I have a few issues with Steam. #1 all purchased games are tied to the account. There’s some that supposedly you can extract it from Steam and play it offline. However it’s not quite clear to me how to go about finding that out and how to do it for each game. There should be an icon and game sub menu option in the library for any game capable of extraction for offline play and more so play with out launching Steam.
#2 Support sucks. It’s automated as hell far as I’ve experienced. Nobody human to speak with.
#3 it’s a Monopoly.
#4 Privacy issues. Mainly, no access to full friends list chat logs. Surely Steam has full access. Why withhold it?
This isn’t exactly hidden detail. I do wish you could sell/transfer a game license though.
However it’s not quite clear to me how to go about finding that out and how to do it for each game.
Nothing special. Install the game. When you’re offline, play it. Of course things like multiplayer won’t work, or games that require you to be online like an MMO, but that’s about it. The online and offline experience are identical.
#2 Support sucks. It’s automated as hell far as I’ve experienced. Nobody human to speak with.
What do you need support for that isn’t documented, out of curiosity? I’ve been on Steam for 20 years and have never needed to contact support.
it’s a Monopoly.
It’s the biggest, but it’s not a monopoly.
Privacy issues. Mainly, no access to full friends list chat logs. Surely Steam has full access. Why withhold it?
Why would you assume that Steam has access? Chats are auto-deleted after 14 days per Steam policy. This has been the case for at least 5 years now.
There are DRM-free games on Steam, but they really ought to advertise on the store page which ones those are, because we can currently only find out by experimentation and community wikis.
You’ll get a human in a couple of days if the automated portions couldn’t resolve your issue in full.
It’s not a monopoly.
My guess is that they’re actively purging chat logs at the same rate that they disappear off of your system. They’re storing data for over 130M active users every month, and I’m sure they’d be happy to be rid of a lot of the least useful of it.
What else would purchases be tied to??? This criticism doesn’t make any sense. Support has been great for me and no, it’s certainly not a monopoly: There are dozens of game stores online. Just because Valve created the best one doesn’t mean it’s a monopoly, it means that all the other ones are shit (except for GOG, they’re awesome and even better in some ways).
There’s no “extraction”, you literally just navigate to the game folder (or click “game files” in the properties window for the game), and click the .exe file.
Make a shortcut to it if you want.
If it’s a game without DRM (yes, those are on Steam too), you don’t need to have Steam open to play it.
I have a few issues with Steam. #1 all purchased games are tied to the account. There’s some that supposedly you can extract it from Steam and play it offline. However it’s not quite clear to me how to go about finding that out and how to do it for each game. There should be an icon and game sub menu option in the library for any game capable of extraction for offline play and more so play with out launching Steam.
#2 Support sucks. It’s automated as hell far as I’ve experienced. Nobody human to speak with.
#3 it’s a Monopoly.
#4 Privacy issues. Mainly, no access to full friends list chat logs. Surely Steam has full access. Why withhold it?
This isn’t exactly hidden detail. I do wish you could sell/transfer a game license though.
Nothing special. Install the game. When you’re offline, play it. Of course things like multiplayer won’t work, or games that require you to be online like an MMO, but that’s about it. The online and offline experience are identical.
What do you need support for that isn’t documented, out of curiosity? I’ve been on Steam for 20 years and have never needed to contact support.
It’s the biggest, but it’s not a monopoly.
Why would you assume that Steam has access? Chats are auto-deleted after 14 days per Steam policy. This has been the case for at least 5 years now.
There are DRM-free games on Steam, but they really ought to advertise on the store page which ones those are, because we can currently only find out by experimentation and community wikis.
You’ll get a human in a couple of days if the automated portions couldn’t resolve your issue in full.
It’s not a monopoly.
My guess is that they’re actively purging chat logs at the same rate that they disappear off of your system. They’re storing data for over 130M active users every month, and I’m sure they’d be happy to be rid of a lot of the least useful of it.
What else would purchases be tied to??? This criticism doesn’t make any sense. Support has been great for me and no, it’s certainly not a monopoly: There are dozens of game stores online. Just because Valve created the best one doesn’t mean it’s a monopoly, it means that all the other ones are shit (except for GOG, they’re awesome and even better in some ways).
The first point is explained if you read
There’s no “extraction”, you literally just navigate to the game folder (or click “game files” in the properties window for the game), and click the .exe file.
Make a shortcut to it if you want.
If it’s a game without DRM (yes, those are on Steam too), you don’t need to have Steam open to play it.