Steam - Bad News

[ssw825]

I've played and enjoyed every version of Civillization, unitl this one.

The game leaves much to be desired and it is loaded with bugs and crashes.

The BIGGEST problem is with STEAM. They have NO phone contact support. Basically, they have NO support. They only contact you by email, so it you have a serious problem, such as a total system crash, you are SOL.

Recommendation: Do not support this game or any game that requires anything what-so-ever with STEAM or any other such site. I've talked to the folks at 2K games on the phone. They refer you to STEAM. STEAM has no phone access. In the eyes of STEAM, you are all thieves, crooks and software pirates. Not bad, since I bought two copies of the game (one for each computer). Now the game no longer works on either computer, because it crashed. On one computer, it wiped out my operating system and the hard drive it was on. Before you start talking about a virus, forget it. There was and is no virus!! Now that Windows was installed (complete on a brand new hard drive) the game cannot be either installed or uninstalled. STEAM says it is already registered. That's right...to ME!!! And on the computer that I am trying to get it re-installed on.

The second computer crashed (totally locked up) while playing the game on that computer. Have no fear, that computer had it's OWN copy of the game. That's right...stupid me...I bought two copies of this terrible game (on for each computer. That's $100 plus tax (aobut $120 total). And guess waht I got for my money? You got it....NOTHING!!!

The game itself did have some improvement. Namely how cities grew, the ability to buy land, cities defended themselves without the need for military units inside them (at least for a little while)

As I can get NO help from 2K and STEAM is crap, I now will have to resort to pirating the game. I don't pursue pirate software, but I'll be damned if I pay another $100+ for the game in order to complete trying it out.

Best thing that everyone can do is to boycott this game and any other game that utilizes this type of registration.

I've played "Call to Duty - Black OPS" on the PS3, but I WILL NOT buy it for a PC, as it MUST be registered thorugh STEAM.

If every game player boycotts these games using STEAM (or similar registration sites), maybe the software companies will drop them.

When movies first came out on on video (BETA and VHS), they wre expensive (upwards of $100) and heavily copy guarded ( which added to the cost). Immediately companies came out with anti-copy guard equipment, and all the movies could be copied. Now movies cost $10-20 brand new. No need to pirate copies.

This game, and others , have grown in cost. This one costed $50 ($49.95). Most of that cost is for the anti-piracy garbage (STEAM and other deals). If they spent less time with this trash and lowered the game price (somewhere around $30), folks would not worry about pirating (stealing a copy). Even Microsoft alows yo to install their stufr on 2-3 computers, as does ADOBE and others. Why doesn't this game allow yo to do the same thing? This would allow two household computers to play 'multi-player' on their own network. Registration would be easier and installation and uninstall procedures would be easier. Could people pirate the game then? Yup. And guess that? This game is already availalbe for NO cost, thanks to some very clever 'hackers'.

I bought 2-3 copies of each of the earlier Civillization games. I will not buy another one of this one until two things happend.

1. STEAM (and other such registration requirements) are removed
2. The retail price drops to somewhere around $29.95

If yo like being treated like a theif, crook, pirate or garbage...by all means..go out and spend your money on as many of these game requiring STEAM (and other such) registration.

I hae several (paid for) copies of Civ4 "Beyond the Sword" - Complete. WE play it all the time at my house. The retail version doesn't even require you to have the CD in the CD player when you load up the game. Hopefully, some of the smart folk that visit this site will keep making MODS for that game, as it has never crashed.

 

[mattavich]

I really like STEAM as an application. their support does suck though, but then they didn't create the game. They just distribute it so steam doesn't hold that problem.

 

[Licinia Eudoxia]

I'll avoid getting into a discussion about matters of opinion, and just mention that this site has a pretty strict zero-tolerance policy for pirating.

But that aside, I've never heard of Steam wiping a computer or even causing system crashes. What sort of problems are you having? Do you have any more information regarding that?

 

[Reservoir Duck]

To be honest this post belongs more in the technical support section.

Anyways here is a solution that should work:

1. start steam
2. Log into one of the two steam accounts that you apperantly have
3. Go to the library tab in steam
4. Civilization should appear as one of your games
5. Click it and press the install button which should make Steam download the game digitally

The thing is, that if you bought the game in a retail box the DVD is outdated after your first installation and registration to a Steam-account, since your copy of the game is bound to that Steam-account afterwards. So to reinstall the game on a new windows installation you have to do it through the Steam-account you first registrered the game to. Since I only have a digital-download copy of CIV 5 I'm unsure if there is any way to skip any of the downloading by using the dvd, but a quick search in the technical support section will probably tell you if there is.

 

[Maniacal]

In the eyes of STEAM, you are all thieves, crooks and software pirates.

Steam doesn't give a crap if you are a thief, crook or software pirate. Its a piece of software, not a group of people. VALVe (the company that makes Steam) has never given me that impression either, but each to their own i guess.

Not bad, since I bought two copies of the game (one for each computer). Now the game no longer works on either computer, because it crashed.
On one computer, it wiped out my operating system and the hard drive it was on. Before you start talking about a virus, forget it. There was and is no virus!! Now that Windows was installed (complete on a brand new hard drive) the game cannot be either installed or uninstalled. STEAM says it is already registered. That's right...to ME!!! And on the computer that I am trying to get it re-installed on.

I have no idea how the hell it could have wiped out your system. Like, seriously wtf? I highly doubt it wiped your system, can you offer anymore information please?

However it sounds like all you need to log into your Steam account for the game and reinstall. You don't need to use the CD code again.

The second computer crashed (totally locked up) while playing the game on that computer. Have no fear, that computer had it's OWN copy of the game. That's right...stupid me...I bought two copies of this terrible game (on for each computer. That's $100 plus tax (aobut $120 total). And guess waht I got for my money? You got it....NOTHING!!!

Games crash, it happens. Though Civ5 is a bit buggy yeah.

As I can get NO help from 2K and STEAM is crap, I now will have to resort to pirating the game. I don't pursue pirate software, but I'll be damned if I pay another $100+ for the game in order to complete trying it out.

Are you sure you can't log into your Stem accounts again? You should have one for each game, and you get unlimited installs and don't even need the discs again (download it in Steam).

Also don't pirate the game, you are only contributing to justify the developer/publisher's use of DRM. its not cool, its not a sign of protest, and its also a bannable offense on any respectable forum.

Best thing that everyone can do is to boycott this game and any other game that utilizes this type of registration.

I'm one of the many people who have not had any major problems with Steam, so you're going to have to provide actual proof than "I had Steam installed, and my computer crashed, it must be Steam's FAULT!".

If every game player boycotts these games using STEAM (or similar registration sites), maybe the software companies will drop them.

30,000,000 Steam accounts says otherwise.

This game, and others , have grown in cost. This one costed $50 ($49.95). Most of that cost is for the anti-piracy garbage (STEAM and other deals).

Actually, the inclusion of Steamworks (which includes Steam, as a side note most of the games sold in the Steam store do not use Steamworks as they have non-steam versions) is completely free for the developer in return for having it used for all PC copies of the game.

If they spent less time with this trash and lowered the game price (somewhere around $30), folks would not worry about pirating (stealing a copy). Even Microsoft alows yo to install their stufr on 2-3 computers, as does ADOBE and others. Why doesn't this game allow yo to do the same thing?

Steam allows unlimited installations onto as many computers as you want. The only restriction is that only one computer can be logged into your account in Online mode at once. Could easily be worse, Ubisoft's DRM requires a constant internet connection, if you lose it the game is paused until you regain it (hence why myself and many people I know (of) are no longer considering buying their games for the PC). Limited installations suck too, the thing that is supposed to return a used installation often doesn't work when you uninstall the game and once you use it up you have to call customer support and wait for them to give you allow you to install the game again.

This would allow two household computers to play 'multi-player' on their own network.

You should be able to do that with one copy, just put Steam into offline mode on one (or both) and do a LAN game. Not sure how well this works since I don't have Civ5 myself and as such haven't tried it, but I've seen it done for other games on Steam with no problems.

This isn't unique to Steam/Civ5 either, lots of games are either not including LAN anymore (like Starcraft 2, and many console games lack split-screen co-op multiplayer so in order for say 4 people to play together they would all need separate TVs/monitors and consoles and their own copy of the game, kind of lame).

Registration would be easier and installation and uninstall procedures would be easier.

Really?

Like, seriously? How is uninstalling or installing difficult with Steam? (I am aware that sometimes it tries to download the game instead of installing from the disc, which is fixable though annoying, but besides that).

Could people pirate the game then? Yup. And guess that? This game is already availalbe for NO cost, thanks to some very clever 'hackers'.

Yeah, everyone knows DRM doesn't work. This includes VALVe, which is one reason why Steam offers many other features than just DRM (which while obviously there isn't the only reason).

1. STEAM (and other such registration requirements) are removed

That isn't going to happen, as Steamworks has been built into the game (the entire multiplayer system uses it) and will not be removed from Civ5.

2. The retail price drops to somewhere around $29.95

That would be nice, but goodluck. However digital distribution sites, like Steam, GamersGate, Good Old Games and Impulse all have constant sales no games and some of them have ridiculously priced sales (as in LOW, Steam
's pre and post christmas sales have some incredibly cheap prices for many good games, like $2, I even bought a few for 99c!).

If yo like being treated like a theif, crook, pirate or garbage...by all means..go out and spend your money on as many of these game requiring STEAM (and other such) registration.

I have never been treated as a theif, crook, pirate or garbage by Steam.

I hae several (paid for) copies of Civ4 "Beyond the Sword" - Complete. WE play it all the time at my house. The retail version doesn't even require you to have the CD in the CD player when you load up the game. Hopefully, some of the smart folk that visit this site will keep making MODS for that game, as it has never crashed.

I am assuming by crash you mean froze and/or crashed to the desktop or otherwise ran into an error where it had to exit or be closed. I've had Civ4 do that, and I'm sure its happened. Though it does seem to be a fairly stable game now (it wasn't so stable upon release). Games have bugs, some are more prone to crashing than others *cough* Bethesda's games *cough*, stuff happens.

EDIT: Gotta love it when people rage about something and/or post a problem then never return and/or try to seek actual help. Guess they are happier losing than finding a solution.

 

[The_J]

Moderator Action: Moved to tech support.

Please provide the details of the problem you have.

If you don't have a specific problem, and just want to rant about steam, then i'll close this thread and you should use one of the existing steam threads in Civ5 general discussion (use the search function, there are numerous threads).

 

[Beef Hammer]

Rofl more steam bashing? I look at people that don't use steam like i look at people that still use dial-up, don't have cell phones..... and still think "Fire Hot!"

 

[bryanw1995]

obviously you've never had steam screw up your games and then accuse you of stealing them when you try to reinstall.

It's not pirating at all if the op has already bought 2 legit copies of the game, he's just getting the benefit that he would have gotten if steam or 2k actually had tech support.

 

[Beef Hammer]

Been using steam since its release over 6yrs ago, not once has it ever stole my games, or not let me reinstall them or any such BS that people "claim" steam does.

I even can play my ONE copy of Civ 5 on both my PC and MAC when i take my mac laptop with me, pretty damn nice.

 

[timtofly]

When buying two of the same game isn't best to have two different Steam accounts, since you can only log into an account once. You cannot log into the same account multiple times can you? Or will steam even allow you to have more than one copy of a game on an account.

 

[Maniacal]

When buying two of the same game isn't best to have two different Steam accounts, since you can only log into an account once. You cannot log into the same account multiple times can you? Or will steam even allow you to have more than one copy of a game on an account.

You can only have one copy of the game per account, so if you want to have two copies you need two accounts. You can also only be logged in online on one account at a time, which is a security reason as much as drm.

 

[timtofly]

Why would you have two accounts, if you can only access one of them at a time? You need to have two accounts under a different e-mail and sign-on name, then?

 

[gdmast]

Not only this but How/where i can find the sub forum for civ 5 in steam? In the search machine of steam if u write civ5 you can find NOTHING

 

[gdmast]

Of course u need 2 accounts, one for the game and an other for the forums!!!!!

 

[gdmast]

Sorry mr. J but if u log in in steam and in the search engine u write "Civ5 general discussion" as you say, then u 'll have this message "No results were returned for that query".

 

[Maniacal]

Why would you have two accounts, if you can only access one of them at a time? You need to have two accounts under a different e-mail and sign-on name, then?

You need one account per PURCHASED COPY of the game, not one account per install. You will be able to install the game from your account as many times as you liek on as many computers as you want, but you can only be logged in online one once computer PER ACCOUNT.

Not only this but How/where i can find the sub forum for civ 5 in steam? In the search machine of steam if u write civ5 you can find NOTHING

Here are the Steam forums, all the game sub-forums are listed below. There is one forum for the entire Civ series.
http://forums.steampowered.com/

Here is the Civ forum, though being a Steam sub-forum it is almost exclusively used by people who are having problems (people not having problems generally don't post on the Steam sub-forums forums).
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=221

Of course u need 2 accounts, one for the game and an other for the forums!!!!!

Yes you need a separate account with a DIFFERENT NAME for the forums and Steam website, this is for obvious security reasons. Also please use a different password.

 

[gdmast]

Thanks Prince Scamp i'll try. But as for me, just today i upgrated my pc, so i tried to reinstall the game. The installation of language, directx9 and 11 all ok and then...nothing. Just a validate from steam and after ...nothing! the installation not continous! Of course i can't play the game throw the steam, also from the dvd! (i have the dvd)! Any idea?? How the steam validate the files before the installation finish? why stopped the installation? And every time i try reinstall the game install just the direct x9 & 11 and then ....validate from steam!! Heeeeelp

 

[Maniacal]

Try deleting Clientregistery.blob in Program Files -> Steam and then running it. Make sure you're connected to the internet and not already logged in elsewhere. Also you no longer need the DVD, if you want you can use it as a coaster (although it does mean less downloading if you reinstall the game if you use the DVD).

 

[gdmast]

Thanks!

 

[Eucrid]

I have to say given the problems I'm having installing the game I'm not impressed with steam at all. I bought the game because I love the series but if it becomes easier to get up and running on a pirated game they are really giving me little or no reason to buy Civ 6 or any other steam related games in the future.

Very disappointed with my experience so far.