How Steamed did you get...

[Thorondor]

...with Steam. Valve's, I mean

 

 

Being one of those rare birds that still haven't gotten around to buying Half-Life 2 by now, I'd like to get some facts on how aggravating an element Steam remains to be to honest paying customers...

 

So, blow off some steam of your own, and while you're at it, let me know which of the below is fact or fiction:

 

- Steam is intrusive and adds an overhead to HL2 in general and load times in particular

- Steam always loads at system start-up and slows down system performance

- After successfully registering the game, Steam still requires the player to go online each time he wants to fire-up the game

- Steam bogs down the player with successive encrypt/decrypt sequences, large updates and a healthy dose of general banter/advertising

 

::

 

I appreciate any comments you might want to offer or experiences you have to share on the subject.

 

I don't know how Valve feels about all this at present (they probably think it was a great and heavenly idea), but I sure hope other developers don't follow suit any time soon, as it seems like one heck of a way to treat paying customers for their honesty.

 

Just think: one proprietary 'Steam' for every game released...

[Slaughter]

When I bought HL2 (at release) it was hell on web. It took me days just to register with Steam, because their servers couldn't take the extreme pressure.

 

When I finally got to register it, the next round started. I had bought the game on DVD, and my laptop DVD burner had trouble with the durned copy protection. Therefore I only got the game going one out of ten tries.

 

That being said, they removed the CD check with the first update, so this problem is long gone.

 

1: No, I do not think so. Once the game is running I don't think Steam is much of a bother at all. Do not know for sure however.

2: You can choose if it is to load or not, and I never noticed any trouble with performance.

3: No. You tick "Remember me" much like in this forum, and do not have to login again until you logout (remembers you through restart as well).

4: It is updated now and then, but I can't remember it being a problem. First time you install is a fairly major update, but after that it is fine I think. And I can't remember any advertising.

 

I have to add that I haven't started steam in many months however. Maybe it's been changed a little, and the problems you mention are there now.

 

As for Steam in general, I think it's okay that you have to register your game online IF all publishers/developers used the same system. Say that for instance Microsoft had a "game centre" or something where people registered. That will never happen however, and thus it is a pain.

 

Regarding HL2, I don't think it is as fantastic as the first one. But with interesting story, nice AI and fairly cool physics, you should give it a try. Anyone interested in FPS should.

[Strong Bob]

I find the design of Half-Life 2 to be too apalling for me to even try.

 

My friend has been anticipating the game for a long long time. He bought it. But despite having the system requirement specs down right to the letter, he can't play it.

 

He does not have internet.

 

Why the hell must the internet be a requirement for games like this? I always thought the internet as a luxury, not a must. As a result, I will not buy a copy of Half Life 2. If someday, Half-Life 2 becomes free/abandonware, then I will try. Or if I can find it bootlegged (Unlikely.)

 

99.9% of the time I will pay for my games. But I boycott stupidity like that. And as a result, until such things are fixed, I refuse to pay for such software. It might be fixed by now, but I don't even have a rig capable of supporting HL2 yet. So I do not know. But regardless, it infuriates me that Valve would alienate non-connected players like that. Most people have internet now, of course. But those that do not, either for personal or financial reasons, should not be punished with being incapable of playing it. Such apathy towards players, I can't respect it. No matter how good the game is.

[DoomMunky]

Yeah, Strong Bob, I agree that it's a big "screw you" to all the non-connected gamers out there (but are there really that many?) but I don't think it's stupid. Valve is simply making a statement with their release, and that statement is basically that if you don't have the internet, they are not interested in your gaming dollar, as the hassles involved in enabling the game for non-internet-verifiable play are not worth the risk of intense piracy.

 

And yes, Steam is annoying, especially for load times. If it were more streamlined, I think it would be a nice little system. It's quite handy the way it organizes and keeps in the same locale all your HL and HL2 based games. Load up Steam, click on CounterStrike, and away you go. You can even browse servers without loading up a particular game/mod. That's nice!

 

But the loading times suck on my 2800+ AthlonXP. And that shouldn't be. I had a great time with HL2, and actually think it represents the apex of our current generation of linear game design, but I have never had more of a problem with the loading times in a recent game, and I have never had a top-of-the-line computer. Steam makes my butt sore while it loads.

 

Another problem with it is the poor feedback it gives while downloading updates and patches. The dl bar will stop for minutes at a time at 53% while the hard drive is working furiously, and it's obvious that it's dling, installing, and setting up new resources, but all the dl bar says is "Downloading Update..."

 

Did I mention that it takes forever?

 

It could be a good system (not great), but it's just not in it's current incarnation. The lack of feedback is the major problem. Without knowing that it's going to be about 45 minutes until the latest patch is dled, you just end up sitting there staring at the frozen dl bar and getting more and more frustrated.

 

It is the ultimate delayed gratificator. You are all jazzed to play, and then you sit. And wait.

 

And wait.

 

The game at the end is pretty freakin' sweet, but the waiting really sucks.

 

Bring a book.

[Thorondor]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

 

I see things are yet a ways off from 'peachy' in terms of a streamlined Steam service... Valve is sort of playing Combine with their "Come peacefully, and enjoy the comforts of our 'safety perimeter'." (holding area, slave camp )

 

Herding comes to mind; and a hint at data mining ?... I don't think there's ever been such an evident case of "Resistance is futile" in the gaming industry concerning a single-player game before.

 

"I know what you're thinking, 'cause right now I'm thinking the same thing. Actually, I've been thinking it ever since I got here: Why oh why didn't I take the BLUE pill ?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Pantoliano as Cypher in 'The Matrix', 1999

 

::

 

Either way, Steam definitely represents a turning point. Maybe we should be taking notes...

 

 

p.s.: @DoomMunky - would "Brave New World" cut it ? Where's that red pill, now...

[DoomMunky]

That's the one, boss! They did what they did with Steam because of the property they had: With HL2 they could have required that the sales-persons took a dump on your chest before they sold you the game, and they still would have had a mega-bestseller.

 

And don't get me wrong; I think if you're an FPS fan at all you should buy and play HL2 until your fingers bleed. Steam just does, certainly, have a way to go before it's the service they wanted it to be.

 

I'm a fan of Xfire, as you can see in my sig. Game matching service for friend networks, works well, streamlined, straightforward. Once it can download patches, all will be well... The only thing that ain't great about it is the lack of a server-filtering function, which Steam has in spades. Xfire will show you the servers, but if you just want to find a particular name, you have to scroll thru it forever, or try and use the "sort by" function (name, map name, ping, etc.). Other than that, a cool system. It even launches your game for you!

[Strong Bob]

Yeah, Strong Bob, I agree that it's a big "screw you" to all the non-connected gamers out there (but are there really that many?) but I don't think it's stupid. Valve is simply making a statement with their release, and that statement is basically that if you don't have the internet, they are not interested in your gaming dollar, as the hassles involved in enabling the game for non-internet-verifiable play are not worth the risk of intense piracy.

 

I am looking at a copy of Half-Life 2 right now. It says nowhere on this box, at all, that an internet connection is required. (Not even in the system requirements) They're either being real stupid, or real backstabbing snakes. Either way, I can't respect it.

[Bomb Bloke]

I gather you can get a refund if you have the requirements as listed on the box but require others things you weren't informed of at time of purchase.

 

Anyway, at the moment I have all three of the latest generation of Super Consoles. All coments on how much I hate the X-Box aside (*pent up RAGE waiting to ExPlOdE*), they have fairly decent copy-right protection. I gather you pretty much need to mess with the hardware to run illegal copies on any of them, with the possible exception of the GameCube, where you need to do all sorts of tricky stuff with a network cable. Put a GameCube disc in a PC to copy it, the PC will basically stall until you take it out again.

 

That said, TimeSplitters III: Future Perfect is pretty cool, and includes a device which (wait for it) lets you pick up stuff and swing it around. It looks great, runs on the humble PS2 with little sign of slowdown, and is quite fun as well.

 

And because it's on a console (excluding more offensive comments about the X-Box again), there's no annoying copy protection stuff to put up with you use your legal discs. None at all. Now isn't that nice?

[Pete]

I'm using Steam to play Team Fortress Classic (as I don;t have Half Life 2 and it doesn't look overly-interesting to me as I've not yet played Half Life from beginning to end ).

 

Since I was aware that TFC needed an interenet connection to start with, it doesn't bother me. Also, the automatic-updates for games (which you can switch on or off on a per-game basis) like Counter Strike , TFC, Day of Defeat mod and so forth are much more welcome than the previous logging onto Gamespy or whatever and having to wait in a HUGE queue to get the latest 10mb update. Steam does all this for you now.

 

For internet play, it has reduced the amount of cheating bar-stewards by a LOT. For those with illegal versions of the game, it has locked them out completely as only a unique CD key will allow you access to online gaming (which does have one drawback - both myself and my brother needed separate copies of Half Life to play TFC online, but it's quite cheap now anyway).

 

You can turn off the startup routine so Steam doesn't come on at startup and most settings, as mentioned above) can be altered to suit your preferences.

 

All in all, it's probably not done a lot for Half Life 2 single player, but it's completely revolutionised online gaming in my view and I can see a lot of companies might follow suit over the next few years. It certainly puts a lot more power in the developers' hands.

 

On a completely different note, I've heard enough of Timesplitters 3 now, I've just got to save up my pennies and buy the bloody thing...! Who'd hav thunk I'd be silly anough to go on holiday instead of getting TS3, what was I thinking!!!

[Thorondor]

"(...) both myself and my brother needed separate copies of Half Life to play TFC online (...)"

 

That reminds me: what happens if you want to install the game (HL2) on more than one computer (home and office, for instance) ? And, what if you buy a new computer and want to install it there ?

 

I expect they had a boatload of lawyers putting together a deviously clever piece of End User License Agreement for this one. I wonder, however, if the above constraints are explicitly mentioned; even on the fine print...

 

::

 

One HL2 copy per PC... Now there's entrepreneurial brilliance !

 

"Step right up, folks! Step right up! Get 'em while they're steamy..."

*rings the cash register - x2 (times 2) $!*

[Strong Bob]

I gather you can get a refund if you have the requirements as listed on the box but require others things you weren't informed of at time of purchase.

 

Due to piracy, 99% of all software outlets in America do not refund PC games. Or at least, that's how it is in the north eastern portion of America. That said, he tried to return it in exchange for something else, but basically they told him "A deal's a deal".

 

I hate Steam. In my opinion, I'd rather do updates and join games myself as opposed to suffering from things like that. It's why I haven't played Counter Strike ever since the WON servers went down.

[Bomb Bloke]

A deal's not a deal if the deal was made under false pretenses. The box doesn't mention that an internet connection is required to use the product, that's legal ground to return the product. The store wouldn't be too happy about it, of course - but, a deal's not a deal unless it keeps within the fair trade act.

 

Well... That's the line I'd take over here in Australia. I'd assume America has similar consumer protection laws.

 

Concerning the one copy per box rule, I'm pretty sure that's in most EULA's these days. Kinda tricky one to enforce, which is why you might not have noticed it... But generally one licence gives you the right to sue one copy on one box at a time. Over here you can make as many backups as you like (assume you can get around the copy proctection), but the same rule stands - you can only use one copy at a time under the licence.

[Strong Bob]

I'm not sure how to go through the chain of command. The store did not advertise the information. The game company did. So I can't ask Electronique Boutique to break it's policy based on a mistake they didn't make. I would need to go to the company itself.

 

The E-mail I sent on behalf of him has been unanswered. He plans to call the company itself sometime next week.

 

Concerning copies of games...

 

My brother and I have our own computers. So occasionally we play on a LAN. Of course, many games we have cannot be copied, so I developed a little strategy. (One that would NOT work if you wanted to copy a protected game and play it elsewhere.)

 

You need the original CD, and a CD with all the original's data copied into it. Put the original CD into the computer and start the game. Once the game has started, eject the CD and replace it with the fraudulent burned CD. (When it's ejected you will recieve a signal akin to "Please insert CD and click OK" or something like that.) This tactic has worked for Diablo II, Black and White, Citizen Kabuto, Warcraft III, and Star Trek Elite Force. And so far, I haven't found a protected game that is immune.

 

Try it. It's a real relief when playing those copyprotected games on a LAN.

[Bomb Bloke]

Heheh... I've ran Diablo II on two computers... Usign one installation, running the entire thing down the network cable. Not very stable mind.

[Matri]

Heheh... I've ran Diablo II on two computers... Usign one installation, running the entire thing down the network cable. Not very stable mind. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's nuts, BB... The overhead is probably enough to guarantee a saturated network...

[Bomb Bloke]

Well, the other compuer didn't have enough HD space. *shrugs* I was surprised it worked at all - I mainly used it so I could transfer items between characters, as opposed to actually running around and bashing stuff. As for the 'network', we're talking two computers and one cross-over cable here.

[Ki-tat Chung]

lol, ever tried doing that with HL1, on two PII's? it's psycho...mega lag.

[Strong Bob]

Just try it the way I mentioned. Works like a charm.

[Hellb0und]

I installed and payed for HL2 Silver Package in Steam a few months before the game was released.

 

So i downloaded everything from Valve through Steam (including all HL2 files), never had a problem.

 

Once the game came out, i just had to activate/decrypt the HL2 files i already had on my HDD and download a few more MB, it took me about 10 minutes. Done, no problems. This was done on release day, 8:00 AM here in Portugal. I got to play 20 min before leaving to work.

 

 

1 - Steam is intrusive and adds an overhead to HL2 in general and load times in particular

Never noticed anything, i think Steam is the best thing Valve has done since the first HL. Never again i need to search and download updates for any of Valve's games. And from other companies that pay Valve to use Steam.

 

2 - Steam always loads at system start-up and slows down system performance

Not true at all, it does use some system RAM, but not that much.

I only load Steam when i want to.

 

3 - After successfully registering the game, Steam still requires the player to go online each time he wants to fire-up the game

Not true at all, you register once, then you don't need to be online ever again.

It has a Off-line mode you know?

This is only true if you want to play online... duh!

 

4 - Steam bogs down the player with successive encrypt/decrypt sequences, large updates and a healthy dose of general banter/advertising

Again, wrong!

It just downloads updates for the games you choose to keep updated.

 

I do get a pop-up once a week or something when i log-in to Steam, but only with news of what Valve is up to, or news about mods coming out. Like new maps for CS: Source and such. I don't call that advertising, i call that information.

 

 

I only complain about the "Friends" part of Steam never seemed to work correctly.

[DoomMunky]

Totally disagree with your last point there, Hellb0und. In MY experience, the load/wait times for new content are really annoying and have the tendency to kill my interest in the game.

 

1) Fire Steam up.

2) Oh! New updates needed!

3) Wait for new updates to be downloaded

4) Wonder why download bar is sitting still at 32%.

5) Wish I had another cup of coffee.

6) Call girlfriend.

7) Surf internet, checking stupid "Love Nest for Tammy and Co." thread to see who needs to be shot.

8) Go make sandwich.

9) Forget about HL2....

 

That only happens about every two weeks or so, and its not a deal-breaker (my term for the straw that breaks the camels' back) but it sure is freakin' annoying.

 

I'm jealous that your experience is different.

[Bomb Bloke]

Hey, any service which sends people to the Tammy thread is fine by me.

[Strong Bob]

Is Tammy even still here?

 

Haven't seen so much as a post from her in... Oh god, last I can even think to recall is over a year ago!

[Slaughter]

Her last post is from May 16th

[FullAuto]

So, in the 3+ years since this topic was last posted in, has Steam got any better? Is it the spawn of all evil, the Second Coming, or does it have good and bad points?

 

I have so far resisted getting steamed up, but am seriously considering it.

[Gimli]

When I first got the HL2 demo it was a pain in the behind. Running on an twin ISDN connection (128k in total) and the download manager didn't even tell me how much it would download. 4 hours later, the download broke and I uninstalled Steam. Recently I installed it again to get X-Com. Right now it looks quite OK, I have no problems with it.