Civ 5/Steam:Offline Mode Question

And now your ISP tells you that you have to accept those TV channels in order to be still alllowed to go online.
Would you be happy with such an "offer" (without any option) from your ISP?

"Why are you hesitating? Do you really think the cable channels will eat your soul? Are you really such a paranoid? Don't you realize that this is what modern times are about?"
With such questions you might be confronted in this assumed scenario.

That is almost the situation for Civ5 single players now.

Happiness doesn't come into it...It is purely a financial decision at that point...is my internet access worth an extra $40 per month, an extra $60 per month, etc etc. At some point the pain of the extra cost will outweigh the pain of no internet.

This is quite different to the decision process which causes me not to buy cable which is not based on financial concerns. I can tolerate the pain of being without cable so I am free to choose not to support that business model.

The Civ5 decision, like the cable decision is not financial so it is considerably less cut and dried and somewhat harder to identify all the pros and cons than the new scenario you presented. So, whilst I understand the point you were trying to make I would disagree with the equivalence you presented.

Regardless, at the end of the day it doesn't matter what draconian example you attempt to construct, any decision like this comes down to deciding whether the benefit you gain from the transaction is worth the cost (in money and other inflicted pain).

Different people will jump ship at different pain points.

I wouldn't dream of speaking for others, but when I compare the cost of a Civ game and the potential trouble from Steam (which I personally rate low but I can see others may, based on a different risk management approach, rate higher) with the expectation of many, many hours of enjoyment from the game, the decision is easy for me. Do I wish I didn't have to make the decision? Sure, but life is full of such minor quandaries.


Trust me, I really do have sympathy with those for whom the decision is tipping the other way and I in no way believe i have the right to insult or criticize you over your decision. The developers and/or publishers have made what appears to me to be a rational decision and in the process have upset an important minority of fans; an unfortunate circumstance that is unlikely to invalidate the reasons for the decision.
 
Uh...how is this any different than putting $20 in a bank safety deposit box and then losing the key?
Would that be the bank's fault?
:confused:
if you lose the key to your safety deposit box the bank will give you a new one after you provide some identification and thats exactly what Steam did, they sent me a new password so i can log in and play the game i paid for, but they will only send it to the email address that i dont use anymore and they wont send it to one of my other email address that i do use so it like the bank is sending my key to a house i dont live in anymore

and there is nothing you pro steam guys can do to convert me back to Steam. You might think you own your game but Steam actually owns your game
 
if you lose the key to your safety deposit box the bank will give you a new one after you provide some identification and thats exactly what Steam did, they sent me a new password so i can log in and play the game i paid for but they will only send it to the email address that i dont use anymore and they wont send it to one of my other email addresses that i do use so it like the bank is sending my key to a house i dont live in anymore

When you say you don't use it any more, what does that actually mean? As in you can't use it any more? Because you can change your steam email address easily.

Also, I think the problem here is the fact that you abandoned an email account without moving the things that were associated with it. It's not like other services would be no problem if you'd done the same with them - this is not a steam issue.
 
It's not like other services would be no problem if you'd done the same with them - this is not a steam issue.

The fact that other services share the same problems doesn't make it "not a Steam issue".
 
When you say you don't use it any more, what does that actually mean? As in you can't use it any more? Because you can change your steam email address easily.

i mean its from an old internet provider that i dont use anymore. And yes you are correct i can change my steam email account but the game itself is registered with that email address so its pretty much lost forever
 
i mean its from an old internet provider that i dont use anymore. And yes you are correct i can change my steam email account but the game itself is registered with that email address so its pretty much lost forever

Have you tried contacting Steam support about the issue? If you can provide proof of your ownership of the game they may well be able to assist you - especially if you know what email address it was previously registered to.
 
Have you tried contacting Steam support about the issue? If you can provide proof of your ownership of the game they may well be able to assist you - especially if you know what email address it was previously registered to.

yes and there isnt a thing they can do for me

as i said before Steam actually owns the games you paid them for :crazyeye:
 
yes and there isnt a thing they can do for me

as i said before Steam actually owns the games you paid them for :crazyeye:

No, you own the account, you have simply forgotten how to get into it. If you remembered the password tomorrow you could retrieve it.

For future reference, always tie accounts to stand alone email accounts such as gmail or hotmail. And try not to forget your passwords.
 
if you lose the key to your safety deposit box the bank will give you a new one after you provide some identification and thats exactly what Steam did, they sent me a new password so i can log in and play the game i paid for, but they will only send it to the email address that i dont use anymore and they wont send it to one of my other email address that i do use so it like the bank is sending my key to a house i dont live in anymore

and there is nothing you pro steam guys can do to convert me back to Steam. You might think you own your game but Steam actually owns your game

Actually, and this has happened to me...if you lose your key the bank cannot give you a new one as they do not have one; boxes have dual locks and they give you the only copies (normally 2) of one set of the keys.
They charge you a fee (in my case $95) to drill out the lock and install a new one.
You take responsibility for the key (password) and pay the price when you are forgetful.

btw I am not pro-Steam in any sense, I just like to see a balanced and rational discussion without unreasonable arguments on either side.
 
maybe its because im old school but i find it completely ridiculous that i cant play a game that i have right in front of me just because i dont have a freaking password

i mean do you guys seriously like jumping through all these hoops just to play a stupid game?
 
I feel similarly about needing a particular bit of plastic to play a game. Ugh, a physical object? Whats that about. I might lose it, it might get stolen or generally degrade.
 
I'm as old school as anyone...and I do sympathize with your perspective but I have had many many issues with the 'old way' (broken/scratched discs, lost CD Keys, no freaking CD player on my laptop) and so I'm afraid I simply don't see it as a binary old=good, new=bad thing.

Both approaches have their risks and benefits and at the end of the day I don't see one as any better or worse than the other.

I have only had one game on Steam (a freebie with a gfx card) and whilst I haven't have had any problems with the installed client (or with moving it to a new machine a few months back) I certainly wouldn't say it is any better than the old way for an aging SP like myself.
 
maybe its because im old school but i find it completely ridiculous that i cant play a game that i have right in front of me just because i dont have a freaking password

i mean do you guys seriously like jumping through all these hoops just to play a stupid game?

There are no hoops.

A few weeks ago when it became available, I preordered Civ 5 through steam by clicking a few buttons.

When the game is released, I will be able to play immediately since it will automatically pre-load the game before it is released.

I get to instantly play the game the second it is released and I have to click about 3 buttons with my mouse several months previously.

The physical disk version of this process? Drive to town. Go to the shop. Find the game. Queue up. Buy the game. Drive home. Unwrap the game and put the CD in. Run the installer. Click a bunch of times. Type in the CD key. Wait for it to install. Play the game.

Who's the one jumping through hoops? I have to click 3 times and everything else is automated, from registering to downloading to installing.
 
You screwed yourself mate. If you're really that bitter over your lost games then you could rebuy them for a total of $5 in the next Christmas sale. Small price to pay for a lesson in being smart with passwords.
 
why rebuy when you can just get a pirated version for free?

and i'd like to see any of you geniuses remember a random group of number you came up with 5 years ago
 
What a strange argument to make.

You claim they screwed you by preventing you from playing the game, but you're going to pirate it yet still feel self-righteous?

You screwed up. Nobody else is to blame. If you lose something then you have to pay for a new one. If you lost your Civilization 4 CD you'd have to buy a new one to reinstall or play the game. This is no different.
 
but i didn't lose anything so why in the hell should go get a new game disc?

so what do i legally own as a customer? a piece of plastic?
 
but i didn't lose anything so why in the hell should go get a new game disc?

so what do i legally own as a customer? a piece of plastic?

Ok, so why don't you log into your steam account and change your details?
 
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