steam game or game in cd

[cadaveca]

Seriously, I'd like to know when Steam changed from 30 days offline, if that's the case...from what the STEAM page says now, you simply have to go into offline mode while online...


Hmm...some investigation will take place...I'll put the client on one of my crunchers and see what happens...possibly the 30-day expiry is when you start without a connection...

Seriously man, the point we are trying to make is that Valve is no saint (a greedy, money-driven corporation like the rest). They hold the right to shut Steam down entirely and if they do, you're screwed out of all the games you purchased through that service. It really is no more complex than that.

Well, I have a video of Gabe saying that they would make thier games work if that were to happen...the other publisher's games though...who knows.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Valve, sure, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, and the rest would throw lawsuit after lawsuit at Valve if they even thought about it.

 

[Whilhelm]

If the world falls down and Valve goes bankrupt would they really just terminate your usage of games that you have paid for. Why? Yes, it is intellectual property that is the property of the publishers but it is also entertainment media. If a film studio went bankrupt would they come to your house and take their movies back from you?

All support would stop and Valve would stop their support for multiplayer games but really, would they stop you from playing their games altogether? I seriously doubt that, I mean, they don't really gain from doing that except completely ruining their name forever.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

That's DRM (which is what Steam's primary function is). The sole purpose is to be a PITA of legitimate consumers. Most publishers wouldn't have it any other way.


If you downloaded those videos via the Internet, you would lose access/no longer be able to view it. Movies via internet really hasn't caught on though.

 

[Binge]

If the world falls down and Valve goes bankrupt would they really just terminate your usage of games that you have paid for. Why? Yes, it is intellectual property that is the property of the publishers but it is also entertainment media. If a film studio went bankrupt would they come to your house and take their movies back from you?

All support would stop and Valve would stop their support for multiplayer games but really, would they stop you from playing their games altogether? I seriously doubt that, I mean, they don't really gain from doing that except completely ruining their name forever.

I'm with Whil on this one. Legally publishers can't remove your right to a product you purchased because the distributor went out of business. Regardless of whether the distributor holds the security on the software. Ownership of said security would most likely be handed to said owner.

 

[Disparia]

Well, I stopped buying music years ago (nor do I download it illegally). I guess I could give up games (that I don't have discs for) if they really wanted to push it

Time for an old fashion western standoff!

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I'm with Whil on this one. Legally publishers can't remove your right to a product you purchased because the distributor went out of business. Regardless of whether the distributor holds the security on the software. Ownership of said security would most likely be handed to said owner.

Read the Steam Subscriber Agreement and any other internet-based distribution service like Amazon.com for music or Netflix for movies. Once you download the goods you purchased once, their commitment officially ends. They have no responsibility to provide access ever again, nor refund you for doing so. That is the nature of the beast.

 

[Soylent Joe]

Seriously man, the point we are trying to make is that Valve is no saint (a greedy, money-driven corporation like the rest). They hold the right to shut Steam down entirely and if they do, you're screwed out of all the games you purchased through that service. It really is no more complex than that.

Really?

C'mon. Look at his widdle cheeks

 

[cadaveca]

I honestly see them porting accounts over to another distribution service, such as EA's, or some other one. After teh Vivendi/Valve fiasco, I don't see Gabe letting so many customer's get screwed, to be honest.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I think EA would have to buyout or merger for that to happen. There's international laws against turning personal information over from one company to the next.

 

[cadaveca]

Isn't EA Valve's publisher, after Vivendi?

'At EA Partners, our mandate is to seek out the world's top studios and game franchises, build partnerships, empower the development teams and help get these great games to more people in more countries than ever before. We consider Half-Life and Counter-Strike to be two of the best game franchises of all time,' said Tom Frisina, Vice President and General Manager, EA Partners. 'We could not be more excited to have the opportunity to help deliver these outstanding games to players around the globe.'
'EA is the worldwide leader in bringing best of breed games, for all platforms, to market,' said Gabe Newell, Valve's founder and president. 'Valve games have sold over 18 million units at retail since Half-Life shipped in November 1998. By combining EA's unparalleled operation structure and distribution channel with Valve's award-winning development teams and games community, we've established an awesome combination for delivering great products to console and PC gamers around the world.'

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/4779-ea-valves-new-friend/

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Games are published on a case-by-case basis. EA may publish the CD/DVD version in the USA while Vivendi publishes the CD/DVD version in Europe and Valve uses Steam for online distribution. Developers that have the money to pick and choose who publishes what can go where they feel the potential customers are at.

 

[cadaveca]

I thought ViVendi had NO part of STEAM any more, as well as publishing...they are still printing discs in the UK? In either case, I'm sure that Valve would work something out...but truly, the chances of Vavle disappearing are slim-none at best, IMHO.

But you are right.

As it is, if the Valve servers go offline(as they have in the past), STEAM stops working. I do hold alot of respect for the guys at Valve...they'll figure something out, if they haven't already...I'm pretty sure they didn't even lay off anyone recently, due to recession, so they gotta be pretty well off financially...and according to Lombardi, they'd sell if the offer was right.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Seriously man, the point we are trying to make is that Valve is no saint (a greedy, money-driven corporation like the rest). They hold the right to shut Steam down entirely and if they do, you're screwed out of all the games you purchased through that service. It really is no more complex than that.

And the point I've made is you are in fact not screwed if Valve shuts down if you made the propper backups. You and cadaveca both are a couple of "chicken littles".

Seriously, I'd like to know when Steam changed from 30 days offline, if that's the case...from what the STEAM page says now, you simply have to go into offline mode while online...


Hmm...some investigation will take place...I'll put the client on one of my crunchers and see what happens...possibly the 30-day expiry is when you start without a connection...

Wait. You said before that you already did this.

No, it wouldnt.`the data needed is already there...when you start STEAM without an connection, it goes to offline mode. That mode is valid for 720 hours only.

I`ve read the whole thread, and I also have encountered this myself.


Please go educate yourself on the issue via the STEAM forums...all the info is there.

...which I did.

Here`s the error you get:

So which is it? Did you or did you not disconnect from steam for 30 plus days?

 

[AsRock]

You dont need a internet connection to use steam games once they have been downloaded. Its no different than owning a disk. What don't you understand man?!

No, but you do need to login steam to put it in offline mode as seen that is not default what happens when you reinstall the OS.

 

[H82LUZ73]

You still require Steam software and Steam software requires user accounts which are the sole property of Valve.



All I have to say is read the agreement you signed. It answers all your questions.




Valve holds the right to strip access from you for any or no reason at all. The risk may not appear imminent but that doesn't mean it isn't present. Again, the agreement spells it all out.


With a disk, the publisher can remove the right for you to do anything online involving the game but they can't legally reclaim the physical disk, packaging, nor key without legal authority (search & seizure). Once you throw the Internet into the fray, you basically forfeit all your rights to the corporation that owns that intellectual property--at least until the law changes (which is unlikely).

Dude just for fun unplug you isp and load steam .......It will ask if you want to run in offline mode.Only downside to this is that you can not load say MW2 from DVD.I forgot to mention remember way back in 04 when Half Life 2 came out ,I still have that game from 04 installed on my D:\ drive and i never backup my games.Also If you have no ISP and install steam back to your D:\ drive it will load and let you play in offline mode all games will still work.

Originally Posted by cadaveca View Post
No, it wouldnt.`the data needed is already there...when you start STEAM without an connection, it goes to offline mode. That mode is valid for 720 hours only.<<<<<BULL SHIT I was offline mode for 3 and a half months buddy complete utter BULL You get my cow patty award today .

I

 

[TheMailMan78]

No, but you do need to login steam to put it in offline mode as seen that is not default what happens when you reinstall the OS.

No you don't. If it doesn't pick up a connection it automatically goes into offline mode.

 

[wiak]

This is one of those reasons why steam exists http://store.steampowered.com/app/13210/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/220/ & http://store.steampowered.com/sub/469/
that is the REAL reason why Steam exist

btw there is a steam holiday sale going on NOW

 

[AsRock]

No you don't. If it doesn't pick up a connection it automatically goes into offline mode.

Thats only if you save your e-mail and password on your system though. Which is fine i guess but it does higher the risk of account theft.

 

[SummerDays]

One downside to Steam is that you sign an agreement that says you can't transfer your games to anyone else.

 

[cadaveca]

So which is it? Did you or did you not disconnect from steam for 30 plus days?

I did disconnect one of my machines(I have many). And then started STEAM with no internet connected. 30 days later, STEAM stopped working, and gave the error I listed. As well, one friend took his laptop to Kahzakstan, and before he got home(6 weeks), STEAM stopped working. Another friend works in Iraq, and had the same issues.

Starting STEAM without a connection, and starting STEAM in offline mode with a connection are two different things.

I read through the STEAM client update notes all the way back to 2005. There's no mention of them changing the tickets, until Sept 2009.

It's more than possible they have changed things, however, the last time I tried, 30 days was all ya got.


Now, there's this whole issue of backups. Just 3 days ago, I reinstalled my OS, and had both DVD backups(42 dvds, for me, I have well over 100 games on STEAM), and a copy of my entire STEAM folder on a HDD(225GB).

"Restoring" from backups......still downloaded approx 50% of the game data. Took two full days for all the games to be playable.

But, just copying the folder over, everything worked after STEAM connected.

I think, next time, I'll try going into offline mode, then copying the folder back over, and we'll see what happens.

BULL SHIT I was offline mode for 3 and a half months buddy complete utter BULL You get my cow patty award today .

Are you 12, or what? Your choice of language is pretty immature. That's what happened for me and two others. Admittedly, this was well over a year ago, but that's how it worked.

You know that STEAM deals with games differently depending on region, right?

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

well i think they both have benefits and all this talk of steam dying just isn't going to happen ( although they might give someone here a 4 week holiday for suggesting such nonsense )
take this for instance (this is genuine) not made up! i have in the past purchased 3 games of a friend (max payne ,call of duty and another i can't remember, now each of these games seemed to install, but when i tried to run them they would often just go back into windows (and yes i did patch them all)
then recently i managed to "get them again" from somewhere and guess what ,"they all work" so i guess i had dead sector games discs and it wasn't windows fault after all
so my point well discs "some discs" are ok and will last for years, but some will loose disc integrity and die,and as far as i know you can download as many times as you like of steam, so the two formats have pluses and minuses

Really?

C'mon. Look at his widdle cheeks

anyway how dare you use my picture

 

[Delta6326]

dang all this talk about steam made me join and buy two games Braid and Defense Grid The Awakening for only $2.50 each some great deals, i reallly love indie games much more than big companies games i dont know why there just more fun

 

[Chryonn]

that's because indie games are crafted out of love.

 

[H82LUZ73]

I did disconnect one of my machines(I have many). And then started STEAM with no internet connected. 30 days later, STEAM stopped working, and gave the error I listed. As well, one friend took his laptop to Kahzakstan, and before he got home(6 weeks), STEAM stopped working. Another friend works in Iraq, and had the same issues.

Starting STEAM without a connection, and starting STEAM in offline mode with a connection are two different things.

I read through the STEAM client update notes all the way back to 2005. There's no mention of them changing the tickets, until Sept 2009.

It's more than possible they have changed things, however, the last time I tried, 30 days was all ya got.


Now, there's this whole issue of backups. Just 3 days ago, I reinstalled my OS, and had both DVD backups(42 dvds, for me, I have well over 100 games on STEAM), and a copy of my entire STEAM folder on a HDD(225GB).

"Restoring" from backups......still downloaded approx 50% of the game data. Took two full days for all the games to be playable.

But, just copying the folder over, everything worked after STEAM connected.

I think, next time, I'll try going into offline mode, then copying the folder back over, and we'll see what happens.





Are you 12, or what? Your choice of language is pretty immature. That's what happened for me and two others. Admittedly, this was well over a year ago, but that's how it worked.

You know that STEAM deals with games differently depending on region, right?

How come you think there is 30 day offline mode put us to this link info you have read please.To me it is Bull from your way of saying it,I mean if Valve was to get these guys to spend $60 on a game and there so called Steam servers go down. or some of my mates at A2gaming run offline mode for privacy.Valve has no right to shut your accounts in offline or time bomb it.Try it and you will see there is no time limit in offline mode.