What advantages do I gain from playing a game through Steam?

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.

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.

Well, for starters:

• All games you own are on the steam servers. You can install them on every computer, at any time you want. Some games even on multiple pc.

• Some games, those that got full Steam support, have their save games in the cloud. So when you play a game on your desktop for 2 days straight. And you want to pick it up on your laptop when going mobile, your latest save file gets downloade from the server, and you can continue from where you left off.

• Since everyting is on the servers, you don't have to keep dozens of cases everywhere in your room. So more space for other stuff.

And steam itself has A LOT of sales.

• Daily Sales
• Weekend Sales
• Weekly Sales
• Summer Sales
• Winter Sales
• If you read this before the first of november: Halloween Sales