CA and the use of Steam

[SirVulf]

Since I'm seeing a lot of posts asking, "Why Steam?" let me elaborate my assumption (we all know what we get if we assume).

Let me see...

1. Funds are dropping and economy is in the dink.
2. Developer staff gets cut
3. Development slows a bit
4. Deadline for publishing is not able to be met
5. Game too close to completion but not tested enough yet
6. Impending Sega publishing deadline puts pressure on CA
7. CA comes to conclusion game is definitely not ready for production
8. CA fears impending disastrous release
9. Sega and CA have a meeting to figure out how to best keep bottom line in the positives
10. Sega and CA come to the conclusion that Steam is the best option to prevent resale or returns of ETW
11. Consumer who bought ETW = screwed due to Steam non-return policy

What makes me believe this? Think about the fact that all the "Special Edition" units are really available on the regular ETW DVD via the boxed edition but not "unlocked" until you use Steam.

The game was designed to be sold purely on DVD. The Downloadable Content they're talking about, really isn't! It's fully available to you from the ETW DVD. I'm not trying to imply "piracy" here...

Future DLC, sure, ya that can be through Steam.

I'm a firm believer that Steam was utilized to reduce the amount of returns of ETW so that Sega and CA had a minimum amount of losses on the initial release. They marketed ETW to the point where mainstream reviewers such as PC Gamer, 1-up, Gamespot, MaxPC, etc, were sent a DVD that was catered to provide only a minimalistic view of the entire game, essentially enough to make a decent good review of the game.

Why do I say reviewers were catered to? Note all the screenshots, every single review site that has done reviews with grades over 90% has screenshots of only the British vs the Americans. Little odd that every reviewer out there has only the British and Americans? Why not choose the Prussians or the Swedes or anyone else for that matter?

Because of the previous bad rollouts of the Total Wars, such as Rome or Medieval 2, I think Sega was trying really hard to market ETW to the point where it looked amazing so people would rush out and buy as much as they could.

This, provided a huge initial sales curve for ETW, with a GUARANTEE of minimalistic returns due to activation via Steam.

I could be WAY off base here... but my gut tells me differently. Thoughts on this anyone?

Note, I'm not trying to bash anything here... I'm just making an assumption here. I've done my ETW bashing and have sent off some snail mail. I'm done with it until they fix their problems. I'm not asking to get flamed... so please restrict fanboy attitudes.

[Stalins Ghost]

They announced it would be on Steam last October, so that more or less eliminates a "sales conspiracy" hurridly put together in the closing months. I tend to believe it was chosen because Total War games have always suffered from poor support due to patching issues. Steam allows for far more efficient patch delivery, some limited anti-piracy, and multiplayer functionality.

If it was to prevent returns/second hand reselling, it's because that's stuff in the EULA they (as in, every single developer/publisher in the world) have been trying to find ways to enforce for years.

[Gonzo89]

They announced it would be on Steam last October, so that more or less eliminates a "sales conspiracy" hurridly put together in the closing months.

Exactly. You're reading to much into this if you ask me.

[Spiff]

I think if you remove 1-9 and 11 then youre about right.

[Yonatanl2]

Am I the only one who enjoys steam? besides the lame download speeds I really like it, it's easy to use and user friendly (unless you're screwed up and it decided not to log and etc, been there done that)

I mean, it has more ups than downs, imagine that without steam we would've been updateless and still with the alpha version that was released, and we would have been even more furious that the CA didn't release any patch.

so between us, steam was better than worse (ofcourse besides the stupid return policy)

[Humble Warrior]

I believe Steam was used because it far benefits the company than it does the User.

1. The no returns policy, like SirVulf said. It guarantees sales even if the customer hates it. Even ordinary stores won`t take due to Steam where before they might. No non-Steam version, no option. It`s no coincidence.

2. Easy Patching which they knew they`d need when they released their terribly bugged game. It probably made them lazy too.

The multiplayer reason is just an excuse to validate the idea as Empires makes very little use of the multiplayer and is 80% a single player game.

No matter how you look at it, take away everything and LOOK at the evidence and it all suits SEGA\CA way more than it does the consumer, way more.

[SirVulf]

The multiplayer reason is just an excuse to validate the idea as Empires makes very little use of the multiplayer and is 80% a single player game.

I do agree with you on a bunch Humble Warrior. But, with the above statement, I think that really comes down to perception. Some people truly just buy the game because of the Multiplayer aspect. It does have a MP fanbase. So, to say 80% of it is single player... I think that's in the eye of the beholder.

[BigB]

Am I the only one who enjoys steam?

Some of us just dont like the principle of the thing. Some people dont have an internet connection. There is the resale issue. Some people dont have fast internet connections and like to download patches at work or school and bring them home. Some people have access restrictions to Steam. Some people have a gaming computer thats not on the internet, and a different computer they use for downloads. Some people get halfway through a Steam patch and lose connection and then cant play. Steam wont let you LAN two of your own computers together to play with one copy of the game. Sometimes the Steam servers wont respond to people. Sometimes Steam is down. Steam is annoying. Steam is another application running in the background.

Im sure there are more reasons not to like Steam.

[Humble Warrior]

For me it`s the principle. I have ALL TWs except Rome and not sold them, yet I could if I wished. i have that freedom.

I don`t like how a certian section of society (some of my friends) are excluded because they have no internet or just a crappy 56k. It`s not right to exclude those not as well off or who just don`t want internet.

We should not be forced the internet for a game that`s primarily single player, I can understand strictly online games like Guild Wars, but not empires.

By the way, in Britain we have public adverts saying things like, "My employer broke the law by not telling me I would have to pay for my uniform." and "My employer broke the law for making me work extra hours without pay!"

I`m hoping one day to see, "My games company broke the law by telling me I couldn`t return a game back because it was on Steam."

[pnokey]

I don't even think about returns when buying a game. I figure once you open it, it's yours. Some people may be able to, but it's not worth it to me for $50.

[SirVulf]

I don't even think about returns when buying a game. I figure once you open it, it's yours. Some people may be able to, but it's not worth it to me for $50.

Exactly. It's not worth it to people. If you bought a $50 broken blender would it matter? The fact that they obfuscate and try to deceive the public into believing that you CAN'T return software, is robbery in itself and an outright attempt to rip you off. But that's every software vendor.

But like you said... it's not worth it to people.

Good way to make a buck, no? 50 bucks here, 50 clams there... steady, unquestioned cashflow... pretty soon you have $250,000 from borked software... and there's nothing wrong with that.

[Stalins Ghost]

I personally really, really like Steam yeah.

Complaining about returns policy is like complaining about rain though. It's something, as I said, all developers/publishers want to see enforced - it being their legal right an all. I certainly don't like it, but you know, the law's the law. You can't blame them for pursuing their rights.

[SirVulf]

Heh... well... October to me doesn't seem that long ago. That's only 5 months before release. Reviewers need the games 2 - 1 month before release because they have publishing deadlines too, so that puts the actual "playable release" around December/January time frame.

Everyone remember the Demo when it came out? It was friggin' terrible! The sounds were extremely limited and unrefined, you could only do a naval battle and a land battle.

But, it seemed to be more playable, in my opinion, than the actual release version.

Mainstream reviewers HAD to be catered to. They had content in their screenshots that's not even available to us now. The screenshots of the in-city battles for example...

They definitely hyped it up... that's just my perception though.

I'm also not complaining about Steam itself or its return policy. I'm just making an observation... which as I said... could be way off the mark. Hell, when I got fed up with ETW, I downloaded Stalker Clear Sky from Steam... so... My problem is not the Steam itself. My problem is not their return policy... My problem is not that CA used Steam or the fact that they're ripping people off if people buy the Special Force Edition...

I'm just making a plain observation.

[SirVulf]

Oh... as far as patching...

Who can't go to the Total War website and download a patch? Lately, I've checked and I was totally able to do that... must be a DNS issue somewhere on the web that prevented people from getting timely updates...

[dearmad]

Exercise the right to NOT buy it in the first place. It didn't take but a few hours after release if you had any modicum of patience to realize this is not a game worth buying. Yet. Maybe it will be one day. M2TW was, eventually. And I liked the idea behind it enough to buy it right away assuming I could mod it into something decent, which, for myself, I did.

ETW- not so much. No $50 from me for that. I will wait a year. CA won't change because of ETW, which is too bad- it sold like crazy. Maybe the $$ in their coffers will allow them to actually patch it decently, though? One hopes.

[SirVulf]

Exercise the right to NOT buy it in the first place. It didn't take but a few hours after release if you had any modicum of patience to realize this is not a game worth buying.

Umm.. how so? Are you telling all the people that have issues that relied on reviews to base their purchase that they are idiots? That's lovely. Great way to be insulting by the way.

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Umm.. how so? Are you telling all the people that have issues that relied on reviews to base their purchase that they are idiots? That's lovely. Great way to be insulting by the way.

I think he meant that you should wait for the community to say yes or no on buying the game.

[SirVulf]

I think he meant that you should wait for the community to say yes or no on buying the game.

Sorry, felt more like a dig to me. I guess if everyone waited for consumer reviews we wouldn't have any, no?

[Unknown User]

...I've never been able to return used software to stores anyways. Why do I care that I can't return a game I bought off Steam?

[tw2obsessive]

Agree with the op..

Must say that Steam has prooved a total SHAM in MP games... constantly errors, crashing, updating and so on - cutting games half way through. So much for the improved MP experience.