Current [POLL] Would you use Steam for Rebirth?

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

Don't trust preorders from amazon or any other source. They have just as much information as we do about where it will be sold.

Perhaps true, but as they receive the stuff direct from the publisher (e.g. DeepSilver) they may have more information with regards to if a shrink-wrap option is going to be available.

Egosoft have not ruled out a boxed option, they have just declared that the Steam client will be a requirement regardless... at least for the foreseeable future.

Personally, I will be buying it directly through Steam. I already have too many DVDs and paper manuals (many in a sorry state).

[elexis]

You would think that, except that all these sites have been offering preorders for two years, claiming release is just a few months away.

[Nibel]

there is no point in even discussing it,because steam rebirth marriage is set in to stone,but what i don't want to see is Workshop only place where i can get mods. i have my reason,and first one is how it handle those things - i just h a t e i t.

[dougeye]

don't worry I doubt it will be workshop only, steam workshop is for beginners who don't realy know how to mod and treat mods like dlc.

[EmperorJon]

I wouldn't agree with that. You get a lot of good submissions to some workshops.
The main issue is, when there are easy tools for editing something really basic in the game, you're guaranteed to get hundreds of beginners posting up their first mod attempts.

[dougeye]

no its not a problem with the quality of the mods uploaded, I mean its easier for people who don't mod to download and install them. anyways im no expert as I don't use workshop for anything.

[Nibel]

I wouldn't agree with that. You get a lot of good submissions to some workshops.
The main issue is, when there are easy tools for editing something really basic in the game, you're guaranteed to get hundreds of beginners posting up their first mod attempts.

well,it's not the only place...look at nexus and when skyrim came out ?god...this was nightmare !i just simple wanted to find QUALITY mods or at least that add something useful,but NO i was FORCED to swim pardon,in this novice diarrhea to find something worth my attention.

[EmperorJon]

And I suspect the best place to find content may still be on the forums, but the way the usefulness of workshop means that installation may consist of a link to the workshop for a lot of people.

[Chris0132]

Workshop is a lot better than what most games have, a dedicated mod manager can easily offer more features, but as a standard application and especially as a reliable and readily available upload source, it's an excellent tool.

I think the X modding community could really do good things with it. We may at least have fewer people adding their +15 flaming laser gun of spacefly slaying mods. Or their [ADULT ONLY] NAKED BORON W/ JIGGLE PHYSICS <18+> XXX mods.

The autoupdate feature is nice and as I said, it's a decent host for your files if you don't have something like the nexus sites.

[BDK]

Workshop is a lot better than what most games have, a dedicated mod manager can easily offer more features, but as a standard application and especially as a reliable and readily available upload source, it's an excellent tool.

I think the X modding community could really do good things with it. We may at least have fewer people adding their +15 flaming laser gun of spacefly slaying mods. Or their [ADULT ONLY] NAKED BORON W/ JIGGLE PHYSICS <18+> XXX mods.

The autoupdate feature is nice and as I said, it's a decent host for your files if you don't have something like the nexus sites.

Workshop, including the name, is horrible. Yes it's super easy, but it's also super annoying. It requires a launcher to work and if a modder deletes his/her mod or make it private, it is automatically removed from your game. Surely it doesn't take two brain cells to figure out that's pretty horrid in every regard and can seriously mess up people's games.

[Ebany]

I've met many people with this view, my main aim is to see just how many people (those who'd not normally use Steam for any reason) would be willing to use Steam under the right circumstances.

I can't imagine that you'll get an accurate indication in any case.

Accuracy is dependant on numbers. The more precision we require, the more effort we could expend, e.g. Poll's on multiple gaming sites. In the end, how perfect must we be to get an idea? Personally I would look at the old Poll from 2 years ago, and compare its results to this one.

How many non-steam lovers are going to be hanging around the forum of a game which has already established beyond any hope of change that it will be steam exclusive? I hang around pretty much from habit alone, and partially because I still support Egosoft, despite them not supporting me.
(Don't jump on me, all you steam lovers - I concede ES' right to choose any platform they desire, and I'm perfectly aware they owe me nothing. )

Unsure. Without more data I will assume 50/50, but again it becomes an issue of precision requirements. For this we only require basic indication.

Though there are are probably many like myself who scan the forums on a regular basis but, for our own reasons, chose to minimise the amount we post. I've been hoping to catch the last minute information pertaining to Steams overall involvement.

TL:DR; Useless poll. Might as well ask how many people like steam on steam's own forums.

PS - haven't voted, can't be bothered.

I'm sorry you feel the poll is useless, possibly that is an option which should have been entered.
Doing a poll can be extremely difficult, it must be minimalistic but easy to understand while presenting all the options to allow readers accuracy in their choices. You can't edit a poll, must get it right the first time.

p.s. You should vote as it'll allow you to view the current results. Plus a persons opinion tends to be empty if they haven't cast some type of vote

[Ebany]

Thought I should mention;
Divinity - Dragon Commander came out on Steam and GoG, patch has been released on both sites without issue.
Fantastic game, bought two (2) copies.

Comparability speaking, Steam's the equivalent of a Trust Fund Account. Ownership matters little, its more about who receives the benefits. So long as management of the funds is handled well, you will continue to enjoy your current lifestyle. If Management goes bad .......... well we've all seen funds shrink and Banks go belly up.

Another thing to worry about when making games exclusive to Steam, thought I would mention it as no-one else has yet.

*DLC.
Most games seem to be going Steam "exclusive" because of the huge financial benefits reaped from selling DLC to consumers. DLC is a very contentious item, however there is no doubt it's becoming more prevalent, especially on Steam.

Now Steam, Origin, Microsoft Live, (even Desura to a certain extent) etc are all basically the same. You can argue about the small inconsequential things like publishers/mods/off-line modes/etc, but at heart they're basically the same.

Except if this poll had Origin or MS Live instead of Steam, I'd imagine vastly different results ........ Why? Simply put, people trust Steam. Who is their right mind trusts EA or MS?

[EmperorJon]

But there are reasons many of us do not trust the likes of EA...

[JackBNimble]

It is possible to respect somebody's right to have an opinion without having any respect for the opinion itself.

I never used my offline mode much but when I had to due to outages it generally didn't work. What information there is suggests it's highly random as to whether it works for you.

That's strange , I use offline mode quite often and never have any problems. It is also a myth that you need to log into steam for verification to start a game, that's just simply not true at all.

Well, it sort of depends, if offline mode is working then you don't need to log into it, though you do need it running in order to be able to use some games on it (I think that varies on a per-game basis however, some you can indeed run from the executable without any issues.)

However if offline mode isn't working, it will occasionally just say 'There's a problem with offline mode, please log in.' and if you can't or don't log in and authenticate with the steam servers, then steam won't start and you can't use any games that require it to be loaded.

I don't generally consider this a problem because steam is an online distribution platform, almost everything it is designed to do requires it to be online because otherwise it couldn't download games or talk to people or update things or whatever. As a rule it does what it advertises, but it does require internet access as part of that.

So I'd say it's reasonable (if possibly slightly self centered) to object to the use of steam as a necessary component of X rebirth, if you live in an area with very poor internet connectivity or for some other reason cannot use the internet reliably. Though objecting to steam itself on principle doesn't make a lot of sense because as I said, it does what it's supposed to do, by and large.

If anything, I'd say something that would be beneficial for anyone who can't use steam is to write to your local legislator and try to raise the issue of telecommunications infrastructure improvements in your area. It's an important thing for both business and recreation as it allows a lot of smaller businesses access to very inexpensive advertising and communications. As time and technology continue to advance, outdated infrastructure is only going to become more of a problem. Good internet is just as important as good roads nowadays.

Which is why I say it's a little self centered to say developers need to hold back from pure digital distribution. Traditional distribution methods are very expensive and inefficient compared to digital distribution and a lot of smaller developers will find it very hard or impossible to fund them. Doing them on a small scale is especially inefficient because you have all the prototyping costs associated with large scale distribution, without as much return in sales.

I believe I mentioned in my first comment in this thread that "yes you will need to log into steam to initiate games like MMO's or any game that has it's own DRM that requires you to be logged in to it's game servers". That is not a direct quote , but that is what I was trying to get across. Every other game that does not have a DRM tied to it should be able to launch with out being logged into steam.

I do understand that just because I don't have any problems playing in offline mode that others will not have issues or problems . It may be a compatibility issue with certain games , I am just guessing because I really don't know. I have no problems playing X3:AP in offline mode so I would guess that shouldn't be any issues with anyone else, but then again this is just an assumption and I could very well be wrong.

AS for X:RB I am certain that there will be no DRM tied to the game forcing you to log onto egosoft servers just to play the game, which SHOULD MEAN that you can play X:RB in offline mode and not have to initiate the steam client. I guess we will have to wait and see how true that is though.

[pjknibbs]

But then, why am I surprised. You've never made sense before.

You're stepping over the line into insulting other forum members there. Please argue the point without resorting to such tactics.

[dougeye]

Im insulted! what did they say?

its funny how this poll is significantly in favour of steam, I think maybe it is to do with the polls timing, a lot of people who don't usually trawl the forums are likely returning with the release date and trailer etc going around.

I personally think this poll is a more accurate representation of the wider demographic who will buy the game rather than us forum dwellers who have an axe to grind lol

[Ebany]

I imagine most fans who knew its was going exclusive to Steam have since moved on, like I was going to do, and are awaiting the EgoSoft newsletter which would tell us X:Rebirth could be purchased through other vendors.

I have a couple of friends who have come to the site after viewing advertising about the game so I'm hoping this poll gets new faces. I imagine the old poll was populated by fans, most of who probably prefer the game like it once was ....... Steam free.

[Ebany]

X:rebirth is now up for sale! USD $44.99 on Steam if you reside in God's country ....... also known as Australia

Edit: Oh, and only 23% have said "no", a marked decrease on the previous number.

[NUKLEAR-SLUG]

Edit: Oh, and only 23% have said "no", a marked decrease on the previous number.

Actually at this time only 4% have said "no".

[Ebany]

Edit: Oh, and only 23% have said "no", a marked decrease on the previous number.

Actually at this time only 4% have said "no".

Since your playing with the words, we're both wrong. As things stand it's actually 14% who won't but the game.

Another way it could be put is only 77% have agreed to purchase it through Steam.