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Investigating GalCiv 3 - What are your concerns with Steam?

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Investigating GalCiv 3 - What are your concerns with Steam?

from GalCiv3 Forums

As you might have noticed, I now have that founder badge. That is because I just recently pre-ordered GalCiv 3. I picked up GalCiv 3 for many reasons, but one of them is to investigate the various concerns I have regarding Steam and Steamworks, which are big reasons why I would normally try to avoid getting this game and games like it. I don't think I'm alone with these concerns, so if there anyone who is not going to pick up this game because of Steam and Steamworks, and have questions and concerns, to please post them and I'll try to investigate them to the best of my ability. I don't know if I can investigate all of them, but I want to try to be thorough as I can (while I can stomach Steam).

Please don't bog things down with hate, bickering, and religious fervor. I want to seek the truth of this matter while I'm able to put aside my stance on this matter. It would not help me do this if I keep being tempted to re-engage my strong stance against Steam.

170,515 views 103 replies
Reply #101 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting satoru1, reply 100
Also note that if you want to support devs, try to purchase games directly from their websites. Indie devs that use the Humble Store get a much bigger chunk of your purchase. Most game stores charge a 30% margin to sell your product. The humble store, only takes sub-10%. So if you see a game y ou like and the Humble Store offers you steam keys, then do the dev a favor and buy it there. They'll get more money and you'll be financially supporting the dev directly.

I get most of my games from developer websites, i only cave in and buy on steam when there's a ludicrous deal on or i can't find the game anywhere else, which is an problem i find surprising with the way gaming is going digital. Trying to find a virtual copy of Xcom that wasn't on steam was a pain -,-

Sigh...... if only i wasn't a uni student and actualy had some money atm eh? xD

Reply #102 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Tridus, reply 72
By "many people" you mean you and a few people here. Steam is overwhelmingly #1. The market has accepted it. Developers WANT their games on Steam, to the point that not having your game on Steam is a huge problem for them. Here's someone actually in the industry (and thus knows far more about the subject than you do) who says it flat out: http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/why-a-successful-indie-game-that-cant-get-on-steam-isnt-a-successful-indie


I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but the game mentioned in that article is now for sale on GOG.com . It was released earlier today. Its currently on sale for 50% off for the next week.

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Reply #103 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting DivineWrath, reply 102

I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but the game mentioned in that article is now for sale on GOG.com . It was released earlier today. Its currently on sale for 50% off for the next week.

The unfortuante truth is that Steam is more or less the 'benevolent dictator' on the PC gaming side. Not being on Steam is pretty much a death sentence for sales. Note that Steam could have been like a walmart, crushing distributors to their whim. So far they've been mostly kind to devs, and despite their problems, are by and large a benefit to the PC gaming scene, more than they are a hinderance.

Note though that at the end of the day, Steam doesn't have anything that can't be replicated by others. Just like devs are now moving from GFWL to Steamworks. If the gaming landscape changes, developers can switch away from Steam to other platforms as well. Unlike Walmart, they don't control the last mile to consumers, and thus are in a lot more of a precarious situation than other 'monopolies'