Steam authorization becoming a trend?

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Half-Life 2 is a great game and so is Counter-Strike: Source that comes with it. It's got an interesting system that it uses to run it by using Steam. Some say it helps a lot on cutting down piracy of the game and other say it hasn't slowed it down one bit, but if by chance it really has worked and piracy is down, what's to stop other companies from doing the same thing? Do you think that in a few years we're going to have a different version of steam for every game we buy? For example, if activision realeases a game we need their little steam like program on our computer to run it. That would get pretty old in my opinion. Oh well, It was just a thought.
 
Here's another thought - please title your threads descriptively. But yes, I agree with you - that will be a pain and I hope this little attempt by them fails.
 
The guy is right though. If this becomes a trend I will only have room to run two or three games at a time.
 
It's just that we're getting tired of misnamed threads... Look around and see how many threads you can find without a proper title...

But onto the topic, I think that the larger developers might be tempted to cut out the middleman (id cutting out Activision and releasing games based on their engines themselves), but I hope not.
I don't mind the digital distribution network part of Steam, it's just the rest that I dislike.
And that (the distribution) is something that I think we'll see more and more of in the future. There are one or two digital distributors now (aside from steam) which let's you download an .iso of the game and burn it, and I hope more will come.
As long as they do not try to include the registration for regular retail boxes, the need to validate through internet whenever you want to play an SP game etc.

If those measures become common, I'll most likely buy a license to the game and download a cracked version with which I won't have to put up with such draconic measures. Or perhaps not buy the game at all. (Which is becoming more and more likely, as I think there's way too many bad games on the market that shouldn't get any of my $$$)
 
Wasn't attempting to be rude sick - just trying to get a point across. I'm tired of every other thing I do on the forums being a post about proper titles and renaming threads. I even made a sticky in this area of the forums screaming for people to title properly. I hope you don't take it personally.
 
I don't really see anything wrong with Steam-like systems. I purchased the HL2 Bronze package via Steam and downloaded it, and it can be played offline too. You only have to be online once to complete the offline installation, so even dialup users can play if they've bought the discs. Oh, and Steam also keeps the game automatically up to date.

MrG: What rest do you dislike?
 
That I can not choose if I want to update the game or not...
Just look at the caos caused by the new anti-stutter patch. It can drop your frames into the low twenties, and that is something that I could do without. (Yes, I do know how to nullify the effect of the patch, but what if I can not do that with the next patch they force on me)

I do not like the fact that I have to unplug my network cable to be able to play in offline mode.
A SP game should be allowed to play without the need for anything but a once in a lifetime activation.

That Steam takes up extra resources best used elsewhere (like to play the game).

That I have to validate with Steam to get access to my games, what happens when/if when the steam valve is turned to the off position?
What happens when Valve decides to do what Epic tried to do (shut off UT master server) to force people upgrading to CS:S 2?

It is my game! Valve has nothing to do with it anymore. I've payed for the game, now let me do what the "#%"#%#¤&" I want with it. Why shouldn't I be allowed to crack it so that I can bypass the cd/DVD check? Or stop it from contacting Steam?

EULA?! Yeah, like a legal document I only get access to after removing the shrinkwrap (thus removing any chance of a refund) has any legality to it. Not that it would anyways since I live in a country where the customer, not the company, is the one the laws take care of.

Why on earth do I have to register an account with you to play my retail bought Single Player game? I can live with activation, but why do you need me to have an account with you?

How will I be able to sell HL2 when I tire of it? It is fully legal to sell second-hand software, only that now I can not, since the dvd-key is registered to my Steam account. I can not move the key to another account, nor is it interesting having to give away my account, as it might contain more than just that single game.

What is to stop Steam from becoming spyware? As it is it reports back to Valve whenever I play a Steam game, how about it starts telling Valve how often I play games (whether or not it's a Steam game)?
The potential for abuse is enormous!

Shall I go on?
 
You just summed up all of my thoughts in that post. The spyware thing is what gets me most. Honestly now, you know it's just a matter of (if it's not already happening) that they are logging how often we play the game etc. etc. Nothing good can come of this.
 
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