Renzatic on 31/12/2008 at 00:21
Quote Posted by doctorfrog
While I do agree that the likelihood of Steam collapsing is small, it's even less likely that if they do, they will go out of their way to patch the full wealth of their games for the sake of their users (who are only license holders), before locking the doors one last time.
I'm not exactly sure how the Steam DRM system works, but wouldn't a self contained version of it that could run your previously activated CDs be enough to ensure you could play them long after the service dies?
doctorfrog on 31/12/2008 at 07:43
I'm not sure that it would matter, since a good number of Steam customers have bought games from Steam direct, no CDs involved. Though... I think Steam does allow you to download and archive CD-burnable-ready versions of their games, kind of an odd addition since to play the game ever again, you'll need Steam and an internet connection. I suppose they could, in a disaster, offer a patch that would allow the game to install and play without activation, but I think they would lack sufficient motivation to do so. And, like I indicated earlier, whoever acquires Valve's technology would not be likely permit them to publish circumvention of the very tech they are buying off of them, fire sale or no fire sale.
Plus, I more or less agree with dethtoll that Valve isn't likely to go the way of the Lehmann Brothers anytime soon. If they did, their service is popular enough for another corp to snap up quickly, with barely a hiccup in service, so they can keep their fanbase happy and buying stuff.
Jason Moyer on 31/12/2008 at 08:47
Quote Posted by doctorfrog
Though... I think Steam does allow you to download and archive CD-burnable-ready versions of their games, kind of an odd addition since to play the game ever again, you'll need Steam and an internet connection.
I use that feature all the time to archive stuff to my data drive. It beats waiting 2 days to download a game if I choose to reinstall it in the future.
EvaUnit02 on 31/12/2008 at 10:15
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
I use that feature all the time to archive stuff to my data drive. It beats waiting 2 days to download a game if I choose to reinstall it in the future.
Backing up the entire Steamapps folder is an even less painless alternative. Do a fresh installation of Steam and overwrite the skeleton steamapps folder with the backup and you're away.
Jason Moyer on 31/12/2008 at 10:24
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
Backing up the entire Steamapps folder is an even less painless alternative. Do a fresh installation of Steam and overwrite the skeleton steamapps folder with the backup and you're away.
I haven't checked, but doesn't backing up the games using the in-Steam backup option also significantly compress the files?
Yakoob on 31/12/2008 at 10:31
For those of you fearing that it may be hard for valve to patch all games to work after steam dies or they may not have motivation to do so, you are forgetting one important thing: their solution is already done and merely needs deployment.
How?
Steam offline mode.
Matthew on 31/12/2008 at 16:24
I am happy to use Steam, activation codes, codewheels or questions about the text of the manual (as long as it's a set of interesting questions and not just 'what is the third word on line 2 of page 363'). I don't mind Starforce unless it's the kind that fucks with my drives to the point of making games unplayable (I'm looking at you, Freedom Force / MechCommander / Mechwarrior 4).
I will not, however, use dongles.
Having said all that if a publisher or distributor specifically shies away from using DRM I will often support them on principle.
Ostriig on 2/1/2009 at 01:30
I'm perfectly fine with CD Keys. I'm also just fine with on-install online activations with two conditions - they're either unlimited or come with a solid revoke tool, and it's pretty much clear that I won't be stuck with a worthless disk should the authentification server support be dropped. Game's manual cross-referencing? Meh, sure, I guess.
I dislike CD checks, and I especially fucking hate Securom's new brand of "Nope, I can see you're using Daemon Tools" CD checks. Alongside other crap (dongles? lol...) like regular phone-home ideas, and NWN1's on-game-load online check system used for premium modules. Speaking of NWN, at this point I don't know whether to laugh or cry at Atari's tragicomic show with Mysteries of Westgate - the adventure pack has been ready for well over half a year now (iirc), but it's still being held at bay while Atari have their own team working on DRM method for it. And working, and working, and working...
Papy on 2/1/2009 at 02:43
Quote Posted by Matthew
I will not, however, use dongles.
Why not? To me, a USB dongle would be a much better form of DRM than anything else. More reliable than a CD check, less annoying than a manual check, not as big brother as an Internet validation... To me, it would be almost like a console cartridge. Once the game is installed, just pop in the USB dongle whenever you want to play, and the game auto-launch. I could also lend my games to anyone and resell them if I want. That would be absolutely great!
Edit: This is a "funny" coincidence, but I just bought Stalker : Clear Sky from Steam and... I can't play it for now because the Tages activation server is down today.
Freddo on 2/1/2009 at 04:16
Disc checks are ok, although annoying.
Online activations are ok as long it's an online game (MMOs)
Online activations for a single player game is not something I support at all.
