Support NeoGAF

[jshackles]

GAF - do you back up your digital PC games? If so, why? If not, why not?

Personally, I only back up my offline GOG install files (as it's kind of pointless to back up Steam or EGS games anyway) to my local NAS, in the event of a zombie apocalypse or more likely an extended internet outage. I like knowing that my digital purchases are securely backed up too, in case GOG ever goes out of business. But I've also known people to back up their Steam games to DVD or even USB thumb drives.

 

[Fbh]

Same, I only back up my GOG stuff.

Everything else is tied to DRM so I don't see the point of backing it up.

 

[Kuranghi]

Nah, saves are all in the cloud anyway and my internet is 1150 down so I can download almost anything and resintall it in less than 10 minutes. Thats the time I would take to get ready for a session anyway. Maybe refill my pipe and place my slippers on the hearth to heat them up, prepare a sherry, etc.

PS5 games are downloaded before I get back to the home screen sometimes.

 

[rofif]

No. I got better things to do.
On pc, all my games are on steam and some on gog. If something happens to them (get patched or like gta 4, will have music removed and launcher added...) then I just pirate.
it's the only way to play vanilla version of Dark Souls 2 without aldia added. Even if I have both original and sotfs on steam

 

[AV]

Negative, saves are in the cloud and the UK doesn't have capped internet. Well, I don't.

 

[R6Rider]

Nope and I don't back up the saves beyond what's default.

 

[rodrigolfp]

500Mbps here so no. I will when Steam, Origin etc, announces their end.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Depends on the game. I don't back up steam and GOG stuff (mostly) but i'll usually keep some freewares i download since their download pages can go out at any moment.

I also keep a bunch of GOG games on a pendrive, for "emergencies".

 

[Yui's Empire]

Not really, can always download game data and saves are on cloud. I used to be big on stuff like TrackMania where I accumulated a lot of self-made or community-made content, now that's the sort of game where it'd make sense, but nowadays I do that sort of thing less so it's not relevant. If a disk dies, so be it.

 

[Dream-Knife]

No, but I only use Steam anyway.

 

[Vagswarm]

Not at all. They're on services like Steam and it never felt necessary.

 

[DGrayson]

No. But I understand if Steam goes out of business tomorrow I will lose access to all my games. But at this point I think the chances of that happening are pretty remote. I also tend to not replay games so once I finish most likely I wont play them again.

I used to back up my Steam saves but now I dont even bother with that anymore and hope the game syncs with Cloud saves.

 

[Soodanim]

I don't have a NAS or other storage solution that I would want to dedicate to GOG installers, so I don't back up.

I would like to think that in the unlikely event of GOG or Steam going out of business that they would give forewarning so that people can download their games.

 

[MrFunSocks]

No, no need to.

 

[killatopak]

Only my game rips for emulators.

 

[Kupfer]

Digital PC games? Except for the price I paid like years ago, they are worthless to me since I knew when buying, that I don't own the game, just paying for the license to play the game for as long as the platform allows.
But I thought about creating backups of my classic console games, since the CD's / DVD's won't last forever.
Never found the time / motivation though.

 

[nightmare-slain]

nah. i'll just download them again if i need to. in a situation where a store might be closing then if i have the option i'll decide if i want to back the game up or not.

the only games i have backed up are my old PS1/PS2 games which i ripped from the discs. some of those discs are ~25 years old and/or rare so it's good to have a backup incase they are damaged or lost.

 

[Boneless]

Really, what year do you live in?

 

[Gargauth]

On PS5 and XSX I have cheap 4TB external HDD to keep all the games on them, as the download speeds are unpredictable. I have 100Mbps internet, but it still takes like at least hour for big games to download, and sometimes the download speeds can be unpredictable.

Once steam rolls out Deck update (with storage management enhancements) I'll probably add HDD too. It's just more comfortable for me to keep all the games available at all times in my library and updated, than having to redownload it. Sometimes I'm up for some quick session in some game that I haven't played for a long time, but by the time I'd finish downloading I'd change my mind

 

[TheSHEEEP]

I would only do that if I had any reason to believe that Steam or GOG or itch.io would go down in the near future.
And even then I'd only back up those games I'd actually like to play again (which is the minority of games I purchased).

Other than that particular scenario, I don't see the purpose.
I'm not afraid of "losing the money" I spent on a game, as I already got my money's worth out of it. If I had to purchase a game again I already purchased in the past, I'd just do so.
They aren't THAT expensive, really.

 

[Lupin3]

I don't. Is it even possible with Steam/Epic games? I have way too many games, and with no time and zero patience, it will never happen. But honestly, even if I lost everything by being locked out/banned from my accounts, I probably wouldn't end up missing a vast majority of the titles anyway. And if I feel it's an unfair ban, I'd just pirate the shit out of said games, or buy them dirt cheap on some random key shop.

 

[lils]

i don't bother. if i really did lose my steam account and everything, i could always just pirate them back

 

[TheSHEEEP]

Is it even possible with Steam/Epic games?

It is, actually:

Steam's exclusive way (not sure if this would enable the games to run without Steam):

Steam Support :: Using the Steam Backup Feature

help.steampowered.com

Or just do it manually (step one):

How to Manually Back Up Your Steam Game Files

Steam has a built-in system for making a backup of its game files, so you don't have to re-download a full game every time you uninstall it and want to play again later.

www.howtogeek.com

Then there are more involved/technical ways, using steamcmd:

Downloading steam games from another computer/faster line

Downloading steam games from another computer/faster line - steam.md

gist.github.com

So, technically, backing up your entire catalog of games is actually doable and could even be automated.
The question is who'd want to go all the extra miles to do so...

 

[Graciaus]

No. Chances are very low I'll ever replay something after deleting. Seems like a massive waste of time and space when the internet exists should the unthinkable happen.

 

[Pippelipeikko]

USB 3.5" floppy and an infinite supply of 1.44mb floppy disks. Got no room in the house but at least I'm backed up.

 

[Lupin3]

It is, actually:

Steam's exclusive way (not sure if this would enable the games to run without Steam):

Steam Support :: Using the Steam Backup Feature

help.steampowered.com

Or just do it manually (step one):

How to Manually Back Up Your Steam Game Files

Steam has a built-in system for making a backup of its game files, so you don't have to re-download a full game every time you uninstall it and want to play again later.

www.howtogeek.com

Then there are more involved/technical ways, using steamcmd:

Downloading steam games from another computer/faster line

Downloading steam games from another computer/faster line - steam.md

gist.github.com

So, technically, backing up your entire catalog of games is actually doable and could even be automated.
The question is who'd want to go all the extra miles to do so...

I'll be damned... Still ain't got no space, time or will for it. But good it's an option.

 

[kiphalfton]

Only my game rips for emulators.

Yeah I spent so much time ripping games, if I were to lose them I would be a bit devastated. Granted I haven't played any of the games I ripped on Gamecube, Wii, or Wii U... but it would still hit me hard.