Let's say that "a person" went to Steam and looked around briefly and decided that they didn't see what was so great about that website. Convince "that person" that Steam is great. Tell them what Steam has to offer, what you like about it and why they should give it another chance.

Also, it might help to emphasis free stuff because "a person" might be a tightwad (or poor).

Yeah, I would right away tell them about all of the free games that they can play such as Team Fortress 2 and I would tell them that they should actually play some of the free games before deciding on whether or not they like Steam because the free games such as tf2 are what I like the most about Steam.

I'm sorry, but I need to say something.

But first, let me preface that I'm not doing this to offend or annoy. This is an open discussion, on an open forum, and I simply feel the need to speak from the heart.

You know, there's a funny thing about the hatred behind steam.

I've NEVER ONCE actually ran into someone who hated steam that wasn't completely, blindly, vehemently opposed to so much so much as the mere discussion of digital downloads. From what I've seen from every person that I've come across Steam, you either hate them for because the politics involved with it, or you're very comfortable being ignorant about it.

If this isn't your friends case, and he's the first exception behind his, then I'm going to request that you explain the reasoning behind his personal ire for it if you want an actual explanation, because otherwise I feel like you're completely wasting both your time, and the time that anyone else who would actually spend explaining how great Steam is.

Superrpgman : You know this is actually a very well worded response to this question and there was no offense taken. We need more contributors like you.

zanderlex : I'll tell him to look more closely at free games. Thanks!

Perhaps I wasn't very clear when making this thread. This "person" that I speak of experiences no hatred or love for Steam but more of an ambivalence. He saw data for sale (free data did not appear to be in abundance) and no special features that he was impressed with. Like I said he's cheap (and likes to experience awe).

Personally, I'm not a giant fan of steam, it has many issues and I'm not all that into digital games (at least not until I get Google Fiber level Internet). However, I do still use it because of its connectivity; Steam is a great place to connect with your friends all in one place and play games together. Steam also has a bunch of those summer sales and winter sales with all the cheap games (the list of free games doesn't hurt, either). There's also the option to have group voice chat that doesn't seem to be as taxing on the computer as the likes of Skype or Google hangouts. Now again, I'm not so much a fan of steam, but if you were to recommend it to someone, accentuate those features/bonuses. 

I like Steam because I don't like having to get a console and then having to go get games for it. I'd rather just buy everything from my desk, plus it is cheaper.

I love Steam cloud support.  I can play games at home, download Steam on a computer at school, and pick up where I left off.  The option to play with or without controller is nice, as well.  But the biggest reason I love Steam is the sales!  Humble Bundles, 90-percent offs, cheaper prices than consoles.  Those are all reasons to love Steam.  But I admit I prefer console gaming in general.  Consoles are less prone to problems than Steam, plus I can't afford to build a Gaming PC right now.  If I had a nice gaming PC or laptop, I would prefer Steam for gaming over consoles.

Despite loving console gaming more, I game more on Steam.  It's more convenient.