though. Do you generally just want to focus on one color? Like for the device has been modified, which is an awesome song, do you just want to collect the orange blocks?
Also, the song was in the audiosurf radio section. I clicked download, so does that mean I can play this song whenever I want now? Or when the songs change in the radio section do I lose it?
Strategy depends on mode. For the custom Portal mode, you want to get as many cubes as possible, then match as many blocks at the same time as you can. How to do that has a lot of variation.
I didn't do this, but this is a pretty cool picture of an asshole:
"This sunspot is not real. It is, however, one of the best models of a sunspot ever made. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research produced this simulation by plugging the newest sunspot data into a 76-teraflop supercomputer. The image required nearly 2 billion data points to simulate the magnetism, temperature, and other features of a sunspot; it models the phenomenon down to a depth of nearly 4,000 miles."
I will continue buying hard copies of all of my other games though so I don't have to worry about all this DRM and meta-DRM stuff.
Ha! Ha ha! Wait. You aren't joking? You're being serious? *grin*
Hard Copy PC games are rife with DRM, especially now. DRM isn't only for digital downloads. Every single big budget game by big studios right now have a DRM scheme of some sort, from online activation to serial keys needed for multiplayer. DRM started with hard copy games, and have continued to do so. The complaints about Ubisoft's draconian DRM (the ones that require you to have an online connection to play) weren't from the online digital versions of their games downloaded through a digital distribution network. It was from the DVD versions of their offline games. If you buy PC games at all, you are going to deal with DRM in one form or another.
Understood. I don't play any of them so its not a huge issue for me, I've avoided DRM pretty easily due to my natural dislike for big budget games. As a rule I don't even play FPS's, I am still a little leery breaking it for Portal but I've been sworn to by several different people that I usually trust that Portal is an enjoyable exception to my usual FPS dislike.
Portal is not an FPS. It's a first person puzzle game. The only thing you shoot is portals, and it doesn't require very sharp reflexes (unless you're doing the optional challenge rooms.)
I will continue buying hard copies of all of my other games though so I don't have to worry about all this DRM and meta-DRM stuff.
Ha! Ha ha! Wait. You aren't joking? You're being serious? *grin*
Hard Copy PC games are rife with DRM, especially now. DRM isn't only for digital downloads. Every single big budget game by big studios right now have a DRM scheme of some sort, from online activation to serial keys needed for multiplayer. DRM started with hard copy games, and have continued to do so. The complaints about Ubisoft's draconian DRM (the ones that require you to have an online connection to play) weren't from the online digital versions of their games downloaded through a digital distribution network. It was from the DVD versions of their offline games. If you buy PC games at all, you are going to deal with DRM in one form or another.
Understood. I don't play any of them so its not a huge issue for me, I've avoided DRM pretty easily due to my natural dislike for big budget games. As a rule I don't even play FPS's, I am still a little leery breaking it for Portal but I've been sworn to by several different people that I usually trust that Portal is an enjoyable exception to my usual FPS dislike.
Portal is not an FPS. It's a first person puzzle game. The only thing you shoot is portals, and it doesn't require very sharp reflexes (unless you're doing the optional challenge rooms.)
Okay then, FP. I can't stand being in first person.
SparserLogic on
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
Seriously tho, in real life I have things like peripheral vision and full control of my hands and legs for moving and aiming. In first person games I feel like I'm moving with tunnel vision and zero awareness of my surroundings. I *hate* it.
SparserLogic on
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BlandlytastefulGruelmasterThe Dark LunchroomRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
Ugh. This reminds me of back when I was a wee lad, trying to play Wolfenstein and Doom on the SNES... I don't know what it was about those early FPS games, or maybe a delicate constitution I've outgrown, but man, they always left me feeling motion sick.
Exactly. I prefer to be able to see what I'm doing and skip the bobbing tunnel vision.
SparserLogic on
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L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
edited April 2011
Re: Majesty 2 vs 1.
The first one was a lot easier, in that you could set it up so that you could walk away, and never have to worry, even on the more difficult settings. It was more 'fun' in that way. A few of the maps are dicks, but most of the time you can sail through.
Majesty 2 isn't nearly as imbalanced, and requires a lot more micromanagement, from what I've seen. You need to be on top of everything all the time. It's paced quicker, and will throw shit at you if you so much as blink.
Seriously tho, in real life I have things like peripheral vision and full control of my hands and legs for moving and aiming. In first person games I feel like I'm moving with tunnel vision and zero awareness of my surroundings. I *hate* it.
The lowish field of view (75 or something like that in Half-Life 2?) which Valve games tend to have doesn't help. I love UT2004, but I have to set the FOV to 100 or so before it stops feeling claustrophobic. I once played Halo PC with a third person mod, and it made the game feel so much better.
Ugh. This reminds me of back when I was a wee lad, trying to play Wolfenstein and Doom on the SNES... I don't know what it was about those early FPS games, or maybe a delicate constitution I've outgrown, but man, they always left me feeling motion sick.
I get this. Heck, I got motion sickness playing Portal 1 last weekend. I think part of it is the camera/weapon bob. Minecraft was making me sick until I turned off view bobbing.
So does anyone still need Portal on the Free? I have a gift copy and all of my friends got it when the mac client launched.
Also if anyone has an extra L4D2 they would be interested in giving or trading for something around what L4D2 goes for when it's on sale shoot me a pm.
So does anyone still need Portal on the Free? I have a gift copy and all of my friends got it when the mac client launched.
Also if anyone has an extra L4D2 they would be interested in giving or trading for something around what L4D2 goes for when it's on sale shoot me a pm.
You should give your portal to that SparserLogic guy a couple posts up, and check the last few pages for his story of uncertainty. Make him a Steam convert!
Posts
Well:
1) I have never used Steam directly so came to the Steam thread to ask how it worked before sinking my money.
2) Just because I only buy games rarely doesn't mean I don't buy and enjoy them. I'm usually just busy working or reading or cooking or whatever and only fit in a game occasionally.
3) I use the forum to keep myself up to date on the latest news within the industry. If I didn't I wouldn't even have known that Portal 2 was coming out this week, sometime I actually want to play once I've beaten the first.
4) I'm not a hater by nature, I'm just politically motivated most of the time and I guess my perspective is different than most gamers. Example: I won't buy microsoft products because I don't care for their business model. I don't judge those that do, I just choose not to myself.
Hard Copy PC games are rife with DRM, especially now. DRM isn't only for digital downloads. Every single big budget game by big studios right now have a DRM scheme of some sort, from online activation to serial keys needed for multiplayer. DRM started with hard copy games, and have continued to do so. The complaints about Ubisoft's draconian DRM (the ones that require you to have an online connection to play) weren't from the online digital versions of their games downloaded through a digital distribution network. It was from the DVD versions of their offline games. If you buy PC games at all, you are going to deal with DRM in one form or another.
Especially number 4. Not to be a fanboy. I love all the consoles, but I've been loving my PS3 more and more lately.
Understood. I don't play any of them so its not a huge issue for me, I've avoided DRM pretty easily due to my natural dislike for big budget games. As a rule I don't even play FPS's, I am still a little leery breaking it for Portal but I've been sworn to by several different people that I usually trust that Portal is an enjoyable exception to my usual FPS dislike.
Just because Steam has all of these great benefits doesn't mean that people make use of them, I guess. Part of the point of Steam, in my mind, is that if you change computers, you can easily and quickly rebuild your game library on Steam on your new computer by just redownloading the games, without trying to hassle with CD/DVD installs. You can just set it to an overnight download.
Of course, she doesn't play Majesty 2 anymore, so it is also likely that she downloaded it again, then deleted it afterwards because she wanted to free up some space. *shrugs*
I don't know dude, once you hit Ventura, it's pretty nice.
I used to play MMOs until I ran out of anything interesting to dig through. These days I'm down to console games (Demon's Souls, Rock Band) and Starcraft II (which I compromised on DRM for because... its SC2).
That's a pretty reasonable argument. I've been doing the same thing via disk minus the bandwidth hit but hey, I'm not Canadian so no caps for me.
I shall check it out when I get home, thanks.
What exactly do you want to know?
1. You can download your games as many times as you want.
2. Their download speeds are incredible. Its rare for me not to get 1.5mb/s or more.
3. Its low key, just an icon on your tool bar which leads to a magical realm of really cheap games.
4. Most games can be played while offline.
Really if you don't play alot of games and would like to keep it that way, you might just want to avoid steam. Seeing triple A titles for $5 every other week would be enough to break a man
In any case, Portal and Portal 2 are both good buys right now. Well, Portal 2 is a good buy at any rate... I know a lot of people recently who got Portal 1 for free. The first person is more of the issue of perspective. It's hardly a shooter at all.
I won't try to sell you on Steam, because I barely use it myself. I buy games on it for cheap, and that's pretty much it.
If your internet cuts out or something you're fucked and you can't use any of the games.
Only for some games.
edit: Just disconnected myself from the internet and steam started up VVVVV and Portal (though my GPU is messed up right now and it didn't actually get passed the steam splash screen) just fine. Did another test where I was not logged into steam when I disconnected, then booted steam in offline mode, and they again ran fine.
Hmm, that hasn't been my experiance, I've been able to switch to offline mode after my ISP fails, and still played Civ 4, Fallout 3, and Defense Grid if I recall correctly, but it's been a while; but maybe the games I used don't have continual DRM checks, Fallout3/NV only checks DRM when changing DLC/Mod configuration I think.
This is basically the first thing I thought as well.
MMOs are pretty much just DRM that happens to come with a game.*
*says the guy who just started playing Eve online :P
Well that's bullshit.
Anytime my internet cuts out, if I try to tell Steam to start in off-line mode, it tells me it can't because it can't connect to the Steam servers.
Canadians dont have caps on their net. At least I dont, and dont know anyone else who does who lives here.
I was without internet a good portion of yesterday and played Portal 2 singleplayer just fine. I didn't activate offline mode until after I was without internet.
You seem like a good guy, so I'm gonna give you some advice from personal experience. Get out. Just leave. Run. Don't look back.
If you save your login you're generally good to go. Do you normally enter your password every time you start up steam?
Steam
Well do I have news for you. I used to not buy games because, you know, I was a broke ass student. Still I would get the occasional Halo or other game for XBOX. Anyway, now that I've had my Steampiphany, I've been introduced to so many great games I otherwise would've never known about. When people look back on gaming history, the establishment of Steam will be seen as a watershed moment that gave PC consumers the options that a retail store never could. It truly gives you more gaming bang for your buck than any other platform.
Check out the Penny Arcade World of Tanks thread to join us in some fun times.
i've had my router blip and generally do nasty things that disconnect me, and it's never been an issue.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
I'm kind of confused about it though. Do you generally just want to focus on one color? Like for the device has been modified, which is an awesome song, do you just want to collect the orange blocks?
Also, the song was in the audiosurf radio section. I clicked download, so does that mean I can play this song whenever I want now? Or when the songs change in the radio section do I lose it?
Strategy depends on mode. For the custom Portal mode, you want to get as many cubes as possible, then match as many blocks at the same time as you can. How to do that has a lot of variation.
Portal is not an FPS. It's a first person puzzle game. The only thing you shoot is portals, and it doesn't require very sharp reflexes (unless you're doing the optional challenge rooms.)
Okay then, FP. I can't stand being in first person.
I'm sorry. I'm just kidding. I couldn't resist.
Bazing
Seriously tho, in real life I have things like peripheral vision and full control of my hands and legs for moving and aiming. In first person games I feel like I'm moving with tunnel vision and zero awareness of my surroundings. I *hate* it.
The first one was a lot easier, in that you could set it up so that you could walk away, and never have to worry, even on the more difficult settings. It was more 'fun' in that way. A few of the maps are dicks, but most of the time you can sail through.
Majesty 2 isn't nearly as imbalanced, and requires a lot more micromanagement, from what I've seen. You need to be on top of everything all the time. It's paced quicker, and will throw shit at you if you so much as blink.
That said, I find it fun.
The lowish field of view (75 or something like that in Half-Life 2?) which Valve games tend to have doesn't help. I love UT2004, but I have to set the FOV to 100 or so before it stops feeling claustrophobic. I once played Halo PC with a third person mod, and it made the game feel so much better.
I get this. Heck, I got motion sickness playing Portal 1 last weekend. I think part of it is the camera/weapon bob. Minecraft was making me sick until I turned off view bobbing.
Also if anyone has an extra L4D2 they would be interested in giving or trading for something around what L4D2 goes for when it's on sale shoot me a pm.
You should give your portal to that SparserLogic guy a couple posts up, and check the last few pages for his story of uncertainty. Make him a Steam convert!
I guess the last time I asked if anyone wanted it I got lost in the potato game end phase.