Steam, like all things, has pros and cons. For example, If your account gets banned or blocked, you can't download or play games through that steam account. Although if a game is already installed, steam may not necessarily be needed. Besides, if you are abiding by their policies, which you are not in any way forced to do or accept, you will not have this issue. And even If you do get your account blocked, there are ways to get it reinstated. Also, steam does have some benefits over other services and physical disks. First of all, you cannot ever break a digital copy of a game. If it gets a bug or something, it can be easily fixed or replaced. Second, I don't think I've ever payed sales tax, or any tax, on steam. Third, it gives you access to a support base, be it game support, guides, or customer support at the push of a button, often in-game. My only real problem from steam is some of the stuff people put on their forums, which isn't even steams fault. Don't want steam? You can use any number of other services, such as GOG, Origin, or Larian vault to get games although they may not have the same selections or prices.