Talking about banning, Steam banned me for criticising their Steam DRM policy. I was polite but forceful, no swearing. This happened a long while ago, about 7-10 years ago (I forget it`s been that long).

That was in the really bad days when Steam was doing everything it could with its rabid unjust Mods to shut up anyone who might tell the bad side of Steam.

It was a permanent ban. That`s how git like those mods were back then; perhaps they`re nicer now because they have enough psycophants to keep them afloat today. It still don`t make what they did right.

Screw `em.

I got a permanent ban for pointing out them hiding and deleting unwanted threads

Steams full of angry little 14 year olds,even the game help forums end in a fight,closed my account 6 months ago due to thier pricing, overmoderated forums plus the fact it seems their trying to be a social site

Not to mention my bank charges me an international transaction fee on purchaces for Steam but not for GOG

I got banned from Steam for just having a computer!


Oh wait, that wasn't Steam, that was the Amish.

A few of those last postings bring up an interesting thought or discussion.

Do you ever forgive a store, if they have behaved abominably to you in the past?

I guess first, you need to decide what a store is?

Is it the people that run it, which could change over time or maybe the owner ... and even they could change over time or be made of different personnel.

So if they were a shit to you, do you penalize them forever, no matter the changes?

I have mixed feelings myself.

At the very least, if they have made some kind of amends I will entertain doing business with them. But depending on the level of their past bad behavior, I will certainly be cool to them, keep somewhat at a distance unless an outright bargain, and certainly trust will be low. Probably I will only utilize them when they seem the only way to get something, and I will certainly not promote or give them too much financial support.

I can forgive most things I guess, but forgetting is another thing altogether, and colors all future dealings for me.

That makes sense.

Personally I hold the man at the top to blame. The buck stops with him. He can pretend he doesn`t know what goes on below him, but if he cared he would check. Having rabid fanboys and unjust Mods shutting everyone up, no matter how polite and decent they are when they complain is the boss`s fault since he is not vetting his people. An analogy, though extreme, I`ll admit, is like the State letting his Police go around killing whoever they wish and pretending to know nothing about it until everything goes quiet and the only people left are the ones that sing your praises.

In fact we only get idiots calling Gabin a `god` now don`t we on Steam?

Some of these `mods` are indeed little kids and rabid fanboys who have no idea what being impartial or just is- they don`t like your `tone` and out you go. Only once have I ever seen a Moderator (on a diffrent forum) get a wrist slap, from someone higher than him, for being unfair and he left in a huff.

Paradox is very much the same. I was recently banned by them: no swearing, being polite and sticking to my point. That`s why the Paradox forums are full of scared little forumers who never say what they think; speak very careful words in fear and just tow the party line.

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There is a significant number of PC gamers that do treat Steam as an ineffable religion and that mind set goes out into the media.

Just look at the Steam Machine, an Idea sprung from a treat that could never happen and to fulfil a need that never existed, and yet the media and 3rd party companies all clamoured around Valve.

Steam Family Sharing, has a huge flaw (can't play different games at the same time) that makes in nigh on useless for cohabiting families, not one single mainstream article ever addressed that issue.

Steam suspended my account once because they said I was trying to sell it for some reason. One of their "investigations" supposedly uncovered my hidden sale page. I quickly proved I was myself and wasn't selling using pictures of Half-Life 2 and Orange Box key sheets (which I don't have anymore, funny enough). It was still a huge pain though, and I was SUPER angry when it happened. I think I was locked out for like 48 hours.

In the... 8 years or so... since that's happened have I bought hundreds of games on Steam though? Yeah, I have. Too many games I cared more about playing than boycotting Steam, especially since the community will remove the Steam requirement should I need them to. I know many here disagree with that perspective though.

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I'm finding it a tad impossible to argue with any of that.

Here's an analogy, flawed without a doubt, but certainly gets you thinking.

You and your wife live in adjacent rooms, that are locked. The only way you can get in to see one another to play and fool around etc, is by calling a government hotline, where you and she confirm your identity and relationship, after which they unlock the door between you. Then imagine that hotline doesn't always work flawless ... perhaps you live at a significant distance from the Hotline center and there is quality of connection issues .... or there is a hiccup in the system regarding your ID ... or loss of service somewhere.

Once in a room together, then presumable you can stay together forever. But what if the Kitchen and Toilet and Bathroom are all outside and either of you need to leave. Sure, the government can give you a temporary permit that lets you straight back in. But what if you lose it or some technical hitch for whatever reason.

Would you really like to live your life like that? Under the control of others.

Sure, they promise your wife will always be in top health and fitness and ready and willing to see you. And promise the same to her for you.

You and your wife live so close and yet so far.

There is more than a passing similarity of the above, with Steam and the games you don't really own.

I don't understand this internet problem.

You have bandwidth to download 45GB games, but you don't have enough bandwidth to let steam client to check online you DRM.

The only argument I can understand are forced huge updates.

Aside this: not having "access" to your wife is no DAMN close to not be able to play a game.

If you have a really broken line, you still have to go trough the pain of downloading the game from GOG.

Just to clarify: I buy most of my games here on GOG, because I prefer DRM free.
But has become much less of an issue lately.

Depends on what exactly they did. I have kind of forgiven GOG their attempts at screwing their customers. Not forgotten, but forgiven enough to continue shopping here. If they ever introduce DRM for single player, I won't forgive them.

And in the case of Steam, I haven't forgiven them yet that they exist. That is inexcusable! ;-)

Clearly you do not have Internet or Steam Client issues. But thousands do. And why should one have to have that or the risk of it, as part of a bargain of buying a game?

You can pick and choose when, where and how to download games. You don't have that luxury with the Steam client.
Perhaps you share your web connection with someone or even a whole apartment building, and so you have a window only for downloading, then need to use it offline. There are many scenarios, some in the previous postings of others, that illustrate things exactly. With GOG games, once you have downloaded, there is no more need for the web, unless using multiplayer. Perhaps you share a PC, and need to play your games on another offline one. Why should one be limited with options?

Ok, a WIFE and a GAME don't compare, but the fact that there are similarities at all in the two situations, should be really concerning. What I said was to make one think, about what is similar and what isn't.

Sometimes updates, whether HUGE or not can be forced upon you, and you may prefer a prior version. As I don't work from GOG like many work from it or Steam, but rather keep my own backup of games on HDD, then updates need never bother me at all. When I do get an update, it never replaces the earlier versions, it is in addition to them.

At the end of the day it is about freedom of choice, and yours no doubt, is to use Steam in the manner you have said. My view, is to not encourage or give license to something like Steam. It sets a bad example or precedent for where things could get even worse.