The crux of this thread is the hope that intelligent folks might assist me in deciding if this Steam thing is worth my time and effort. To that end, my knowledge of what it is not entirely uninformed, but my age and general distrust gives me a strong reticence to utilize it.

Before continuing, I'm obviously aware I can read wikipedia, google, IGN, etc for information .... but like bronchitis, I ain't got no time fo' dat. Besides, there's probably a dozen or so people with the intelligence and inclination to hold my hand on this, and I'd much rather get info from you folks rather than out in the wild.

Anyway, amongst the vague questions and concerns floating about my pea-brain ....

- Does it cost anything to "sign-up" or be a member or whatever - NO

- Do I have to always be online to play any games I might "purchase" ... for that matter, is it a 'lease' or do I have some semblance of purchase rights to the item or is it strictly at their pleasure? You can play off line.

- How 'secure' is it? I'm aware of at least one major problem in the past, and while I'm obviously aware nothing is "secure" per se, are there concerns any of you have, however slight they may be? It's pretty secure, I haven't seen any stories about info being hacked or anything. At least not in the past few years.

- Speaking of internet connection speed, mine is next to nil, like 300kb (it's not going to change either, so speed itself is topical non-starter) .... does that have any impact? Only for downloading the actual titles/patches etc.

- Does one d/l the file (like an XBLA title) or do I "stream" it so to speak (like NetFlix)? You download the local content to your hard drive, I'm actually not too sure if there is stuff on Steams end.

- What do I need to know about this anyway? That is, I'm certain there are questions that need answers that I wouldn't think of if I had 50 years to ponder. Download the Steam client, sign up, peruse the titles and such. Buy some. Play them. You can delete them and redownload them at anytime.

So, thank you in advance for your time and help ... assuming you can pull yourself away from the beat-off thread long enough.

It's just my luck some peckerhead on the ignore list is the first to respond.

First of all, a sincere thank you for said post.

Second, I'm at work and naturally that GOG site would surely be prohibited .... but I took a quick read on wikipedia, and got-damn boy, that seems like the ideal site for me. I'm old and crochety and don't like DRM for any reason, even if I never have to "deal" with it directly .... I'm old school in that when I buy something it's mine 100% period.

So, again, thanks.

That said, if anyone finds themselves inclined to offer their 2-cents to this old coot, I'll certainly read it.

It's just my luck some peckerhead on the ignore list is the first to respond.

You have zero reason to have me on ignore, Don. Come back to SomeGuy.

Uh ............. no, just .......... no .... it's just best for everyone.

Anybody know if that's a problem w/ GOG? Steam?

Well I never got around to Deus Ex because after getting fucked over by the the other things (especially HOMM) I was madder than a raped ape and gave it the ol' Mean Gene "fuck it". Anyway, again that GOG thing looks like it just might be something this idiot will have to get around to actually checking out.

Well, I guess this is where we part ways.

Best of luck on your travels, Don.

So why did MS decide "fuck older games" anyway? I'm guessing it wasn't quite that direct, but it clearly wasn't something that kept them up at night.