Steam Gets Civilized

[Weaver]

"Six years ago Half-Life 2 came out as a Steam exclusive. Fans of the series got a chance to figure out what the platform was all about, and then they had to decide if they were willing to accept it, or miss out on the flagship of all FPS games."

Not a bad column by any means but.. what? Half-Life 2 the flagship of FPS? Yes, I'm an admitted HL2 unbeliever but even if I stretch my imagination (and tolerance) as far as it (they) can go, I still can't see any truth in this statement.

I think he means the half-life series was a flagship.

Here's the thing about Civ V. It's using steam for it's community, mod distribution and online multiplayer matching. Would you rather they used gamespy or something else? Steam filled the gap with easy to use tools that did exactly what they needed, so they took advantage of that.

I agree it's a kick in the balls to NEED to install steam (even though I love steam) but at least understand the reason for them doing this. Ideally, they would allow you to install a "non steam" version of the game that doesn't use steam at all or have any community or online features for the people who want that. Even if they did I would use the steam version.

 

[Virgil]

"Six years ago Half-Life 2 came out as a Steam exclusive. Fans of the series got a chance to figure out what the platform was all about, and then they had to decide if they were willing to accept it, or miss out on the flagship of all FPS games."

At the time is was released (and the whole brouhaha about the mandatory Steam install) it was definitely the flagship FPS game. Hell, it's not that far from it now, as far as story-driven shooters go - which is kind of a sad thing to think about, given how much time has passed.

I think the problem here comes from the Civilization 4: The Complete Edition (it could be on the others, but I only have this edition, so if it is on others let me know and I'll edit accordingly).

I don't believe that was the case for previous releases. I know for sure that Civ IV: Colonization included SecuROM in its release, and that's a part of the Complete Edition (without DRM).

By the time a collection like that comes out, it's practically a bargain bin title anyway, so the need for DRM is pretty low.

 

[CatinHat]

I'm a Civ fan and really don't mind this. I would have them on steam then the crappy Impulse and Gamers Gate junk. Steam has better tech support for my needs and my games have forums which are very easy to get to.

 

[Baron Khaine]

What I hate about steam is their online activation system for hard disk games - I have Half Life 2 and Half Life 2 Episode one - they've been by my desk for weeks now - but can't play them because the store ripped me off - they weren't labelled as preowned, but the code has been activated.

And how is that Steams problem?

Your issue is with the store that ripped you off not Steam, what sort of dumb system would allow you to register a code that's already been registered on a different account, that'd just give pirates free reign.

 

[thiosk]

It is sad there is no other option, perhaps if they released on Impulse concurrently?

But, I love steam. After losing my HL2 discs, I was suprised to find out that on reinstalling steam-- to buy a new copy electronically-- I already owned it, and it was already downloading the installers.

Wow.

I now have about half my collection, and most recent games, purchased through steam.

 

[Fearzone]

I WAS looking forward to this one. While I used to hate the console controller and long for a good old mouse and keyboard instead, I find I'm getting pretty okay with the dualshock nowadays.

 

[Johkmil]

As a long-time Civilization fan, I must say that this is a *huge* step backwards. Civ is simply not a game you need an internet connection for whatsoever. About 1/3 of the time I play, I'm *without* an internet connection, and Steam requires to be booted with an internet connection before being able to turn on the off-line mode. This is shamelessly selling out those playing on laptops or the few who are without a stable internet connection.

 

[Aenir]

Huh. I don't care, frankly. Even though I've never once played Civ 4/Warlords outside of singleplayer, I also use and love Steam. So, this doesn't really affect me at all. I was planning on buying it via Steam anyway.

 

[Saverio]

I really cannot wait for Valve to get put under investigation for their anti-competitive practices. They are simply bullies who make everyone else happy.

 

[H0ncho]

As much as I usually enjoy your columns, I feel that this one misses the point. The outrage at Civfanatics is promarily directed at the DLC. I mean, jesus christ, this is not only day-one DLC in a game people had already pegged as a bastion of old school gaming, but they will actually sell an entire Civ as a DLC!!!

Not only is this extremely pointless, seeing as Firaxis have already promised "unprecedented modability" which means that copying the civ is a matter of ctrl-c/ctrl-v, but this is also a potential slippery slope I am afraid to even think about. I mean, when does the "tropical luxury resource" DLC (2£) come out? What about "civilizations of the far east" DLC (10$) or the "modern tech" DLC (5?) that allows a couple of more advanced future techs?

DlCs makes people feel like they are buying an incomplete product. Of course, had you asked us two weeks ago we would have laughed at the idea of good ol' Sid making a game with day one DLC, but now that that illusion has been broken we aren't able to trust the series anymore - people capable of releasing day one DLC are capable of anything. Who knows if Firaxis takes the Sims approach to civ, releasing ever new useless content at vastly inflated prices, while making everyone that doesn't have it feel like they are having half a product (that they have paid for btw)...

No, this is definitely decline of the civilizations series.

 

[Crunchy English]

Shamus has got me thinking. I hate it when he does that. Basically there's two outlooks

1) Steam provides the superior service, why shouldn't it be rewarded with Market Share?
or
2) Even a superior Digital Distribution Service isn't ideal, shouldn't the consumers who disagree with the entire concept have an alternative choice?

I think both sides are right, Consumers should have final say AND hard work and good policy should always be rewarded. In the end though, its all irrelevant. Companies don't care about consumer agency any more than is absolutely necessary, and if hard work and good policies were the only metric for success then Ubisoft would have gone out of business forever ago.

 

[Pandalisk]

"Experienced Points: Steam Gets Civilized"

"Some long-time Civilization fans are getting pretty steamed."

Good God, The puns man, the puns!..


As a supporter of steam i fully support this, i hope more game developers follow suit.

 

[UtopiaV1]

Experienced Points: Steam Gets Civilized

Some long-time Civilization fans are getting pretty steamed.

Read Full Article

I loved that article, agreed with every word, and I thought the ending line was h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s! I'm rubbish as Civ too, I always play with barbarians enabled (cos I'm always playing it with friends at LANs, and they love the barbarians for the following reason), and they ALWAYS, without exception, target me and only me, proceeding to conquer and pillage all my settlements by turn 5.

All that can be heard during a Lan game of Civ with my friends are my cries of "F**KING BARBARIANS, F**K THOSE UNWASHED TITS RIGHT UP THE ARSE, ARRRGHHH!!! Guys, can we please load the last autosave?"

Treasured memories.

 

[Jared]

Thats great news! I love the series and to see it getting some love is brilliant!

 

[dekkarax]

Damn it why do i need steam, I don't play multiplayer(except local) and I hate auto-updates not to mention I despise having steam on my computer. The only reason I have it right now is because I need to for DOW2 and I hate the fact that it takes about 5 min for steam to launch, then update, then look for updates for the game, then it prepares to launch for another 3, then finally lets me play my damn game.

Right click DOW2, click properties, click the tab that says "updates"; you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Virgil]

Steam requires to be booted with an internet connection before being able to turn on the off-line mode.

If you don't have an internet connection and you launch Steam, it will prompt you to go into Offline Mode automatically. The only time it seems to have problems is if you have a network connection but that network doesn't have internet access. In this case, just disable your network adapter temporarily and you'll be able to launch in Offline Mode.

 

[Cody211282]

Damn it why do i need steam, I don't play multiplayer(except local) and I hate auto-updates not to mention I despise having steam on my computer. The only reason I have it right now is because I need to for DOW2 and I hate the fact that it takes about 5 min for steam to launch, then update, then look for updates for the game, then it prepares to launch for another 3, then finally lets me play my damn game.

Right click DOW2, click properties, click the tab that says "updates"; you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

I tried that one and it when a patch came out it wouldn't let me play because I was out of date, I'll check to see if that has changed, but it will have to wait until steam is done patching.....again.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

Ok then.

I bought "portal" on disk a few years back, only to discover that it required Steam, and, not only this, but the entire game had to be downloaded. (Hello? I just bought a CD?!) That was one of the most annoying installations I have ever had to do.

Now... I use Steam as much as any other means of buying games, and it's usually my first choice, simply for the convenience of it.

What I hated originally, though, was HAVING to use it, and I have to say I feel for the Civvies on this one. Why should any game be locked into a specific platform on the PC? Doesn't make sense by any consumer-friendly standpoint. If I want the game but not Steam, I should be able to play the game without Steam. This isn't a case of owning two or three consoles with different hardware requirements. If the PC is the most buggy gaming platform, it's also the most versatile. I can't see any technical or consumer-focussed reason for not being able to release a game without Steam attached.