blind biker
King
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2009
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- 609
Do you really think that is a good reason for everyone to be required to use it?
Yeah. If Steam is so freaking good, why isn't it optional?
Do you really think that is a good reason for everyone to be required to use it?
All Steam has done is show that many brilliant Civ players are incredibly uninformed and paranoid about gaming.
Yeah. If Steam is so freaking good, why isn't it optional?
This. IMO I love steam.
Why are you so afraid of steam? Why are you making such a big deal about something you would benefit of..?
Fear of monopolism, dependence on a third party, dependence on the internet, fear of loss of privacy, forced patching....er...i guess that's the list.
^^The above, plus there have been at least a few cases of people losing their licenses on Steam, after being (allegedly unjustly) accused of cheating in multiplayer. Knowing that Big Bro can revoke all your licenses at the push of a pair of buttons must be unsettling.
And as I said: if Steam is so great, let it win on its own merits and make it optional. Let people have a no-DRM/Steam and a Steamed version both available on Valve, and let's see which one do they chose. I guess the no-DRM/Steam version gets more than just a few votes.
Steam is required because they are trying to sell you more PC games. There it is. There is the deep, dark secret of Steam.
To Steamify a game, you have to add some API here and there, but no biggie. That's why there is a Civ IV version on Steam, but of course, there is also a non-DRM, non Steam version of it, existing from before. Valve could offer both for download. And if the Steam version of Civ IV was so much better, people would vote with their wallets. But there isn't such option; on Valve you can only download Steamed versions, even when non-Steamed versions exist.Why is it not optional? Lets say it takes 1000 man-hours to implement Steam and integrate it into the game (a la Civ 5). Now, each of those man hours costs the company wages for the developers, infrastructure, release delays, etc. Its expensive.
Now, to get the same game without Steam, the developer has to implement the same thing as Steam, but on their own (because if Steam is part of the game, you're gonna have Steam-like features no matter what) they now must expend the time to first develop the framework (Lets go with a conservative 10,000 man-hours) and then the 1000 man-hours to also implement it. So the non-Steam platform costs them 1000% more. I don't know what world you come from where that isnt a bad business decision.
It's not because the Steamed version is better for the consumer: it's because Valve can have a firm grip on the customer's balls when they purchase a Steam game.
To Steamify a game, you have to add some API here and there, but no biggie. That's why there is a Civ IV version on Steam, but of course, there is also a non-DRM, non Steam version of it, existing from before. Valve could offer both for download. And if the Steam version of Civ IV was so much better, people would vote with their wallets. But there isn't such option; on Valve you can only download Steamed versions, even when non-Steamed versions exist.
It's not because the Steamed version is better for the consumer: it's because Valve can have a firm grip on the customer's balls when they purchase a Steam game.
That is so compelling and intuitively accurate it absolutely deserves to be quoted for emphasis.
+!
I don't like having to use any additional software other than the game. I don't like digital distribution; I want my old fashioned hard copy that I can dust off and reinstall 10 years from now if I so desire. I don't like requiring an internet connection for anything but inherently online games. And I despise any kind of activation.
As for your second comment there: Which company these days does not want a firm grip on the proverbial balls?
GameStop recently broke the street date on Demigod, and you've said that it could be a test case for just how rampant piracy is. Is it a problem?
We know that piracy exists in massive levels. We don't put any copy protection on our retail CDs. We do know, because our games connect to our servers, how many people are playing the pirated version. It's huge. I mean HUGE.
Demigod may be the most popular game in a very long time based on the numbers we're seeing. That said, our position has been that 98 percent of those people would never have bought the game. I don't want to do anything that inconveniences our legitimate customers because even if I stop all piracy, I don't agree that it would noticably increase our sales.
Piracy is more of an annoying thing. It's an ego thing. You put your heart and soul into a game and you see someone playing it online who stole it. It pisses you off. You're just really mad. You have to take a step back and say, "if you had stopped them from pirating it, would they have bought it?" The answer is probably no.
I refer you to this:
quote from 2009 interview of Brad Wardell on Gamestop
Wardell sounds like a smart business man to me. Respectful, reasonable, and gracious too.
But then, I guess some people actually like having it locked up in a cage
Some people have no sense of humor
Because as said above, they're uninformed, or paranoid.
Hey welcome to the software world.
Do you use Windows? Wups, that meets your criteria.
Why is it not optional? Lets say it takes 1000 man-hours to implement Steam and integrate it into the game (a la Civ 5). Now, each of those man hours costs the company wages for the developers, infrastructure, release delays, etc. Its expensive.
And because it provides saving capability, integrated community features, easy access to patching, easy distribution (practically free even), achievements, multiplayer, list goes on.
It still asks for an internet activation, if that isn't possible you have to call customer support which isn't always that quick.Internet...no.
Unless I'm completely off my rocker today, I'm pretty sure Windows has forced patches. Yesterday it popped up that STUPID window telling me I have to restart my computer so it can apply the update, and I could only put it off for 15 minutes before it would pop up again.Forced patching...no.
Fear of monopolism...doesn't count, there's already one.
The licensing or whatever to use Steam and Steamworks in your game is free, it costs the developer money since they still have to pay their staff to implement Steamworks into the game (but, because Steamworks has a number of different (and optional, the developer gets to choose which ones they want to use) features built in/supported already it is supposed to save the developer from having to develop all those features themselves. If a game uses Steamworks, than all PC versions of that game are going to use it. It would be stupid to have Steamworks and non-Steamworks versions as for the non-Steamworks one they would have to also develope all the features that were already provided by Steamworks themselves, costing the developer a lot more money in wages and time used.I guess you're talking about Valve, right?
Because usage of Steamworks is for companies free, at least that's what one of the biggest Valve fan ever is always telling me.
It still asks for an internet activation, if that isn't possible you have to call customer support which isn't always that quick.
Unless I'm completely off my rocker today, I'm pretty sure Windows has forced patches. Yesterday it popped up that STUPID window telling me I have to restart my computer so it can apply the update, and I could only put it off for 15 minutes before it would pop up again.
The licensing or whatever to use Steam and Steamworks in your game is free, it costs the developer money since they still have to pay their staff to implement Steamworks into the game (but, because Steamworks has a number of different (and optional, the developer gets to choose which ones they want to use) features built in/supported already it is supposed to save the developer from having to develop all those features themselves. If a game uses Steamworks, than all PC versions of that game are going to use it. It would be stupid to have Steamworks and non-Steamworks versions as for the non-Steamworks one they would have to also develope all the features that were already provided by Steamworks themselves, costing the developer a lot more money in wages and time used.
No idea whom this "valve's biggest fan ever" is supposed to be, everyone I talk to who is a fan certainly has their own dislikes about different things that Valve does *coughtf2hat-economycough*.
Good to know. I've never tried installing an OS yet myself (been procrastinating).Telefone activation for XP works flawless, and i have to older win version which do not even require this .
Is that a 3rd party application? Windows 7 at least gives up much lnoger time windows, it can be put off for up to 4 hours.You can easily disable this.
On XP and Vista just use XPAntiSpy, no idea for 7 .
A guess I'd assume, but I highly doubt you just "plug it into the game". Games are software programs, not a piece of hardware (where a lot of stuff is plug, quickly install drivers and play!). The coders/programmers/whatever would still have to implement the features and Steamworks into the game, but it would be faster than building all the features from scratch. Someone who actually does programming can probably answer it better. I assume they would still be doing a similar amount of similar work to implement the features if they built them themselves anyways.But if then implementing the framework needs 1000 man hours, then they must have done something really wrong. You don't create an easily usable DRM system, which is, claimed, incredibly great, which then needs 4 months to get integrated.
Good to know, I didn't think you were making a snide comment but I wasn't sure (it is the internet).Sorry, meant another person, not here, which has actually a valve product fansite, and who insists on that.
Good to know. I've never tried installing an OS yet myself (been procrastinating).
Is that a 3rd party application?
A guess I'd assume, but I highly doubt you just "plug it into the game". Games are software programs, not a piece of hardware (where a lot of stuff is plug, quickly install drivers and play!). The coders/programmers/whatever would still have to implement the features and Steamworks into the game, but it would be faster than building all the features from scratch. Someone who actually does programming can probably answer it better. I assume they would still be doing a similar amount of similar work to implement the features if they built them themselves anyways.
plus there have been at least a few cases of people losing their licenses on Steam, after being (allegedly unjustly) accused of cheating in multiplayer.
And as I said: if Steam is so great, let it win on its own merits and make it optional. Let people have a no-DRM/Steam and a Steamed version both available on Valve, and let's see which one do they chose. I guess the no-DRM/Steam version gets more than just a few votes.