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What Advantages Has STEAM Brought to 2K, Firaxis and the Civilization Franchise?

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  • What Advantages Has STEAM Brought to 2K, Firaxis and the Civilization Franchise?

    I have installed Civilization V and so, obviously, I have also installed and joined STEAM. This angered me as I had not followed the development of Civ V closely and had no idea this was a requirement. My interest in PC gaming has declined over recent years, mainly because few titles have been released which appeal to me, but also because those that do insist upon employing some sort of 3rd Party DRM, which I do not want to support. I checked the retail box after install: sure enough an internet requirement for activation is listed, so Mea Culpa.

    My friends are also fans of the Civ series. We still play and discuss Civ IV and we had been discussing the release of this latest title. I have advised them of the requirment for STEAM. One couldn't care less, another, like me, has a purely emotion objection and won't buy the game and yet another simply won't be able to install the game if an internet connection is required. From a quick review of some Civ forums it seems these anecdotes are often repeated.

    This brings me to my question: given that the introduction of STEAM would seem to have discouraged a small proportion of customers from adopting Civ V, what advantages has this brought to the publishers, the developers or the game itself which outweigh this? I know very little about STEAM, but it seems this client is being used for licence verification, patch distribution and multiplayer, all features which were present in previous Sid Meier titles, so what are the benefits?

  • #2
    Well, for Firaxis/2k it is probably getting the same money from the customers,
    while having less costs (after all for those who buy the game on Steam [paying the same price or even more, than offline]
    no DVDs need to be produced and shipped...which probably also results in 2k/Firaxis getting more money out of the deal [which might be enough revenue to be able to forget those customers who don´t buy the game because of steam])

    Another benefit, of course is that, via steam, Firaxis don´t have to care about the mechanisms of update distributions
    (like providing server, porogramming the update mechanisms etc. ) as this probably already is included with steam (and the programming libraries it provides)
    Tamsin (Lost Girl): "I am the Harbinger of Death. I arrive on winds of blessed air. Air that you no longer deserve."
    Tamsin (Lost Girl): "He has fallen in battle and I must take him to the Einherjar in Valhalla"

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    • #3
      Pretty much, it all comes down to money. They thought they could make more money this way and they didn't care if it pissed people off. Civ5 was nothing more than a "Lets see if we can do as little as possible and if everyone will still buy the game because it says Civilization on it experiment." I suspect if this is a success, you'll be buying Civ5 again as Civ6, only this time it will have octagons and you'll be buying each civ for 5$ each after you buy the game engine for 50$. All of this of course will be marketed as new revolutionary features in the game, and all the reviewers will agree and fawn over the game giving it nearly perfect scores. It's all part of the system in the end.

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      • #4
        Why does everyone complain about this? Are you saying, if you were in the same situation, your company is in a recession, you have wages to pay, investors to please, and shareholders who are demanding dividends, that you would do differently? If you run a business, there are a lot of tough decisions you have to make. In this climate even firing someone is going to cost that poor individual alot, maybe their home, maybe even their family. And you expect the managers to be concerned over you having to register with steam?

        My father runs a business, and he is constantly stressed over what cruel things he has to do, to ensure not only the company works, but he can keep his employees earning wages. You have to remember, that while you may be thinking they earn billions in profits, when wages, promotions, advertising, and such are taken out.... Firaxis has likely at this time, still at a loss. It will take them a few more months to break even, and after that, make profit.

        The world runs on money. It's easy to say you're above that, when you're young.... but once you get into the working world, you have to face reality.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Coeur View Post
          Why does everyone complain about this? Are you saying, if you were in the same situation, your company is in a recession, you have wages to pay, investors to please, and shareholders who are demanding dividends, that you would do differently? If you run a business, there are a lot of tough decisions you have to make. In this climate even firing someone is going to cost that poor individual alot, maybe their home, maybe even their family. And you expect the managers to be concerned over you having to register with steam?
          ....
          If I were manager of a startup company who intends to bring out a game, I would, more or less, do similar things.
          Not sure if I would require the Steam Client to run, while playing the game, but I would definitely use Steam, Impulse and maybe D2D to sell the game
          Tamsin (Lost Girl): "I am the Harbinger of Death. I arrive on winds of blessed air. Air that you no longer deserve."
          Tamsin (Lost Girl): "He has fallen in battle and I must take him to the Einherjar in Valhalla"

          Comment


          • #6
            i think steam is great. if it wasnt for steam i probly would have pirated civ V.

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            • #7
              Only complaint i have for steam (and my conenction is 0.5mb broadband omg...) is that for some games it completely removes the option for cheats. This isn't usually a problem, but when I have reached a point in a game, where i have saved.... and an instant kill occurs right after? I dont want to have to start the game again, because surviving after loading is impossible. T_T

              Other than that, it does what it sets out to do, really... and is a cheap way for companies to branch out. I think it helps a lot of new developers get coverage. Consider all the cheap ... well... how to say... Not great games, but okay ones, made by people who don't have companies, and otherwise would find it impossible to get a game noticed. Im sure you've seen them...

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              • #8
                It's fine to maximize your profits, but not when you put out a piece of trash as your product. All they did this time around was throw out the same basic game with some hex tiles and a bunch of **** taken out of the game which is now being passed as somehow a new feature of the game. I'm not really sure how or when this idea of "simplification" somehow became a new feature. All that really means is that they removed stuff from the game.

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                • #9
                  Define simplification. And please, with less child-rage, and more reasoning. Calling this game "trash" is frankly ridiculous. You may not like it, but even someone who despises the mere idea of RTS, would at least say it looks good. All i can see having been taken out is:

                  a) The tech/culture slider. - Thank God, that was dumbing down for idiots? It meant you could focus everything on gold, and just buy stuff.

                  b) Tech and Map trading - Same thing. Strategy unecessary, just focus on gold, and buy everything.

                  c) Scores telling you how much the AI like you..... come now.... do you really need to be told how they feel?

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Proteus_MST View Post
                    Well, for Firaxis/2k it is probably getting the same money from the customers,
                    while having less costs (after all for those who buy the game on Steam [paying the same price or even more, than offline]
                    no DVDs need to be produced and shipped...which probably also results in 2k/Firaxis getting more money out of the deal [which might be enough revenue to be able to forget those customers who don´t buy the game because of steam])
                    That does not explain AT ALL, why even CD or D2D bought game needs STEAM. You can buy Civ IV on STEAM as well, or anywhere else.

                    Let's face it, the main reason for Firaxis to use STEAM is the perception that this somehow reduces piracy (which does reverse I think - pirates will still pirate and paying customers will stuck with STEAM and its DRM)
                    The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
                    certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
                    -- Bertrand Russell

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                    • #11
                      Very well, if you desperately want a list of examples I will name a few, but I doubt you will like them....

                      1) Higher sales at less cost. - Every sale of civ5 over steam saves firaxis the cost of the disc, the boxing, the environmental impact of the paper used, including the (small) manual, and the big tech tree thing, and plastic.
                      2) Patches go through Steam. Saves them the time of having to release them on their own servers.
                      3) You can re-download onto other PC's without a disc. You may say "but i dont intend to" but that doesn't matter to Firaxis. It is something they can boast about, so they will.
                      4) Steam has its own advertisements, and thus, on the time up to the game being launched, and for some time after. Firaxis gets a large amount of FREE advertising. This is also highly targetted advertising!!!

                      As for WHY, when you buy it on disc, you HAVE to use steam as well... which I'm sure is your point. Simply : Because having two systems in place would be an unecessary cost. If they did that, then half of the advantages I listed, would be wasted... I know its a pain having to download it, with my connection it took over 24 hours... but its a one-off, and ironically... every time you buy from steam, you're doing the environment a favour. So go out and be all justified!!!!

                      P.s. All you who bought it hard-copy.... for shame.... for shame....

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Coeur View Post
                        Very well, if you desperately want a list of examples I will name a few, but I doubt you will like them....

                        1) Higher sales at less cost. - Every sale of civ5 over steam saves firaxis the cost of the disc, the boxing, the environmental impact of the paper used, including the (small) manual, and the big tech tree thing, and plastic.
                        Irrelevant, because you could 2K still sells CDs.
                        2) Patches go through Steam. Saves them the time of having to release them on their own servers.
                        You really think that 2K, that has many games will have any noticeable problems with distributing patches as they do anyway for other games? They already have system in place for it. And do you think that STEAM just let them use their servers out of good spirit for free?? I am sure that for every game that get's registered on steam, they get $$, meaning that 2K looses those money.
                        3) You can re-download onto other PC's without a disc. You may say "but i dont intend to" but that doesn't matter to Firaxis. It is something they can boast about, so they will.
                        That's advantage for us, but not for 2K/Firaxis. In fact, I can argue it is disadvantage for them, because if you lose disk you may buy another one. Also, that advantage would stay if they have released other digital formats (like for D2D or Impulse).
                        4) Steam has its own advertisements, and thus, on the time up to the game being launched, and for some time after. Firaxis gets a large amount of FREE advertising. This is also highly targetted advertising!!!
                        True, if you value those achievements - not me. All I get is the adds, so for me it is disadvantage.

                        As for WHY, when you buy it on disc, you HAVE to use steam as well... which I'm sure is your point. Simply : Because having two systems in place would be an unecessary cost.
                        Since they do it with other games, those costs would be minimal. In fact, from knowing how usually things work, it would be cheaper to continue to use your own services, because they are already in place for other games, then to pay, whatever they are paying, to STEAM.

                        No, piracy is the main and only reason for 2K selecting STEAM.
                        The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
                        certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
                        -- Bertrand Russell

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                        • #13
                          Steam effectively prevents pre-release piracy.
                          Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.-Isaiah 41:10
                          I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made - Psalms 139.14a
                          Also active on WePlayCiv.

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                          • #14
                            Thank You

                            Thanks to those who provided some considered replies. I think Coer identified where my confusion around this product here:

                            As for WHY, when you buy it on disc, you HAVE to use steam as well... which I'm sure is your point. Simply : Because having two systems in place would be an unecessary cost. If they did that, then half of the advantages I listed, would be wasted
                            I am not quite sure why a second "system" is required but this is the scenraio which carries a negative financial implication, and I am sure all involved with the Civ V project would have been aware of this. So, how is this balanced? Perhaps Coer also provided the counterpoint:

                            Steam has its own advertisements, and thus, on the time up to the game being launched, and for some time after. Firaxis gets a large amount of FREE advertising. This is also highly targetted advertising!!!
                            It would seem the publishers have identified a way to extract more revenue from a smaller number of customers. Given the direction of the PC market this is essential, so I can empathize with their decision. (I did not notice any advertising - is it broadcast in the UK?)

                            I don't have any objection to STEAM or the product being available to download. If the only cost efficient way to release a Civilization game is via download then I could understand the need to contract a Third party to do so. But, the physical medium is available to buy, but also requires the consent of a Third Party. That would seem to reduce the potential income from a second revenue stream, and I still find it difficult to see why that was necessary.

                            Finally, of course compaies make decisions based on maximizing the amount of money they will make. I do so every day in my job and I'm sure many of you do too. This should not be a surprise to anyone. This is why I raised the question, because I could see how this decision could hurt their profit, but it was not (and is still not) clear to me how it helps. If we have learned anything from playing Civilization all these years it is that you need to bring in the gold.

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                            • #15
                              In theory, Steam improves the patching process, and provides a stable multiplayer platform. There are usually problems with Civ multiplayer, so the second part might be important. Auto-patching takes care of an oft-repeated troubleshooting step (asking about updates), since not everybody remembers/can be bothered to do it manually. I think that plus buying just one DRM license is why the physical media version also requires Steam.

                              Originally posted by Nikolai View Post
                              Steam effectively prevents pre-release piracy.
                              Yeah, we all know how much fun it is to play a beta. (And seriously, the game is in the wild already, so much good did that DRM do...)
                              Seriously. Kung freaking fu.

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