Steam rant

[BobTheJanitor]

Why does no one does a Dead Space where the Horror comes from being thrown in a Fantasy world? Why nobody interlinks sci-fi with fantasy? There is so many ways to do this properly, yet nobody even tries.

The answer is always money. AAA games cost piles of money, and unless you can guarantee that they will turn a profit, you won't be able to find funding for them. To some extent, this makes sense. You can't expect people to drop millions on a game project when it might turn out to be a massive failure. That's why the truly unique games come from the indies. No one is going to make them on a massive budget, they're going to invest that budget into Modern Battlefield part 57, because that's what's sold before, so they can be pretty sure it will sell again. Sad, but true.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Why does no one does a Dead Space where the Horror comes from being thrown in a Fantasy world? Why nobody interlinks sci-fi with fantasy? There is so many ways to do this properly, yet nobody even tries.

The answer is always money. AAA games cost piles of money, and unless you can guarantee that they will turn a profit, you won't be able to find funding for them. To some extent, this makes sense. You can't expect people to drop millions on a game project when it might turn out to be a massive failure. That's why the truly unique games come from the indies. No one is going to make them on a massive budget, they're going to invest that budget into Modern Battlefield part 57, because that's what's sold before, so they can be pretty sure it will sell again. Sad, but true.

Pretty much what Bob said.

I sympathize with what your saying though eRe4s3r.  I wish there were more games like Mass Effect on the market right now.  But they aren't the big sellers...games like Modern Warfare are...for whatever reason that is. 

Its your choice at the end of the day whether you buy the game or not. 

King

[Coppermantis]

The days of $60 titles are being replaced by more price conscious consumers. We have more choice now. We don't have to pay $60 to scratch an itch when there are plenty of other titles at better prices. Also, I feel as if technology has taken a break from progress at the moment. The graphics between generations aren't that much better. The gameplay mechanics may add different gimmicks, but the real innovation is in the indie scene.

And yet, CoD can still charge ~$50 for their yearly mappack and sell kajillions. What you say is true, the leaps between engine qualities is getting smaller and smaller. Indie games and mods are truly the main innovation since, as has been stated, they don't need to worry about selling as much. That's why you have awesome games like VVVVVV, Super Meat Boy, and so on. Even Portal, which no one can deny was innovative, was not only based on an indie game but also developed like one, with a low budget and included basically for free in the Orange Box but becoming wildly popular.

[zebramatt]

Actually, Steam doesn't need to be online to activate offline mode.

It used to but Valve have long since held that it was a bug with the client. (Specifically, your local client tries to ensure that it and all of your games are the most up-to-date version on load. Previously if you had never played the game whilst connected to the internet - or had not done so recently enough - it was considered in need of a check with the server.)

But it was fixed donkey's years ago and personally I've had no trouble switching in and out of offline mode whilst not connected to the net ever since.

I distinctly remember, in fact, because it was my only significant gripe with the service.

[keith.lamothe]

Actually, Steam doesn't need to be online to activate offline mode.

It used to but Valve have long since held that it was a bug with the client. (Specifically, your local client tries to ensure that it and all of your games are the most up-to-date version on load. Previously if you had never played the game whilst connected to the internet - or had not done so recently enough - it was considered in need of a check with the server.)

But it was fixed donkey's years ago and personally I've had no trouble switching in and out of offline mode whilst not connected to the net ever since.

I distinctly remember, in fact, because it was my only significant gripe with the service.

I had seen a note in a steam update release note list a couple months ago (very roughly) that said something about offline mode had been fixed.  So just tested it:

1) Grabbed my laptop, checked to make sure that steam was not open (it's currently logged in on my desktop).  For what it's worth, it was running steam a few days ago.
2) Disabled laptop wireless adapter (no wire connection).
3) Opened steam.
4) Received this error message: "Unable to connect to the Steam network.  'Offline Mode' is unavailable because there is no Steam login information stored on this computer.  You will not be able to use Steam until you can connect to the Steam network again."

5) Re-enabled laptop wireless adapter.
6) Opened steam again, got normal login prompt, logged in, worked fine.
7) Closed steam (and killed it in process explorer to make sure it didn't hang on).
8 ) Disabled laptop wireless adapter again.
9) Opened steam.
10) Received this error message: "Could not connect to the Steam network.  It appears that you are not connected to the Internet, or that your Internet connection is not configured correctly for Steam.  Either check your connection and click 'Retry', or start Steam in 'Offline Mode'.  With a "Retry Connection" button and a "Start in Offline Mode" button.
11) Clicked "Start in Offline Mode".
12) Received this error message: "Could not connect to Steam network.  This could be due to a problem with your Internet connection, or with the Steam network.  Please visit www.steampowered.com for more info." (kind of a funny poke to give a url to a person with internet connection problems, but that's by no means a gaff unique to Valve), and an "OK" button.
13) Clicked "OK" button and steam shut back down.

14) Re-enabled laptop wireless adapter.
15) Opened steam again, it opened fine without prompting for login since it still had the credentials.
16) Clicked Steam -> Go Offline -> Restart In Offline Mode
17) Hrm, steam crashed during the restart, but that doesn't normally happen so I try again and it works.
18) Close steam (kill in procexp from orbit, only way to be sure).
19) Disabled laptop wireless adapter again.
20) Opened steam.
21) Received this message: "Steam is currently set to be in Offline Mode. (blah blah)", so I click "Start In Offline Mode".
22) It works fine.

So I'm sure they fixed something, but they didn't fix whatever makes me have to start Offline mode while Online

[zebramatt]

OK, yes. It's flaky. It always has been. And sure, it works perfectly every time for me now but it's true it used to infuriate me.

That first error of yours I've seen before: I believe it's possibly insinuating that you have either not opted to have Steam remember your username and password; or you've ticked the "Don't save account credentials on this machine" check box on the settings page. If you have asked it to save your password; and you haven't ticked that box, then I'm stumped on that one!

The others are age old rabbit warren stuff which used to drive me batpoop mental but let me know if the above helped regardless and there are some extreme measures you can try!

[keith.lamothe]

OK, yes. It's flaky. It always has been. And sure, it works perfectly every time for me now but it's true it used to infuriate me.

That first error of yours I've seen before: I believe it's possibly insinuating that you have either not opted to have Steam remember your username and password; or you've ticked the "Don't save account credentials on this machine" check box on the settings page. If you have asked it to save your password; and you haven't ticked that box, then I'm stumped on that one!

The others are age old rabbit warren stuff which used to drive me batpoop mental but let me know if the above helped regardless and there are some extreme measures you can try!

It's saving the credentials, as evidenced by the error in 10 not complaining about the lack of credentials, and the fact that the last test in 22 working.

[zebramatt]

Hm. True enough.

Well, I feel your pain!

[keith.lamothe]

Hm. True enough.

Well, I feel your pain!

Haha.  It's not really an inconvenience for me, since we don't actually switch around which machine uses which account much anymore   But "there's something wonky with Offline Mode and that kind of worries me" is probably the one complaint I've seen in every single remotely-in-depth written evaluation of steam that I remember, and there's a reason for that

[Mánagarmr]

Missing out on Mass Effect 3 is like gutting me, but I _will not_ for the life of me pay a single penny to that monster of a company. There are two companies out there that currently hold this status to me, and it is EA and Ubisoft. I simply do not care how fantastic games they make (which they thankfully pretty much never do), I will never ever buy from them (again).

[BobTheJanitor]

Ubisoft unfortunately publishes the Anno games. The DRM in Anno 1404 isn't too offensive, and for the moment Anno 2070 is too expensive for me to worry about. But one day it will go on sale and I'll be faced with the terrible choice. 2070's DRM counts swapping out one piece of hardware, like the video card, as a new activation, of which you get 3 until you have to email Ubisoft and beg. Every time I think their DRM can't get worse, they surprise me anew.

[keith.lamothe]

Ubisoft unfortunately publishes the Anno games. The DRM in Anno 1404 isn't too offensive, and for the moment Anno 2070 is too expensive for me to worry about. But one day it will go on sale and I'll be faced with the terrible choice. 2070's DRM counts swapping out one piece of hardware, like the video card, as a new activation, of which you get 3 until you have to email Ubisoft and beg. Every time I think their DRM can't get worse, they surprise me anew.

Their previous DRM efforts dwarf that.  I could basically live with Anno 2070's if I could get the game for $3-$5, because I'd pay that for a long-term rental... which is exactly what it would be.  The always-on stuff they've still got on Settlers 7 is intolerable to me, however.

[eRe4s3r]

To be honest, I was like that as well but lately I have noticed that.. should I ever have no Internet I would not be able to live past day 2 anyway, game working or not And i have to admit that i already bought Mass Effect 3 (Deluxe Edition no less) for about 5€ less than the normal version would have cost on Origin (yay me ;p) gotta love GMG and their 25% rebates every now and then on pre-orders

Anyhow, i would not pay "full price" for these games, but i got Anno 2070 for 34€ on release (instead of 50) which was a nice price and so far i had a blast with it, and whatever issues you might have, the game does run fine in off-line mode and.. how often do you change gpu's ? My PC hardware is still good for another 3 to 5 years... and I haven't seen the DRM window more than once.. ;p

I only buy very few games a year and only games i really do buy are those i play at least 50hrs or more and.. well i admit that i also stopped caring for DRM - life is too short to play political games with games. I want to play fun and good games, and EA / Ubisoft are the ones making the big ones. No matter their DRM... as long as the games are good ^^

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Ubisoft unfortunately publishes the Anno games. The DRM in Anno 1404 isn't too offensive, and for the moment Anno 2070 is too expensive for me to worry about. But one day it will go on sale and I'll be faced with the terrible choice. 2070's DRM counts swapping out one piece of hardware, like the video card, as a new activation, of which you get 3 until you have to email Ubisoft and beg. Every time I think their DRM can't get worse, they surprise me anew.

Their previous DRM efforts dwarf that.  I could basically live with Anno 2070's if I could get the game for $3-$5, because I'd pay that for a long-term rental... which is exactly what it would be.  The always-on stuff they've still got on Settlers 7 is intolerable to me, however.

I cannot stand for that type of DRM.  If I'm going to pay anywhere near full-price for a game, then the game better be mine.  3 activations?  Screw that.  The amount of PCs I could go through would make that $$ wasted in the long run. 

King

[eRe4s3r]

Well you have 3 activations unless you ask.. i don't think support would deny you more and while a hassle, asking support is free

If Ubisoft were ever to go bankrupt it'd be the same situation as if Valve would go dark, they always said they will make sure games run without steam then but thats nonsense, without the ability to install the steam version from a non-steam source you can never, EVER, get that games updates (if they were steam only)

So i don't really see what makes people accept Steam but hate activation limits. At least with Origin you get the FULLY PATCHED offline installer. Steam is just a promise of availability, much worse than a 3 activation auth process imo ^^