I appreciate the transparency tbh. Would be better if things were different but it is what it is for now.
this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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For context, Steam is now forced to display this due to a new law passed in California: https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24254922/california-digital-purchase-disclosure-law-ab-2426
Valve is not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.
Its pretty much up to the developer. You can have no DRM and not even require steam to be open, or you can make your game unplayable.
Imo Steam should tell people whether or not a game actually requires Steam (or another form of DRM) to run. I know they already do it for things like Denuvo, but they should also note if the game actually uses Steam as DRM or if the game can be launched without it.
Yeah that would be nice.
PCGamingWiki has that info for most titles I believe. It would be nice to see it in Steam though.
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Afaik, Steam only sells licences.
Steam sells DRM-free games too, you can download them and then uninstall Steam and they will work. In this case though, on top of purchasing the game, you are buying a license to download updates for it through Steam. It's a developer decision.
DRM is orthagonal to ownership
I do not disagree?
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Did California's new law requiring this already go into effect?
January 1 2025, guess Steam preferred not waiting in this case
This is also the case for physical copies, and has been since software was first sold
According to media lawyers, maybe. But when I have a CD of music, or a game cartridge, I can sell it to someone else. For money. Because it's my copy I'm selling. So, what the fuck are you talking about except ceding the point to corporate lawyers for no good reason?
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Yeah, if a game needs online activation it doesn't matter which medium you buy...
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If buying isn't owning then piracy isn't stealing.
If buying becomes owning, will people stop pirating?
People were more inclined to buy software when it was a one time purchase rather than a license subscription (for example Adobe).
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it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing it's not stealing
Twitter is bad.
This is literally how it has always been.
You don't own any of the games you paid for, you bought a license to play those games under specific circumstances. It's the same with books & movies.
Valve have (allegedly) stated that in the case of Steam shutting down, games they can update to remove Steam DRM, they will.
Gog games
Good Old Games Games
By now my GOG library has far exceeded my Steam library in size. I was surprised by how many games on my Steam wishlist are also on GOG.
I would love to do that, but GoG does not have the better regional pricing that steam does.
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Personally I think we should bring back physical games to PC. Imagine a cartridge like device that can effectively use external storage as swap memory (which copies to ram as needed), laptops and desktops can be built with this while other computers could use an adapter.
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no need be angry at steam. that is how it always has been. kudos to them to point it out very cleanly and not hiding it on page 400 of the 3rd EULA.
It's a good job Gabe Newell has made gamers comfortable with not owning their games.
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OK. I know I'm about to get blown the fuck up but... You will own nothing and be happy. But. Like. Unironically.
I really don't think most people want to manage thousands of music files on their computer. Or hundreds of movie files. Or thousands of picture files. Or hundreds of video game files.
There are definitely options for doing this, but people who go this route are usually tech elite nerds. Not your parents or grandparents. Not normies.
(I self-host Navidrome, Jellyfin, Immich, etc.)
You will be blown up, and you will be happy. Enjoy the technofeudalism you so desperately long for.
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Thank you California law!
new law
Remember the people who long ago told you "in the future you will own nothing, and you will be happy"?
How'd you react? Did you call them crazy? Conspiracy theorists? Perhaps a Doomer?
You know what they should be called? Correct.
Yeah I called them all those things and I still do.
Steam doesn’t have a monopoly on digital games distribution if you’re unhappy with their service just use another one that allows you to own a direct software license.
Stop being a conspiracy nutjob.
The reason people buy from steam though and develop for them though is because of their service.
Thor from pirate software mentions that even as a developer there are good reasons for them to use steam.
Even just the cloud saves and such is awesome
This is solving the wrong problem entirely.
You do own games. They're products. They're mass-market goods, as surely as when they came on plastic rectangles or glass circles.
Being permitted to continue having things on your hard drive is not a service.
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