Would you buy Civ5 if it was only offered on Steam?

[Hauldren Collider]

Disc space is so cheap that it really isn't a factor anymore.
Let me download it online and forget about it. If an update/patch comes up I go back to the source and download it. no muss no fuss. D2D forever. I never have to search for the DVD/CD. Actually, I find all other methods of distribution out dated and silly.

False. It's much faster and easier to go to the store and buy the thing than wait for your 20 GB game to download. I prefer getting the CD 100%. When I got CoD modern warfare 2, I got the CD which installed with Steam. Faster, and I don't need the CD afterward to play.

[Nikolai]

Looks to me as though they have DRM, it's just electronic rather than hardware based.
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/59269

GOO is not used by PI. The only DRM they use is that you need to register your game in a user account on their forums to get access to mods, patches, user support etc.

EDIT: That is, some games published by them(but developed by others), use GOO. But not their own games.

[Kc7mxo]

I didn't like steam when it was first offered, but long since converted to loving it.

[Blaupanzer]

Steam-only distribution is a bad idea. I own every version of Civ with which Sid has been associated, however dimly. But I will be stuck with Civ 4, if Steam and/or D2D are the ONLY sources. I would like a box, but I regard owning the disk/stick an absolute must.

[Dinner]

GOO is not used by PI. The only DRM they use is that you need to register your game in a user account on their forums to get access to mods, patches, user support etc.

EDIT: That is, some games published by them(but developed by others), use GOO. But not their own games.

What I hate about Paradox, and why I will no longer buy their games, is that if you get banned or put on probation you cannot register any of their games. I got put on probation for daring to point out several still existing bugs and obvious deficiencies with HOI3 and since I recently switched hard drives I can't play the game since I can't reregister it for my new hard drive. When you're on probation, which seems to be permanent for my account since it says it never ages off, you can't even send a PM to the mods to ask how I can register my game. It's bull**** to deny customers fair use of a game they actually paid money for so in the future I will not pay for any PI games and they can just lick my balls.

I've bought just about every Paradox game which came out in the past so I hope they know their heavy handed stupidity is costing them loyal customers.

[Felch]

That's a false target. Clearly, the goal isn't simply to "make money". Obviously, if they only made $0.01 they would meet your criteria of "making money" but that would be a failed business. You have to show the shareholders a profit, or they will remove their capital investment and go elsewhere. Furthermore, profit is where business expansion and the ability to meet rising and unforseen costs comes from.


You're saying that Spore's (or anyone's) implementation of DRM may have a negative impact on sales?

World of Goo has no copy protection, and while it was widely pirated, it almost certainly gave its creators a better return on investment than Spore did. They were both released in Fall of 2008, both were casual style games geared to general audiences, but World of Goo is generally beloved while Spore has left a bad taste in everybody's mouth. I think a lot of that has to do with their approaches to copy protection.

[Felch]

False. It's much faster and easier to go to the store and buy the thing than wait for your 20 GB game to download. I prefer getting the CD 100%. When I got CoD modern warfare 2, I got the CD which installed with Steam. Faster, and I don't need the CD afterward to play.

All depends on time of day. If you do your shopping after stores close you're better off downloading.

[MikeH]

You're saying that Spore's (or anyone's) implementation of DRM may have a negative impact on sales?

I didn't buy Spore purely because of the DRM. I didn't get it illegally, just avoided it entirely.

I don't mind DRM if it's non-intrusive and doesn't cause me extra hassle. Would prefer not to have the DVD in the drive if possible but as I'm getting more games by direct download that's going away to some extent.

[Nikolai]

What I hate about Paradox, and why I will no longer buy their games, is that if you get banned or put on probation you cannot register any of their games. I got put on probation for daring to point out several still existing bugs and obvious deficiencies with HOI3 and since I recently switched hard drives I can't play the game since I can't reregister it for my new hard drive. When you're on probation, which seems to be permanent for my account since it says it never ages off, you can't even send a PM to the mods to ask how I can register my game. It's bull**** to deny customers fair use of a game they actually paid money for so in the future I will not pay for any PI games and they can just lick my balls.

I've bought just about every Paradox game which came out in the past so I hope they know their heavy handed stupidity is costing them loyal customers.

HoI3 is not locked to your harddrive, and you know it. You can play it all you want, old or new hdd. I also saw your postings, and IIRC, they were anything other than polite.

[Nikolai]

That's a false target. Clearly, the goal isn't simply to "make money". Obviously, if they only made $0.01 they would meet your criteria of "making money" but that would be a failed business. You have to show the shareholders a profit, or they will remove their capital investment and go elsewhere. Furthermore, profit is where business expansion and the ability to meet rising and unforseen costs comes from.

PI make money. At a profit. Quite good a profit too, as their recent aquisitions should show quite clearly. The majority of their profit is from the selling of their games online on GG, Steam, D2D etc. I think it was said three quarter or something. And those are non-DRM games.

[Jon Miller]

I love steam.

And steam works for Mac now!

JM

[wodan11]

PI make money. At a profit. Quite good a profit too, as their recent aquisitions should show quite clearly. The majority of their profit is from the selling of their games online on GG, Steam, D2D etc. I think it was said three quarter or something. And those are non-DRM games.

And how much more could they be making if they used DRM?

[Nikolai]

Impossible to say, but their sales went up after ditching the DRM they used for EU2. But who knows if that wouldn't have happened anyway. And more than one poster over at PIF says they are more willing to buy PI games because of said non-DRM policy. Again, impossible to prove really.

[sowings]

The biggest argument *for* Steam that I can think of recently was when my game (not Civ) and later my PC crashed; the crash(es) corrupted some of the resource files, and I was easily able to re-download the affected files from Steam, rather than the uninstall / reinstall / update dance.

[Felch]

And how much more could they be making if they used DRM?

How the hell is anybody supposed to answer that?