so, about Steam...

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Bob S. - 24 Dec 2007 02:22 GMT

I actually quite like it.

With Steam, I can make my purchases on line, dls have been flawless, I don't
have to coninuously stuff the scratched old cd into the drive to play, it
seems to be pretty secure.

I don't particularly care if I don't get the shiny jewel box and cardboard
graphics.

Am I missing something?

I'm thinking of buying COD4 from Steam. The price is the same as the
retail - $50, Is there any advantage in going retail? I mean if I buy it
tonight, I can play it tonight. If I go retail, I have to fight legions of
Xmas shoppers at "Future Schlock" - I'll be lucky if I can get it by New
Years.

I'm bored NOW dammit, I need instant gratification.

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Andrew - 24 Dec 2007 06:48 GMT

>Am I missing something?

The ability to sell your games and you often pay more for them. I like
Steam too, but there are some games I know I won't want to keep for
long so I buy the retail versions that I can sell on.

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Carl - 24 Dec 2007 09:05 GMT

Is selling on a used game not an infraction of the EULA?

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Peter [AGHL] - 24 Dec 2007 11:12 GMT

"Carl" wrote

> Is selling on a used game not an infraction of the EULA?

Nope

Which EULA btw?

- Peter

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Carl - 24 Dec 2007 11:29 GMT

The end user licence agreements for most games, I was under the impression
that PC games cannot be sold on, there was an article in PC Zone about it. I
was thinking about how console games seem to be OK to be sold on, but not PC
games. High street stores in the UK do not accept PC games as trade in. Most
of the EULA's are very restrictive in what you can do with the software. I
was just wondering, and not springing to the defence of publishers, nor
saying owt about piracy etc. Anyone care to enlighten me?

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Peter [AGHL] - 24 Dec 2007 12:54 GMT

> The end user licence agreements for most games, I was under the impression
> that PC games cannot be sold on, there was an article in PC Zone about it.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> software. I was just wondering, and not springing to the defence of
> publishers, nor saying owt about piracy etc. Anyone care to enlighten me?

The HL2 EULA allows resells
Steam EULA mentions a $10 fee for releasing a CDKey
Steam account resell might be prohibited according to the Steam EULA - makes
it a bit hard to resell the game whether purchased online or in a store
And buying a Steam ID through EBay would probably be like throwing good hard
cash out of the window :(

Never fancied buying second hand myself or reselling for that matter, you
never know when you want to mess around with one of the old ones
Been playing Homeworld a little on my new laptop, it's a release from '99
probably not available anywhere these days

- Peter

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LymanAlpha - 24 Dec 2007 17:26 GMT

>> The end user licence agreements for most games, I was under the
>> impression that PC games cannot be sold on, there was an article in
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> - Peter

I've never bought a used CD game and I never would buy a used CD game
that came with a CD Key. I've bought lots of XBox games used though,
that seems completely reasonable. It does turn EB Games and Gamestop
into weird pseudo pawn shops though. I think buying used games directly
from another gamer is the best way to go.

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Shawk - 24 Dec 2007 18:48 GMT

>>> The end user licence agreements for most games, I was under the
>>> impression that PC games cannot be sold on, there was an article in
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> into weird pseudo pawn shops though. I think buying used games directly
> from another gamer is the best way to go.

Local shops (Birmingham, UK) do a pretty brisk trade in used PC games.
Friends use them a lot. There are a lot more used games on the shelves
than new.

I tend to hoard mine. Have an attic full of games that probably need
emulators of some sort to play them now.

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G Hardy - 25 Dec 2007 14:53 GMT

"Carl" wrote...

> Is selling on a used game not an infraction of the EULA?

Selling any software is usually an infraction of the contract as written.
Some books are licensed under similar terms.

Whether it's an enforceable contract term is another matter, as most
states/territories have their own interpretation on whether a restraint of
trade is contractually fair. I'm reasonably sure that preventing someone
from selling on something is not permitted in the US and UK - it might even
be illegal in the US (or some states).

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Robotech_Master - 28 Dec 2007 15:47 GMT

> I'm thinking of buying COD4 from Steam. The price is the same as the
> retail - $50, Is there any advantage in going retail? I mean if I buy it
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> I'm bored NOW dammit, I need instant gratification.

Apart from resale, the big advantage is that you can often find retail
boxes marked down on sale, and some retail places will give you a
refund if the box goes on sale within 30 days afterward.

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