Fallout 4 and DOOM are the main motivators of this thread, I suppose.
I suppose the effect Steam had on game development and accessibility cannot be understated. It cheapened things somewhat, it enables anyone with an internet access to have access to the games, and so on and so forth. But recently physical games are being sold that are strongly reliant on Steam - that is, you not only require Steam to play them, but the CD itself lacks most of the game content.
That, in itself, is an obstacle. It becomes worse if something goes wrong and you find yourself banned from Steam - because that means no access to your games, since you are only purchasing a license and not a product. It's like having a permanent rental of a car in my understanding; you've paid full price for a product that can be revoked at any time, unlike proper physical media.
Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
I suppose the effect Steam had on game development and accessibility cannot be understated. It cheapened things somewhat, it enables anyone with an internet access to have access to the games, and so on and so forth. But recently physical games are being sold that are strongly reliant on Steam - that is, you not only require Steam to play them, but the CD itself lacks most of the game content.
That, in itself, is an obstacle. It becomes worse if something goes wrong and you find yourself banned from Steam - because that means no access to your games, since you are only purchasing a license and not a product. It's like having a permanent rental of a car in my understanding; you've paid full price for a product that can be revoked at any time, unlike proper physical media.
Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?