Actually this would be pretty cool I think. It would be a good way to get friends interested in a game you like that they have no other free alternative access to.
This would be great, actually.
That's quite a major point of criticism on Steam that Valve addresses here. It's great to see that they don't outright ignore it, like many other publishers would do with their platform. Same thing with Greenlight. They too know it sorta sucks, so I expect that it'll get a major overhaul at some point (in Valve Time).
Improvement for the sake of improvement.
Release one single copy of HL3 and make it globally 'borroweable' every 24 hours.
"Dude I was playing that, turn your one off"
Looks like a great idea; what better way to convince a friend to buy a game than to temporarily share it with them? However it probably wouldn't be as effective as demos, since demos usually have a "vertical slice" of gameplay that highlights the various aspects. Kind of like how the HL2 demo started you off at the intro sequence in City 17, but when you entered the apartment complex you were transported to Ravenholm with some guns and the Gravity Gun.
Still, game borrowing is likely a good strat for convincing a friend to buy a game, though with slow-burning singleplayer titles things may take time to convince the player that it's worthwhile. Maybe to solve that problem, Valve could turn to the community to patch together what they believe is a good vertical slice, using a few select parts of the game to highlight the good parts in a custom demo.
There you go Valve, another community-driven idea to further the industry. I want commission, though.
This is a very good idea. I really miss playing demos of games before buying them and this might just be a great alternative
I'd love this, I'd love to lend my dad some games since he has a case of buying stuff on a whim and never playing it again.
If this is implemented I can see a few problems with VAC bans.
If it's per-account banning, then you could buy the game on an account and loan it out to alt accounts to cheat.
Or if it's per-game license banning you could be banned because your friend cheated or had some ban-triggering malware.
[QUOTE=SuPeR_MaN;41093311]This is a very good idea. I really miss playing demos of games before buying them and this might just be a great alternative[/QUOTE]
To be frank, remembering demos does make me feel old; I remember playing demos on those discs that came with PC Gamer and PC Zone, games like The Hulk, Vietcong, Star Trek: Elite Force 2, and of course Half-Life 2, which solidified my dedication to PC gaming. I think I even played a demo of Painkiller back in the day; now THAT was pure genocidal fun, just me, some cool guns, and the entire population of Murdertown between me and the exit.
Ah, so sad that nowadays the machine dictates that demos are not financially viable as a form of marketing, when what the developers SHOULD be doing is making their games actually good and putting out playable demos that show all the good parts. That's where the industry needs to go back to, whether the big wigs want it to or not.
I wonder if this will include dlc borrowing.
[QUOTE=cdlink14;41093469]If this is implemented I can see a few problems with VAC bans.
If it's per-account banning, then you could buy the game on an account and loan it out to alt accounts to cheat.
Or if it's per-game license banning you could be banned because your friend cheated or had some ban-triggering malware.[/QUOTE]
I imagine Valve would work around that by simply banning sharing for both parties involved, and then VAC-banning the original perpetrator.
Since accidental bans happen now and then maybe sharing would be limited towards a set amount of time (i.e. sharing ban for a month).
Yes people can now give away the game's they don't play anymore and we can now trade games! This is such a big step they move from hats to games, congrats valve you deserve it, but really though on the serious side I think this is a good thing they're actually doing but they are taking a big step here but I think the risk is worth it.
Also I hope there is some form of moderation for this. I have nearly 1,000 games and have a hard enough time with people randomly adding me with hopes that I'm rich and will buy them free games.
I'll probably get the same crap but with people asking to borrow games.
I doubt this will happen.
[QUOTE=ironman17;41093480]Ah, so sad that nowadays the machine dictates that demos are not financially viable as a form of marketing, when what the developers SHOULD be doing is making their games actually good and putting out playable demos that show all the good parts. That's where the industry needs to go back to, whether the big wigs want it to or not.[/QUOTE]
Then everyone would justify it as, 'why buy the game if you can get your fill from the demo?' We already know well that publishers nowadays tend to find whatever excuses they can to avoid having to spend too much money, whether the justification is right or not - unless it's fucking advertising, where they go all out or do jackshit for it in an either-or situation - but it's likely they cycle out demos as rentals die off so that people have no choice but to ignore the game or go bust, metaphorically speaking, and buy it outright. EA and Activision especially.
[QUOTE=RikohZX;41095297]Then everyone would justify it as, 'why buy the game if you can get your fill from the demo?' We already know well that publishers nowadays tend to find whatever excuses they can to avoid having to spend too much money, whether the justification is right or not - unless it's fucking advertising, where they go all out or do jackshit for it in an either-or situation - but it's likely they cycle out demos as rentals die off so that people have no choice but to ignore the game or go bust, metaphorically speaking, and buy it outright. [b]EA[/b] and Activision especially.[/QUOTE]
a lot of EA's games have had demos though, as recently as dead space 3 iirc, and that's a 2013 AAA release. battlefield 3 also sorta had a demo with the beta and all. sure, not technically a demo, but still a way to test out a game without buying it or borrowing it.
This makes everyone happy as they can control the number of "copies" of the game that exist at a time but we can still try stuff out before committing to a purchase.
But I think the bans part comes with trusting who you share with. I think I'd only share with good friends / girlfriend.
This is why I love Steam.
They probably looked at the Xbox One and though to themselfs "No game borrowing? But that's an otherwise great idea - we should do that"
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