Saw a article on a large number of gamers being over 55 and then I saw this which I believe needs to be addressed in our current laws.
They need to make up their minds. Yes or no question, when I buy something on steam, do I own it or am I leasing it? I’ve been buying there under the presumption it was the digital equivalence of buying CD’s like I used to. That was how it was sold to me, and the law is very clear about transferring possessions after ones passing.
I’ve been buying there under the presumption it was the digital equivalence of buying CD’s like I used to.
Why presume when you can read the T&C?
That was how it was sold to me
I don’t believe it was.
And I’m not here to support Steam/Valve. I much prefer GOG, because when you buy a game on GOG, the files are literally yours to use. Buy a copy, download it to your hard drive, copy it to a USB drive, plug the USB drive into a machine that’s never been connected to the internet (let alone your GOG account) and boot up both copies at once.
YMMV when it comes to online multiplayer over severs. I’m a retro gamer, so that’s not my area of expertise, lol. I think for those, you would need separate accounts to play online together.
A service cannot define stipulations that go against civil law common law, even with when agreeing to “T&C”. When you buy something in a store and then later they go “nono you didn’t actually buy it”, that is selling under false pretense.
I don’t believe it was.
What are you talking about ofcourse it was, and GOG launched 5-6 years later then Steam. When Steam was launched it was marketed as your library of games made as convenient as possible. You lock yourself into our platform and we’ll provide you with many tools like cloudsaves, chat system and online services like Xfire all-in-one, and even when you lose your CD’s, the game is tied to your account, not a physical CD.
When you go into a store and buy something, you tend to leave with a physical product. Not so with Steam.
You mention a “library” of games…when you take something out of the library, it’s not yours.
How do you normally access your games? Through the Steam platform, or by running executables directly from your machine (without needing an internet connection)? Because if you usually use the Steam platform, that was the first hint that you don’t “own” the games. And if you need an internet connection, that was the second hint.
Another big hint is, as you said, the game is tied to your account. Not your person. Your account is explicitly non-transferable (e.g., in death). As well, they can remove your access to your account for not being in line with the T&C.
You buy a drill from a store, then you use the drill to break someone’s lock. But you still own the drill – neither Home Depot nor Ryobi has a legal right to take that drill away from you, even if you get caught.
Again, I’m not defending Steam here. This is why I recommend people look into DRM-free services like GOG if you actually care about “owning” your games.
Otherwise, good luck with your class-action lawsuit against Steam. It’s not like I have an empty Steam library, so if a class-action actually won, I’d benefit from that too. I just don’t think it’ll ever happen, thanks to the T&C which most people seem to generally know and accept.
Remember kids; if buying isn’t owning, then piracy isn’t stealing.
