Steam vs other

[Castellon]

The difference I believe is that when you log on it does not autopatch you.
It only just patches full installs, that is a huge difference for the problems mentioned previously, on both sides of the coin.

[T.j. Arnold]

I personally only buy through Gamersgate. They never have issues with CD Keys, don't automatically patch your game or apply DLC (which causes issues like the Old Vic bug in Vicky II), and you don't have to run the game through another application. When I click to run my game, I just want to run the game!

Plus, it's mostly DRM Free. You can take the install files anywhere once you've downloaded them.

[Yasko]

FWIW - I love Paradox games - I hate Steam and will never - yes never ever buy a game off this site or ever use a game that requires loading the steam client. I'm just one person, one customer, one less purchase potential is it's Steamed based. It will take some time, but the tide against Steam will grow once the sheeple figure out their owned - if they even have sense enough to awake from their slumber. You will never know the true impact on sales as we will just bypass a Steam game everytime - others who like Steam will buy non-steam either way.

+1

[cpreston5]

I dont know why but I seem to find Gamersgate downloads to be faster, anyone else notice any difference between it and Steam?

In any case I'll just take whoever is doing the game for the better price, which I normally find to be Gamersgate (at least for PI titles).

[Albert I]

+1
...
And now Greenlight and Linux support give more reasons to use steam. And not to forget the rumored stand alone steam console.

Now only need games on linux, as for example EUIV

[Jaol]

CK2 was the first game I bought on Steam, and I haven't found modding it any harder than non-Steam Pdox games.

[salvettic]

I like the way STEAM is doing things, achievements are fun (not fundamental) auto-updates is a good feature, sales are great, and to have the mods on the workshop would be great!

[kunadam]

GG have one feature that I severely miss in Steam: price drop alerts.
I just pick the game I would like to monitor, and when they are in a sale I get an email. I do not need to check the site every day just to know if something I would like to buy is on the sale.

And sales are as good at GG as in Steam.

And having every of your game at one place... Now that Origin is out, one needs to have another account for some good shooters anyway.

[Chromos]

GG have one feature that I severely miss in Steam: price drop alerts.
I just pick the game I would like to monitor, and when they are in a sale I get an email. I do not need to check the site every day just to know if something I would like to buy is on the sale.

And sales are as good at GG as in Steam.

And having every of your game at one place... Now that Origin is out, one needs to have another account for some good shooters anyway.

GG has that.

[garudamon11]

No -- I rebought Europa Universalis III on Steam because I thought it was convenient to have all games in one place. As for autoupdate yes and no. I like the fact that when it is updated I can back it up and not have to re-download/store separate patches all over the place.

.... Do you realise that you can add non-steam games to steam?

[DanSez]

GG preference.

The only game I bought (and had to use) thru Steam was Sword of the Stars ][

Can't really blame Steam for that one ...

[Emperor Hans]

I personally only buy through Gamersgate. They never have issues with CD Keys, don't automatically patch your game or apply DLC (which causes issues like the Old Vic bug in Vicky II), and you don't have to run the game through another application. When I click to run my game, I just want to run the game!

Plus, it's mostly DRM Free. You can take the install files anywhere once you've downloaded them.

And this is why I'm hated for not using Steam.

[dave1927p]

ever since Steam refused to change a game that automatically installed on my bros account to my account (as his was setup to start up automatically) i've refused to purchase another Steam or Total War game. The game was Empire Total War and i never ended up getting to play the damned thing...that isn't even legal! I wrote a letter to CA too but they didn't even bother responding back. Steam didn't give a flying F$#$. They were just unreasonable. Somebodies ought to class action them already! It's out of control. Rant done.

Good thing these game's are available on gamersgate. I've never used it before getting CK2 but i'd recommend it for sure. It installs the game right on your pc too in the program files unlike steam.

[AndrewT]

Good thing these game's are available on gamersgate. I've never used it before getting CK2 but i'd recommend it for sure. It installs the game right on your pc too in the program files unlike steam.

What? Steam installs the game on your PC too, and that can be in program files or elsewhere, wherever you've installed Steam. So I don't know quite what you are saying here, but it's simply not a problem.

[Valiant_Hogers]

Steam in my view has never disappointed me, It always works fine for a very minor expections and it is handy to have this in 1 nice client that also has my friend lists in it(for clans/playing buddies/real friends) and not to mention the sales and the free games(That are on other sites as well though EXPECT Team Fortress 2).

I do not see a reason to hate steam or to fracture the market anymore with supporting other clients (Desura, GG, orgin ETC) because that is only bad in terms of the market, as I see it.

Do not forgot either that Steam installs it, but most paradox games are DRM free so you can just move the folder out of the place and place it for example into your C:/Games folder.

[Immortal Impi]

FWIW - I love Paradox games - I hate Steam and will never - yes never ever buy a game off this site or ever use a game that requires loading the steam client. I'm just one person, one customer, one less purchase potential is it's Steamed based. It will take some time, but the tide against Steam will grow once the sheeple figure out their owned - if they even have sense enough to awake from their slumber. You will never know the true impact on sales as we will just bypass a Steam game everytime - others who like Steam will buy non-steam either way.

Grow up. It's a a digital retailer, not a mind control device.

[ODaly]

Grow up. It's a a digital retailer, not a mind control device.

This. Any argument utilizing the word "sheeple" needs to be taken with a grain of salt, in my opinion.

I've got games through both, though PI titles primarily through Steam, and haven't found one or the other to be noticeably easier. Now if you'll excuse me, the Steammother is calling me to plug back into the hive...

[Najs]

I do not see a reason to hate steam or to fracture the market anymore with supporting other clients (Desura, GG, orgin ETC) because that is only bad in terms of the market, as I see it.

Err... You do realise that our entire economic system is based on competition? Giving Steam a monopoly is not good for the market (well, customers at least) in any way.

[Derp]

Steam (and other DD services, but primarily Steam) has been a godsend to me. I live in the middle of nowhere and the nearby small town rarely has the games I'm looking for in the few stores that sell them. The only alternatives are an hour-long drive to the closest large town (and even then I might not find what I'm looking for), or online shipping. Steam, on the other hand, has a huge selection, is never out of stock, and all but the largest games I can download overnight. I have had very few problems with it, and most of those problems happened in its early days.

[Fawr]

So, am I the only one who uses Steam just because it's convenient to have all my games in one place and the auto updating?

I have a steam copy of CK2 and I almost went out and got a "proper" copy in disgust over the automatic patching. Losing a game which I'd put 150 hours into because a patch came out is a bit of a blow.

Then I came to my senses, deleted that saved game and worked around the issue for next time.