Half-Life 2 Retail to Require Steam Activation 265
An anonymous reader writes "In a recent Gamespy interview with Doug Lambardi it was revealed that the retail version of Half-Life 2 will require product activation. This isn't just restricted to multiplayer, you will have to create a Steam account and activate your retail purchase before you can even run single-player. "
Gee, wonderful Valve. (Score:3, Interesting)
All hail Valve, our next Microsoft Product Activation-like overlord.
Thanx valve (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Thanx valve (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Thanx valve (Score:2)
Re:Thanx valve (Score:2)
Why not simply install a second, dirt-cheap, DVD-ROM drive for Region 1 play and be done with it?
Re:Gee, wonderful Valve. (Score:2)
I'd also been planning on buying Half-Life 2 when it was released. But with Doom 3 out and Halo 2 coming out, I don't see how they can require Steam and feel they can get away with it in the competitive marketplace. It's amazing that in
Re:Gee, wonderful Valve. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Gee, wonderful Valve. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Gee, wonderful Valve. (Score:3, Interesting)
Team Fortress 2? (Score:5, Insightful)
Doug Lombardi: After we announced TF2 on the HL1 tech, we made the decision to move it to the Source engine. It is still in development and we will be announcing more on that title soon."
Don't bother, no one cares any more. You blew it.
Re:Team Fortress 2? (Score:2)
Re:Team Fortress 2? (Score:4, Insightful)
Glad to see... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sad really, reviews are high and I loved the first one. I guess I will be more productive next month than I expected.
Re:Glad to see... (Score:2, Insightful)
But look at Steam this way, it's just a Valve game launcher. It's how you launch Valve games. That's how Valve does it.
It's minor. A very minor thing and yet people act like Valve is asking for the their first born child! Let's see what happens first next month before we start jumping to conclusions.
Re:Glad to see... (Score:5, Insightful)
The second, and to me more annoying thnig, is that they've just made it impossible to install and play the game once they go belly-up. As soon as Steam stops becoming available, nobody can play the game on a new installation without hacking it. That's just ridiculous. I still pull out old DOS games from when I was a dorkling in junior high, and I expect them to just install and WORK (well, provided the DOS emulators are up to snuff, anyway). Would they do so if they had to dial up and talk to some server from the 80s that doesn't exist anymore? No, they wouldn't.
All in all, a horrible decision. I was so excited about this game, too.
Re:Glad to see... (Score:2)
Re:Glad to see... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Glad to see... (Score:3, Insightful)
Thats why the only games worth what they charge are made by ID. Even their cdkey auth is more lax allowing much
Re:Glad to see... (Score:5, Insightful)
Most games I have played aren't bad. At the worst, for some games you have to set up an account, but most games just require a CD code and you're ready to play.
Singleplayer, however, should not require internet access at all. This is ridiculous, and I may just not get HL2 because of it.
However, that means I will do without it rather than downloading it. Unlike many people, I learned that you either pay for something or do without. Getting games is not a right.
Re:Glad to see... (Score:2)
(Obviously I don't have the right to steal it either)
Re:Glad to see... (Score:2, Insightful)
At this point, though, Valve can go one of two paths:
1. The "Duke Nukem, meet WinXP" path that will kill their sales (and mods) upon termination of their studio
or
2. The patch way. Sadly enough, releasing a patch that disables activation is in their best interests - alternatively someone else will release one that disables activation, along with minor features like CD-Key protection
Re:Glad to see... (Score:4, Insightful)
It very well may be minor but it's still an annoyance. I can understand their desire to protect their IP, especially after their ridiculous security policies have resulted in several breaches.
But this will simply not prevent determined people from pirating or leaking the game. It will, however, inconvenience those people who buy a legitimate copy of the game.
I guess the old "some people don't have Internet/broadband/whatever access" argument doesn't hold a lot of water anymore, especially with regard to the intended HL2 audience. But the fact remains that some people simply don't want to forced to active their software because they're opposed to the idea of having to give out private information in general, or just don't want to be bothered or simply find the whole concept of treating a paying customer like a criminal unless he or she proves otherwise iniquitous.
Yes, I suppose you could give Valve fake information. But I why am I supposed to give them any personal information in the first place? Compare it to Windows XP. Microsoft's product activation scheme hasn't prevented one determined individual from pirating their software. Sure, it has raised the bar so-to-speak for some "casual, wannabe software pirates" (which was probably what they were trying to do). They also managed to piss off millions of legitimate users in the process.
I sure hope they put a big fat red warning sticker on the boxes. Hardcore gamers will still want to play HL2, even if they have to give their firstborn to Valve (and that probably goes for a lot of not-so-hardcore gamers, too). But that way, people at least have a choice and don't have to find out the hard way (ie. after installing the game) that they can't play the game they just purchased without Valve's blessing.
Re:Glad to see... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Glad to see... (Score:2, Funny)
So, Steam is still good? (Score:4, Interesting)
Some ideas of Steam are nice, but I still don't like the idea of buying a product through it. Skipping the publishers is a bad thing, as they fund the new games. Sure, publishers need to treat the developers better, but to try and axe them out of the picture completely is a bad idea.
Why is that bad? (Score:4, Interesting)
But the whole point of skipping the publishers is to get enough money so the developers can "fund the new games". And when you get to that point, WHY do we, as gamers, or developers, need or want publishers?
Re:Why is that bad? (Score:3, Insightful)
Who do you think funds a new development studio with no released titles already making money for them?
Valve's got to the stage where it doesn't need the financial backing of a publisher, but for smaller people, it's a very important source of monetary investment.
As for the Half-Life 2 requiring product activation - I'm not sure if this is the best route to be going down. Yes, nearly everyone
Re:Why is that bad? (Score:4, Informative)
I go and talk to a game publisher, they loan me money, then when the game does well, the loan is paid off. If it doesn't then thats another story. The publisher also has people to decide if the game idea will do well, by testing it on play testers and such.
I am not saying existing publishers are great. I'm just mostly trying to say getting rid of them completly to me seems like a very bad idea.
This is all overly simplistic, but I think it gets the point across.
Re:Why is that bad? (Score:2)
Greymatter(I think) did the same thing with RTCW:EnemyTerritory.
Re:So, Steam is still good? (Score:2)
If most of the sells will be through an online system, cutting off the publishers' share, they can earn much more money from it, easily cover the development costs and have enough money to develop the next game.
Any surplus
Re:So, Steam is still good? (Score:2)
Argument for piratation? (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't fuck over your customers. Things will get much worse.
Re:abso-frigging-lutely (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're not afraid of your console and making your game ugly, theres plenty of ways to speed up the game. If I didn't hate Valve and Counterstrike with a passion now, I'd make a howto, but cvarlist mat_ and screw with those settings for better fps, namely mat_dxlevel 70 as I said in another post.
Won't stop piracy (Score:2, Insightful)
Copy protected CDs, cd-keys, etc do work (Score:3, Informative)
Most piracy is casual, if it is trivially easy for a non-technical person they will do it. Put up the slightest barrier and most will give up and buy the game if they really wanted it. Copy protected CDs, cd-keys, etc are popular because they work. They stop the vast majority of would be pirates. The part of the population that can manage to find a warez site, get a crack that is
Well, another game I won't be buying. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, another game I won't be buying. (Score:3, Insightful)
I wanna know why some companies out there think they'll make more money when they provide less of what a customer wants?
I can see the game returns now (Score:3, Insightful)
"Hey mister, this game wont work. Can I exchange it?"
Re:I can see the game returns now (Score:2, Informative)
I have cancalled my Amazon order... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I have cancalled my Amazon order... (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm beginning to think people use the whole HL2 "drama" ju
,,,and no one gives a damn (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I have cancalled my Amazon order... (Score:4, Insightful)
But anyway, I love how people all of a sudden turn on a company and to the old "sold out" routine that is as old as the hills. Of course they care about cash, but from everything I've seen, they care about the quality of their game. I've heard great things about this game, but bottom line, if it isn't good, it isn't good and they will NOT rake in the cash.
Word get's out now. Not everyone is lumped into the "dipshit" masses any longer. There is too much competition out there to just release a crappy game and hope people will buy it just because of the name. Look at Doom3, it was an "ok" game, but it's certainly not breaking sales records across the world.
Having everyone install Steam does give them some control...control that you can buy directly from them and also update the games as a patch comes out. I see as being helpfull and easy.
But hey, they don't have control over my computer. No one does. If in the future they want to get into a pay-per-use model, I'll leave. It's no big deal. It's not like it's spy-ware that you can't get off your computer.
I don't see it as a big deal, but I guess others do. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months.
Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:5, Funny)
(in sarcastic tones)
HOW DARE THEY! They expect us to have a net connection! What year do they think this is? 2004 or something?!?! Don't they understand that people that have the horsepower in a computer to run the Source engine as in HL2 usually do NOT have any sort of net connection! What do they think we are, NASA?!?!
Valve is nothing but a bunch of money-grubbing jerks to make us pay for a game...A GAME! They should open source it!
Here is a list of demands for Valve:
1. Stop lying to us! We trusted you...er...don't know with what, but lots of people are saying you let us down...somehow...so stop it!
2. I don't want you spying on me 24/7. I know Valve is out there, looking through my window, looking through my mailbox, now you want to invade my machine and spread all your viruses and spyware to watch everything I do so you can sell it to the Iraqis for some oil-for-games program you have going! YOU'RE EVIL!
3. I want every game and every map and every mod ever made for HL/CS/DoD etc etc to be converted to the Source engine AND be included on the HL2 CD. AND I want everything on one CD.
4. I want Source to run 150fps on my Pentium 90 with Stock VGA graphics...using DX9.0c. Anything more than that and you guys just don't know how to program.
5. I don't want any bugs, none. If one bug shows up I'll sue you!
6. I don't want any type of security on these games. I should be able to install on any number of computers. I have 150 friends that all would like to "try out" this game so I want to burn 150 CD's with a copy on it so I can let them have it for a low price of $20 (that covers the cost of the CD).
Do these things and perhaps maybe I'll play the game...but only maybe.
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:2, Insightful)
No one should have to cede control over his machine and agree to a Draconian agreeement that indemnifies Valve in the event of any screwups to play a game he legitimately purchased. This is about control, not about copyright infringement. The crackers will have this one on Usenet inside of a week--the only ones inconvenienced will be those who purchased a game that has to call home to use single player mode, and a company that's going to collect and sell Bob-knows-what info
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:2)
But I really don't see what the big deal is. I use Steam now. I have been since day one. It has been nothing more than a way to launch the game. It doesn't take info from my computer like my bank account or keep track of what websites I go to. It's NOT SPYWARE.
Why does everyone jump over this, yet not any antivirus software that has to connect all the time to the net to get updates? What about iTunes checking for updates? Real player? Photoshop?
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:2)
it's entirely understandable to bitch about it _NEEDING_ a net connection.
and you know what it leads to? using cracks.
and you know what? in 8+ years when valve has gone belly under.. YOU CAN'T INSTALL AND PLAY IT ANYMORE(without cracks)!
and they've lied to their fans over and over again(dates and even what they're up to doing, in what state it is).. but fans don't care, because they're fanboys.
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:2)
I of course don't see them doing any of the things I listed.
But then again, no one bitches about NEEDING a connection to play like Everquest or SWG or other online games. Ok, you may say bad example because it's listed on the box before you buy that you need a connection to play. Well, it also lists on the box that you need a connection with HL.
But anyway, 8+ years from now I'll be playing something else. Ther
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, some people do bitch about this. Granted, most people understand the need immediately, but not everybody. Even Grandma might want to play the Sims Online, but not understand why she needs to be dialed up while doing so.
But for a single player game, it makes no sense, beyond marketing and copy protection, things we hate (newsflash: even people who paid for their game hate copy pro
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:3, Insightful)
to quote the interview "Doug Lombardi: During installation the user will be prompted to authenticate the copy and create a Steam account. After that is complete, the single-player and LAN games do not require an Internet connection."
so.. to play the _single_player game you need to authenticate during the installation.
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm not the parent, but I can still say that I play Die By the Sword - at least 3 times a week - it's only SIX years old, but Treyarch and Interplay have long stopped caring about or supporting the game.
And the big issue here with HL2 is that it's a single player game, there's no need for anyone to have to log online, yet they're making it mandatory anyway. It's something I and many others are becoming increasingly fed up with, because they make you go through increasing circles of bullshit in order to p
Re:Here we go...let the bashing begin (Score:2, Insightful)
For example, my current machine can not run HL2, and I will not be getting one that can for quite a while. I will be picking up the collector's edition when it is released because I like collecting them and want to secure a copy.
Cracks aside, what guarantee do I have that I will be able to play the single player HL2 and HL: Source game when I do have the machine to run it? What about 5 years from now when I want to play through HL2 and HL: Source
Godspeed, Valve! (Score:5, Funny)
OK, so... (Score:2, Insightful)
Are people really arguing that there should be no way to prevent piracy? Because based on the aggregate outrage of the
Re:OK, so... (Score:5, Insightful)
Acceptable forms of copy protection :
Ignore it. That's certainly acceptable, and works well for many game developers and publishers.
Add extras in the box that add value. Cloth maps, figurines, trading cards, etc.
Make a complex game that requires lots of documentation, and include it in a printed book.
Make an awesome multi-user component that requires logging into a server with a unique CD key to play online. It must be something that needs to use the Internet already, however (like a multi-user component would.)
Include the phrase: Please don't copy this game illegally.
Barely acceptable methods include :
Require use of that CD key to download patches and updates.
Having a unique CD key for each copy of the game.
Include copy protection methods that make it hard to copy, or make copies not work -- Safedisk, bad sectors, etc. These aren't very effective, but as long as they don't cause problems for legitimate users, they're acceptible -- barely.
Require that the CD be in the drive while playing the game. We don't like this, but we generally tolerate it if there's no other problems.
Hidden registry keys to keep track of previous installations and such.
Utterly unaccecptable forms of copy protection for a game :
Contacting the Internet (or requiring that you call up a phone number to get a code) for a single player game
Dongles (and other hardware keys.)
`Please enter the third word of page 25 now.' (or other sorts of code wheels, books, etc.)
Writing to the boot sector or other `off limits' part of the disk. (Turbo Tax did this recently.)
Installing Spyware that reports back to the publisher.
Programs that look for `cheating' or `cracking' programs on your disk and either refuse to run the game if found, or (worse) remove/break the offending programs. (EQ has done this, as and several programs refuse to work if programs like Daemon Tools or even Nero are even installed.)
Protections that damage the system if they feel they're being messed with (recent example: program that deleted your home directory if it detected a `pirated' CD key.)
Special device drivers that must be installed just to run the game -- like a special CD rom driver.
Unmovable files (if you put a file down, we should be able to defrag it!)
I'm sure I've missed a few in each category, but this should get you started. Game developers, you listening?
Re:OK, so... (Score:2)
Re:OK, so... (Score:2)
The trick is to keep it fairly simple... For example, Wizball required shaking the joystick to activate a powerup (information which was not visible in some pirated versions of that game.) It collapeses as soon as the player asks a helpful friend with a manual, but is effective in most cases.
No need for complexity at all - just noncha
Re:OK, so... (Score:2)
There are still ways to counter this. First is to simply fill up the 640MB of the disk - either content will be removed, or the ISO will become an "overburn" CD-ROM that can be detected by an installer. The pirate may just distriubte it with a sepearte file, but that does make the distribution a bit more fragmented (some
Re:OK, so... (Score:2)
Hypothetical variant of a dongle that I'd like to see if people consider it acceptable:
Suppose they made a USB device, something like a memory stick, except with a proprietary, hidden chip on it. The game loader is visible on the stick as if it were any USB mass storage device, but the rest of the game - levels, bitmaps, sounds, etc. - is accessible only through code in the game, and that code communicates with the chip through public-key encryption. Cracking that would
Re:OK, so... (Score:2)
I was not joking at all.
Microsoft puts something like `Please do not make illegal copies of this software' on their CDs. If it makes even one person realize that making a copy of this might be illegal (under certain conditions anyways) and decide against it, then it's a somewhat effective copy prot
Re:OK, so... (Score:2)
Re:OK, so... (Score:5, Insightful)
Also on the "no longer being considered worth pandering to" note, I don't think I've ever seen any demographic ever cease to be marketed to due to piracy. Cable TV, lot's of pirates, still makes money. Dish TV, same. Windows, same. Any popular pc Game, same.
People keep thinking of piracy as something that can be eliminated, like polio. It's not some disease that threatens humanity. It's an aspect of human nature that has been around for quite some time (like, uh, pirates? You know, the swashbuckling kind?). There is a reason banks and large commercial retailers have insurance. Nobody has ever said "lets start a campain to stop bank robbery!" People are going to still rob banks, despite having 50 cameras and untold security. Some will succeed. If your business model relies on not having anyone *ever* steal from you, I suspect you have bigger problems. Does anyone have theft insurance? Why is that? Theft has been around a long time, why haven't we started 'The War On Theft'?
Now, making me give you my personal info to buy your product, that's fine, but don't expect me to do so. There are plenty of other games out there. Keep in mind this is the *single* player version that also requires activation. Would you buy console games this way? Oh yeah, that next Zelda is so cool, I'll just tell the Nintendo people my personal details, because I *know* they won't share them with anyone.
Please.
If you feel it's fine, you go right ahead, but in my mind at least, this is not a bright idea.
Shocking! (Score:2)
Anyone would think they didn't trust you to pay for it.
Need more DETAILS... (Score:4, Informative)
ie. You install HL2 and the next day some hardware/OS failure requires you to reformat/reinstall. Will you be able to re-authenticate on the same CDKey? What about if you delete an old install and want to re-install on a new PC?
What if you trade in your HL2 at EB for some reason (runs too slow, too buggy, you plain dont like it), will the next person who buys it even be able to authenticate and play it? This could effectively destroy the pre-owned market (at least for this game). Which would be total BS; if I want to sell my game, I should be able to. Is that not my right as a consumer?
Go look at the Steam website faq. They specifically state that CDkeys cannot be transferred between Steam accounts. Without a doubt, Valve (and probably every publisher out there) would love nothing better than to ensure that everyone who plays their game has to always buy a full priced new copy. There is just too much potential for abuse here...
Maybe I'm way off base, and I'd love nothing better than Valve to prove me wrong. I was on the fence about buying HL2, now I'd say my mind is made up...
Re:Need more DETAILS... (Score:2)
I've reformated my HD and even upgraded quite a bit of hardware...Steam loads right in and I install up my games. Hell, I don't even know where my original HL CD is anymore...lost in so many moves...yet my account is right there and I loaded it up and off I was playing again.
But again, no. It's NOT TIED to your hardware.
Re:Need more DETAILS... (Score:3, Interesting)
well, that's where you're onto them.
(besides.. the hl1-key state is horrid.. you can't really buy hl1 in shrink wraps and be sure that it h
What about people without 'net connections? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What about people without 'net connections? (Score:2)
I could go on...but I'm not.
Re:What about people without 'net connections? (Score:2)
Idiot. you _need_ those things to play the game.
net connection is just an artificial requirement to the single player game(to make tie the purchase you made to just you... more theoretical profits as you can't loan it to your friend after you played it through. would you buy a dvd you wouldn't be able to loan to your friends?).
Re:What about people without 'net connections? (Score:2)
The issue is that this sort of thing unnecessarily limits what you can do with the game. It seems probable that I won't be able to copy this game on my laptop and my desktop so a friend can come over and play it on my LAN, that I wont' be able to play the game if I don't have an internet connection present (laptop, cable outage, whatever), etc.
But again, who are you to say they've made enough and decide that you can just give it to whoever you want? Huh?
Noone
Re:What about people without 'net connections? (Score:2)
What if I install it on a laptop and want to play it on a plane or a hotel or anywhere without a connection?
Re:What about people without 'net connections? (Score:2)
Re:What about people without 'net connections? (Score:2)
Because single-player FPS games are about as violent as a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It's completely fake. The images on the screen have no relation to reality at all. Children are really good at distinguishing fantasy from reality; don't let anybody tell you otherwise, and they know that this isn't real.
But once you've connected the c
Re:What about people without 'net connections? (Score:2)
Example 1: one of my coworkers buys his stepson any Playstation or PC game he wants but restricts Internet access to a limited single hour per night for school work only -- supervised. The kid has a computer of his own but it's not networked.
Example 2: another coworker gives his kids unlimited internet access but polices the family's PC and Gamecube (stop laughing) games to those he deems acceptable. That goes for
Wait, this is NEWS? (Score:2)
While I can fully understand not liking the idea of Steam (hell, I still think it's a buggy piece of garbage, and it's gotten much better than the old versions), it's not that big a deal. Once you register your CD-Key with Valve through Steam, you can play the game, get updates quickly, and run the game o
Re:Wait, this is NEWS? (Score:5, Informative)
that is not true. they said you would need steam for updates and online play, but if you wanted to just play the single player game out of the box then you wouldn't need a net connection(this would be the sensible thing, as some don't have net even).
among other things this makes it basically impossible for there to be a 2nd hand market for these as well(_this_ is what they're after.. making it impossible for even legally to buy it cheaper than store from someone who already played through it).
Re:Wait, this is NEWS? (Score:2)
Which is logical, i might add: if you're not interested in online play, it probable your system won't even have an internet connection - my first thought were laptops. Asking for online activation on what's mainly a single player game is retarded.
Limiting number of customers? (Score:2)
75% of americans are connected to the internet. Is Valve really making it so that 25% of the population cannot play HL2? There's got to be more to the story. I wonder if they'll have a way for people to telephone in activation somehow.
Re:Limiting number of customers? (Score:2)
Re:You want to look at the gamer % (Score:2)
This defeats the purpose of the box.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Some of you guys just don't get it! (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm going to ROTFL because the innocent notion of
requiring "Product Activation" has not so innocent
consequences.
Here goes:
Once upon a time there was a Greek company (yes, I'm the dumb programmer who had to do it) who thought that having a product *locked* to a machine was a good idea. They thought about Dongles (yuck) and other stuff, and eventually came up with a relatively innocous scheme.
So, they *required* product activation. Here's the bad news. Customers machines *break* and hence they trouble your support lines in lemming like droves. So, the more product you sell - the *LESS*
money you make because you have to hire more zombies for the support dept. (So, in our case a
$20 product ended up losing us $21... - or something like that).
AAARRGGHH!
One activation code - yes, and then forever more you allow *reactivation* on other machines. OK, that doesn't kill piracy, but you have to take the
rough with the smooth here...
(and remember you don't know how much information
is going back over the wire about your machine + environment. Get seriously FUDDED). Hell, just buy
from another company. (Like the Coca Cola classic
fiasco, if they want to sell it they'll have to listen).
Some people are not thinking straight. (Score:2, Insightful)
I anticipate more than usual will now be downloading it from an alternative source (no pun intended) more simply than Steam
Other areas affected by this? (Score:2, Insightful)
Also, I want to know how this will affect reselling of the game. Let's say in a few months I'm tired of HL2 and decide to sell it to a friend or something. Will he be unable to make a steam ID? Will he have to use mine? Because that would suck a bit.
It just
UT2K4 (Score:2)
So instead of limiting the use of thier product, they listen to their customers and make the product better. (not too mention their support of mods is the best in the industry).
Thats where my money will go! (Score:2)
I brought HL way back in the day, now I'm pretty pissed at Steam, I've played it quite a bit, but the more I do the more I hate it. All I play now days is Sven on 1.6 and luckily there are still a tone of 1.5 CS servers near me. I don't think they will be upgrading any time soon.
Some things to bitch about steam:
* Not everyone has a 10MBit pipe!
* Releasing patches every couple of days is not fun, I want to play now not downl
pirating is REALLY common on cstrike (Score:5, Interesting)
There was a bug in Cstrike recently where if someone changed their name to include a " %n ", it would immediately crash the server and all the clients. They rolled out the fix sometime Monday, I think.
About Wednesday, one of the players on the server I was on changed his name to include a %n. This blew away about half the people on the server. Why? Because the pirates didn't have the fixed version yet.
As long as he sat there with the %n, nobody with a pirated game could logon, and the 40-person server was unable to climb above about 24 people. Normally, it's at 40 players 95% of the time.
Pirated Counterstrike, in other words, is extremely, extremely common. I don't know if it's deliberate on Valve's part, but they don't seem to be doing a good job AT ALL of shutting out the thieves. One thought that comes to mind is that maybe they're trying to get online 'buzz' early on, by making sure there are lots of Cstrike players. Perhaps they'll get more aggressive about shutting down pirates once the game hits store shelves.
But, it is also possible that they CAN'T for some reason... which, if true, doesn't encourage me that they'll get CS:S terribly cheat-free.
Looked like about 50-60% pirated copies on the server I was on. Real shame.
Re:pirating is REALLY common on cstrike (Score:2)
Re:pirating is REALLY common on cstrike (Score:2)
Re:pirating is REALLY common on cstrike (Score:2)
Your logic is flawed, Imposter detected in the volcan high council!
Re:pirating is REALLY common on cstrike (Score:2)
to quote the game, (Score:2)
Guess I won't by buying this after all (Score:2)
I think I'll just wait for a pirate hack and not give any of my money to Valve after all now.
Just like XP (Score:2)
Going against slashthink (Score:3, Interesting)
Beyond *me* why cannot Valve's sell a product in any manner they wish. If they want to put "internet required" on the the box, and only sell it to people who can activate via the internet. Well what is wrong with that? Where exactally is Valve's obligation to make and sell Half Life 2 to you, exactally as you would like it?
I am not sure I understand all the indignation surrounding this story. If you do not like the manner in which Valve sells its product, then do not spend your money on it. An aggregate approximation of your choice will be clear in the market. However, somehow I do not think the market will side with you, and Half Life 2 will be successful. Discussion welcome.
Try to think clearly now (Score:2)
I get so tired of comments like these. Look Spacemonkey no one is saying Valve can't sell their game with restrictions. What you're seeing is Valve's market responding negatively to the
Re:PC games are really getting bad (Score:2)
UT2004 tips, and a little rant (Score:2)
First, download the latest patch. Hell, download just about ANY patch. Epic removed the useless CD check as soon as they could get the OK from their publisher.
Second, open up your UT2004.ini file (in the 'system' folder), and find the line that says "LocalMap=NvidiaLogo.ut2" and change it to read "LocalMap=NoIntro.ut2". This will skip the nVidia advertisment by pointing to a blank intro instead (which Epic has kin
Re:You still have a choice (Score:2)
Re:You still have a choice (Score:2)
Here's what worked for me:
1) Install HL from the CD like you would in the pre-Steam days. CD key is accepted and stuff.
2) Install the updates, agian, pre-Steam stuff.
3) Install Steam. Steam asks me if I want top import my pre-Steam HL stuff, including any mods like Firearms that are third