City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Question about Steam/Valve

Amy_Amp

By Amy_Amp,
Posted on: 2010-09-11 18:07 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture

 

Posted

I have a question about the use of Steam/Valve as a download site. Does it include DRMs of the games you buy?

 

Posted

Yup.

Take a look at any of the recent Ubisoft games and you'll see the part on the side regarding the permanently online requirement for the DRM.

- CaptainFoamerang

Silverspar on Kelly Hu: A face that could melt paint off the wall *shivers*
Someone play my AE arc! "The Heart of Statesman" ID: 343405

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArachnia View Post
I have a question about the use of Steam/Valve as a download site. Does it include DRMs of the games you buy?
Steam has it's own DRM system. It's fairly unobtrusive and games can be played offline.

Edit: Unless, as stated, a developer's DRM supersedes it.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArachnia View Post
I have a question about the use of Steam/Valve as a download site. Does it include DRMs of the games you buy?
In some cases, you get to have both Steam's DRM and whatever else that particular publisher deems necessary, iirc.

IMO, go with Good Ol' Games (gog.com) rather than Steam. Granted, it's a much smaller catalog, but there's some good stuff in there that you may have missed.


 

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Steam however also offers a massive player base. There are dozens if not hundreds of us here in the forums who have Steam ID's and sometimes even play together ... >_> *guiltily looks at TF2 nemesis plot group and runs away*

IMO Steam is well worth having. It's unobtrusive, you can customize what you want it to do, and it keeps your games updated, plus the added attraction of chat overlay.

Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed

 

Posted

It depends on the game. Some publishers will remove their DRM when they put a game on Steam, others don't. Steam is usually fairly good at posting when a game has additional DRM, so if you are concerned about a specific game, you can just check the store listing. You can also check their forums as it's almost guaranteed to be a question someone has asked before.

 

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This will get locked, but what I am looking at is buying Mass Effect 1 and 2, and I do not want SecureROM on my system. Does anyone know if they will be included should I buy through Steam? I do not own a 360 yet, so am unable to go that route.

edit: Nice to see familiar posters chiming in. We don't know each other personally, but I have a fair amount of respect for most of you.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArachnia View Post
This will get locked, but what I am looking at is buying Mass Effect 1 and 2, and I do not want SecureROM on my system. Does anyone know if they will be included should I buy through Steam? I do not own a 360 yet, so am unable to go that route.

edit: Nice to see familiar posters chiming in. We don't know each other personally, but I have a fair amount of respect for most of you.
I don't see anything on either of those games' store pages about the DRM so I think you're good.

It will say on the right hand side amongst the Title, Genre, Developer, etc info if there's a DRM.

- CaptainFoamerang

Silverspar on Kelly Hu: A face that could melt paint off the wall *shivers*
Someone play my AE arc! "The Heart of Statesman" ID: 343405

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainFoamerang View Post
I don't see anything on either of those games' store pages about the DRM so I think you're good.

It will say on the right hand side amongst the Title, Genre, Developer, etc info if there's a DRM.
Thats what I needed to know Foamie. I was looking at the site and I was not getting that information, and I was unable to find the info in their forums.

<< weak search-fu. It smells like pig dung


I know the subject came up here so I thought I would ask the people I trust.

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro Schwartz View Post
Is there anyway for me to buy the GR Complete Collection or the GR Item Pack from Steam?How?
You can buy the Complete Collection from Steam. You can only buy the item pack through NCSoft, but it doesn't matter since that's linked to your account regardless of where you buy the game from.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArachnia View Post
This will get locked, but what I am looking at is buying Mass Effect 1 and 2, and I do not want SecureROM on my system. Does anyone know if they will be included should I buy through Steam? I do not own a 360 yet, so am unable to go that route.

edit: Nice to see familiar posters chiming in. We don't know each other personally, but I have a fair amount of respect for most of you.
The normal Mass Effect PC version has SecuROM v7.37.0012 w/5 activations. According to ReclaimYourGame.com. I see no indication that they would remove it from the Steam version, IMO.


 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark One View Post
The normal Mass Effect PC version has SecuROM v7.37.0012 w/5 activations. According to ReclaimYourGame.com. I see no indication that they would remove it from the Steam version, IMO.
Ugh.

I will not allow SecureROM on my PC. I actually stopped plans to buy Temple of Elemental Evil due to SecureROM.

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cantatus View Post
You can buy the Complete Collection from Steam. You can only buy the item pack through NCSoft, but it doesn't matter since that's linked to your account regardless of where you buy the game from.

Damn,I already have GR(pre-bought it =D)and only need the item pack.
Might as well pay 40 bucks and enjoy the fact that I already have another month ahead...

Check out all of Noble Savage's Art threads! All things art, Super Boosters, 'Lost' Costume Pieces, Buildings, Animations, and NPC Costume Piece Conversion

 

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Steam is great. I love it. You can get so many great games at low prices. I would never have paid full price for most of the games I got off of Steam for a song (Ghost Master, Freedom Force, X-Com, Uplink, Spellforce, etc.). As for DRM, it doesn't seem to have any except what's native to the original game. If Steam has its own, then it's damn unobtrusive.

[B]The Once and Future Official Minister of Awesome[/B]
[I]And don't you forget it.[/I]
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro Schwartz View Post
Damn,I already have GR(pre-bought it =D)and only need the item pack.
Might as well pay 40 bucks and enjoy the fact that I already have another month ahead...
MMO's are different from single player games. My suggestion is look to the store/company putting out the MMO if you are looking for digital downloads. It's easier to get all the content that way. NCSoft sells the Complete Item Pack for $10, rounded up, and you do not have to download anything,

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Manofmanychars View Post
Steam is great. I love it. You can get so many great games at low prices. I would never have paid full price for most of the games I got off of Steam for a song (Ghost Master, Freedom Force, X-Com, Uplink, Spellforce, etc.). As for DRM, it doesn't seem to have any except what's native to the original game. If Steam has its own, then it's damn unobtrusive.
Steam itself is the DRM. Since games bought from Steam need that launcher/whatever the hell it is, iirc, in order to function. The Steam client itself is the DRM. At least that's my understanding of it.


 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArachnia View Post
MMO's are different from single player games. My suggestion is look to the store/company putting out the MMO if you are looking for digital downloads. It's easier to get all the content that way. NCSoft sells the Complete Item Pack for $10, rounded up, and you do not have to download anything,

I'm having some problems with the NC Store,I'll link the thread here later

Check out all of Noble Savage's Art threads! All things art, Super Boosters, 'Lost' Costume Pieces, Buildings, Animations, and NPC Costume Piece Conversion

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark One View Post
Steam itself is the DRM. Since games bought from Steam need that launcher/whatever the hell it is, iirc, in order to function. The Steam client itself is the DRM. At least that's my understanding of it.
But there's a ton of online guides for how to play Steam games independently, IIRC.

Not much for DRM, I guess.

[B]The Once and Future Official Minister of Awesome[/B]
[I]And don't you forget it.[/I]
[URL="http://paragonunleashed.proboards.com/index.cgi"][IMG]http://gamefacelive.com/bre/joker.png[/IMG][/URL]

 

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Mass Effect on Steam does *not* have SecureRom.

Bioware works pretty well with the Steam guys, and remove their DRM for Steam products. No Bioware game has DRM on steam.

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark One View Post
Steam itself is the DRM. Since games bought from Steam need that launcher/whatever the hell it is, iirc, in order to function. The Steam client itself is the DRM. At least that's my understanding of it.
Not all. Yeah, the ones that do, you may have to tell Steam to launch in "offline mode" for them to work (looking at things like HL2,) but others you can launch directly from a shortcut. The Steam overlay won't do anything and your friends list won't indicate you're in game.

Just check steam/steamapps/common and check out the install directory. (Mine's nearly 200 gb... >.< ) Go into the directory for the individual game. Most will have some launcher or executable - you can go directly from there without Steam being involved for many of them.

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Manofmanychars View Post
But there's a ton of online guides for how to play Steam games independently, IIRC.

Not much for DRM, I guess.
You can play them in offline mode, but not without the launcher, ttbomk. You can add games not purchased through Steam to your profile and have a shortcut to 'em.


 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Candlestick View Post
Mass Effect on Steam does *not* have SecureRom.

Bioware works pretty well with the Steam guys, and remove their DRM for Steam products. No Bioware game has DRM on steam.
Hmm.

Thanks Candlestick. I might have to look into it then. I know Mod 8 is going to nuke this thread, but...

This is why we talk about other games in this forum. We can trust one another.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackArachnia View Post
Hmm.

Thanks Candlestick. I might have to look into it then. I know Mod 8 is going to nuke this thread, but...

This is why we talk about other games in this forum. We can trust one another.
*shrug*

I was just going by what I could find. Check out that site I mentioned earlier if you have questions about games that contain SecuROM.

I don't actually use Steam and refuse to have it on my computer (don't try and talk me into it, I don't want it. Period). Just going by what I've heard.


 

Posted

Too bad you didn't post this a couple days ago, Gamersgate had the Mass Effect games on sale yesterday or the day before. I forget which. Granted, I think their version of ME1 has SecuROM, so you wouldn't have wanted it anyway. As far as I know though, ME2 is DRM-free on all platforms.