So, I'm sure a lot of people here are familiar with Valve's Steam - basically its a program that manages your video games. Get a new computer, you can install Steam and then download all of the games through Steam instead of saving all of the discs.

My question is, Warhammer and Spore are both now available on Steam. I'm trying to find information on this and can't quite find it - if I already bought and installed Warhammer and Spore, is it possible to add it to Steam so I don't need to save that disc anymore, as well?

Steam should auto-detect games you have installed. It did that to me with Portal, even though I installed Steam for something else long after I stopped even playing Portal.

I absolutely hate Steam. It's a clumsy piece of shit. If it's the future - I'm worried.

I absolutely hate Steam. It's a clumsy piece of shit. If it's the future - I'm worried.

x2 after the experience with it on the H2 games it was so hard to deal with we are NOT buying anything from them again. I did try Warhammer(did not like it), but I bought the discs.

I have not had a lot of problems with steam. Been able to download games from it I purchased years earlier with no problems.

The real fun is the fact that you're renting games like HL2, and relying on Valve not to shut down the Steam servers.

Either the game manual, or an option in Steam, should let you add the games.

I was pleasantly surprised when I built my new computer to have Steam download and install several games I had already sold to a used store - non license games that anyone can install.

EQ1 and EQ2 and all their respective expansions are now available on Steam...

And so is Vanguard now. I have Steam, but on Vista x64 I occasionally run into problems playing Fallout 3, etc.

I also don't like the whole proprietary feel of it... and that I in truth have no real control over the products I "purchase." I would feel the same way probably if I relied on iTunes for everything and bought music from them.

The real fun is the fact that you're renting games like HL2, and relying on Valve not to shut down the Steam servers.


That doesn't bother me at all. The massive convenience and benefits steam provides are worth the small chance of having to pay a couple bucks or look it up on future demonoid if for some reason I feel like playing half life 2 10 years from now. I've had zero interest in having any kind of physical product when I buy a game since all games started coming in dvd cases with 5 ads packed inside and no manual. Meanwhile games sold at retail are moving towards being proprietary.

Steam seems to always elicit a passionate hate from a small group of people. Most of it comes from people like who got turned off when they first rolled it out and refuse to try it again.

Of course it's not perfect, but its constantly being updated and improved, and 'clumsy' is the exact opposite of all the experiences I've had using steam over the past couple years.

Steam seems to always elicit a passionate hate from a small group of people. Most of it comes from people like who got turned off when they first rolled it out and refuse to try it again.



Raises hand.. ME ME! Our experience was so horrible I can't even begin to explain.

My question is, Warhammer and Spore are both now available on Steam. I'm trying to find information on this and can't quite find it - if I already bought and installed Warhammer and Spore, is it possible to add it to Steam so I don't need to save that disc anymore, as well?

Short answer is yes, most likely Kelraz. Games -> Activate a product on Steam should work with the CD key.

As an aside, if you have Dawn of War - Soulstorm, you can add that CD key the same way and get into the Dawn of War 2 beta for free.

Haven't had many problems with steam so far and those that did pop up were mostly on my end. Steam has it's shares of problems, but is alot better than when it started.
FYI, they do have a good indie game on steam called "Mount and Blade" for $7.50 last time i checked. It's nothing like Oblivion (More in common with Medieval War 2 actually)but has good battle on foot and horseback and is pretty fun to play. Plus it's moddable and has a pretty good selection of mods already out. Worth a look if your interested in that sort of game.

If you like tower defense games, Defense Grid - The Awakening is the best one I've ever played.

I'm guessing steam is really good for smaller game companies. Having one consolidated place to find new cheap indie games rather them being spread out everywhere probably helps the developers(though I could be wrong). I seriously doubt Audiosurf would have gotten nearly as much attention without being on steam.

Steam seems to always elicit a passionate hate from a small group of people. Most of it comes from people like who got turned off when they first rolled it out and refuse to try it again. I don't passionately hate it - it's running right now, and I have several Steam enabled games. The business model bothers me for something like HL2 though. It's one thing when a $10 game might not work, but when you drop say, $60 for a new title it's a subtle little screw you when the company retains that much control. I like to be in charge of the things I own.

How are you not in charge? Even if the steam servers are down you can still play the game on your own computer (not that I've ever seen them down), its the same as Battle.net or any other thing like that only it allows you to track friends in online games and download the software again if you've reformatted.

That tower defense game is pretty slick.