The Witcher - Enhanced Edition Platinum

[Collector]

Whether or not Valve lasts another 20 years or goes out of business next month, the point is that digital distribution is the preferred method by most gaming companies today. It saves them money and gains a wider audience.

But that is not the point. If another company supplants Steam matters not if you can't install and activate your Steam game. I completely agree with you that things are moving towards digital distribution. It is far cheaper than that of packaging and shipping, but that is a different matter than whether or not Steam rather than some other download/activation service in its stead will be there years down the road. Any company can go under. Think not? GM, AGI and other prominent corporations recently almost did and would have if not for the government bailouts. Many other formally great companies have faded into the past. This is not to say it will or is likely to, but the possibility does exist, what ever the likelihood.

[Maiandra]

(BTW, if I seem unnecessarily hard on GFWL it's because I'm still annoyed at it for changing my Hotmail account's password. I didn't ask it to do that, but since I registered for GFWL with that email account, it decided to switch the password to what I use on GFWL. If it weren't for that, I doubt I'd have much against GFWL.)

And he shall bear that grudge forever(ever-ever)! You should have heard him when he originally discovered what it had done.

Although, honestly, I'd have been annoyed too. That was pretty cheeky and intrusive.

[dotkel50]

And he shall bear that grudge forever(ever-ever)! You should have heard him when he originally discovered what it had done.

Holding a grudge forever? Sounds like an Irishman.

[DeadPoolX]

But that is not the point. If another company supplants Steam matters not if you can't install and activate your Steam game.

It's highly likely that if Valve went out of business or sold Steam, that the new company would keep a similar business model. It's a huge money-making project.

This new company would also want to its members to keep their access to their games. Why? Because Steam, no matter who owns it, only makes money so far as its clientele are content -- and that includes continuing to own, download and play their games. If they stopped that, they'd lose thousands upon thousands of paying customers (the majority of whom keep buying new games there as well) and net themselves a terrible reputation.

Even if Microsoft bought Steam and incorporated it into GFWL, they'd still want to keep Valve's customers. It'd be an utterly moronic move not to since it'd result in a massive loss of money, especially considering they'd have to buy Steam in the first place.

By the time event happens (if it ever does) I doubt I'll even be interested in playing the games I have right now. And if Steam went offline, it'd only be a matter of time before someone cracked the code -- assuming no other company continued the service.

Any company can go under. Think not? GM, AGI and other prominent corporations recently almost did and would have if not for the government bailouts. Many other formally great companies have faded into the past. This is not to say it will or is likely to, but the possibility does exist, what ever the likelihood.

Yes, any company can go out of business. I know it's a possibility. But what am I to do? Live in fear of this occurring? Never buy anything -- games or not --because, one day, that company might go out of business?

Unless every gaming company gets rid of their DRM or GOG starts selling new games (going far beyond The Witcher), there are very few alternatives. Even if GOG started selling new games, they'd never be allowed to crack the DRM. If they tried, they would be sued and unlike an individual doing it, gaming companies would know where to point the finger.

[AndreaDraco]

I restarted playing The Witcher not so long ago and I must admit that I was wrong. The game is actually pretty fun, once you get past the first two areas, which I still find a tad uninspired. Chapter 2 is rich and awesome - perhaps a bit too rich and vast - and the story really picks up after you leave the Outskirts.

I still prefer a Dargon Age playing style, with a fully customizable character and richer dialogue system, but I'm having fun.