Steam - The 'somewhat explain it all guide'

[Vordrax]

Regardless of all that though, your reply completely ignores my point. Why is Steam so bad at estimating the download time? I even went into settings and specified I was using a 56k (modem) speed connection and those are the estimated times it still gives me.

It estimates ~30 mins when a realistic guess is around 7hr30.

Have you tried Steam's customer service?

Or is there a particular reason why you're trying to resolve a technical issue on an unrelated message board?

EDIT: Also let us know how long the download actually takes.

 

[Donkeyman]

Note I'm not a US customer. Still, I have tried a couple of servers and right now I'm using the one that is physically closest to me (it would be within 200km I'm pretty sure).

I think 40KB/s is typical for the peak download rate on most of the things I've gotten. Only a couple downloads have reached a speed of 80KB/s or more.

Regardless of all that though, your reply completely ignores my point. Why is Steam so bad at estimating the download time? I even went into settings and specified I was using a 56k (modem) speed connection and those are the estimated times it still gives me.

It estimates ~30 mins when a realistic guess is around 7hr30. Even when the download rate speeds up, the estimated time is still wrong by the same proportion.

Perhaps your download speed is much slower than their classification of 56k? I've never had a wildly inaccurate download estimation from Steam, but I do have a very fast internet connection.

 

[Auncien]

@ Scrlk

Hi!

I noticed that many, if not all, of your posts are Steam related. You sure do have an interest in Steam (perhaps not so much in Civ?). I notice that you joined this community in May of 2010.

Without giving offense and without suggesting anything, as that is not my intent, may I inquire as to your profession? Are you affiliated with the Steam service, Valve or a third party marketing or research firm investigating user sentiment regarding Steamworks use in Civilization V? Are you part of a viral marketing effort to sway sentiment within this community toward acceptance of Steamworks prior to the game's release?

Just curious...

 

[ori]

Moderator Action: I have very little tolerance for accusations like this being thrown around - users who disagree with you are not necessarily paid shills for the other side. Discuss each others' posts not each other.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[Auncien]

Hello Ori. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I would prefer it were under more pleasurable circumstances. You should reread my post. I made absolutely no accusation of any kind. I politely asked a series of questions to which I will now not recieve any answers as you took it upon yourself to end what could have been a civil and productive discussion.

I do not appreciate your assertion that I have accused anyone of anything. That could potentially be libelous as you conveyed falsehoods about my actions in a public, written fashion. Please refrain from doing so in the future.

Also, might I suggest that immediately silencing polite posts regarding a topic of interest to nearly the entire community is probably not the best way to conduct a productive discussion.

If this is my last post on this community then I thank you for allowing me to participate as long as I have and I wish Civfanatics all the best in the future.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Perhaps your download speed is much slower than their classification of 56k? I've never had a wildly inaccurate download estimation from Steam, but I do have a very fast internet connection.

That can't possibly be right. 56k is about 7KB/s max. I'm getting upwards of 40KB/s at times and easily get 4900KB/s when doing connection speed tests like zdnet's.

Have you tried Steam's customer service?

Or is there a particular reason why you're trying to resolve a technical issue on an unrelated message board?

EDIT: Also let us know how long the download actually takes.

Haven't tried Steam's customer service. I assumed this would be a common problem so I'm asking here first. Steam's help forum seems to have many help request threads that go unanswered. Considering my issue is not critical, I suspect a thread by me would do the same.

This is a public forum and the topic is Steam - 'The somewhat explain it all guide'. It was my hope that in this sort of topic, someone might know what's going on here so I don't have to go and contact technical support about something trivial.

Download is still going. It's roughly doubled in speed (hanging around 30KB/s, occasionally nearly 40KB/s) since I first wrote about it but it still reckons it's taking another 17 minutes.

 

[Rebel44]

That can't possibly be right. 56k is about 7KB/s max. I'm getting upwards of 40KB/s at times and easily get 4900KB/s when doing connection speed tests like zdnet's.



Haven't tried Steam's customer service. I assumed this would be a common problem so I'm asking here first. Steam's help forum seems to have many help request threads that go unanswered. Considering my issue is not critical, I suspect a thread by me would do the same.

This is a public forum and the topic is Steam - 'The somewhat explain it all guide'. It was my hope that in this sort of topic, someone might know what's going on here so I don't have to go and contact technical support about something trivial.

Download is still going. It's roughly doubled in speed (hanging around 30KB/s, occasionally nearly 40KB/s) since I first wrote about it but it still reckons it's taking another 17 minutes.

Delete clientregistry.blob (that name might be little bit different - I dont remember it exactly) after that start Steam again and make sure that correct download server is still set.

If it doesnt help, you should contact your ISP and make sure they arent slowing down your connection for some reason. If they dont do it, you should create trouble ticket at Steam support - they might be able to help you.

 

[Avs]

Hello Ori. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I would prefer it were under more pleasurable circumstances. You should reread my post. I made absolutely no accusation of any kind. I politely asked a series of questions to which I will now not recieve any answers as you took it upon yourself to end what could have been a civil and productive discussion.

I do not appreciate your assertion that I have accused anyone of anything. That could potentially be libelous as you conveyed falsehoods about my actions in a public, written fashion. Please refrain from doing so in the future.

Also, might I suggest that immediately silencing polite posts regarding a topic of interest to nearly the entire community is probably not the best way to conduct a productive discussion.

If this is my last post on this community then I thank you for allowing me to participate as long as I have and I wish Civfanatics all the best in the future.

You know, this thread is titled Steam - explain it all guide. It's no wonder that every post is in regards to steam or says something about Steam.

As for the current discussion, its mostly moot. Their decision to use Steam probably has reasons that none of us can explain without stepping into their world. Its a business, and I'm sure they concluded it makes the most sense. So while it doesn't make sense for consumers from whatever perspective we have, it must have been a good decision for them at that time. They certainly haven't made it clear however why except to investors.

 

[plasmacannon]

Thank you guys.
Both sides of this discussion.
I read some of this here, and in the other links from here, and have concluded that Civ V won't fit my needs.

I prefer to buy a PC game, install it on my 2 computers at home, and play on a LAN with a friend of mine (when they are over) vs a few AIs.
Civ games tend to cost alot, around $100 after all of their expansions come out, so, I can't afford 2 copies, and wouldn't just out of principle.
I am not interested in another company being involved for me to do this, or them stopping me from doing this.
Since, this is how it appears Civ 5 will be sold. Sadly, I will be skipping this version.
Been a Civ buyer since Civ2, and I have both expansions for each version.
I hope Starcraft2 won't be coming out with similar issues.
July 27th, and I don't even have to wait as long.

 

[Senethro]

Thank you guys.
Both sides of this discussion.
I read some of this here, and in the other links from here, and have concluded that Civ V won't fit my needs.

I prefer to buy a PC game, install it on my 2 computers at home, and play on a LAN with a friend of mine (when they are over) vs a few AIs.
Civ games tend to cost alot, around $100 after all of their expansions come out, so, I can't afford 2 copies, and wouldn't just out of principle.
I am not interested in another company being involved for me to do this, or them stopping me from doing this.
Since, this is how it appears Civ 5 will be sold. Sadly, I will be skipping this version.
Been a Civ buyer since Civ2, and I have both expansions for each version.
I hope Starcraft2 won't be coming out with similar issues.
July 27th, and I don't even have to wait as long.

It will, theres no LAN mode in SC2. They're using their own Battlenet as a login. Two copies required.

About 2 weeks ago you could buy all 4 Civ4 games on Steam for about $8. If you're patient a second copy need not cost much at all.

 

[Avs]

Starcraft 2 is $60 for normal copy, $100 for collectors edition. Two copies required, just like Civilization. The days of guest logins and clone installs are gone. LAN is also becoming rare. But like you said, you cant afford it. Starcraft will also have expansions, or at least "full retail games to continue the series" rumored at $60 each as well. That's $180 total at retail value, not counting expansions and other costs that may or may not be in the works for later. As Senethro said, you still have to login, but you need to be online more than Steam would require.

My point here is that Starcraft 2 is going to probably cost you more money than Civilization V. Especially if you are intent on buying it on release, and the entire series! You don't get any other features that you described with SC2 so from what you've said, and it also seems you can afford Civilization V right now (actually 4 months from now) unless you are saying SC2 is the only game you'll be buying this year.

To add to this, I'm sure you'll buy it later when you can, and when the price is down. Then it won't cost you $50, and be much cheaper. One thing is for sure though, its going to be fun to play Starcraft 2 and Civilization 5 on and off to keep it fresh for a while.

 

[bhavv]

One thing i enjoy about getting a game like Civ is getting a nice box with a large printed manual to read. I would also like to buy a boxed collectors edition if the make one available in Europe.

 

[Methos]

Do all mods have to be run through Steam, or can we install a mod on the local side without having to upload it to Steam?

One thing i enjoy about getting a game like Civ is getting a nice box with a large printed manual to read. I would also like to buy a boxed collectors edition if the make one available in Europe.

While I used to agree with you completely, I'm less inclined to anymore. A couple months ago we cleaned out our shed and in several boxes I found the old boxes and manuals of games from 15 and 20 years ago. Some of them even had the 3.5" disks with them. I would enjoy having a hard copy of the manual, but the rest of the stuff I can live without now.

 

[The_J]

Do all mods have to be run through Steam, or can we install a mod on the local side without having to upload it to Steam?

Steam is not needed at this point:

Eurogamer: But modders will still be able to distribute their work in the chaotic old-fashioned way of the internet...

Dennis Shirk: Oh yes! People will be able to download from mod sites, of course!

Jon Shafer: We're definitely not looking to replace the community, here. We're just here to provide a showcase for people who expand the game.