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Steam - A Review
Steam….Many people who do not know about the company will think I am talking about the hot gas form of water. Well Steam is a company. The full name stands for Steam Powered and it is a huge company. If you play games such as Counter-Strike, Half Life, and Team Fortress, you are using Steam Powered Launcher to Launch your game.
Steam has been out for many years and it doesn’t look to stop. It has millions of accounts from users all around the world. They make online gaming safer than they already are. They are a Valve Company and they have implemented VAC also known as Valve’s Anti Cheat program onto their steam program. They have a clever way of finding hackers whether the hacker has been reported or not. The hacker’s account will be banned and if he paid for his games, no refund.
Steam also makes it safer to buy games online. Although Call of Duty 4 is not a steam or valve product you can buy CoD4 online directly from the Steam Powered Software and pay with either paypal or Credit card. It is safe and after it is in your account, it will auto download the game for you and update you if necessary. This is what I like about Steam.
I have three games with them, used to have more but my old account is no more since I haven’t logged into it for over 3 or 4 years, I have forgotten the password and email I used. I have Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, and Counter-Strike: Source with Steam. Steam made it easier for me to purchase these games and download them rather than going to the store and buying the CDs which is Completely Unnecessary in my opinion.
http://enscreenshots.softonic.com/s2...ateaccount.jpg
If you need more information on the Steam Software, visit them at SteamPowered.com and download. The accounts are free of charge and so is the software, you just have to buy the games through your steam account. It is safer and better than any other way of purchasing games like this.
Although Steam is a huge company their Support is not even close to being what you call “Great.” This past year alone I had two incidents with Steam regarding my account. It took them an average of a week to get my problem fixed. For a huge company that handles 8 figure accounts, that is pretty slow. And sadly, they only have a few people working on support so I don’t blame the workers, I blame the whole company for not hiring more Steam Support Representatives. So if you have a steam account and you are having issues, don’t expect to get it solved within the next day, I never have and I never will.
Steam’s Usability get’s a 8/10 from me. It is very easy to use and maneuver around. Their newest addition a few months ago of Steam Community allows you to manage all your friends and your profile. Steam Community can get found at SteamCommunity.com OR if you have the steam Client, just click the Community Tab and you will be logged into your profile easily.
Steam’s Update service gets a 9/10 for me since it’s almost instant. You won’t even notice half the time you are updating. But if the update comes while you just started steam, you will get a pop up window like the following:
http://www.gamingsa.com/images/pimag...gsaonsteam.jpg
Steam’s Security gets an 8/10 from me. They are pretty save with VAC and Steam Bans but some hackers still find their way in. They don’t ban IP addresses so if the hacker has the money He will buy the game again and do the same thing over again.
Steam gets an over all 8.6/10 from me for everything stated above. Steam is easy to use and it is recommended for safe gaming online. I have used them for years and so far good experiences oversee the bad ones.
Here are the ratings again:
Usability: 8
Update Service: 9
Security: 8
Overall: 8.6
Enjoy steam!
~LiNuX
http://storefront.steampowered.com/v...efaultSkin.png
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Yeah Steam is great if you don't care about having the game itself. Me personally want that game and it pains me when I realize in 15 years or so we will be in 100% digital distribution era.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jakncoke
Yeah Steam is great if you don't care about having the game itself. Me personally want that game and it pains me when I realize in 15 years or so we will be in 100% digital distribution era.
it may be even sooner seeing how the technologies these days are getting smaller and even more complicated - in 15 years we probably would be accomplishing a lot more than many are predicting now
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Quote:
Steam’s Security gets an 8/10 from me. They are pretty save with VAC and Steam Bans but some hackers still find their way in. They don’t ban IP addresses so if the hacker has the money He will buy the game again and do the same thing over again.
I wouldn't be that generous on the security rating. According to a lot of people I have talked to on CSS, VAC is pretty much useless and aside from catching the odd hacker here and there, it doesn't really do anything. And from the commonness of hackers I've been seeing lately I'm not hesitant to believe them.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MATHGOD
I wouldn't be that generous on the security rating. According to a lot of people I have talked to on CSS, VAC is pretty much useless and aside from catching the odd hacker here and there, it doesn't really do anything. And from the commonness of hackers I've been seeing lately I'm not hesitant to believe them.
they aren't perfect and I was speaking from my own perspective, feel free to review steam for yourself
my account was hacked once and stopped by vac - they actually disabled the account without banning it, then something happened and the password was changed - i have a static IP and they knew that from months of data collection - so i have had good experience with these guys
but again, its from my own perspective
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Yea, steam is pretty cool, but, sometimes i frequently have malfunctions with it when i play CS
But, it stopped, and, im trying to get GTA on there, only $20
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Dunno if my comp can handle any games atm or i'd look into getting a couple ::)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
Dunno if my comp can handle any games atm or i'd look into getting a couple ::)
if its a game from the Half life 2 series and before that then your computer probably can if it was built within the past 5 years lol
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LiNuX
if its a game from the Half life 2 series and before that then your computer probably can if it was built within the past 5 years lol
What specs you have to have for CS?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
What specs you have to have for CS?
Recommended: 800 mhz processor, 128mb ram, 32mb+ video card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
that's what u need, straight from the steam powered website :) not that much lol
and btw, by internet i'll recommend at least DSL which is 768k
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LiNuX
Recommended: 800 mhz processor, 128mb ram, 32mb+ video card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
that's what u need, straight from the steam powered website :) not that much lol
and btw, by internet i'll recommend at least DSL which is 768k
Surprisingly I got all of that :D
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
Surprisingly I got all of that :D
it's an old game, came out sometime in 2000 as version 0.9 then finished off at 1.6 - i think i explained more in its own review
remember that those specs are for HL1 games - just double the specs for HL2 but i think you have to quadruple the RAM and video memory
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where is the my community tab? lol, i read u wrote about it but its not in your last pic, and why does it say steam beta? lol is that pic that old? :-P
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sweet ima go down it now.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wifi
where is the my community tab? lol, i read u wrote about it but its not in your last pic, and why does it say steam beta? lol is that pic that old? :-P
can't believe I missed that post lol...sorry, only realized with hawk's bump - and yeah, that pic is a few years old - my community part of steam is fairly new
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawk
sweet ima go down it now.
cool...feel free to join the gamers forum steam community here: Steam Community :: Group :: Gamers-Forum.com
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cool, done.
nifty little program...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawk
cool, done.
nifty little program...
yea its pretty good, i've been using it for years - you can open your own dedicated servers for free and host them on your computer - good for lan parties unless you have a server dedicated to game servers like I do.
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just wondering...
Is there any free games on steam that everyone plays?
or do I have to pay.
cheers,
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawk
just wondering...
Is there any free games on steam that everyone plays?
or do I have to pay.
cheers,
sometimes they run specials like i got Peggle for free cuz i use a nvidia graphics card - that special is like a year old though
just check their stores, they have free stuff and non-free stu ff
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Nice Review Linux. I'm a Steam user too, I play Counter Strike Source and Garry's Mod on Steam.
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Steam works for non-Steam games also!
It tells people when I'm playing GW. ;3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Exodyus
Steam works for non-Steam games also!
It tells people when I'm playing GW. ;3
Really? Cool.
And, what's GW?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omgodzilla10
Really? Cool.
And, what's GW?
Guild Wars?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LiNuX
Guild Wars?
Ohhh. I don't play Guild Wars...
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I use to be a pc gamer i had CSS it kicked ass but it old like came out in 98 i think sum like that... VAC to me didnt do much i still saw hackers...
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Huh really nice review ty.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LordLameeks
I use to be a pc gamer i had CSS it kicked ass but it old like came out in 98 i think sum like that... VAC to me didnt do much i still saw hackers...
Are you sure it came out in 98?
I don't think it's that old. Right now it's probably my favorite game. :D
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omgodzilla10
Are you sure it came out in 98?
I don't think it's that old. Right now it's probably my favorite game. :D
im pretty sure its that old no joke i use to play it when i was 11 or 12 im 19..... well maybe not 98 but close to it
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I am quite fond of steam. Very nice and warm.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LordLameeks
im pretty sure its that old no joke i use to play it when i was 11 or 12 im 19..... well maybe not 98 but close to it
css came out in 2004. The original CS came out in 1999 in beta but wasn't fully released until 2001.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LiNuX
css came out in 2004. The original CS came out in 1999 in beta but wasn't fully released until 2001.
I play CSS, it has much better graphics that cs.
CS was in beta for 2 years? I never expected that.
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Thanks for all information, I learn something new today
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The best thing about STEAM is that once you pay for a game, you can download it to any computer, so getting a new computer isnt so hard, and you dont have to worry about loosing CD keys and such. I buy a lot of games on steam and they have a lot of great deals:
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/1791/cheapgamesd.jpg
This is just my list for this year. =P
Also, you can purchase games when they have a special, and they run a lot of specials to keep sales up. And its really easy to send your friends games to if you hate shopping for birthdays.
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You got CSS for $4.99. When I got it, the special dropped it to $19.99.
But yeah, steam is awesome for that. Since getting it I've only had two main computers but they made it so much easier for me to keep the games safe right inside my head.
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Im thinking about making a Gamer Forum Steam group. =P
Linux whats your STEAM name?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BobTD
Im thinking about making a Gamer Forum Steam group. =P
Linux whats your STEAM name?
We already have one: Steam Community :: Group :: Gamers-Forum.com
And my steam id is njoker5552 - feel free to add me.
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yeah, quite cool, but now i am busy i dont think i have the time
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will we be able to download free trial from the site?
i mean something like mass effect 2 pc game for example, i don't wanna buy it yet but then i wanna download it for certain period of time before it's expired, just like a demo or trial?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elan
will we be able to download free trial from the site?
i mean something like mass effect 2 pc game for example, i don't wanna buy it yet but then i wanna download it for certain period of time before it's expired, just like a demo or trial?
You can download a few demos through steam. Having said that I'm not aware there's a ME2 demo on Steam or anywhere else though :(
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jango
You can download a few demos through steam. Having said that I'm not aware there's a ME2 demo on Steam or anywhere else though :(
Oh thanksies, but well if some game are able to be download the demo, well, my fav games like Gears of War 2 and stuff like that, will never be a demo... :(
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