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| [Apr 19, 2007, 8:04 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments |
1UP.com has a
follow-up from Valve about reports that the Steam servers may have been
compromised ( story). Word from Doug Lombardi is that while
information may have been retrieved from a third-party site, Steam is still
safely contained in their steampipes: Doug Lombardi, director of
marketing at Valve, says, "There has been no security breach of Steam." However,
he does confirm our expert's findings by adding, "The alleged hacker gained
access to a third-party site that Valve uses to manage the commercial partners
in its Cyber Café program. This Cyber Café billing system is not connected to
Steam. We are working with law enforcement agencies on this matter, and
encourage anyone with more information to e-mail us at
Catch_A_Thief@valvesoftware.com."
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| 61. |
Re: GREAT NEWS that valve got pwned |
Apr 24, 2007, 22:05 |
Riley Pizt |
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Why would it guarantee error-free operation I don't expect a guarantee of error-free operation. That is unrealistic. However, customers do deserve some kind of guarantee of operation so that they can play their games whenever they choose in virtual perpetuity regardless of the existence or whims of Valve. Traditional retail games delivered on physical media do have such a virtual guarantee. So long as the customer possesses the media and keeps it in operating condition, he can play his game whenever he chooses in virtual perpetuity. Right now the only thing Valve guarantees is that it can terminate customers' ability to play their games at any time for any reason. And, in mOOzilla's case and others, it has done just that.
And think about where the company makes its money. It certainly doesn't make it off of subscriptions, except from Cybercafe's perhaps. That is no small exception. According to the financial figures released by the hacker in question, Valve had collected nine million dollars from such fees at the time the hacker accessed the records. That was probably a quarterly or monthly accumulation, but even if it were for a longer period, that is still no trivial amount of revenue.
With that in mind, who pays for the servers you play on? Fellow users. Valve does NOT run most if any of the game servers which host its games. They are paid and run by users who purchased its games.
Would you rather have to pay more for a game just so you can talk to someone on the phone I don't pay more now when I buy games from other publishers who do have telephone contact for their customer support. Valve is simply being cheap and skimping on servicing and supporting its customers.
Email and the web interface seems to service them well enough They don't serve customers well enough, and that should be the goal NOT the company's bottom line.
This comment was edited on Apr 24, 22:18. |
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