I've been around for a very long time, so maybe you weren't PC gaming in the 90s. I always despised shit like securerom, safedisc, starforce, etc. Back in the days, that shit made a distinctive hit on performance, was impossible to get rid of, and forced on the media because there was no downloading alternative unless you pirated.

However Steam, I'm glad as hell for it. Single player games can be played without connections (which I don't bother with, keeping steam up allows me to see what friends are up to, join their games, chat etc), and online games it's a no-brainer positive. In an online world, I just don't care one bit if my games are verified, housed, and easily restored via... online!

I'm just not a fan of every company trying to cash in on the service like steam has, all with their own versions like Origin, uplay etc and never buy through those services if I can help it.