Possible to buy games for PC without using steam?

Discussion in 'Games, Gaming & Game-demos' started by Damage_Plan, Feb 7, 2014.

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  1. lucidus

    lucidus Ancient Guru

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    Digital is the future. I don't think any major service will go down without some form of access post shut-down. Without doing so, public's faith in DD will be eroded. I'm sure they must have some kind of contingency plan, it would be idiotic to not have one.

    GFWL's fate was deserved and it's hard to sympathize because people knew what they were getting into :-/ I spend money only on steamworks or battle.net games as they've been around for a decade now.
     
  2. scrapser

    scrapser Master Guru

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    For myself, I was lucky to keep every game I ever bought over the last 25 years. I threw away a few that I never really liked but at this point I have around 1000 games to play and only a handful (the newest) need to have an Internet connection. I have C64, Amiga, DOS, and Windows based games plus MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator). If you are a serious gamer, I suggest exploring some the old school stuff. The graphics may not be as pretty but the gameplay and game design makes you forget about pretty graphics instantly. Plus...the older games were easier to develop and have very few bugs if any!

    The gaming industry has taken a serious nosedive in the past decade in my opinion thanks mainly to newer technologies and consolitis. The mainstream stuff is more like movies than games...complete with lots of sequels. It's all extremely complicated to develop (hence all the bugs) and incredibly expensive (hence the focus in profit instead of quality). Steam's greatest strength is its greatest weakness...the Internet. And the Internet is changing the developed world in ways nobody could have imagined back in the 90's. And not all of it is a good thing by the way.

    To quote a not too famous game character..."What a man can do, a man will do. But believe what you want." The world of gaming is a runaway train in my opinion. I'm glad I got to take the ride from the beginning.
     
  3. Keitosha

    Keitosha Ancient Guru

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    I had the same crap with both Batman games, but since last year the've upgraded all normal versions to GOTY editions, removed GFWL and the activation limits. I can use my legally "bought" games again.
     
  4. Cubemonkey

    Cubemonkey Member Guru

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    Even back in the days of floppy disks, you never bought a game. You bought a license.

    The technology to enforce restrictions on those licenses didn't exist back then. Now it does.
     

  5. Famous627

    Famous627 Master Guru

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    In some cases the technology to enforce those license restrictions existed as little symbols on the corners of the pages in the instruction manual. The game would ask you what symbol is on a certain page before you play. So losing the manual back then is much like losing internet access now.
     
  6. DrCruel

    DrCruel Guest

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    I remember that time too, but it's being rapidly cast down the memory hole by intellectual property rights fanatics. They're trying to do the same thing with books as well. Soon they'll be telling us that you never really owned a copy of a book, only a 'license' in the form of a bound multipaged physical document. It's nonsense...

    You don't have to live in a cave if you refuse to use STEAM, as I have, but there are precious few other options. This odious monopoly has swallowed the PC gaming hobby, and they're making far too much money for that to change anytime soon. I don't blame people for pirating or cracking games now, as people in the industry have become greedy crooks, but I can't bear to do it myself. So yes, if you're like me you're mostly out of luck.
     
  7. Aura89

    Aura89 Ancient Guru

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    Thankfully, no.
     
  8. Raiga

    Raiga Maha Guru

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    Everything keeps evolving over time

    If anyone is dreaming about that "old games didn't require online activation or online anything to play", then go to GOG.com and get those old DRM free (tagged) games.

    If you want to play new big AAA games, then you need to adhere to the online (requirements) platform the publisher is putting its games on/with.

    So in simple words..
    Some of those old games are still available without internet, go get it from GOG. Its not like those old games currently require one to be online all the time.

    If you don't like new games coming up with online requirements, then vote with your wallet and don't purchase them. That's the best thing you can do.

    Because its not everyone's birthright to be able to play all the games no matter what, its luxury if you are able to play the game in the first place since the game belongs to the publisher and not the customer (even after purchasing the game nowadays).
     
  9. Veteran

    Veteran Ancient Guru

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    The Shape of things to come.

    Jez San.....1993.

    “Within a few years from now, we’ll start to see cable and satellite direct broadcast games where you select from a menu of games and it’ll constantly download new parts of the game into your machine while you’re playing.”

    Jez San, MD of Argonaut Software.

    http://www.edge-online.com/features...eractive-entertainment-as-envisioned-in-1993/


    Steam and Uplay was predicted by this man here Jez San way back in 1993. A dev that I respect more than most.
     
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