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Steam Users Steamed
KrunchTime writes "The Steam network seems to be having some problems tonight. This is not good new for fans of counter-strike, day of defeat and other half-life mods. Some people seem to be able to log on fine while others, like me :(, cannot connect at all. The steam forums were filling up with invective when I was last able to get on. The forums now seem to have imploded under the strain of complaints. The question that was being asked most is why there isn't more redundancy on the log-in side of steam. They say that if one of the master servers goes down that the accounts held there become unavailable immediately. The other big problem is that while the Steam network is down even the offline games are unplayable. There was no sign of responses from Valve staff or forum moderators."
>> funny, i can install and play my copy of half life 2 whenever i want to, I guess that Valve fucked up by making the pirate copy inherently superior to the legit copy.
This is generally true for most games, and applications (think NoCD patch).
All that any form of copy protection has ever seemed to do is make it difficult for the legitimate user to use that which he has paid for. For those of us with less scruples... heh, we get to enjoy life without the hassles that companies force their clients to endure.
I'm hoping this will wake up the majority of consumers out there and put their foot down to restrictive technologies like this. If things don't "just work" then people might stop turning a blind eye to this.. but I seriously doubt it will happen.
Not that I'm a pirate.. hell I've never even fired a cannon.
If I can't smoke and swear I'm fucked.
To be fair:
0.) Valve (or anyone else) should not be allowed to sell you something and then claim that you don't actually have any rights to use it. In other words, this copy protection bullshit should be illegal!
The fact that the cracked versions working perfectly fine encourages copyright infringement is just poetic justice.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
This is the biggest legitimate concern about Steam that most people voice - what happens if Valve goes under? I've been hoping someone in the gaming industry with enough pull could simply ASK Valve the question:
... or some variation on that theme. Newell should have an answer for this, if he doesn't, he should be pushed hard enough to need one. I feel as though there's no reason to distrust any response he gives, so if he says they've got a plan, that's enough.
''If in the unlikely event that you were unable to continue providing authentication services within a reasonable amount of time, would you make certain people could activate the game?''
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
How is DRM nescessary? It doesn't even work. Right now there are at least TWO cracks that go right around steam. Most games and other software drm schemes have been beaten quickly, in some cases the cracked versions have come out first.
Yet the game companies, music companies, and movie companies still make very large proffits.
Reality strongly argues against your claims.
The simple factors are convience and quality.
Which is better: paying $6-$12 bucks to see a movie on the big screen, or searching for and downloading copy to watch on your 19" monitor, a copy that may be crappy quality?
Which is better: Paying $16 for a proffesional cd you pop into almost device the right shape and hear music, or searching for a copy of lower quality that you then have to expend resources (admitted only about &.50-&.75 and a few minutes with nero et al) and time and effort on to make a simularly playable disc that lacks the cool art, liner notes, etc.
See the pattern here?
Games are still making lots of money even though they add drm schemes that reduce the convience factor, which in turn makes the 'pirated' versions MORE desirable simply from a convience standpoint even without the cost in dollars factor. FUD* is a factor against game 'piracy', without it DRM would likely drive a much larger segment towards the cracks than it already does. And as drm schemes get worse (and this is a LOT worse than most) it counters the fud even more.
Sorry but as I see it DRM is counter to the best intrests of the game companies as it only adds costs and costs them in paying users.
*=Not all fud is bogus, fear of being cought, uncertainty as whether or not the crack has built in malware,doubt as to whether it'll accidently screw up your system, etc. All have varying degrees of truth to them.
Mycroft
https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
They don't publish it. On their support site in the "New copy, CD key already regged" They tell you to -- I'm not making this up -- mail your packaging, key and reciept, or photos thereof, to VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES. They don't even take responsiblility. Further in this document, they tell you it will take a couple weeks for vugames to figure it out.
... My receipt is dated Nov., when I installed, I got to play online for a day or two before Steam came back and said my key was already on file. On Nov. 26 I mailed my crap to vugames and, wait for it, still haven't heard back from them with a new key.
... I don't even think I can get a refund (in store return) at this point, so I just have to keep waiting.
They could tell you about the command line switch -steam, but they don't. They expect you to sit on your hands while you wait for them to get back to you with a new key, that may already have been genned by the time you get it. But get this
THAT'S RIGHT VALVE, I'VE BEEN WAITING TO PLAY YOUR GAME FOR OVER TWO MONTHS. The sad thing is
The moral of this story: Key checking schemes only hurt the customer. There is some asshole out there that genned my key and has been happily playing online ever since, because VALVE WON'T HANDLE IT. If you bought a hard-copy they refer it to the publisher. That's fucking gay.
Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.