Why Valve Corp. <aka Steam> isn't a hero.

[DeadSlash]

Please note: This is not an endorsement of Epic.  I don't want to argue with anyone.  I just want to make sure people know Valve corp is a certified cunt of a company.  I mention Epic in this thread, but for comparison purposes in stances where they are doing a reviled maneuver, that they learned from Valve.

 

So, the Epic push for exclusives is really heating up, and Steam is really feeling the heat.  One piece of resulting fallout that is really chapping my ass, is the people rallying to the defense of Steam, or Valve Corp.  I've noticed that the majority of people really latching on to the concept that Steam is a champion of the people are younger, and don't know the real Steam.  Here are some fast FACTS about Valve/Steam that people have seemed to have forgotten, overlooked or not been aware of.

1. Steam is a monopoly.  You currently cannot be a PC gamer without involving Steam anymore than you can play Xbone without involving Microsoft, or PS4 without involving Sony.  

2. Steam got to be that monopoly by forcing people to install it in order to play Half-Life 2, TF2, CS, CSGO.  They used that market distribution, and early financial incentives to other companies to used Steam.  This is exactly what Epic is doing with the market penetration provided by Fortnite.  

3. Steam had a zero returns policy until 2015.

4. Valve Corporation, Like Epic games has an F rating on BBB.  Unlike Epic, Valve has additional, FULL PAGE of bold red consumer warnings.

https://www.bbb.org/us/wa/bellevue/profile/online-gaming/valve-corporation-1296-27030704 (You have to click on the additional warning to see the full page.)

https://www.bbb.org/us/nc/cary/profile/video-game-dealers/epic-games-inc-0593-90001957

 

5. Prior to creating a return policy in 2015, because competition from storefronts with return policies, like Gamestop online and Origin, started to eat into profits, This is how Steam handled returns: Step one - say no. Blanket answer.  If you pursued it further, you were told that initiating a chargeback would result in Valve pursuing fraud charges against you, and blocking all online aspects of every game in your Steam library, regardless of where, when, how, or whom it was purchased from.  To be very clear, what Valve would do if you performed a chargeback, was lock you out of the online portion of all of your games.  So, when I looked at the option of a chargeback on Aliens: Colonial Marines, I was informed that all of my games, including ones I purchased from a store would no longer have any multiplayer, leaderboard access, if they needed online connectivity to a server for SP, this would also not work.  Steam held your computer hostage.  There was not a time limit like there is now, either.  Now it's like you can't buy a game on Steam for 30 days if you do a chargeback or some such.  Prior, as late as 2014, once you performed a chargeback, your account was dead forever, and your only option was to re-buy the games to a new account.

 

Because of my experience in 2013, where I had over 100 games on my Steam account held for ransom by Valve, I stopped buying anything from them.  Since February of 2013, without buying a single item from Steam, I have nearly 200 games added to Steam.  This means that Valve is set up in such a way that they a level of control over nearly 200 transactions I purposely took steps to avoid them having a hand in.  I don't think enough people remember a time, when you bought a game, brought it home, and played it.  There was a time that no 3rd party had inserted them into your gaming life.

2003:  Buy id's Doom from Electronics Boutique,  bring it home and play it.  Issues were addressed with either id Software, or Electronics Boutique, both companies you chose to do business with.

2007:   Buy id's Doom from Electronics Boutique, sign into 3rd party, Steam, register the game with them, and launch their software forever after when you want to play.  A product created by iD, sold at Electronics Boutique can now be turned off by a 3rd party, not involved in the transaction.  

 

For console users, think of it like this.  Instead of it working like it currently does, let's throw a 3rd party in there, that regardless of where you bought your game, or what company made it, it now had to be registered with this 3rd party before it could be launched.  In addition to powering up your console, you would also have to log into this 3rd party site, and this 3rd party site now has a level of control over your entire library, so maybe you bought one of your games from them as they are also a digital storefront, but if you run afoul of them in any way shape or form, they now have the power to lock you out of your entire library of 40 games, despite 39 of said games being purchased elsewhere.  Oh, also, you need a new console once they put you on the shit list, because they have your hardware ID.

 

Again, this isn't an endorsement of Epic, but more of a "let's not forget" about what an epic cunny Steam is.  

[axl32]

i noticed some of the complaints are for software that is buggy or does not work this is publishers fault not steams, also there are a lot of post that are from people who have clearly not read the minimum specs, this will happen over all the digital delivery platforms

a lot from people who have been banned for cheating

Microsoft and Sony console ban for cheating and you have to pay a monthly subscription fee to play online.

 

omg some even tried to get a refund coz they found the game too hard

 

also a lot of took me hours to download so took me over 2hr for getting a refund, download time does not count for refunds

i got scammed once on steam, it was my fault for being tired, what i did not do was go and slag steam off on a review site because of my own stupidity

 

Edited April 8, 2019 by axl32
added more bits

[DeadSlash]

16 hours ago, axl32 said:

i noticed some of the complaints are for software that is buggy or does not work this is publishers fault not steams, also there are a lot of post that are from people who have clearly not read the minimum specs, this will happen over all the digital delivery platforms

a lot from people who have been banned for cheating

Microsoft and Sony console ban for cheating and you have to pay a monthly subscription fee to play online.

 

omg some even tried to get a refund coz they found the game too hard

 

also a lot of took me hours to download so took me over 2hr for getting a refund, download time does not count for refunds

i got scammed once on steam, it was my fault for being tired, what i did not do was go and slag steam off on a review site because of my own stupidity

 

Many fair points, but there is another side to almost every one of them.  The first one is probably the most important counter point because it probably amounts in the most valid complaints - There isn't a single situation in games where the return doesn't go through the storefront.  Developers and publishers don't even have a mechanism for processing refunds.  I'm not talking about Steam, I mean anywhere.  If a storefront sells a game that is legit broken that is where you get your refund.

I agree on the majority of people being banned were for cheating, but it's important to note that there is no oversight over forum moderators.  If you are banned from a forum for something, there is no appeal, there is no clarification, it is never looked at.  Most of my passion on this topic comes from personal experience with Steam/Valve Corp.  I was permabanned from a forum (not all of steam, but it can happen) because someone called me "a bitch ass crybaby soyboy." I replied directly to that quote with "...he said through a face full of tears."   You get a notification, showing you what you said and why it results in a ban, and that's it.  Mine was "a personal attack" The person that called me a bitch ass crybaby soyboy was never banned, and there wasn't and will never be a mechanism to even know WHO banned you.

 

With the inaccurate play times, feel blessed that it hasn't bitten you.  I don't ever buy from Steam so it is irrelevant to me, but games are still activated on Steam and played on Steam, and the hours are simply wrong.  There are additional steps that must be taken to make sure the game isn't still accruing hours played other than exiting the game.  I agree, I've never seen it count download hours, but I absolutely have had a game that would crash on launch somehow register 4+ hours in the 2 days it took for a patch that allowed me to launch it for the first time.

[axl32]

if i remember rightly when buying games from a store, most refused (well locally) to take them back unless they was still sealed

i have to agree steam forums are toxic and very rarely use them

steam is good for cheap games in sales, grey re-sellers and codes from graphics cards from eBay

 

[DeadSlash]

On 4/10/2019 at 2:07 AM, axl32 said:

if i remember rightly when buying games from a store, most refused (well locally) to take them back unless they was still sealed

i have to agree steam forums are toxic and very rarely use them

steam is good for cheap games in sales, grey re-sellers and codes from graphics cards from eBay

 

 Yeah, for the longest time, it was just a flat NO on PC games, but Babbage's and EB took console games back opened or not (that policy was on and off multiple times.)  Gamestop started taking back actual physical copies of PC games like a year before Steam did, but it was as they were transitioning to almost exclusive online PC download sales so it mostly impacted their online sales.

PS. Best Buy was taking back hardcopies too, it may have changed.