To BE or not to BE

[CEO Aaron]

I'll buy it. Why not? I love SMAC, and I've lobbied for a sequel for years. This is as close as it's like to get. As to whether it's good or not? Well, that's largely a function of opinion, not objective fact. I hated Civ IV, which many folks here seem to think was pretty good, and I liked CivIII (though not as much as I liked SMAC). So no accounting for taste.

[SpencerH]

I'm cautiously excited about the possibility of a new civ game (I didnt buy or play civ5) but I'll have to wait until I know whether they will use the abomination known as Steam. If so, its just another game I'll have to miss.

[Lorizael]

Yes, the game will use Steam. It's a shame that Steam is such a turn off for some players; I don't even notice it.

[CEO Aaron]

I'm cautiously excited about the possibility of a new civ game (I didnt buy or play civ5) but I'll have to wait until I know whether they will use the abomination known as Steam. If so, its just another game I'll have to miss.

Steam is FAR preferable to every other alternative authentication system I've seen, and if you don't think that this form of DRM is destined for ubiquity, I have some bad news for you.

[Aeson]

I wouldn't mind Steam so much except I'm on a poor internet connection. It means starting up a Steam game can be very slow at times, and when Steam itself needs to be updated it can further slow down everything else I'm doing online for an hour or two.

[gaenues26]

I know this question is stupidly childish.. but is it out yet?.. :P

[SpencerH]

Steam is FAR preferable to every other alternative authentication system I've seen, and if you don't think that this form of DRM is destined for ubiquity, I have some bad news for you.

I continue to be amazed by this viewpoint! If the government said we needed to install a program in order to have web access that only they could control, that they could activate and change without our knowledge or consent, and that transmitted unknown data from our pc's to another site we would be (rightfully) up in arms. That the Steam client is non-government is irrelevant from my perspective however. There's no way I would install such a program on any pc that contained my confidential information (of various types) and I refuse to buy a pc just to play civ and total war.

Even with steam, DRM remains a joke with hacked game versions appearing regularly. What I keep hoping for, perhaps foolishly, is that game makers will issue non-DRM "gold" versions that I can purchase at a reduced price once the games are relatively out of date. I'm not holding my breath though.

[CEO Aaron]

I wouldn't mind Steam so much except I'm on a poor internet connection. It means starting up a Steam game can be very slow at times, and when Steam itself needs to be updated it can further slow down everything else I'm doing online for an hour or two.

Appreciated, but rampant software piracy has necessitated an Orwellian solution to resolving game ownership, and Steam is the least bad of the lot. I'd suggest that your enemy isn't steam, it's your hateful telecommunications monopoly that can't seem to pull its finger out and start delivering real bandwidth.

[CEO Aaron]

I continue to be amazed by this viewpoint! If the government said we needed to install a program in order to have web access that only they could control, that they could activate and change without our knowledge or consent, and that transmitted unknown data from our pc's to another site we would be (rightfully) up in arms. That the Steam client is non-government is irrelevant from my perspective however. There's no way I would install such a program on any pc that contained my confidential information (of various types) and I refuse to buy a pc just to play civ and total war.

Even with steam, DRM remains a joke with hacked game versions appearing regularly. What I keep hoping for, perhaps foolishly, is that game makers will issue non-DRM "gold" versions that I can purchase at a reduced price once the games are relatively out of date. I'm not holding my breath though.

There's not a business in the world that will tolerate people stealing its products, and that's what software piracy is. And as for the government forcing the adoption of security standards, they do that all the time, the process is merely transparent to you, the layman. You think DRM is a joke? Try pirating Diablo III or World of Warcraft. I'd rather put up with Steam than have every game go free-to-play with microtransactions, and that really is the choice on offer.

[Vi0]

Well in my case it's probably not a hateful telecommunications monopoly so much as a poor country (Philippines) with terrible infrastructure surrounded by ocean. Even for SE Asia the Philippines has slow internet. And even for the Philippines this area specifically has slow internet

There is one easy way to avoid Steam updates and/or entering your password. Disable Steam autorun on system startup. Disconnect from Internet, before running Steam Game for the first time after turning on your computer or restarting it. After Steam fails to connect to internet, you can select stay offline and enjoy playing Civ without waiting for update and entering password.
I haven't updated Steam for a month or so and I don't have to retrieve my password every time I want to play Civ. I am not stealing software, I just don't like unnecessary traffic, waiting as well as registrations and authentication procedures.

[Adagio]

There's not a business in the world that will tolerate people stealing its products, and that's what software piracy is.

Oh, let's not go there as stealing and piracy are two completely different things

Well in my case it's probably not a hateful telecommunications monopoly so much as a poor country (Philippines) with terrible infrastructure surrounded by ocean. Even for SE Asia the Philippines has slow internet. And even for the Philippines this area specifically has slow internet

After having been online in several hotels in Makati and Iriga City I can't imagine how using Steam for gaming would ever work. Even skype is pretty difficult to use.

[CEO Aaron]

Oh, let's not go there as stealing and piracy are two completely different things

As someone who works in the computing industry, I'd have to say that I disagree vehemently. If you don't want to go there, I'd recommend not terminating your statement with another salvo of argument.

After having been online in several hotels in Makati and Iriga City I can't imagine how using Steam for gaming would ever work. Even skype is pretty difficult to use.

That's an infrastructure problem, not a software problem. I'm not without sympathy, but I'm pretty sure 2K Games is.

[Aeson]

If anyone wants to continue the discussion about piracy please use the Off-Topic forum. In on-topic areas of the site Apolyton's rules are strictly anti-piracy.

I don't expect sympathy from Steam or 2K. At the same time, Steam shouldn't expect my approval and at least in some edge cases they can expect to not get my money I otherwise would have spent. In any case I'll be buying BE.

[Aeson]

There is one easy way to avoid Steam updates and/or entering your password. Disable Steam autorun on system startup. Disconnect from Internet, before running Steam Game for the first time after turning on your computer or restarting it. After Steam fails to connect to internet, you can select stay offline and enjoy playing Civ without waiting for update and entering password.

I do do this generally when playing the games. As far as I know it's legal.

The problem is when I install a new game, steam requires updating before it will let me do so. So a rather painful experience (downloading overnight, or even over 2 or 3 nights) is extended by a couple hours. Which because of timing issues means it can take another full night.

[Nikolai]

I've just reinstalled StarCitizen (not Steam) three times today, due to install issues. Ca 24 or 26 GB each time. Thank goodness for 90 Mbit uni line!