Steam and GOG

[nikolokolus]

Steam for Linux is on the way too ... not important to everyone, but it's one reason I'll use steam when the game drops (a principle thing as much as a convenience thing).

[shibby191]

I have a lot of games on Steam, mostly due to sales. Pick up a few 75% off just about every summer and winter sale. I really do like the autopatching (and I'm an old school gamer from late 80s up). Having said that I'm not sure where I'll take my PE license key. I may go with GOG just to get started over there. But we'll see how the gaming scene is in 2014, that's an eternity in the online world.

[evdk]

Other than that, there's one main reason for using Steam, and that's Steam sales.

Which is relevant to this discussion how exactly?

[Krios]

I have a lot of games on Steam, mostly due to sales. Pick up a few 75% off just about every summer and winter sale. I really do like the autopatching (and I'm an old school gamer from late 80s up). Having said that I'm not sure where I'll take my PE license key. I may go with GOG just to get started over there. But we'll see how the gaming scene is in 2014, that's an eternity in the online world.

 

True that. I got my start in Steam through sales. Then again GoG has frequent sales too. They have sales every Wednesday and over every weekend, on top of discounted pre-orders, and the occasional promo. And well who knows maybe one of the two will no longer be in business by 2014, hard to imagine that will happen, the future can be unpredictable.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Steam, the neutral evil tinker gnome sinks a burin into the good-hearted barbarian Gog's hamstring. "Aargh!", goes the hairy barbarian, which swirls around in an attempt to sever the mean gnome's mischievous head. But alas, Gog was seven feet tall and missed in the worst possible way, twisting the punctured leg so that the main vein spurted out all his blood in seconds. "Urgh!", muttered Steam, still satisifed with such a simple coup de grace.

[melkathi]

 

True that. I got my start in Steam through sales. Then again GoG has frequent sales too. They have sales every Wednesday and over every weekend, on top of discounted pre-orders, and the occasional promo. And well who knows maybe one of the two will no longer be in business by 2014, hard to imagine that will happen, the future can be unpredictable.

 

Though if Steam goes out of business we loose our games. If GoG goes out of business we can still have backups of the installer.

Love how with GoG you download an installer and don't install from online.

[nikolokolus]

If Steam stops as a service, Gabe Newell has already stated that you'll be able to get your games library unlocked and decoupled from Steam.

 

That said, Steam isn't going anywhere for awhile I'd wager.

Edited October 12, 2012 by nikolokolus

[melkathi]

If Steam stops as a service, Gabe Newell has already stated that you'll be able to get your games library unlocked and decoupled from Steam.

 

That said, Steam isn't going anywhere for awhile I'd wager.

 

Awesomesauce

 

And yeah. Valve seems to be doing pretty well compared to other players in the industry.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Niko is absolutely right, that is a good thing to know about Steam!

[Sensuki]

Since some form of modding seems to be on already, it may be an advantage to have one of each. Hmm, two questions then:

-If one has pledged for two downloads, can one pick one for each (GOG n Steam)?

-Can one install both on one and the same pc?

 

I hazard a guess that the answer is yes to both questions, but confirmation is always welcome.

 

Here's an idea

 

Buy GOG version, import game into Steam.

[ddillon]

Steam for Linux is on the way too ... not important to everyone, but it's one reason I'll use steam when the game drops (a principle thing as much as a convenience thing).

 

GOG will be announcing support for one or more operating systems on October 18. Could be Linux and/or Mac.

 

http://www.gog.com/n...m_special_event

 

If Linux support isn't announced on October 18, check again before the release of Project Eternity: Linux support is currently the second most voted site feature on the GOG Community Wishlist.

 

http://www.gog.com/e...rsions_of_games

Edited October 12, 2012 by ddillon

[Humanoid]

The Linux thing was stated as a general principles stance I think - Eternity will support Linux no matter which distribution method you prefer. GoG's hypothetical Linux support means they would be tweaking their other games to run in Linux, much in the same way they tweak games to run in Windows XP/Vista/7/8.

 

 

 

Personally I am going to redeem Eternity on GoG of course. If I get a second copy .....I'll open another GoG account to redeem it on.

[santanzchild]

Gog and steam duh! Really though I have multihaundreds of games installed through steam the auto updating and integrity checks are the only way to manage all of them.

[Gelp]

Steam does a decent job of keeping everything updated, which can be convenient, but the DRM issue can come up at unexpected times.

 

Say your steam account gets hacked. It'll take you a few days to be able to play your games again.

 

Say you bought something with your credit card and a family member freezes payment without you realizing. Instead of just taking that game away (which they definitely should do), they freeze your account. Once again, it'll take at least a few days to get things straightened out.

 

Then there's support. If a game has trouble playing? Ask the manufacturer. Steam cannot help you. You ask for a refund because the game won't work? Sometimes they'll let you, but expect that to take a few days.

 

Long story short, Steam is very convenient until things screw up. Then expect to have days to weeks where you can't play a single one of your games. Steam really needs to up their customer service.

 

GoG, on the other hand...

 

Nothing short of my computer breaking down keeps me from playing the games I've purchased from GoG. They guarantee their games will run on win 7. I've had to spend hours getting games from Steam to work the way I want. I spent three hours trying to get Horde to work, and the last time I tried it required me to restart my computer in safe mode to get it functioning (not joking here). Not so much the case with anything I've bought on GoG.

 

If you want to buy a game that is steam only (like skyrim), I recommend buying it through Amazon. Unlike steam, Amazon actually has good customer service (they responded within an hour) and amazon will actually help with game issues, which steam itself will not.

 

tl;dr: Steam's customer service sucks, GoG is more convenient, buy games that activate on steam only through amazon.com

[Uomoz]

Never had any problem whatsoever with steam. Plus, regarding hacking, there's the secondary security system if you access Steam from a different PC then usual (linked to a secure mail).

 

EDIT: Also, Valve is one of the few things keeping PC gaming alive and well, so I have huge respect and love for that company.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Uomoz

[sesobebo]

Steam for Linux is on the way too ... not important to everyone, but it's one reason I'll use steam when the game drops (a principle thing as much as a convenience thing).

 

i'll be very surprised, if by the 2014 gog won't be supporting linux.

[Hassat Hunter]

If Steam stops as a service, Gabe Newell has already stated that you'll be able to get your games library unlocked and decoupled from Steam.

There is a big difference between a promise now and actual execution if Steam goes down someday.

And if it's get bought over by another company inbetween, the purely vocal agreement is void too.

:/

[IndiraLightfoot]

I asked Bobby Null yesterday and got this answer just now:

"Talked to Feargus this morning just to make sure. You will be able to choose multiple download methods for individual digital keys."

 

So, yay, you can pick GOG for one and Steam for the other. Great!

[Rosveen]

If Steam stops as a service, Gabe Newell has already stated that you'll be able to get your games library unlocked and decoupled from Steam.

Is it written in terms&conditions we agree on every time we buy a game or is it just Newell's word? Because if it's the latter, then we've got absolutely nothing when Steam goes out of business.

 

Not that I expect it to go down in any time soon. But I'll be getting my copy on GOG because it's DRM-free.