sNeaksieGarrett on 11/4/2007 at 14:22

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If you have the CD key for a game that is supported by steam, you can "download" it through steam instead of grabbing the disc from your shelf and installing it that way. However, I prefer installing from disc because its easier and faster IMO. so really, its not even a benefit, unless you like that sort of thing. Other than that, its a way to get multiplayer capability with games such as the old half-life series. You can't run it by itself anymore to get online, you have to use steam for multiplayer. (half-life that is)


No, its not an operating system lol:laff: Not at all. Yes, its a distribution system. you can buy games off it and then "download" it into ur steam account. Or, you can buy a game that uses steam from a local retail store and then install it to where it can be run from the steam games menu. I'm not sure "spy" is the right term here. In a sense yes, but you have access to the collected data. What i mean is, it collects the minutes that people play on a certain steam game, or any other information (not personal information) related to the games you have, and then you can go back and look at that information. Basically, steam is a way to organize video games into one little program with which you can download them, update them, backup them, etc..... And yes, certain games require steam if you want online capability.(multiplayer obviously, or updates...)

Hope that helps.:thumb:

[edit]
Oh, and I forgot to mention, it has a "friends" capability. Meaning, its like an instant messenger you can log onto ur steam friends account and then talk to any friends that are on steam atm.

Also, about the phising of credits cards and stuff.... Never heard of that. =o Interesting. Well, I'm thinking that steam must be fine now, because thousands of people use the dang thing. I didn't know you could use credit card with it.

Muzman on 11/4/2007 at 22:03

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Those prices are ludicrous. How do they really expect it to catch on?
Valve must be solely aiming for that sector that shops on the net for everything but food and will pay through the nose to avoid leaving the house for anything else (we can make fat jokes all we want, but a lot of young upwardly mobiles in the tech sector and other such lines of employment, of all shapes and sizes too, seem to live with exactly this atttiude. Particularly in the US)

Vigil on 12/4/2007 at 08:37

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It's as big as whatever games you've downloaded with it. The Steam application files account for about 30mb.

I'm not sure how you call Steam's prices ludicrous, Muzman. They end up being about the same as you'd pay in a retail store for a rereleased game (and, in the case of Valve games, exactly the same as you'd pay in a retail store).

hexarith on 12/4/2007 at 11:57

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You never heared about the OPAL debacle in the (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Länder) New Länder . After reunion of West and East Germany the Deutsche Telekom decided to use the then modern OPAL technology for new telephone lines. In essence OPAL (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optische_Anschlussleitung) (german article about it on wikipedia) is a very early version of Fiber to the Curb, i.e. a optical fiber carries the multiplexed digital signals of the houses in a street to the citiy dial switching. However OPAL was designed for ISDN only, i.e. a maximum bandwidth of 130kBits/s (2x 64kBits/s for the B channels and 1x 2kBits/s for the D channel).

However DSL has been designed for transmission on copper wires, which lead to the paradox situation, that in the Old Länder (=West Germany), where still the old lines from the "stone ages" are used (runned in the 50ies and 60ies) so DSL is possible there, while in East Germany with the "new modern" optical fibers you can practically use ISDN dial up only - and that's a lot more expensive than DSL.

The only way for people living there to get high bandwidth is IP over TV cable. Big companies rent whole ATM lines, and get their bandwidth that way.

And then there are of course the rural parts, where you might end up 500m to far from the line switch, and don't get DSL, since the T-Com has a quasi-monopol on rural areas and is the only telco running their DSL lines fixed rate, whereas the adaptive rate mode would allow for DSL, even if it's not 6MBit/s, but say 3MBit/s. However T-Com only provides 6MBit/s and nothing else :rolleyes:

Psychotronic on 13/4/2007 at 16:50

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I find the games on Steam to be cheaper than the boxed versions I see of them in stores. I recently bought (thru Steam) the original version of CS to play on my work laptop for $10, and it came with extras. 2 days later I saw it in a retail store for $20, and didn't have the extra games included. To me, it was worth it.

And, having the Thief series on Steam might actually be a GOOD thing! How, you ask? It potentially exposes the series to a huge market that may not have previously been aware of the game. If it sells enough on Steam, there could be MORE THIEF GAMES. Who here wouldn't want that?:confused: