FSX-SE What is Steam.

[Mean Aerodynamic Chord 269]

It's the most useless thing in the world

Care to elaborate?

[mmann 72]

 

Care to elaborate?

 

 

He probably has the same problem I have; my FSX computer is not hooked up to the internet. My laptop is but its OS is Linux Mint.

[ohsirus 241]

Steam 

 

   

He probably has the same problem I have; my FSX computer is not hooked up to the internet. My laptop is but its OS is Linux Mint.

 

I have Steam on a Linux Mint Install.

[goates 576]

Other things you can do with Steam is buy games or software through their smartphone app and have the game downloaded and installed automatically on your PC. At least if you have the Steam client running on the computer. Buy the game while eating lunch at work, and have it ready to go when you get home (depending on your internet connection of course). One of the useful features It offers. It is the most popular game distribution platform for good reason.

[mmann 72]

 

 

I have Steam on a Linux Mint Install.

 

I'm guessing you don't (and can't) have FSX Steam running on a Linux Mint install.

[ohsirus 241]

I'm guessing you don't (and can't) have FSX Steam running on a Linux Mint install.

 

You would be guessing right, but I have never tried Steam's Streaming Service from W7 to Linux.

[goates 576]

I'm guessing you don't (and can't) have FSX Steam running on a Linux Mint install.

Not directly, no. However, with the Steam In-Home Streaming feature, you can install PC games on a Windows box and then play it on the Linux one as if it was installed locally. May not be useful for most people, and is partly aimed at Steam Machines, which use Linux for the OS.

[Squishy 0]

Steam is just a gamingplatform where you can buy games and download them. 

 

 "Just" a gamingplatform?

 

It's the platform that boosted or arguably even saved the PC gaming industry.

It's awesome. Praise GabeN.

[BeechPapa 32]

Steam is a good way to keep your game library organized easily. You can download every game you bought at once, restore backup saves, and be ready to go quickly after any reinstalls or problems. Cloud backup and multiplayer/steam network have advantages, as do the often reduced prices on their store. I enjoy having access to my games through their store, but would be remiss if no one, myself included, mentioned its downsides. By that I do not refer to the DRM management issue. I think Steam is actually a decent solution for DRM. It’s the information gathering and marketing integration that bother me. When Steam installs, it attempts to add itself to the run at startup list. There’s simply no need for that, and I’m very leery of programs which attempt to do so, more often than not there is a monitoring or information gathering aspect of one sort or the other. Steam is not an innocent little app that keeps to its own corner. If you open Steam goto Help->System Information you will see a list of absolutely every detail of your system, and probably some details you forgot about. Exact CPU, GPU, clock speed, idle state CPU support, OS, drivers, what software you have, all of your FSX addons, what peripherals you use, virus scanner, updates, etc. There’s even a way to compare your hardware to the average Steam user in a statistics graph. It would be foolish to think this information wouldn't be used by them for marketing purposes, or even sold to game studies to help with their marketing. Could the statistics of currently installed FSX users among the greater Steam user base have convinced those in the market to buy FSX rights (and market through Steam) that such a move would be profitable? We’ll never know, but given that many of us here including myself are Steam users, it’s a possibility. That information is undoubtedly available to someone sitting on a server at Steam. 

 

I use Steam. It’s a very competent, easy to use, and reliable service. But don’t kid yourself about their intentions, or the relationship they have with you. Steam is a marketing agency with a game distribution store front. You are their market, not their client. 

[Squishy 0]

When Steam installs, it attempts to add itself to the run at startup list. There’s simply no need for that, and I’m very leery of programs which attempt to do so, more often than not there is a monitoring or information gathering aspect of one sort or the other.

 

If you only have FSX on steam, then no, it's not needed. But if, like most PC gamers, 80% of your games are on Steam then it's nice to have Steam start on start-up.

I don't run any unnecessary programs and I'm very thorough about this, but Steam is an exception.

Don't forget Steam is also a social platform where all your friends are on it as well.

Besides if you don't want to you can just turn it the auto-start off in settings, or via MSCONFIG etc.

 

If you open Steam goto Help->System Information you will see a list of absolutely every detail of your system, and probably some details you forgot about. Exact CPU, GPU, clock speed, idle state CPU support, OS, drivers, what software you have, all of your FSX addons, what peripherals you use, virus scanner, updates, etc. There’s even a way to compare your hardware to the average Steam user in a statistics graph. It would be foolish to think this information wouldn't be used by them for marketing purposes, or even sold to game studies to help with their marketing. Could the statistics of currently installed FSX users among the greater Steam user base have convinced those in the market to buy FSX rights (and market through Steam) that such a move would be profitable? We’ll never know, but given that many of us here including myself are Steam users, it’s a possibility. That information is undoubtedly available to someone sitting on a server at Steam.

 

This information is indeed used, and publically showed, as you can see here:

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

 

However, Steam won't upload this unless you agree to the survey. It will ask you randomly if you want to participate and upload your Hardware config (and installed software) to Valve.

This is used so they know their market and see what trends are developing. Don't forget Valve makes games as well.

Not to mention it's the survey results are a quite intesting by itself.

 

[Ryann 0]

The Steam platform app that needs to run besides every game eats 100mb extra memory.

It's pretty useless to some. And the majority loves it.

 

But these servers will eventually be gone one day. So owning a wide library of games is risky on the steam platform.

[Mean Aerodynamic Chord 269]

The Steam platform app that needs to run besides every game eats 100mb extra memory.

It's pretty useless to some. And the majority loves it.

 

But these servers will eventually be gone one day. So owning a wide library of games is risky on the steam platform.

Posts like this are irritating. 

[goates 576]

The Steam platform app that needs to run besides every game eats 100mb extra memory.

It's pretty useless to some. And the majority loves it.

 

But these servers will eventually be gone one day. So owning a wide library of games is risky on the steam platform.

 

Supposedly Valve will release a patch, or take some other action, to ensure users keep access to their games. Don't forget too that Steam allows one to back up games locally too so you don't need to re-download them for re-installs.

 

 

Valve has at other times given similar responses, but those responses do seem to be hard to find. And of course as with all things on the internet, take this with a grain of salt, or two.

 

Also keep in mind that the DVD version of FSX is dependent on Microsoft's product activation servers. If those go down permanently, those discs aren't very useful either.

[ohsirus 241]

Valve Corporation is estimated to be worth anywhere from $2B to $4B US, so it's not poised to be going anywhere soon.

[pinlifter 502]

It is the Saviour of PC Gaming. 65+ Million Active Subscribers and just checked there are currently 7 Million users online and top games now are:

 

 

no. of Users (just updated Vincent) B)

754,105 Dota 2

290,357 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

65,613 Team Fortress 2

57,242 Football Manager 2015

32,922 Counter-Strike

35,258 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

35,732 Sid Meier's Civilization V

33,482 Garry's Mod

23,798 Warframe

23,523 Arma 3

       16 FSX