Arcania - Preorders on Steam

I'm going on a holding pattern waiting for reviews. Plus I paid full price day 1 for Mass Effect 2 and I still haven't started it.
 
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Valve/Steam gave away … what's the word ? vouchers ? coupons ? for "a free game, and one for your friend" at the GamesCom. I think I'll use it.

Perfect time to try it, Alrik. Zero risk, so there's no reason not to. One doesn't look into a gift horse's mouth. ;)
 
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@northreign: My views exactly.

I don't buy games from Steam if I can get them cheaper elsewhere. But in many cases Steam had the best offer (I buy from sites like Play.com as well, but whenever things cost more than £20 there, they get very expensive due to VAT and other fees when imported to Norway)
 
@northreign: My views exactly.

I don't buy games from Steam if I can get them cheaper elsewhere. But in many cases Steam had the best offer (I buy from sites like Play.com as well, but whenever things cost more than £20 there, they get very expensive due to VAT and other fees when imported to Norway)

Yup, another good point :)
 
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You all pre-order this? Did you forget what happened with G3? :faint:

and steam? No sublime, embossed box?
 
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Did it say "Dhruin" anywhere in my post? Or did you see my quote your post as a reply?

Also, "wasting time on people like you", haha, good one. Do you really think you can't get generic CnP game news on countless other sites out there? Don't assume this site is a first stop for everyone and like most of us don't get site feeds from countless other gaming sites. I'd "donate" my time but that will happen when other sites stopped caring about the same PR release you usually post. So..


@DArtagnan
Yeah, that's a good advice. Maybe try thinking before being someone's hero next time.

I get it.

You did think, and you actually think it's ok to be an ass.

Alrighty, and have fun ;)
 
"or they take a dislike to you for any reason, or your account gets hacked'

Unless you do something bad to cause that to happen it won't. Also, don't use a lame password nor the same id/pass as the forums.

"or they sell out to a more repressive company"

Its valve. They don't need to.

"Dont have to" and "Won't" are two totally different things. Unlikely? Maybe. But still the core fact remains, everything you purchase from them is tied to the well-being of their servers and the good will of their support staff. And it's no good saying "Unless you do something bad to cause that to happen it won't." With millions of customers, and a few thousand of those probably up to no good at any particular time, mistakes in identifying and dealing with the real culprits are going to happen.

"expect you to call home every few days"

Don't have it auto-start.

I don't. But just the other day I fired up Saints Row — which I bought from D2D for something like €5 a while back — and the first thing I knew Steam had fired itself up to auto-update *itself*. Also note the Steam Offline FAQ:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3160-AGCB-2555

Verify that all game files are completely updated - you can see the update status for a game under the Library section (when the game shows as 100% - Ready it is ready to be played in Offline Mode)

"updates"

Last time and every time I checked, updates are good.

Yeah. In theory. [Old Joke]I've always wanted to live in Theory. Everything works there.[/Old Joke]. However, my recent experience with Dragons Age puts a hole in that argument. Been playing 1.03 for a while. Offline mode (you might have guessed, eh?) No problems. No crashes. Runs like a dream. DLC works great. 1.04 comes out. Like an idiot, I install without trawling the forums first. Load game only to find the DLC has become "Unauthorized". OK, thinks I, I just have to log on once to re-authorize then everything's good. Nope. Everytime I want to load a save after exiting the game, it wants to log on and authorize everything. To add insult to injury, the game now crashes frequently, usually at the close of a pitched battle. So after going through the forums and trying everything I found and getting nowhere, I thought, bugger this, uninstalled everything, reinstalled to 1.03 and have been playing problem-free ever since. Not a single crash and no insulting Unauthorized messages. Needless to say, if I'd bought through Steam, this would have not been possible.

"I've been happily saving hundreds of Euros/Dollars/Pounds avoiding these guys"

I've been saving hundred of dollars by using steam and buying at 50-75% off.

This seems to be Steam's ace-in-the-hole, along with their mysterious lock on many publishers' back catalogues. But I will say thanks to avoiding Steam and Ubisoft, I've so far not bought the following games on release which I would normally have done (being in the fortunate position of being able to afford to do so): Empire: Total War; Dawn of War II; Just Cause II; Assassin's Creed II; Silent Hunter V; Settlers 7, plus others I'm probably forgetting. Total savings: lots of any currency you care to name.
 
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"mistakes in identifying and dealing with the real culprits are going to happen."

I've been using steam since the very beginning and never had anything happen to my original and only account. When I'm buy games at the price of a cheap meal I don't much care.

"Steam had fired itself up to auto-update *itself*"

I don't need to use offline mode. Steam is either running or its not. Either way its not the end of the world. It can update itself all they want.

"However, my recent experience with Dragons Age puts a hole in that argument."

One "problem" and its the end of the world? Its a minor problem. You don't buy games and wait a long time because you don't like the way they are sold but you can't take a few days or week, or better yet help the devs fix what was supposed to be a update to fix things, on a game you want to buy and play?

"I've so far not bought the following games on release"…"Total savings: lots of any currency you care to name."

If you don't buy a game of course you save. You don't play it either.

Hence steam. Before you know its the price of a cheap meal and what it still matters if it has drm, auto updating, can be lost? Nope.

On a further note:
I wouldn't buy Arcania at full price anywhere. Demo and reviews first then buy it heavily discounted. Its not Piranha bytes so not a day one purchase if it will be at all.
 
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[Lots o' stuff]

Great. Steam works for you and millions of others. For me, I'd rather shop elsewhere. My original comment was simply to point out that ArcaniA pre-order was available elsewhere and at a better price with regard to GamersGate. No more no less. When someone asked me why I didn't like Steam I gave my reasons. When you made arguments for Steam's way of doing things, I addressed those from my perspective. We weigh the pros and cons differently. So what? It's not a religious war for me. I'm glad there are options for everyone.

"However, my recent experience with Dragons Age puts a hole in that argument."

One "problem" and its the end of the world?

I see what you did there! End of the world? No, it was a minor irritation. However, if I'd had to put up with Steam's obsession with auto-patching it would have been far more annoying. And my reply, & the example I used, stands: updates are not always "good".

If you don't buy a game of course you save. You don't play it either.

Thanks for agreeing with me on this.

Hence steam. Before you know its the price of a cheap meal and what it still matters if it has drm, auto updating, can be lost? Nope.

I think the translator broke in this para, but I think I know what you are getting at, so just two points: 1) In mainland Europe, where I am at the moment, Steam deals are often not as great as they are in NA; 2) 20 or 30 cheap games tied to one service, assuming $/£/€5.00 is still $/£/€100 or more. Not much for you or me perhaps, but something I factor in when choosing where to buy. Why potentially lose a swath of my game collection due to a glitchy connection when I have other options?

As for ArcaniA, I haven't made up my mind about it. On the one hand, encouraging the development of open-world RPGs on the PC in the Gothic tradition is all to the good, and publishers look at the initial sales figures more than anything else in determining future development. On the other hand … pretty much everything else.
 
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I don't see myself buying full price games on Steam because I don't like the concept of "software as a service". You are paying for the Steam service, and if this service ends or if Steam decides to end their service for you, you'll lose all the games you've "purchased". This is a risk I include in the perceived value games via Steam have for me, in the only way I can for a digital download: money. I would be willing to take this risk on budget games, but not on full price games.
 
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