Swapping from Steam to non-Steam client?

[Velia]

Well, this is rather disappointing and very frustrating. Not a fan of SE or Valve right now.

I'm guessing it has to do with DRM, which prevents an entire section of the community from purchasing the physical CE. Also, Steam's announcement fourms now states the following: "please keep in mind that you can only upgrade your Steam-version of A Realm Reborn via a Steam version of Heavensward – others just won’t do!"

It has to do with Valve's greed. They get a cut from all sales on Steam, so forcing people to buy the expansion through them guarantees them more money.
It's these consumer despising tactics that have made me loathe Valve.

[DragonFlyy]

It has to do with Valve's greed. They get a cut from all sales on Steam, so forcing people to buy the expansion through them guarantees them more money.
It's these consumer despising tactics that have made me loathe Valve.

I wouldn't say it's Valve. EQ2 and RIFT both have steam versions and the expansions are all the same, as is the logins.

[Velia]

I wouldn't say it's Valve. EQ2 and RIFT both have steam versions and the expansions are all the same, as is the logins.

And they are both old, largely irrelevant and were on Steam before Valve truly became avaricious and vile when it comes to DLC.
There is absolutely no benefit at all for SE to segregate PC versions like this. It loses them potential sales. On the other hand, this greatly benefits Valve, because it means they will get a cut for every Steam version of ARR.

This is 100% to Valve. Of course, SE doesn't really care enough to challenge them either. But for this reason I will never make the mistake of buying another game on Steam again, they have lost my business.