Infinite_Daremo
Member
iTunes. Really?
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I'm beginning to feel "held hostage" by Steam/Valve.
- Thread starter SoulUnison
- Start date
iTunes. Really?
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Hmm. Ill have to test one time when I have nothing else running.
Stevey
Member
There's definitely something wrong your end, my games take no more than 10 seconds for first time launch.
somuchwater
Member
I'm on my phone so can't respond properly, but I did want to chime in with support for OP. That post was, IMO, totally spot on, and very smart. Valve are the epitome of what is and has always been wrong with gaming.
More_Badass
Member
Sorry, man, that's just you. Personally I couldn't care less about the meta-aspects and just buy games to play them.
uncredited male
Member
I am held hostage by my addiction to games.
I use Steam primarily because of the game selection but also for prices and accessibility. Everything else about Steam is mostly shit IMO.
I use Steam primarily because of the game selection but also for prices and accessibility. Everything else about Steam is mostly shit IMO.
theusedversion
Member
Yep, no doubt that businesses operate to make money. But I feel like Valve has long since crossed into the greedy territory. Valve makes what, 100s of millions of dollars every year and they can't even offer proper support to their customers. 24/7 chat and phone support with resolution times in the minutes instead of weeks should be the bare minimum. Seriously what are they even doing with all that money?
Also I believe Half-Life hasn't happened because they couldn't figure out how to extract more money out of customers once the game was in their hands. And I want to point out that this is just my opinion.
This is a good summary.
Valve are amazing at making money though. Gotta give them credit.
All those hats, bullshit currencies, trading cards, marketplace, skins, whatever. So many genius things that make them lots of money.
The killer is that people are always more than happy to play along.
As long as the users are happy spending their money, I don't see a problem though.
I do agree with a lot of what you said though OP. Valve is pretty backwards but the online fanbase will always look past it so they have no reason to change. That whole 'Steam redesign' was just them slapping a few gradients on some buttons.
Valve is all about minimum effort.
edit: how could I forget the ultimate money making schemes that are sale adventures. Remember the whole blue/red/purple team nonsense? That was masterful.. EA can only dream of thinking up such great money making ideas
Steam really does have a bloated awful interface. The ever-changing, always-pointless and manipulative trading card bollocks just makes this worse. I'm sure some people enjoy this, but it's a detriment to other users when it's there taking up screen space and adding to the mental load used to operate the software.
At least iTunes doesn't start when you boot Windows and display pop up ads.
At least iTunes doesn't start when you boot Windows and display pop up ads.
cicero
Member
Since when is platform improvement defined merely by your personal standard alone? Perhaps they are improving it based on THEIR timetable and capacity to do so while maintaining the small corporate structure they seem to prefer. It clearly is the best PC digital distribution service anywhere, they are updating the client all the time, and service is NOT very spotty (perhaps that is on your end). As for their longstanding issue with poor support, I believe that again is due to the desire for a small but strong corporate structure with an emphasis on solving issues in-house rather than the typical solution of off-sourcing support to some foreign entity. Gabe has seemed to specifically trend against the type of management and structure he had experience with at his former employer, that being Microsoft.
I would take the structure, management and spirit of Valve over MS any day of the week. Support issues be damned. "held hostage", my ass.
You can disable both of those things.
You could always just tell Steam to not run on boot. It's right in the options.
Wrong
http://steam.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_DRM-free_games
This is a list of totally DRM-free games on steam. They can be downloaded, then you can completely exit steam and launch them without ever activating them. You never have to run them with steam while online. Ever.
theusedversion
Member
Manipulative is an apt adjective to describe current Valve. And people eat it right up.
Stevey
Member
2/10 made me reply.
I don't understand the complaint with trading cards. At best, you earn store credit from selling them. At worst, you can ignore them.
I feel like a lot of the additions can be classified the same way. The client may be a bit long in the tooth, but if you stick to the library tab, I can't imagine your experience being that much different than it's always been.
I feel like a lot of the additions can be classified the same way. The client may be a bit long in the tooth, but if you stick to the library tab, I can't imagine your experience being that much different than it's always been.
Both are on by default and are buried in user settings. It's not obvious when first using the program that these are options at all. It should ask you when you install if you're okay with these, and have a button on every popup to never show an ad again. The fact that it doesn't is an instant warning light that this is scummy software approaching RealPlayer levels of bloatware crappy design made by people who don't really care about the product and will keep it just good enough to push buttons in people's heads to buy things they don't really want let alone need.
Watching my dad try and deal with this software just so he could play his Civ 5 really opened my eyes to this. I've been using it since 2006, I can disable the annoyances and keep a minimalist theme updated, well not everyone can be bothered with all that.
edit- to clarify I'm not saying it's as bad as Realplayer. I'm saying that it appears to be as bad as Realplayer when you first install this program you don't really want so you can play Civ and it's already adding itself to startup and showing ads without asking.
Watching my dad try and deal with this software just so he could play his Civ 5 really opened my eyes to this. I've been using it since 2006, I can disable the annoyances and keep a minimalist theme updated, well not everyone can be bothered with all that.
edit- to clarify I'm not saying it's as bad as Realplayer. I'm saying that it appears to be as bad as Realplayer when you first install this program you don't really want so you can play Civ and it's already adding itself to startup and showing ads without asking.
K, the first post I gave a serious reply, but at this point you're trying too hard.
This is being picky, but IceFrog isn't the creator of Dota. He took over in 2005, for a guy who also wasn't the creator of dota (Although who was the creator of the most popular variant of it, that Dota2 is based on).
spootime
Member
The complaint that Valve aren't really developing new games is valid I think.
-Bought the creator of dota
-Bought the creator of CS and then outsourced it to HPE (after trying to make CSS lol)
-Bought the creator of TFC to make TF2
-Bought the creators of Portal
-Bought the company that made L4d
I mean they did make Half-Life, my favorite PC shooter ever, but they don't even make that anymore.
-Bought the creator of dota
-Bought the creator of CS and then outsourced it to HPE (after trying to make CSS lol)
-Bought the creator of TFC to make TF2
-Bought the creators of Portal
-Bought the company that made L4d
I mean they did make Half-Life, my favorite PC shooter ever, but they don't even make that anymore.
Bry0
Member
I get what the OP means. Especially as a Half-Life fan, it feels like Valve doesn't really aknowledge the things I used to love them for. I want more half life stuff, but all i see are $2.50 skinner box keys for competitive kill eachother games. Valve created great sp eperiences, but they just kinda stopped making them. I think most of my frustration with them stems from half life getting nothing new from valve. No ads, no little movies like tf2 gets, no new merch in the store, nada. Most recent half life related thing i remember coming from valve is the borealis being in portal 2 over 3 years ago.
cicero
Member
Go troll somewhere else.
Dreams-Visions
Member
A couple of years ago I was held hostage by my country's paramilitary forces, it was only a couple of hours but the group in the area I was captured had a reputation of decapitating the heads of government collaborators and playing football with them on the town square.
I can definitely relate to your struggle OP, I hope things get better for you eventually.
I can definitely relate to your struggle OP, I hope things get better for you eventually.
Enigmatic Rainbow
Member
I can't really agree to anything you have said OP. Games take a while to make, and they work on their own schedule. They more than likely have games in development right now. I actually like that the community can make the content if they want. You can't say that lots of developers/companies allow that on their own platforms.
Playing games and spending money on said games, that is all on you. It's your choice whether or not you play the games you buy. The Holiday Auction is fully optional, you don't have to partake in it. It's not even the same as prepaid game cards.
Yes, Steam sometimes does go down, but it's not "constantly." Steam doesn't have great CS, everyone already knows that.
Steam freezing and running slow is more than likely on your end. Badges and trading cards are another thing that's optional. You, nor I, know what they spend the money on... Anyone can easily complain about any company/business making money and telling them where they need to spend their money.
Adding more features isn't bad, just because you don't like them doesn't mean others can't. You are taking this too seriously.
Playing games and spending money on said games, that is all on you. It's your choice whether or not you play the games you buy. The Holiday Auction is fully optional, you don't have to partake in it. It's not even the same as prepaid game cards.
Yes, Steam sometimes does go down, but it's not "constantly." Steam doesn't have great CS, everyone already knows that.
Steam freezing and running slow is more than likely on your end. Badges and trading cards are another thing that's optional. You, nor I, know what they spend the money on... Anyone can easily complain about any company/business making money and telling them where they need to spend their money.
Adding more features isn't bad, just because you don't like them doesn't mean others can't. You are taking this too seriously.
shacklesmcgee
Member
are...are you serious with this? Many, many, many. many, many, lots of, many programs are set to autostart with windows by default
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Why would you believe that? What has changed at Valve since Portal 2 to make you have such an insane thought?
nephilimdj
Member
Well I agree with OP that its frustrating that Valve don't reinvest profit into making steam better, obsession with trading clearly is because it makes them truck loads of money
Fact they charge credit cards in 2014 in Liechtenstein to avoid paying American taxes is shifty.
Fact they charge credit cards in 2014 in Liechtenstein to avoid paying American taxes is shifty.
And it's always unacceptable. (And many programs ASK before they do this.)
I don't expect Gaf to understand because we all have 200+ games and use achievements and trading and will be gaming during any particular session of Windows anyway. I'm one of these people and I find Steam tolerable in my personal use. I've been using it for years and from my perspective new features have come out slowly and given me time to get used to them, so I don't find Steam confusing.
But think about it from this perspective: you have a hard drive from 2009 and 2GB of DDR2 Ram. You have about 3-4 games in your library and play one of them occasionally. Now suddenly to play the next game in your favourite series you have to install a client you never needed before, it has an ugly interface that doesn't match anything else in your operating system and the options to disable pop up ads are buried within it. Are you thinking wow what an awesome tool to help me with my games, or are you thinking, how do I get rid of this?
Bry0
Member
Their entire business model. Just look at how much CS GO has changed.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
You're thinking, "wow, how do I get rid of this?" like all of us were when Steam first came out.
It's pretty awesome now for people who like buying PC games digitally.
Still, though, I don't think it's too much to ask people to go into a goddamn settings menu. Especially if they are a PC gamer. That should be the first thing anyone does anyway.
Eul works for Valve.
The fact that "everyone" knows it hardly excuses it, and its not that they dont have great customer service, they have the worst customer service (by far) of any of the large online retailers.
This question says more of the person using the tool rather than an issue with the tool itself. I don't see this as a fault with the program rather than a stick in the mud who isn't willing to learn what will take all of 2 minutes to figure out how to make the thing work the way he wants it to work.
And I highly doubt that was what he was referring to when mentioned they "bought" the creator of Dota like they took it wholesale. Most people refer to Icefrog as that's what really brought the Dota2 project to fruition.
cicero
Member
Indeed. Anyone with any sense of Valve history would remember 10 years ago and the outcry that happened after the HL2 code was leaked and people found out that Gabe/Valve had been continually lying about the game's progress, the delays, and shipping dates. After that they specifically changed and basically stopped talking about what they were doing or how far along they were and simply made quality products that got released when they were actually done. I don't know who would actually prefer the Valve of 10 years ago to the Valve of today. Perhaps those too young to remember the past?...
Enigmatic Rainbow
Member
I did not say that Steam having bad CS excuses it, I was just agreeing with what the OP said.
theusedversion
Member
I'm kind of surprised that there are several responses in agreement against Valve in here. I didn't really expect it. Perhaps others are seeing the same things that I see.
Maybe with the release of Steam OS?
But why would they? If there's no money it, I don't see why they would.
Look at how long it took them to add a volume control for their shitty video player. And how long it took them to release the 'new' theme for the store and client.
So because Valve hires talented people they don't make games anymore? So I guess you must think very few if any developers actually make games because every one I know of hires people from other companies.
Take a look at who is agreeing, and hang around in PC threads. It's the usual suspects.
-Valve hires modders and give them a place in the company or the ability to make their own development house
"VALVE BUYS AND STEALS GAME IDEAS AND DONT MAKE GAMES THEMSELVES ANYMORE" - an argument used multiple times here on GAF
LurkerPrime
Member
I don't know about being 'hostage,' but Valve's definitely been getting into some bad habits now that they've been leading the market for some years. I only hope that competitors like Origin, (soon-to-be) GOG Galaxy, or even uPlay (bwahahahaha) manage to make Valve step up Steam's game through sheer embarassment.
So long as there are alternatives to keep Valve honest I think Steam users will be OK.
Can't disagree with this, as much as I might try.
Good post.
So long as there are alternatives to keep Valve honest I think Steam users will be OK.
Can't disagree with this, as much as I might try.
Good post.
My golden rule: If it's on GOG I'll buy it there. No third party plattform, DRM free ... nothing beats that. Wish all games would be on GOGBut well...
Except GOG has one of the worst downloaders in the industry.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
This is how cults and conspiracies begin. Instead of taking a moment to reflect that you might be wrong when the vast majority shouts you down, you instead close ranks with a small number of other like-minded crazies and postulate that you lucky few are actually the only one's seeing the truth and that everyone else must be blind.
Dont worry, they know the the truth, we are all just 'Valve Worshipers'