I'm done with Steam! Just another dictator in the gaming industry!

[MattJE9601]

Until now I've always thought pretty highly of Steam, but today while trying to set up gaming computers for my kids I just realized how greedy and crooked Steam actually is as I can't share my large and very expensive game library with my kids.

By this I do not mean playing the same game at the same time. For that I obviously expect to purchase another license, and would have done for the games they like. I mean playing DIFFERENT games at the same time, each of which I have paid good money for a license for 1 person to play... but it seems that Steam doesn't believe I have the right to use more than one of my games at the same time. I am so sick and tired of the walled gardens and control surrounding the gaming industry as a whole. I'm trying to move my kids to PC gaming to get away from xboxes as I already can't stand Microsoft... and how many times I've had to pay for Minecraft just for a single person!

So here's the deal... unless this changes, I will no longer be buying my games through Steam. I will buy every game direct from the developer separate from ANY game launchers, and I will use an open source launcher to manage my games from now on. AND I WILL LET MY KIDS PLAY GAMES I'M NOT USING... like it used to be when we actually OWNED the games we paid for! I will also most likely dump my Deck and will not be buying one for each of my kids as I planned on doing.

I'm royally pissed, and everyone else should be too! This is like buying 2 cars from a dealership and them telling you that only one can be driven at any given time. Absolutely absurd and I'm done tolerating this BS! I only wish I could get my games away from Steam so I can completely dump it altogether, but unless I feel like paying for games again (which I honestly might just on principal) I'm still stuck using it for games I already stupidly bought through here. Lesson learned I guess.

I really wish enough people would throw a fit about this. I really don't want to hate Steam but I feel I don't have a choice here. I mean who the F do they think they are to tell us we can't use more than one of the products we own at a time? They simply do it because they have the power to and it makes them more money, plain and simple. Do the game police kick down our door because we shared a game of checkers with our kids? NO! But if it can be tracked digitally it will be shoved right up your *** every time. So goodbye Steam! Thanks for being just like everyone else...

[MattJE9601]

Първоначално публикувано от Start_Running:

Know what you're purchasing and know the terms underwhich you purchase them. I mean Its not like the thing you're complaining about hasn't beeen a part of the bog standard eula for the last 30 years.

Fair enough... I guess I just hadn't realized just how far we've sunk with all this. I feel like it was only only yesterday I could do whatever I wanted with my games. If I had multiple consoles or PC's I could run that many games at the same time... I could loan one out to a buddy or even sell it to him if I wanted. So ok, at some point along the lines I accepted that I can't re-sell my games in order to download them instead... but honestly until now I hadn't even realized I can't even let my kids play them since well... I didn't have kids back then and never tried until now. Does this really not frustrate anyone? Why should I have to buy another copy of a game I already own that I'm not currently playing? I'm sick and tired of the constant cash grab everywhere you look... and for what? Half finished games half the time? I know that's not Steams fault, but c'mon people!

[Komarimaru]

Първоначално публикувано от MattJE9601:

Първоначално публикувано от Start_Running:

Know what you're purchasing and know the terms underwhich you purchase them. I mean Its not like the thing you're complaining about hasn't beeen a part of the bog standard eula for the last 30 years.

Fair enough... I guess I just hadn't realized just how far we've sunk with all this. I feel like it was only only yesterday I could do whatever I wanted with my games. If I had multiple consoles or PC's I could run that many games at the same time... I could loan one out to a buddy or even sell it to him if I wanted. So ok, at some point along the lines I accepted that I can't re-sell my games in order to download them instead... but honestly until now I hadn't even realized I can't even let my kids play them since well... I didn't have kids back then and never tried until now. Does this really not frustrate anyone? Why should I have to buy another copy of a game I already own that I'm not currently playing? I'm sick and tired of the constant cash grab everywhere you look... and for what? Half finished games half the time? I know that's not Steams fault, but c'mon people!

Family sharing is loaning out. But what console are you playing, where you can use the exact same game at the same time? You need the cartridge or disc, and if from a modern console, you can't be logged into two consoles at the same time to access your digital games and play them.

[AustrAlien2010]

Try this: Run one system in offline mode. Then you can run more than one game at the same time.

[MattJE9601]

Първоначално публикувано от Komarimaru:

But what console are you playing, where you can use the exact same game at the same time? You need the cartridge or disc, and if from a modern console, you can't be logged into two consoles at the same time to access your digital games and play them.

Umm... literally XBox. I can literally play games with my kids only owning a single copy of the game. Before kids I used to play with my brother... with a single copy of the game. This is partially why I'm so p****d. I can't stand Microsoft, and honestly want nothing to do with it. The whole linux thing is part of the reason I've liked Steam so much as I run mostly linux based systems to begin with. So moving my kids to Steam, only to find out they can't play my games while I'm playing OTHER games isn't exactly scoring any points here. In this case, Microsoft is literally less of a total and obvious cash grab! And although it would be great to play the same game with only one copy like the XBox, that's not even what I'm upset about.

[AROCK!!!]

Първоначално публикувано от Komarimaru:

Първоначално публикувано от MattJE9601:

As for family sharing, yes I did try that. That's the problem. Family sharing is useless. No different than just letting my kids play on my own profile other than separate progress tracking etc. If one of my kids is playing a game, and I try to run a totally different game my kid get's booted. Absolutely no point to it. And yes, it's a license for 1 person to play the game.... for each game you buy. It's Steam that doesn't allow you to play more than one game at a time. There is no reason for this other than their greed!

Tell me, what service does?

Epic.
GOG (verified by GOG support)
PlayStation
Xbox

[Start_Running]

Първоначално публикувано от MattJE9601:

Първоначално публикувано от Start_Running:

Know what you're purchasing and know the terms underwhich you purchase them. I mean Its not like the thing you're complaining about hasn't beeen a part of the bog standard eula for the last 30 years.

Fair enough... I guess I just hadn't realized just how far we've sunk with all this.

Sunk?
This has been the case since day one. The TOS, the EULAs, etc have all been the same in that regard for 30+ years. The only thing with Steam and some other services is that the ENFORCEMENT of those terms YOU agreed to is now possible in an easy, cost effective manner.

That's the only thing that has changed.

Първоначално публикувано от MattJE9601:

I feel like it was only only yesterday I could do whatever I wanted with my games. If I had multiple consoles or PC's I could run that many games at the same time...

As said. The only thing that changed was enforcement. You had gotten yused to then lack of enforcement so you thought the rukles you agreed to didn't exist or allowed you to actually do what you were doing. They didn't.

Първоначално публикувано от MattJE9601:

I'm sick and tired of the constant cash grab everywhere you look... and for what? Half finished games half the time? I know that's not Steams fault, but c'mon people!

There'd be less cash grabbing if gamers were such happy moochers.
If you don't like half finished games.. don't buy them. They're opretty easy to pick out of the crowd.

[Hellstorm]

cant stand microsoft ahhh my man Gabe newell came from microsoft who owns steam thats Gabe newell guess you dont like steam

[Hellstorm]

also no one here can change anything so your rant is for nothing

[MattJE9601]

Първоначално публикувано от AustrAlien2010:

But things take time. They get worked on, but they take time.

If something is not working, you should post about it, not leave the country.

Funny you mention leaving the country, since will... I already left New York for Texas over 2 years ago because of their BS, but now I'm literally in the process of getting my kids passports in case we decide to leave the US, because honestly I'm loosing hope for this country. The shear stupidity and lack of any meaningful action by the people will be it's downfall. Point being, I'm the type that will cut my losses and inconvenience myself based on principal. I use open source software wherever possible, run my own servers so I don't need google, messaging services or any centralized form of social media etc. Anyone who does the same knows how inconvenient this can be over the centralized alternatives.

[Igris]

Just move to PlayStation, Steam has been going downhill for me too over the past few years and I am thinking of moving to Playstation for playing singleplayer games. I don't have to wait and hope for years for their exclusives to come to PC. I don't care if my fpas is gonna be locked, I just want to enjoy the games.

[( ( < < <🤖> > > ) )]

people forget the legacy of microsoft..... apple/mac didnt want poor people
to use their products and were so elitists that i am surprised that people dont
rebel and stop supporting them today... no money no computer for you...

microsoft got us all online... we would not be here today without microsoft...

[MattJE9601]

Първоначално публикувано от Hellstorm:

cant stand microsoft ahhh my man Gabe newell came from microsoft who owns steam thats Gabe newell guess you dont like steam

I was always under the impression he was competing with Microsoft because he didn't like the whole walled garden way of doing things. Is this not the case?

[MattJE9601]

Първоначално публикувано от Hellstorm:

also no one here can change anything so your rant is for nothing

It's not for nothing... I needed to vent. There... vented. Plus it gave me something to do for the last couple hours. And maybe I was hoping someone would talk me off a ledge (so to speak), I don't know. My wife sure as s**t doesn't want to hear about it. lol

[Kule02]

Първоначално публикувано от Start_Running:

Първоначално публикувано от MattJE9601:

Wrong. I want to play 2 different games, not 2 people playing the same game at once. This of course would require a second license. That's would be understandable.

YOu can blame gamers for why this doesn't happen m8. We both know that what'd happen is peopel would turn their libraries into game rental shops. Which would hurt their bottom line anmd the bottom liune of their publishers./buisiness partners.. which is bad business.

Easy fix for that: restrict it to the same IP address and limit the number of connected accounts to 3-5.

Not in reference to the person I quoted, but reading this thread and many others on this forum, I'll never understand people who put up with being crapped on by corporations. Why would you want things to be worse for yourself and others?
Here's a good example of a positive change: the reason steam refunds exist is because of the EU consumer protection laws. In the US, it's at the discretion of a company if they choose to offer a refund. In the EU it's mandated, and you can return goods within 14 days (or longer sometimes). Valve was pressured to offer refunds or face fines, and they could have just done this for EU customers, but they decided to implemented refunds for everyone. I'm sure most people considered this a good change.

[MattJE9601]

Първоначално публикувано от ragefifty50:

people forget the legacy of microsoft..... apple/mac didnt want poor people
to use their products and were so elitists that i am surprised that people dont
rebel and stop supporting them today... no money no computer for you...

microsoft got us all online... we would not be here today without microsoft...

Sure we would, it would just have been someone else behind it. Hell, maybe even the guy Gates stole his original OS from! That's like saying electric car's wouldn't be as popular as they (sorta) are without Musk. Guess what... he stole Tesla just like Gates stole his OS! You know, pretty soon you won't even be able to eat a meal or drink "clean" water without Gates being involved... lol or access the internet without Musk being involved. No money no food or internet for you. Nah, I'll stick with linux thanks. But I do dislike apple even more somehow, but for some slightly different reasons. It doesn't matter though, people won't rebel... they never usually do until their lives depend on it. And at this point they already got us all buy the nads.