Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.
Rule: You must post before you leave.
This is literally how it has always been.
You don't own any of the games you paid for, you bought a license to play those games under specific circumstances. It's the same with books & movies.
Valve have (allegedly) stated that in the case of Steam shutting down, games they can update to remove Steam DRM, they will.
no need be angry at steam. that is how it always has been. kudos to them to point it out very cleanly and not hiding it on page 400 of the 3rd EULA.
Steam doesnt make you pay for subscription fee and theres no expiry date for those games, so it's fine I think?
It's still something granted to you at all times, you don't own it. If a fart gets stuck in their asses they can change the grant. It's why actually owning is something desirable.
I agree, owning what we purchase is much more desirable. What I was trying to say is, Steam did not change their business model with or without that notice. Moreover, it isn't as bad as some of their competitors - they dont use subscription model for example-, so I think, for me, it is still okay.
Okay, the way it is now is acceptable. I just wanted to add that this way can change at the drop of a hat. And yeah, Steam is indeed the best the industry has to offer.
I understand. Yeah, the trend is going into unfavorable direction. I hope steam can stay this way, but I'm ready to wear me old hat again if they go rogue.
What do you plan to do when Steam follows the market and become subsription-based or when they start taking away people's games randomly?
Very good question. I don't know yet.
I already am more of a patient gamer, so changing to the old hat is an option for me too. Currently I am looking at the OSS games like Beyond all Reason or 0AD. Probably also gonna look into buying more from GOG.
My main concern with the old hat is the multiplayer, so I mostly invest in games on steam and GOG that have local multiplayer, or a dedicated server.
I appreciate the transparency tbh. Would be better if things were different but it is what it is for now.
For context, Steam is now forced to display this due to a new law passed in California: https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24254922/california-digital-purchase-disclosure-law-ab-2426
Valve is not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.
Its pretty much up to the developer. You can have no DRM and not even require steam to be open, or you can make your game unplayable.
Imo Steam should tell people whether or not a game actually requires Steam (or another form of DRM) to run. I know they already do it for things like Denuvo, but they should also note if the game actually uses Steam as DRM or if the game can be launched without it.
Steam DRM isn't even really DRM in the traditional sense and it's very easy to put games into a program or use an injected/patched .dll to bypass the Steam Launch check. It's annoying sure but it's not something that people should be concerned about.
Did California's new law requiring this already go into effect?
January 1 2025, guess Steam preferred not waiting in this case
This is also the case for physical copies, and has been since software was first sold
