Steam and people's opinions.

Dude · 11 Jun 2013

sygnus21 said:

Golden said:

Use the STEAM backup facility guys:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...8794-yphv-2033

That works I suppose, never used it myself.

Anyway if you keep your Steam games separated from the OS drive it's just simpler and quicker to just reinstall the Steam app and point it to Steam's game directory. With that, no games need to be re-downloaded since the drive was never touched.

I point this method out because as more and more people move to SSD drives, most will also wind up getting a spinner drive for the games. With this, you end up with your Steam games, and any other games, on a separate drive from the OS drive.

That is a good idea. I moved to a ssd and have not installed all my steam games back. I have plenty of space on my drives so I am going to use this!

sygnus21 · 11 Jun 2013

Wenda said:

I will only purchase games from a brick-&-mortar store, where I can get the physical media on purchase, and only purchase ones that do not require an internet connection to either activate/register or to play. They must be completely stand-alone. And once I buy a game, I want to be able to do as I please with it.

That immediately removes Steam and their ilk from the equation.

I don't game online, and am never likely to.

Wenda.

well if you look around, more and more developers are using Steam or some other game delivery platform. And even if you "purchase games from a brick-&-mortar store, where I can get the physical media on purchase", that doesn't guarantee you won't run into Steam.

Example I purchased Bioshock Infinite form a brick & mortar store. Got home, slapped the disk in the DVD drive to install.... it downloaded through Steam! That's not the only physical game I have that uses Steam... Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas. Even Dead Space 3 requires Origin.

Point is having the physical disk doesn't guarantee you escape some type of on-line digital delivery service. And most if not all require at least an internet connection for on-line activation.

And not trying to be funny but unless you're playing a lot of indie games and staying away from the mainstream games, I don't see how you can avoid Steam or the other delivery platforms. And at the very least, an internet connection for activation.

Yeah I know not everyone is using steam or some other delivery service, but most of the popular ones are.

Wishmaster · 11 Jun 2013

I do the backup and burn to disc on all my games. If my Steam drive fails, , I just replace it and re-install the games from the disc.
But for the most part, if you have a dedicated drive and must reinstall Windows, you can just keep the appdata folder and reinstall Windows and Steam. Move the appdata folder back where it goes and no need to re-download.

If you do one of these two methods, or both, you should only ever need to download each game once.

Solarstarshines · 11 Jun 2013

sygnus21 said:

Golden said:

Use the STEAM backup facility guys:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...8794-yphv-2033

That works I suppose, never used it myself.

Anyway if you keep your Steam games separated from the OS drive it's just simpler and quicker to just reinstall the Steam app and point it to Steam's game directory. With that, no games need to be re-downloaded since the drive was never touched.

I point this method out because as more and more people move to SSD drives, most will also wind up getting a spinner drive for the games. With this, you end up with your Steam games, and any other games, on a separate drive from the OS drive.

yup all I do is clean my os then re install steam and bam im back in business

smarteyeball · 11 Jun 2013

Confession time.

I was a pirate. Big time. Never paid for a game on the PC. Never had to. At worse, I had to wait a bit longer for a workaround.

Long story short, I got sick of tracking down updates that were questionable in terms of game stability (Never worried about infections though since i know what to avoid. That argument is largely BS and outdated. Slap anyone who brings that up) and I also felt guilty about my part in the decline of PC exclusive titles etc. Basically I saw the error of my ways and went legitimate.

Steam is now my primary place of purchase. I've even bought those I'd pirated years ago. Better late than never.

Initially the only thing I hated about Steam was that it forced you to install all your games in one location. Now that limit is gone and the rest is just gravy.

Backups are easy, you don't have to worry about your save games, automatic patching, sales... it's all good.

I wouldn't hesitate using or recommending Steam.

Andreas W · 12 Jun 2013

Gary said:

I would by the DVD. I bought MW3 from steam and it took all day to download and if somethings happens to your PC and Windows needs to be re-installed, all of those games will have to be re downloaded taking a great deal of time.

Never had that issue, all games downloads in a few minutes, I think my top speed is around 8-15 MB/s. And my friend reaches 20-28 MB/s a few times. We in in Sweden but for some reason his speeds doubled when he picked finland as a download server so try changing download server and see if that helps

Stephanie · 12 Jun 2013

Hi BomberAF

I use Steam and would recommend it (they have some great game offers)

Wishmaster · 12 Jun 2013

smarteyeball said:

Initially the only thing I hated about Steam was that it forced you to install all your games in one location. Now that limit is gone and the rest is just gravy.
.

Same here.
I got used to using Junction links.
I have most of my games on the main dedicated Steam drive, but have a few elsewhere.

But with the new system, there's no need.
Nice to know they listened to the users and added a feature they wanted :) The ability to install anywhere.