Current Events > Polygon article on Steam really puts shit in perspective lately

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/16/15622366/valve-gabe-newell-sales-origin-destructive

I mean I caught myself not buying a few games just because they weren't on steam
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That was a good read
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put into words what i've been feeling since 2013ish, and that's as someone with 2600 hours in dota

Holy carp, that's a lot of injustice.
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Article is just as annoying the second time lol
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Valve being lambasted for being visionary and seeing where the future was before everyone else? It's not their fault everyone else is trying to play catch up. They exist to make money and they do so. Steam is pretty great for me the consumer so I don't care what they do.
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Steam is PC gaming and no one seems to care. Kinda weird.
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yanksfan4247 posted...

Steam is PC gaming and no one seems to care. Kinda weird.

which is weird since pirating is the biggest on the PC
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That's from the 16th of May.
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Valve is nothing more than one of the new breed of digital rentiers, an unapologetic platform monopolist growing rich on its 30 percent cut of every purchase — and all the while abrogating every shred of corporate or moral responsibility under the Uber-esque pretense of simply being a "platform that connects gamers to creators.”

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What a stupid article. Might as well write an article "Olive Garden is not your family"
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i expected nothing less from polygon to create pointless clickbait articles

steam deserves the digital game monopoly. Their service is consistently fast, minimal , and reliable to distribute the games they sell
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>Unironically linking to Polygon.

Archive today that shit or GTFO, I'm not giving them any clicks
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Interesting read, but ultimately Valve is a business. No shit they're going to try and utilise profit wherever they can.
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Welcome to 2015, Polygon

This article is stupid. He sounds like an angry belligerent Redditor that's trying to argue with emotion rather than logic
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FightingGames posted...

i expected nothing less from polygon to create pointless clickbait articles

steam deserves the digital game monopoly. Their service is consistently fast, minimal , and reliable to distribute the games they sell

this
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It's funny how mad people were about always online Xbone and how defensive they are of Steam...
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Steam doesn't require for you to be always online.
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Refunds portion was a nice recap. I knew of it but not pay attention to it cause i really underestimated how steam operates behind the game client.

Free labor stuff was interesting. the workshop creators tidbit. Yikes.

Overall the article pointed out the greed behind steam. Steam uses it services for fun, free, and now. Its not fun and free but its happening now and indefinitely behind the scenes as this article points out.
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Leanaunfurled posted...

Article is just as annoying the second time lol

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lmao
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All hail steam our PC gaming overlords...

They did it first, they did it right, they continue to do it right.

No complaints.
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Before Steam came along, PC gaming was basically on the verge of death. Games were buggy, ports were shitty, and buying a typical PC game was just too hard because stores didn't carry them and old games were not available for purchase online.

I don't do PC gaming, so I have little knowledge as to how steam works, but that article was pretty damning
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FrisbeeDude posted...

I don't do PC gaming, so I have little knowledge as to how steam works, but that article was pretty damning

Basically, steam single handedly saved PC gaming and now profits immensely from it. Side note, I have never had an issue getting a refund from them in the past.

Everything is easier with steam than without.
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I remember people speaking favourably about a 30% cut in the past because, but comparison, profit margins on retail games after manufacturing and licensing and all that were pretty thin.
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The Deadpool posted...

It's funny how mad people were about always online Xbone and how defensive they are of Steam...

They are probably defensive because Steam doesn't require you always be online.
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MC_BatCommander posted...

The Deadpool posted...

It's funny how mad people were about always online Xbone and how defensive they are of Steam...

They are probably defensive because Steam doesn't require you always be online.

I think it's up to the game's individual DRM, but yeah, I had no trouble playing my Steam games on my laptop after not connecting for a month. No idea if it does a check-in at some point that would cause it to stop working though.
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steam works great so I'm going to continue to use it
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Annihilated posted...

Before Steam came along, PC gaming was basically on the verge of death. Games were buggy, ports were shitty, and buying a typical PC game was just too hard because stores didn't carry them and old games were not available for purchase online.

Steam didn't do anything to ensure QC standards, so I dunno why you toss the first two points in.
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UrCa1988 posted...

Annihilated posted...

Before Steam came along, PC gaming was basically on the verge of death. Games were buggy, ports were shitty, and buying a typical PC game was just too hard because stores didn't carry them and old games were not available for purchase online.

Steam didn't do anything to ensure QC standards, so I dunno why you toss the first two points in.

They didn't have to. Quality has improved because back then, they didn't give a fuck. Now, decent ports usually get good sales and shitty ports get swarmed with bad reviews.

Annihilated posted...

UrCa1988 posted...

Annihilated posted...

Before Steam came along, PC gaming was basically on the verge of death. Games were buggy, ports were shitty, and buying a typical PC game was just too hard because stores didn't carry them and old games were not available for purchase online.

Steam didn't do anything to ensure QC standards, so I dunno why you toss the first two points in.

They didn't have to. Quality has improved because back then, they didn't give a fuck. Now, decent ports usually get good sales and shitty ports get swarmed with bad reviews.

Review systems were already in place before Steam, so again, I don't know why you're tossing those two points in as a positive for Steam. That they make them visible? Sure, I guess, but the same kind of power user that would use Steam is almost certainly already aware that metacritic and other review sites exist to check this kinda stuff.
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Leanaunfurled posted...

Steam doesn't require for you to be always online.

Except for a once a month check-in.

The thing with PC's is, it's not used just for gaming. Consoles are still mainly used for gaming. And IIRC, the Xbone always online crap was going to be a daily check-in.
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UrCa1988 posted...

Review systems were already in place before Steam, so again, I don't know why you're tossing those two points in as a positive for Steam. That they make them visible? Sure, I guess, but the same kind of power user that would use Steam is almost certainly already aware that metacritic and other review sites exist to check this kinda stuff.

I put more stake in steam reviews than I do metacritic and other review sites...
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UrCa1988 posted...

Annihilated posted...

UrCa1988 posted...

Annihilated posted...

Before Steam came along, PC gaming was basically on the verge of death. Games were buggy, ports were shitty, and buying a typical PC game was just too hard because stores didn't carry them and old games were not available for purchase online.

Steam didn't do anything to ensure QC standards, so I dunno why you toss the first two points in.

They didn't have to. Quality has improved because back then, they didn't give a fuck. Now, decent ports usually get good sales and shitty ports get swarmed with bad reviews.

Review systems were already in place before Steam, so again, I don't know why you're tossing those two points in as a positive for Steam. That they make them visible? Sure, I guess, but the same kind of power user that would use Steam is almost certainly already aware that metacritic and other review sites exist to check this kinda stuff.

Guess you weren't around before 2005 so you wouldn't know. But there was no central hub for the PC gaming community, there was no consensus on what kind of standards PC games should meet, and many game studios closed down due to poor sales.

UrCa1988 posted...

Annihilated posted...

UrCa1988 posted...

Annihilated posted...

Before Steam came along, PC gaming was basically on the verge of death. Games were buggy, ports were shitty, and buying a typical PC game was just too hard because stores didn't carry them and old games were not available for purchase online.

Steam didn't do anything to ensure QC standards, so I dunno why you toss the first two points in.

They didn't have to. Quality has improved because back then, they didn't give a fuck. Now, decent ports usually get good sales and shitty ports get swarmed with bad reviews.

Review systems were already in place before Steam, so again, I don't know why you're tossing those two points in as a positive for Steam. That they make them visible? Sure, I guess, but the same kind of power user that would use Steam is almost certainly already aware that metacritic and other review sites exist to check this kinda stuff.

That stuff didn't predate Steam, though.
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UrCa1988 posted...

Review systems were already in place before Steam, so again, I don't know why you're tossing those two points in as a positive for Steam. That they make them visible? Sure, I guess, but the same kind of power user that would use Steam is almost certainly already aware that metacritic and other review sites exist to check this kinda stuff.

Back then? A lot of sites didn't differentiate between PC and PS3/Xbox versions, there's been a few times when the game itself is good but the PC port is absolute garbage and the reviews didn't acknowledge that
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Annihilated posted...

Guess you weren't around before 2005 so you wouldn't know. But there was no central hub for the PC gaming community, there was no consensus on what kind of standards PC games should meet, and many game studios closed down due to poor sales.

So are we going to thank the studios for actually seeing that PC sales would continue to dip unless they picked up their slack or are we thanking Steam for... making reviews visible? I have a Steam account from back in 2005, and I can tell you right now Steam was a complete piece of shit at the start until Valve managed to fix it many years later. It took a few years before it wasn't trash, and even then games still had non-Steam DRM attached to their Steam games for the longest time afterward.
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Annihilated posted...

Before Steam came along, PC gaming was basically on the verge of death.

imagine believing this.
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Dustin1280 posted...

All hail steam our PC gaming overlords...

They did it first, they did it right, they continue to do it right.

No complaints.

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I feel ashamed for giving Polygon a click.

Shit site with shit articles.
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Article talks about Steam stockholm syndrome amongst its fanbase. Said fanbase then does it's very best to prove the article right in this very topic. Hilarious.
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Twinmold posted...

Article talks about Steam stockholm syndrome amongst its fanbase. Said fanbase then does it's very best to prove the article right in this very topic. Hilarious.

Whats not to like?
Cheap games,
Entire library at the click of a button
easy updating

Extremely streamlined gaming in general.

Yeah they are out for profit, just like any other company out there. The key factor is they make PC gaming EASY and streamlined.
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Twinmold posted...

Article talks about Steam stockholm syndrome amongst its fanbase. Said fanbase then does it's very best to prove the article right in this very topic. Hilarious.

Combined with reflexive anti-Polygon syndrome. Pretty damn predictable. This doesn't include the people who just think it's the best service though.
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Vyrulisse posted...

Valve being lambasted for being visionary and seeing where the future was before everyone else? It's not their fault everyone else is trying to play catch up. They exist to make money and they do so. Steam is pretty great for me the consumer so I don't care what they do.

Yep. I don't give a shit who gets what cut, the end result for me the consumer is fantastic.

Twinmold posted...

Article talks about Steam stockholm syndrome amongst its fanbase. Said fanbase then does it's very best to prove the article right in this very topic. Hilarious.

Except nobody is being held prisoner, people willingly migrated to Steam because of cheap prices and a centralized hub for almost anything PC gaming related. Why should Gaben be skewered because he capitalized on opportunity while providing a great service?
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Yeah they are out for profit, just like any other company out there.

The article
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Earth's atmosphere
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Your head
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Unironically linking to Polygon? Really?
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FaultyGourry posted...

Unironically linking to Polygon? Really?

ZombiePuffin posted...

>Unironically linking to Polygon.

Archive today that shit or GTFO, I'm not giving them any clicks

spot the /v/ users

my goobys
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CEs_EFG posted...

spot the /v/ users

my goobys

What, you don't like /v/? I thought that board would be right up your alley. What with your linking showing you enjoy shit websites.
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Vyrulisse posted...

Valve being lambasted for being visionary and seeing where the future was before everyone else? It's not their fault everyone else is trying to play catch up. They exist to make money and they do so. Steam is pretty great for me the consumer so I don't care what they do.

and this
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