trying to precisely direct the velocity and flight path of a baseball using an inefficient and unwieldy instrument which is wholly unsuited to the task... instead of ya know... a potato cannon or something.
I don't know how much more succesfull I'd be, swinging a potato cannon to hit the fricking ball.
Totally offtopic moderation curiosity, feel free to ignore.
Several similar posts in this thread, saying essentially "I use steam offline and had no problem with it" have been simultaneously modded exactly once as flamebait. I suspect it's the finest example I've yet seen of a single guy using the "-1 disagree" mod with his entire pool of modpoints.:)
I can imagine hardware changes to be a problem but how does it know there are updates without you being online?
I know about the updating the games I have set up as offline, but it notices only when I'm actually online, so I can download the updates. I fail to see the problem.
Either you're offline (or just dont let steam connect), and you get no update notifications, or you're online and connected, in which case you must download the updates, which I would, anyway.
I can see a problem if, for some reason, you didn't want to keep the game updated.
It's quite annoying. You always have to start the Steam-client to play.
It autostarts as you click your game icon.
For some reason you cannot copy&paste passwords so you have to always type it.
I don't even know my steam pass. I entered it once, maybe years ago.
There's supposed to be an offline mode but that disables itself all the time and you have to log in to play.
Disables itself?!? I download the game, set it as offline and that's all.
It's one of the more cumbersome DRM systems because it comes with all those useless bells and whistles.
I think you have a problem with your steam installation, or your computer. I've never encountered nor heard about the problems you speak about, and some sound pretty strange; it's as if you lost the configuration every time, or something. I'd check the properties of your steam folders.
I always bought CIV, but if this DRM is too restrictive [...]
It's just steam.
Why would I pay to have more problems?
I don't mind the "Connect once to install the game and play offline for just about ever" system because it comes with the added benefit of "Download the game anywhere you have a connection" that I've used many times.
Blizzard isn't more successful because they are better games developers, it's successful because they require use of a subscription service for the game to be interesting at all.
Please elaborate about how are Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft not interesting at all without paying a subscription service.
That's the second post from that blog in as many days - they were the ones that did the Humble Indie Games Bundle, weren't they?
Slashvertisement?
No, Slashvertisement would be me saying: "I bought the bundle yesterday, Gish alone is worth half the 15$ I decided to pay, and having played gish and WoG I'm pretty sure the rest of the pack will easily be worth the other half."
The more interesting question is, why do these people think they're somehow obligated to take something that doesn't belong to them and without pay?
Why is it more interesting?
I find the difference between the imagined and real economic impacts on gaming industry much more interesting than a debate about why people would rather not pay for things.
Slashdot Mirror
trying to precisely direct the velocity and flight path of a baseball using an inefficient and unwieldy instrument which is wholly unsuited to the task... instead of ya know... a potato cannon or something.
I don't know how much more succesfull I'd be, swinging a potato cannon to hit the fricking ball.
And then discover he's adopted.
See? See what the Terminator had to go throug?
Totally offtopic moderation curiosity, feel free to ignore.
Several similar posts in this thread, saying essentially "I use steam offline and had no problem with it" have been simultaneously modded exactly once as flamebait. I suspect it's the finest example I've yet seen of a single guy using the "-1 disagree" mod with his entire pool of modpoints. :)
You will need to Install the latest Flash plugin to view this page properly.
It must be in HTML5 then.
Never happened to me.
In that case, I'd just block steam in the firewall.
I can imagine hardware changes to be a problem but how does it know there are updates without you being online?
I know about the updating the games I have set up as offline, but it notices only when I'm actually online, so I can download the updates. I fail to see the problem.
Either you're offline (or just dont let steam connect), and you get no update notifications, or you're online and connected, in which case you must download the updates, which I would, anyway.
I can see a problem if, for some reason, you didn't want to keep the game updated.
or somebody happens to break into your account and they disable it
Happens to break into your account? How does that happen?
I'd like to know your opinion on online banking.
It's quite annoying. You always have to start the Steam-client to play.
It autostarts as you click your game icon.
For some reason you cannot copy&paste passwords so you have to always type it.
I don't even know my steam pass. I entered it once, maybe years ago.
There's supposed to be an offline mode but that disables itself all the time and you have to log in to play.
Disables itself?!? I download the game, set it as offline and that's all.
It's one of the more cumbersome DRM systems because it comes with all those useless bells and whistles.
I think you have a problem with your steam installation, or your computer. I've never encountered nor heard about the problems you speak about, and some sound pretty strange; it's as if you lost the configuration every time, or something. I'd check the properties of your steam folders.
I always bought CIV, but if this DRM is too restrictive [...]
It's just steam.
Why would I pay to have more problems?
I don't mind the "Connect once to install the game and play offline for just about ever" system because it comes with the added benefit of "Download the game anywhere you have a connection" that I've used many times.
my go to game when my internet connection is down.
Mine is Dwarf Fortress. No mouse means I can even play it on the car (better while someone else drives) or while waiting on the airport.
Naaa. It's the Wii
Whence, WiiWii.
Feed a decently educated person false facts and they will reject them.
Just as I'll promptly do now:
That's total bullshit.
Decently educated persons are fed false facts constantly and only disbelieve those they take interest into.
Insightful? Seriously?
Are the modders out of their fricking minds?
They've probably played too much chess, or something.
Dak tak lak pak!
private servers don't count
I think I'm not the only one here wondering why you think private servers "don't count".
Steam made me find out I wasn't cheap, but lazy.
That's like saying people who go to burger king instead of mcdonalds are somehow "pirates".
I agree. Still infringing IP, though.
Wrong.
http://www.google.com/search?q=wow+private+servers
Blizzard isn't more successful because they are better games developers, it's successful because they require use of a subscription service for the game to be interesting at all.
Please elaborate about how are Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft not interesting at all without paying a subscription service.
That's the second post from that blog in as many days - they were the ones that did the Humble Indie Games Bundle, weren't they?
Slashvertisement?
No, Slashvertisement would be me saying: "I bought the bundle yesterday, Gish alone is worth half the 15$ I decided to pay, and having played gish and WoG I'm pretty sure the rest of the pack will easily be worth the other half."
For example.
You know, I think that actually works better without the extra "n"
Ok.
Do't be so restraied, you kow it's a fudametal truth.
The more interesting question is, why do these people think they're somehow obligated to take something that doesn't belong to them and without pay?
Why is it more interesting?
I find the difference between the imagined and real economic impacts on gaming industry much more interesting than a debate about why people would rather not pay for things.
It's an empirically proven fact.
Don't be so restrained, you know it's a fudamental truth.
I am.
Every download is a lost sale.
About everything else, I doubt.
Could somebody make a tablet with nothing more than a screen, battery, network port, and video decoder, and have it be a good gaming platform?
It depends on your definition of "Good gaming platform".
From the top of my head, I could certainly play Go, Civ, Galciv, BB, and just about anything that's turn based.
I wouldn't try playing anything with direct action, to avoid the frustration of high ping and lag spikes.
err, no, according to apple, it's the crazy licensing requirements.
It makes no sense to use as counter point that the subject said otherwise.
Obviously Apple wouldn't say "We don't install blurays because we plan to destroy flash and monopolize online video.".