Shouldn't HL2 be going gold like..now?
They only have another week or so if they want to make the Sept 30 date.

when i read that, forsome reason I think 'SkyNET'. and then i curl up in a ball and shake.

great, now if I have 5 different games from 5 different manufactureres... They'll all be trying to talk back to thier "update servers" whenever I turn on my computer ... this assumes steam is a success and saves them money as always the others will follow. Imagine EA doing the same thing, blizzard, ID, ect..

Oh yea, and like weeds (and I, in my first post) said. If the anticheat is good, that will mean aLOT. Again, as I said, Steam might mean that as anticheat for HL2 is updated, so will the anticheat in HL1. That (and the online purchasing) are my main hopes for steam.

My issue with Steam, along with all the minor things, is that it seems to eat an intensive amount of resources. My computer slows, ram is used up, it's quite noticeable.

Wazootyman, your the biggest propponent, if only propponent, of Steam in this thread and this is the best you can say about it?

I'm not a supporter per se. I do oppose those who have the knee-jerk response of labling Steam as valve's attempt to curtail gamer's rights and take over the world. =D

Steam has interesting potential (mainly as a means to buy directly from the developer- currently publishers take a BIG piece of the pie).

I understand that this invasive application doesn't really bother you but I'm sure you can understand why it bothers some of us.

Hrm, if it's the invasiveness you are talking about, I can't say I see it. To play half-life, you must install half-life. Soon, you will need steam. It doesn't really do anything more. Half-life communicates information to a master server (server lists, WONid), just like steam will. Just because it is a separate app doesn't mean it will be sending your registry to Valve for inspection. Why does it bother you to run steam, but not half-life?

As far as a multiplayer goes, I am really a big fan of ASE. I love that application. I wish I could use it for HL2. I don't want to have to use some Gamespy like app.

I see the lack of compatibility with 3rd party apps like the All-Seeing-Eye to bee a valid disadvantage. Hopefully steam will be implemented well enough that you will come to like it as much as ASE.

Do you remember the uproar when MS introduced product activation? This seems to be very similar but imagine MS demanding product activation everytime you use it.

Methinks the problem with product activation is that if you switch out, say, your processer, then suddenly your OS won't work (O_O!). Well, maybe not to that degree, but changing your hardware had the potential to screw your registration, cuz it is tied to the system config when you registered. Doh! Also, MS was demanding some personal info or some such. I see that as a problem, but I am pretty sure that 1) SteamID will not be tied to your system config and 2) Steam will not require system or personal info to activate. Why would it?

Why is it the people in the linked thread, who have been using the Steam beta for quite a while, seem to be as full of questions as the rest of us non-Steam users?

As I said before, in the beta, the main problem was that steam didn't do a whole lot. It let you patch games, server browse with a better UI and download HL2 movies. Wow. My hope for steam is in the features that have been mentioned or could be implemented. That is why I am still full of questions. What will steam really be like? I'm not sure, but I don't think it's fair or reasonable to assume it will be terrible, especially with no evidence to support such an assumption.

"Personaly, I don't want Steam"

Valve is using Steam also for fighting the cheaters.
Not just for updates and movies.

It was mentioned in one of the recent interviews.
Saying they will update/change the codebase, possibly daily, to render any hacks useless. With steam running on everyones computer if they release a patch everyone is immediately up to date.
If it really works to keep out cheats that would be very cool imho.

well if your not online, HL will still work like before, but it wont get updated. Maybe they will release a last patch in exe format (for people who get their patches from coverdisks etc.) to upgrade to the new menu. Hopefully. Anyways, you can always start complaining after youve actually seen what they've done, in like a week or so. Atleast valve still fully support and improve their 5 year old game.

BicycleRepairMan

The more I see about Half-Life 2/Valve/Steam, the more I think Valve is just a bunch of fucktard high school kids that got lucky with their first title.

My only real problem with Steam is that it repeatedly did not work for me during the beta. Sometimes I would open it up and the program wouldn't work but sometimes, it would open it up and it would have already downloaded the HL2 videos that I was looking for.

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22

"My main complaint about the steam beta is that Steam didn't really do very much (good or bad). Do I really need a second app to server browse for HL? Hopefully the online purchase thing will work well enough and some of the other features I mentioned will be implemented. Otherwise, steam, while not bad, won't be good for much either."

Wazootyman, your the biggest propponent, if only propponent, of Steam in this thread and this is the best you can say about it? I understand that this invasive application doesn't really bother you but I'm sure you can understand why it bothers some of us. As far as a multiplayer goes, I am really a big fan of ASE. I love that application. I wish I could use it for HL2. I don't want to have to use some Gamespy like app.

Do you remember the uproar when MS introduced product activation? This seems to be very similar but imagine MS demanding product activation everytime you use it.

Why is it the people in the linked thread, who have been using the Steam beta for quite a while, seem to be as full of questions as the rest of us non-Steam users?

(Me too meaning I agree with 45)

1. If all your CD keys are associated with your Steam ID then you probably won't be able to give someone your key (without giving them your entire steam account).

2. Me too.

3. Almost all computer systems are secured with a user/pass. The only difference here is that you can stand to lose ALL your valve keys at once (which would suck). Guard that u/p closely.

1. If you buy it in a box you can still sell it to someone else.. If not then no.

2. The same options the user has now with multiplayer games i'd imagine.

3. Choose a password that they wont guess - don't tell people your password. It's pretty simple.

It's a good thing the software gives us a choice to auto download or not. But it's a bad direction to go in.

So far, the questions I have are:

1. What about selling your game to another person? Is this one of those questions that was already thought of but decided they don't want people selling their games to other ppl? If so, state it.

2. I don't want to be forced to patch, get screwed up, and wait for another patch to fix the last one. This is a valid concern. What options does the user have towards that end?

3. What if someone has my new System ID and password? That's pretty weak protection.

@ 41, read 37.
Also, like most autopatching games, I would not be supprised if standalone patches are released as well.

Hmmm the imperative would be better....

Love,

Dan
xoxo

"Life is such a sweet insanity, the more you learn the less you know." ---Hogan

The thing that bothers me about this is the fact that if you want a patch, you have to use this system to do it.

This, to you, is a good thing? It seems to indicate to me that STEAM decides what gets sent to my harddrive instead of ME deciding it.

My point exactly on both quotes. This is bullshit, and the exact reason why I block all of XPs communications back to MS. It's MY computer, and I get to decide what I want to put on it. And if programs can't allow me to do that, they WILL NOT be installed on my system.

I'm about 2 clicks away from canceling my HL2 order, and if this isn't cleared up, I promise you I will. I don't give a fuck how good it is. As a consumer, I'm putting my foot down.



Supporter of the "A happy fredster is a muted fredster" fanclub.

http://www.hybrid-group.com/

My main complaint about the steam beta is that Steam didn't really do very much (good or bad). Do I really need a second app to server browse for HL? Hopefully the online purchase thing will work well enough and some of the other features I mentioned will be implemented. Otherwise, steam, while not bad, won't be good for much either.

What $ony entertainment uses, for f.ex. $tarwar$ Gallaxe$ie$.

That frontend is a royal pain in the ass as well, but thats mostly because its pisspoorly implemented (never prop. updated, cant really browse any of its small "native" hmtl windows etc.).

Steam might actually be better, what do I know?
But it needs to be VASTLY better than what SOE is using...

~~DukeP~~