Does this mean that Steam is only great for big AAA titles?

Steam?! What's that?

Don't care really, at the end it's just video games. Won't be the end of the world if steam shuts down. As long as they upload a patch that will remove the steam DRM. (which they've said millions of times they will if something ever goes wrong).

I don't see the problem - crappy games were around since the industry started. Today anybody who wants to check the game can check numerous critics' reviews, customers' reviews and gameplay footages without leaving home. You can filter out crap fast and efficient.

Meh, Steam is not desperate, it's just toying around with different publishing models. It'll stabilize at one point or another.

They're transitioning to a model where customers curate everything for them. We're in a weird in-between spot now I guess, but in the end no one is telling you to buy crappy unfinished games. If you do that then it's pretty much your fault, no? Especially since every game has endless coverage on youtube and the like.

Someday when there are user stores and such, and I can go to the RPG Codex store and see all the decent Western RPG games in one place, that will be awesome. That's Newell's goal. We're just in a transitioning period at the moment on the way there.


I think they said it once, and it was in a totally non-binding way. This idea they have promised that is total fantasy, honestly. In fact the Steam terms of service say the exact opposite, that they can shut down and take away your games at any time for any reason.

Imagine Steam going full drm-free... GoG'd be in trouble.

Er.No.

This is exactly why I doubt they ever will earn enough ill will no matter how much they deserve it, because the average schlub has no time for protests when it's more convenient to just take it. Afterall, if they complain they might cause disruption, and that could mean having to wait for a few shinies, and they can't possibly do that.

People also become complacent, and even if a decent alternative opens up, too many people just don't want their stuff to get "complicated". The idea of something not coming from the same source, that it won't be directly part of their Steam library is too much of a hassle.

I've actually had friends turn down GOG codes because they weren't Steam codes. -.-

Don't really use Steam except for big sale discounts of games I actually want and have checked out for myself.

Crap games aren't confined to Steam, nobody should buy a game they haven't researched properly.

That's Right! and yes that's right also!

no, they are just in a transition from where companies tell you what to buy to one where communities tell you what to buy :)

Some GoG marketing guy went as far to say, in an interview, that he had researched it and concluded it was just an urban legend that people bought into - that nothing of the sort was ever said. I tend to want to believe people when they say stuff. I wouldn't call me gullible, but I'm not naturally suspicious without reason, and the first thing that entered my mind when I heard that was BS. From technical reasons, to all the legal implications, the idea that there is some DRM-off switch for Steam floating around out there is buried under more improbability than just about anything else I've ever heard of.

At the end of the day Steam is a company and want to make profits. They do that by not pissing off the most people possible. Early Access has made some people upset and very noisy, but I would wager that these people are either those who have spent money and been burned or those who have just decided this is some soap box to get all het up about.

Personally I see Early Access as a nuisance only, because the games get lumped in with the other stuff on the store front page, but it's easy enough to ignore.

As for Steam retaining the right to pull licenses and so on - yes they do have this right. If they ever use that right in anger over much or all of their customer base then it will potentially be the last thing they do before turning off their servers; such a move would basically be the end of their revenue stream. I don't see this happening. Having the ability to do something is not the same as doing it in reality