And I wouldn't have to install the Steam Client????

ahhh well, that's too bad....

Hmm... how unfortunate. I tried to find some means for you to buy GalCiv 2 without steam, but I can't find any. It would seam that all the old routes are now gone. Even the Stardock store says that GalCiv 2 needs steam.

I downloaded GalCiv 2 through the GameStop recently (within the last 6 months), but I'm a person who bought the game at a store shortly after release, registered it to get updates, and have been pre-ordered the expansions. I guess old timers like myself are the only ones who download the game without steam right now. Unfortunate as I don't buy games that require steam... so this might exclude me from GalCiv 3 when Stardock feels time to start development of it.

I'll do some looking and see if I can get around this problem. I'll be upset if I can't.

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By the way, are you interested in GalCiv 1? You can buy it through Good Old Games. If its through GOG, then it would be DRM free.
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/galactic_civilizations_i_ultimate_edition

I am another that will not go the Steam route, which is why I gave up on the TW series and the Civ series.

Indeed.  So far as I know, all it will mean is it won't log your ridiculous number of hours, 'cause there's no Steam achievements for it or anything.

Alright, I'm fairly certain at this point that there is no means to buy a digital copy GalCiv 2 without steam any more. I'm not happy about it. I don't like steam and I don't use it out of principle.

Given this trend for companies to move to steam, I feel the need to do some research and reading up on why they persist in favoring steam.

I dont really understand this whole aversion to Steam.

It should be obvious by now that most new games that come out are gonna require Steam. Get on board now or get left behind.....

Hi all.

I'm also not a big fan of Steam either, however with Gal Civ 2 Ultimate edition and Sins of a Solar Empire (Trinity) not Rebellion you only need Steam to purchase the game(s) initially and obtain the Serial number.

Once you do that, you can create an account at Stardock using that serial and download the very latest versions from here. As soon as you get the serial, you can uninstall Steam as it is no longer needed.

You don't need to download anything from Steam whatsoever, so no need to make shortcuts to the Steam folder as there's nothing there.

All that's subsequently required is a one time Internet activation with Stardock not Steam after installation and you're finished. If you want to re-install later then just keep a back-up of the Stardock file. As long as your hardware doesn't change then you will not be bothered by re-activation prompts. With Gal Civ II, save a copy of 'sig.bin' (in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Stardock\GC2UL) and you won't even need to re-activate over the Internet after a re-install as long as the hardware hasn't changed.

@DivineWrath

I assume game publishers prefer Steam as games have zero second-hand value. Once activated they can't be re-sold, transferred or whatever, but Stardock applied that policy beforehand anyway, so no difference there. Once a game was registered here it couldn't be transferred to another user.

You can get a non-Steam purchase of Gal Civ 2 Unlimited from retail packs such as 'Space Unlimited' from Amazon or similar. The game is completely outdated of course, but again, all you need is the serial and you download from here for the latest 2.04.017 .exe version.

Hope this helps? It's basically what Gargabee said above, but with more detail filled out. I don't even understand why Stardock allow this but it's much appreciated while it lasts anyway.