If you're coming up from 1.0, then your saved games will be pretty surely useless. Your campaign progress should not be lost if you have not finished it (you can continue from the start of the last mission you reached even if your saves are lost).

The 1.4 patch for DL is available as a standalone installer on the downloads page of the site. There is a 1.5 patch, but it is only available on Stardock Central. Patches for DA will also likely only be available on SDC as long as it is actively being updated.

To patch a non-connected machine with SDC, you need to install SDC on a connected machine, download and archive the game (you can download direct to archive if you are not allowed to install games there, but you would need to redownload the entire game for subsequent patches as well if you do that). Then you just need to get the archive file and the SDC installer and burn them to a disc or copy to a USB drive and take them home to install there.

Activation is required once you have patched. If your gaming machine is not connected, the game will generate a message for you to take to another machine and email in to get the activation file you need.

DA's requirements are officially the same, but some users have reported that it takes more in practice. Your mileage may vary.

Activation is indeed good only on the computer it is generated for.

FYI the core downloads for DL or DA should be less than 300MB each if you exclude movies and multimedia, so both should fit on a single CD-R.

This is a ridiculous way of doing things. Not everyone who is downloading from elsewhere has the ability of installing software on their terminals. That requires administrator rights which most people using other than their home system don't have. You're effectively making it impossible for anyone to download the patches from anywhere but their home systems.

But I got my copy of Dark Avatar from my local retail outlet in the Gold Edition version. Those of us who did so deserve the same amount of support as those who got their versions online. If Stardock doesn't want to acknowledge that some people aren't directly connected to the internet, then they shouldn't release their products through general retail at all. I'm getting rather annoyed at their attitude that those of us without our own connections are somehow undeserving of their products. It's a blatantly elitist view of the gaming public and I will certainly consider this next time I'm deciding to purcahse another of their releases.

I can totally sympathize with what you're saying as I too had some of the same reservations which you mentioned. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. I'm just thankful that at this moment, my workplace still allows us some 'freedoms' with our internet access. My work machine can't run the game, but as Kryo said, I can use it to pretty much download what I need and then transport that back home to my PC. But yes, it does seem like we are all 'expected' to have internet access from home anymore... something that I just don't agree with. I jumped through all the hoops necessary for this game and don't regret it one bit. As I posted elsewhere, I've probably spent around 400.00 or so between the game and all necessary items/upgrades to my PC just to play it without issue. I would most certainly do it again. I think the main issue however is the fact of updates/patches. Pending on how many there are it can be quite a pain in the ass to have to 're-check' with SDC from time to time to see if there are any updates. Not that updates are a bad thing mind you, but I still maintain that for the average gamer, there are quite a few hurdles involved with this game, and I would also assume that there are a good number of 'unplayed' GC games... you know, like the average joe buys the game at the store, takes it home, has issues and really doesn't know why. I've come to realize that most of the time, those people will just attempt to return the game or worse, chock it up to a lesson learned and never play this game again, which was what would have happened in my case had I not been lucky enough to have hi-speed internet available to me at work.
Bottom line, the game is awesome and if you can put up with the occasional frustrating moment or two, the end result will be worth it.

Honestly, I think those who like it have had internet since it was first made available to the public. Most people in here who play this game don't seem like finances, or sometimes even time, are an issue. It always seems that the few, the proud... the poor come up on the short end of the stick, even in cyberspace!

Like I said, I prefer the old fashioned way of getting patches too. But the fact is that I'm paying about as much for my high-speed bandwidth at home as I did way back for dial-up. So the cost is roughly the same as it was back before broadband hit big.

The biggest problem with this (other than the fact that I like to do things the old/hard way) is that I can't save incremental patches. Every time there's an update I have to archive the entire game and store it, which is just wasteful. Thankfully, CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are cheap these days too, so I don't complain about this too much.

-HM

I can definitely understand how this would be nasty if I didn't have broadband available in my area.

-HM

On this one you've got me beat. I can't come up with any good defense for why the system is like it is. I myself have never 'pirated' a game, and have never had any issue with entering the serial number that comes with the game to 'prove I have a valid copy'. I never had any issues with 'copyright protection' and quite frankly didn't give a damn until I joined this forum and read countless posts/replies bashing the copy protection gig. My experience as a gamer has always been buy the game, load the game, type the serial number/password... and then play. What was wrong with that? I never had any compatibility issues or any issues that I was aware of. Plus, if all this system does is allow me to play the game without a CD... well it is no biggie for me to slap a CD into the drive and go, so what is the real benefit? Stardock's way pretty much forces you to have internet, or forces you to play an 'incomplete' game... it's just a matter of knowing if your game is incomplete or not, and how would you know this unless you came to this forum or other similar ones?
Besides that, the sig.bin file which must be deleted and then re-established on a different PC... isn't this pretty much the same as copy protection? I mean, if I buy this game, download at work, take it home just to 're-activate' it because the home PC isn't recognized to match the sig.bin... you get my point.

salright, i understand that, its just a frustration knowing i am going to have to wait how ever long now

I would observe that any machine you dont have or cant get administrative rights to, is a machine you wouldnt be or shouldnt be intalling games on in the first place. I find your complaint moot.

Moot!