I think the best feature is the Steam Workshop, which makes it easy to share and access user created content.

I got forced to use it because of Killing Floor.

I do not have a Steam, Origin, Battlenet, UPlay or any of those client based services. This dog plays off leash. I do have a GOG, DotEmu and Desura account however. Desura has a client but it is fully optional for most of their titles. I also have a GamersGate account, but not much on it. GG has DRM on the installer but there is a trick for getting rid of it.

Like others have said, sign up for a Steam account and try it out if you are that curious about it. I wouldn't touch it with a 39 1/2 foot pole myself, but to each their own.

You know, I still owe you a game. Care to collect? :)

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_make_homer_less_stoopid_game_giveaway_contest

I'm registered, but won't be using it again until I get a new computer, or new graphics card and quit getting all those stupid DirectX errors.

I've got accounts all over the place. I've even technically got Gamestop and Gamefly accounts because they bought out Impulse and D2D respectively. I haven't used them since the changeover though.

I'd say Gamersgate is definitely one to consider. A much wider selection of titles, many of them DRM-free (the DRM is detailed on the game's page). They also have some good sales.

DotEmu is a no-brainer as the games on there are all DRM-free and generally it operates along similar lines to GOG. The only significant differences are that it supports more platforms and has some regional pricing.

Thanks for all the responces. I would never criticize something I havn't experience 1st hand (with the exception of being hit in the head with a baseball bat. I never had that happen but I am going to go on record as saying it sucks!) so I'll pull back from any further Steam related commentary. I am however very content as of right now so I think I'll stay on this ship for a while and see where she takes me. And just FYI, I don't always speak in nautical metaphores, but Titanic was on last night, and I watched it, AGAIN. And no I'm not big into mushy romance movies. And I'm not a big Leo fan.

...and I'm not an ice berg.

I don't have a steam account either. I don't want to have extra software installed where I don't know how it affects system stability and speed.

You don't have an account so you don't see the deals etc., of course like this the only way you'd see a reason to have Steam was if a game forced you to. But you can't wait for that, you need to go there and look it up. Be proactive. If after that you still don't think it's worth it then fine, but right now you're not making an informed decision.

I was on a similar boat as you, maybe worse in fact. I got the account to play The Stanley Parable, a Half Life 2 mod, but I could play it for free if I just had the SourceMod Tools and, consequently, Steam. I did and afterwards swore that I would never ever buy something there, it was shortly after I got this GOG account and felt the whole idea of a client to play the games repugnant.

Yeah it must have lasted a week that promise. They put the Syberia games on sale, I wishlisted them here where they were for US$20 but now they were US$3,50 over there. I couldn't help myself and bought them.

After that there were other purchases and it turns out their client was fine. I never had any problem with it and playing games with it felt just as natural as anywhere else.

But you don't need an account to look. If you're curious just go there right now and check out the prices. Try searching for games under 10 dollars or so, you'll see it's practically the entire catalog.

P.S.: Also, look for Zeno Clash. It doesn't get enough love and it's 90% off.

I don't have a Steam account, and have no intention of getting one. I use only GOG, GG and Indiegamestand. Any game I want that's not DRM-free I get from thepiratebay :P

When Valve decided to drop the WON id system used by Half-Life for good (and thus its multi mods), all the players were forced to move to Steam to keep on playing, iirc it was a few months after the official Steam release.
Transition wasn't easy, I didn't like it for quite some time, it still has flaws but overall for the multiplayer experience it was a good thing. I'm still using my day 1 account ever since.

At first I really liked the idea of having all my titles on the same account, but for a few years I've been trying to get the "non-steam mandatory" games from other retailers (because of DRM; possibility to lose a full library when losing the account for various reasons etc)

Nope, I don't use Steam.

I suppose I'd subscribe if I had much faster and cheaper bandwidth, cared about publicising achievements, wanted to join in multiplayer games, didn't mind slowing down my gaming computer by having to install antivirus/firewall software due to it being online all the time, didn't do a clean install of my PC every 6 months to keep it running lean and mean, didn't mind risking losing all access to my games one day... and didn't mind DRM.

Right now the only Steam exclusive game I'd like to play is Skyrim, but the irony is that Skyrim is exactly the kind of game I wouldn't want to obtain via Steam. If I did join Steam, I'd focus on games that didn't take too long to complete and had no replay value, and I could get rid of them and the Steam client as soon a possible... and I guess I wouldn't be wanting to pay too much to experience those kinds of games either.

You appear to be forgetting about a minor detail there: Valve sells subscriptions, not software. When you make a purchase, you pay for a license to play the game through their service. You can't really compare the price you pay for a DRM-free copy with the amount of money you pay for a license on Steam.

I have a Steam account, but I don't use it very much. I prefer DRM-free, but Steam has a few interesting games (Portal).

Yeah, I had a problem with that too. But now I feel like it's splitting hairs. I don't see my "license" ever being revoked and if it is I have no qualms about cracking the game as I feel I'd be entitled to.