Non-Steam release planned?

Will I be able to own a copy of CE, or will I have to sign a pact with the devil?

 

I'm sure they've answered this before, but my memory's failing me. It's likely you'll be able to at least buy it through the Humble Store/Widget, so Steam/Valve won't get a cut, if that's any help. Or if they don't put it up on the store they'll have me screaming at them for a while, anyway.

 

An actual alternative, or the fed-to-the-diggles alternative?

 

Yes, because a program that gives you great deals, does a pretty good cut for devs, and constantly tries to do what is good for gamers is "the devil."

Choice is good, though. Nice to hear Gaslamp is giving options to people.

 

You don't own any of "your" games on Steam. Steam does, and this is so that you have none of the consumer protection rights that you have when buying a copy that you actually own. This is not good for gamers, only good for Valve and for developers that release broken games and want to avoid the legal repercussions that result from doing so. Steam is a willing accomplice in the practice of releasing unfinished, broken, messy games that we all hate. You can't even charge back without risk of Steam terminating your account. Essentially, Steam has got people by the balls. You might not care now, but you might also some day find yourself in a position where it upsets you greatly. The only thing that I can do is to vote with my wallet.

 

Chargebacks seem completely stupid. But I'm in a country (the UK) where they're not particularly common.

That said, the rest of your cr- Oh, no, we're not doing this argument again on the forums. Please. For the love of everything that's unholy, can we NOT have this argument?

 

First of all, you don't own any of your games anyway, you are licensed to play the game and make use of it up to a point. That's with or without steam. Second, Steam did not invent half-assed game releases. When they've happenned, actually, in at least a few cases that I'm aware of, Steam has actually assisted in getting refunds for some people (usually those refunds are special cases, true, and they are usually only for those who preordered). Steam is a business and a bad release is bad for the Steam name, and they know it. That's part of the reason for making it harder for games to get into the Steam Greenlight program. They are a business, true, but they are very good at maintaining their good name, which is why they have earned a great deal of loyalty.

They are not perfect, and it's fine if you don't trust them. I've mostly had positive experiences (with the exception of the Steam Cloud debacle). You may not like Steam, but you have to accept that the reality is that lots of people prefer getting their games that way.

 

Yeah, this. I could agree with Haldurson and point out that game licenses have robbed gamers of "possession" of their games since the first EUL agreement came out, but what's the point? Some people just hate for hate's sake. No point in getting the argument going again. My apologies for kicking it up. I am ashamed.