As the title states, what are the advantages to having a game on your Steam account versus having the game outside of Steam (especially for MMORPG games)?
Take Rift for example. Rift recently became available on Steam again and I've considered the possibility of re-installing the game just to have it on my Steam account, however at the same time I don't see any advantages to doing this (aside from getting to see the total number of hours I've played the game). Is there something that I'm missing?
For those that aren't aware, Rift as an MMORPG could be installed on any computer out there, signed in with an account, and all of characters on that account would be where they were last left off at. Cloud servers don't apply to a game such as this.
Best Answer
Other than the social features of Steam, nothing really.
Some games will have Steam achievements, collectible trading cards, and statistics (I think it'll track hours played for almost every game) -- if these things are interesting to you, then you may want to use Steam for those games.
Steam allows you to chat with people and show them what you're doing at any given moment in the game. If you like notifications popping up saying that so-and-so you knew in college has started playing Dota 2, then you may want to use Steam over not using it.
Steam will base "recommendations" on the games you purchase and play on the platform. If you don't know what you want to buy, or like having suggestions for such things, then you may want to use Steam for all your personal computer entertainment needs.