never used Steam before.....

[Snipe Twitchel]

Is Steam a site for streaming games or just a way to distribute software by download onto our hard drives? Is steam something I have to be a member of? I hope it is not streaming.

[Ink]

just a way to distribute software by download onto our hard drives? Is steam something I have to be a member of?

This

[Doge]

You'll hate it for sure when you first use it. Once you start learning about it and use it more often it'll grow on you

[Monkstar]

You'll hate it for sure when you first use it. Once you start learning about it and use it more often it'll grow on you

It is nice until someone steals your account or you lose it somehow. That might happen even without you doing something wrong and then you suddenly lost a few hundred bucks' worth of games. That's when you really start hating Steam because you never own the games physically.

[The Great Dane II]

Ok Guys - in my opinion Monkstar's waaaay too hard regarding Steam - I've been using Steam since launch way back and I must say, that it's been a great experience.

 

No matter what you'll always find someone, who has had some sort of problem but really:

This Gettisburg game will have THE GREATEST selling platform avaliable Worldwide, if Master Nick & Co. manages to get a Green Light.

 

And don't forget this: If this game's not selling we'll be back to square one in no time.

So look at Steam as our ally - not the enemy...

[Monkstar]

I didn't say Steam is a bad thing in general. I was just pointing out that there are not only pros, but also cons. Of course it is great for independent or startup game developers (especially Steam Greenlight) to distribute their games without having to produce physical copies of it. For the most part, Steam turns out great and I am fully aware of the fact that it offers a great opportunity to Nick and his team. And I really want this game to be a success because I can't wait for it to set new AI standards for everyone.

 

I apologize if I sounded too negative, and I did not lose my Steam account in the past, either. The threat of it maybe happening feels like the sword of Damocles to me though; not a big one, but it's there.

[Crowgasm]

I've also used Steam since it was born and have had almost entirely positive experiences. The convenience of organizing a (large) game library, combined with great prices/sales, ease of back-up and reinstallation after hardware problems or new PC builds, keeping my library of games on several PCs, sharing games I own with other Steam family members (coming soon), ease of MP gaming with friends/contacts (especially for niche strategy games) and more recently the Greenlight function for independent or new game developers are all great things. There are plenty of other pros too. Snipe, if you didn't already I'd recommend you download it from www.steampowered.com and take a look around. Whatever your tastes in gaming, it will have things you'll like.

[adambomb]

I like steam myself.

[DaveWoodchuck]

Monk, I understand the sword of Damocles feeling; my steam account got pirated once, but it worked out in the end for me.  I didn't have my financials saved with them for security reasons, so I didn't lose money.  I had left the account alone for a while in college, and when I came back to sign in, I was locked out.  I contacted Steam, who verified my identity from their purchase records and some other stuff, and they restored my account to me.  In the meantime, the fella who stole my account had purchased a ton of DLC for a couple of my games using his bank account-- since it was bought through my account, I was told that they were mine.  All in all, for a couple days of annoyance, I ended up ahead because of a crook.  As long as you keep your financial information locked away and not saved on the system, the worst you will generally experience is an inconvenience.

[admin]

We will help you Snipe Twitchel if you encounter any problems. For tablet versions you won't need steam. We might have a boxed version too in the future (but not decided on this yet)

 

And it is actually awesome that people who never used steam come to help us make this game - it means we are really doing something everyone wants. Thank you.

[Monkstar]

Monk, I understand the sword of Damocles feeling; my steam account got pirated once, but it worked out in the end for me.  I didn't have my financials saved with them for security reasons, so I didn't lose money.  I had left the account alone for a while in college, and when I came back to sign in, I was locked out.  I contacted Steam, who verified my identity from their purchase records and some other stuff, and they restored my account to me.  In the meantime, the fella who stole my account had purchased a ton of DLC for a couple of my games using his bank account-- since it was bought through my account, I was told that they were mine.  All in all, for a couple days of annoyance, I ended up ahead because of a crook.  As long as you keep your financial information locked away and not saved on the system, the worst you will generally experience is an inconvenience.

Yes, I think the chance of getting it back if something happens to it are actually not that bad. But I did have my Origin account pirated once and it really was pure luck that I still had a few old game keys (from games I hadn't played for years) somewhere in the attic to prove that I bought the games myself. If i had thrown them away, there would have been no chance in proving to the support that it was my own account. And I know certain MMOs where people had their accounts pirated, stripped from all valuables and then used as bots for advertising illegal stuff in the game which led to the accounts getting banned as well since there was no proof they did not do that advertising themselves (no matter how unlikely it was). So these people really ended up with their entire games ruined.

I just don't like taking chances, so I tend to be as careful and skeptical as possible. And it's just that bad gut feeling I have whenever I add more games to the pile I already have in Steam, making a possible loss even more threatening. Nevertheless, I still agree that putting this game on Steam is a good idea because it really lets the devs focus on the actual game development.

[Myes!]

Is Steam a site for streaming games or just a way to distribute software by download onto our hard drives? Is steam something I have to be a member of? I hope it is not streaming.

 

 

I...

 

I...

 

...What?

[Calvin809]

I have had Steam since 2005 and its a great way to get games. You do have to create an account to use it. It's basically a place to buy and download games/DLC and discuss them. You need a fast internet connection though. As for security you have a primary email address that Steam send all messages to and it keeps track of what computer is logging in. If you try to log in from a different computer it will send an email to the one on file for you to approve the log in. I'm sure there are ways to get around that but I think most hackers will just try to either get your account info or email info through keyloggers or phishing.  

[LTao]

Steam is a platform that distributes games and digital goods digitally. Generally, this includes video games, DLC and some programs.

 

When purchasing on Steam, you generally purchase an item with one of several methods of payment. Once purchased, the item can be downloaded to your computer and played. Once you have purchased an item, you may download it to different machines as long as you log in on a machine. Games on Steam generally require verification every 30 days, so you can play for 30 days without an internet connection in Offline mode.

 

Steam is also popular for sales on games it runs regularly with reduced prices.

 

Steam Greenlight is a system in Steam that allows players to select games that they wish to see on the Steam store for sale. Ultimate General: Gettysburg is currently in the greenlight process on Steam.