Where do you download your games from, besides Steam?

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AlexKid

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Most PC gamers have an account with Steam and enjoy the service. Valve has almost single-handedly, saved PC gaming from the abyss it was heading towards several years ago. However, there are also many PC gamers who are not quite happy with Steam, some citing bad customer service.

Personally, I've never had any problems with Steam but I don't download all my games from there either. I make use of other portals such as GoG, Desura, itch.io, Indie Game Stand and even G2A. 

Do you download your games exclusively from Steam or do use other portals?

If you use other portals, which are your favorites?
 
I use other sites but prefer steam. I like gog.com as well. Those are my two primary sources, and sometimes origin, then all the bundle sale sites but they use the steam platformlike indie gala, humble bundle, flying bundle, bundle stars etc
 
Honestly I don't use Steam at all. Not because I don't like it or something like that but just because it's useless. Why would I need a third party software for downloading a game that can be downloaded directly from the official retail site?
 
When I was younger, I did not like Steam because it was an awkward piece of software to use. It also crashed a lot. Then again, that was during the first two to three years of its initial start-up. Since then, I am more partial to buying games from various places to redeem on Steam. I find the Steam portal to be very convenient. Plus having the ability to sell trading cards a bit more enticing for me. The auto-updating for games is a great feature.

The other game retailers I get my games from would be Great Old Games (GOG). I like their new GOG Galaxy app. It has room to grow and stabilize. I also buy games from GamersGate, GreenManGaming and Humble Bundle. Years ago, I used to buy from Direct2Drive, but their service is archaic at best and their prices are not competitive at all. I also use Origin (EA) every now and then.

vengeance said:
Honestly I don't use Steam at all. Not because I don't like it or something like that but just because it's useless. Why would I need a third party software for downloading a game that can be downloaded directly from the official retail site?
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I could name a number of things...

- Auto-patching for new updates.
- Acquiring trading cards that can be sold. I've sold about $50 worth of trading cards in the last few years.
- A stable system to connect friends together and play co-op without having to use 3rd party software such as Hamachi and Evolve.
- Bundled deals that often come with Steam Sales.
- Access to Workshops that automatically download the latest mods for the games I want.
- All-in-one place for getting your friends together, share information, achievements, news, recommendations, reviews.

Steam is almost always running in the background. It does everything for me in the background. I never have to do anything extra besides download the game once. It will apply the DLC's and expansions automatically. It will download bonus content like soundtracks and e-comics automatically.
 
I get a lot of games from HumbleBundle.com. Aside from working on a "Pay what you want" system, you can also choose how your money is divided between charities, devs, or the humble tip jar. This kind of control over your spending is rarely seen elsewhere. 
I also heard about G2A having good prices, but I've also heard a lot of bad things. What's the deal with them?
 
Like gripinghip, I also get a lot of games from humblebundle but I always activate them on Steam. I have a few (like 3-4) games on Origin but almost never play them. I also purchased from gog in the past and I love their drm-free style of doing things. I like the prices on g4a but haven't purchased anything from there as I've heard/read some pretty bad things like keys getting revoked and so on.
 
I have used GoG and Origin before but I still prefer Steam since that is where most of my library resides.  Thankfully I have not had to use their customer service yet so far so I can't comment on that.  However, I will agree that some competition is a good thing so that Steam doesn't take too much power.  We saw a little bit of this when they wanted mods to be paid for when that goes against a lot of things they used to stand for (dota was a 'mod' for wc3 and now it is one of valve's most played games).
 
gripinghip said:
I get a lot of games from HumbleBundle.com. Aside from working on a "Pay what you want" system, you can also choose how your money is divided between charities, devs, or the humble tip jar. This kind of control over your spending is rarely seen elsewhere. 
I also heard about G2A having good prices, but I've also heard a lot of bad things. What's the deal with them?
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PWYW or Pay-What-You-Want is really great and all parties benefit as there is a fair distribution of the funds that go to developers and charities alike. Of course the end-user feels more empowered as he or she knows and has control of where these funds should go.

G2A is a European company that unfortunately has a bad reputation for selling Steam CD Keys on the cheap. The issue is really about how these CD Keys are acquired which has caused a number of problems. Sometimes it's through developers or YouTube gaming channels whereby the keys are given away for free to re-sellers on G2A who are profiting handsomely. 
 
I use Steam for games I play online with friends like Gmod, but I only buy other games from them during a sale when everything becomes dirt cheap. Otherwise I get them from a humble bundle or just use GMG cause I can return them when I'm done, money's tight for a college kid that's too lazy to get a job
 
Aside from Steam, I mostly buy from GMG, GOG and Humble Bundle. I think I've actually purchased more games from these rather than directly from Steam.

I also have Origin but only have DA:O on there, I think they offered it for free if I'm not mistaken? Oh and Fifa World which is also free. 
 
I use the Origins site and has been around since 2013 and have been using it since last year, and has played all the games that I have paid for from the site which is a good thing to see happen. The Witcher did the download but had to set up the settings to launch the game and can only access it from the icon on the desktop, and works really well this is the first one and was one special when I brought it. I have also got some free ones like Dragon age Origins and a Treasure hunter one which is really nice to play, and enjoyable as well.
 
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