personally i hate steam, every comp game i have ever had to run thru steam has taken longer to get working then the amount of time i have waited for the game to come out. so, i was just wondering if anyone had any idea whether or not xcom enemy unknown would run thru steam. if it does im afraid i will be forced to get the console version rather then the special edition i crave.
any ideas or info u guys can point me too?
I don't KNOW it will. But I'm almost positive it will - Civ 5 is on Steam - even the box copies had to register via Steam to use the game. Firaxis has already said it'll be available via their online vendors - plural... so maybe they use someone else also - but I don't think so, since all the box copies went through Steam? I don't mind Steam, but I've never had any problems with it.Originally Posted by nockmore
Special Edition = Collector's Edition, right? If so, it'll be available boxed for PC - you'll likely still have to register with Steam but you should be able to then play in offline mode and (hopefully) avoid the Steam issues. From the one quote someone found in another thread it looks like the Standard Edition will be digital only.
No information yet, but I do hope it doesn't require steam as well. I don't mind if you can sync it with steam, but if I buy the disc retail i'd rather not go through the hassle of steam. Not much in the way of internet where I live.
The very fact I would have to register with steam would render the whole point moot. My problems with steam are almost absolute because of my decidedly lacking internet connection. If xcom has any patches it needs to download, it will download them immediately before I can change the settings for the game to prevent that, which with my limited internet would mean I would be unable to play for a VERY long time.
http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...95#post1587895
Don't know it'll be "steam only" or not though...
PS3...is the way to go
PS3...is the way to go
Yeah, no thank you.
No console wars allowed.PS3...is the way to go
I don't mind Steam to tell you the truth, it's far better platform than Origin. My only problem with it is the way the sales are set up, the purchases are final and unless it's a Valve game than chances of getting a refund for a 3rd party game are slim to nothing. Learned about it the hard way when "Rage" was seriously giving me rage and couldn't get my money back. Now this wouldn't ever be the case with X-Com:EU as I already have pre-ordered my retail copy just waiting to upgrade it to the SE and hopefully I can add my key to Steam after. Nevertheless something to keep in mind I guess when buying from digital vendors.
Last edited by Running Wild; 05-27-2012 at 05:20 PM. Reason: spelling
As long as it plays nice with steam for those of us who do like it, I'm perfectly happy for it not to be attached to steam, and I can totally understand that the passive DRM within steam annoys some people.
PC
If their is a steam free copy I'll get it but I can use steam just fine otherwise.
Steam isn't much of a downside, particularly when compared with other current DRM solutions. It's mostly a big deal to people who don't use it much (more risk of losing login details), change email addresses frequently (so the enhanced authentication locks you out), or have crappy internet connections. The last of those is often not the fault of the user.
Perhaps my problem isn't with Steam, as I don't know what "DRM" means so maybe there are more of these types of companies and what I hate is all of them... but consider the reaction of someone who actually bought and played Civilization (the original) when it was new, that's the kind of PC game experience they're used to, and hasn't bought another new PC game since Civ 4... I want to pay my 50 or 60 bucks, install my game, and play the thing. I do NOT want to register a bunch of personal info, I do NOT want to be forced into having an active interent connection while I play. I do NOT have ANY interest in multi-player features and definitely not in any of the other bull**** this Steam company wants to sucker me into buying.
The first frustration is that when I originally bought Civ 5 in Oct of 2010, I tried to play it on the PC I had then which was just too slow. So here almost 2 years later, I finally was able to buy a new machine which is plenty fast and I finally get to play the game I've been drooling over for literally years. Only, wait... no I don't! Aparently my CD key, which I have sitting in my damn hands, is no good - because when I installed it the first time I had to sign up for this Steam bull**** which I had no use for, and never thought of again after that. Apparently at some point in early 2011 it got hacked and stolen which is why I couldn't find any record of an account on any of the 4 emails I've had for years. So I spent the first day just figuring that out. Then when I finally figure out how to get support, it takes them just short of a week to answer my ticket and restore the email address. So that alone was enough to make me never want anything having to do with Steam ever again.
Now... I'm currently on a plane, fuming (and partially drunk - nothing else to do but soak up the free booze) because I had intended to have a great time playing Civ 5 the whole way and guess what... the in-flight internet is too slow or possibly identifies Steam as a streaming connection and doesn't allow it, so now I get to spend the flight staring at the info card in my seat-back... just because Firaxis/2K decided to let this piece of s*** Steam company get their hooks into a game that has nothing to do with them. Why the f*** am I writing this pissed off rant instead of playing my game? Because Steam is involved. Simple as that.
They absolutely need to come up with a better way to prevent piracy. I am *really* pissed off that I get penalized as a long term customer who has paid for pretty much every "Sid Meyer" game ever made, by being made to jump through hoops to access the game I already paid for. And best of all, turns out it doesn't work for s***. My worthless Steam account got hacked. My CD key would have been safer if I'd published it on a Facebook page apparently.
To then read that X-Com is likely to be a Steam-screwed game (the only game other than Civ 5 I've been specifically looking forward to in the last 5 years - haven't heard anything about a Dungeon Keeper remake, or I'd be all over that too) is infuriating.
I can say with absolute certainty I will be carefully inspecting any game before I buy it from now on and if it says ANYTHING about Steam... not only will I not buy it, I'll do everything I can to find a way to steal/pirate the thing as payback for getting me to waste my money on Civ 5. Then I'll put in ticket after ticket to add to the problem with their obcenely crap support so that maybe eventually there will be enough irate people like me and Firaxis/2K will separate themselves from Steam. To hell with Steam.
Agreed purchase for console, that way you have no silly steam based requirements, if it's a deal breaker for you.
Personally steam doesn't bother me, it's my heap of crap of a pc that's making me get this game on the playstation.
@drake000
Wow... I heard about people having faced some trouble with steam before but never as bad as you had it. I guess I should consider myself lucky to never had any problem with steams through all these years with all these games.
That said as bad as steam sounds to you, believe me when I say that their are far far worst than steam out there. But I'm not telling you to forgive steam.
My point is that if you are going to avoid steam at all cost, then you may want to avoid all other DRM out there as well. Because steam is really far from being the worst of the bunch.
Don't pay attention to just steam when buying a game.
Dungeon Keeper remake-theres that mmo that's being worked on, but its not for us/uk audiences. Personally I don't care about steam, I know some ppl do and that's the only way they buy/play games...so if it's a big enough concern for all the steam users, start a petition!
Steam does not force you to be online to play the game.
Tell this to drake000. I doubt I'll agree with your statement.
Offline play on steam is limited.
There's either some sort of fault, or it's not configured correctly - it is supposed to work offline, and does for most people, AFAICT. Only problems that don't seem to be surmountable are protracted lack of connection.
I used to hate steam. But then I conformed, and actually, it isn't half bad.
Origin on the other hand...
I agree that steam is quite livable. Also an excellent source of cheap games I might add.I used to hate steam. But then I conformed, and actually, it isn't half bad.
Origin on the other hand...
I would rather live without DRM if at all possible. But if a company feel obligated to use one no matter what, I prefer steam over all else.
There seems to be an infestation of Necromancers running around this forum. Something must be done...
BEGINNING PURGE SUB-ROUTINE
I hate Steam for all the reasons Drake000 mentioned, my own experiences with Steam mirror his, but of course are different in specifics. Yes, I know there are worse digital rights management systems, then Steam, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, just because Steam is the lesser of several evils. Although DRM systems are designed to help alleviate piracy issues for developers, it also fosters it somewhat, for those looking to not have to put up with the crap and hoops you have to jump through, just for you to get your game working, that you legally paid for.
One thing I despise about Steam is how it automatically installs the latest patch to a game, that you may, or may not WANT on your PC. For instance, an example, Skyrim, if your currently playing say on patch 1.5 and you have mods installed and everything is working for the most part fairly well...then you start up your game and Steam starts to patch up to the next game version and some of your mods suddenly don't work correctly. Or...perhaps I just don't WANT the features of the next patch, at ALL, for whatever reasons, but if I haven't made a backup, before Steam does it thing, your just SOL and you can't revert. Yeah, I know about the Offline mode of Steam...but sometimes that doesn't work quite correctly...at least I myself have had problems and issues with it.
For multiplayer, automatic patching, to make your game compatible with the rest of the community playing such a game makes sense, but for SP games it can just be a royal pain in the butt. I pre-ordered EU, without first thinking if it were to be tied to Steam or not, I'll have to live with it, if is ( and it seems that it will be ), but that doesn't mean I have to like it, or change my mind about how I feel about Steam ( or any other online DRM that may be put into effect ). DRM is in fact, the main reason I buy the majority of my games now from GOG, and if EU we're to become available at some point on GOG ( yeah right lol ) I'd then buy it a second time, just for the no DRM version.
The forced patching also makes life easier for support - massively reducing the number of people reporting known issues that have been long-fixed but the users not bothered to update. Believe it or not, that's often a huge drain on support.
On the other hand, Steam offers advantages - DRMs that require a disc in the drive mean you have to know where they are, and keep changing them, which is just annoying. It doesn't require an internet connection whenever you are playing anything. It keeps you up to date with patches (a positive as much as a negative, considered in the round). The overlay is handy for games where you want to prod websites while you play, being less prone to problems than alt-tabbing, and using less system resources than keeping your usual browser open (especially if you have dozens of tabs open in your usual browser). Easy reinstalling whenever you want (given the web access). Steam cloud, where it's supported. Fantastic range of indy games. It has even more advantages for publishers.
The strategy of Steam was to make it have enough advantages that people want it despite the disadvantages. It seems that it has worked, for most customers.
Steam used to be very bad but they got their act together like 3-4 years ago. Today there's no reason to hate it unless you have no/very poor connection.
Eh ? Since when do you need a persistent internet connection to play ANY Steam games? Don't quite understand what you are complaining about Drake.
Also, its easily transferable, as every time I have a new system build I can simply copy the entire directory and everything works fine. No reinstalling, no registry entries need editing, etc.
BTW- There is Steam forced patching, but no GAME forced patching. This can be easily shut off. So it's not forced at all.
I hate 99% of DRM, but Steam is the most acceptable form I have used to date. And the CD/DVD in-drive stuff that some companies use is complete garbage. I have a half dozen games that I paid for that are now unplayable because the CD got scratched. And of course the company will not issue a new one. THAT is unacceptable.
PS3...is the way to go
Thats so sad...ever since I saw borderlands/battlefield 3 on my pc vs xbox or ps3 i have been using them (xbox/ps3) as "toys" for my 3 and 5 yr old...which seems about right. I know this is off topic but if microsoft and sony dont release new systems next fall and really try and bleed 10 years out of the current gen consoles they are in real trouble....you can spend $300-$400 right now on a budget rig and blow them out of the water.
I believe that publishers/devs could use the open beta facility of Steam to allow people to select versions, rather than being forced to use the current one. Not sure what charges Valve might make for this though. It would be very awkward to make every iteration of a game available - lots of 'betas' to select from. The easy patching means that companies update games more frequently, rather than saving up for big patches.
You make some good points Sam, and I even agree with some of them, I still would rather NOT have to have Steam on my system to play a game I paid for, but I know that this is the way the industry is and has been heading for a number of years now. No amount of "grumbling" by the peasants with pitchforks is likely to change anything
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