Steam

[Diazo]

This whole argument could be avoided if people actually knew how software works.

You do not own any software you buy. You buy the -PERMISSION-.. Yes, read it again, the -PERMISSION-.. to install and use the software within the terms and conditions set forward by the author of the software. If Valve says you have to use Steam in order to use it's software, then there is no arguement, there is no question of fairness, or your rights. You agreed to purchase the ability to use the software and abide by it's terms and conditions when you laid your money down and opened the package.

Ignorant people should really just learn not to complain.

While all this is true, sotware pirates will ignore that completly. They don't care squat if they have permission or not to crack the game.

Valve is in this to make money. While I'm sure that the Valve employees love what they are doing, Valve as a company is in this to make money. In this case, that means that Valve is in competition with the software pirates. Valve wants you to buy HL2 instead of d/ling a pirated version.

Therefore, Valve has to make it as easy as possible to buy a legit version while making it as hard as possible to play a pirated version. The thing is, this activation make is MORE difficult to play the legit version (even if most of us won't notice because activation is a 2 second procedure if you have high-speed internet). Therefore, at best people without internet will buy the boxed version and d/l a crack to bypass activation, at worse, they will simply d/l the cracked version without buying anything.

Diazo

 

[MaDMaXX]

Who said it won't have a phone number to call to activate if you don't have the inet?

Also, people seem to think they'll have to get steam separately, i think it might just come with hl2 on the CD (/sarcasim)

 

[Mountain Man]

Beacause developing two versions is more expensive and Windows is still the most widely used OS by gamers. Compatibility and more.

"Please note, the last sentence above is a rhetorical question. In other words, if you don't have any actual hands-on experience with Linux then I don't want to hear it."

And for the record, companies like Epic, id, and Bioware to name but a few have supported Linux for years. There is no reason Valve could not do the same. Indeed, Valve even makes a version of their Steam server specifically for Linux. They could have easily gone the extra step and created a Linux Steam client and an OpenGL version of Half-Life 2. Hell, they spent $40 million developing Half-Life 2 as it is. I doubt designing cross-platform support would have inflated that figure any appreciable amount.

 

[rumblefish]

steam=good (patch updates, server browser, chat system, validation, no piracy...), i used it for around 1 year, and no trouble, even getting cs:s. this guy is just a troll, let him not read the min requirement all he wants.
He should at least have a good point to state befor he goes slagging off something for the ignorant people, or just the poor people with no net connection. all it boils down to it, he doesnt like someone somewhere having his e-mail adress i think, and if this is so, i have only ever recieved 2 e-mails from steam, one saying my account was activated,the other saying my purchase of the bronze package was complete.

rf

 

[sawyer1927]

OMG OMG OMG!!!11
I h4v3 2 pr3-l04d!!! noes!111
& wut's dis!? G0ld s1lv3r br0nz3!!1
Wut 2 chewsse!?!
I R so r3t4rded!11


And I'm waiting for a list of names of people who don't have net connections.

Well I haven't got an internet connection.
Damn how am I replying to that point then?.It must all be a dream.
Nurse, Nurse, the screens I've gone all funny again, ....Not the electric shocks no....no...noooooh!

 

[Duracell]

Name ONE person that is going to buy HL2 and does not have a pre-configured internet connection.

I have quite a few friends that are unable to get broadband or simply don't have an Internet connection. They still want to buy HL2, they are quite unhappy to hear they need an Internet connection to play a single player game :|

While this doesn't effect me because I have broadband it still effects some of my friends

 

[Ownzed]

I have quite a few friends that are unable to get broadband or simply don't have an Internet connection. They still want to buy HL2, they are quite unhappy to hear they need an Internet connection to play a single player game :|

While this doesn't effect me because I have broadband it still effects some of my friends

Well that sucks.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Card board boxes tend not to have internet access, sorry to say...

j/k

Why not let your friends bring their computers over and get hl2, so you can play on your network?

 

[Duracell]

I don't think some people realise that not everyone has a connection to the internet. its the same sort of thing as the DVD drives.

Not everyone has a 3.2ghz PC with a 52mb connection, 3 DVD drives and enough ram to run thirty processes of HL2.

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

Well I don't think people realize that 80-90% of the world has broadband or some type of internet connection, you can't please everyone. The majority gets it, the other 10-20% without it, well I guess they can play ps2..

 

[Duracell]

Well I realise that they had to think of the majority rather than the minority but I just wish they would have considered the minorty

Ok, I'm done complaining for my friends now As long as I have mine unlocked on the 16th I'm happy

 

[jimbones]

I know VALVE feel this is the way forward in gaming and maybe it is, but it has really made this HL2 release one of the most complicated piece of nonsense I have ever seen. You have retail versions, gold versions, silver, bronze, collector editions etc etc. Then you need to log onto Valves very own Steam to play a game you bought in a shop, so that means buying an internet connection, modem, cables etc. You then need to setup a steam account....jeez its a nightmare!

You then have pre-load or download. Maybe the servers will crash and then lots of people can't play a game they have bought with their own money.

If this all goes tits up then Valve will be made to look stupid.

Long gone are the days when you went into a shop bought a game took it home and played it.

Its really taken the shine of this game in my book.

If Computers are too scary you should try books. They're fun, too!
:cheers:

 

[jimbones]

I have quite a few friends that are unable to get broadband or simply don't have an Internet connection. They still want to buy HL2, they are quite unhappy to hear they need an Internet connection to play a single player game :|

While this doesn't effect me because I have broadband it still effects some of my friends

Isn't it possible to activate via phone? If not VALVe > Idiots

 

[oldagerocker]

All they need to do is install hl2 onto their pc's w/o the net (assuming you can), then go round yours into their steam account and input the cd-key, then start a download, cancel that and play offline on your pc?
wouldn't that not work? i only just thought of it.

 

[oldagerocker]

Isn't it possible to activate via phone? If not VALVe > Idiots

Activate by phone = dialup, anyone can get onto steam with a free aol account for a few days.

 

[jimbones]

considering you own (as in possess) a modem ..

 

[Gotter]

Well I don't think people realize that 80-90% of the world has broadband or some type of internet connection, you can't please everyone. The majority gets it, the other 10-20% without it, well I guess they can play ps2..

This number is exagerated, but the point is still there. In any country in the world where someone would have the resources available to buy a computer that meets the system specs of Halflife 2, and the resources to buy the game itself, the number of people who have access to the internet or to a phone line (To make a one time internet connection) far outstrip the number who don't. You don't market to the minority when you plan your deployment methods, you plan towards the majority and towards future trends.

I've said it before. If you keep supporting legacy methods, you help keep those legacy methods around making it that much harder to advance into something new.

It's unfortunate that there are people who will have trouble authenticating their game. However, it's also unfortunate that they would fail to read the minimum system requirements and complain about it anyway. It is not IMPOSSIBLE for someone without the internet to auth with Steam, it's just harder.