Direct2Drive "announces" "Double Civilization and Scenario Pack"

[Silvestris]

I have no problem with buying Civ 5 when we later can buy the extra stuff per DLC..

 

[Hafnia]

If what I think is going to happen (which is that they just have a key for you), this is what you do:

1. Download and install Steam
2. Click on Games in the toolbar and select "Activate a product on Steam..."
3. Enter the key provided
4. Download and play the game
5. Eat Cake

It's very easy. This is how I purchased Modern Warfare 2 for cheap. The game has been perpetually priced at 59.99 on Steam so I bought a North American retail Steam key from eBay for 30 bucks, no difference.

This. In practice, it's exactly what you would do if you bought the boxed version of the game.

Yes but if there gonna be emailing you a activation key and forget about you, no refunds, no customer support, didn't receive your key to bad. Doesn't sound like somewhere i want to shop.

I've never had to wait for them to email me my key, it appears on your D2D account page (and stays there for future reference also, along with your option to redownload the game forever). Also, their customer support has been very helpful to me in the past - though they're not always fast.

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

Civilization 5: Gotta Catch 'Em All!

What an eloquent way to phrase all this nonsense.

 

[Tomice]

I know a version where everything will be available, and which is even priced competitively: The cracked version!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting to get the game illegaly nor will I, but if they continue to fool the customers like this, a lot of people might consider it. A majority of civ players doesn't even use the multiplayer option, so this won't prevent cracked versions (unlike e.g. starcraft 2).

I don't care about the map packs yet, as I don't know what to expect from them, but being unable to have all civs as legal customer is tough to swallow. They already force us to preorder by making very interesting parts of the game only available this way.

There's no way I'll preorder anything before I have a decent overview about all purchasing options.

 

[Tylerryan79]

Just to clear this up for me, the .eu sites the most expensive, and the .com is the cheapest? Or is the .uk site the cheapest? I want to get the best deal I can, and as long as the game will play regardless what site I buy, I will buy it at the cheap price.

 

[Hafnia]

Just to clear this up for me, the .eu sites the most expensive, and the .com is the cheapest? Or is the .uk site the cheapest? I want to get the best deal I can, and as long as the game will play regardless what site I buy, I will buy it at the cheap price.

As of today's exchange rates:

€59.99 = $79.99 (.eu price)
£39.99 = $61.50 (.co.uk price)

So, there's a $1.50 price difference between the .com and .co.uk prices, and a $20 penalty for buying from the .eu site.

The game will play no matter where you buy - in fact, I think it all gets added to your D2D account no matter where you buy it (i.e., on the .eu site I can also see purchases I made at the .co.uk site - don't know if this also works for the .com).

The only thing to check is that the product is available in your country (check the little red box on the Civ5 page at D2D). But if you are not eligible to buy it from a certain site, you will get an error message and a redirect to the 'correct' site. This should not currently be an issue with Civ5 though, as it seems that it is available in the same countries for all 3 sites.

 

[12agnar0k]

Where are you getting this stuff from? I mean it's easy to assume a store is somewhere you don't want to shop when you just make stuff up.

D2D has been a reputable digital distribution service for years now.

They have no refund written on the Civ V pages (on D2D), which makes me suspect that if things go tits up, your basically screwed, no?

This is schuesseled posting by the way on bro's comp

 

[ZimbuTheMonkey]

They have no refund written on the Civ V pages (on D2D), which makes me suspect that if things go tits up, your basically screwed, no?

This is schuesseled posting by the way on bro's comp

This is the same as Steam's policy. Once you purchase a digital download, it's yours, you can't return it.

The game will be registered on your Steam account. Once you buy it from D2D and download from Steam, you don't have to deal with them again until the next DLC pack is live.

 

[Schuesseled]

Okay you have allieviated my concerns somewhat but can you download the game before release like steam offers (maybe).

 

[ZimbuTheMonkey]

Okay you have allieviated my concerns somewhat but can you download the game before release like steam offers (maybe).

I'm not sure what you mean exactly.

Are you asking if the game can be downloaded BEFORE the release date? Then no, it can't be. You might be able to get your hands on a retail box before the release, but you won't be able to play it because Steam won't unlock it until the release date.

If you pre-order from Steam you can start pre-loading it probably, but you still won't be able to play.

 

[Senethro]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly.

Are you asking if the game can be downloaded BEFORE the release date? Then no, it can't be. You might be able to get your hands on a retail box before the release, but you won't be able to play it because Steam won't unlock it until the release date.

If you pre-order from Steam you can start pre-loading it probably, but you still won't be able to play.

Hes asking if you can pre-load Civ5 so you can play it as soon as the release unlock comes. I don't think we know yet.

I'm still not clear what exactly we're purchasing from D2D. Is it literally only a serial number for a Steam product? We won't be subject to any other limitations of interference from D2D?

 

[12agnar0k]

Deluxe consisting of:

• Civilization V Deluxe (download)
• Bonus Babylon Civilization with leader "Nebuchadnezzar II"
• Behind the Scenes at Firaxis with Civilization V video feature
• Game Soundtrack
• Civilization III Complete (download)
• Free First Pack consisting of a Civilization and a Scenario (available late 2010)
• Pricing: USD 59.95 or EUR 59.95 or GBP 39.95

Actually I believe the price of the Deluxe for D2D has gone up to £50.00, not such a good deal anymore.
Also someone said all the prices were going down and amazon has fallen too £25, this is not true, it has always been £25 for pre-order

Never mind, I see it is actually still £40, not sure why I read it as £50.

 

[Hafnia]

Hes asking if you can pre-load Civ5 so you can play it as soon as the release unlock comes. I don't think we know yet.

I'm still not clear what exactly we're purchasing from D2D. Is it literally only a serial number for a Steam product? We won't be subject to any other limitations of interference from D2D?

I think D2D also offers you the game download and install, much like you would get from a boxed version of the game. I haven't got any experience with D2D games using Steam, so I don't know if there will be any interference from them regarding stuff, but I haven't experienced anything like that with other games (Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2, which both require online validation via your EA account). It's just been download, install, treat like any other version of the game.

D2D usually offers preload for big-name releases (again, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age). However, details of preload usually aren't released 'till a few weeks before release for reasons I don't understand.

 

[Commander Bello]

Also someone said all the prices were going down and amazon has fallen too £25, this is not true, it has always been £25 for pre-order

Not correct, at least not for the German Amazon.

There it started with € 49.99 and now is at € 43.75

 

[cccv]

See, this crap. This is why I never preorder something. Preorder one version, then another version is announced. Then another.

At least with this new version we know the DLC will still be available as an option whether or not we purchase it now. That fact combined with the fact that we have no idea what this new civ will be makes me think I'd rather pass on it.

The best news is the snake is out of the bag now, it's all official. Hopefully that means we're at least one step closer to an answer about the "buy Babylon for 10 dollars now or lose it forever!.... or will you?????" question. In any event, it's time for some more answers about the DLC.

 

[Mercade]

Actually I believe the price of the Deluxe for D2D has gone up to £50.00, not such a good deal anymore.
Also someone said all the prices were going down and amazon has fallen too £25, this is not true, it has always been £25 for pre-order

Never mind, I see it is actually still £40, not sure why I read it as £50.

Actually this isn't true. When the game first appeared on Amazon.co.uk it was GBP 29.99 and on May 18 it was observed that it had lowered to GBP 24.99, most likely in response to other companies offering it for £25 or even less (see the link in my signature for cheaper UK options).

 

[arstal]

This isn't a Steam issue.

This is 2k or Firaxis structuring the game in such a way that they withhold content and gradually trickle them out to extract the most they can out of gamers.

It's like they went through a checklist to match previous Civ games feature-wise and took the remaining good ideas to use as future DLC, including assets they obviously have already constructed (Babylon/cradle of civilization map).

Agreed. You can't blame Valve for this- this is all 2K. The more I see 2K rape Firaxis, the more I hope they respawn somewhere else.

BTW D2D is worse then Steam. D2D bricked my copy of BTS, AFTER the DRM was removed. I solved the problem by getting the .exe file for BTS from a friend, which solved the problem. I think all D2D products have some sort of online Securom with activation limits over lifetime attached to it.

 

[ori]

Direct2Drive is a reputable dealer and has been the only digital vendor with competent Civ4 support and the only digital vendor to ensure and guarantee mutual compatibility between its versions and the disc versions sold. The only digital distributor coming close to their ability to provide a functioning Civ4 game (though without compatibility for disc versions) has been Steam.
As such if experience with the utterly botched digital distribution of Civ4 can serve as a guide: them offering the game is very likely to work.
It is surprising to me since with steamworks inclusion Steam will get free advertising of their sales channels for D2D customers, I was sure they'd pass on this - but apparently they believe they can compete with Steam anyways, which can only be a good thing...

Edit: I just saw arstal's post, just a disclaimer: the above is from experience with the Civ4 Tech support subforum - where D2D tended to be by far the best in cases of problems and compatibility - doesn't rule out bad experience of course
Edit2: oh and googleing it - they do introduce install limits ontop of the DRM used:

All licensing has a limit to the number of simultaneous activation to protect the product. However our customer service will see to it that should you encounter a need for more licenses that you are accommodated.

so they are indeed worse than Steam - since the Steam part of the DRM will be active as well

 

[Sciguy001]

This is so incredibly stupid. They're trying to unfairly extort money from us with DLC and all of these stupid "bonuses" that they make exclusively available. Just give everyone equal game content for goodness sakes.

 

[Tylerryan79]

So ori are you saying we will have steam drm, and then limited downloads from d2d? Wouldn't a simple work around be just don't download from d2d after the initial, since it's a steam game it will be linked to our steam account, therefore bypassing d2d altogether if we wish, after the initial purchase.