Empire Steam FAQ

[Roths]

Q: Will Steam be malicious like SecuROM and include a rootkit that permanently infests a computer's hard-drive until reformatting?

A: You can uninstall Steam whenever you want, though you won't be able to play Empire if you do that.

Steam is a virus?

[GroupofSpearmen]

Steam is a virus?

No. And I think he wrote that wrong.

[Aradan]

When you purchase something from steam, is there tax?

Not any more than when you buy the game retail.

But !
what if i dont have internet ?
Will ETW DVD bought in any store , have steam software in it ?
or do i have to download it from the internet ( STEAM software)?
im asking this because , there are lots of people who play the game without internet

I believe Steam has to be downloaded separately.

So what I only have to activate it once and then I dont have to have an internet connection??

Yes, exactly.

Steam is a virus?

No, Steam is not a virus. The comparison with SecuRom is made simply because SecuRom installed a rootkit permanently to the player's system, which annoyed many people. Steam does not do that.

[eddy_purpus]

i Believe Steam has to be downloaded separately.

that sucks man!
if that's true , imagine all the people who will need to get an internet connection just to activate the game , and be able to play it off line ?

[Sargsaft]

that sucks man!
if that's true , imagine all the people who will need to get an internet connection just to activate the game , and be able to play it off line ?

i just wonder everyone that posts in here has to have a internet connection so and it seems that many people argue tat they cant do that

so why can everyone complain about this online activation since the exact same people dont have a connection to the internet....

in what century do they still live?

[Legionary Jezza]

Well most people have a shabby old computer with the internet so if it gets a virus no big deal and they also have a brand new computer which can play crysis on max (just an example) and decide not to put an internet connection on it incase they get one motherer of a virus and totally destroys the machine they would be pissed.

-Evil

[Aradan]

Yes, the system used with ETW will probably exclude a very small minority of people from playing the game. The benefits however (for the company and for those who are not excluded) are far greater, as the devs have said. Let's face it, the vastly vast majority of people do have an internet connection and they do have it on their "brand, new super-pc" along with 2-3 antivirus programs, a fire-wall etc.

Is this fair for those who don't have an internet connection at home/on their good pc? Maybe not, but the purpose of this thread is not to praise/bash/judge CA's decision (it's not as if we could change it anyway) but provide info about Steam, so that certain misconceptions are clarified. So, please let's focus on the technical side of things.

[ilikeicehockey]

So if I buy the game through steam that means that I'll need to download it off of there right? It says that the game needs about 15GB of free space. That's a crapload of space.

I'm in residence right now and I have a 1GB bandwidth limit per day. If I exceed that I'll get locked out for 5 days. My question is, would I exceed that limit if I downloaded it off steam or would it be compressed enough so that I could.

P.S. Also, How big do you think the demo will be?

[Aradan]

I seriously doubt the game would fit in 1 GB, even fully compressed, since it's on a DVD on retail.

No idea, you can compare the demo/full version of M2TW and get an approximation, I guess.

[Redcoat69]

No, Steam is not a virus. The comparison with SecuRom is made simply because SecuRom installed a rootkit permanently to the player's system, which annoyed many people. Steam does not do that.

thats why people sued the hell out of EA for securom

[HordeOfDoom]

My question is, would I exceed that limit if I downloaded it off steam or would it be compressed enough so that I could.

It will be far far more than 1 gig.

P.S. Also, How big do you think the demo will be?

The MII Gold demo was ~650 megs. Since the E:TW one presumably includes a land battle as well as a sea battle, it will probably be at least 1 gig.

[Xen]

that sucks man!
if that's true , imagine all the people who will need to get an internet connection just to activate the game , and be able to play it off line ?

It's the 21st century, unless you live in the middle of the amazon, you'll be able to activate it through steam somehow.

[Gonzo89]

Seen as Steam is only 1.75mb to download, even those with dial up wont have a problem getting the game authorised.

If you dont have an internet connection, go to a local cyber cafe or library. You only need to log into Steam, click Tools, Register a game, input your key, and everything is done. You can then go home, go into Offline Steam, and Empire will be available to play.

[Toshiba]

That's right actually. You have a swell point.

[boomheadshot45]

I love STEAM, nice write up. But this really sucks if people who don't have an internet connection want to play ETW. I know just about every house with a computer does, but still.

[ilikeicehockey]

so you're saying the download will be over 1GB, even for the demo? I don't mind about the diskspace, its the downloading Im worried about.

[HordeOfDoom]

so you're saying the download will be over 1GB, even for the demo? I don't mind about the diskspace, its the downloading Im worried about.

It's probably it will be. If it not, it'll likely squeak just under that. Keep in mind that they're (presumably) including all the files necessary for a land and sea battle, compared to the nearly 700 megs necessary for just land battles in MII.

[boomheadshot45]

One quick question, everything that comes inside of the retail box comes in ETW if you buy it off of STEAM (I'm really just wondering about the manual, I think they give it to you as a .pdf file, just making sure before I decide whether to go retail or STEAM).

[eddy_purpus]

i just wonder everyone that posts in here has to have a internet connection so and it seems that many people argue tat they cant do that

so why can everyone complain about this online activation since the exact same people dont have a connection to the internet....

in what century do they still live?

Lol
Im not talking about me Sargsaft
Im talking about the other million persons who buy the game .....TOO

It's the 21st century, unless you live in the middle of the amazon, you'll be able to activate it through steam somehow.

hahaha Middle of the amaz0n + rep hahaha XD
i do live in the mddle century ...
nao if yao excuse me monsieur , im gonna go shopping in the medieval mall
lol
read the first quote i wrote =)

[Thanatos]

Lol
Im not talking about me Sargsaft
Im talking about the other million persons who buy the game .....TOO

Short and simple answer is: sucks for them.

This is the 21st century. Eventually, all games are going to be like this. They'd better jump on the bandwagon, or be left behind. That's all there is to it.