Metalmilitia wrote:
you would have to d/l everything again correct?
Yes and no.
Your new computer would not have your games on it, no, and to install them you would have to download them again. However, it's possible to bypass this by simply copying a single (very large) folder from your old PC to your new PC. Steam will start to download the game, realize you already have it, and think the download is complete instantly. If you do have to re-download though, Steam's servers are extremely fast and it will automatically download and install all of your games at once quietly in the background.
Quote:
Would you have to pay for it again?
Not at all. In fact, one of Steam's biggest plus points is that you are allowed to re-download your games as many times as you want to as many computers as you want, without paying anything.
"Sounds too good to be true, whats the catch?"The "catch" is that only one computer can ever be logged into that Steam account at any one time. You can swap between playing your game on your PC, your laptop, or your other PC, or your work PC, and with a lot of newer games Steam will even automatically copy your save files between your PCs for you. But you can never run a game on two of those PCs at once (even if it's not the same game) because you can only have the account logged in from one computer at a time.
If you're just one guy who buys and plays his own stuff, this catch is generally irrelevant. However, if you share computers or games with someone else in your house, this can get troublesome. You need an account each, and a game one of you guys owns cannot be played by the other person.
In summary:Pros:
- Easy access to all of your games in one list.
- Your games automatically download, install, and update to the latest versions in the background as soon as they're available.
- Reinstalling your games on a new computer is insanely easy.
- Many newer games automatically back up your save files to the internet through Steam, and re-sync them with all of your PCs so you can continue you game where you left off.
- Steam has holiday sales that offer big games at rediculously low prices. You end up buying more games than you'll probably ever play because of how cheap they are sometimes.
- New games are literally a couple of clicks away. You can click a game on the store and be playing it in 30 minutes.
Cons:
- You cannot share an account. It's yours and the games on it are yours.
- You can't "resell" any games, ever.
- You can't log in on two computers at once, not even to play two different games.
- If you ever lose/ban the account somehow, you lose
all of the games on it.
- Steam has to be running to play any Steam games. This isn't as big of an issue as it seems though.
As an aside, it's becoming increasingly common for newer games to require "Steamworks". Which means even if you buy the game in a store, the game will not work unless you install Steam and tie the game to a Steam account. This is a good or bad thing depending on where you stand with Steam.
Honestly, compared to some of the more draconian DRM systems out there, Steam is relatively leanient. But in reality Steam gets a free pass because Valve are constantly adding more value to it so that it's pros outweigh it's cons.
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PS3 Friend list name: Pantherxx Wii code 1629-0463-4657-0263 (revised 9/28/07) Steam ID - Pantherxx010 62BLU 75PLD Reactived 7/5/10 
Dude are you the main admin on this forum and you got the ban hammer. 
MM