#Steam
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TL;DR: Steam just made library sharing so much fucking easier and so much fucking better. Instead of login-trading, it's just a simple goddamn invite.
Read this. Really. It's a good read. Because it shows that, full-stop, Valve isn't just doubling down on their stance to make sure that people can and should be able to share their copies of digital goods as easily as they can physical ones, but they're making it better and easier than ever.
But you know how Steam allowed you to, with either friends or family, link accounts with another person to be able to establish an ability to share game libraries with one another? The general gist of Steam Family Sharing was that, with a limit of five people plus you (six in total) on a limit of ten computers total could share account access to willingly mix your libraries. You could play theirs. They could play yours.
This was a huge boon. It was meant to emulate sharing a physical copy of a game. A way to allow children to play games their parents or siblings had bought without having to fork over double the cash to buy it a second game. But it had some major limitations and drawbacks, and was archaic to use.
If a person did not share the same computer, you had to manually log into that computer to give it and the accounts on it access. This wouldn't be a problem if both accounts were used on the same computer, but many households (and astronomically more family and friend groups) had multiple computers, all used by different people.
If that computer, at any point, was hard reset to any point before the sharing occurred, you lost access. And had to do the whole process again. This was also an issue with computer transfers. The whole kit and kaboodle needed to be redone on upgrades. On top of that, the old computer is now just dead weight that you may not realize you have to manually revoke access to.
Putting your account information on another person's computer opens up security issues. They could, intentionally or accidentally, land themselves on your account if the login information was stored. Which could easily lead to purchases or bans you did not want to happen.
If anyone was, at any point, playing any game on their own library, you had no access to their games. Even if it was a totally different game, you had to wait your turn as if waiting for their computer to be freed up to sit at. (Admittedly this is kind of like the "mom said it's my turn on the xbox" meme, but hey, kinda archaic.)
You could not choose whose library you accessed a game from. Not at all. It always prioritized the first library it gained access from, DLC access and multiplayer be damned. If another friend you were accepting games from had more DLC? Too bad.
And yet here we are. Steam Families Beta fixes EVERYTHING about the above issues. By just going through Settings > Interface > client Beta Participation and clicking onto Steam Families Beta? You get:
No more login sharing.
No more computer links.
You can now choose which person's library you borrowed from.
And you can play any other game from someone's library, even while they're in-game. It just needs to be a different game than what they're playing.
Pick five people. Invite them to your family. And now everyone has access to everyone's library. My goddamn library went from 150-ish to almost a goddamn thousand in ten minutes of setup.
Account sharing and password sharing are dirty words that "lose" billions of dollars. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Max. They aren't game storefronts, but they still allow you to access massive libraries and scream like you murdered their firstborns for daring to share your password with your mother after you moved out.
Microsoft tried pushing to demonize and undercut used games sales and borrowed copies of physical games. Remember the first attempt to reveal the Xbox One? People forget, but these vultures tried to make an always online console that checked to see if you were the account that owned the game, even if you had a physical disc, and prevent access to the disc's contents if you weren't the original downloader.
Valve walked the fuck up.
Valve tapped the mic.
And Valve dropped the fucking thing right onto the ground with one feature's revamp.
About the only issues I can see with this are twofold:
If someone sharing your library gets banned from a game's servers... so do you. No one else in the family does, but the both of you do. This is... rather unpleasant, because banhammers can be dropped quite frequently by mistake. I'd urge Valve to rethink this one, but I see the logic: don't cheat and effectively bite the hand feeding you. Still making me side-eye that, though.
If you leave a family you've joined? You have to wait a YEAR to join a new one. It's to prevent people form jumping ship to another group and screwing over who's in the former one in the process, but a YEAR? OUCH.
Problems aside, though... it's probably the biggest fucking power move I have ever seen a media distributor make in the current economic climate. It's the kind of thing that would let so many new games be available in a way that's easier than ever. Just a few clicks to send or accept an invite, and bam. Permanent access to dozens or even hundreds of new games with so much more freedom than earlier drafts of the system.
It's the kind of thing that slaps you in the face with positivity after so many Ls from the games and media industries. And I'm all the fuck for a W like this.
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My pixel art for Steam Winter Sale 2023! ❄️
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I WOULD LET THEM SHAKE ME AROUND IN THEIR MAW IF IT MADE THEM HAPPY
#FORBIDDEN DOGGIES#I LOVE YOUUUU#I WOULD DIE TO PET THEM#lethal company#steam games#eyeless dog#steam#indie game#indie games#video games
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Steam finally deciding to start curating user-submitted tags for popular titles is definitely a positive thing in terms of discoverability, but I'll be honest, I kind of miss the period where Doom (2016) spent several months tagged as an LGBT dating sim.
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Unwinding
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I like tf2 :3
#tf2#team fortress 2#valve#steam#viddy game#scout#soldier#demoman#sniper#pyro#engineer#heavy#medic#spy#ms pauling#the administrator#fanart#conga#bby boyz#my art
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If Kitten Burst hits 100 positive reviews I'll make a free DLC :3
(I'm already planning on making one anyways)
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Blue and Red Obelisk
Yellow and Green Obelisk
12 x 12 watercolor painting
2024
#carmelart#creature#traditional#body horror#bird#red#blue#fire#people#stars#pattern#tree#roots#ribs#adam and eve#fruit#vortex#cyclone#cycle#yellow#green#smoke#steam#halo#hands#mask#eyes#watercolor
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DRAUPNIR FELL BEFORE THE HELLDIVERS DID
HOLD THE LINE AGAINST THE AUTOMATON MENACE ON UBANEA
#art#sketch#fanart#artists on tumblr#daily sketch#illustration#my art#drawing#sketches#helldivers#helldivers 2#xbox#multiplayer#steam#ps4#playstation#gaming#pc gaming#fan art#artwork#digital art#art tag
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The Steam reviews for BG3 are so unhinged and I absolutely love it. 😆
#bg3#baldur's gate 3#astarion#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep#bg3 tav#lae'zel#shadowheart#wyll ravengard#karlach#steam#video game#goty
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Steam Holiday Sale 2013
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So does that mean they have it, or
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#gaming#video games#shin megami tensei#pc gaming#computers#steam#retro#relatable#funny#lol#humor#meme#super famicom#smt#rpg#90s#nostalgia#nostalgic#tech#pc#mac#imac#90's#nineties#retrogaming
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ATTENTION TF2 PORTAL AND HALF LIFE FANS: THE ORANGE BOX IS ON SALE FOR LESS THAN A EURO
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A Date with Death
Release date (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Steam)
English: December 7th, 2023
"You're just an ordinary person... or so you thought. For your entire life, you've been narrowly avoiding death by pure luck... or is it something more? When a strange program suddenly appears on your computer, and someone claiming to be the Grim Reaper says he's come for your soul, your life as you know it is thrown upside down.
As you delve deeper into the mysterious man that calls himself the Grim Reaper, you begin to wonder if fate brought you two together for a reason. Can you resist his charm, or will you fall for the one destined to take your soul?
A Date with Death is a supernatural romance chat simulator visual novel about the week long bet you enter against the Grim Reaper to attempt to keep your soul. Create your own character, from appearance to pronouns, decorate your apartment, and spend the (possible) last week of your life getting to know the one hunting for your soul."
This is a free game by Two and a Half Studios! You can get it from itch.io here or from Steam here. There is also an optional DLC for purchase which includes additional features.
#otome game#visual novel#a date with death#two and a half studios#joseimuke#gxb#windows#mac os#linux#steam#demo#free#gender choice
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