GameSpot


GameSpy


IGN


UGO


IC-Games


Firing Squad

Sign Up | Lost Login?

And Stardock raises the white flag (to Valve)

By GoaFan77 on February 20, 2012 4:24:49 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

GoaFan77

Join Date 10/2008
+408

Its the end of an era folks.

Quoting Yarlen,
reply 41
The Steam client will be required for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion for initial install, updates and Internet multiplayer, regardless of purchase location. You can choose to play in offline mode via the Steam client after initial install, though ICO features and achievements will no longer be available.

---

4. Gamers shall have the right to have their games not require a third party download manager installed in order for the game to function.

...

8. Gamers have the right to use their games without being inconvenienced due to copy protection or digital rights management.

Now its debatable whether this news actually goes against the PC gamers bill of rights Stardock pushed forward 3-4 years ago, but it certainly seems an ominous change of pace for the company to me. Are the other Stardock gaming communities concerned? Will other Stardock titles follow suite? Does this symbolically show the finalization of the Steam monopoly, short of the self sufficient EA and Blizzard titles? What does the wider community think, and what can we do about it?

441 Replies
Search this post
Advanced Search
Subscription Options

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
18 Pages Jump to PageFirst 14 15 16 17 18 
Reply #376
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+141
April 10, 2012 11:24:56 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #377
Draakjacht
Join Date 07/2008
+174
April 11, 2012 1:03:52 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Crap, here we go again...

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #378
boshimi336
Join Date 03/2008
+63
April 11, 2012 10:57:33 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #379
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+141
April 11, 2012 11:27:08 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #380
Draakjacht
Join Date 07/2008
+174
April 12, 2012 12:57:58 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

twice today I thank you, Seleuceia.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #381
HouseRalan
Join Date 03/2008
+60
April 16, 2012 11:10:41 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

How are things going to go for people who want to play mods over Steam?

 

 

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #382
boshimi336
Join Date 03/2008
+63
April 16, 2012 11:28:12 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting SemazRalan,
reply 381
How are things going to go for people who want to play mods over Steam?

 

 

 

As far as I know they should be supported. It only checks the Checksum on whether or not you can connect to the host's game or not. As far as auto-downloaded mods / etc I do not know.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #383
Ratatosk7
Join Date 06/2009
+9
April 16, 2012 11:42:38 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

IDK what universe OP lives in but Stardock sold Impulse to Gamestop last year and many of their games have been made available on Steam since which only makes sense from a marketing/every sort of view. As far as the "steam monopoly" goes, maybe competitors should stop trying as hard as possible to deter people and make a user friendly client that doesn't act as spyware *cough* EA Origin. Stardock is probably going with the convenience + user goodwill strategy to deter piracy over the intrusive DRM like TAGES that makes the game most likely to work if pirated exclusively.

Impulse is about the same as Stardock left it with new label, but Steam is far more popular, proven effective, has steamworks, with the plus side of being great for advertising your game on the market. When somebody brings something to the table that can actually compete with Steam then developers might choose the better alternative if it exists.

 

tl;dr Steam rocks, MSLive, Origins, etc are poop

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #384
GoaFan77
Join Date 10/2008
+408
April 16, 2012 11:51:40 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

^Did you even read the first page? I want Steam to be one of the options for people to get their games at, just not the only one. As Sins uses steam works, where ever you buy it, you have to use steam.

Even worse, the Rebellion Beta doesn't seem to use the good Steam features for anything. Multiplayer features are as basic as always, steam friends would be there even on a non steam works game. What benefit is there to using steam works over the system trinity used, where you could use impulse/steam/stardock store for DRM?

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #385
Zeta1127
Join Date 02/2011
+8
April 16, 2012 11:56:35 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting GoaFan77,
reply 384
^Did you even read the first page? I want Steam to be one of the options for people to get their games at, just not the only one. As Sins uses steam works, where ever you buy it, you have to use steam.

Even worse, the Rebellion Beta doesn't seem to use the good Steam features for anything. Multiplayer features are as basic as always, steam friends would be there even on a non steam works game. What benefit is there to using steam works over the system trinity used, where you could use impulse/steam/stardock store for DRM?

Those are my second hand observations of the beta too. I have never seen the benefits to using Steam for Sins, Impulse::Reactor from Trinity seems comparable to Steam for Rebellion so far, without being completely tied to the service.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #386
Sinperium
Join Date 02/2010
+207
April 17, 2012 12:48:25 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Errrr...millions of potential customers over thousands?

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #387
Zeta1127
Join Date 02/2011
+8
April 17, 2012 1:31:32 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Sinperium,
reply 386
Errrr...millions of potential customers over thousands?

No, I mean tying everything to Steam, not selling the game on Steam, that's completely understandable.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #388
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+141
April 17, 2012 2:10:57 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

To be perfectly honest, I don't think very many people look at a game and say "This game is sold on Steam, but doesn't use Steamworks?  *GASP*  Screw this, I'm not buying it."

But maybe I'm wrong...

As for why SD has failed to make use of the steamworks features...perhaps they haven't gotten to that part of the beta....I mean, I really don't think the decision to make Rebellion a steamworks game was taken lightly, and I would be very surprised if these features aren't included by the time of the final release...

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #389
boshimi336
Join Date 03/2008
+63
April 17, 2012 7:37:22 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Seleuceia,
reply 388
As for why SD has failed to make use of the steamworks features...perhaps they haven't gotten to that part of the beta....I mean, I really don't think the decision to make Rebellion a steamworks game was taken lightly, and I would be very surprised if these features aren't included by the time of the final release...

 

Frogboy has stated that they will likely not improve any of the multiplayer UI or Steam features beyond what they currently are at.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #390
WrathOfLust
Join Date 06/2009
0
April 17, 2012 8:19:05 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

I dont know I looked thru the forums and I don't understand why people are complaining about steam,I my self been using steam for years i got few dozen games on it and it has great interface it brings your games anywhere you go with you it has the steam cloud support that carries your save files to other computers,has f12 simple screenshots u can upload online on your profile,comes with a simple chat and you can join any of your friends in game.On top it has sales and specials on new games that let you buy brand new games for a fraction of the price,heck for 50 buks you can buy one game in gameshop or that same game and 10 like it on steam,and gives out free games on holidays by the 1000's

And to people concerned about loosing all their games for being banned,well don't scam people online and your pretty much safe,they don't ban people for no reason just cause they feel like it.

As an alternative,there is also Origin i guess,but it cant even compare to what steam became.So why miss out on a pretty great community and more players to play with over some odd grudges.I personaly prefer my games on one provider rather then 10 different once i have to login on to.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #391
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+141
April 17, 2012 9:47:32 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting WrathOfLust,
reply 390
it brings your games anywhere you go with you

That's a pretty neat trick you got going there for you, seeing as steam games require internet access to play...

Quoting WrathOfLust,
reply 390
On top it has sales and specials on new games that let you buy brand new games for a fraction of the price,heck for 50 buks you can buy one game in gameshop or that same game and 10 like it on steam,and gives out free games on holidays by the 1000's

Absolutely 100% irrelevant...buying a game on steam (as opposed to buying it on impulse) is one thing...that a game requires steamworks is another...this is the argument that has been reiterated approximately 5,000,000 times (+ or - 1 million) by the OP and others..the problem is not that it is sold on steam (just as Trinity is)....the problem is that it is Steam exclusive, and even worse, it requires steamworks just to play...

Quoting boshimi336,
reply 389
Frogboy has stated that they will likely not improve any of the multiplayer UI or Steam features beyond what they currently are at.

Stop crushing my dreams!  On a slightly more serious note, one can only hope....

 

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #392
viperfdl
Join Date 01/2004
+9
April 17, 2012 11:34:23 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

@Stardock & Ironclad

This is just an idea. Maybe stupid, technically impossible or economical suicide but think about it please.

 

Now that GOG.com also sells newer games, would it be possible to release a single-player version of Rebellion there without steamwork?

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #393
GoaFan77
Join Date 10/2008
+408
April 17, 2012 12:08:56 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting WrathOfLust,
reply 390
I dont know I looked thru the forums and I don't understand why people are complaining about steam,

I'm not complaining about steam per say, I'm complaining that steamworks doesn't give us any choice. Every Stardock game prior to this one I can now download directly from Stardock's website, no third party required. People who wanted to use steam could, and people like me who don't want to use it could work directly with the publisher. Now we don't have that choice, and we don't have an obviously better product because of it.

 

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #394
Zeta1127
Join Date 02/2011
+8
April 17, 2012 1:44:58 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting GoaFan77,
reply 393
I'm not complaining about steam per say, I'm complaining that steamworks doesn't give us any choice. Every Stardock game prior to this one I can now download directly from Stardock's website, no third party required. People who wanted to use steam could, and people like me who don't want to use it could work directly with the publisher. Now we don't have that choice, and we don't have an obviously better product because of it.

I completely agree.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #395
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+141
April 17, 2012 1:49:38 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting GoaFan77,
reply 393
I'm not complaining about steam per say, I'm complaining that steamworks doesn't give us any choice. Every Stardock game prior to this one I can now download directly from Stardock's website, no third party required. People who wanted to use steam could, and people like me who don't want to use it could work directly with the publisher. Now we don't have that choice, and we don't have an obviously better product because of it.

You know what your problem is Goa?  You aren't posting in size 100 font!  Maybe if you did that, people would actually read your posts instead of assuming you are the devil incarnate who seeks to destroy the evil Steam...

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #396
Zeta1127
Join Date 02/2011
+8
April 17, 2012 3:50:55 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Seleuceia,
reply 395
You know what your problem is Goa? You aren't posting in size 100 font! Maybe if you did that, people would actually read your posts instead of assuming you are the devil incarnate who seeks to destroy the evil Steam...

Its sad but true, Seleuceia, no one is taking what Goa is saying seriously, because they don't seem to be reading it.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #397
Fistalis
Join Date 10/2010
+21
April 17, 2012 5:12:27 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Zeta1127,
reply 396

Quoting Seleuceia, reply 395You know what your problem is Goa? You aren't posting in size 100 font! Maybe if you did that, people would actually read your posts instead of assuming you are the devil incarnate who seeks to destroy the evil Steam...

Its sad but true, Seleuceia, no one is taking what Goa is saying seriously, because they don't seem to be reading it.

How the average user tends to react to any dissent on using steam is an amazing study in conformity in the internet era. Its as if the very act of one choosing not to use it somehow is attacking their deepest set beliefs.. and is tend to be met as such.

 

There is an amazing Zealot faction at play with many steam users, its almost cult like. Its as if they must assimilate everyone. Oh wait they are borg it all makes sense now.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #398
shadowtongue
Join Date 11/2008
+7
April 17, 2012 5:24:32 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Fistalis,
reply 397


How the average user tends to react to any dissent on using steam is an amazing study in conformity in the internet era.

 

I know right?  On another board after the distributions were mentioned I asked a fairly innocuously phrased question...

 

"Will it be possible to get this game without Steam?"

 

Before the devs could answer (and their answer was perfectly fine with me) I had a bunch of "What's wrong with Steam??"  "Why would anyone not want to use Steam???" posts.

 

I think I may just do this on random game boards just to see if the responses are always the same.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #399
GoaFan77
Join Date 10/2008
+408
April 17, 2012 5:39:43 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Seleuceia,
reply 395
You know what your problem is Goa? You aren't posting in size 100 font!

No Seleuceia...

Its not shinny enough! Or maybe its uncolorful.

Quoting Fistalis,
reply 397
How the average user tends to react to any dissent on using steam is an amazing study in conformity in the internet era.

Humans tend to show that behavior on many things they take seriously but are really trivial.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #400
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+141
April 17, 2012 5:53:24 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

MY NAME IS GOA, AND MY POSTS REALLY ARE QUITE REASONABLE ONCE YOU ACTUALLY READ THEM!

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
18 Pages Jump to PageFirst 14 15 16 17 18 
View all recent posts
Mark all posts as read  •   Delete cookies created by the forum  •   Return to Top
Stardock Forums v1.0.0.0    #108434  walnut1   Server Load Time: 00:00:00.0001782   Page Render Time:
About us | Contacts | Privacy Statement | Register
©1995-2013 Stardock Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.