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SteamWatch Offers Forum for Displeased Customers
paniq writes "SteamWatch has opened a forum to discuss the pros and cons of Valves online distribution software Steam 'due to constant deletion of complaint threads in the official Steam forum', as the site states. Installation of Steam to play Valves newest cutting edge shooter Half-Life 2 is mandatory, but forum members criticize Valve for meager Support, violation of consumer rights and formulate alternative ideas for Steams implementation. A 'Steam Watch' news section covers articles and rants about Steam found on the net."
Seems sleazy to me. If I were in the same boat, I'd try to get my money back. I may be likely to be unsuccessful, but I can make it time consuming and thus expensive for Valve in the process.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Don't be fooled, this website's open letter hides the fact that it is more dedicated to "people who haven't bought the game". -- ??? WTF is that?
In other words, Steam gets in the way of pirating HL2 and they're pissed.
Fuck you, buy it.
They say it's for all those with grievances, but I highly suspect this is the nearly the same as a certain site promoting hacked UT/UT2004 servers (which believes that people who don't buy the game have a right to play online too...).
For the record, few if any threads have been deleted on the Steam forums and the ones that have were complicated by people posting links to material that falls outside the forum T.O.S. and rules. I post there regularly and overall they are very leniant.
Since when was a lawsuit the FIRST option? And what makes you think some 15 year old kid could file one?
No, really, the first thing you do is express your complaints to the company. When the company starts silencing those complaints (terrible move there) you move to an outside channel. (Which is what this story is about.)
Once you've gotten a critical mass of like-minded people, you use a class-action lawsuit if the company hasn't addressed your concerns yet.
--Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
However, I think one of the reasons this forum is a good thing is because Valve has screwed up royally. Many of their once happy customers are pissed. By letting them know, and letting other businesses know, we have an effect on the way things will turn out, however minor it may be.
This frankly, is a good alternative to just not buying the game. Because if you don't buy the game, they have no reason of knowing you decided not to buy it because of Steam. They might just assume you didn't like the game.
Which leads me to my next point. Instead of just not buying it, if you want to do something more effective, buy it and immediately return it, and be CRYSTAL CLEAR when you explain why to the person that it is because you are unhappy with Valve's choice in requiring Steam for this and you do not find it a satisfactory product. State this clearly and loudly.
I know its wishful thinking, but at least you can DO something instead of just getting angry.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
If the software is indeed totally unusable or any kind of serious hindrance, then it won't last. Sure, games like HL 2 and Doom 4 will sucker gamers into buying them regardless of the distribution methods used, but games that aren't sequels to classics won't have this luxury.
:P
Ultimately, the consumer will decide whether these systems fail or succeed, and because of this Developers (or Publishers) will have to ensure that the consumer is satisfied with their online distribution (or, as you put it, Steam-esque system). Besides, this isn't exactly a cheap system to implement. Valve spends loads of cash on bandwidth for Steam, and many titles simply can't afford the kind of infrastructure this kind of system requires.
In the end I don't think these systems will impede my enjoyment of games, and if it does get out of hand.. well.. Agh, time to play pirate!
Oh, and it won't take some bug-ridden piece of spyware to keep me away from DNF
In case the forums site goes down, I found a mirror here....