I can definitely see your point here: I bought a game, and the online validation of the license could certainly break at some point in the future; either because the company goes out of business, or whatever.
But, realistically, I doubt I'll still be interested in playing this game by the time that happens. There will be new games out. In the very long term (10 years), it's unlikely that I'll even have an OS that can run the game properly. Just like I have nothing that can run my old copy of Crystal Quest.:(
My hope is this: once the game is old, and valve doesn't want to support the licensing infrastructure for it, don't you think they would just release a permanent unlocking patch? I'm either naive, or an optimist, or both, but I think they probably would just make the game free at that point. It would create good will with their customers, and save them headaches supporting old stuff.
I love that I can buy a game without going to a store.
I love that I can download the game to as many computers as I want (at work, at home) and play it anywhere with my personal license (username and passowrd.)
I love that I can run a linux-based game server myself, modify the rules on it myself with perl scripts, and not pay extra money for that right.
I love that STEAM creates an authentication mechanism so I can uniquely identify 1337 h4x0r 12-year-old idiots and ban them for life when they cause trouble on my server.
I love that a small software company can break the large game publishers channel control and sell direct. Guess what, Vivendi? You're dead, and you just don't realize it yet. Muhahaha.
I don't know about anybody else, but none of my Macs can get to apple's patch servers today to get the HelpViewer patch. I had no trouble getting it yesterday on one of them, but today I get a timeout from three different T1s.
Also, their main web site is pretty slow/hurtin.:-(
Yeah, this is a big joke. There's no legitimate reason why release of source code would cause a slip in schedule or necessitate rewriting anything. The only exception would be small sections of code needed for obfuscation/securing/anti-piracy stuff, and that would be trivially easy to alter assuming there was a halfway decent architecture in place to begin with.
I'm totally bummed out, I was really looking forward to HL2.
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry folks, the site was getting slashdotted bigtime this morning.
We've moved it to a more powerful host (i.e. not one little tiny
linux machine).
Should be back now; if you don't have the DNS propagated yet (new IP is 64.193.235.91), you should be able to access the site via this alternate name:
http://pme.slowbase.com/ivr/
Sincerely,
billo
(Paul English's web lackey)
I can definitely see your point here: I bought a game, and the online validation of the license could certainly break at some point in the future; either because the company goes out of business, or whatever.
:(
But, realistically, I doubt I'll still be interested in playing this game by the time that happens. There will be new games out.
In the very long term (10 years), it's unlikely that I'll even have an OS that can run the game properly. Just like I have nothing that can run my old copy of Crystal Quest.
My hope is this: once the game is old, and valve doesn't want to support the licensing infrastructure for it, don't you think they would just release a permanent unlocking patch? I'm either naive, or an optimist, or both, but I think they probably would just make the game free at that point. It would create good will with their customers, and save them headaches supporting old stuff.
Why would any business want to do that to a paying customer?
Amazon.com could sell my credit card number to criminals.
My doctor could inject me with cyanide instead of a flu shot.
Not everyone who can get you is actually out to get you.
Ah, the witty rejoinder has cut me to the quick.
:)
Kudos to you, Mr Coward.
Frankly, I love Steam.
I love that I can buy a game without going to a store.
I love that I can download the game to as many computers as I want (at work, at home) and play it anywhere with my personal license (username and passowrd.)
I love that I can run a linux-based game server myself, modify the rules on it myself with perl scripts, and not pay extra money for that right.
I love that STEAM creates an authentication mechanism so I can uniquely identify 1337 h4x0r 12-year-old idiots and ban them for life when they cause trouble on my server.
I love that a small software company can break the large game publishers channel control and sell direct. Guess what, Vivendi? You're dead, and you just don't realize it yet. Muhahaha.
Cheers.
HL2 runs surprisingly well on an older machine. It looks pretty great on my 512MB 1.8 P4 with geforce4/4600.
This is quite unlike doom3 which looked like garbage (i.e. worse than quake 3) unless I ran it my newer machine that has a 6800 card.
I don't know about anybody else, but none of my Macs can get to apple's patch servers today to get the HelpViewer patch. I had no trouble getting it yesterday on one of them, but today I get a timeout from three different T1s.
:-(
Also, their main web site is pretty slow/hurtin.
Yeah, this is a big joke. There's no legitimate reason why release of source code would cause a slip in schedule or necessitate rewriting anything. The only exception would be small sections of code needed for obfuscation/securing/anti-piracy stuff, and that would be trivially easy to alter assuming there was a halfway decent architecture in place to begin with.
:-(
I'm totally bummed out, I was really looking forward to HL2.
Duke Nukem Forever, anyone?