Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Preparation for upcoming Steam cutoff

In 2024, my Steam accounts will go inactive as a result of Steam deciding to cut off it's ability to run on OSs earlier than Windows 10.  I have no trust in Microsoft after they decided to blacklist my personal site & this blog from Bing, so I don't intend on putting any more money into Microsoft until the issue on Bing is resolved (which is clear it won't, as is the case with many other sites that got blacklisted backed up by search results when you do a search on Bing regarding webmasters that were looking for answers why it happened & receiving NO RESPONSE WHATSOEVER from Microsoft) & because Steam is forcing this purchase, all further purchases on Steam have also ceased (at least until I am able to acquire a copy of Windows that meets the new Steam OS minimum requirement that won't be taking money out of my own pocket, whether that means it's a gifted copy, acquired with fund donated towards it's acquisition or just ends up being a downloaded/cracked copy).

This cut off on Steam is going to be the same steps I have taken with:

  • PlayStation after their cutoffs on the PS3 on their website & mobile app.
  • Epic Games after they forced V-Bucks to the Battle Royale mode of Fortnite (a mode I don't play), effectively stealing 37,100 V-Bucks from the mode they were acquired to be used in & 4 years of my life from me acquiring them.

COMPLETED or CURRENTLY ACTIVE

  • No further purchases on Steam.  Any games of interest on Steam are searched out on other sites (starting on GOG, then over other PC clients, lastly on Nintendo Switch) or ultimately determined will not be a game I will be purchasing.
  • No purchases of products promoting Steam-exclusive games, products or franchises.
  • Cease all trades through Steam.
  • Deny all incoming friend invites through Steam.  PSN & Epic Games at least had privacy options to auto-deny friend invites or restrict only to friends of friends, which has been active since I decided I was no longer a paying customer to those platforms.
  • Notifications for Google Play Steam app disabled or set to silent (depending on whether categorized notification disabling works correctly).


IN PROGRESS or STARTED

  • Remove/Hide Steam store page & profile links/associations to Steam from other profiles & websites:
    • Steam profile & store links removed from Twitch channel.
    • Steam profile link removed from side-bar navigation links on Twitch/YouTube blog.
    • Steam profile link removed from YouTube channel.
    • Steam profile link removed from Wikipedia profile page.
    • Steam account association hidden on Discord.
    • Both Steam accounts removed from "Other contacts" Discussion in private Steam group.
  • Transfer games on Steam wishlist to wishlists on other platforms and/or online stores.
  • Remove likes & block the Steam Facebook page, as well as any other game page exclusive to Steam or for a game I lost access to as a result of Steam's OS cutoff.


PENDING or NOT COMPLETED/STARTED

  • Start contacting developers/publishers of games that don't provide another PC alternative to a Steam version regarding releasing the game on other PC platforms (like GOG, Origin or Uplay).
  • Publish details about Steam boycott to personal site when PC client is no longer able to be run, including details about how much money was put into the account (over $5300 directly, not including activated keys from other sites/store purchases/giveaways or gifts from other accounts/users) prior to knowing about this upcoming cutoff.
  • Remove/Hide Steam store page & profile links/associations from other profiles & websites:
    • Remove Steam store page links from personal site.
    • Append details about boycott against Steam on every published review of a Steam game on personal site.
    • Find other profiles where links to my Steam profile hasn't been removed/hidden yet & remove/hide it (provided it don't break account linking of content in games or game redemptions).
  • Download official versions of F2P games originally owned & played on Steam (or look at playing those games over another PC platform that also has them, provided they can use the same account).
  • Test games downloaded through Steam to see if they will run without forcing Steam to run when run directly from the executable, make sure the latest version is downloaded prior to the cutoff date.
  • Uninstall Steam games that won't run without forcing Steam to run by running the game executable directly.  Update published reviews of those games to give details about their inability to run after the OS cutoff.
  • Seek out other versions of games that are owned on Steam (or a Steam crack that will allow already downloaded Steam versions to be played without forcing Steam to attempt to run) to play while Steam won't run on PC as a result of OS cutoff.
    Repurchasing those games on other platforms won't be an acceptable option, however purchasing on another PC platform if they haven't already been purchased is & is already being looked into for games still on my Steam wishlist.
  • Remove the Steam Authenticator as the primary means of 2-step authentication (leaving texting of authorization codes active) on both Steam accounts.
  • Remove all Steam game-specific showcases (Game Collector, Badge Collector, Achievement, Rarest Achievement & Screenshots) from Steam profile.
  • Update Video Showcase on profile to only feature videos for non-Steam games.
  • Update details on profile to inform that the account is a "dead/inactive account" after the OS cutoff that is essentially holding well over $6000 worth of games hostage until my OS meets their new standards as of 1/1/2024...
  • Update profile to state other PC gaming platforms I may frequent (GOG, Origin, Uplay, etc.) since Steam became an defunct PC gaming option.
  • Set game activity to Private on account.
  • If PC alternatives can not be found to unpurchased games that I was intending on purchasing on Steam (prior to knowledge of the upcoming cutoff), consider whether paying the monthly subscription for Nintendo Switch is worth it.
    If this does happen, it is likely that most games will be purchased on Nintendo Switch (outside of FPS games & other games that require precise aiming from a first/third-person perspective) over other PC platforms even if Steam ever does become an option to be run on my PC again.
  • Remove SteamLink app from all 5 personal devices it was installed on (Samsung Galaxy S6, S9 & S20 5G FE and nVidia Shield TV & Shield TV Pro) & update Google Play review to a 1-star review detailing it's loss of functionalty due to defunct PC client after OS cutoff.  Look for another means to remote access PC on nVidia Shield TV devices (using single-monitor HDMI cables run under the house if necessary); remote access on Samsung Galaxy devices will remain primarily as TeamViewer, SteamLink really only be used on them when playing a Steam game).
  • Hide all channels on personal Discord server created for use with Steam games (as has already been done with Epic Games games or use the Unreal Engine).

This list will continue to be updated as I have time to work on it & in between starting/continuing/completing steps already listed.

For those who were friends on Steam or would like to add me, I expect most of my PC game playing & purchases will be on GOG until otherwise assured that I will not lose access (or have re-aquired access) to my Steam games based on an operational PC client for Steam (which won't be the case once they kill support for Windows 7).



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