Valve Get Heavy

From where do you get this information? I have a hard time believing that this is any sort of real statistic.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. We're in a great section of the console cycle for game sales: most people have their console of choice, there hasn't been much change in hardware meaning developers are used to the hardware and thus efficient at producing games for the hardware. When the new consoles are released, these numbers probably won't go up as quickly as they have in the past couple of years (and may even go down).

 

just to say . I have NO real issues with HL2. Have NO issues at all with Steam. Have had a steam account since day one. Have read the forums for years. Had many many issues with Steam during the first year. Was informed as much as anybody that reads on the Steam forums about the issues. Im your TYPICAL Steam HL2 downloaded user. There was never any reason to buy a cd/dvd. They said and i did Backup my copy to DVD. Had noreason to EVER look for some cd key to use, other than the one i was issued. To cry and moan about SOMEBODY else's supossed problem with the Disk version, that can and will be rectifide if you are legit. Is loony.
Banning is good. Start a new account, pay for a legit copy. If ya dont like to acctivate online DONT BUY THE GAME.

 

Ehh your full of it how long do you think it would take to download doom 2 on a 28.8k modem? BBSes oh those were the days or are you saying we should artifically impose limits on data transfer rates so people are unable to pirate? Maybe we should ban cds and go to floppy disks so we can't you physical transfers as well. Its actually be found that carrier pigeons do fast transfer rates then the internet btw.

 

You know what if valve would of advertised the fact that there was a CD check ontop of thier spyware on my PC I would of never bought the game. I am sorry but steam is a complete rip off for us who bought a legitimate copy. I had to waste 7 hours day 1 to play the game. 3.5 hours to create an account good job having enough severs to handle day 1 load. 3 flipping hours to download a 45 meg file to unlock my game that is unacceptable and was not on the box. Then 20 minutes to defrag my hard drive which was utterly savaged by the unlocking process. Then to top it off I have to put the f'n dvd in the drive to play the game. I hope people pirate the hell out of the game valve deserves it. If I can I will get an illegal copy so I don't have to put a DVD in the drive to play. I will never ever buy another valve game again they lost a customer for life.


P.S the offline mode for me seems to be lost when I use window washer. So when I went to play today I had to waste another flipping hour downloading steam updates. This is bogus if valve had any honor they would offer refunds to people on dial up who bought the game.

 

Anecdotal evidence is meaningless at best, misleading at worst. The fact remains that there are a number of people out there who have had issues with Steam, that have been unable to play the game due to Steam, in one way or another.

 

Took me a good atleast 12 hours trying to get steam to work after it came out and I'm FAR from a PC moron. Other times I've had steam just to refuse to work for totally no reason. Copied my friends folder deleted all the register value and reinstalled ect,ect then 30 minutes later it would let me log in. Nothing changed at all on my end.

 

But what if you can afford the game but you still not able to play the game because the group of people who made the piece of software, tend to use measures which they never ever properely described to you on how it must be used before it went to the shelfs and thus meaning that when you bought the software you can't use it and you're officially screwed from that point on.

If valve had actually made the HL2 work after you installed it off the CD/DVD's that you bought, a lot more people would've been playing it at this moment after paying for it. As it stands atm, a lot of people who bought retail have returned the game because they can't play it.

I should do it too .. but you can most probably call me a fanatic and i'll most probably wait another 4-5 months before I can actually play HL2.

Next time Valve, egg is gonna be on your face. You won't be getting another cent from me until you've shown me that you value me, as a retail buyer, and allow me to play the game straight after installing the damn game.

US

 

The number is derived from the download number of the first torrent seed, i guess. A german Activision spokesman was asked for a comment regarding the availability of a warez version before the official release and he said it didn't bother them much because most of the downloaders had'nt bought the game anyway so they weren't really losing money.

 

I agree BUT i also think the consequences of the copy protection schemes have to be made absolutely clear to the potential customers. A few examples: HL2 is an non exclusive online shooter so the requirement of an internet connection should be mentioned in large letters on the front of the box which it isn't. It should be mentioned in the advertising campaigns which it isn't.In case the game can only be patched via an active online steam connection this too has to be mentioned. The fact that the CD/DVD in the drive is required to play the retail version has to be mentioned as it is a huge drawback, etc. So far all my doubts about hidden drawbacks of steam surfacing after the release have been confirmed and i'm happy i didn't buy the game. But reaching that decision required quite some reading of related articles and message boards on the net and some thinking. And that makes me a non-average customer.

 

http://www.thebbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=22005081

US

 

I cannot and will not ever agree with that.

 

bloody hell, that cuts both ways in this arguement about people's experiences with Steam based on Forum posts.

 

Problem is nobody cares or gives you kudos when it works as it should. Valve doesn't deserve praise for the game just 'working'. But it does deserve criticism when it doesn't. So although it cuts both ways, examples of people having good experiences aren't worth squat really.

 

That's just anecdotal material. Where's the statistics? Show me proof!

This thread is just more evidence that PC gamers are a pack of whiney little thieves who think it's their right to steal from others. The sense of entitlement in the tone of certain posts in this thread is laughably naive.

 

Maybe you should just stop posting stupid comments like that. It looks like you are generalising that all PC Gamers are a pack of whiney little thieves. It's not so and shouldn't be considered. Sure there might be some that might consider that road but not all do.

I thought you were better than that John.

US

 

To add a little more to the fun: I went to store and took a look at the box. Says "Internet connection required" there. Nothing about "one-time internet connection" but internet connetion. One could argue that a dysfunct offline mode nevertheless means the product works as advertised.
On returning the game if it doesn't work: that's not possible as stores refuse to take it back for obvious reasons.
On the issue of breaking EULAs: breaking an EULA is obviously wrong as long the EULA is legal itself. Which it often isn't.

 

http://www.steamreich.com. Seems to be some "pirates unite" platform.

 

Too true unfortunately. At least when I pirate stuff I ain't deluding myself about what I'm doing, I KNOW what I'm doing is wrong but I do it anyways sometimes just because I can and it's soo freaking easy. (And fun, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a bit of vicarious pleasure I take from cruising the best torrent sites just to keep up on what the what is )

It kind of worries/scares me that so many people seem to think that it is somehow their right to pirate software just because they don't like the security/protection on it. :? Are we really that spoiled now?

If you feel you gotta do something supralegal to get your desired results and do so that's something I can understand, but I do not get how that is at all "right" when we all know it's illegal on the very face of it.

I'm not saying I don't do it myself, I'm just saying I do it knowing just what it is I'm doing and I don't try and rationalize/justify it.

 

Of the gaming and hardware boards I browse regularly the # of posters regularly discussing warezed games is alarming. Combined with statements coming from journalists who cover the market, and the financial statements of some of the largest publishers in the business, and I'd say we have a significant problem on our hands. And my post obviously wasn't meant as a broad generalization since I was specifically mentioning the attitudes of those in this thread willfully standing on a slippery slope to justify their actions.

I mean, I just love the posts that read: "Game X is sooo good I'm actually going to buy it!". What? You want a fuckin' cookie for that statement or something?