SEIV via Steam

wilhil · #1 January 13th, 2006, 09:37 PM

I am just trying to be honest here and not take a one sided look at steam,

I know that if you live in a area where there is no broadband or fast internet then you will not benefit, and should be able to get a cd, or just so you can play solo.

That being said, I think steam will be the holy grail for indies, It allows publishing at a much better rate, and the developer has a lot more control, hence valve distributing games themselves now.

I just hope as I said, it will not be the only choice, As I said, I would personally like to have the option to use steam as a distribution platform, and only that. I own a cd, I can then choose to activate a product on steam, then I can install either by cd, or steam... I am sorry if it is annoying to keep refearing it, but that vid of me showing loading HL on a new machine really does show how good it is.

Frankly, with the DRM overheads, that is not to much of a problem, as much as I am not a big fan, it is much better than any other soloution on the market, I know it will be supported for years to come, and frankly the sort of games being released like SEV, HL2 and more require a beefy pc to run good, so if you have the hardware needed, you will not see the overheads.

I have got here a game called incoming, I installed it, I got a CTD error during loading, as a programmer I instantly recognised the error being a unsupported call that had been taken out the xp kernel to do with the cd drive, I downloaded a no-cd program, and the game worked fine.

I wish I lived in a world where developers did not need to use such methods, but they do, and steam is good as drm because it will always be updated, and game son it, I will be sure can work with my pc in 5-10 years from now. Yes it is a chance valve could go out of business, but that is really not likly.

but on a sad note, I think that pc gaming will become less popular ovre the next 5 years due to copy protection, and things like steam will accelerate it. I remember now about 3-5 years ago, I have always had more than one pc here, I could have a few friends around and install HL, or C and C, or any other game to multiple machines (c and c allowed this with multi playable disks), and have a damn good time together playing games, now places do not allow the same serial key to be used across a lan. I can buy halo and play 4 people on the same console, but I have to buy 4 copys of halo PC edition to do the same thing on the computer... It is not fair! as DRM comes better, I think that pc gaming will die out... well at least for RTS, FPS games. Games like SE will be safe as long as they listen to the fans. I will be happy to play for years to come as long as I am allowed to have a copy on my pc and laptop, and can transfer saves easily! I know SEV may have better protection, from seeing the info that beta testers had to give, but I just hope that I will be easily able to copy folders and the game just works without doing anything. I like copying the folder to a new pc and it just works!

anyway, ending rant, I could go on forever!

JAFisher44 · #2 January 14th, 2006, 12:58 AM

I don't have a problem with digital distribution. My problem is with authentication. The fact of the matter is that if a game requires authentication over the internet, through a company to work IN ANY WAY then I don't want it. Or at least I don't want to pay for it. The problem arises from the fact that I have no certainty that the game will continue to work as long as I own it (which will be the rest of my life.)

Ragnarok-X · #3 January 15th, 2006, 07:15 AM

Quote:

wilhil said:

I know that if you live in a area where there is no broadband or fast internet then you will not benefit, and should be able to get a cd, or just so you can play solo.

There you go. Im not only against Steam on a moralic level, but im also waiting for DSL since February 2000. Up to now, im still using dial-up. I could potentially get ISDN, but still, downloading 1000 MB with 56k or 64k wont matter at all, considering it will still take douzens of hours. So there is yet another drawback, another reason for me to vote against Steam.
On a second note, i cant literally state how many times i have heard and read complains about steam. Connection-problems, authentification-problems, even bill-problems. I can say i will try to avoid steam, or any other online-distribution-platform as long as possible, until im basicly forced to use them.

If i think about it, its actually funny. I dont think half-life 2 was cheaper when downloading it, compared to buying it from steam. So to sum that up, its another way for companies to make money. They actually save costs for the medium and packaging (compared to the cost for the platform and traffic), but they dont give their advantage to the customers, interesting, isnt it ?
ADDTIONALLY, they can basicly save those millions of $$$ for copy-protection, which should have impact on the price as well.

In a direct choice, i dont understand why anyone would prefer virtually downloading something to physically buying it. There is just no advantage, no cover, no extras, no $$$ saved, it will probably even take a lot more time.
And i dont see someone stating "I dont have enough place for that tiny box", because that cant be an argument, can it ?

Actually, what exactly is the reason you are downloading something ? I dont see a single advantage, really..

edit: grammar

geoschmo · #4 January 15th, 2006, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Ragnarok-X said:
Actually, what exactly is the reason you are downloading something ? I dont see a single advantage, really..

edit: grammar

How about "I WANT'T IT NOW!!!"

That's the major advantage to the consumer I see for downloadable games.

Renegade 13 · #5 January 15th, 2006, 03:53 PM

Quote:

geoschmo said:
How about "I WANT'T IT NOW!!!"

That's the major advantage to the consumer I see for downloadable games.

True, but it's kinda sad if a person can't wait for a few days until the game can be shipped or until they can make it to the closest retailer.

Quote:

DarkHorse said:
You also don't need a CD in the drive to play a downloaded game.

I don't need a CD in the drive to play SEIV either. Granted, many games you do, but why is this a big deal? Sure it's a bit of a pain switching CD's/DVD's out and in all the time, but enough to make someone willing to go with a method that leaves you with no physical backup or protection for the day the game is no longer supported?

geoschmo · #6 January 15th, 2006, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Renegade 13 said:
True, but it's kinda sad if a person can't wait for a few days until the game can be shipped or until they can make it to the closest retailer.

You'd think it would be. But you were asking what's the advantage to the consumer. Now you are telling the consumer what to think. That's a whole nuther argument.

What if the store is out? Or what if you live somewhere that doesn't have a lot of stores? What if you just hate leaving the house?

Nobody ever got rich telling the customer to wait.

Quote:

Renegade 13 said:I don't need a CD in the drive to play SEIV either. Granted, many games you do, but why is this a big deal? Sure it's a bit of a pain switching CD's/DVD's out and in all the time, but enough to make someone willing to go with a method that leaves you with no physical backup or protection for the day the game is no longer supported?

Most games don't have the long term replay value where this is even a concern. If you aren't going to want to play the game in six months, why do you care if the online support will quit working in twelve?

Suicide Junkie · #7 January 15th, 2006, 05:04 PM

Yeah, its fine for flash in the pan games... but those games are so overpriced compared to something like SE4.

Phoenix-D · #8 January 15th, 2006, 05:10 PM

Not "online support", though, Geo. If Steam goes down or stops supporting a game you can't even install it.

Renegade 13 · #9 January 15th, 2006, 05:22 PM

Quote:

geoschmo said:
You'd think it would be. But you were asking what's the advantage to the consumer. Now you are telling the consumer what to think. That's a whole nuther argument.

Actually, that was Ragnarok-X who asked what the advantage was to the consumer

Quote:

What if the store is out? Or what if you live somewhere that doesn't have a lot of stores? What if you just hate leaving the house?

Nobody ever got rich telling the customer to wait.

I live in a place where he nearest store is an hour and a half away

I can wait. I guess I just figured other people would as well

But I do see what you're saying. It's simply good economics to have a variety of options, for those who don't want to wait and are willing to go the downloadable route and for those who want the CD/DVD, something physical.

Quote:

Renegade 13 said:I don't need a CD in the drive to play SEIV either. Granted, many games you do, but why is this a big deal? Sure it's a bit of a pain switching CD's/DVD's out and in all the time, but enough to make someone willing to go with a method that leaves you with no physical backup or protection for the day the game is no longer supported?

Most games don't have the long term replay value where this is even a concern. If you aren't going to want to play the game in six months, why do you care if the online support will quit working in twelve?

[/quote]

Good point. But I still think the option should be there, just in case you DO want to play it again in a couple years

boran_blok · #10 January 16th, 2006, 05:34 AM

I think that valve wont be going broke anytime soon. and that if they ever go bankrupt they will release a steam-release patch or somesuch. and if valve doesnt do it it'll get done anyways. steam is being bypassed already today by many illegal copies of HL2 so I dont think it'll be impossible for other games. and yes the legalities might matter. but when valve is bankrupt it's equal to abandonware imho. (which is technically illegal but imho morally legal)