this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2023
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The shift really proves that Gabe Newell was right and that piracy is a service issue and that, for a time, the many services available were worth paying for.
It was honestly really crazy to me when I was excited to see a game on sale, only to remember how I used to pirate everything. Steam has made it legitimately easier to buy games in so many cases.
I sometimes still do pirate games, especially if it's from a publisher I don't respect or the cracked version is known to run better, but I buy almost all of my games now days.
I've actually started setting up a home server for pirated movies and shows and getting rid of the couple streaming services I have.
I still Piraten EA games, just because the forced origin injection into their games on steam is so fucking annoying, especially if you're on Linux.
I fucking hate origin, yeah
I know a lot of people idolize him, and that's probably not healthy, but he just gets it. Provide value and convenience for consumers, and consumers will stick around. Be an inconvenience while squeezing consumers for money, and we'll leave with a parrot on our shoulders and a one-finger salute.
That's what happens when you're not beholden to shareholders.
He's a weird case, Steam has always been good for pc gaming and Valve releases nothing but polished games without anything predatory.
He just seems to be interested in maintaining a successful business instead of squeezing more money out of people constantly.
Ehh... for as great as Steam and Gaben are, TF2 really seems to have been the catalyst for all the ridiculous lootbox microtransaction mess we have nowadays.
That shit was coming with or without TF2, even if it was the first (which I don't know if that's the case). WoW gold farmers proved the concept that people are willing to pay for advantages or conveniences in games (and that was just the first game I played where I saw that, I bet it wasn't the first), and buying packages with random content was done by MTG and baseball cards before that. It was inevitable that someone would put the two together.
cough CS2 cough
Counterpoint: Artifact.
(I mostly agree on everything else though)
I honestly forgot about Artifact entirely.
I think Valve would appreciate if everyone forgot about Artifact as well
That thing... That wretched thing...
CS2 is great tho
It's a downgrade to CS:GO in every way, and didn't address the one problem the community has been complaining about for a decade – cheaters.
Sadly most companies are focused on short term profit over long term growth, Steam is the best example of the opposite.