Steam. So what is it?

[de Carabas]

The new nVidia card I bought came with 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' through Steam. Steam is installed and the game is downloading now.
As somone who has never used Steam before and completely ignored all conversations about it (other than to make sure the SSC will capture screenshots from it) what do I do?

Is there something that I should or should not do with it? What does it actually add over installing a standalone game? Any hints and tips on what I should do?

[FCB1891]

The new nVidia card I bought came with 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' through Steam. Steam is installed and the game is downloading now.
As somone who has never used Steam before and completely ignored all conversations about it (other than to make sure the SSC will capture screenshots from it) what do I do?

Is there something that I should or should not do with it? What does it actually add over installing a standalone game? Any hints and tips on what I should do?

Steam pretty much offers a wide range of games through direct download (the legal kind). Furthermore it functions as a library where you can see all your purchased games and there are some nice features like achievements, screen shots, friends list, ... built in.

They also offer discounts regularly on certain titles.

Not sure if there is more to it, I bought ED through steam, worked like a charm. Even the pre-ordered horizons could be syncd with my Steam account.

Should you have further questions, shoot.

[Schmobius]

Steam is like Apple's App Store, or Google Play, for PC/Mac/Linux. It actually came first though.

It lets you buy games, track achievements, take screenshots, has some chat capabilities, etc., so it's also a bit like Xbox Live or PSN.

[Mobius]

good thing about steam is the following.

game automatically update.
regular sales with AAA games at bloody stupid cheap prices. you can make a profile page, here is mine for example and you can browse all the games I have on steam.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/mobiuspc

I wasn't a great lover of steam when it first came out, but now I cant live without it, I will say that I don't play elite through it as I have multiple accounts so use the frontier launcher instead.

[TorTorden]

Been on steam pretty much since I got half life 2 (steam was mandatory to unlock it)
In the beginning it was pretty gagbysmal.

That was 12 years ago and it has pretty much became the benchmark standard for how to buy games online.
If you can wait a few months to get a game it will be eventually come on sale and get AAA titles for less than 10$.
Put a title on your wishlist and you'll get an email when it's discounted.

Bad things about steam.
Games automatically update.
Even if you tell them not to you will have to patch before playing.

[StaticRadion]

For the few flaws that steam still has it is the most reputable company out there with a trustworthy DRM and marketplace. It is a topic for another conversation, but the Steam DRM is one of the features that helps to keep the company so strong and allows other marketplaces to sell or give away Steam games.

I digress, what I wanted to say is congrats on getting steam. Steam is a great utility akin to iTunes as others have said and allows the complete management of your gaming library. I would however take note of articles with information on why you need to secure your account, how to share your library with others or vice versa, and where to buy games on sale with the Steam DRM without buying them on steam.

[TorTorden]

For the few flaws that steam still has it is the most reputable company out there with a trustworthy DRM and marketplace. It is a topic for another conversation, but the Steam DRM is one of the features that helps to keep the company so strong and allows other marketplaces to sell or give away Steam games.

I digress, what I wanted to say is congrats on getting steam. Steam is a great utility akin to iTunes as others have said and allows the complete management of your gaming library. I would however take note of articles with information on why you need to secure your account, how to share your library with others or vice versa, and where to buy games on sale with the Steam DRM without buying them on steam.

Aye, I have found myself buying old games I have from before again on steam simply because its easier than starting to dig around musty boxes that that maybe contains the disc I'm looking for.

Of course it's not like I pay full price or anything.

Another feature I find handy is gifting games. want to treat your nephew to something for his birthday, nothing is easier than sending him a game via steam.

You can even buy during the hefty flash sales. keep the license in a giftable state and send it at a more opportune time

[FCB1891]

For the few flaws that steam still has it is the most reputable company out there with a trustworthy DRM and marketplace. It is a topic for another conversation, but the Steam DRM is one of the features that helps to keep the company so strong and allows other marketplaces to sell or give away Steam games.

I digress, what I wanted to say is congrats on getting steam. Steam is a great utility akin to iTunes as others have said and allows the complete management of your gaming library. I would however take note of articles with information on why you need to secure your account, how to share your library with others or vice versa, and where to buy games on sale with the Steam DRM without buying them on steam.

Aye, I have found myself buying old games I have from before again on steam simply because its easier than starting to dig around musty boxes that that maybe contains the disc I'm looking for.

Of course it's not like I pay full price or anything.

Another feature I find handy is gifting games. want to treat your nephew to something for his birthday, nothing is easier than sending him a game via steam.

You can even buy during the hefty flash sales. keep the license in a giftable state and send it at a more opportune time

Same here

Bought Superpower 2 a year ago even though I already had it as it was an updated version compatible with more recent Windows versions.

Great tool all in all.

[de Carabas]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Played a game through Steam for the first time this morning and was surprised at how unobtrusive it was. I guess I was assuming it would force you to have overlays and adverts etc!

Anyway, looks like I have some reading to do.

[Feldspar]

Steam has a load of features that you can use or ignore. For me it is just handy that I don't need game launching icons all over my desktop, I sometimes use the chat function to talk to a couple of my friends (and can cyberstalk what games they are playing), it sells a huge load of indy and otherwise unheard of games that might spark my interest and I can bookmark games I'm interested in and wait until they come on sale.

The downside is that Valve take a cut from everything, which can be less than nice for game developers but it has got to the point that if you are not big enough to own your own portal, you have to be on Steam (or possibly GoG, the nearest it has to a rival) to be seen at all.