Shame on you for using STEAM !

[TheGrunch]

Originally Posted by Vyper

So why are you for forcing people to use it?

Because the game needs a damn server browser on launch! It's all very well saying that Steam isn't NEEDED to use multiplayer functionality but that relies on third-party software being developed or updated to do so. Would you prefer third-party software to be shipped on the disc? Can you imagine how the less computer-savvy would react to a game with no default server browser? They just wouldn't play multiplayer, or they'd be up in arms about the game being missing something so fundamental. Steam fills that gap for a developer with much less effort, and that's without considering all the other benefits it adds for multiplayer.

If you were making a game and you had no experience of programming server browser software, and someone offered you a deal to use a service whereby you could a) offer your consumers a professional quality server browser with all the features expected nowadays such as friends lists etc., b) get upwards of 60% of the value of sales through the service c) offer automatic updates to your consumers, would you say "OH NO i LOVE spending all my time on unnecessarily duplicating features such as this instead of improving my game", or would you say..."sounds like a pretty sweet deal for everyone"?