Civilization 5 Steamworks questions/concerns for inclusion in the FAQ

[White Elk]

I happened to know the answer to that question, and I figured I would offer it up to you so you wouldn't have to wait. I'm sorry that I don't have the answers to all of the questions right now, but they are coming!

You will know the truth, when I have the confirmed answers. The last thing I want to do is speculate and be wrong! My job is to get you the correct answers.

The idea of this thread is to collect the questions, and a lot of you guys have been great about bringing them here. Thank you; it has been a great help to me.

And yes, it'll be a while longer before you get the answers. The entire company is very busy right now and it can take some time to talk to all the different people who know the answers to the various questions.

I think I may feel sorry for you Greg. Has 2k has muzzled and hobbled you? Do they dictate what you can say and when? The delay would make sense then. 2k Elizabeth has talked of having answers to our questions, but said she was waiting to give them until she had some big ole marketing dazzle package to release. Still waiting for that. Then she attempts to placate our concerns about Steam by announcing to us that you would help us out with that. Good move, but weeks later... Nothing! Not good. Becoming worse than before. This is all feeling like stall tactics and cheesy marketing untruths.

Why not answer what you can? Shows us some good faith. Do something! Post a list of the questions you've submitted. Keep us updated. This doesn't matter much to me anymore, I am mostly done with this for now... (still hoping the delay indicates that 2k and Firaxis are attempting to alter the original agreement with steam). Now I look for a replacement for Civ. 2k titles need NOT apply!

 

[2K Greg]

Will Civ5 use VAC?

That is one of the questions on my list. I believe the answer is no, but I will let you know when I know for sure.

 

[Drakarska]

That is one of the questions on my list. I believe the answer is no, but I will let you know when I know for sure.

Ah (hands greg a chocolate latte), , Ambiguity at it's finest. Off to my dance lession

 

[Drakarska]

@ White Elk: Elemental is beginning to look rather good at this point bro. So far the research has been promising. Besides, need something to do before Halo: Reach comes out and occupies the kids and my time. The significant other may get a little preturbed, but i can probably make it up to her

Hmmnnn. Wait a tic. Doesn't Reach also come out in September? heh, could be fun as well.

 

[PieceOfMind]

That is one of the questions on my list. I believe the answer is no, but I will let you know when I know for sure.

Thanks. Sorry I didn't check if the question was already asked.

 

[2K Greg]

Thanks. Sorry I didn't check if the question was already asked.

I actually think that it hadn't been asked in this thread yet; that was a question I put on myself because I want to know. It helps answer some of the other questions.

 

[White Elk]

@ White Elk: Elemental is beginning to look rather good at this point bro. So far the research has been promising. Besides, need something to do before Halo: Reach comes out and occupies the kids and my time. The significant other may get a little preturbed, but i can probably make it up to her

Hmmnnn. Wait a tic. Doesn't Reach also come out in September? heh, could be fun as well.

I moved my reply over to the "How excited are you?" thread so as to not sidetrack this one.
Its a bit OT there as well, but if fits better there than anywhere else.

Heres a related clip though...

I am most impressed by Stardocks openness and accessibility! The developers are right there in the forums participating. No layer of [...snipped...] marketing between the gamer and the developers. The devs are a tangible and welcome presence in the fan community.

 

[Elucidus]

I would definately like clarification on steam having to connect every few weeks or so or you can't play the game. I can deploy at any time and normally won't be able to connect for many months at a time. No use in having a game I can't play on the limited space on my laptop. Please find this out for us and let us know in the FAQ. Thanks.

Luc

 

[3 EMS]

Grouchey typed:

With respect to offline mode, using the link 2K Greg provided, it would appear that you'll need to reconnect to the internet anytime there is a Steam update in order to be able to play offline:

"The Steam client application's files must be updated to allow for the use of Offline Mode. If your game's status is "100% - Ready" but you receive the message "This game cannot be started in Offline Mode" when attempting to play offline, the Steam client application's files need to be updated."

There is a common misunderstanding(?) out there that you have to reconnect online to Steam every three weeks or so to continue to enjoy your games offline...

If you stay offline, how do steam client application's files know that they need to be updated? Everything should continue to work as it did when first went offline. Is there a timer? Does it " get system date"? That would make "offline mode" rather meaningless.

 

[Achilleslastand]

Also remember that once you purchase the game and link it to your steam account it is forever yours.
You are unable to sell,trade or even give it away. Sadly the Totalwar series has gone down this path the last 2 games.
Also steam at least with ntw and etw uses decentralized servers which means that if you are hosting a game on the los angeles server and im playing on the washington dc server i cannot see your game. They have approx 4-6 servers just for the US alone.

 

[allypower]

2K Greg this question is for you:

In section D of Steam subscribe agreement it reads

D. Ownership.

All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the Steam Software and any and all copies thereof are owned by Valve and/or its licensors. All rights reserved, except as expressly stated herein. The Steam Software is protected by the copyright laws of the United States, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The Steam Software contains certain licensed materials and Valve's licensors may protect their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement.

This means we don't own the game we buy from retail stores? So this is rather a leasing service. 2K and Firaxis are not really selling the game? Steam can arbitrarily ban your account any time to stop you from reinstalling the game, at this point we just lose the 50$ we bought the game from say Walmart, correct?

 

[The_J]

If you stay offline, how do steam client application's files know that they need to be updated? Everything should continue to work as it did when first went offline. Is there a timer? Does it " get system date"? That would make "offline mode" rather meaningless.

Ori has showed that steam also phones home in offline mode.
The pro steamers say, that offline mode only means that you can play without being connected to steam. This works, but steam will still use an internet connection if it finds one.
No idea what it phones home, but getting news about steam updates could be an option.
(if i'm wrong [which i don't know], then please correct me).

 

[3 EMS]

Thanks The J. I read Ori's post on it. If Steam phones home and then forces you to go back online to update then "offline mode" is just BS. I was thinking that this was the case. It just needs to be said because the Steam Heads keep stating that you can play offline. Maybe for short spurts but the idea of totally staying offline is just a lie.

 

[ori]

I have as yet not seen reports that offline-mode stopped working because of the client calling home during offline mode when an update was necessary. To me atleast this question is not clear, I have seen annecdotal reports via google that offline mode might indeed stop working when an update is available, but those reports were lacking in detail, so I wouldn't necessarily regard them as definite indication.
I do know that the steam client in offline mode will interact with the steam servers if it can - I do not know whether the data exchanged does indeed include information about client or game updates.
I would strongly suggest not calling arguments from other users about behavior described by Steam and Take2 as lies - they may or may not be correct, but accusing others of lying is not a good way to foster civil discussion.

 

[Semmel]

If I tell you that I'm drinking a latte loaded with chocolate you're going to make fun of me aren't you!

If you like chocolate latte, I can recommend you to try the following: take around 20g 85% dark chocolate, cut it in small pieces with a knife and put it into 200ml of milk for heating, it desolvs on its own long before brewing the milk. Than add an espresso and you have a nice chocolate latte. Experiment with different kinds of chocolate as the taste has a strong influence on the latte. You can also try less dark chocolate but I really recommend not to, because the synergy effect of dark chocolate and espresso would be lost. There is just one exception though, you can try 33g of white chocolate instead of 20g dark chocolate.

Sorry for beeing off topic, but I am a chocolate and coffee adict and I just cant help my self giving you some help to expand your own addiction ;-) But maybe playing the final version of Civ5 cures you by replacing one addiction with an other ;-)

Best regards and thank you for your kindness despite all the suspicion and disbeleave in this thread.
coffee/chocolate adict Semmel

 

[civ_king]

Just getting back to you on this steam issue from the other thread....



To repeat myself, some people clearly believe that offline mode only works for a while, even without internet access. I've seem dozens of posts about this on another game forum called TWCenter.net. Just search the forum, you'll see, there's loads and loads of such posts. Here's a sample:









Also I would love to get 2K Greg's confirmation or denial on this from Steam. As you can see some people swear it happened to them...

and yet people say they have used offline mode for months or year, all of your answers are from the same game and follow the same re-activation timeline, how do you know they didn't do that to prevent people offlining their friend forever? Because it just seems too consistent for ETW and not others

 

[myturn]

@ori

So what is happening then?
People cutting branch they sitting on? Trying to smear reputation of the company whose product they use doesn’t seem logical at all.
Is it really possible that they don’t know about this?
That they don’t have simple answer after so many years of practice?

Somehow I don’t think so.
Guess this one is definitely for the FAQ.

p.s. and I really understand your concern about using word ‘lie’ but either way, looks like someone must be lying doing that.

 

[2K Greg]

I do know that the steam client in offline mode will interact with the steam servers if it can

Hey Ori, could you check to see if this still happens in the latest Steam client update?

 

[3 EMS]

Ori wrote:

I have as yet not seen reports that offline-mode stopped working because of the client calling home during offline mode when an update was necessary. To me atleast this question is not clear, I have seen annecdotal reports via google that offline mode might indeed stop working when an update is available, but those reports were lacking in detail, so I wouldn't necessarily regard them as definite indication.
I do know that the steam client in offline mode will interact with the steam servers if it can - I do not know whether the data exchanged does indeed include information about client or game updates.
I would strongly suggest not calling arguments from other users about behavior described by Steam and Take2 as lies - they may or may not be correct, but accusing others of lying is not a good way to foster civil discussion.

That was a poor choice of wording. Probably should have been misunderstood or unsubstantiated or something along those lines.

 

[Grouchey]

and yet people say they have used offline mode for months or year, all of your answers are from the same game and follow the same re-activation timeline, how do you know they didn't do that to prevent people offlining their friend forever? Because it just seems too consistent for ETW and not others

I have no idea. You asked for sources and I provided them. I play ETW and others but I'm connected to the internet 24/7 so I've never had this problem. What I would like is an answer on this specific issue from 2K Greg with respect to Steam and CIV V.