To Steam or not to Steam?

[Snarky Jones]

I am not a steam member, and was wondering if I should join. Should I?

Also, what is so good about steam and what is steam's main purpose?

Thanx!

[bicostp]

Steam is basically Xbox Live for PC but without the monthly subscription fee.

Yes. Sign up. Do eet NAOUGHW!

[Snarky Jones]

is it free? I've never even heard of STEAM until I came to benheck.com.

[ZN13]

Yeah, Steam is free. But the games you buy through it still costs money

But friends, chat, and other community services are all free.

[Snarky Jones]

Okay thank you guys. I'll probably try steam out now!

[lifeisbetterwithketchup]

Do eet NAOUGHW!

[XCVG]

It's pretty useless without any Steam-compatible games. Do you have a copy of Half-Life sitting around? You can register the CD key and get it on Steam! (you also get a few other games that are free with Half-Life)

Most games on Steam are a little cheaper than retail, but there are much greater deals. They often run introductory prices, special sales, and stuff like that. Also, you can get a lot of games for not a lot of money in packs. I bought the "Source Premier Pack" which they don't sell anymore. It's like The Orange Box but with Counter Strike Source, Day of Defeat Source, and a few others. If you've NEVER played Half-Life at all and want some games to try, get the Valve Complete Pack, almost all the games and only $100.

[robm]

Hmm, does the "universal" CD key work for Half-Life on Steam?

[samjc3]

Hmm, does the "universal" CD key work for Half-Life on Steam?

yes. (i think)

[DJ711]

I actually have a question pertaining to steam:


If I bought a game from steam and downloaded it on my computer, if I got a new computer and logged on to my steam account would it still be under my games tab and avaliable for free re-download? Or would I have to buy it again?

[XCVG]

I actually have a question pertaining to steam:


If I bought a game from steam and downloaded it on my computer, if I got a new computer and logged on to my steam account would it still be under my games tab and avaliable for free re-download? Or would I have to buy it again?

It would be availible. Games are tied to your account, you can use them on any computer, so long as it has Steam and you are logged in.

[DJ711]

I actually have a question pertaining to steam:


If I bought a game from steam and downloaded it on my computer, if I got a new computer and logged on to my steam account would it still be under my games tab and avaliable for free re-download? Or would I have to buy it again?

It would be availible. Games are tied to your account, you can use them on any computer, so long as it has Steam and you are logged in.

Nice. Now I can buy a decent computer to play TF2

[bicostp]

If you have easy access to both computers, I suggest manually copying the appropriate .gcf files for the game you want to play instead of re-downloading, because it will be much faster. Close Steam, copy the files, then open Steam on the target PC and it should say "100% Ready". They should be in the [C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps] directory. You can copy the relevant folder from the [C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\(Your Name)] directory if you want to transfer all your custom maps, saves, demos, sprays, and config files over to make a 1:1 duplicate on both PCs.