Why do we need to have Steam?

[Ruben Thomas]

I was wondering, why is Civilization V (Civ5 henceforth) only on Steam for the downloadable version?

I always buy from Direct2Drive.com (D2D henceforth) because they don't use any complicated and unecessary programs that you have to install and I like that alot.

Yet when I went to D2D to pre-order Civ5 it says I need to get Steam to play it T.T

I never had any interest in Steam, it's not that I dislike it that much, it's a decent feature and I'm sure many enjoy it. I just don't want to fill my computer with programs I have no need for. I don't enjoy any of Steam's features, and I particularly don't much care for the fact that Steam makes it so the games you install with it are blocked from view by the user->games folder.

(Just wanted to say, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm sure Steam is a great great product.)

So my question is, any chance of selling Civ5 on D2D (Edit: without requiring Steam) or Gamersgate.com or something so I don't have to install arbitrary programs I don't want/need just to play your great game?

[Black Gate of Mordor]

I was wondering, why is Civilization V (Civ5 henceforth) only on Steam for the downloadable version?

I always buy from Direct2Drive.com (D2D henceforth) because they don't use any complicated and unecessary programs that you have to install and I like that alot.

Yet when I went to D2D to pre-order Civ5 it says I need to get Steam to play it T.T

I never had any interest in Steam, it's not that I dislike it that much, it's a decent feature and I'm sure many enjoy it. I just don't want to fill my computer with programs I have no need for. I don't enjoy any of Steam's features, and I particularly don't much care for the fact that Steam makes it so the games you install with it are blocked from view by the user->games folder.

(Just wanted to say, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm sure Steam is a great great product.)

So my question is, any chance of selling Civ5 on D2D (Edit: without requiring Steam) or Gamersgate.com or something so I don't have to install arbitrary programs I don't want/need just to play your great game?

No. Steam is the activation program and MP program for Civ5. It also has many many achievements.

[EnigmaCode]

No. Steam is the activation program and MP program for Civ5. It also has many many achievements.

He's pretty much right. Anyways, you do realize that there is a Steamsticky thread that was specifically designed for questions such as yours right? Next time, if you have a question concerning Steam use that thread instead of creating a new one. Link below:

Civ5 Official Steamworks FAQ

So for future reference, instead of creating a new thread, use the Steamworks FAQ please. Thanks.

[Ruben Thomas]

No. Steam is the activation program and MP program for Civ5. It also has many many achievements.

What is MP? If you pardon my asking. And I don't care about achievements, and lots of games have achievements without having other programs you have to install as well. (Dragon Age: Origins for instance.)

He's pretty much right. Anyways, you do realize that there is a Steamsticky thread that was specifically designed for questions such as yours right? Next time, if you have a question concerning Steam use that thread instead of creating a new one. Link below:

Civ5 Official Steamworks FAQ

So for future reference, instead of creating a new thread, use the Steamworks FAQ please. Thanks.

I saw that just after I made my thread, I apologize

[FISKER_Q]

What is MP? If you pardon my asking. And I don't care about achievements, and lots of games have achievements without having other programs you have to install as well. (Dragon Age: Origins for instance.)

MP is Multiplayer.

And yes, other games have achievements, Steam makes this process easier to do.

Other than what is mentioned Steam also automatically ensures your game is updated, matchmaking in multiplayer, Cloud services(in this case: savegames stored online instead of locally), Voice Chat(Not sure if Civ supports it though) and DLC support.

[Ruben Thomas]

MP is Multiplayer.

And yes, other games have achievements, Steam makes this process easier to do.

Other than what is mentioned Steam also automatically ensures your game is updated, matchmaking in multiplayer, Cloud services(in this case: savegames stored online instead of locally), Voice Chat(Not sure if Civ supports it though) and DLC support.

Thank you for answering what MP stands for

I understand mostly what Steam does, that's not what I was asking about, I see the potential benefit in Steam, I just never cared for it myself.

But there's not really any point in discussing it further sadly as in the FAQ it says there won't be a non-Steam version.

That makes me sad, oh well. Thanks for the kind answers anyway guys.

[Black Gate of Mordor]

MP is Multiplayer.

And yes, other games have achievements, Steam makes this process easier to do.

Other than what is mentioned Steam also automatically ensures your game is updated, matchmaking in multiplayer, Cloud services(in this case: savegames stored online instead of locally), Voice Chat(Not sure if Civ supports it though) and DLC support.

I'm pretty sure Civ supports VOIP.

It'll be fun listening to my America cousins with they're funny accents (I don't actually have any American cousins, I'm referring to you all, my kindred Civ spirits)

[FISKER_Q]

I'm pretty sure Civ supports VOIP.

It'll be fun listening to my America cousins with they're funny accents (I don't actually have any American cousins, I'm referring to you all, my kindred Civ spirits)

Yeah i just peeked in the manual and VoIP is indeed supported :P

I wonder if Steam Cloud will take care of settings as well.

[Wheem]

The thing I dislike about Steam is how stalker'ish it can be. Why do other people need to see how many games I have, exactly what achievements I've gotten in all my games, how many hours I've played them all, etc...? Not to mention the times I've had Steam lockup on me when trying to log in.

This leads to me usually either not having Steam turned on, or running it in offline mode (turning it on only for game updates and such).

[FISKER_Q]

The thing I dislike about Steam is how stalker'ish it can be. Why do other people need to see how many games I have, exactly what achievements I've gotten in all my games, how many hours I've played them all, etc...? Not to mention the times I've had Steam lockup on me when trying to log in.

This leads to me usually either not having Steam turned on, or running it in offline mode (turning it on only for game updates and such).

Set your profile to private.

[Desdenova]

Because Civ V says we do!

[rogue780]

Thank you for answering what MP stands for

I understand mostly what Steam does, that's not what I was asking about, I see the potential benefit in Steam, I just never cared for it myself.

But there's not really any point in discussing it further sadly as in the FAQ it says there won't be a non-Steam version.

That makes me sad, oh well. Thanks for the kind answers anyway guys.

I used to not care for Steam either, but then I purchase a game (one of the total wars?) that required Steam. I begrudgingly installed it and then realized how friggin awesome it is. Things like auto-updating, the steam overlay, some of the awesome deals that you get when they have sales and the best part for me is that I never have to worry about losing a disc again. As long as I know my steam username and password, I can re-download any game I want as many times as I want onto any number of computers that I own. The value added by steam, IMO, is tremendous.

[Ruben Thomas]

I used to not care for Steam either, but then I purchase a game (one of the total wars?) that required Steam. I begrudgingly installed it and then realized how friggin awesome it is. Things like auto-updating, the steam overlay, some of the awesome deals that you get when they have sales and the best part for me is that I never have to worry about losing a disc again. As long as I know my steam username and password, I can re-download any game I want as many times as I want onto any number of computers that I own. The value added by steam, IMO, is tremendous.

The problem is, Direct2Drive has all of those features, without having to have a program installed.

It has huge deals and sales, alot of times I buy pretty much newly released games there for 6 bucks, and you can redownload games as many times as you want etc, etc.

You can't auto patch with just their website, but they have a page where you can instantly find all the patches you need, and I don't want to have to install a program just for that feature (that also comes with a ton of other stuff I have no need/desire for) when I can easily patch manually and with pretty much no effort.

It's just, D2D, Gamersgate and other sites I am sure. Do exactly what Steam does, but they don't come with an invasive program that may or may not be bloated with a bunch of other stuff you don't want or need (depending on your own preference of course, I understand many of you probably want and desire achievement tracking over multiple games, friends lists, and the other stuff and so you love Steam; which is great for you! ) I just don't. So I don't install Steam.

So I'm very sad that an awesome looking game like Civ5 is exclusively bound to such a (in my own personal oppinion) redundant program.

But that's life, you can't get everything you want, unfortunately.

[Soapy]

How is steam invasive?

[frags]

How is steam invasive?

It's invasive if you let it be. Have you seen the steam survey stats. They can find out what software you run on your freakin' PC.

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

PS : You can opt not to take part in any steam survey.

[Ruben Thomas]

How is steam invasive?

Like I said, it depends on your viewpoint of Steam. If you love every single feature Steam has then I'm sure you don't think of it as invasive and you're completely right in having that feeling.

I just personally don't like "bundle" programs like Steam, and I find it very invasive to have to install it just to enjoy particular games. I want to play the games! Not mess around with Steam or have it sitting there wasting space and my effort of having to start it to enjoy the games.

That's all I mean, but there's really no point in discussing it, like I said in the FAQ I read it said there's no chance of a Civ5 with no Steam. So end of story

I guess a moderator can lock the thread or whatever, I haven't used these forums before so I dunno' how you guys do it here

[frags]

Like I said, it depends on your viewpoint of Steam. If you love every single feature Steam has then I'm sure you don't think of it as invasive and you're completely right in having that feeling.

I just personally don't like "bundle" programs like Steam, and I find it very invasive to have to install it just to enjoy particular games. I want to play the games! Not mess around with Steam or have it sitting there wasting space and my effort of having to start it to enjoy the games.

That's all I mean, but there's really no point in discussing it, like I said in the FAQ I read it said there's no chance of a Civ5 with no Steam. So end of story

I guess a moderator can lock the thread or whatever, I haven't used these forums before so I dunno' how you guys do it here

I get where you're coming from. But the thing about steam is that, you have to see it as more than a bundled software. It's a platform. And it's beginning to be the defacto PC gaming platform.

If you like playing PC games, it's now necessary to have Steam. Thats just how things have progressed into the digital age. Hey think about it this way, at least we get it for free(Rather than paying for it like XBOXlive).

[Pinkmagus]

Really, steam is great DRM. Far better than D2D or other sites. Plain and simple, 2k probably chose to sell on Steam because they are tired of having their stuff stolen all the time.

[Shadowdragoon]

It's a platform. And it's beginning to be the defacto PC gaming platform.

Everyone that care about PC gaming should pray that this do not happen. As that would result in PC platform ending up as a closed platform. The current OPEN platform is better for bigger variations in the games released.

[Shadowdragoon]

Really, steam is great DRM. Far better than D2D or other sites. Plain and simple, 2k probably chose to sell on Steam because they are tired of having their stuff stolen all the time.

D2D is a far better service than steam, no painful app that needs to run in the background while playing, reporting playtimes to its masters, giving them valuable market data without any cost to them.
Also, the steam prevents piracy crap, its as false as DRM prevents piracy. Just as the activation version of securom promotes piracy, so do that steam crap..

[oliethefolie]

You need Steam because it is a very awesome program where you can buy many games and talk to friends. Also, Most games are coming to Steam now.
I may be a little biased as I am a massive Valve fanboy!

[JesteR1701]

Sadly the only way to get rid of steam would be to get a cracked version that wont require steam.

[Pinkmagus]

D2D is a far better service than steam, no painful app that needs to run in the background while playing, reporting playtimes to its masters, giving them valuable market data without any cost to them.

Them getting market data is good for everyone. They find out what people like and want, and that enables them to provide it to the consumer.

And if you really want to protest DRM and Steam and Marketing, then rather than whine about how about you man up and vote with your money by not buying it? Making a fuss over something like this but still going along with it anyways is just hypocritcal.

Also, it isn't a painful App at all. Unless you are running on an ancient machine and only have 256 MB of ram, you can handle steam.

Downloading is also easier in steam, as you have all your stuff right there, with no internet browser to go through. It neatly lists them and everything.

[MxM111]

No. Steam is the activation program and MP program for Civ5. It also has many many achievements.

First of all, STEAM is not "activation" program. It is Digital Right Managment program, which has activation as part of it. But it is much more than just activation. YOU HAVE TO RUN STEAM EACH TIME TO RUN THE GAME.

And let's be honest, WE do not need STEAM - they do. They need it to prevent piracy (though the game will be cracked anyway, and the only people who suffer from DRM will be the paying customers, see how nicely it works?).

Most of the CIV players do not care about achievement and so so about MP. More over both of those could have been implemented without STEAM. It would be even CHEAPER for Firaxis to do that.

So, just stop pretending why we have STEAM requirement. It is all about DRM. The rest is just masking it.

[EnigmaCode]

And let's be honest, WE do not need STEAM - they do. They need it to prevent piracy (though the game will be cracked anyway, and the only people who suffer from DRM will be the paying customers, see how nicely it works?).

And let's be honest, WE do not need LAWS - the government does. They need it to prevent wrongdoing (though wrongdoing will still happen anyways, and the only people who suffer from laws will be the law-abiding citizens, see how nicely it works?). *irony off*

This is for laughs by the way; don't criticize me. I mean, it is funny.

[Pinkmagus]

First of all, STEAM is not "activation" program. It is Digital Right Managment program, which has activation as part of it. But it is much more than just activation. YOU HAVE TO RUN STEAM EACH TIME TO RUN THE GAME.

And let's be honest, WE do not need STEAM - they do. They need it to prevent piracy (though the game will be cracked anyway, and the only people who suffer from DRM will be the paying customers, see how nicely it works?).

Most of the CIV players do not care about achievement and so so about MP. More over both of those could have been implemented without STEAM. It would be even CHEAPER for Firaxis to do that.

So, just stop pretending why we have STEAM requirement. It is all about DRM. The rest is just masking it.

Yes, it'd be far cheaper for 2K to build their own support team for online transactions, online management, multiplayer servers, server management. It'd also be cheaper for them to increase their customer service to account for any problems with digital transaction and MP and servers. And don't forget it'll be really cheap to promote their products and DLC alone on their own servers. And they even get the bonus of a huuuge consumer base selling on their own servers and client.

Everything I have said is a lie.

[Peregrinati]

And let's be honest, WE do not need STEAM - they do.

If I'm being honest I've got agree and say that I don't NEED steam... but I WANT it!

[Rebel44]

Most of the CIV players do not care about achievement and so so about MP. More over both of those could have been implemented without STEAM. It would be even CHEAPER for Firaxis to do that.

Do you even know that Steamworks is available to developers for free? Its pretty hard to pay less than 0$ for features that you want in your game .

[Black Gate of Mordor]

If I'm being honest I've got agree and say that I don't NEED steam... but I WANT it!

Same here. Steam is good.

[EnigmaCode]

Same here. Steam is good.

Agreed. Steam has been pretty good to use. It's features are very well implemented as well and the Steam integration of the games is nice.

[MxM111]

Yes, it'd be far cheaper for 2K to build their own support team for online transactions, online management, multiplayer servers, server management. It'd also be cheaper for them to increase their customer service to account for any problems with digital transaction and MP and servers. And don't forget it'll be really cheap to promote their products and DLC alone on their own servers. And they even get the bonus of a huuuge consumer base selling on their own servers and client.

Everything I have said is a lie.

You forgot that most of the things they already did for Civ IV. So, yes, it would be much cheaper for them to reuse the code.

[DonNatcho]

I like steam shure it hase some problems but the hardware survey is optional you get asked everytime if you want to participate if you dont disable it completely.

Also autoupdating is really great, and the greatest feature of all you can download the game as often as you want and you can play from any pc as long as you log in with your account. I wouldnt wanna buy games without steam.

I have a PC and a Laptop i have steam on both, and can play on both, when i format my pc i simply install steam, login and everything i need will be autoinstalled including patches (but normally i have a backup of the downloaded files). So have you ever tried to install 10 games on a fresh installed windows, it takes ages, then you need to run updates etc.

But what i like most about steam is that it finally at least takes away some of the variety of extra programms. It was really getting annyoing every game using some other extra programms for MP, SP or whatever (Gamespy, GFWL etc.). And when i can chose between the platforms out now i will chose the lesser evil which is steam. Since D2D is less usefull and also has a download-limit if i remember correctly? Also can you easily use your D2D Games on any of your pcs without getting problems with licencing?