Don't Blame Me If I Get a Pirated Copy
March was suppose to be glorious for me. Empire Total War is out, a game that seemed to have been made specifically for me. I mean, huge battles, empire building, naval combat in the age of sail, BRITISH REDCOATS! Those are MY elements of interest.
Sadly, I am worried now, simply by reading one simple cold hard fact based on the user reviews and official forums posting.
Empire Total War requires Steam to play. Even if you bought a boxed copy instead of downloading it through steam, you still need to connect to Steam to activate it. Even worse than that is that you will need to connect to and update Steam everytime you play the game, even for single player only. If you want to play offline, there is an option where you can play without needing to connect to Steam but that requires further registration for some Steam Offline thingamajig.
I never used Steam, but not because I have anything personal against it. I am not hating or angry at Steam, as many of those who are dissapointed by this fact is saying. Steam may or may not be a crappy service, I don't know. What I am angry at is the principle being advocated by the people who made it, Creative Assembly and/or SEGA.
Imagine this:
If you wanted to eat a Big Mac, you can either go to a McDonalds restaurant or have them deliver it to you. THAT is in fact a matter of YOUR own choice. But assume that we don't want to associate with the hassles of a delivery boy, we'd rather just go to McD's and get the burger ourselves... directly.
Given that scenario what would you say if you were forced to deal with the delivery boy still, even though you went miles and miles on your own to get the Big Mac? Of course any of us would rather just pay up, get the burger and eat. Why the hell do we need to confirm our purchase with the damn delivery boy still?
It's not wrong to have alternate methods of delivering a product and all, but you have to understand that some people like the new high tech gizmo of all Online and stuff, but quite a number still prefer paying real cash and getting a solid tangible product so as to avoid all the Online related stuff that, for whatever reason that is our own god given right, we sooo despise. Call as backward, or old fashioned or whatever but some people find all the online or wireless thing still prone for too many complications. We want it easy and direct.
I get the anti piracy thing. I've started to support original softwares a lot since I am earning a stable income. I felt it was time I paid my due to an industry I so love, but this whole mess makes one feel betrayed. It's the principle, really.
It's the god damned principle of it all.
I bought another game sometime back, I blogged about the game even. I have no pretensions that the game can match the sheer effort and polish of games like Empire Total War. But I had only to register the game once online, and then free to play it as i see fit. In fact, I once uninstalled it and reinstalled it again, and found it seemingly pleasing that it automatically redeems the registration key for me to use it again when I re-install the game. That for a fact, is a harsh blow to some EA-DRM related copy protection issue that limits the number of time you can reinstall a game.
Anyhow, what is good about that is that the activation is done directly with the creators, and ONCE only. I did not need to download or install a BLOODY Steam software, nor do I have to keep activating via steam even for a gameplay that doesn't require bloody online connection, nor do I need to immerse myself in further hassle of a specific offline variant of activation and stuff.
Developers, publishers, they don't understand, or choose not to bother, or so it seems. It's not really anything personal or whatever towards a certain group, but when we pay good, hard earned money for something, we want that thing free for our own use at our own discretion, and in our own privacy without the need to associate with anyone else.
Like buying a book, I should be free to read it whenever, wherever I please, or as many times as I like, without needing anyone elses permission. I paid for it, and so long as I don't make copies of it for sale, I should be allowed to do whatever I want with it; make it into a shrine or use it as toilet paper or anything in between.
It reminds me of the idiots who are persecuting the "war on terror". Their method of "combating" the enemy is in fact driving more people to enemy's side.
Sadly, I am worried now, simply by reading one simple cold hard fact based on the user reviews and official forums posting.
Empire Total War requires Steam to play. Even if you bought a boxed copy instead of downloading it through steam, you still need to connect to Steam to activate it. Even worse than that is that you will need to connect to and update Steam everytime you play the game, even for single player only. If you want to play offline, there is an option where you can play without needing to connect to Steam but that requires further registration for some Steam Offline thingamajig.
I never used Steam, but not because I have anything personal against it. I am not hating or angry at Steam, as many of those who are dissapointed by this fact is saying. Steam may or may not be a crappy service, I don't know. What I am angry at is the principle being advocated by the people who made it, Creative Assembly and/or SEGA.
Imagine this:
If you wanted to eat a Big Mac, you can either go to a McDonalds restaurant or have them deliver it to you. THAT is in fact a matter of YOUR own choice. But assume that we don't want to associate with the hassles of a delivery boy, we'd rather just go to McD's and get the burger ourselves... directly.
Given that scenario what would you say if you were forced to deal with the delivery boy still, even though you went miles and miles on your own to get the Big Mac? Of course any of us would rather just pay up, get the burger and eat. Why the hell do we need to confirm our purchase with the damn delivery boy still?
It's not wrong to have alternate methods of delivering a product and all, but you have to understand that some people like the new high tech gizmo of all Online and stuff, but quite a number still prefer paying real cash and getting a solid tangible product so as to avoid all the Online related stuff that, for whatever reason that is our own god given right, we sooo despise. Call as backward, or old fashioned or whatever but some people find all the online or wireless thing still prone for too many complications. We want it easy and direct.
I get the anti piracy thing. I've started to support original softwares a lot since I am earning a stable income. I felt it was time I paid my due to an industry I so love, but this whole mess makes one feel betrayed. It's the principle, really.
It's the god damned principle of it all.
I bought another game sometime back, I blogged about the game even. I have no pretensions that the game can match the sheer effort and polish of games like Empire Total War. But I had only to register the game once online, and then free to play it as i see fit. In fact, I once uninstalled it and reinstalled it again, and found it seemingly pleasing that it automatically redeems the registration key for me to use it again when I re-install the game. That for a fact, is a harsh blow to some EA-DRM related copy protection issue that limits the number of time you can reinstall a game.
Anyhow, what is good about that is that the activation is done directly with the creators, and ONCE only. I did not need to download or install a BLOODY Steam software, nor do I have to keep activating via steam even for a gameplay that doesn't require bloody online connection, nor do I need to immerse myself in further hassle of a specific offline variant of activation and stuff.
Developers, publishers, they don't understand, or choose not to bother, or so it seems. It's not really anything personal or whatever towards a certain group, but when we pay good, hard earned money for something, we want that thing free for our own use at our own discretion, and in our own privacy without the need to associate with anyone else.
Like buying a book, I should be free to read it whenever, wherever I please, or as many times as I like, without needing anyone elses permission. I paid for it, and so long as I don't make copies of it for sale, I should be allowed to do whatever I want with it; make it into a shrine or use it as toilet paper or anything in between.
It reminds me of the idiots who are persecuting the "war on terror". Their method of "combating" the enemy is in fact driving more people to enemy's side.
posted by Raccoon General | 1:43 PM
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