Damn Steam

[Erkki]

So now that I actually wanted to purchase halflife2, I got an error connecting to steam network or something.

And if the network has problems after the 16th when people are going to want to activate their halflives, how many people are going to love it, especially those who purchased from a retailer.

[Marek]

Yeah, there were two brief (5 min) moments of downtime. It wouldn't recognize my password, but by the time I had requested the reminder it was already back up.

Steam servers are holding up just fine.

[ysbreker]

That's the major downside of using such a system as steam for game activation. in technical terms it's a single point of failure. The entire process hinges on one single system and if that isn't working your entire operation is dead in the water.

[Metalmickey]

Agreed. I really don't like the thought that my ability to play the single player HL2 may rely completely on:

1. The PC I want to play it on having an internet connection.

2. The Steam servers being up and running fault free.

Plus, I'd also like to lend it to lesser gaming friends who don't necessarily have broadband (like my dad, who lives in a village too far away from an exchange to make broadband even possible). Hence, I'm going to try very hard to get my hands on a retail version of the collectors' edition, though all the UK sites are being bloody annoying and giving ambiguous information like "Half-Life 2 (DVD-ROM) £25.99" I mean, is that the standard 6 CD version, or the collectors' DVD edition (which should also cost more)??

[manny_c44]

Having fears about server instability and your other minor quibbles are uncivilized fears. You savages are going to get on board sooner or later and I'm glad Valve is going ahead with its plan to distribute and authenticate over Steam.

[Jake]

mickey you know you only need to validate single player hl2 once over steam and then it works erm, forever? and as far as loaning the game out, you can just loan someone your steam ID/password and they can download it ... only problem with that is you won't be able to play at the same time I guess... but that's how loaning something technically works anyway isn't it?

[Erkki]

For me it was more than 5 minutes... but I bought it now. The Bronze version because I forgot to include the tax when I calculated how many EEK I should transfer to the account I use for online purchases...

Actually, that's good because I didn't want HL: Source that badly anyway nor the back catalogue.

[Kolzig]

Hence, I'm going to try very hard to get my hands on a retail version of the collectors' edition, though all the UK sites are being bloody annoying and giving ambiguous information like "Half-Life 2 (DVD-ROM) £25.99" I mean, is that the standard 6 CD version, or the collectors' DVD edition (which should also cost more)??

I believe it's the standard DVD version, because in Europe, Half-Life 2 is coming out in DVD format.

The collector's edition is coming later, I think? Late November or early December?

[Erwin_Br]

That's the major downside of using such a system as steam for game activation. in technical terms it's a single point of failure. The entire process hinges on one single system and if that isn't working your entire operation is dead in the water.

I assume they have this 'single system' clustered.

--Erwin

[Erkki]

mickey you know you only need to validate single player hl2 once over steam and then it works erm, forever?

Umm... So they give you some kind of code or something? If in ten years Valve and steam don't exist any more, and all I have is a backup of the files on DVD or something, I'll be able to play it?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

In ten years you wouldn't give a damn, you'd be holding out for HL4.

[Erkki]

Well, I still play Prince of Persia sometimes... From 1989 I think.

[toblix]

A lot of people seem concerned that they won't be able to play Steamified games in ten to fifteen years. I'm thinking that won't be a problem by then because the system will either still exist, or have been cracked so thorougly it's only a matter of downloading a tiny 3GB* crack and you're off.

* Number adjusted for futureness

[Chris]

Valve has already stated that Steam is going to incorporate a system by which you can back up your Steamified games onto CDs or DVDs, so that's not a concern.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

Online authentication is strange, but it shouldn't be an issue since even if in 10 years the company goes under someone'll make it work without it.