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[TimeEffect]

Can't you play games from GoG on Steam?

The hate is mostly directed towards uPlay and Origin. The competition has to be better, and seemingly, it's forced and worse.

 

[fluffydelusions]

The only one I really don't like is uPlay. No problem with the others. Admittedly never used the windows store

 

[Zia]

It's not that black and white. I avoid Origin but purchase games from GOG, Humble, Battle.net and Amazon. I also play standalone games like Minecraft. The problem with Origin is that it's invasive, I don't trust it's longterm viability and it provides absolutely no value to me. It's utterly useless.

 

[crimsondynamics]

No hate here. I like Steam and the conscience it brings but I also appreciate some competition to keep them honest.

Take their offline mode for instance. It's restrictive and convoluted especially if you compare it with Origin's offline mode which is super user-friendly. It will walk you through your options, manage your online connections and you can even play the same game on two different computers as long as you play single player on one of your PCs. Lots of times I can't play my Steam games on my notebook at all because I forgot to go online before going on my commute.

Another huge leg up that Origin has over Stream is you can actually online chat with a real human being in real time whereas with Stream you often have to wait up to a week for a standard boilerplate email reply that fails to address your issue.

Now UPlay is different. By forcing me to start online to play a single player game is downright unfair and draconian. I have a gaming notebook that I often play on my commute back from work but I can't play Splinter Cell: Conviction because I'm offline? Go to hell, Ubisoft.

It's not that black and white. I avoid Origin but purchase games from GOG, Humble, Battle.net and Amazon. I also play standalone games like Minecraft. The problem with Origin is that it's invasive, I don't trust it's longterm viability and it provides absolutely no value to me. It's utterly useless.

Just curious: how is Origin invasive? It does pretty much what Steam does except it doesn't force any on-sale popups. I'd even say Stream is more invasive in that regard.

 

[Principate]

I don't want to have so many programs to access different type of games, I don't like to fragment my pc game library through dozens of different programs. Steam is enough, and Origin for EA games.

How many programmes do you even have on your pc? Also Origin affect on your pc is minimal at best I forgot it was even there for a year.

It's not that black and white. I avoid Origin but purchase games from GOG, Humble, Battle.net and Amazon. I also play standalone games like Minecraft. The problem with Origin is that it's invasive, I don't trust it's longterm viability and it provides absolutely no value to me. It's utterly useless.

Origin is not invasive anymore the EULA changed and it does little at all.

 

[JaseC]

Some publishers probably see Valve's"cut" as a "practical reason". The bigger the publisher the more money theyre losing.

Sure, I could understand that... if , say, EA weren't selling Titanfall on GMG and Ubi weren't selling Tintin on GamersGate.

 

[Davidion]

This question pops up every once in a while and it's always a bit misleading. No one is starting threads complaining about GOG. No one is spreading hate for Amazon or green man gaming. There are tons of people rolling on battle.net and standalone platforms.

The only platforms people complain about are origin, uplay, our Windows games, because they either don't trust the company(with reason), or the execution is a horrendous anti-consumer mess, our a combination of the two.

 

[Ashariel]

Having a steam only platform for game distribution would be terrible.

Steams community features increased greatly with the growth of xbox live and third party PC software and now game sharing after the xbox planned system.

Origin also now has 24 hour refunds which is fab.

If it was down to one service i can't see that be a good thing for investment in development of the platform.

Oh yes. Steam was a pile of shit before uPlay and Origin came along. It was a pain to use and sucked that it was the only platform.

Wait, we are in reality and it was great before those two came along and is expanding at a decent clip with new features. One service to invest in would benefit everyone, again, don't be so vehemently in denial of fact and force yourself into utter asinine naivety. You're better than that.

 

[scitek]

I don't mind Uplay when I buy a game from Uplay. I expect to have to open the client in order to play the game. It's when I buy a game from Steam and am still forced to open Uplay to play my game that pisses me off. Totally ruins Big Picture Mode, too.

 

[outsida]

We went from being able to install a game and run a simple exe to play. To now having to create numerous accounts and remember logins and also run bloaty clients just to play our games. I don't want to have to install 30 fucking storefronts to play my games.

 

[Principate]

Sure, I could understand that... if , say, EA weren't selling Titanfall on GMG and Ubi weren't selling Tintin on GamersGate.

Valve takes a 30% cut those guys won't even take half of that

 

[Kinyou]

It might be annoying at times, but I'd never ever see it as a reason to not buy a game

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

From a consumer point if view, I can understand that if most of the games they own are in Steam, its nice to keep it centralised. Keep things simple etc.

But I also feel that its wrong to be angry that another company is doing exactly what Valve does with their games, locking them into their own store/app. Its PC, people can open stores willy nilly, and that's good as it keeps others honest and competitive.

With Origin being owned by EA, it obviously has the EA history with things. They used to charge people extra to be able to download games 2 years longer .....

Its improved massively over the past few years, and IMO the closest competitor you have next to Steam, in terms of the app and the functionality is has, and the refund thing is great too, hopefully it will push Valve into offering something similar.

I personally don't mind Origin, it works fine for me and keeps improving. However it just needs to keep improving and earning customer trust (something thats difficult to do when owned by EA).

 

[gigantor21]

But then EA just predictably locks away their games so they can't be played on anything but Origin, to try to boost their service, that's a different matter.

...so does that mean Valve has stuff like Dota2 and Team Fortress 2 running on uPlay and Origin without any Steam requirement then? Because if not I don't see how their being exclusives is any more justifiable.

Don't get me wrong--I absolutely love Steam. All the crazy Steam sales (coupled with the piss poor performance of last-gen consoles) helped drive me towards PC gaming, and it's my central hub for it. But I really don't have a problem with using Origin for Titanfall. The game looks like a lot of fun, and the only other options I'd have for playing it are buying a new console.

Nor am I keen on the idea of Steam being the only game in town. As much as I love Valve is doing, I still wouldn't trust them to have sole monopolistic power over all of PC gaming.

 

[CecilRousso]

It might be annoying at times, but I'd never ever see it as a reason to not buy a game

People who have bought lots of GfWL titles might see that reason this summer when the GfWL servers are shut down.

 

[Kysen]

Originally I would have said Origin was garbage but after a few updates the client runs well. I just hate having to have two clients running in the background eating up resources. So I only run one or the other now. Steam has better community stuff, larger selection of titles as well as holding all my current games. Origin has a better interface and is lightweight.

Uplay on the other hand is just terrible, 'me too' software. Created for the sole purpose of collating their games. I was shocked when I downloaded Rocksmith 2014 off steam and then it said I had to run the Uplay client alongside it(previous game didnt do this).

 

[JaseC]

Valve takes a 30% cut those guys won't even take half of that

That's a wild assumption on your part. 30% is largely considered to be the standard cut of a digital retailer -- it's also what GOG takes, for instance.

 

[thehunter01]

All DD shops are pretty terrible tho besides gog. They all remove the freedom you have with your games. Including steam.

I have a lot of people here in the weekend and it happens that they want to play games i already have. For example some person wants to play a bit of counterstrike, the other person wants to play some other game etc.

Without DD platforms you can just give the game, they can install it and play it next to each other. Now with a DD platform you have only one login, and only 1 single person can play out of that entire collection. You cant even build a second account to push some games into there for somebody else to play with that is sitting right next to you. No you have to ask them to also buy those games on a different steam account even while they never play games and just want to play something that you already own for those hour that they are there.

It's like having a console with a entire collection sitting there, your mate comes along with a second console and a screen but can't use any of your games. It's just horrible.

I do have steam ( only got counterstrike on it ), i avoid it like the plague.
And i do have origins ( only got battlefield on it ), same story.
I do own a ton of gog games, as they do give you the freedom that i want.

If a game comes out and is linked towards steam, i always e-mail the company's if they can send me a non steam functional version. If they can't do anything with it, well then it's out of my scope with supporting them.

I don't see in how people can be against origins that aren't against steam. It's not like steam doesn't eat resources in the background while you play games ( also another big let down ) no shop should ever stay in the background running taking up performance while you play a game.

Unless steam or any other form of DD services start to become a gog like service, its going to be useless for me.

 

[alr1ght]

Digital gaming is all about trust. Do I trust EA/Ubisoft with my digital purchases? Hell no.

I regularly purchase games from Steam, GOG, and Humble. Valve I trust, and the two others I don't need to because there's very low risk.

 

[Silky]

Isn't relying on a closed ecosystem like Steam defeating the purpose of owning a PC

 

[crimsondynamics]

All DD shops are pretty terrible tho besides gog. They all remove the freedom you have with your games. Including steam.

I have a lot of people here in the weekend and it happens that they want to play games i already have. For example some person wants to play a bit of counterstrike, the other person wants to play some other game etc.

Without DD platforms you can just give the game, they can install it and play it next to each other. Now with a DD platform you have only one login, and only 1 single person can play out of that entire collection. You cant even build a second account to push some games into there for somebody else to play with that is sitting right next to you. No you have to ask them to also buy those games on a different steam account even while they never play games and just want to play something that you already own for those hour that they are there.

It's like having a console with a entire collection sitting there, your mate comes along with a second console and a screen but can't use any of your games. It's just horrible.

I do have steam ( only got counterstrike on it ), i avoid it like the plague.
And i do have origins ( only got battlefield on it ), same story.
I do own a ton of gog games, as they do give you the freedom that i want.

If a game comes out and is linked towards steam, i always e-mail the company's if they can send me a non steam functional version. If they can't do anything with it, well then it's out of my scope with supporting them.

I don't see in how people can be against origins that aren't against steam. It's not like steam doesn't eat resources in the background while you play games ( also another big let down ) no shop should ever stay in the background running taking up performance while you play a game.

Unless steam or any other form of DD services start to become a gog like service, its going to be useless for me.

This is true. I should be able to run my game on different machines as long as I login to them and am not running more than one copy at a time. Back in the floppy and CD days this was the norm.

 

[Dolor]

Isn't relying on a closed ecosystem like Steam defeating the purpose of owning a PC

No, because if they ever screw up, Steam can be replaced. That is what is great about an open platform. Can't replace Sony on the PS4.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

Isn't relying on a closed ecosystem like Steam defeating the purpose of owning a PC

I think that was in the old days. I'd guess for people nowadays the Steam deals and offerings attracts more people to pc gaming than having an open platform.

alas, maybe, idk.

 

[Dario ff]

In the case of Origin, they've had this stupid bug reported for over 4 years, and they have not fixed it yet.

The problem with this picture is that I live in South America, I don't use Euros! Their excuse is that it would take significant effort to fix the backend for this (wat), and this bug happens across a lot of Latin American countries as well. Origin has been completely useless for me since then.

uPlay seems fine, but I don't know if I can trust how reliable Ubisoft's servers will be later. They've fixed some of my biggest complains in the latest updates. Redeeming my promotion codes from my Nvidia GPU on uPlay was a lot harder than I imagined tho.

Both of these services are completely redundant anyway and provide no benefit whatsoever over Steam for me. (Maybe uPlay would if the only game I got on it didn't have so crappy rewards for points)

I do love me some GoG tho, but not for multiplayer stuff.

 

[Principate]

That's a wild assumption on your part. 30% is largely considered to be the standard cut of a digital retailer -- it's also what GOG takes, for instance.

Those guys are retailers, their buying those keys from Origin EA determines that price, so common sense dedicates is much lower (or as low as they want) much like Valve can choose to. that's not the same. Look at retailer cuts on most products electronic products (they're not particularly high) That's not the same as a digital storefront.

 

[JaseC]

Isn't relying on a closed ecosystem like Steam defeating the purpose of owning a PC

Nobody would argue with a straight face that PC gaming should solely rely on Steam. For example, I don't care that Uplay, GamersGate and Amazon sell Tintin, but I don't like that I can't buy it on Steam in addition to those stores for no good reason.

 

[Gattsu25]

Uplay is pretty intrusive, especially in earlier implementations.

Even today it is a guessing game regarding which options I need to disable in order to avoid an immediate and silent crash to desktop when starting a uplay game.

 

[Takamura-San]

If I want to play Sony exclusives I have to buy a Playstation.
If I want to play Nintendo Exclusive I have to buy a Nintendo System.
If I want to play Xbox exclusives I have to buy an xbox.

If I want to play a EA PC game, I have to download Origin. Seems less restrictive than the other alternatives.

To me is a non-issue.

 

[Nessus]

Two reasons I stick with Steam:

1. I like having my entire library in one place, easily accessible.

2. Most of the other services aren't as convenient, streamlined, or don't offer as good/consistent sales (I know some of their sales are actually cheaper than Steam sometimes, but yeah).

 

[Sentenza]

I don't know about uplay since I don't have it, but Origin is just fine.

No, it's not "fine", just not "awful".
What makes it implicitly awful, on the other hand, is that we are talking about a digital store managed from EA and I should trust them with my digital purchases in the long run.
Which I don't. I just don't.

Oh, not to mention its being completely useless and redundant in front of Steam's existence.

On a side note, I'm not a "Steam only" user; I'm fine with buying from countless other sources, as far as they don't force me an alternate client which isn't Steam.
But I don't have a strong boycott stance on Origin and Uplay either. Their existence just makes terribly easy for me to ignore every single of their exclusives which I don't consider a must buy (hint: most of them).

 

[UnluckyKate]

I use steam primarly because its convenient. But as a Store, GMG and Amazon have been super agressives price wise lately and got more money from me that Steam over the last year

 

[RealDeadOne]

The competition argument doesn't work because EA games are only available on Origin. Nobody would use Origin if it wasn't for those games.

On the other hand, most people would choose Steam even if they didn't want Valve games.

Don't look at them as stores, but rather as services. People like using Steam more than Origin, it's as simple as that. It's like how nobody wants to have to make a WB account, an HBO account, etc. And would rather just use Netflix or Amazon.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I feel like we should still have Konami ids. They were fun.

 

[Principate]

No, it's not "fine", just not "awful".
What makes it implicitly awful, on the other hand, is that we are talking about a digital store managed from EA and I should trust them with my digital purchases in the long run.
Which I don't. I just don't.

Oh, not to mention its being completely useless and redundant in front of Steam's existence.

I serves as Steams competition, do you like monopoly would you rather sit through Xbox one drm or ps3's $599 because of no competition. Is it a sin for an alternative to exist. Why is it a sin they choose to push their service like Valve did using their games.

 

[Des0lar]

Had nothing but problems with uPlay and Origin. And the Blizz launcher does nothing but annoy me having to click 2 buttons instead of a single one.

Steam it is.

 

[Canis lupus]

How many programmes do you even have on your pc? Also Origin affect on your pc is minimal at best I forgot it was even there for a year.



Origin is not invasive anymore the EULA changed and it does little at all.

Too much. Like I said Steam+Origin only for me, no way I'd add the rest of the programs listed in the OP. I don't like a fragmented library on the same platform.

Imagine having a different program for AC, Watch Dogs, CoD, Battlefield etc, just no.

 

[honorless]

This question pops up every once in a while and it's always a bit misleading. No one is starting threads complaining about GOG. No one is spreading hate for Amazon or green man gaming. There are tons of people rolling on battle.net and standalone platforms.

The only platforms people complain about are origin, uplay, our Windows games, because they either don't trust the company(with reason), or the execution is a horrendous anti-consumer mess, our a combination of the two.

To get a little pedantic, GMG does have their own reportedly crappy client, Capsule, which IIRC you have to use if you aren't just buying a key from them. Amazon is similar, but I know even less about their downloader.

Perhaps a better example would be Desura, which didn't make Gowans's list...coincidentally, they offer DRM-free direct downloads. (There's a certain pattern here.)

 

[Daante]

Well call me lazy but if the game aint on Steam i aint buying it.

If the game is on Steam but requires me to register another account to another service just to play it, i wont buy it either.
The ONLY other service i might have is Battle.net cause i might want to play a Blizzard game somewhere in the future (and cause i ALREADY had my battle.net account for so many years)

Playing games should be easy and hassle free. Still a lot of companies dosen`t seem to understand this. Its all about "having control" of the ppl that buys your game, and when they resonate like this i simply refuse to give them my money.
Yeah i might miss some of the service-exclusive games but hey life goes on. I think its important to man up and really show the companies that you dont support stupid and unnecessary services.

If i want to play PC games they should be on Steam
If i want to play PS4 games they should be on PS +
If i want to play XB1 games they should be on Xbox live

 

[ZeroX03]

Origin is more stable and faster to use than Steam. uPlay on the other hand does have issues.

I stay with Steam because it's cheaper and has the biggest selection. I have no loyalty to Valve, I don't trust them, but they've got size and resources. The Steam client is slow and prone to network errors (not logging in/loading pages) and that's not even starting on the abortion that is their Mac client. But at the end of the day their sales/Steam key trading can't be beat and nobody really comes close.


If I had my way, GOG would be the top dog in price and selection. But thanks to their awesome policies, many publishers won't touch them.

 

[JaseC]

Those guys are retailers, their buying those keys from Origin EA determines that price much live Valve can choose to. that's not the same. Look you retailer cuts on most products That's not the same as a digital storefront.

That's not how digital distribution works. The key difference between physical and digital is that with the latter "stock" isn't paid for by the retailer because there are no inherent costs involved in the process of providing keys, and because of this prices are publisher-approved. Not to mention that DRM-free games -- such as those on GOG -- do not use keys in any way, shape or form: the products in such cases are just pre-packaged installers and thus there's no actual stock involved.

 

[Principate]

The competition argument doesn't work because EA games are only available on Origin. Nobody would use Origin if it wasn't for those games.

On the other hand, most people would choose Steam even if they didn't want Valve games.

Don't look at them as stores, but rather as services. People like using Steam more than Origin, it's as simple as that. It's like how nobody wants to have to make a WB account, an HBO account, etc. And would rather just use Netflix or Amazon.

Much like Valve used Valves games to push steam. Also do you see non Ea published valve games on Origin. Nope.

It's not a real argument they both do it.

 

[Kimawolf]

Because some PC gamers whine about closed console garden but seem to want one platform for whatever reason.

 

[ampere]

I really dislike the uplay and GFWL services. They feel less like useful clients and more like bloatware. Particularly when you have to use them in addition to other DRM (Steam).

I actually have not had any bad experiences when I used Origin. I'm not a fan of a lot of what EA does, but Origin is OK. Origin would not stop me from buying a digital EA game, I bought ME3 on it and got a free copy of BF3. I'm not super interested in Titanfall, but if I were I'd buy it on Origin without a fuss.

GOG is amazing and anyone who refuses to use it is doing PC gaming a disservice. It's DRM free, the prices are good, the website works well, what more can you ask for? Amazon and Humble Bundle often have Steam keys and if they don't they're DRM free if possible so I don't understand that complaining either.

Battle.net is great for Blizzard fans. The new client is really awesome.

 

[Sentenza]

I serves as Steams competition, do you like monopoly

That's a false dichotomy.
You don't have necessarily to choose between an awful alternative or a monopoly.
Not to mention Valve with Steam was perfectly capable to put the basis to allow and even endorse its own competition. They essentially created some of the competing stores they have today.
Monopoly my hairy ass.

 

[Stop It]

I've been meaning to make this thread for a while to get some understanding in discussion where but reading the comments on Titianfall being available through Orgin on PC has jogged my memory and also baffled, I remember tissular posts about Half-Life 2 on steam years ago.

In that time Steam has built up trust and became a fantastic platform for your games and updates.

One of the biggest advantages to PC gaming has been it's open market & range of competitors to purchase games from.

- Steam
- Orgin
- Battle.net
- uPlay
- GoG
- Windows Store
- Games from Windows
- Stand alone clients (League of Legends etc.)
- Webstores like Amazon, GMG, Humble Bundle etc.​

Some have failed some are getting better but it's kept prices down and allowed choice.

So why the whole Steam or nothing approach from some?

In my view, it's a weird combination of consumers actually favouring monopolies (Seen in multiple cases in the field of technology) and laziness.

Anyway, it's a circular argument. 10 years ago people were saying "Why should we use Steam, WON was perfect for years, Steam is just another barrier to playing" etc etc. The backlash was so hard that people tried to make a "WON 2.0". Back then to many Valve and Steam were the devil, and now they're the darling.

Of course EA aren't exactly a prime candidate to be the next darling of PC gaming, but as history has shown, people are fickle and the loyalty to Steam can dissipate (oh god, the pun, sorry) as quickly as it has been built.

Oh, and the current competition being rubbish, client wise hasn't helped. When Steam was out even Xfire could be actually called better in many ways as a client, and done things Origin still doesn't, for example. In short competitors new and old need to step their game up, and prove worthy of attention, rather than being a "me too" service that adds little to gamers.

 

[Haunted]

I've been meaning to make this thread for a while to get some understanding in discussion where but reading the comments on Titianfall being available through Orgin on PC has jogged my memory and also baffled, I remember tissular posts about Half-Life 2 on steam years ago.

In that time Steam has built up trust and became a fantastic platform for your games and updates.

One of the biggest advantages to PC gaming has been it's open market & range of competitors to purchase games from.

- Steam
- Orgin
- Battle.net
- uPlay
- GoG
- Windows Store
- Games from Windows
- Stand alone clients (League of Legends etc.)
- Webstores like Amazon, GMG, Humble Bundle etc.​

Some have failed some are getting better but it's kept prices down and allowed choice.

So why the whole Steam or nothing approach from some?

I love GoG and have no problem with competing storefronts like Amazon, GMG, Humble Bundle, often use them. During Steam Sales, having the collective force of several competing storefronts to choose from has been a blessing. Amazing sales, amazing deals.

I do despise shitty services that force me to run additional programs for a handful of games (GFWL, uplay, origin, even b.net). It fragments my friends list and causes additional overhead and problems. I do like Valve and Blizzard, so these two I've accepted into my lineup and installed their programs.

I'm forced to have GFWL and uplay for one game I love each (Dark Souls, Trials Evolution) and really wish I wouldn't. It makes me play these games less. I refuse to install that piece of shit Origin on my system, so EA loses out on a bunch of money on that front.

Competition is great and I encourage it, I'd love to see more storefronts pop up, I'll buy on a lot of different sites, but I'd be much more comfortable and happy if they'd fucking stopped fragmenting the userbase and just put everything on everything (or at the very least one common denominator).

 

[monlo]

this thread is asking "why does a free market prefer one product over another"

Right?

 

[Takamura-San]

To think that in less than 10 years buying PC games meant:

- Buying a Package.
- Installing discs
- Entering CDKEY
- Each game was their own executable
- Patching meant going to the games website and using a fileshare site to download it. Also having to wait in queue.
- And Many other things.

I know that standards change with time, but the level of "inconvenience" regarding anything but steam seems outstanding to me.

 

[Smurf Yetti]

I like the competition. I just don't think every service needs a bloated client. We need more GOGs.

 

[Wiktor]

No idea. Never could understand people like that and I think they would be doing actual serious damage to pcgaming if they weren't so few in between. As they are now people who refuse to buy anything not on steam are just a weird crazy niche that I don't bother worrying about.

I mean, sure, in ideal world I wouldn't need any clients at all (Steam included, hate that I have to launch it to get access to my games), but in reality it's such a small inconvienience that it's no real problem. I'm in this hobby to play pcgames, nothing more. Not play around with damn client features. As long at it allows me to launch a game I'm fine with it.