FAT Steam Group

Notahandle wrote:

Yes, but... I need to spring clean and backup before I'm willing to set up Boot Camp and install XP. The weekend offer will certainly expire before I finish. Steam is a download and I've been unable to discover if I can resell the game later. So I either take a chance now or wait until the next time it's on offer. (Which could be months and far too long to wait!)

Oh, I see. Hmm. Unfortunately, you can't resell any game on Steam (see https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?s=7b6ea048ebb81710037fa4345d92160d&ref=6262-QXCN-0755 ). When you buy, you have two options: purchase for yourself or purchase as a gift. Once you've made your choice, you're stuck with it. (And the gift option has limitations, too, based on pricing in different regions.)

Yeah, based on previous Steam sales, I wouldn't expect to see an offer for a long time after this. I'd expect the price to drop (as normal) to $40 within a couple of months, but that's it for a while.

why is steam allowed to get away with this ridiculous "no resale" policy? you bought the game, you should be able to do what you like with it.

i was almost scuppered by this last week, i bought a physical copy of a game on ebay, but you had to register it on steam. it wouldn't let me, even though the original owner had un-registered it. i submitted a support request and was asked for a photo of the receipt to prove i was the original owner, which could not be taken from a re-seller or ebay. so i ordered the game on some website, cancelled the order, and sent a screenshot of my order to steam. huzzah, they bought it, and i was able to play the game that was rightfully mine in the first place. fucking joke. i love steam in general but this kid of bollocks is ridiculous.

moss_icon wrote:

why is steam allowed to get away with this ridiculous "no resale" policy? you bought the game, you should be able to do what you like with it.

Because you're not actually buying the game. You're buying a subscription to access the game.

This is actually not unique to Steam, either. If you look at the EULA of virtually all software, you'll see that it says you don't actually own it, but have the right to use the software under certain conditions. Essentially, you buy a license to use the software, not the software itself. Most EULAs I've seen, in particular, state that the right to resell the game (really, to resell the license to the game) is expressly denied. Under these conditions, you're actually not allowed to buy a game from someone else other than the retailer. The thing is, this has been mostly ignored, since it was essentially unenforceable until recently. Until Steam (and others like it) came around, most game copy-protection schemes like CD keys and such didn't connect anywhere to confirm that that license was valid and not in use by someone else.

Supposedly, this has to do with the problems associated with managing IP. Or it might just be this way because people are cocksuckers.

Bullwinkle wrote:

moss_icon wrote:

why is steam allowed to get away with this ridiculous "no resale" policy? you bought the game, you should be able to do what you like with it.

Because you're not actually buying the game. You're buying a subscription to access the game.

what a horrible, sneaky, bullshit way of doing business. thanks for the explanation! i had no idea.

Bullwinkle wrote:
"Yeah, based on previous Steam sales, I wouldn't expect to see an offer for a long time after this. I'd expect the price to drop (as normal) to $40 within a couple of months, but that's it for a while."
That's about what I figured. Either I take a punt or waste a lot of time trying to find a cheap deal on ebay (which won't happen until the steam price comes down).

"This is actually not unique to Steam, either. If you look at the EULA of virtually all software, you'll see that it says you don't actually own it, but have the right to use the software under certain conditions."
It's been this way for a long, long time. It's why I prefer the shareware route: they're usually far more reasonable in allowing home users some flexibility. Part of why I believe the major software houses get away with it is because most people don't know how it works. Who the hell actually reads the EULA? I noticed it when some became blatantly stupid: 'by removing the shrinkwrap you agree to the EULA', i.e. before you can possibly have read it. The way Steam enforces it does make me acutely uncomfortable, I find it very insidious.

"Supposedly, this has to do with the problems associated with managing IP. Or it might just be this way because people are cocksuckers."
Hmm, let me think . . . Yep, definitely cocksuckers! AKA "tHey Fucking Dick then Bullshit"

moss_icon wrote:

why is steam allowed to get away with this ridiculous "no resale" policy? you bought the game, you should be able to do what you like with it.

i was almost scuppered by this last week, i bought a physical copy of a game on ebay, but you had to register it on steam. it wouldn't let me, even though the original owner had un-registered it. i submitted a support request and was asked for a photo of the receipt to prove i was the original owner, which could not be taken from a re-seller or ebay. so i ordered the game on some website, cancelled the order, and sent a screenshot of my order to steam. huzzah, they bought it, and i was able to play the game that was rightfully mine in the first place. fucking joke. i love steam in general but this kid of bollocks is ridiculous.

The problem is that you can't "unregister" a copy once it's been registered on Steam. I cringe when I see "used" copies of things like Left 4 Dead on Ebay, because they're really just selling you a disc that you could use to install the game instead of the game itself. I think people just don't know that you can't resell something once you put the key into Steam. I know people who get around this by creating a new Steam account for every game they buy, so if they want to sell a game they just sell the account with that game attached. At first I thought that was a goofy thing to do, but after seeing situations like yours I can understand why they do it.

Which one of you guys has the Steam ID: Titus, the Helpful Padlock?

After further research I have found:-
YouTube video showing L4d working on a Mac.
Steam forum re Macs.
The short version? I'm purchasing it today, even if I have to wait a week to finish my spring cleaning and set up Boot Camp.

Bullwinkle wrote:
"Which one of you guys has the Steam ID: Titus, the Helpful Padlock?"
Does that imply that Titearse, the Helpless Pillock has been taken?

Fucking great! Tried to buy L4d but registering has twice said "Your account creation request failed, please try again later."

EDIT- Thought I'd try to login anyway and it worked. Account created despite the error message. Idiots. (L4d bought.)

Mr Skeletor wrote:
"Join up assclowns."
Assclown #10 reporting in, Sir!

EDIT- That'll do for my Headline. Now what can I possibly use for a Summary...

Notahandle wrote:

EDIT- Thought I'd try to login anyway and it worked. Account created despite the error message. Idiots. (L4d bought.)

Excellent! Let us know when you're ready to kill some zombies. moss_icon and I started a nice shoot-'em-up last night, then Skelly joined us, too. I'd invited Titus to the chat, too, whoever he is, but he never showed. Titearse, neither.

Some random jackass joined after mossman passed out, and he had his mic open the whole the game. This is why I hate playing with people I don't know. Everything had this ridiculous echo, and I could swear we were listening to Radio Pakistan at some point.

Hopefully I'll be ready to roll by next weekend. Remember I'm in England, so that might make for some weird timing for someone if we're covering three continents!

Isn't there some way of setting up a closed game, in order to avoid random people joining in?

yes, it's easy to set a 'friends only' game where you invite people. are you in the F:AT steam group sir? makes it easier to find people to play with.

moss had originally set the permission for the game so only Frank could join, so it was just me and him with 2 AIs to begin before Frank came and took over one of the AIs. When moss left, Frank changed the permission to open it to other people. That's when the wanker with the open mic came in.

We had three continents last night once Mr. S joined; of course, moss was up pretty late. As for meeting up, I just looked to see who was signed in (online) and not in-game at the time and invited them to chat. If people were in the mood for a game, that's cool, otherwise, I'll do something else.