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[sunnysideup]

I am probably out of my element here, but man its ugly as sin, always looks like a store front rather than my library of games.

Its slow as shit to start.

You have to double load different storefront systems when you play certain games. Takes forever to start.

I honestly dont see the benefit of this vs the classical way of installing games on pc?

 

[Guilty_AI]

its not that its great, its just that most of the competition manages to be even worse.

Thats said, props to GOG. Unfortunatelly not every publisher is willing to let go of their precious online checks.

 

[The_Mike]

Install your games on a ssd problem solved.

 

[JimboJones]

I've never found steam slow to start but I guess milage may vary depending on your hardware.

 

[TrueLegend]

Install GOG Galaxy. You can manage everything from there. You can link every account. It will open clients and close them as you choose to play game and when you quit them. Friends, Achievement, Custom Cover Everything. You can remove GOG store from menu too. Then Subscribe to GamingDeals on Reddit if you dont want to miss deals. Done.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

1. Easy to backup games;
2. You can play from external mídia;
3. Steam mapper allow you to use any controller;
4. Big Picture;
5. Easy to use mods;
6. Family share;
7. Fast and responsive UI;
8. Cards and itens you can trade or sell;
9. Good prices and deals;
10. The best gaming library.

 

[dDoc]

9. Good prices and deals;

Is this the case recently?

 

[sunnysideup]

The thing that is good about steam is the fact that valve has been proven to be reliable. You can trust valve will exist in 5 years so you can redownload the games.

But the fucking front end. Its not good.

 

[Hitchyhero]

I used to have a recent rig but since having a child I just prefer the ease of console gaming and have a 'quick' online go at some shooter.

I never got the fascination/loyalty to steam. Its always nice to have all your games in one place but that's about as good as it gets. 'Sales' havnt been that good for a few years. I personally think the UI looks like something from the early 2000s.

Wouldn't agree with the user that said it's slow though.

 

[J3nga]

Is that you Gabe? How's New Zealand?

 

[JimboJones]

I used to have a recent rig but since having a child I just prefer the ease of console gaming and have a 'quick' online go at some shooter.

I never got the fascination/loyalty to steam. Its always nice to have all your games in one place but that's about as good as it gets. 'Sales' havnt been that good for a few years. I personally think the UI looks like something from the early 2000s.

Wouldn't agree with the user that said it's slow though.

I don't mind buying on other clients but 9/10 it's always a worse experience or missing quality of life features.

 

[CeeJay]

The original reason I started using Steam was to automate patching. Prior to Steam it was a total nightmare trying to get a game patched up to the correct version so you could play online or on a LAN with it. I can remember spending literally half an entire day with my friends trying to get everyone on the same version so that we could play together. Anyone who didn't live through that will have no idea just how much of a shitshow it used to be. Nowadays we take automatic updates totally for granted.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

I really don't think the UI is that bad.
Some things could be improved, e.g. it is annoying how profiles, communities, etc. all take you to the same "tab" of the "browser" (internally, much of Steam's UI is just a browser). Those could be separated.

Otherwise, every change they'd do would very likely improve something, but at the cost of something else.
I'll take a bit more "information heavy" UI over something as dysfunctional and feature-sparse as e.g. Spotify.

I also never had performance problems with Steam.

 

[MrFunSocks]

The only thing good about steam is that most games release on it and supposedly you'll never ever lose access to your game library even if valve go out of business.

The actual steam client is hot garbage imo.

 

[winjer]

I could point out several gripes I have with Steam.
But despite that, it's still much better than every other launcher.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

1. Easy to backup games;
2. You can play from external mídia;
3. Steam mapper allow you to use any controller;
4. Big Picture;
5. Easy to use mods;
6. Family share;
7. Fast and responsive UI;
8. Cards and itens you can trade or sell;
9. Good prices and deals;
10. The best gaming library.

Also refunds

 

[nightmare-slain]

i do agree it looks a bit dated but it's by far the best store/client on PC.

that said i do quite enjoy using Epic + GOG clients.

 

[AlteredForms]

Steam is competent on the whole but many use it because there's no suitable substitute.

 

[Guilty_AI]

and supposedly you'll never ever lose access to your game library even if valve go out of business.

Usually depends on the game. As long as the devs don't implement any 3rd party DRM, you should be able to play your games even offline, though you may need a steam emulator for some titles.

 

[Kaachan]

UI is a bit dated but I think it works better than most launchers
It has an easy system to back up games and offers good prices and deals frequently

 

[LazyParrot]

I am probably out of my element here, but man its ugly as sin, always looks like a store front rather than my library of games.

Its slow as shit to start.

You have to double load different storefront systems when you play certain games. Takes forever to start.

I honestly dont see the benefit of this vs the classical way of installing games on pc?

Takes me about 7 seconds to go from clicking the icon to having my library open. Did you just start it for the first time? It might have been installing updates.

 

[Topher]

Maybe the UI is bad to some and I'm just used to it but I really don't mind it at all. That app has more content for gamers than any other platform. Beyond the storefront itself, each individual game has its own sections for discussion, guides, videos, etc. Personally I'd rather not change it because I'm 99% sure whatever they did would have me wishing it would go back to the way it is now. That's typically how UI redesigns have gone for me in recent years.

As far as launching games, Windows start button and desktop shortcuts still work. Not sure why folks don't just use those for their installed games if they don't like using Steam and other launchers.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

Is this the case recently?

Usually yes, at least to my region, and even when it's the case that the price is a little worse I still tend to prefer steam because of the other advantages, I only buy games in other stores if I can't do it on steam, also I hate companies that make me install their launchers, depending on the game is enough to me to skip the purchase.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

The front end is kinda shit but everything else just works. Also Steam was first and its competition is strictly worse.

 

[eyesabitdull]

Steam saved pc gaming for millions of gamers in ASEAN countries.

In you're in buttfuck nowhere, you can still easily buy a game online on its store with its currency exchange set by default, and huge price sales that make it competitive - and purchasable - by third world country standards.

Problem with GOG, EGS, UPLAY, EAPLAY is that they do not seem to bother too much about countries beyond the western region.

I have bought so many games on PC thanks to steam, and so much cheaper, with ease of payment process, than anywhere else.

 

[AV]

It's not that it's mind-blowing, it's that it's by far the best launcher for this stuff.

If you don't care about the store, library management, friends list, mod management, community stuff, achievements etc. then sure, standalone installations work just fine.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I am probably out of my element here, but man its ugly as sin, always looks like a store front rather than my library of games.

Its slow as shit to start.

You have to double load different storefront systems when you play certain games. Takes forever to start.

I honestly dont see the benefit of this vs the classical way of installing games on pc?

Right now it loaded in my games library in 9 seconds.

Double stores loading is not Steam fault. It's Ubisoft/EA/Rockstar/etc fault.

Classic way of installing games on pc does not have auto updates or refunds or mods on steamworks, etc...

 

[RoboFu]

it’s more to do with the back end services, cloud saves, controller profiles, streaming .. etc. etc..

 

[MiguelItUp]

Because Steam was the first of its kind on PC. It had time to learn, grow, and innovate. Now it has many more competitors, but it's still on top. When Steam first launched, the majority was not happy with it. I remember eventually warming up to it myself, but my first impression was "Wtf?"

If you're experiencing hangs or lag on your end it could very well be a number of things from the drives you're using, to your system period. I personally haven't had Steam issues in a very long time. It just kind of does its thing without any issue nowadays.

 

[Davevil]

OP you mispelled great

 

[CuteFaceJay]

If it's slow then that's your hardware my dude.

 

[AJUMP23]

It gave us Half Life 2.

 

[Sentenza]

I mean, because it's blatantly better of any of the alternatives I tried so far.
Included some of the suggestions made in this very thread.

And most of the problems the OP is talking about probably apply only to potato PC users, given that being "slow" has never been a problem really.

P.S. Also, the new UI is little more than a year old at this point and I've never stopped growing fond of it while using it. Starting with the new dynamic library system.
The new download manager introduced in the last major update in particular is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in terms of striking a balance of visuals and control to the user.

 

[The_Mike]

1. Easy to backup games;

That time is long gone.

You could backup your files by exporting the games to an install file.

This feature got broken after some time and I don't even think it's there anymore because of it.

The only way you can backup is copying the folders.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

That time is long gone.

You could backup your files by exporting the games to an install file.

This feature got broken after some time and I don't even think it's there anymore because of it.

The only way you can backup is copying the folders.

And that is easy

 

[DGrayson]

It definitelys looks a bit dated but it all works well and for those who were around before Steam it was a huge game changer.

its not Steam's fault that these companies mandate an additional launcher.

Also its extremely fast for me, except yes sometimes it updates. I run it automatically when Windows starts though so its not often in that case.

 

[Wonko_C]

If you live in a 3rd world country like me, regional pricing is a godsend. For example Melty Blood: Type Lumina is 40 USD on PlayStation 4, but on Steam it's just 20, aaand If you sell Steam Trading Cards you can even make it lower.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

It's not.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

On top of what others have already said, it’s also the best tool to discover new games, old hidden gems or titles from genres that you typically don’t play.

 

[CeeJay]

It definitelys looks a bit dated but it all works well and for those who were around before Steam it was a huge game changer.

its not Steam's fault that these companies mandate an additional launcher.

Also its extremely fast for me, except yes sometimes it updates. I run it automatically when Windows starts though so its not often in that case.

Absolutely, I got a new PC back in the early 2000s and wanted to install my Half Life and Opposing Force CD-ROMs. A friend recommended I install Steam and import my CD keys instead of the traditional CD install and hunt for updates and patches. I was amazed how it downloaded and updated what would have been dozens of patches magically. Sure it took ages on my 56K connection but It really cannot be understated just how much Steam shifted the paradigm at the time.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Because we have been using steam for more than a decade and our entire library is there.

 

[VN1X]

I am probably out of my element here, but man its ugly as sin, always looks like a store front rather than my library of games.

Its slow as shit to start.

You have to double load different storefront systems when you play certain games. Takes forever to start.

I honestly dont see the benefit of this vs the classical way of installing games on pc?

Holy shit people like this still exist.

It's great that you use it "just for installing games on PC" lol but it's so, so much more (am I really going to have to spell these out for you? I guess I do).

• They have a ton of community features where you can upload/download mods (Steamworks!), discuss the game on the forums, leave a review, submit artwork, submit guides, etc. These alone make any "but it's just a launcher durrrr" argument void btw.
• A plethora of library customisation features as well (to make your libary look pwetty)
• Refunds without issue (in line with the TOS of course)
• Jam packed storefront with too many features to list now but I would invite you to check out any game's store page and gawk at all the information on display (and ease of navigation to boot)
• Steam friends & chat (a very robust feature imo and one that's often overlooked and has been taken for granted over the years)
• etc

I can go on and on but ultimately it's grown from being an intrusive DRM clusterfuck to a fantastic and essential part of my gaming hobby. It's fine if people only use it to launch the occasional game but (and this isn't aimed at you specifically) to disregard all the work Valve has done over the years, especially when compared to other clients (which are really just glorified storefronts that only exist to launch games) is ridiculous to say the least.

 

[Skifi28]

The UI is in my top 3 reason. Go on, sue me.

 

[BigBooper]

If Steam did a cross store universal client like Gog, what a wonderful world that could be.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do that along with the deck and new big picture interface. Of course, they'll unfortunately never support something as customizable as Playnite, but a fella can dream.

 

[mxbison]

It's really not that great. I've had tons of issues with it and couldn't care less about most of the features.

Controller support and big picture mode are really good though.

 

[VN1X]

It's really not that great. I've had tons of issues with it and couldn't care less about most of the features.

Controller support and big picture mode are really good though.

Hmm you make good points.

EGS IS BETTER! Origin comes in at a close second though. Steam behind Uplay for sure at 4th place.

Spoiler

 

[Fuz]

It isn't.

It just has a huge, rabid fanbase. Like some soccer team fans.

 

[ShirAhava]

I've never liked Steam and I've been using it since the green UI days

I miss big PC boxes and downloading game files from websites worked fine

 

[48086]

Simply put, it just works.

For me anyway.

 

[BaneIsPain]

well it is the only best place to buy with achievement, regional pricing. I don’t really care about UI.