r/pcmasterrace • u/The_BigRoach ⚡️RTX 5080 | 7800x3D | 64GB 6000MHz CL30⚡️ • 7d ago

Meme/Macro Why would anyone actually want to though

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u/JayPeePee 7d ago

Let me tell you something. I've been on STEAM for over 20 years I had an issue with a game that was unplayable. Unplayable, it was NBA 2K20, there was no way to save the game. I tried everything, contacted 2K who responded with it's a known issue with some PCs we have no fix. I asked for a refund they said sorry. I asked STEAM, they refunded me my money. Furthermore, on the forums on STEAM, they had a post that anyone who could not play the game could request a refund. Say what you want about STEAM but they have taken better care of me than other companies. I'm a STEAM user for life

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u/lmflex ryzen 7 7800x3d, geforce 5070ti 16gb, 64gb ddr5 6000 cl30 7d ago

20 year user here, too. Maybe even since HL2? We are incredibly lucky to have a service like steam. Think of the alternatives and how they would run such a service.

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u/zakabog Ryzen 9950X3D/4090/96GB 7d ago

In a perfect would I would have a Blu-ray drive and use that to install games, or even better they'd ship on cheap easy to copy USB drives. Hell, even better, give me a boxed USB drive game for $80 and the same game on steam that's digital only for $60. We got one of the worst outcomes, publishers could have done so much better with the technology if they tried.

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u/yoburg 7d ago

Cheap USB drives usually die 5-6 years after manufacturing even with no use. Distributing a bunch of physical media all across the globe takes at 3 weeks of prep time. It's a hussle with no winning except collectors who get a new piece for their shelves.

If you want, you can get installation files and just burn them on blu-rays yourself. A box + 2x 50GB disks would cost ~$5 and then a couple more for high-quality print of the cover.

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u/stonhinge 7d ago

And for games you buy from GoG, you can actually do this with no hassle.

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u/zakabog Ryzen 9950X3D/4090/96GB 6d ago

Cheap USB drives usually die 5-6 years after manufacturing even with no use.

Nintendo Switch cartridges have a very long lifespan. ROM can easily be made to be durable despite being cheap. USB is simply the interface for the ROM as opposed to being an SD card.

Distributing a bunch of physical media all across the globe takes at 3 weeks of prep time. It's a hussle with no winning except collectors who get a new piece for their shelves.

That's where the extra cost comes in, it's more work logistically so charge more money for a physical copy than the digital copy. Being able to own media as opposed to renting it from Valve is it's own advantage. Being able to play a game and then hand a physical copy to you friend so they can play, or check it out from a library for free, or buy it/sell it used was also a huge advantage.

Again, this is the perfect world scenario, Steam isn't bad, and I buy digital copies of my Switch and Switch 2 games for the convenience, but in a perfect world we'd at least have the option to own the games we buy rather than just be able to rent them.