Some quick thoughts on Digital Distribution

So, this last week has seen me spend almost $60 on steam sales. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. hasn't really grabbed me yet, but I think MNC and AI War have potential. I also bought 4 copies of Terraria; never have I gotten so many responses to a facebook post as "Free copies of Terraria! Who wants one?" (Sorry, I'm all out)

Digital distribution is a different breed of gaming that traditional disc games, and it brings many advantages and disadvantages. I need to keep it short today so I'm just going to discuss one problem that really bugs me: The inability to share games with other players on a local machine.

My brother and I both have our own Steam accounts. Unfortunately, we cannot share games between us (except for free ones, which shows this isn't a technological problem). I really, really dislike letting him play on my account, and I don't think he likes it, either. True, we could just use the same account, but then when I move out in a year or so one of us would be left gameless. Not to mention the fact that... I don't want to! A personal account is something special to be treasured and protected, not passed around communally like a, a.. common whore. No! She's my baby!

It's like sharing a toothbrush, or underwear. You could do it, but... ew. Cooties.

I would really appreciate it if Valve (+ other D.D. companies) would look into some method of sharing games among accounts on a local computer. I understand that you run the risk of people installing their games all over the place, like a giant net of people freeloading off each other at no cost. Yearly fee being one new, retail-price, AAA game. Whatever eventual solution they could come up would likely be awkward and difficult, but - it'd be something.

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LOOK WHO CAME:

The Sama