A lot of people knock the whole steam thing, but I myself see more benifits then losses for it, as a developer and a player.
The biggest concern most people have is "when publisher X goes out of buisness then game Y wont be playable.". Now, if i was such a publisher of a steam client, I would ensure that I have a patch stored away someplace that would disable the need for the steam like client. So all people who bought the title could continue to play it long after my company exists!. This patch would only be released should the company goes belly up. No one would lose anything.
The biggest concern most people have is "when publisher X goes out of buisness then game Y wont be playable.". Now, if i was such a publisher of a steam client, I would ensure that I have a patch stored away someplace that would disable the need for the steam like client. So all people who bought the title could continue to play it long after my company exists!. This patch would only be released should the company goes belly up. No one would lose anything.