Whats the situation with steam, it seems a bit forceful, do you need it and is it better?

While it has a rather forceful thrust into your life ie the alternatives are/were not great and they knew it. It wasnt essential ie we used to just buy games in the shops or download them, ie no unwanted middle man shop on your desktop , there are also adverts, loading times downloads, an icon, and a different folder layout on your hard drive

It also seems to provide servers you cant get anywhere else,

What do you think of steam, do you use it do you prefer it, what are the alternatives and what are the downsides to those alternatives?

Is it better to just use steam?

Who wants a shop on their computer?

I use it, I like it, and all alternatives are worse than it, as in they lack the amount of features and games Steam has, among other things such as predatory business practices like EGS.

Like most PC gamers, I also have most of my library there, and like having everything in the same place.

"Who wants a shop on their computer?"

I use it more as a launcher. I don't mind being able to purchase games through it. I don't find it intrusive.

GoG seems to be your bet then, non of that tricky busy-work, just buy the games and enjoy. Don't even need the GoG Launcher for GoG game downloads. Doesn't have the same features as Steam, but overall it's my preferred launcher because of its flexibility.

Worth noting though Steam is just a game launcher/ app store, which P.C. has plenty of. Much of the requirements is due to all the added features Steam offers, as pointless & useless as they can be, some people like them. Steam also typically has good deals, even if weaker than Epics offering of free games on the regular.

No reason to feel focused to Steam either. Some Valve fans can be a bit annoying but what fandom doesn't have diehard zealots? Plenty of app stores, Epics launcher however is too underbaked for my taste, sometimes takes a few clicks (minutes) to even open up a game you wanna play. While Steam throws a lot at you and even window blocks your activity at random times found it less annoying than the Epic launcher.

GOG is always my first choice because you just get the game with no bullshit attached. As far as launchers go though, Steam works well and has some cool features.

It's a steaming pile of garbage. Growing, festering, metastasizing.

I prefer DRM free games that I can download and enjoy without any stress. That's why I prefer GOG. I

I use Steam only for multiplayer games.