First sorry for my poor english
As a big fan, what i love on this game is the fact when i go outside home, i can take my laptop and play X3 series without any connection on the net when i am at hotel after work.
Yes for activate via Steam cause its a good way to avoid piracy but no to have it allways locked on it.
Thats also why i hope a box will come with rebirth. As a fan i love the fact to have a real book and a DVD ready. Less time locked on the web and faster install, less cost too cause running with broadband data paid wifi can cost very much.
The fact X3 was stand alone has, on my point of view, helped X3 a lot to be a success.
once you have activated the game on steam you can then play it anywhere on your laptop "without" an active internet connection. Steam only requires an internet connection if you are playing a game with multiplayer / steam cloud functions. you can simply launch steam in "offline mode" if you want to play away from home on the laptop
I used to list PC parts here, but "the best" will suffice!
I'm an old, love the retail box and paper manual, guy. A choice between a product I can hold, and a digital only version is an easy one for me. Gimme the box. I even ordered the Superbox from overseas just to get the box set. Until around the time X3AP came out, I had been successfully avoiding Steam. I am one of the 355 others who voted "I would never use Steam if it was the last surviving games platform". However, now that I have used Steam more, I hate it less, much less.
I bought many games at Steam over the Dec holiday sale month, and they work smoothly on my rig. The GamersGate games I bought were disasterous and caused me to reload Win7. After expanding my Steam game library with Holiday sale items, I broke out some old games and tried registering those on Steam aslo. Not all registered, but many did. I like the idea of still being able to load one of my games when the game disc turns up broken or missing, and to be able to play games without having disc in drive. I still prefer to pay extra for a boxed game, but am glad X3 Superbox is on Steam. Thanks Egosoft!
once you have activated the game on steam you can then play it anywhere on your laptop "without" an active internet connection. Steam only requires an internet connection if you are playing a game with multiplayer / steam cloud functions. you can simply launch steam in "offline mode" if you want to play away from home on the laptop
It as been a year, so possibly the offline mode as been improved but that was not the case than.
Antaran wrote:1. Steam is still on your computer, it is a client that you are pretty much forced to install if you wan´t to use the product, you say there is a choice but that is pretty much not true since you have no choice, if you wan´t to use the product..
And if the product used a different system such as TAGES/SecuROM/whatever then you'd be forced to have that installed on your system if you wanted to use it so what's essentially the difference?
Visibility. You can see Steam.
People say they want a disc version of games because they 'don't trust Steam' but you're going to get some form of DRM no matter what as there's very few games released unsecured. So what these people who 'don't trust Steam' are essentially saying is they have an issue with a centralised DRM system like Steamworks, that they can see and whose function they can turn on and off as they choose, because of what it might be doing to their precious machine... but at the same time they're perfectly happy to install half a dozen games on their system which could have wildly different DRM systems, with little if any understanding of what DRM system they're actually installing or what it might be doing to their machine in itself or in combination with another competing DRM... and that's apparently perfectly ok..
NUKLEAR-SLUG wrote:And if the product used a different system such as TAGES/SecuROM/whatever then you'd be forced to have that installed on your system if you wanted to use it so what's essentially the difference?
I'm going to go ahead and play devil's advocate.
The TAGES and StarForce systems used on previous X titles have always been removed a certain amount of time after release. So if players waited long enough they could effectively get those games without any "additives."
If Rebirth is designed using Steamworks then the game will essentially be married to the Steam client. 'Til death.
Admitting you have a problem is the first step in figuring out how to make it worse.
Antaran wrote:1. Steam is still on your computer, it is a client that you are pretty much forced to install if you wan´t to use the product, you say there is a choice but that is pretty much not true since you have no choice, if you wan´t to use the product..
And if the product used a different system such as TAGES/SecuROM/whatever then you'd be forced to have that installed on your system if you wanted to use it so what's essentially the difference?
Visibility. You can see Steam.
People say they want a disc version of games because they 'don't trust Steam' but you're going to get some form of DRM no matter what as there's very few games released unsecured. So what these people who 'don't trust Steam' are essentially saying is they have an issue with a centralised DRM system like Steamworks, that they can see and whose function they can turn on and off as they choose, because of what it might be doing to their precious machine... but at the same time they're perfectly happy to install half a dozen games on their system which could have wildly different DRM systems, with little if any understanding of what DRM system they're actually installing or what it might be doing to their machine in itself or in combination with another competing DRM... and that's apparently perfectly ok..
I guess out of sight, out of mind is a truism.
For me it has nothing to do with trust.Like I mentioned before.
Would purchase an ebook,music from Amazon and allow them to put software on your pc that dictates how and when your read your book or your music.
A lot of people shy away from Apple because of the way they dictate how and when they use the products he or she purchased.
In recent years computer gaming has changed in ways I feel uncomfortable with: online accounts, online activation, limited activations, and in particular the transition from buying a game as a private fire and forget deal, to some kind of ongoing subscription arrangement whose access is controlled and conditional on my good behaviour.
Until recently the issue has been peripheral, and games I was semi-interested in and might have otherwise bought on a whim have been discarded due to the Steamworks requirements on the back of the box. Right now there is nothing appearing on the shelves without such online hooks, and I have given up completely in checking out Game and HMV when we visit the local shopping center.
The issue has come to a head now that some anticipated titles are coming out: skyrim, diablo3, x:rebirth. I have not bought skyrim. I price a throwaway subscription game that can terminate my account at anytime no more than £5, and it has £15 to climb down yet. Neither do I intend to buy diablo 3 or X:Rebirth so long as they have mandatory online requirements.
I remain hopeful that there will be a gold edition of X:Rebirth containing a standalone Steam-free version, available for mail order through Amazon.
Nova Scotia wrote:To me Steam is no different from Apple
Would you mind listing the exact similarities, please? I honestly fail to see enough of them to warrant juxtaposing the two.
Both companies like to dictate how the purchased software is used.
Both companies make the owner feel like they rented the software .
Both companies like to tell you when to upgrade there clients .
Both seem to think they own your Pc once there FREE software is loaded on it.
Few of the top of me head
Pretty much like Sony ,now that I think of it
Just got told not to long ago by Sony that I had to update the firmware on my ps3 or kiss good buy investment in my games and rig
Nova Scotia wrote:To me Steam is no different from Apple
Would you mind listing the exact similarities, please? I honestly fail to see enough of them to warrant juxtaposing the two.
Both companies like to dictate how the purchased software is used.
Both companies make the owner feel like they rented the software .
Both companies like to tell you when to upgrade there clients .
Both seem to think they own your Pc once there FREE software is loaded on it.
Few of the top of me head
Pretty much like Sony ,now that I think of it
Just got told not to long ago by Sony that I had to update the firmware on my ps3 or kiss good buy investment in my games and rig
These are my opinions ,some might differ
well it looks like a global trend: Apple, Steam, Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA surrender now!! soon the all world will be in their pocket (id prefer it to be in mine )
Nova Scotia wrote:To me Steam is no different from Apple
Would you mind listing the exact similarities, please? I honestly fail to see enough of them to warrant juxtaposing the two.
Both companies like to dictate how the purchased software is used.
Both companies make the owner feel like they rented the software .
Both companies like to tell you when to upgrade there clients .
Both seem to think they own your Pc once there FREE software is loaded on it.
Few of the top of me head
Pretty much like Sony ,now that I think of it
Just got told not to long ago by Sony that I had to update the firmware on my ps3 or kiss good buy investment in my games and rig
These are my opinions ,some might differ
well it looks like a global trend: Apple, Steam, Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA surrender now!! soon the all world will be in their pocket (id prefer it to be in mine )
I dont mind steam. It's in-game overlay is useful. and its easy access to games is good for finding new stuff. Lotsa sales too.
What I dont want is something similar to what Ubisoft done with Assassins Creed. Not only does it need steam, it needs it's own client thing to run at the same time.
Antaran wrote:1. Steam is still on your computer, it is a client that you are pretty much forced to install if you wan´t to use the product, you say there is a choice but that is pretty much not true since you have no choice, if you wan´t to use the product..
And if the product used a different system such as TAGES/SecuROM/whatever then you'd be forced to have that installed on your system if you wanted to use it so what's essentially the difference?
Visibility. You can see Steam.
People say they want a disc version of games because they 'don't trust Steam' but you're going to get some form of DRM no matter what as there's very few games released unsecured. So what these people who 'don't trust Steam' are essentially saying is they have an issue with a centralised DRM system like Steamworks, that they can see and whose function they can turn on and off as they choose, because of what it might be doing to their precious machine... but at the same time they're perfectly happy to install half a dozen games on their system which could have wildly different DRM systems, with little if any understanding of what DRM system they're actually installing or what it might be doing to their machine in itself or in combination with another competing DRM... and that's apparently perfectly ok..
I guess out of sight, out of mind is a truism.
You are still missing the point, sure Tages/etc... get installed on the computer, however they do not need a client running that requires a username and login and the game tied to an account.
This is a huge difference to me, and yes it does make a difference if you notice the thing or not, like the leader of the steam religion has said himself, DRM only works if you do not notice it is there, and sadly he has failed miserably in his own logic.
Fallout 3 was a great example of that, install game->disk activation->play.
Antaran wrote: This is a huge difference to me, and yes it does make a difference if you notice the thing or not, like the leader of the steam religion has said himself, DRM only works if you do not notice it is there, and sadly he has failed miserably in his own logic.
So those of us who are supporters of Steam are now part of a religion, eh?
Stars_InTheirEyes wrote:I dont mind steam. It's in-game overlay is useful. and its easy access to games is good for finding new stuff. Lotsa sales too.
What I dont want is something similar to what Ubisoft done with Assassins Creed. Not only does it need steam, it needs it's own client thing to run at the same time.
Im all for steam. Plus im terrible with discs.
Don't remind me Ubisoft, I've have the Dark Messiah, that have Securom for the stand-alone mode and Steam for the multiplayer.
