Sharing Steam games with friends and family

[eastmen]

But the point is there is another platform. On the xbone there wouldnt be

I'm not sure I'm following.

The other platforms vs steam are what ? Other DD services ? But once you start buying product on any of them you are locked in or are forced to jump around through different services or to rebuy on different services. Its really no different than the xbox .

If you buy an xbox and don't like it for whatever reason under the old drm , you could sell all your games and the system and move to another platform. Correct ?

On steam if you don't like it for some reason your only choice is to move to another platform and eat the cost of everything you've already bought. correct ?


Xbox is just one platform , you don't like it there is another platform the ps4 or the wii u or the pc and so on.

 

[fbomber]

Steam doesn't allow the sale of games. So if you did want to move to another platform you would end up paying for games twice.

Now its nice to believe that steam actually gives you $60 games for $5 but its not true. IT takes a very long time for games to get to that price and also that normaly happens a few times a year for special sales.

It never happens on Live.

 

[fbomber]

I'm not sure I'm following.

The other platforms vs steam are what ? Other DD services ? But once you start buying product on any of them you are locked in or are forced to jump around through different services or to rebuy on different services. Its really no different than the xbox .

If you buy an xbox and don't like it for whatever reason under the old drm , you could sell all your games and the system and move to another platform. Correct ?

On steam if you don't like it for some reason your only choice is to move to another platform and eat the cost of everything you've already bought. correct ?


Xbox is just one platform , you don't like it there is another platform the ps4 or the wii u or the pc and so on.

I don´t argue against that, but you just gave the reason why MS´ service wouldn´t be comparable to steam: considering PC as a platform, you have competition between steam and other DD services (I personally buy games from steam, gamersgate, GMG, amazon), which drives prices down.

Regarding selling games, I can´t say anything because I keep all my games.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I guess some people are trying to mix Steam: The Digital Store with Steam: The DRM Platform.
Steam as a Digital Store has competition. And its competition (GMG, GetGamesGo, HumbleBundle, etc.) sells keys to games. Some of these games use the Steam DRM Platform. Steam as DRM Platform actually has competition too, actually.

The other platforms vs steam are what ? Other DD services ? But once you start buying product on any of them you are locked in or are forced to jump around through different services or to rebuy on different services. Its really no different than the xbox.

In the PC, what exactly is locking you in or forcing you to "jump around through different services" or even rebuying on different services?
I used my Mass Effect 2 playthrough save, which I purchased/played in Steam, for my Mass Effect 3 that I purchased/played in Origin. Nothing went wrong and nothing forced me to do anything.

No, you don't have to rebuy anything in the PC.
Running Steam doesn't prompt me to uninstall Origin, and Origin doesn't prompt me to uninstall Steam. I can have as many DRM platforms as I like in my PC.
In fact, I have both Origin and Steam installed in all my PCs: laptop, desktop and htpc.
And yes, the OS is just as stable, even when both of them are running at the same time.

I'm not sure I'm following.

Honestlly, I think you are.
It's just that accepting that Steam cannot compare to the pre-June 19th XBox One policies doesn't comply with the agenda of trying to victimize Microsoft and somehow prove that we should all love those policies from the beginning. Because somehow there should be some kind of logic that people should follow in order to hate Steam as much as the xbone's previous policies, otherwise we're all either uninformed, hypocrites or both.

In fact, this thread in the PC GAMING forum that should be dedicated to Steam's new game sharing service has been invaded by posts trying to do just that. Repeatedly, by the same users.

Apparently, creating a thread on the rightful place for that discussion alone wasn't sufficient to let out all the disappointment.
Moreover, we're now up to the point where bias and fanboyism innuendos are being thrown around again to people who actually own a X360 and were just unhappy with the changes.
To some people, a dislike for those previous policies means a dislike for Microsoft, even knowing that in this very forum, 2/3rds of the X360 users were going to change to a PS4 and no one was going to change from PS3 to a Xbone. Even when, after changing these very same policies, there were 4x more people willing to buy a xbone because of the policy changes than the other way around.

Moreover, the term "vocal minority" keeps being used even though Microsoft had to acknowledge the very opposite in front of the whole world by actually changing their policies.

By now, we all know who the vocal minority actually is. I just wish these users would stop invading unrelated threads in order to derail them into oblivion.







Now, does anyone know when the Steam Sharing is going to quit the Beta state?

 

[joker454]

Now, does anyone know when the Steam Sharing is going to quit the Beta state?

No clue...although I remember full screen mode in Steam was in beta for quite a few months so I figure this will be in beta for a while as well. I'm eager to try it though, got some family back in Canada to try it with and a buddy in Washington state as well. Probably just limit it to two friends to start with and see how that goes. I tend to only play between 11pm and 2am pacific time. My relatives are on eastern time, so my play time maps to 2am to 5am eastern meaning it's unlikely they would be awake when I tend to play games. So sharing should work really well in my situation. Either way as cheap as Steam gaming already was, it's about to become even cheaper. Awesome

 

[eastmen]

It never happens on Live.

Sure it doesnt. I didnt get multiple free games this summer from ms either nor did I buy greatly reduced games through thier store durning the past few sales.

Nope no cheap games with ms...

 

[eastmen]

I guess some people are trying to mix Steam: The Digital Store with Steam: The DRM Platform.
Steam as a Digital Store has competition. And its competition (GMG, GetGamesGo, HumbleBundle, etc.) sells keys to games. Some of these games use the Steam DRM Platform. Steam as DRM Platform actually has competition too, actually.

just like the xbox one has to compete with the ps4 and wii u along with all those u mentioned above.

In the PC, what exactly is locking you in or forcing you to "jump around through different services" or even rebuying on different services?
I used my Mass Effect 2 playthrough save, which I purchased/played in Steam, for my Mass Effect 3 that I purchased/played in Origin. Nothing went wrong and nothing forced me to do anything.

No, you don't have to rebuy anything in the PC.
Running Steam doesn't prompt me to uninstall Origin, and Origin doesn't prompt me to uninstall Steam. I can have as many DRM platforms as I like in my PC.
In fact, I have both Origin and Steam installed in all my PCs: laptop, desktop and htpc.
And yes, the OS is just as stable, even when both of them are running at the same time.

so how do you replay Mass effect 2 ? IF your answer is steam , then you are locked into that platform.

Honestlly, I think you are.
It's just that accepting that Steam cannot compare to the pre-June 19th XBox One policies doesn't comply with the agenda of trying to victimize Microsoft and somehow prove that we should all love those policies from the beginning. Because somehow there should be some kind of logic that people should follow in order to hate Steam as much as the xbone's previous policies, otherwise we're all either uninformed, hypocrites or both.

In fact, this thread in the PC GAMING forum that should be dedicated to Steam's new game sharing service has been invaded by posts trying to do just that. Repeatedly, by the same users.

Apparently, creating a thread on the rightful place for that discussion alone wasn't sufficient to let out all the disappointment.
Moreover, we're now up to the point where bias and fanboyism innuendos are being thrown around again to people who actually own a X360 and were just unhappy with the changes.
To some people, a dislike for those previous policies means a dislike for Microsoft, even knowing that in this very forum, 2/3rds of the X360 users were going to change to a PS4 and no one was going to change from PS3 to a Xbone. Even when, after changing these very same policies, there were 4x more people willing to buy a xbone because of the policy changes than the other way around.

Moreover, the term "vocal minority" keeps being used even though Microsoft had to acknowledge the very opposite in front of the whole world by actually changing their policies.

By now, we all know who the vocal minority actually is. I just wish these users would stop invading unrelated threads in order to derail them into oblivion.







Now, does anyone know when the Steam Sharing is going to quit the Beta state?

Yet no one has explained to me the difference between the old xbox one drm and steam. To me its because you can't , since they are very similar and now only more similar than before.

Discussion will leak into here because it was a popular feature from xbox one that is now seeing praise on another platform with no push back or hatred .


With old xbox one drm , I could buy digital / physical and both would be treated the same just like steam. With xbox one old drm I could lend 10 friends my games just like this beta test on steam. On steam I could go into an off line mode as long as I was first online to do so. I couldn't with xbox one drm. But xbox one drm would let me sell my games which I can't do with steam.


If you disagree that is fine for me. Perhaps if this isn't the thread to talk about it a mod will come in and spin it off

 

[Davros]

Yet no one has explained to me the difference between the old xbox one drm and steam. To me its because you can't , since they are very similar and now only more similar than before.

Ok I will,
Its not the xbox1 marketplace (or what ever its called) vs steam, it's xbox1's digital store vs the pc's digital stores
the pc has multiple stores the xb1 has a single store there is no competition on the xb1
ps: the ps4 is not a alternative way to game on the xb1

want to game on the pc without dealing with valve and its terms and conditions its restrictions and its drm you can, want to game on the xb1 (under the old system) without dealing with ms and its terms and conditions its restrictions and its drm you cant.

If you buy an xbox and don't like it for whatever reason under the old drm , you could sell all your games and the system and move to another platform. Correct ?

Yes correct sell games at an officially approved store and at an officially approved price

On steam if you don't like it for some reason your only choice is to move to another platform and eat the cost of everything you've already bought. correct ?

Not correct! you can sell your whole account or games individually with some pre-planning
If you dont like steam you do not have to move to another platform you can continue to play games on the pc and buy games on the pc.
do you really expect us to believe that you were totally unaware that you can game on the pc without having anything to do with steam or its drm or its conditions/practices ???

 

[fbomber]

Every market works this way: no competition means higher prices, unless it´s heavilly regulated by the government.

 

[fbomber]

so how do you replay Mass effect 2 ? IF your answer is steam , then you are locked into that platform.

He had the choice to buy the game from whoever he wanted to play on his PC. That´s the difference.

 

[eastmen]

Ok I will,
Its not the xbox1 marketplace (or what ever its called) vs steam, it's xbox1's digital store vs the pc's digital stores
the pc has multiple stores the xb1 has a single store there is no competition on the xb1
ps: the ps4 is not a steam alternative and neither is it a xb1 store alternative
want to game on the pc without dealing with valve and its terms and conditions its restrictions and its drm you can, want to game on the xb1 (under the old system) without dealing with ms and its terms and conditions its restrictions and its drm you cant.

except you could buy from target or gamestop or whoever you wanted to. MS's digital store was not the only way to get digital content

Yes correct sell games at an officially approved store and at an officially approved price

or sell it yourself privately. You forget about that

Not correct! you can sell your whole account or games individually with some pre-planning
If you dont like steam you do not have to move to another platform you can continue to play games on the pc and buy games on the pc.
do you really expect us to believe that you were totally unaware that you can game on the pc without having anything to do with steam or its drm or its conditions/practices ???

Except selling a steam account is against the tos of steam. The account could be banned. Yes you can play games on the pc without steam. But you will have to use some digital drm store. Infact a large amount of games require activation on steam to play like the new bioshock

You have options for playing console games also and video games in general. There are choices its called the pc or ps4 or wii u. xbox one is not the only platform.

 

[eastmen]

He had the choice to buy the game from whoever he wanted to play on his PC. That´s the difference.

And you have a choice to buy an xbox one or not too. There is actually no diffrence between the two

 

[fbomber]

And you have a choice to buy an xbox one or not too. There is actually no diffrence between the two

Yes, there is.

Pc is a platform. Xbox one is a platform. Steam is one of the many ways I can buy DD games for the pc platform. Live would be the only way to buy DD games for the xbox one platform (so, no competition).

 

[eastmen]

No, they´re not.

Pc is a platform. Xbox one is a platform. Steam is one of the many ways I can buy DD games for the pc platform. Live would be the only way to buy DD games for the xbox one platform (so, no competition).

Target , best buy , gsmestop would have all beem ways to buy digital content for xbox one under the old system.

This is akin to complaining xbox live is the only way to play online with an xbox.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Personally, this 'sharing' is so crippled as to be completely useless for me. I'm not sure why they even bothered to release such a weak implementation.

My primary use case is to share games with my wife, that I don't play, but she does. With physical media, I would simply hand it to her. With Steam, we need to share an account and 'game the system'.

I don't see why can't they just implement a basic system of 'lending' titles... I also don't see why anyone is applauding Valve for this, it's a weak half-measure, for something that is already years overdue.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

No clue...although I remember full screen mode in Steam was in beta for quite a few months so I figure this will be in beta for a while as well. I'm eager to try it though, got some family back in Canada to try it with and a buddy in Washington state as well. Probably just limit it to two friends to start with and see how that goes. I tend to only play between 11pm and 2am pacific time. My relatives are on eastern time, so my play time maps to 2am to 5am eastern meaning it's unlikely they would be awake when I tend to play games. So sharing should work really well in my situation. Either way as cheap as Steam gaming already was, it's about to become even cheaper. Awesome

I don't have many gamer friends overseas..
The best opportunity I see for me is when someone in my group of friends decides to go all out and buy a game at full-price during release, and the others get to try it out during that week.


BTW, they said the Beta would start this week. There's not many more days left in this week, so it should be available soon

Ok I will,
[...]

Please don't...
It's worthless.

Personally, this 'sharing' is so crippled as to be completely useless for me. I'm not sure why they even bothered to release such a weak implementation.

My primary use case is to share games with my wife, that I don't play, but she does. With physical media, I would simply hand it to her. With Steam, we need to share an account and 'game the system'.

I don't see why can't they just implement a basic system of 'lending' titles... I also don't see why anyone is applauding Valve for this, it's a weak half-measure, for something that is already years overdue.

What do you mean with "game the system"?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Every market works this way: no competition means higher prices, unless it´s heavilly regulated by the government.

Except that's the huge flaw in your argument. The Xbox online store does have competition. In the form of the competing platform and in the form of retail games. If the competing platform starts offering greatly discounted DD games then people are unlikely to buy an Xbox One, and would likely switch over time if Microsoft didn't follow suit. Assuming they buy a decent number of games per year. If it was 40 versus 60. 10 games already puts you at 200 USD towards a new console. 50% and 75% off Steam style sales and suddenly that's 300-450 dollars which almost buys you a PS4. In other words, if Sony starts offering those great sales, Microsoft will have to follow suit, just like if they had competing stores on their platform (which NOONE other than PC allows). Oh and Sony aren't likely to start offering those sales without Microsoft offering them as well as the Publishers are in charge of all online sales of their games, not the online storefronts. Although it could happen with first party exclusives (games published by MS or Sony).

But yes, let's vilify Microsoft when Sony is the same and Apple and Google are far worse.

I wouldn't have to defend Microsoft if someone came out and used Sony, Nintendo, Apple, or Google as counter examples of how Steam is so much better. Then again, I guess then I'd just end up defending Sony, Nintendo, Apple or Google.

Put it this way.

Out of PC, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS, and Android markets, which one is not like the others? It certainly isn't Xbox One, and yet people love to single out the Xbox One's pricing policies and lack of competing DD stores?

Yes, it's great that with regards to pricing, the PC DD online marketplace has some competition, although that is mostly just a façade. If you look, most of them just link back to Steam (but not all of them). And when there are sales? it's the exact same prices in all online DD stores. Why? Because the publishers control the pricing. They just rotate between the DD stores as to which will have sales on their games at any given time. That goes a long way to creating the illusion that there is competition in the online DD marketspace.

And that still doesn't touch on the original point of this whole thing. That Steam game sharing is significantly worse than what was originally planned on the Xbox One. But still better than nothing.

Regards,
SB

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Yes, the hipotetical Xbox One sharing system would've been better, but I don't fucking care because:
1 - It's not going to happen
2 - It's not on PC

As for the rest, #dealwithit .




Now, I just learned that only a select people will be able to participate in the beta through invite. Only 1000 users will get an invite.
Joining the Steam Family Sharing group doesn't mean we'll access the system anytime soon.

If anyone gets an invitation here, please tell about your experience.

 

[Davros]

or sell it yourself privately. You forget about that

not from what I heard
a quote from an article about ms's original policy

'We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers,' the company posted on the Xbox news Web site.

 

[Malo]

Yes, the hipotetical Xbox One sharing system would've been better, but I don't fucking care because:
1 - It's not going to happen
2 - It's not on PC

As for the rest, #dealwithit .

Thank you.