The main problem I find with Steam is that games are linked to the platform. That's the worst kind of DRM, it's almost as bad as games exclusive to Windows. It's strange to me that it's not obvious for you. :huh: Try to think of the future : what if you change for a system were your games could run fine, but Steam isn't available ? What if a better platform than Steam becomes available (like the open platform I'm working on...) and you'd like to switch ? What if you just don't want to run your games through a platform layer that is useless to you ?

You know... freedom. Steam is proprietary and it shows.

Oh I agree that it's a good thing to have Steam on Linux. At least it's better than not. But we who care about freedom and the future should work to prevent that games on Linux become Steam exclusives.

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Hm, finally a new multiplayer FPS for my yearly LANs with old friends ?
Wait... it's another fussing Steam exclusive ! :(

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Quoting: tigerWith no triple A games supporting linux, those numbers will never grow. Simple fact. Give it one more year

Why would fat blockbusters support Linux if those numbers don't grow?
The only chance for this to happen is if Valve manage to make their Linux-based box a success.

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Meanwhile, worldwide Linux usage continues to grow since the arrival of Steam, according to statcounter.com.

I give more credit to statcounter than netapplication/netmarketshare. The latter looks really made to appeal to big businesses' websites (they proudly show that big capitalistic enterprises use their services) , its web analytics tool that collects stats is a paid product (Statcounter's is free) and they disclose less information on their way to collect and use the data than Statcounter.
Which means that the sites that use netapplication's tool are a specific kind of sites, and not the kind that the average Linux user will visit the most.

I don't use Steam, by the way. Too much DRMing, can't launch games without Steam, lack of options to manage my game files, etc. In short, lack of openness and freedom.
So instead, I'm contributing to an upcoming open gaming platform that will hopefully compete with Steam in terms of game usage simplification and community features in a not so distant future.

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Love the spirit ! Doesn't make me regret having bought it on GOG, on the contrary. :)

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Quoting: liamdaweDon't get me wrong I know Valve has had an effect on games but I was talking more user base, I still doubt Linux's share has increased much at all from Valve's efforts, I believe it can change and will but not seeing it yet.

It seems my comment here has been skipped over by everyone. :'( Or is it that it wasn't clear enough? These stats I was poiting out are as substantial as can be, showing the direct impact of Steam's arrival on Linux and it's big.

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If you want satisfying Linux stats, check the worldwide OS stats from StatCounter [External Link].

Tiny but steady growth since january from 0.84% (december) to 1.31% (may). Which corresponds to the launch of Steam's open beta (december).

And if you check previous data, it's been in the 0.7-0.8% for years. (november 2010 to may 2012 [External Link]
So this is really significant.

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The first month was 'high' because of people trying the beta. Now the number will stay around this, until the Steambox comes out or another huge event like this incites people to buy hardware with Linux installed. Meanwhile, as long as the majority of games are on Windows, there are no more reasons for people to switch to Linux.

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Quoting: SabunIs this the same Divinity series as Divinity: Ego Draconis? If it is, I wonder if they'd be so kind as to port their older titles as well :)

It is (though Divinity II was very badly under publisher influence).
As for porting their old games, you should ask them, but I doubt it's in their mind at the moment.

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Yeah, I don't really get why the restriction, since it's digital distribution and costs (almost) nothing to send more copies. Still, $10 or $17 is a rather low price and at least the port isn't a stretch goal.

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