[mdlug] Steam (was: Suggestions for games for an elderly parent?)

[Ingles, Raymond]

> From: Aaron Kulkis

> But then he would be dependant upon Valve's financial stability --
> Steam requires a game to "phone home" to the Steam server before
> it runs with full capabilities -- which is even WORSE than regular
> pay-ware.

 Actually, no - you have to "phone home" the first time, and it checks
for updates after that... unless you select "offline mode", in which
case it runs just fine after that without ever phoning home again, but
you get no further bugfixes or updates until you take it 'online' again.

 Valve has also pledged to release the keys necessary to run Steam games
if they ever go out of business, or desupport a product. Given their
general history, they seem more likely to hew to that pledge than nearly
any company I can think of.

 And, finally, Valve's doing well enough that I don't foresee them going
out of business for at *bare minimum* two more years, and probably
another decade at least.

 Sure, Steam is DRM. However, it's DRM that doesn't assume the customer
is a pirate until proven otherwise. I find the tradeoffs acceptable *for
a game*. For more critical software it'd be unacceptable.

Sincerely,

 Ray Ingles                                  (313) 227-2317

 "There are two kinds of people; those who finish what they
               start and so on." - Anonymous
The contents of this e-mail are intended for the named addressee only. It contains information that may be confidential. Unless you are the named addressee or an authorized designee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you received it in error please notify us immediately and then destroy it.