Half-Life 2 retail - steam activation MANDATORY?!

[Stalkid64]

On the other side I don't have a problem with reasonable copy protections (steam activation is not reasonable) but I use NO-CD patches or ISO images when possible just to avoid putting the CD in the drive whenever I want to play

This is the point most people are making and the real problem the steam forums are making an issue of. You'd find most software devco's don't really bother too much about no-cd cracks. They save wear and tear on the CD, and as long as they got your money it isn't really an issue. IIRC EA actually removed one of the Battlefield CD checks in a patch, to let people play LAN games after there was an outcry on the forums about Road To Rome.

 

[Modem]

The fact is to play a single player game on your computer you should not have to be connected to the internet.

Only for the innital regestration. Once you have steam regestered, you can run steam in offline mode, with no internet access required. I think it's great, and it'll make it harder (though, of course, still not impossible) for people to get a pirated Half-Life2. It's only a matter of time 'till someone makes it so you don't need steam, but until then, people have to buy the game, which is great. Stupid pirates, and stupid people who download games illegally.
- Modem

 

[Stalkid64]

See earlier argument re: anti piracy argument. The day or two it'll take to crack - assuming Valve can keep their security high enough to not be hacked again for that long and have the game leaked early - will be nothing considering the undoubtedly huge download time. End-pirates (the people who by that point don't have to crack it, just leech it precracked) will not be bothered by this Steam quirk odds are, only end-users will and already are.

Yes, pirates and illegal downloaders of full games are pretty much scum, but this won't affect them and thus is pretty pointless. Many people just don't want Steam at all. It's not necessary, it's been tied in to make it necessary. Much like IE was in earlier Windows versions. There are security issues still remaining with Steam, and I sure don't want to be `indebted` to it when mostly what I'd been planning on was having fun with Worldcraft/Hammer again. It's the beginning of the DRM-locked PC age, and it really does suck.

 

[Cheezey]

And why do you post this SIX times???!!! Delete your other 5 posts, please!!!

The six times were blatently necessary to get my point across.

 

[Stalkid64]

Now that's comedy.

 

[Cheezey]

Only for the innital regestration. Once you have steam regestered, you can run steam in offline mode, with no internet access required. I think it's great, and it'll make it harder (though, of course, still not impossible) for people to get a pirated Half-Life2. It's only a matter of time 'till someone makes it so you don't need steam, but until then, people have to buy the game, which is great. Stupid pirates, and stupid people who download games illegally.
- Modem

This is you;

And here is a cool person;

We need more people like this tbfh.

And I R not stupid thank you very much.

 

[Stalkid64]

Pirates bad, Games good.

 

[Gorxon]

Cheezey:
Seemed like I had to shove your account out the door after all. I bet you saw it coming anyways so...

If you feel that a mod has done something wrong you PM them and clear it up, rather that doing it your way...

 

[smegforbrain]

Only for the innital regestration.

You miss the point entirely then.

Contrary to popular belief, not everybody in the world has internet access.

As much as I want to see useful deterrents to piracy, there are just as many bad deterrents. This is one of the bad deterrents.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Many people just don't want Steam at all.

That is also my category. I really don't like steam, it just bothers me to have software running 24/7 for games that I don't run 24/7. Sure you can manually exit the steam applet if you want, but that is annoying. What is even more annoying is the popups that steam creates while its running. Steam has a few traits of spyware.

 

[StanTheMan]

Multiplayer

The bad part about pirated games is no multiplayer. Sure they get the better deal for the most part but if they want to play multiplayer then they have to buy the game.

Actuall, from what I heard, Half Life 2 will be only singleplayer. Counter Strike Source is supposed to be Half Life 2s multiplayer. I could be wrong though....

 

[-Shadow-]

Actuall, from what I heard, Half Life 2 will be only singleplayer. Counter Strike Source is supposed to be Half Life 2s multiplayer. I could be wrong though....

There's already a petition against the missing HL² Multiplayer Mode. I don't have a link to it because i don't really care about it.

 

[willljjj]

That is also my category. I really don't like steam, it just bothers me to have software running 24/7 for games that I don't run 24/7. Sure you can manually exit the steam applet if you want, but that is annoying. What is even more annoying is the popups that steam creates while its running. Steam has a few traits of spyware.

That's because steam is spyware, and malware and bloatware, count me out also (until the crack is out and I don't need steam to run HL2). Then I'll give the game a fair shake, and still not pay valve for trying to fource Steam, which is horseshit, plain and simple.

 

[Modem]

I have had, total, zero problems with steam that I didn't cause. No popups that you're talking about (probably something else on your computer at the time then) and no access attempts to the internet other than to update the games it has. People without internet, HOW THE HELL ARE YOU POSTING IN THE MESSAGE BOARDS? Paying for a internet cafe? It'd be cheaper getting dialup at your house. It's obvious that most people, do infact have internet access, one way or another.
As for "steam sucks, I don't want it" posts, you gotta understand, they're NOT doing this to piss people off. They're NOT doing it to give themselves money. They're doing it because they're freaking tired of pirated games, and they'll do all they can to stop it, or at the very least, slow it a little. The only part of steam you technically need installed is the frontend, and you don't need anything else installed, from the original Half-Life, Half-Life: Source, CS: Source or any other part you don't want. You can uninstall all that if HDD space is the problem.
If you don't like steam that bad for some reason, you can let Sierra/Valve know, and then, don't install it, and let the game that got a freaking 98% review in the US edition of PC Gamer get played by all but a few, stuborn headed people. Steam is there, it's not going away for now, and you can't do anything about it other than not play the game, and show them that you don't like Steam. Play it or don't, it's your choice. Me? I'm going to go through hl2 once it gets released on the 16th, and I have no doubt that it'll be the best FPS I have ever played.
Last, I'm not looking for a war with you guys, I'm just going with the flow of how this perticular company is handling the issue of piracy. They're not charging anyone for steam, they're just making it a part of their games now. You install, regester your game, and never *have* to do it again.

Cheers arty:
- Modem

 

[willljjj]

As for "steam sucks, I don't want it" posts, you gotta understand, they're NOT doing this to piss people off. They're NOT doing it to give themselves money. They're doing it because they're freaking tired of pirated games, and they'll do all they can to stop it, or at the very least, slow it a little.
If you don't like steam that bad for some reason, you can let Sierra/Valve know, and then, don't install it, and let the game that got a freaking 98% review in the US edition of PC Gamer get played by all but a few, stuborn headed people. Steam is there, it's not going away for now, and you can't do anything about it other than not play the game, and show them that you don't like Steam. Play it or don't, it's your choice.
- Modem

You're forgetting a very valid 3rd choice. Get the crack and play it without Steam. That's the ethical thing to do because this corporation (Valve) has given away some of your liberty (and privacy and cpu cycles, therefore time and even a piece of YOUR LIFE) for their monetary security. Franklin had some stuff to say about this, and it wasn't positive for those of you who may just bend over and take the Steam. That sounds funny.

"They're NOT doing it to give themselves money. They're doing it because they're freaking tired of pirated games,"

So their not doing it for money, their doing it because their tired of losing money? My bad, I see the difference now. HA HA.

 

[Stalkid64]

In a rather longer manner, I explained exactly why this just *doesn't* stand up as an anti-piracy measure. The fact is it has proved to be an extremely unpopular decision even on the Steam forums with regular users. A lot of us for various reasons just don't like it, and why should we have to accept a measure that really can't work as anti-piracy just to play the game? It's silly.

 

[DuDe]

You're forgetting a very valid 3rd choice. Get the crack and play it without Steam. That's the ethical thing to do because this corporation (Valve) has given away some of your liberty (and privacy and cpu cycles, therefore time and even a piece of YOUR LIFE) for their monetary security. Franklin had some stuff to say about this, and it wasn't positive for those of you who may just bend over and take the Steam. That sounds funny.

"They're NOT doing it to give themselves money. They're doing it because they're freaking tired of pirated games,"

So their not doing it for money, their doing it because their tired of losing money? My bad, I see the difference now. HA HA.

Oh hi there crhylove/pandamoan/whatever the fuck you're going to call yourself next. Enjoy your ban.

 

[AlphaWolf]

I have had, total, zero problems with steam that I didn't cause. No popups that you're talking about (probably something else on your computer at the time then)

You probably haven't been using steam long enough then. Every now and then they'll give you a popup advertising the newest game that they have just added to steam. It's not from any other spyware (I don't even get spyware,) it is definitely from steam. Hell the popup appears in a steam window and everything.

Sure these popups are rare, but that doesn't make them any less annoying and stupid.

 

[Modem]

I've been using steam for about a year and a half, but I took steam out of startup, so I don't have it running at any time but when I want it to. But even then, I've never seen a popup. Weird. Wow, just started it, more hl2 stuff to download. Yay, getting closer and closer to the release!
- Modem

 

[AlphaWolf]

Speak of the online activation requirement, I think it might be beyond prevention of simple piracy. It probably isn't to prevent piracy as a whole so much as it is to prevent any 0day releases. It's entirely possible that the game engine isn't included on the CD, and you can only download it when you first activate it. This would effectively prevent any warez groups from releasing the game before it actually sells in the stores.

After that it would be a simple matter of hours.