What exactly is Steam?

[cuendillar]

Most Steam threads I've found here have been either inflamed debates or bug reports. I'd like to get some more informative response to what getting it implies and how it works. My main concerns are primarily about customability, stability and customer integrity - from what I've heard it has serious issues there, but I may be wrong as I do not know all the details.

I'm asking mainly because I saw an announcement that patches would be for the Steam version only henceforth, with the reasoning behind that decision.

Is it possible to do any or all of these:
Run the games (CKII, EUIV etc) without having a Steam client currently installed on the computer or an internet connection by putting it in a hard-drive directory?
Download and install patches manually without ever connecting to Steam, via a separate source?
Buy the game from a third-party retailer that won't require a Steam login account?

 

[Augustus93]

Run the games (CKII, EUIV etc) without having a Steam client currently installed on the computer or an internet connection by putting it in a hard-drive directory?

You only need steam when launching it the first time. You can then copy it out from the steam directory and can launch without launching steam.

Download and install patches manually without ever connecting to Steam, via a separate source?
Buy the game from a third-party retailer that won't require a Steam login account?

No to both of these.

 

[Pellaken]

Steam is an online video game store.

Once upon a time, a company like Paradox would need to make CDs to sell their games, ship them to physical stores, and you'd have to go there in person to buy it.

Now, Paradox sells Steam a copy of the game, and Steam sells them to customers.

Steam is owned and run by a company named Valve.


So, can you run your games without having a Steam client?
Yes. However, you need the client to download the game, and, you need an internet connection to download it as well. Technically, you could download the steam client, download the game, then remove the client program and unhook the internet.

Can you manually update the game without a Steam client?
Unlikely. There may be some overly complex way to do so, especially if you and a friend both have the game and he does the steam stuff for you.

Can you buy the game from somewhere else?
No. At least not the newer stuff. The game needs to be a certain way to work with Steam - the changes are near nothing - and the same is true for other online retailers. Since 98% of players use Steam, Paradox has judged that it would rather use it's money to make newer and better games than to operate in additional online marketplaces.


Frankly, most of the hype around Steam is overblown. Unless you are the type who worries about Google and privacy, Steam is harmless. If you are concerned about privacy however, I can not comment; as, since I'm not, I have no common reference point to make a comment with.

 

[cuendillar]

Thanks a lot!

I have to say I'm surprised that an essentially autonomous program nonetheless can't be patched manually. If Steam can install the patch on their end, why shouldn't I be able to on mine?!. Still, it's good to now that at least playing works fine. I guess I could always hope for a CK2 complete to be available in a non-steam version eventually. In the meantime, I'll probably lose out on no more than post-2.0.2 patches even if not using Steam.

Is there a way to completely avoid joining the community aspects of Steam (including profile), making it just a source to download games legally?
What personal info is mandatory to fill in when creating an account?

 

[Greygor69]

Thanks a lot!

I have to say I'm surprised that an essentially autonomous program nonetheless can't be patched manually. If Steam can install the patch on their end, why shouldn't I be able to on mine?!. Still, it's good to now that at least playing works fine. I guess I could always hope for a CK2 complete to be available in a non-steam version eventually. In the meantime, I'll probably lose out on no more than post-2.0.2 patches even if not using Steam.

Is there a way to completely avoid joining the community aspects of Steam (including profile), making it just a source to download games legally?
What personal info is mandatory to fill in when creating an account?

IIRC whatever you put on your profile you can make it private.

 

[Augustus93]

I guess I could always hope for a CK2 complete to be available in a non-steam version eventually.

This is not going to happen. In fact the opposite has happened. There used to be a gamersgate version of CK2 which did not require steam, however that was discontinued since not enough people bought it. So now there is only steam versions and all future games will also be steam only.

 

[Konair0s]

Thanks a lot!

I have to say I'm surprised that an essentially autonomous program nonetheless can't be patched manually. If Steam can install the patch on their end, why shouldn't I be able to on mine?!. Still, it's good to now that at least playing works fine. I guess I could always hope for a CK2 complete to be available in a non-steam version eventually. In the meantime, I'll probably lose out on no more than post-2.0.2 patches even if not using Steam.

Is there a way to completely avoid joining the community aspects of Steam (including profile), making it just a source to download games legally?
What personal info is mandatory to fill in when creating an account?

Well it is just way of patches delivery, it is not Valve's business how developers provide patches to the games. The developers can place links to their patches on their sites so user will install them manually, but it is redundant now for most cases because it is easier to autoupdate. Note that it differs from game to game. I remember I installed beta EU3 patches by hands since there were none on Steam.

You are totally free to ignore social functions. No friends or information needed.

Usually Steam gets hated in cases when you have no/slow/unreliable internet. My friend who is a sailor had issues with getting some games launched - he logged in his account from Norway Faroe Islands and something was wrong because the game previously was bought and played in Russia. But if you are not a traveler and you have good internet connection, there are not much downsides of Steam really. On the opposite, it is pretty convenient.

I also want to say about gog.com in case you want to buy different games on internet (It has no EU4), especially old ones.
It is another digital distributing platform I like, but more free. It does not make to install any clients and it is a bit less corporate-spirit (I am not sure how to call this).

Also if you care about costs, both Steam and GOG often have sales.

 

[Pellaken]

Well it is just way of patches delivery, it is not Valve's business how developers provide patches to the games. The developers can place links to their patches on their sites so user will install them manually, but it is redundant now for most cases because it is easier to autoupdate. Note that it differs from game to game. I remember I installed beta EU3 patches by hands since there were none on Steam.

You are totally free to ignore social functions. No friends or information needed.

Usually Steam gets hated in cases when you have no/slow/unreliable internet. My friend who is a sailor had issues with getting some games launched - he logged in his account from Norway Faroe Islands and something was wrong because the game previously was bought and played in Russia. But if you are not a traveler and you have good internet connection, there are not much downsides of Steam really. On the opposite, it is pretty convenient.

I also want to say about gog.com in case you want to buy different games on internet (It has no EU4), especially old ones.
It is another digital distributing platform I like, but more free. It does not make to install any clients and it is a bit less corporate-spirit (I am not sure how to call this).

Also if you care about costs, both Steam and GOG often have sales.

Many of the steam concerns are about that privacy stuff. I don't understand the argument myself but I do appreciate it exists.

 

[Konair0s]

Many of the steam concerns are about that privacy stuff. I don't understand the argument myself but I do appreciate it exists.

Indeed, privacy is important for some people. But there is an option now to fully hide your profile, so. And there are lots of payment options. They even added various local methods for Russia, I guess they have something for other countries as well. For example, here are automates (Qiwi, now bought by Visa) which allow to make payments without exposing your credit card, and such things. So I don't think it is really a problem.

 

[cuendillar]

Well it is just way of patches delivery, it is not Valve's business how developers provide patches to the games. The developers can place links to their patches on their sites so user will install them manually, but it is redundant now for most cases because it is easier to autoupdate. Note that it differs from game to game. I remember I installed beta EU3 patches by hands since there were none on Steam.

You are totally free to ignore social functions. No friends or information needed.

Usually Steam gets hated in cases when you have no/slow/unreliable internet. My friend who is a sailor had issues with getting some games launched - he logged in his account from Norway Faroe Islands and something was wrong because the game previously was bought and played in Russia. But if you are not a traveler and you have good internet connection, there are not much downsides of Steam really. On the opposite, it is pretty convenient.

I also want to say about gog.com in case you want to buy different games on internet (It has no EU4), especially old ones.
It is another digital distributing platform I like, but more free. It does not make to install any clients and it is a bit less corporate-spirit (I am not sure how to call this).

Also if you care about costs, both Steam and GOG often have sales.

Internet connection's fine and more stable than most. That's not a major issue.

My main issue is actually what essentially is the cost of the convenience you mentioned. Privacy issues are much more troublesome now than before, you leave a lot more traces when e-buying and downloading a game than when you're paying cash for the CD in a physical store. Edward Snowden's reveals certainly showed there was cause for concern...

Fortunately, I won't need to offer credit info to steam as there are other places to buy it, but apparently registering the base game there is hard to avoid. Since I just bought a CD-key elsewhere I'm trying to figure if I have to get Steam (and be very cautious about it), accept the monetary loss, try to find a free-if-you-have-key version somewhere or just pirate it since I've already paid for it. Steam appears to be an awful lot of trouble to me, considering I have to reinstall the client software every time I want to get a patch/expansion.

By the way, would uninstalling the client software be sufficient to stop any interaction between my computer and Steam, or do I need to terminate my account as well?
Do any of you know a place to get the steam version while bypassing Steam?

Is it plausible to petition Paradox to include a link to the new patches here on the forums. I recognize that very few would use it, but if it's no harder than starting a stickied forum thread maybe they'd agree?

 

[Konair0s]

I have to reinstall the client software every time I want to get a patch/expansion.

By the way, would uninstalling the client software be sufficient to stop any interaction between my computer and Steam, or do I need to terminate my account as well?
Do any of you know a place to get the steam version while bypassing Steam?

You don't need to reinstall anything. Steam client autoupdates, the games in Steam will be updated as well without manually reinstalling anything.
Yes. Steam works with keys. Humble Bundle, various sites, even second-hand key sells (Steam allows to have unaktivated games in your inventory so you can transfer it to another person).

But I don't see any reason to do this. If you can find a way to pay without your credit card (there should be few, sorry, I don't know which are available in your country), why not using Steam?

Is it plausible to petition Paradox to include a link to the new patches here on the forums. I recognize that very few would use it, but if it's no harder than starting a stickied forum thread maybe they'd agree?

Well I doubt anyone here has inside information about their development process. But nothing stops you to ask, why not.

 

[cuendillar]

You don't need to reinstall anything. Steam client autoupdates, the games in Steam will be updated as well without manually reinstalling anything.
Yes. Steam works with keys. Humble Bundle, various sites, even second-hand key sells (Steam allows to have unaktivated games in your inventory so you can transfer it to another person).

But I don't see any reason to do this. If you can find a way to pay without your credit card (there should be few, sorry, I don't know which are available in your country), why not using Steam?

Yes, I know the client automatically updates itself, just as games are autopatched when started via Steam - neither option being possible to reliably turn off. Thus, the only ways to keep data from transferring to and from my computer to Steam via the client without my consent or knowledge is to uninstall the Steam client when not using it (not sure if I also have to terminate the account though), or disconnect internet entirely. The latter I'm not prepared to do, meaning I do indeed need to reinstall the client when I plan to use it.

I know that I can prevent Paradox games being updated by moving them to a different folder, but that doesn't solve the problem of computer integrity. The client is essentially spyware, or at least capable to be used for that purpose.

 

[Augustus93]

Yes, I know the client automatically updates itself, just as games are autopatched when started via Steam - neither option being possible to reliably turn off. Thus, the only ways to keep data from transferring to and from my computer to Steam via the client without my consent or knowledge is to uninstall the Steam client when not using it (not sure if I also have to terminate the account though), or disconnect internet entirely. The latter I'm not prepared to do, meaning I do indeed need to reinstall the client when I plan to use it.

I know that I can prevent Paradox games being updated by moving them to a different folder, but that doesn't solve the problem of computer integrity. The client is essentially spyware, or at least capable to be used for that purpose.

No, it is possible to turn off auto-update for games...

 

[unmerged(751237)]

Yes, I know the client automatically updates itself, just as games are autopatched when started via Steam - neither option being possible to reliably turn off. Thus, the only ways to keep data from transferring to and from my computer to Steam via the client without my consent or knowledge is to uninstall the Steam client when not using it (not sure if I also have to terminate the account though), or disconnect internet entirely. The latter I'm not prepared to do, meaning I do indeed need to reinstall the client when I plan to use it.

I know that I can prevent Paradox games being updated by moving them to a different folder, but that doesn't solve the problem of computer integrity. The client is essentially spyware, or at least capable to be used for that purpose.

It's not spyware. Steam is annoying but one thing it is not is spyware.

 

[cuendillar]

No, it is possible to turn off auto-update for games...

From what I understand by reading the Steam forums, there are tons of threads (some as recent as 2014) where people request the option to choose not to auto-update games. Using the option claiming to do just that simply means it won't update it immediately upon getting the patch, but it will still install all missing patches when you try to launch the game via Steam. As these complaints have been going on for years (judging by forum post dates) it's very unlikely that they suddenly fixed it.

In essence, Steam is designed to make it literally impossible to run a game via their services that isn't fully updated.

It's not spyware. Steam is annoying but one thing it is not is spyware.

I mostly agree, as matters stand now.

However, the client has the ability to check and send all software and hardware on the computer where it's installed, there are Steam surveys (which can be opted out of) that does exactly this. The client also updates itself unprompted, meaning it theoretically can download malware/spyware as part of those patches. It's really a matter of trusting Steam not to do this, the infrastructure for it is evidently there already.

EDIT:Sorry for late edit, but I just realized that it's probably easiest to just let the firewall stop Steam, rather than getting rid of it entirely. Should have thought of that right away.

I may have formulated myself poorly, if so I humbly apologize. Upon second read, it was indeed unnecessarily inflammatory and harsh in the phrasing.

 

[unmerged(751237)]

From what I understand by reading the Steam forums, there are tons of threads (some as recent as 2014) where people request the option to choose not to auto-update games. Using the option claiming to do just that simply means it won't update it immediately upon getting the patch, but it will still install all missing patches when you try to launch the game via Steam. As these complaints have been going on for years (judging by forum post dates) it's very unlikely that they suddenly fixed it.

In essence, Steam is designed to make it literally impossible to run a game via their services that isn't fully updated.

If you start the game directly from the launcher, instead of from Steam, that problem is solved.

 

[AndrewT]

If you start the game directly from the launcher, instead of from Steam, that problem is solved.

Or simply put Steam in off-line mode.

 

[Seli]

Thanks a lot!

I have to say I'm surprised that an essentially autonomous program nonetheless can't be patched manually. If Steam can install the patch on their end, why shouldn't I be able to on mine?!. Still, it's good to now that at least playing works fine. I guess I could always hope for a CK2 complete to be available in a non-steam version eventually. In the meantime, I'll probably lose out on no more than post-2.0.2 patches even if not using Steam.
...

I seem to remember one of the issues is that for many people manual patching, even running something as simple as an installer, is difficult. And many resources had to be used to help those customers running into problems due to patching issues. Both with failed patches and people not being up-to-date.
Steam auto-patching removes a bunch of those issues and is cost-effective for Paradox, at the cost of a loss of flexibility for a small group of players.

 

[Sentinal 6]

Purchased EUIV today. When I start EUIV a Steam window indicates an activation CD key EUIV-XXXX-XXXX etc and that the key needs to be entered after launch. However, I am never prompted to enter the key. Anyone have an ideas? Game seems to run fine. Additionally, when I use that key to register with Paradox it says invalid key.

 

[Castellon]

CD key is actually the forum key.
If it will not work be sure and check out this thread:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?547980-Game-Registration-Key-FAQ-Look-here.