Confused - advantages between Steam vs. Download

[brdavis]

(Note: somebody shuffle this to the appropriate forum, I'm guessing here. And I'm not looking for a big fight… I'm just confused, and curious, so polite opinions please.)

With the recent talk about Squad and/or Steam "taking" the 64b version away, I'm finally confused enough to ask. I'm old-school: when I bought, I downloaded from the website, and never gave a thought to this "Steam" thingie all the young whippersnappers are raging about. So…

…why Steam?

…why Download?

Honestly because I download, I have complete control over my personal system… which I very much prefer. I can get what I want, when I want it, and nobody can remove something. For KSP that means I always have the back-up version sitting there to compare to for example. So how does Steam work in this regard? Are you giving up some control, and allowing a remote server to manipulate, without your explicit permission your machine? and if so… why would you (the user, not the game designer) prefer this method? Just for the social interactions? Because checking for a patch is something you never do on your own?

Help a confused old-school guy out here.

[Wjolcz]

I think there's been a few of those threads.

Steam doesnt die everytime an update comes out. The official site tends to do that a lot. You just need to dig through some more Steam stuff to get to the KSP folder to install the mods.

[Kerbart]

(Note: somebody shuffle this to the appropriate forum, I'm guessing here. And I'm not looking for a big fight… I'm just confused, and curious, so polite opinions please.)

It's hard to give a polite response when the question is very opiniated and condescending.

Steam's convenient if you have many things on steam. I can replicate games among multiple PC's without have to worry about licensing issues, entering activation codes, etc.

And I do have perfect control over my KSP -- since what I play is not the Steam version but a copy that lives somewhere else on my hard disk. I just don't have to download the latest version as I get it automatically, without having to do anything for it. That's what computers are for. Do things for you.

[LordFjord]

One thing that I absolutely love about having KSP on steam is the streaming feature. Used it a couple of times to show KSP to friends and also to watch over their shoulder, giving tips and whatnot. Good stuff (you just need to get used to the ~5-10secs delay).

This is meanwhile the #1 thing why I prefer to have games on steam if its available there.

[Guest]

Steam is your way if you already have it, or plan to buy a lot of games in the future. It is a platform for lots of games, and a easy way to manage your gaming programs.

Download is your way if you don´t play too much or just want this single game and no other ones.

[thadisjones]

Because I found KSP through a Steam recommendation, and that weekend it was cheaper on Steam than download (I think). Other than that I'm not a huge fan of Steam's quirks, but it's generally less stupid (on OSX, anyway) than a lot of the license management that retail box games get saddled with. Things like limited install counts and the stupid "You must have the DVD in your drive while playing this game, not because it's loading content but just to prove you're the owner" message.

I mean, of course you take your legally purchased game and crack all that stuff anyway for convenience but still.

[Whirligig Girl]

I regret transferring to steam. There's more freedom from the store. But, the Store has no price cuts on steam sales.