Logon required to install/play?

greypanther · Post by **greypanther** » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 11:34

I can well understand the need to stop piracy, its wrong, full stop!

However there must be a better way of stoping it than having to use the invasive and sometimes unreliable Steam!
Cant someone come up with something better?

Shimrod · Post by **Shimrod** » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 12:20

I suspect the online activation move is aimed at scuppering the second hand PC game market, as much as for preventing casual piracy, which is already accomplished by disk checks.

Again there's no benefit in that for the consumer. A second hand market might help raise the bar on quality, with quality offerings retaining their prices while dross becomes available quickly and cheaply.

Post by **CBJ** » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 12:23

A reminder:

CBJ wrote:Let's not get into the debate about piracy and copy protection, eh? We all know where that inevitably ends, and I'd hate to have to start locking threads in this shiny new forum at such an early stage.

esd · Post by **esd** » Tue, 4. Oct 11, 12:24

CBJ posted a big warning back on page one. Heed it, or this thread will have the dubious honour of being one of the first locked in this new shiny section.

Re: Topic - I hope there's a DvD standalone version. I live in a "notspot", and it'd be a real shame to miss out on Rebirth

Arragoth · Post by **Arragoth** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 03:54

I HATE steam, but with having said that, i do hope they release it on steam though

My biggest issue with steam is, when a developer has no good agrements with steam, issues like Auran with Trainz12 are bound too happen, and that exactly why i hate steam..

Good side is, X3TC was nearly impossible too obtain legally for me at first, normal stores didnt sell it, nor bol.com where i buy most of my games normally so X3TC was only obtainable by Steam, and i still am gratefull Egosoft desided too make X3 startable without Steam interaction, and used a normal Build for steam distribution (something some developers refuse to do)

So in case of Egosoft, i wont be too scared too buy of Steam, wich doesnt count for some other dev wich i have very bad expierences with their steam releases and updates..
As long Egosoft doesnt treat Steam Customers like second rate customers with no support, i dont care.. But please dont turn into a second Auran..

shireknight · Post by **shireknight** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 05:53

I'll always go for a store copy rather than a digital download copy however if the game needs to be activated via Steam before you can play then that's fine by me because I'm used to it now -the last three Total War games were boxed but had to be activated via Steam and it's easy as hell.

greypanther · Post by **greypanther** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 11:04

I take it then CBJ, you havnt found out about any steam link with Rebirth as I asked you? Oh well, I knew it was a long shot with you being so busy.

Incidently, I did not mean to begin a conversation about copy protection, as such, merely as to why there wasnt a better less invasive method?

Steam sucks!

*Edit* Can I just add, if rebirth is all I hope it may be, I would be willing and able to drive to Germany, to your office and hand you a little pile of Euros for a game without any attachment to Steam. Even if that meant linking that copy to just one computer, though with the ability to transfer that copy to another PC, WITH Egosofts permission. ( Doesnt microsoft manage something similar if a HD fails?

)

fairywhipper · Post by **fairywhipper** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 13:27

dougeye wrote:, the very fact that you are on this forum demonstartes you have more than sufficient internet connection to launch a game off a platform like steam,

Hate to comment, but would you suggest the ability to log on and comment on forum is the ability to launch steam... Nope. I'm on mobile internet on my smartphone, i dont think i can even install or play anything from steam on it.

I have brought 2 games this year and both required me to use steam, and guess what 2.5g download later im allowed to play... wait a minute im on mobile broadband so how much did that cost not just time?????? more than game was worth....

so heres me hoping that there is a proper dvd version and not just steam, for most people living in city is not a problem, as pointed out a few of us live out in the countryside, if fact i dont have a hard phone line....

if rebirth came out only on steam, then i will just stay playing tc or switch to something else, if it comes out on dvd as well then i will be playing rebirth in 2012.

TTD · Post by **TTD** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 14:08

...a few of us live out in the countryside, if fact i dont have a hard phone line....

if rebirth came out only on steam, then i will just stay playing tc or switch to something else, if it comes out on dvd as well then i will be playing rebirth in 2012.

If my brother did not have unlimited Broadband,and allowed me to share his connection,I would still be using an unreliable 3G Mobile Broadband USB Stick.

So I too would be stuck on TC.

Post by **Bernd** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 15:01

It is very likely that X Rebirth will be using Steamworks, because our publisher is moving all recent games to this platform. This would of course not mean that you can only buy the game electronically via Steam, but that a boxed copy that you buy in a shop would have to be activated with Steam.

I know not everybody likes this, but for us as a developer this is great news, because it means that there is only ONE version we have to support and that all of our customers can automatically update to the latest version of the game. I can not overstate how big a deal this is from a developers point of view!

It may be hard for most of you active forum users to understand, because you would always see a new update and install it immediately, but unfortunately you are just a minority.

-Bernd

esd · Post by **esd** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 15:12

I'm lucky to get 1mbps. It's not that I "don't like it" (though I generally don't), it's that it's simply not viable for me - nor for many, many, other people.

amtct · Post by **amtct** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 15:21

Now this is bad.TC had a cool box and manual (that's one of the reasons I bought 3 copies) and now I have to download it from steam .I have a good internet connection (not if I want to play the game in the middle of nowhere where there is no internet) but I wonder what are going to do those with data cap limits from their ISP .Most ISP let people download 30-50Gb per month .A game (most games) is >7,5Gb ...that means you have to waste your internet on downloading a retail game that is on disk (steams redownloads the game even if you install it from a DVD ,even their back-up system sucks ).

Oh well ,sad news

Sanjor · Post by **Sanjor** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 15:25

Just as with skinning cats, there is more than one service to automate updating games. And at least one of them lets you install do a full install from a disk and play single-player offline without relying on a temperamental Offline Mode.

Being excited and non-cynical was fun while it lasted.

Post by **Bernd** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 15:44

AdrianM wrote: .that means you have to waste your internet on downloading a retail game that is on disk (steams redownloads the game even if you install it from a DVD ,even their back-up system sucks ).

This is not the case and certainly wont when the game comes out unless the developer does something wrong (which is a whole lot easier to avoid if there is only a single version of the game).

You activate the game and can play without downloading anything unless there are new updates.

-Bernd

esd · Post by **esd** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 15:57

Bernd wrote:This is not the case and certainly wont when the game comes out unless the developer does something wrong (which is a whole lot easier to avoid if there is only a single version of the game).

Isn't that the latest patch anyway?

You activate the game and can play without downloading anything unless there are new updates.

Scenario: The kids are in bed and I've got a chance to play for a bit. I launch Rebirth, but it happens that today is the day that the patch came out. Under normal circumstances, I'd carry on playing while downloading the patch in the background via HTTP or BT. Chances are by the time I've finished playing, the patch won't be done, but that's fine because I can resume it next time.

That's not possible with Steam - whenever I launch Steam to play something (I only have their free stuff), I'm made to download the updates before I can play... which usually means that I just don't get to play that night.

My playtime is valuable. I don't want to waste it downloading updates, nor do I want to be unable to play during my ISP's frequent downtimes. I really hope the publisher allows a standalone DvD option.

BigMistake · Post by **BigMistake** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 15:57

Edit: My question was answered in earlier posts. Please forgive my erroneous post.

OT: I understand Steam isn't evil (for the most part)... I just don't have any internet connection(3G, 4G, or otherwise) most of the year. I'm happy to hear that log in for every play won't be required. (We'll see if it truly is that way as steam's offline mode has been a pain.)

Edit II: Maybe My question wasn't fully answered... Can one play X:R without an internet connection, after the game has been activated through Steam on install?

Shootist · Post by **Shootist** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 16:02

esd wrote:
That's not possible with Steam - whenever I launch Steam to play something (I only have their free stuff), I'm made to download the updates before I can play... which usually means that I just don't get to play that night.

There are two ways to avoid your issue.

You can turn off updates.

You can play in offline mode.

esd · Post by **esd** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 16:05

Shootist wrote:You can turn off updates.

But I want to update. I just want to download the darn thing while I'm playing. My free-computer time is very limited and extremely valuable for a multitude of reasons.

You can play in offline mode.

Not consistently. It requires occasional online revalidation, and offline mode itself is not particularly reliable.

These are reasons why I actively avoid purchasing Steam-only games. Seriously, if a box says "requires Steam", I put it back on the shelf. Steam simply isn't viable for me nor my internet connection.

TTD · Post by **TTD** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 16:06

I have used Steam recently to get the DLC.
If I want to play offline, I first have to log on (automatically if desired), then go to "offline mode".

I have tried playing off line without logging on first,but it just asks me to check my internet connection

Not solved this,despite recent discussions on the forums here.

That being said,when I play online,Steam keeps re-downloading files for TC which I already have,having already downloaded to the latest patched version (3.1.1).

If I was on a limited monthly download,this would prevent me from playing online most often.
Yes, the advantage of being online is so that you get instant upgrades to the next patch.
So I am happy with that aspect,since if I want the next patch,usually the only way to get it is to download it.

But I don't want my game files to be continually replaced by new identical files.
Not only that,but the game can run slow enough as it is,without being any slower,due to the CPU being needed to install files I already have !

Having looked at other posts...

If it was possible,after registration,to have a separate (maybe PC specific) back-up,for playing offline,that did not require connection to the internet,it would solve most players worries.

Kor'ah · Post by **Kor'ah** » Wed, 5. Oct 11, 16:15

Yeah, for esd's case keeping steam in offline mode is what he should be doing. Speaking of offline mode that's how you get a boxed copy to install. Be online only to get the game registered, and added, to your steam account. Once that's done switch to offline mode and install strait from the DVD. Final step is going back online for the latest patch.

Granted the Steamworks client should be looking at optical drives for instillation files before giving up and downloading from the network. Gripe to Gabe over that.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Logon required to install/play?