Anti-Steam Petition

[Thoughtful Thug]

Man there is a lot of Steam haters in this thread. In other gaming forums I've seen, most players love Steam. I am going to pre-order it not because I own a lot of games from Steam, but I love playing games without needing a disc installed.

 

[Chalks]

Man there is a lot of Steam haters in this thread. In other gaming forums I've seen, most players love Steam. I am going to pre-order it not because I own a lot of games from Steam, but I love playing games without needing a disc installed.

Hopefully the noisy minority will bugger off or put a sock in it when they realise that they're either going to have to use steam or play something else.

 

[Willem]

Man there is a lot of Steam haters in this thread.

I just don't like the way the gaming industry is moving towards having an active internet connection in order to use their products. Requiring Steam in order for people to play is setting a very bad precedent, one that I won't have any part of. If this trend keeps up, soon the only people who will be able to play computer games are those that have a broadband connection for their system. Internet should not be a requirement for computer games, only an option.

Hopefully the noisy minority will bugger off or put a sock in it when they realise that they're either going to have to use steam or play something else.

I'll play something else then. But that doesn't mean I don't have the right to complain about this decision.

 

[Chalks]

Requiring Steam in order for people to play is setting a very bad precedent

How is this precedent setting? Name me one recent mainstream game that does not use online activation based DRM??

 

[snowlyon]

Hopefully the noisy minority will bugger off or put a sock in it when they realise that they're either going to have to use steam or play something else.

actually I would bet if you could get a poll from ALL purchasers, not just the ones who come to fan sites such as these (which in itself really is the minority in the gaming community on the whole) I wouldnt be surprised if you found you were actually in the minority. just a guess and I could be wrong...but please, dont make comments such as the above with having the numbers to prove it. if anything, using this site alone...looks like it is at least 50/50 on the split if not more, and that being in favor of not having steam forced upon the purchaser.~

 

[CivFanMUC]

How is this precedent setting? Name me one recent mainstream game that does not use online activation based DRM??

Anno 1404

 

[Willem]

How is this precedent setting? Name me one recent mainstream game that does not use online activation based DRM??

Fallout 3 doesn't require it. That's about the only recent game I have right now. If it's gotten as bad as you imply, then I guess my computer gaming days are almost at an end. It certainly wasn't the case a few years ago that games required a connection. And it's not just the issue of online activation, it's being forced to rely on third party software. Online companies come and go, or get bought out by bigger companies. I'm not at all comfortable with having to be dependant on some other business organization in order to use my games. Suppose Steam gets bought out by EA sometime down the road and they decide to block out Take 2 from the system? Civ players will end up being screwed in the process. This approach just introduces too many variables to make me feel comfortable enough to fork over money for the game.

 

[Samus_au]

Anno 1404

That came with the TAGS DRM system at launch, with a 3 (or maybe 5) machine activation limit, though I believe it was patched out of the steam version.

 

[Taalen]

I don't have a problem with online activation. I do have a problem with having to run a 3rd party software I don't want to have anything to do with in order to run games.

 

[The_Coyote]

Dragon Age (online registration is needed optional for the DLC content)

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I just don't like the way the gaming industry is moving towards having an active internet connection in order to use their products. Requiring Steam in order for people to play is setting a very bad precedent, one that I won't have any part of. If this trend keeps up, soon the only people who will be able to play computer games are those that have a broadband connection for their system. Internet should not be a requirement for computer games, only an option.

I agree with your dissent on about feeling uncomfortable that the trend of the industry toward pc gamers is widespread. That said. There will always be modders providing us tools to play the game without the need of internet connection. Take Grand Theft Auto 4. It is mandatory that the single player game has to be connected to Games For Window Live in order to save the game and such. But that was easily corrected with a tool (called XLiveless) that was provided by a modder in their modding community.

No matter what, with all the piracy going on. This trend is something that will stay forever indefinately.

Besides, it isn't like the Civilization franchise hasn't ever been hostile toward the modding community like some other developers and publishers.

 

[CivFanMUC]

nevermind.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Man there is a lot of Steam haters in this thread. In other gaming forums I've seen, most players love Steam. I am going to pre-order it not because I own a lot of games from Steam, but I love playing games without needing a disc installed.

I think the difference is that a lot of people that play Civ aren't traditional gamers. Personally, the Civ series is about the only game I play. I also only play single player. I stick for face-to-face board games for the challenge of facing another human opponent. I don't think I'm alone in this.

I'm sure Steam is great if you're a hard-core gamer. Basically, Steam does nothing for me. If the Civ developers weren't forcing it down my throat, there'd be absolutely no reason to set up a new account or run their browser or whatever or ever deal with Steam at all. Nothing against steam--I'd be saying the same the game made you sign up for iTunes or something. It's unnecessary complication for something that should work out of the box.

 

[Sir Ralph]

How is this precedent setting? Name me one recent mainstream game that does not use online activation based DRM??

Try recent games from Paradox Interactive for instance?

 

[need my speed]

Can someone please point to towards an internet petition that ever had any impact?

Just look at the EA forums, especially Command & Conquer 4. They're about as far as way as customer friendly as possible, but they did make some changes to their games, like changing the Avatar and Engineer model in Command & Conquer 4.

What is the use of Steam? It's needlessy complicating things. Piracy gets around it everytime. Just like it gets around other protection. It's all useless. So why bother with it? Yeah, Steam connects you to social networks! Great, I really need that, don't I? If I did, I would've downloaded something. Seeing as I want to play a game, I don't need Steam.

 

[chongli]

Just look at the EA forums, especially Command & Conquer 4. They're about as far as way as customer friendly as possible, but they did make some changes to their games, like changing the Avatar and Engineer model in Command & Conquer 4.

What is the use of Steam? It's needlessy complicating things. Piracy gets around it everytime. Just like it gets around other protection. It's all useless. So why bother with it? Yeah, Steam connects you to social networks! Great, I really need that, don't I? If I did, I would've downloaded something. Seeing as I want to play a game, I don't need Steam.

How exactly does steam complicate things? I find it incredibly useful and powerful. It lets me have access to my games on any computer with steam installed, no discs required (just login and download). It has powerful matchmaking features (which have been announced for Civ 5) that I use extensively when I play Left 4 Dead 2. I also use it as a chat client to keep in touch with all my friends, see what games they're playing and quickly join their game.

It doesn't get in my way. It doesn't moronically insist I insert a CD every time I want to play. It lets me play offline (despite what many people say). It also offers tons of games on sale at incredibly reduced prices and I don't have to leave home to buy anything.

 

[Willem]

Besides, it isn't like the Civilization franchise hasn't ever been hostile toward the modding community like some other developers and publishers.

That's true, but bringing in a third party introduces alot of variables that may not work in the favour of the player. Another scenario regarding updates. In a few years when Civ 5 sales have peaked, Steam decides that it's no longer in their best interest to support the game and stops making the updates available. And just at that time I have a system failure which means I need to reinstall the game. But I can't get any updates for it anymore. A third party does not have a vested interest in supporting a title over the long term. Their only concern is making some money from it while it's still a hot commodity. When that is no longer the case, we could easily see support for Civ 5 dry up.

As for getting a hack to bypass Steam, I'm not happy with being forced to do that at all. That just opens a new can of worms. How do I know there isn't some hidden Trojan in that hack I'm getting?

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I think the difference is that a lot of people that play Civ aren't traditional gamers. Personally, the Civ series is about the only game I play. I also only play single player. I stick for face-to-face board games for the challenge of facing another human opponent. I don't think I'm alone in this.

I'm sure Steam is great if you're a hard-core gamer. Basically, Steam does nothing for me. If the Civ developers weren't forcing it down my throat, there'd be absolutely no reason to set up a new account or run their browser or whatever or ever deal with Steam at all. Nothing against steam--I'd be saying the same the game made you sign up for iTunes or something. It's unnecessary complication for something that should work out of the box.

It is even a harmless program that use about 1.49 MB so that it doesn't get in the way even for a casual gamer such as yourself. Think of this way. The reason why Firaxis is doing this I suppose is that they are obligated to the integration of their game to Steam by the decision that was made by 2K Games having a partnership with Steam, so it will be useful for not only the Publisher to aquire new marketing strategies, but also the fans can be accounted for by new anti-piracy measures. That to me work well for Firaxis, and if they can still do well, then we can still have our beloved franchise continually making the game better.

 

[Samus_au]

That's true, but bringing in a third party introduces alot of variables that may not work in the favour of the player. Another scenario regarding updates. In a few years when Civ 5 sales have peaked, Steam decides that it's no longer in their best interest to support the game and stops making the updates available. And just at that time I have a system failure which means I need to reinstall the game. But I can't get any updates for it anymore. A third party does not have a vested interest in supporting a title over the long term. Their only concern is making some money from it while it's still a hot commodity. When that is no longer the case, we could easily see support for Civ 5 dry up.

As for getting a hack to bypass Steam, I'm not happy with being forced to do that at all. That just opens a new can of worms. How do I know there isn't some hidden Trojan in that hack I'm getting?

But that's not up to steam. Its Firaxis / 2K that decided to support the game, release patches etc. They sign an agreement with steam to distribute it, not for steam to support it.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

That's true, but bringing in a third party introduces alot of variables that may not work in the favour of the player. Another scenario regarding updates. In a few years when Civ 5 sales have peaked, Steam decides that it's no longer in their best interest to support the game and stops making the updates available. And just at that time I have a system failure which means I need to reinstall the game. But I can't get any updates for it anymore. A third party does not have a vested interest in supporting a title over the long term. Their only concern is making some money from it while it's still a hot commodity. When that is no longer the case, we could easily see support for Civ 5 dry up.

As for getting a hack to bypass Steam, I'm not happy with being forced to do that at all. That just opens a new can of worms. How do I know there isn't some hidden Trojan in that hack I'm getting?

Right now all of the things you have said hasn't happen yet, nor will it ever happen. So all the worms in that can of yours exist only inside of your head right now.