Louis XXIV
Le Roi Soleil
I'm just going to point out you don't need high speed internet to get a game validation for a CD-installed game. All it requires is the computer you install Civ on have at least some access to the internet.
Answer to people who wondered why 2K use Steam even for retail...
- Thread starter Rebel44
- Start date
I'm just going to point out you don't need high speed internet to get a game validation for a CD-installed game. All it requires is the computer you install Civ on have at least some access to the internet.
And I can add that the actual activation takes all of thirty seconds. That's it.
The Almighty dF
Pharaoh
The few people that don't get that now are those that don't want to get that.
Hating Steam is -not- a valid reason for hating Civ5. There -are- valid reasons, but "I'm one of the few people who plays PC games and has no form of even temporary internet connection" is not. You're in the slim minority, that's your own problem. It's not Steam's, it's not Firaxis's, etc.
It's like getting mad over new games not working on your Windows 98 OS.
Thats completely fine, I were referring to digital downloads for that bit when saying 'everyone should stop buying boxed games'.
If you don't want to use digital downloads, you can buy a CD version. If you don't have reliable internet in this day and age, you have to accept that you will have to make some sacrifices. It is not an unreasonable thing to expect your customers, especially PC gaming customers, to have internet.
bernlin2000
Prince
Walmart buyers have to wait as long as the rest of us, so I don't mind one bit. All they got early was the quick start guide and some pretty cardboard: we already have the manual 
Louis XXIV
Le Roi Soleil
Yeah, but it's just you saying it, not Firaxis. They still have the boxed version of the game, the STEAM verification puts no restriction on that.
mjs0
The 4th X
Whilst this is true for activation, the concern for those that are still on dial-up is the possibility of a large day-0 patch that must be downloaded before Steam will let them play the game.
No its not, but most of them dont have fast enough download speeds or monthly data limits to allow purchasing on Steam and downloading every game purchased to be possible.
In the Uk for example, you can get what is advertised as a 20 Mbps Unlimited broadband for £.7.50 pm.
However, in the fine print, they apply a fair use policy and cap your data usage to just 40 Gb per month. They are still allowed to advertise this as unlimited because they dont charge you any extra for going over it, but if you exceed that limit for too many months, they can cripple your maximum speed to 64 kbps.
Also, while it is advertised as 20 Mbps, most people who dont live near to the ISP will still only get around 1-4 Mbps speed as I do, with download sppeds fluctuating from 300-600 Kbps, and hardly ever anymore. It is still a lot more convenient, and faster to buy and install games from CD / DVD than it is to digitally download them for most people.
Even in this day and age, 'reliable internet' depends entirely on where you live. Sure america has it, but dont assume that the rest of the world also does. Broadband services in the UK are far from reliable and very very slow compared to what you should be getting as advertised on your broadband deal.
VikingMaekel
Chieftain
All ISP's or just the one you are hooked up to?
I can not fathom that reliable internet is something you can't get in the UK, as a matter of fact, I don't believe it since I have friends in the UK who have reliable internet.
I live in Belgium, just across the channel and my internet, though, expensive is fast, reliable and works like a charm.
PrAyTeLLa
Chieftain
Poor baby! Maybe you should come over to Oz and try our equilivent plan. For $AUD13p/mth you cant get any of these ADSL 2+ plans as they start from over double for 20gb (but 10 of which is only from 2am to 8am) Netspace broadband plans
Edit: Oh, and its slower, and every month you go over they reduce speed to 64kbps for the rest of that billing period.
Ive already been through Sky, Virgin Media, BT and O2, no difference.
People who have reliable intenet in the UK live nearer to London or Birmingham where the ISP centres are usually located. There are lots of places in the UK that recieve poor signal no matter which ISP is used.
You also get ripped off on steam in Ausralia anyway. Civ V is $79.99 through Steam, or $49.99 boxed, making digital download highly unattractive.
Korea has something like 80 Mbps Internet. Also, £7.50 is $12 USD, so its not that much cheaper than what you pay.
Heres an article on fair use policies, and how they reduce bandwidth. You pay for a 20 Mbps deal, and they reduce it to 5 Mbps during peak times, thats exacly what I get and I'm not even on Virgin anymore:
http://www.chooseisp.co.uk/broadban...sky-broadband-killed-the-fair-use-policy.html
Tarkhan
King
You get ripped off living in Australia on everything. Don't tell me it's because it's in the middle of the ocean, because everything comes from China, Japan, or Mexico anyway.
Either theyre being taxed like crazy, and the streets are paved in gold, or the game publishers are making money hats with aussie dollars.
Either theyre being taxed like crazy, and the streets are paved in gold, or the game publishers are making money hats with aussie dollars.
Dunkah
Emperor
Steam and services like it is the way of the future. We "the old salts" of the gaming world who have been playing Civ since it's inception are used to doing things ourselves and having the freedom to set things up or do them as we want.
For me I have been playing video games since the original pong, and tank commander games came out way way back. I have never used Steam before and this will be the first time that I have. I'm not too happy about being forced to do it but then again when I look at some of the features it all looks kind of cool. Auto updates sound great to me. It took me weeks to install some of the mods for cIV on my machine.
My sons who have their own computer to game on have been using Steam for years. To them it's just part of the system and they really didn't know it any other way.
The world is moving to cloud computing, and it won't be long before this is the standard, and services like Steam are going to be the norm for "EVERYTHING" you buy on your computer.
Oh and by the way. I'm not sure why getting a copy of the game before the release date makes piracy any more or less viable but usually release dates are so that everyone (brick and mortar stores and online sales stores), has the same release date otherwise stores who recieved the product first and got it on their shelves or online available first would have a huge advantage.
It's in the best interest of the creator to make sure everyone is on an equal footing so that they are not accused of favoritism, which could lead to lawsuits galore.
Living in the US <> Good Internet Service
For me I have been playing video games since the original pong, and tank commander games came out way way back. I have never used Steam before and this will be the first time that I have. I'm not too happy about being forced to do it but then again when I look at some of the features it all looks kind of cool. Auto updates sound great to me. It took me weeks to install some of the mods for cIV on my machine.
My sons who have their own computer to game on have been using Steam for years. To them it's just part of the system and they really didn't know it any other way.
The world is moving to cloud computing, and it won't be long before this is the standard, and services like Steam are going to be the norm for "EVERYTHING" you buy on your computer.
Oh and by the way. I'm not sure why getting a copy of the game before the release date makes piracy any more or less viable but usually release dates are so that everyone (brick and mortar stores and online sales stores), has the same release date otherwise stores who recieved the product first and got it on their shelves or online available first would have a huge advantage.
It's in the best interest of the creator to make sure everyone is on an equal footing so that they are not accused of favoritism, which could lead to lawsuits galore.
Living in the US <> Good Internet Service
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