Posted May 07, 2015
To younger gamers Steam & Co have become more or less synonymous with 'PC gaming'.
And given that Steam is like a sub-culture in itself, I'm not surprised that kids are so clueless.
In my experience most older gamers are well aware of what DRM-free means in practicality, but::
a) don't really care
b) still prefer the benefits of Steam, like having all the games in one place with no need for extensive storage
c) are not interested in playing 'old games'...which is itself a common misconception
Our gaming media, as well as most youtube gamers, are detrimental to the DRM-free cause, as they always promote buying the games from Steam and never promote buying the games DRM-free directly from the developers or publishers when both options are available !.
And they certainly don't promote buying games from GOG, ShinyLoot and other such places....not often anyway.
Even "PC Masterrace" spokespersons like TotalBiscuit are promoting Steam as the ideal platform for the future of gaming. Maybe I expect too much from the heralds of PC Elitism, but I would certainly think 'independence' would be one of the ideological pillars...at least more important than 'haha, this games looks prettier on my PC'.
I find it bizarre that, in their battle against console gaming, they see Steam as the fortress of PC gaming.
In my opinion you need to educate people in these ways:
* our gaming media and youtube gamers need to inform their audience when a game is also available DRM-free
...and not just promote the Steam version
* we need to educate people that DRM-free does not automatically mean "old games" because many - if not most - indie games are also available DRM-free either through places like GOG or the game's own website
So I think our media and youtubers can do much to explain and support the DRM-free concept.
And given that Steam is like a sub-culture in itself, I'm not surprised that kids are so clueless.
In my experience most older gamers are well aware of what DRM-free means in practicality, but::
a) don't really care
b) still prefer the benefits of Steam, like having all the games in one place with no need for extensive storage
c) are not interested in playing 'old games'...which is itself a common misconception
Our gaming media, as well as most youtube gamers, are detrimental to the DRM-free cause, as they always promote buying the games from Steam and never promote buying the games DRM-free directly from the developers or publishers when both options are available !.
And they certainly don't promote buying games from GOG, ShinyLoot and other such places....not often anyway.
Even "PC Masterrace" spokespersons like TotalBiscuit are promoting Steam as the ideal platform for the future of gaming. Maybe I expect too much from the heralds of PC Elitism, but I would certainly think 'independence' would be one of the ideological pillars...at least more important than 'haha, this games looks prettier on my PC'.
I find it bizarre that, in their battle against console gaming, they see Steam as the fortress of PC gaming.
In my opinion you need to educate people in these ways:
* our gaming media and youtube gamers need to inform their audience when a game is also available DRM-free
...and not just promote the Steam version
* we need to educate people that DRM-free does not automatically mean "old games" because many - if not most - indie games are also available DRM-free either through places like GOG or the game's own website
So I think our media and youtubers can do much to explain and support the DRM-free concept.