Free Valve Games For Debian Developers

Disharmonic: It might be true for some games (like with self contained directories) and might be not true for others (which have some installation scripts and etc.). Anyway, the lack of official support for such DRM free packages makes me consider Steam to be always DRMed (with ways to bypass it in cases when you can manually backup the game). It's the attitude that I consider bad the most, which is enough of a reason for me not to use Steam. In contrast, HB and GOG officially offer DRM-free packages and make an effort to support the usability of such approach.

Any DRM is DRM, far or not. If the service closes down, and let's say you own a few thousands worth of games there, is it far that you won't be able to install any of them because you didn't have an option to back them up when you bought them? I know quite a few people who avoid using Steam just for that reason. Any DRM is bad.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/18mzcn/i_asked_steam_support_what_happens_to_my_games_if/
http://i.imgur.com/4sa1Ln6.jpg

It is a response form valve about what will happen in the event of the discontinuation of steam. Ask them yourself if you want.

So one more problem solved.

If GOG or humble closes down, will they keep servers live to allow you to redownload the games? (not retorical, i don't know)

fowll: And? Why would you rely on any of their promises? Promises don't substitute backups, and promises aren't part of your user agreement with Valve, so they can always say they have no obligations to keep them if they go bankrupt (they even might not have an ability to keep them at that point).

I agree with Shmeri, the ability to install in addition to play without asking permission from a 3rd party is a requirement for me.  Also, Steam DRM does hinder legitimate customers, consider what happens if your account gets banned or you just want to install on multiple devices without downloading the game again.

Disharmonic: It might be true for some games (like with self contained directories) and might be not true for others (which have some installation scripts and etc.). Anyway, the lack of official support for such DRM free packages makes me consider Steam to be always DRMed (with ways to bypass it in cases when you can manually backup the game). It's the attitude that I consider bad the most, which is enough of a reason for me not to use Steam. In contrast, HB and GOG officially offer DRM-free packages and make an effort to support the usability of such approach.

Steam games are always contained within their folder. That is true even on windows and is part of how Steam actually handles updates afaik. I'm also not sure what attitude you mean. On the Steam platform DRM is an option, not a requirement. Of course Steam doesn't show which games use it's DRM and which not. That is something that they could and should improve upon.  

I agree with Shmeri, the ability to install in addition to play without asking permission from a 3rd party is a requirement for me.  Also, Steam DRM does hinder legitimate customers, consider what happens if your account gets banned or you just want to install on multiple devices without downloading the game again.

You can actually do the latter using Steam's backup ability. Getting banned is an issue but usually would require you to actually do something illegal, like fraud. Though i admit i had heard about some questionable bans several years back, but nothing recently.

Getting banned is an issue but usually would require you to actually do something illegal, like fraud.

Getting banned no longer disables your existing catalog, it only prevents further purchases.

Steam backup ability doesn't work for installation without Steam. And I'm not sure about all games being self contained and not relying on installation scripts. But if you saw this documented somewhere, that's another matter.

About attitude - that was about not providing packages for download easily. Saying "go to the game directory, fish it out and let's hope it will work as is" is not a serious way to handle that. It's dismissive or unsupported in my book. That's the attitude I was talking about.

Not using Debian at all, but it's a nice sign of showing appreciation for all  the work Debian is doing (for Valve).
The guys have done that in the past, and will do in the future. They're doing Debian because they believe in it.

I'd consider this as a little "thank you" of Valve. And I'm sure that Valve will contribute to Debian as well in some extend, as they contribute to linux in some extend (graphics stack at the moment), which shows results already and is a great thing.

That games being given on Steam? Sure. It's Valve, and I don't consider it as a "biggie".

Though, I have concerns about Debian Devs now rather playing games in their spare time than devoting to Debian ;-).

A list of steam games with DRM is being made here
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Big_List_of_3rd_Party_DRM_on_Steam

And for DRM free games on Steam here
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Big_List_of_DRM-Free_Games_on_Steam

It doesn't filter just for Linux, but maybe in future.

Also it's not completely accurate for Linux either, some games have DRM on windows but not on Linux.

I'm confused how is valve doing something awesome like giving away hundreds of dollars of games to every Debian developer turn into an argument about DRM... Did I stumble onto phoronix? Q is that you? No couldn't be not promoting AMD free drivers.

I'd expect that Debian developers are pretty negative about DRM in general, so this move from Valve is rather weird.

Though, I have concerns about Debian Devs now rather playing games in their spare time than devoting to Debian ;-).

Hehe, i wonder how much time they get for games.

I'd expect that Debian developers are pretty negative about DRM in general, so this move from Valve is rather weird.

Mm. Its rather odd but what can valve actually give except dosh....which is actually probably a better idea.

Half-Shot: As I said. Valve can offer something... DRM-free for a change ;)

Valve: Hey, have some free games.
Debian Devs: No, they aren't free.

How much do you like discussing the same thing over and over? Steam is DRM in itself, it requires me to be a Steam user to buy and play the games, that's even worse than having to input keycodes or the game disk to play. DRM is about control, Steam too. I don't want to be a Steam user nor install some crappy client, I just want to buy and play games and I do in the DRM-free online stores. Why do Steam users need to claim it's DRM-free when it isn't?

How much do you like discussing the same thing over and over?

Not very much. Which is why I have been just idly flicking through these discussions lately - when someone offers up a new point I might choose to respond, but for the moment it is the usual same back and forth.

I'm confused how is valve doing something awesome like giving away hundreds of dollars of games to every Debian developer turn into an argument about DRM... Did I stumble onto phoronix? Q is that you? No couldn't be not promoting AMD free drivers.

And derogatory comments like this is where Phoronix culture springs from. Only try and start a fire if you actually want the place to burn.

I wasn't talking about Steamworks lock-in, which developers can avoid if they wish. It's bad of course. I was talking about requiring to run the client and connecting to the service to install the game. It's step 1 DRM, and no, Steam offers no packages outside the service. Sometimes you can manually copy stuff and reuse, but that's not an official support when the service provides a package (like HB and GOG do). Therefore I consider Steam to be always DRMed.

To clarify, it's not about a burden of logging in anywhere. It's about an ability to install (from a backup for example) and run the game without the service.

Using certain software to manage downloads and installation !=DRM. Using Steam to download a game doesn't mean it is DRMed even if it can only be downloaded that way. If a developer decided to only upload their DRM free game as a torrent you would HAVE to use a torrent client to download a game, that wouldn't make the game any less DRM free. In the case of DRM free games on Steam, Steam is simply a download manager. A game is DRM free independent of its delivery method. A developer could decide to sell usernames and passwords to a FTP server as its only delivery method and it would still be DRM free. With the games that are DRM free on Steam you can take the files Steam provides you and back them up and/or create installers and/or packages from those files that you could then proceed to install on any computer you want to. You could do this with any DRM free game on Steam including for example HL2(Yes it is DRM free I checked my self). 

This is cool for Debian devs that don't have a problem using steam. I'm not a Debian dev but even if I were I think I own all of the Valve games. This makes me wonder though, when is Valve going to release Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Portal 2 for Linux? Dont really care about CS:GO but Ive been waiting to finish Portal 2 and to play more co-op for a while now.

"I think you sell arms or you don't. If you sell them inevitable they will end up in the hands of those with the cash to buy them." -Sir Humphrey.

If you want games on Linux you will have DRM on Linux since it's entrenched in the industry... "I for one am grateful." - Rabbit-Tooth Jane

@Hamish http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/derogatory

DRM wasn't what the news was about, you're all off on a tangent and my statement is derogatory? You have to be British... (there's your derogatory)

"I think you sell arms or you don't. If you sell them inevitable they will end up in the hands of those with the cash to buy them." -Sir Humphrey.

If you want games on Linux you will have DRM on Linux since it's entrenched in the industry... "I for one am grateful." - Rabbit-Tooth Jane

It's not as bad as with video. DRM free games are increasing in number, so if you want games on Linux, you don't need DRMed games. It's not "entrenched in the industry". Its entrenched in distributors who are conductive for its usage. But this was indeed already discussed at length.

I think things are going in a good direction. I consider Steam to be a kind of DRM. However they've been getting better since they had me stirred up as a teenager (though back then it was because I was a pirate :P). Not to mention that DRM-free games have been quite numerous lately. I often look for titles on the Humble Store first so I can get both a DRM-free and a steam copy.

That said, I like steam. I'll stick with them until I feel they're evil. Granted, this was my mindset with Google; of whom I've only grown more suspicious and resentful.