On STEAM requirements...

I would just like to ask the devs or anyone knowledgeable on this subject a simple question.

In the article posted by someone on this board yesterday, it was obvious that there was a retail version and a STEAM version.

My question is, will STEAM validation be mandatory, as in ETW? A simple yes or no will suffice.

Cheers

Yes, it will be. (I'm 99.99% sure)

I suspect the term 'retail version' is something of a misnomer. It gives the impression that a buyer can stroll into a retail store and walk out with the game disc(s), bung in the id code numbers in the time-honoured manner, and start the game without steam or internet malarkeys.

I recall in the ETW sales blurb that 'retail' would be handled by Sega, and digital download by Steam. Retail buyers still got stuffed with Steam.

Originally Posted by Fireright

I suspect the term 'retail version' is something of a misnomer. It gives the impression that a buyer can stroll into a retail store and walk out with the game disc(s), bung in the id code numbers in the time-honoured manner, and start the game without steam or internet malarkeys.

I recall in the ETW sales blurb that 'retail' would be handled by Sega, and digital download by Steam. Retail buyers still got stuffed with Steam.

Thanks I think you are right in your analyses, Thought for a mad brief moment that we would be given a choice, of course the multi-player guys will use steam and that new thing CA are using, with people dropping in to take over your ai and fight you?
Pity really I just like to battle on my own, so it would have been nice to get a choice, To steam or not to Steam that is the question!

Originally Posted by magpie

?
Pity really I just like to battle on my own, so it would have been nice to get a choice, To steam or not to Steam that is the question!

Aye Magpie, tis shameful that buyers/long-time fans have not been given the choice.

Compulsory Steam trickery and internet guff is ridiculous for a mainly single-player game.

Originally Posted by Fireright

Aye Magpie, tis shameful that buyers/long-time fans have not been given the choice.

Compulsory Steam trickery and internet guff is ridiculous for a mainly single-player game.

It's the way of the future, I'm afraid. I happen to think that Steam is an excellent--albeit imperfect--service, but I understand why some people don't like it. Either way, Steam and similar services will only become more common.

Originally Posted by erasmus777

It's the way of the future, I'm afraid. I happen to think that Steam is an excellent--albeit imperfect--service, but I understand why some people don't like it. Either way, Steam and similar services will only become more common.

This is true. There are a lot of people that refuse to play Steam games or any game that requires net verification. Its going to be harder and harder to play good games with that mentality I think.

Yes.

Ok, thank you very much people! That means no NTW for me I'm afraid, but oh well, after my last hype over ETW I don't think I'll be missing out on much

Originally Posted by Lance-Corporal Jones

Ok, thank you very much people! That means no NTW for me I'm afraid, but oh well, after my last hype over ETW I don't think I'll be missing out on much

Oh well, your loss.

Originally Posted by Reiksmarshal

Oh well, your loss.

For me, it's just a question of necessity. I unfortunately often have to spend time in places with no internet, and I can't just take my CD there, install NTW, and enjoy it. So, of course, I'm not going to purchase a product I can only enjoy half the time.

What is Sega's obsession with Steam, other than an extension of their long-running feud with hard-copy distribution chains?

(to answer my own rhetorical question, it is also a method of price-fixing that takes aim at the second-hand market...)

Whatever your stance, don't be so naive to think that Sega have the consumer's best interests at heart.

Unethical business practices should be opposed, tolerance is worse than useless.

(no, I'm not buying - and don't underestimate the failure of Empire, if it's sales hadn't fallen off a cliff focusing on Napoleon would be commercial suicide)

Originally Posted by Reiksmarshal

Oh well, your loss.

Steam prohibits the resell of any account activated product. Economically speaking, you have lost because your DVD copy of ETW or NTW no longer has any capital value.

Ironically enough, my TW:R and TW:M2 disks are worth more money than your new game the second you complete the installation.

Oh well, at least you can be 100% certain you will love the game forever and that it will be supported with the right patches to work bug-free no matter what.

Originally Posted by Lance-Corporal Jones

Ok, thank you very much people! That means no NTW for me I'm afraid, but oh well, after my last hype over ETW I don't think I'll be missing out on much

Wise decision.

I sometimes wonder if all this Steam garbage means the end of ye olde Gold Editions....those halcyon days when a buyer could acquire a fully-patched game in the bargain bin, without plonking about with the internet and Steam related guff.

Originally Posted by Fireright

I sometimes wonder if all this Steam garbage means the end of ye olde Gold Editions....those halcyon days when a buyer could acquire a fully-patched game in the bargain bin, without plonking about with the internet and Steam related guff.

no you can buy thsoe on steam too. rtw gold fully patched is on steam for $9.99

and i love steam i hope they use it.

100% Humble. Lest we forget piddly little things like...not owning your game....licence for developers to release garbage, and maybe patch it or not. Expense of net connections, loss of privacy, phone-home spyware, highly dubious consumer rights status...etc etc etc

For me it's about choice. Do you want it or not. That's all that matters. Don't talk about your rights to choose steam or not. People are only aware of their own rights but they forgot that SEGA/CA have their own right of how to sell their products. If it happenes later on that this steam only move will decrease sales then I'm sure they will revert their decision on future titles (if CA still exist).

We have choices or to a small extent rights whether to buy or not to buy but once you've bought a product by any company you're are i fact agreeing to the terms and condition of the purchase. You can't buy a product which says it requires steam and then says that CA/SEGA have no rights to do that. Thae fact that you agree to buy and use their product makes you lose your rights.

In the end how many copies you buy whetehr online or retail you never own the rights to the game. What you own are the boxes and the cd/dvd that contains the game. Those cd once you've bought have the same value as blank cd.

Originally Posted by LestaT

For me it's about choice. Do you want it or not. That's all that matters. Don't talk about your rights to choose steam or not. People are only aware of their own rights but they forgot that SEGA/CA have their own right of how to sell their products. If it happenes later on that this steam only move will decrease sales then I'm sure they will revert their decision on future titles (if CA still exist).

We have choices or to a small extent rights whether to buy or not to buy but once you've bought a product by any company you're are i fact agreeing to the terms and condition of the purchase. You can't buy a product which says it requires steam and then says that CA/SEGA have no rights to do that. Thae fact that you agree to buy and use their product makes you lose your rights.

In the end how many copies you buy whetehr online or retail you never own the rights to the game. What you own are the boxes and the cd/dvd that contains the game. Those cd once you've bought have the same value as blank cd.

Do you work for SEGA\CA?
This is typical cop-out response rubbish completely sidestepping the point.

We have the RIGHT as customers to let the company know what we think and what we like\don`t like. If the company is so pig-headed as to not listen, he will ultimately suffer. It don`t matter how many company clauses you(or they) try to stick in our way. All that will change as soon as profits start to drop.

That`s the reality and we the customer have the RIGHT to make use of that reality.

Originally Posted by Humble Warrior

Do you work for SEGA\CA?
This is typical cop-out response rubbish completely sidestepping the point.

We have the RIGHT as customers to let the company know what we think and what we like\don`t like. If the company is so pig-headed as to not listen, he will ultimately suffer. It don`t matter how many company clauses you(or they) try to stick in our way. All that will change as soon as profits start to drop.

That`s the reality and we the customer have the RIGHT to make use of that reality.

No I don't.

Yes you do have the rights, as with everybody else, even CA/SEGA. You have the rights to still be their consumer and you also have the rights not to be anymore.

The choice is yours.

If it happens that CA/SEGA goes bankrupt for their decision so be it. Doesn't concern me at all. Life goes on.

As it happened now they are they decide to associate it on Steam then so be it. I (or you as a matter of fact) do not have the rights to dictate that. Yes you can demand or threaten not to buy anymore theiur product, then so be it. For their business point of view, for every one customer they lost they'll probably gain 10 more.

However from my opuinion what will cause the downfall of CA will not whether they release it on steam or not but their end product, which is the gameplay. Another buggy release for NTW like what happened ETW will probably spells the end of TW series, not their decision to use Steam.