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January 9, 2017 11:49 AM Subscribe
Steam Passes 14 Million Concurrent Users for First Time Ever [PC Gamer] “Steam has surpassed 14 million concurrent users. The milestone was hit early January 7 and peaked at 14,207,039, according to Steam's stats page. It's now back to the mid-to-high 13 millions. Unsurprisingly, Dota 2 was the game with the highest concurrent player count at the peak today with 951,942 concurrent players. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive followed with 675,195 players, while Grand Theft Auto V rounded out the top three with 116,230. It's worth underlining that concurrent users isn't the same as concurrent players. The 14,207,039 number includes users who have Steam running in the background while they're doing other things or away from the PC altogether. Still, the figure is one measurement of Steam's growth over time.”
What, no factorio? No one stops playing factorio.
posted by poe at 11:58 AM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by poe at 11:58 AM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
Nearly 40% Of All Steam Games Were Released In 2016 - Kotaku
posted by ODiV at 12:13 PM on January 9, 2017
posted by ODiV at 12:13 PM on January 9, 2017
I was playing Age of Empires III this weekend (still) -- release date 10/18/2005. Thank you for keeping it going, Steam!
posted by Lukenlogs at 12:17 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Lukenlogs at 12:17 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
For a somewhat less accurate but very interesting look at figures like revenue, here's Steam Spy's year in review.
posted by selfnoise at 12:18 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by selfnoise at 12:18 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
One figure I would love to know is the percentage of games activated on Steam that were bought elsewhere. Valve's permissiveness with keys has allowed a lot of other storefronts to emerge. I ended up buying Steam keys this year from GameStop, Dell, Humble, and probably other places besides. And that doesn't touch grey markets like CDKeys or arguably black markets like G2A.
I wonder if Valve ever thinks about cutting that off or slowing it. They don't make a dime from those sales and it is yet another downward pressure on pricing.
posted by selfnoise at 12:23 PM on January 9, 2017
I wonder if Valve ever thinks about cutting that off or slowing it. They don't make a dime from those sales and it is yet another downward pressure on pricing.
posted by selfnoise at 12:23 PM on January 9, 2017
They don't make a dime from those sales
Is this right? I kinda assumed the dev/publisher would be paying for those keys. I imagine these details vary and are behind NDAs though.
posted by ODiV at 12:39 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Is this right? I kinda assumed the dev/publisher would be paying for those keys. I imagine these details vary and are behind NDAs though.
posted by ODiV at 12:39 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
The milestone was hit early January 7
Hmm glad I could help them reach this with all my Civ VI playing this weekend.
posted by FireFountain at 12:41 PM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
Hmm glad I could help them reach this with all my Civ VI playing this weekend.
posted by FireFountain at 12:41 PM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
They don't make a dime from those sales
Is this right? I kinda assumed the dev/publisher would be paying for those keys. I imagine these details vary and are behind NDAs though.
Nope. Valve currently allows developers and publishers to create an essentially unlimited number of keys for their own games for free, which they can then give away or resell.
Some sites like Humble are using that mechanism. Other sites, like CDKeys, are using more arcane systems (CDKeys iirc buys retail copies of games in non-US markets and resells the codes inside the boxes as PDFs.)
posted by selfnoise at 12:44 PM on January 9, 2017
Is this right? I kinda assumed the dev/publisher would be paying for those keys. I imagine these details vary and are behind NDAs though.
Nope. Valve currently allows developers and publishers to create an essentially unlimited number of keys for their own games for free, which they can then give away or resell.
Some sites like Humble are using that mechanism. Other sites, like CDKeys, are using more arcane systems (CDKeys iirc buys retail copies of games in non-US markets and resells the codes inside the boxes as PDFs.)
posted by selfnoise at 12:44 PM on January 9, 2017
As long as we're talking buying keys elsewhere, the current Humble Monthly deal amounts to "give us $12 and we'll give you X-COM 2 now and some other games later", which is pretty absurdly good.
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:45 PM on January 9, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:45 PM on January 9, 2017 [5 favorites]
I'm one of those new accounts and I used to think I hated video games. Up until recently, my general impression of modern games was pretty much entirely "the AAA first-person shooters that literally all my male roommates ever have played." And I hate those games. I hate the constant stress of knowing that people are trying to jump out and kill you, and I hate the learning curve of trying to understand how a game controller even works while the game just assumes you know the name of each individual key. I've tried two or three shooters and have yet to get past the tutorial levels of any of them. I guess I vaguely knew there were other kinds of video games, like I knew about Sims and Pokemon and so on, but I didn't have much interest in finding out more about them.
BUT earlier this year I fell into a McElroy Brothers hole* and got a Steam account so that I could buy beamng.drive, the game about nothing but open-world car smashing. I was entranced. Then out of curiosity I watched Griffin McElroy's 'top games of the year' video and thought, "well, I guess I could maybe give this Stardew Valley thing a shot..." And now I've logged over 30 hours on the damned thing and I'm not even close to tired of it.**
I guess the rambling point I'm trying to make is, for a long time my impression was that video games were mostly made for guys, specifically the intersection of nerdy guys and bro-y guys. I don't know if that's actually changed as the universe of games has expanded, or if I'm just more aware of other types of games because of increasingly diverse games journalism, but whatever the reason, I'm now actively looking at other games on Steam. I think... I think I might Like Video Games now.
*Heard about The Adventure Zone via The Flop House, then started listening to MBMBAM once I ran out of Adventure Zone, then started watching Monster Factory and Car Boys on Polygon, good god those guys are content factories
**Just a few more hours of gameplay until I can build myself a silo to feed my chickens! And then it's off to the mines again, after I check my crab pots of course.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:06 PM on January 9, 2017 [26 favorites]
BUT earlier this year I fell into a McElroy Brothers hole* and got a Steam account so that I could buy beamng.drive, the game about nothing but open-world car smashing. I was entranced. Then out of curiosity I watched Griffin McElroy's 'top games of the year' video and thought, "well, I guess I could maybe give this Stardew Valley thing a shot..." And now I've logged over 30 hours on the damned thing and I'm not even close to tired of it.**
I guess the rambling point I'm trying to make is, for a long time my impression was that video games were mostly made for guys, specifically the intersection of nerdy guys and bro-y guys. I don't know if that's actually changed as the universe of games has expanded, or if I'm just more aware of other types of games because of increasingly diverse games journalism, but whatever the reason, I'm now actively looking at other games on Steam. I think... I think I might Like Video Games now.
*Heard about The Adventure Zone via The Flop House, then started listening to MBMBAM once I ran out of Adventure Zone, then started watching Monster Factory and Car Boys on Polygon, good god those guys are content factories
**Just a few more hours of gameplay until I can build myself a silo to feed my chickens! And then it's off to the mines again, after I check my crab pots of course.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:06 PM on January 9, 2017 [26 favorites]
I have about 70 hours in Stardew Valley and I keep meaning to go back and make my character into the eccentric idle rich. I have plenty of money and I just can't stomach clicking on any more udders.
posted by selfnoise at 1:10 PM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by selfnoise at 1:10 PM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
Even if Valve gets nothing from activations, it helps them hold a near-monopoly in digital distribution. If they lose a few millions worth from G2A and the like, they get that money back on sales and discounted pre-orders from a larger userbase.
posted by lmfsilva at 1:11 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by lmfsilva at 1:11 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Meanwhile in Australia: 'Valve to pay $3 million in penalties for misrepresenting [Australian] gamers' consumer guarantee rights' (3 Jan 2017):
'In March 2016, the Court found that Valve had breached the Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading representations to consumers in relation to its online gaming platform, Steam.
The Court held that the terms and conditions in the Steam subscriber agreements, and Steam’s refund policies, included false or misleading representations about consumers’ rights to obtain a refund for games if they were not of acceptable quality [...]
Valve’s evidence was ‘disturbing’ to the Court because Valve ‘formed a view …that it was not subject to Australian law…and with the view that even if advice had been obtained that Valve was required to comply with the Australian law the advice might have been ignored”'
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 1:27 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
'In March 2016, the Court found that Valve had breached the Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading representations to consumers in relation to its online gaming platform, Steam.
The Court held that the terms and conditions in the Steam subscriber agreements, and Steam’s refund policies, included false or misleading representations about consumers’ rights to obtain a refund for games if they were not of acceptable quality [...]
Valve’s evidence was ‘disturbing’ to the Court because Valve ‘formed a view …that it was not subject to Australian law…and with the view that even if advice had been obtained that Valve was required to comply with the Australian law the advice might have been ignored”'
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 1:27 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
selfnoise: "One figure I would love to know is the percentage of games activated on Steam that were bought elsewhere. Valve's permissiveness with keys has allowed a lot of other storefronts to emerge. I ended up buying Steam keys this year from GameStop, Dell, Humble, and probably other places besides. And that doesn't touch grey markets like CDKeys or arguably black markets like G2A.
I wonder if Valve ever thinks about cutting that off or slowing it. They don't make a dime from those sales and it is yet another downward pressure on pricing."
Gotta admit, my DOOM 2016 key came via Kingwin (along with a real headache). Wasn't my choice, but, as I don't have plastic, I had to throw some cash at my little brother who then went and got it for me. The problem being is that the key was previously used, and proving to Kingwin remotely that I could not use said key and it was, in fact, used, was a bit of a pain in the butt and really sort of put me off third party key vendors.
posted by Samizdata at 1:27 PM on January 9, 2017
I wonder if Valve ever thinks about cutting that off or slowing it. They don't make a dime from those sales and it is yet another downward pressure on pricing."
Gotta admit, my DOOM 2016 key came via Kingwin (along with a real headache). Wasn't my choice, but, as I don't have plastic, I had to throw some cash at my little brother who then went and got it for me. The problem being is that the key was previously used, and proving to Kingwin remotely that I could not use said key and it was, in fact, used, was a bit of a pain in the butt and really sort of put me off third party key vendors.
posted by Samizdata at 1:27 PM on January 9, 2017
I wonder if Valve ever thinks about cutting that off or slowing it. They don't make a dime from those sales and it is yet another downward pressure on pricing.
I think you've got to hand it to Valve. There's got to be enormous long-term value to having gamers use Steam as the default portal for most of their PC gaming (Blizzard, EA, Minecraft, and League of Legends are probably the major exceptions). But a lot of companies (o hai, Microsoft!) would throw that away attempting to squeeze out a few more sales by restricting keys in hopes people would buy from Valve instead of direct from the developer or another store like Humble just to get that Steam key.
I sure wouldn't be launching Steam every time I played one of the many games I got in Humble Bundles if I were downloading those games direct from Humble instead of by using a Steam key. (And most of those games generate Steam Cards, so at a minimum Valve makes a few pennies that way from most of those sales as well.)
posted by straight at 1:50 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think you've got to hand it to Valve. There's got to be enormous long-term value to having gamers use Steam as the default portal for most of their PC gaming (Blizzard, EA, Minecraft, and League of Legends are probably the major exceptions). But a lot of companies (o hai, Microsoft!) would throw that away attempting to squeeze out a few more sales by restricting keys in hopes people would buy from Valve instead of direct from the developer or another store like Humble just to get that Steam key.
I sure wouldn't be launching Steam every time I played one of the many games I got in Humble Bundles if I were downloading those games direct from Humble instead of by using a Steam key. (And most of those games generate Steam Cards, so at a minimum Valve makes a few pennies that way from most of those sales as well.)
posted by straight at 1:50 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
The point is, I also can't stop Stardew Valley-ing. I am only two strategic seasons away from completing that damn Community Center and then the world is my oyster!
posted by Zephyrial at 1:55 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Zephyrial at 1:55 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
I sure wouldn't be launching Steam every time I played one of the many games I got in Humble Bundles if I were downloading those games direct from Humble instead of by using a Steam key.
I find I completely forget about the non-Steam copies of games I have and would prefer they were just on Steam so I don't have to check multiple places for them.
Though the way Steam handles game updates might break me of this, since I'm hitting my data cap more and more often these days.
posted by ODiV at 2:21 PM on January 9, 2017
I find I completely forget about the non-Steam copies of games I have and would prefer they were just on Steam so I don't have to check multiple places for them.
Though the way Steam handles game updates might break me of this, since I'm hitting my data cap more and more often these days.
posted by ODiV at 2:21 PM on January 9, 2017
I would also never consider myself anything other than a casual gamer, in large part because I don't care about any shooting/violence type games that seem to comprise so much of the market. My older brother used to have assorted game consoles and PC games, and I'd play whatever he was playing or Oregon Trail or Sim Cities, but once we both moved out, neither of us much bothered to keep up with new consoles or games. I'd play the occasional free or cheap browser or mobile game, or even text games, and that was that.
But then I downloaded Steam on a whim, and a whole new vista of casual non-shooty games were opened to me! I remembered that I loved playing Civilization back in the day, so I bought that when it was on sale. I bought a couple adventure or storytelling type games. I bought Stardew Valley when it was available for Mac. And oh my god, fucking Stardew Valley. I logged over 100 hours on that last year. Anyway, the point, such as it is, is that Steam is pretty great for the casual gamer. Easy to browse, easy to download, no having to step foot in a game store or mess about with consoles.
posted by yasaman at 2:24 PM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
But then I downloaded Steam on a whim, and a whole new vista of casual non-shooty games were opened to me! I remembered that I loved playing Civilization back in the day, so I bought that when it was on sale. I bought a couple adventure or storytelling type games. I bought Stardew Valley when it was available for Mac. And oh my god, fucking Stardew Valley. I logged over 100 hours on that last year. Anyway, the point, such as it is, is that Steam is pretty great for the casual gamer. Easy to browse, easy to download, no having to step foot in a game store or mess about with consoles.
posted by yasaman at 2:24 PM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
I had trouble remembering games that existed outside of Steam's ecosystem, and felt a bizarre amount of worry over the fact, until I realized you can add any program you want to you Steam Library. Works for things like games purchased directly from the publisher, GOG games and torrented old games. I even have the recent fan-update of Metroid 2 in my Steam library.
Sort of a counterpoint re: Stardew Valley, I hate crafting and base building in games. Especially crafting- I've bounced right off of Starbound, Terraria, Minecraft, the base building ruined Fallout 4 for me, No Man's Sky seems like a nightmare- so I never bothered with SV. However I bought it for my partner, and ever since I've been blissfully watching her play while I read on the couch and look stuff up on the Wiki. It's an immensely satisfying gaming experience. You definitely can't have that type of passive co-op experience with a FPS or FPSRPG/Immersive Sim.
posted by kittensofthenight at 3:20 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Sort of a counterpoint re: Stardew Valley, I hate crafting and base building in games. Especially crafting- I've bounced right off of Starbound, Terraria, Minecraft, the base building ruined Fallout 4 for me, No Man's Sky seems like a nightmare- so I never bothered with SV. However I bought it for my partner, and ever since I've been blissfully watching her play while I read on the couch and look stuff up on the Wiki. It's an immensely satisfying gaming experience. You definitely can't have that type of passive co-op experience with a FPS or FPSRPG/Immersive Sim.
posted by kittensofthenight at 3:20 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
I was signed up but didn't use it much until this past year. I love indie and quirky games but I'm much more of a console gamer, content to relax and play on my couch with a drink. The Steam controller really changed everything for me. Most recently I've been playing the Gabriel Knight remake / director's cut (bought during the Steam sale for like 3 bux!). It plays perfectly with my laptop hooked up to my TV, Steam Controller in hand. Point-and-click adventure games are notoriously tough to translate to controller, but I don't miss a mouse at all. The right trackpad is my mouse equivalent, and it even feels more pleasing to use because of the haptic sensors in it, which give you the sensory illusion of tiny balls underneath the trackpad being rolled under your thumb. Finally I can spend all night with adventure games and old DOS games* without being in the same stuffy office-like setup of chair/computer/keyboard/mouse/monitor.
* Did you know you can import old DOS games and non-Steam games into Steam, and play them with the Steam controller? You're not restricted to just official Steam games with controller support. You need to do some initial fussing around to set up the controls how you want, of course, but it's not hard. My plan is to play the Eye of the Beholder trilogy this way.
posted by naju at 3:29 PM on January 9, 2017
* Did you know you can import old DOS games and non-Steam games into Steam, and play them with the Steam controller? You're not restricted to just official Steam games with controller support. You need to do some initial fussing around to set up the controls how you want, of course, but it's not hard. My plan is to play the Eye of the Beholder trilogy this way.
posted by naju at 3:29 PM on January 9, 2017
Did Valve ever get their security issues cleared up? I'd like to buy D3, but I remember they got hacked a few years back.
posted by Beholder at 3:56 PM on January 9, 2017
posted by Beholder at 3:56 PM on January 9, 2017
If you're seeing an offer to buy a Steam Key for Diablo 3 (or a link to buy Diablo 3 from Steam's website), you're definitely experiencing security issues. Diablo is only available for sale through Blizzard's website or in a box from a store.
posted by straight at 4:00 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by straight at 4:00 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
In terms of security, I don't recommend storing your credit card information. Not due to any specific concern but simply because the site is such a big target.
Also make sure you enable two factor. And make your inventory private if possible since some thieves are explicitly after steam cards and other such emphemera.
posted by selfnoise at 4:20 PM on January 9, 2017
Also make sure you enable two factor. And make your inventory private if possible since some thieves are explicitly after steam cards and other such emphemera.
posted by selfnoise at 4:20 PM on January 9, 2017
I also didn't think I was much of a gamer (this is partly logistical due to job + attention vampire preschooler) but downloaded Steam during the election because I needed a temporary (bitter laugh) distraction. I discovered first Subnautica (which really deserves way more time and attention than I have to devote to it) and then Slime Rancher and omg games other than FPS and RPGs! Like, new games, not just SimCity for the 800th time. I've discovered the genres I like have names! Open world! Crafting and base building! Survival! (Though mostly survival games are too stressful and I play them on the easiest level so they're more like open world bumming around collecting shit sims.) Walking sims!
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:21 PM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:21 PM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
I've been buying clusters of hidden object games, some at Steam, some at bundle aggregator sites. Many of them are terrible; even the terrible ones are fun, if you like puzzles and pretty artwork and very, very hokey plots. (Also, in the HOverse, knives usually dissolve after you cut open a box with them.)
I starting buying a lot more - not serious money levels, but up to a few dollars a week, heavily concentrated around the sales - when they started allowing people to customize the suggestion queue. You're only allowed 12 "do not show me games with this tag" tags, so I wind up seeing war games I have no interest in, but removing other tags got me a lot more of the puzzle & point-and-click adventure stories I like.
My current exclude list: FPS, RTS, Shoot 'Em Up, Sports, Racing, On-Rails Shooter, Tower Defense, Massively Multiplayer, Action, RPG, VR, Visual Novel
I don't mind visual novels. I like some. But leaving it in, got me an 80% VN queue, so it gets traded off with "arcade," which I almost never like, but there's less of so I don't mind the occasional one that creeps into the list.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 4:38 PM on January 9, 2017
I starting buying a lot more - not serious money levels, but up to a few dollars a week, heavily concentrated around the sales - when they started allowing people to customize the suggestion queue. You're only allowed 12 "do not show me games with this tag" tags, so I wind up seeing war games I have no interest in, but removing other tags got me a lot more of the puzzle & point-and-click adventure stories I like.
My current exclude list: FPS, RTS, Shoot 'Em Up, Sports, Racing, On-Rails Shooter, Tower Defense, Massively Multiplayer, Action, RPG, VR, Visual Novel
I don't mind visual novels. I like some. But leaving it in, got me an 80% VN queue, so it gets traded off with "arcade," which I almost never like, but there's less of so I don't mind the occasional one that creeps into the list.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 4:38 PM on January 9, 2017
I would imagine Steam finally getting its act together about family/household sharing has increased the number of accounts -- there's now not so much reason for multiple people to share one account. Makes more sense for every individual to have a separate account when it's still possible to play each other's games.
Wish other game purveyors would work on getting that right. (Sony, I'm looking at you. Nintendo, you're a lost cause with your wacky device-AND-account-locking nonsense.)
posted by asperity at 5:03 PM on January 9, 2017
Wish other game purveyors would work on getting that right. (Sony, I'm looking at you. Nintendo, you're a lost cause with your wacky device-AND-account-locking nonsense.)
posted by asperity at 5:03 PM on January 9, 2017
wait, people do something in stardew valley other than fish?
posted by murphy slaw at 6:04 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by murphy slaw at 6:04 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm often surprised by how many people seem to like Steam these days. I remember when opinion was more divided/negative, maybe the client software is better now.
I avoid it when at all possible, but I'm super annoyed that it has become often impossible. For example, I bought Civ 6 on "physical disc", but that doesn't actually really exist and its functionally just a steam key that I guess saves you having to download everything (which doesn't actually matter to me, what I want is not having my games tied to some account and not having to worry about online activation/etc).
I really wish they didn't have what is effectively a monopoly on being the way to run games. Its completely unnecessary for PC gaming to have this kind of gatekeeper (I can understand it on consoles, although I still buy discs there too).
posted by thefoxgod at 7:06 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
I avoid it when at all possible, but I'm super annoyed that it has become often impossible. For example, I bought Civ 6 on "physical disc", but that doesn't actually really exist and its functionally just a steam key that I guess saves you having to download everything (which doesn't actually matter to me, what I want is not having my games tied to some account and not having to worry about online activation/etc).
I really wish they didn't have what is effectively a monopoly on being the way to run games. Its completely unnecessary for PC gaming to have this kind of gatekeeper (I can understand it on consoles, although I still buy discs there too).
posted by thefoxgod at 7:06 PM on January 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I wasn't crazy about it at first, but at some point the price and convenience wore me down. I don't even build my computers with optical drives anymore, honestly.
posted by ODiV at 7:29 PM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ODiV at 7:29 PM on January 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
Though the way Steam handles game updates might break me of this
I don't like video games most of the time so much as find them mesmerizing, and I suppose I should be grateful that Steam's endless updates (of itself, of the games, of who-knows-what-else) give me time to reconsider my choices before the things I want to play load.
I'm not, really, but maybe I should be.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 7:37 PM on January 9, 2017
I don't like video games most of the time so much as find them mesmerizing, and I suppose I should be grateful that Steam's endless updates (of itself, of the games, of who-knows-what-else) give me time to reconsider my choices before the things I want to play load.
I'm not, really, but maybe I should be.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 7:37 PM on January 9, 2017
Farming Simulator 17 by Giants Software, 36 bucks on Steam, no killing, no dying, although you might flip a tractor or lose a few bucks if the market tanks.
I'm at 200+ hours on the thing and was one of the 14m for sure.
Brb gotta unload a trailer full of bales for my cows
posted by disclaimer at 7:49 PM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm at 200+ hours on the thing and was one of the 14m for sure.
Brb gotta unload a trailer full of bales for my cows
posted by disclaimer at 7:49 PM on January 9, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm often surprised by how many people seem to like Steam these days. I remember when opinion was more divided/negative, maybe the client software is better now.
Opinion was negative at the beginning because it was (correctly) seen as just a cumbersome DRM scheme. Now there's actually a service on top of the DRM scheme that is quite useful; Steam-based partying is a very convenient tool for a lot of games, the service has given a lot of people who would have trouble finding a traditional publisher a way to get their stuff out and in front of a lot of people, family sharing is great, and the market is a great tool for people who don't have a lot of money to be able to run up discounts on games (although I must admit I don't understand why people are willing to buy stuff on the market).
Still, I buy a lot of stuff on GOG because, you know, DRM.
I really wish they didn't have what is effectively a monopoly on being the way to run games.
Wish granted! They don't.
posted by IAmUnaware at 8:24 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Opinion was negative at the beginning because it was (correctly) seen as just a cumbersome DRM scheme. Now there's actually a service on top of the DRM scheme that is quite useful; Steam-based partying is a very convenient tool for a lot of games, the service has given a lot of people who would have trouble finding a traditional publisher a way to get their stuff out and in front of a lot of people, family sharing is great, and the market is a great tool for people who don't have a lot of money to be able to run up discounts on games (although I must admit I don't understand why people are willing to buy stuff on the market).
Still, I buy a lot of stuff on GOG because, you know, DRM.
I really wish they didn't have what is effectively a monopoly on being the way to run games.
Wish granted! They don't.
posted by IAmUnaware at 8:24 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
wait, people do something in stardew valley other than fish?
Oh my god, I am G A R B A G E at the fishing minigame. I'm amazed when I hear that people actually like it. I have no idea how to get better, either, short of grinding the hell out of the easiest fish until I level up. I'd rather just do the farming part! (I also don't like the mine because I'm a big baby and it's too scary)
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:44 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh my god, I am G A R B A G E at the fishing minigame. I'm amazed when I hear that people actually like it. I have no idea how to get better, either, short of grinding the hell out of the easiest fish until I level up. I'd rather just do the farming part! (I also don't like the mine because I'm a big baby and it's too scary)
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:44 PM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Steam actually doesn't mandate DRM, nor is there a single type used on the store; it's up to the publisher.
It's been a really long time since I fished in Stardew Valley, but I seem to remember that you're supposed to hold the button down instead of tapping.. or is it vice versa?
posted by selfnoise at 8:49 PM on January 9, 2017
It's been a really long time since I fished in Stardew Valley, but I seem to remember that you're supposed to hold the button down instead of tapping.. or is it vice versa?
posted by selfnoise at 8:49 PM on January 9, 2017
You tap. I was bad to start with, but it's relaxing to me so I sprnt half a winter fishing and unlocked the items which make it easier. If you like stardew valley you should check out harvest moon.
posted by Braeburn at 12:40 AM on January 10, 2017
posted by Braeburn at 12:40 AM on January 10, 2017
The problem with Harvest Moon is that each game (and there are many games in the series), is slightly different, and that means that each one with have 1-2 gameplay elements that are perfect, and another 1-2 that you hate, and another 1-2 that you loved in a previous Harvest Moon game but are absent in this one. It's super frustrating. And I say this as someone who loves Harvest Moon with every fiber of my being. I own an embarrassing amount of HM plushie animals.
Stardew Valley seems to fix almost all these issues by combining as many of the good HM elements as possible with only a few of the bad elements. Depending on which HM game a Stardew Valley enthusiast plays first, they could end up very disappointed.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 6:18 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Stardew Valley seems to fix almost all these issues by combining as many of the good HM elements as possible with only a few of the bad elements. Depending on which HM game a Stardew Valley enthusiast plays first, they could end up very disappointed.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 6:18 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
For example, I bought Civ 6 on "physical disc", but that doesn't actually really exist and its functionally just a steam key
I first got steam when they made me to be able to play Counter-Strike. I was mad and didn't like it. I was pretty hard on my game discs as I played them all a lot, but I was a firm believer in me owning something.
But today, I can still play Counter-Strike or any of my Half-Life games at a moments notice (And I have within the last year). What I can't play are all of the other hundreds of dollars of games I bought that the discs have been lost, the CDs that slowly scratched to unusability, the CD key pile that had soda spilled on them, or I just straight up got rid of because I was tired of storing them.
posted by mayonnaises at 6:46 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I first got steam when they made me to be able to play Counter-Strike. I was mad and didn't like it. I was pretty hard on my game discs as I played them all a lot, but I was a firm believer in me owning something.
But today, I can still play Counter-Strike or any of my Half-Life games at a moments notice (And I have within the last year). What I can't play are all of the other hundreds of dollars of games I bought that the discs have been lost, the CDs that slowly scratched to unusability, the CD key pile that had soda spilled on them, or I just straight up got rid of because I was tired of storing them.
posted by mayonnaises at 6:46 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
For me, Stardew Valley:Harvest Moon as Life is Strange: Telltale Games. It's the same general game idea but a lot of the ancient interface and tech cruft is gone, forgotten axioms of the games have been re examined, and the concept is distilled into a package that feels fresh, deep and approachable.
There's still way too much clicking, but whatever.
(Stardew Valley is actually a bit closer to Rune Factory in some ways but same idea)
posted by selfnoise at 7:07 AM on January 10, 2017
There's still way too much clicking, but whatever.
(Stardew Valley is actually a bit closer to Rune Factory in some ways but same idea)
posted by selfnoise at 7:07 AM on January 10, 2017
wait, people do something in stardew valley other than fish?
Oh my god, I am G A R B A G E at the fishing minigame. I'm amazed when I hear that people actually like it. I have no idea how to get better, either, short of grinding the hell out of the easiest fish until I level up. I'd rather just do the farming part! (I also don't like the mine because I'm a big baby and it's too scary)
I haven't yet explored too much of Stardew Valley, but I've been looking forward to this part of the game. Too busy playing Hitman™ these days. That being said, this reminds me of how much I enjoyed fishing back when I was on World of Warcraft. I loved leveling up my fishing skills. It was also a great way to make money, get those rare fishes and make those rare potions.
posted by Fizz at 11:29 AM on January 10, 2017
Oh my god, I am G A R B A G E at the fishing minigame. I'm amazed when I hear that people actually like it. I have no idea how to get better, either, short of grinding the hell out of the easiest fish until I level up. I'd rather just do the farming part! (I also don't like the mine because I'm a big baby and it's too scary)
I haven't yet explored too much of Stardew Valley, but I've been looking forward to this part of the game. Too busy playing Hitman™ these days. That being said, this reminds me of how much I enjoyed fishing back when I was on World of Warcraft. I loved leveling up my fishing skills. It was also a great way to make money, get those rare fishes and make those rare potions.
posted by Fizz at 11:29 AM on January 10, 2017
Wish granted! They don't.
Monopoly might be too extreme, but many many games are hard to get / run without Steam. I usually just avoid them, but in a few cases I've given in (like Civ 6 - which I didn't actually realize would require Steam since I bought it on disc). I have like 3 games in Steam and everything else is without, so yeah its obviously not a true monopoly. But there are a LOT of games I'd probably play if they were available without having to run Steam.
posted by thefoxgod at 2:22 PM on January 10, 2017
Monopoly might be too extreme, but many many games are hard to get / run without Steam. I usually just avoid them, but in a few cases I've given in (like Civ 6 - which I didn't actually realize would require Steam since I bought it on disc). I have like 3 games in Steam and everything else is without, so yeah its obviously not a true monopoly. But there are a LOT of games I'd probably play if they were available without having to run Steam.
posted by thefoxgod at 2:22 PM on January 10, 2017
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