Understand - some of us do (or don't really care one way or the other). Deal with it. Gonna quote something from another forum...
While most gamers / Valve fanbois don't care about steam... it's the first step towards agreeing to having spyware (must register an account with personal info) and adware (Informing you of other products, aka commercials) and bloatware (Several magabytes of crap) installed on your machine.
They need activation? Put a 1 time activation in the fricken setup EXE. (Like Windows XP... except no 30 day skipping)
Need a Patcher? Make a SMALL application like everyone else that supplies a patcher. Also make it an optional install.
Like I said... this is only the "first step". As this crap gets supported... it's going to get a lot worse and a lot more intrusive, as game companies adopt this type of thing. It's also a step towards the "renting software" scheme, instead of owning it.
So, some of us see the writing on the wall and refuse to support it. And I'm talking about legitamate software purchasers (I buy all my games), which are constantly getting punished more, for the hackers/pirates out there. I've taken enough punishment... and I will only allow a certain amount of intrusion. Steam starts to go beyond the line... and like I said... it will get worse as more companies adopt this type of thing.
If you use Steam as a software distribution system... and
only download your games... I can see the value / legitimacy of Steam. (Must have a way to keep people from making illegal copies.)
However, if you go to the store, and purchase the CDs... that's an entirely different matter... as far as what Steam means to the future of software distribution and intrusive methods.
Get your games from GOG DAMMIT!