Question about steam please

[Davrun]

Hello guys im wondering lets say i buy half life on steam, can i DOWNLOAD it on my comp and run it without steam goes for any other games ive bought aswell.. why im asking is what if one day they decide to remove steam and all my games will be lost...

[JustintimeSS]

You do need steam to play any games you have purchased off of steam.

You can however play in offline mode at all times if you'd like. However, certain games require you to be "online".

[Fooliecoolie]

Hello guys im wondering lets say i buy half life on steam, can i DOWNLOAD it on my comp and run it without steam goes for any other games ive bought aswell.. why im asking is what if one day they decide to remove steam and all my games will be lost...

With the success that is Steam, I doubt anyone would allow it to close.

[Davrun]

well lets say they do decide to close it, what then? all my money wasted?

[georgevonfranken]

And lets say blizzard shuts down all there wow servers, what then? Everyone throws a huge shitstorm

[Fuzzykins]

Steam won't be shut down. It's made the largest profit from video games to date. I think they're starting to pass developers in profit margin.

[Unrully]

And their program is laggy as hell too.

Yay steam games! ~60 ping on vent without steam, ~130 ping on vent with steam. Woo.

[Matchu]

well lets say they do decide to close it, what then? all my money wasted?

It's written somewhere that they have to provide you with the game minus the "YOU NEED STEAM" if they ever shut down. Some EULA, ToS, whatever.

[georgevonfranken]

And their program is laggy as hell too.

Yay steam games! ~60 ping on vent without steam, ~130 ping on vent with steam. Woo.

I have no problems with steam running in the background.
Maybe you need a better isp or a computer that can handle multiple programs running

[ProBubble]

Yeah is been said.. dotn worry.. with valve linking games like this they cannot now shut down the system without MASSIVE lawsuits being filed for withholding paid services.. and tbh.. it eould be like shooting themselves in the foot.. its a money spinner that requires less input than wow.. and for those that winge baout i being laggy... its no laggier than any other internet service and it takes bandwidth but YOU CAN TURN IT OFF.. Vent takes bandwidth.. windows update takes bandwidth.. Stop QQing and start steaming its Facebook for pro's.

[Unrully]

I have no problems with steam running in the background.
Maybe you need a better isp or a computer that can handle multiple programs running

Yeah, my internets not quite the best, but it's still just the excessive crap they run on steam that really isn't needed. My computer is more than enough to handle running multiple programs at once.

And to "ProBubble" you can't turn steam off if your playing a steam game. And seeing as all of the CoD games are coming out on steam lately, because ya know, Activision loves us PC gamers so much, your spit-balled into playing it.

I'm just gonna hold out hope that EA will hold true to us PC gamers and BF3 will be as awesome as I think it was gonna be. I didn't have much hope for BC2.

[georgevonfranken]

Yeah, my internets not quite the best, but it's still just the excessive crap they run on steam that really isn't needed. My computer is more than enough to handle running multiple programs at once.

Well there is a offline mode but i dont know how to do it except for unplugging the internet.
And i mean fully offline not just friends list offline

[Unrully]

Well there is a offline mode but i dont know how to do it except for unplugging the internet.
And i mean fully offline not just friends list offline

I heard you jus type /camp and you win the internets anyway.

Offline mode = no online game.

[Janaa]

Hello guys im wondering lets say i buy half life on steam, can i DOWNLOAD it on my comp and run it without steam goes for any other games ive bought aswell.. why im asking is what if one day they decide to remove steam and all my games will be lost...

If you set your Steam to "offline mode" before Steam shuts down, then you'll be able to continue to play all games that don't require an online component, nor use any third party DRM as well as the Steam DRM. Most that do require an online component do so independently of Steam.

Gabe Newell states that they've already tested an in-house Steam DRM revocation tool, that would enable all games protected by Steam DRM to be played without any issues should Steam ever shut down. They make no guarantees on the case that this WOULD be released, just that it's certainly possible. Some games also protect their software with a third-party DRM which in most cases would continue to work without issues, presuming the Steam DRM unlock parsed the correct information internally "as if" you were playing the game on Steam.

Hackers have also written Steam clones (with varying degrees of success) which work (until Steam is updated. ). Point is, there's certainly a possibility that you could lose access to your games should Steam ever shut down, but it's unlikely. Either Steam themeselves or a third-party (cracker) would release either a Steam DRM stripper or emulator so you can continue to play your purchased games. It all depends on exactly what agreements Steam has with various software manufacturers - as they may have agreed never to release a DRM stripper for any EA title (for example). Each game uses independent keys, so it really depends on the original publisher if they allow Steam to do so after the fact. More likely, they'd encourage you to migrate to their in-house distribution service. (EA has one.. Blizzard will have one shortly, etc).

But Steam's unlikely to shut down any time soon. They survive so strongly because they are a largely independent distributor. Sure, Blizzard may release their own Steam-clone in the near future (as is the rumor), however they're not an independent distributor. They're Activision. EA (again, for example) may not at all be happy with Activision taking a cut of their profits, and not put their catalogue on Blizzard's service. As a neutral independent however, Steam has both Activision AND EA (and many other publishers) games. Don't stress overly about it. I have *hundreds* of games on Steam.. I just wish I had time to play them all. Damn Steam and their holiday specials making so many games so cheap!

[yorker]

I heard you jus type /camp and you win the internets anyway.

Offline mode = no online game.

Not true. You set Steam to offline mode, but you that doesn't mean that your computer loses it internet connection. E.g. I could play BC2 with Steam offline, but still be playing on multiplayer servers. The exception to this rule is for Steamworks games like L4D where steam has to be running in order for matchmaking to work.

As long as you've run a game once with Steam online (to validate/authorize it), you can run it in offline mode.

Also, if you your ping increases on Vent with Steam running, its a problem on your end and has nothing to do with Steam. It's probably your ISP throttling you.

[Spurmwhale]

Steam going out of business is the last thing i'm worried about. Does anyone come anywhere close to them in PC game sales? I know my local Gamestops don't even sell PC games anymore since they said everyone was just buying from Steam, its a lot easier.

Even if Steam gives some people lag the deals they have holidays/weekends are way too good to pass up if you're a gamer. You're missing out if you aren't buying from them.

[Bikni]

I love Steam and i think its one of the best things for it happened to pc games and its the 1st place i look for a game i want. Its a great platform, very practical, no hassle with dvds, patches, updates etc etc it even tells you when your graphic drivers are out of date. But probably my favourite feature is that theres no more problem with back ups, new pc?! download steam and all your games are there, at the parents house for a week, log into your steam download the game you want, at ultra fast speeds. Besides that they offer wide variety of support, with the forums, the online servers for games the steam version is most times better then the game itself. When games are loading or your stuck in a multiplayer lobby waiting for a game you can use the built in browser for the interwebs. Good social features has well to keep in touch with gamer friends. No wonder EA, Microsoft etc all have their own steam already. The only people who dont like steam are probably people who only pirate copies of their games.

Don't stress overly about it. I have *hundreds* of games on Steam.. I just wish I had time to play them all. Damn Steam and their holiday specials making so many games so cheap!

lol i got my 1st steam holiday this xmas and i bought sooo many games for ridiculous prices i know exactly what u mean, Arkham Asylum for 5£, Dirt2 for 4£ Bad Company2 for 6£, Saints Row 2 for 3£, Crysis for 4 or 5£, are just some of the amazing deals i got.

[Dembai]

One more confirmation: Steam is a launching platform. The game itself is on your computer, and does not require steam to be on and running to work (thought multiplayer may be somewhat hampered depending on your games' funtionality). Since my computer lacks quite a lot of 'awesome', I occasionally disable Steam and play my games without it.

Ultimately, though I don't see Steam going away any time soon - it's making Valve a shitton of money.

EDIT: I guess I should clarify - Steam does have to be running, but would be set to offline mode. Since Steam itself is on your computer (unless you remove it) the games still work.

[exstarcraftfan]

With the success that is Steam, I doubt anyone would allow it to close.

Valve makes good profit now and steam will exist in the next few years for sure but you can never know what will happen in the future.Digital distribution is good business and other companies want a piece of that cake too(rumour says that Blizzard wants to turn Battlenet into a digital store too,GoG will start selling newer games and I am sure that lots of others plan to get into DD too).


Buying games from steam is like renting something,if you want to download and play your favorite game in lets say 2022 I am not sure that you will be able to do that(unless you burn your games onto DVDs along with a crack,but its easier just buying a normal retail copy no?).

---------- Post added 2011-03-30 at 12:33 PM ----------

Steam won't be shut down. It's made the largest profit from video games to date. I think they're starting to pass developers in profit margin.

As I know distributors profit margin is bigger than the devs profit everywhere(not just in the game industry....everywhere...music industry,books etc.)

[Decaped]

When you purchase a game from steam, you get a receipt. Save a copy of your receipt. This is proof you have a license to play the game. If Steam ever dies, you still have a license to play the game and you can acquire a copy (such as borrowing a friend's discs) and play it. All legal.

Edit: Actually I may be wrong as the Terms of Service of Steam refers to a Subscription to the service.