| Half Life 2: Caution | |
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JavaGuy - Student  |
Okay, I took the plunge and bought it. I can't even install it. It uses this really wierd "steam" setup where much of the content is delivered over the network and you have to beg permission to play even the single-player version. After I installed and tried to play, it said my CD key is already registered to someone else. I just took it out of the shrink-wrap and it's pirated already?!?!?!? I click on the link for help. There's no e-mail for help. No phone number. But there's an address where I can mail my CD in for a replacement with a new key--three to four weeks turnaround! This key replacement "service" is free for 90 days and ten bucks a shot after that, but there's no guarantee my new key will work either, so I may have to keep doing it until my 90 days of free "service" are up. Found an interesting site concerning Steam: http://deadcats.teamut.com/SteamRants.html Some of the more interesting comments: Quote: I think it's clear now that Steam is not principaly about piracy even though that's the propaganda we're being fed. I think Steam actually makes piracy more acceptable to many people while doing little or nothing to inhibit it. Steam is really all about control over those who go the legitimate route and don't pirate. It had to have extra anti-piracy built into it just because online content delivery is inherently less secure than physical media plus a normal CD key. And this gem: Quote: You all know what Steam really is, don't you? It's DIVX -- the original, home video system Circuit City in conjunction with major Hollywood studios tried to push on unsuspecting consumers in the '90s when DVDs first started to be released. Just like another poster said, Steam is doing what the MPAA wanted to do with the home video market: Control the consumer's rights (take them away) and force them to watch home movies the way THEY wanted them to WHEN they wanted them to... And have to pay for it each step along the way. For those not familiar with DIVX: DIVX was literally what Steam is today. You bought a DIVX player that only played DIVX movies and before you could even watch the movie, it would call home -- via a phone line -- And verify your $4.25 credit card chage and unlock the movie for a limited time (like three days, or something). If you wanted to watch the movie after those three days you had to fork out another $4.25 for another three days, and so on and so forth. Guess what? DIVX died a painful and HORRIBLE death thanks to the internet and CONSUMER AWARENESS and grass roots campaigns. To cut my rant short: Don't buy it.  _______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. |
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| Comments |
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CuZzA - Student 
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www.myg0t.com it was them who probably stole it  _______________ - Even if Carlsberg made "w*nkers", Christiano Ronaldo would still be the biggest "w*nker" in the world |
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SaZ - Student 
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well you can always use commands like -heapsize 256000 . dunno if it would help... still all new systems suck . _______________ playing jk3 since 30th of january (2005), member since 1st of february. [Unofficial Master to Vision and Z�diac ] If you can make a fool of yourself infront of 300 people you can do anything - Jaiko D'kana |
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Steinin - Student 
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Steam is quite unfriendly actually. For a mapper/modder it's even worse. You have to run steam while running the extremely demanding compile tools. Talk about waste of computer power. _______________ 362 Ohi on! |
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SaZ - Student
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well steam is quite friendly though... after instaling starforce 3 game you are asked to restart your computer... why? S3 installs some crappy drivers for your cdrom which can even bug you when you are trying to use other original cds etc. hmmm dunno which of these stupid systems is worse... _______________ playing jk3 since 30th of january (2005), member since 1st of february. [Unofficial Master to Vision and Z�diac ] If you can make a fool of yourself infront of 300 people you can do anything - Jaiko D'kana |
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JavaGuy - Student 
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Yes, you must have Steam to play HL2, even the single-player version. The propaganda is that it prevents piracy, but clearly it does not. In point of fact, it makes it easier for pirates, as an over-the-net installation is inherently less secure than a CD installation. Steam opens up all kinds of security holes that simply do not exist in a regular CD installation, plus I keep hearing stories about how it takes some people four or five hours to install the software. WTF. Note how my own copy was unusable out of the box. While that is a huge pain to me, it doesn't seem to be causing any trouble for the pirate who got my key. Again, a regular CD installation would be much more secure, and I keep hearing that people who want to steal HL2 are simply shoplifting it from Circuit City (and presumably then mailing in the first CD to get a working key). By creating new security holes, Steam makes life easier for pirates and harder for those of us who honestly paid for the license. Steam allows pirates to steal my CD key and prevent me from installing and using the game--even the single-player version--something that would be impossible without Steam. I am duly convinced by the argument that Steam is DIVX reborn. Valve clearly does not want to prevent piracy: That they are making life much easier for pirates and harder for honest people proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. What they want is greater control over your PC, and they're willing to screw honest purchasers to get it. _______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. |
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Tallepyon - Student 
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I like steam alot though. They were very clever about HL2 release. They allowed a warez version to get on the web. When someone tried to register hl2 with it, their accounts where banned on the spot. I would like to see more innovative ideas like that in the future. |
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Flux - Student 
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New anti-piracy methods make it even more difficult for the legit user. For every new method that is devised, people just find a way around it. While the pirates just use offline emulators for Steam and newer cracks for Starforce 3, the rest of us just get CD-key problems and crashes. I know it's in the company's best interests to keep their games from being pirated, but I'm sure there are much better solutions than Steam. _______________ When great gentlemens come together in a place. It could happen. All these gentlemen are Howard's family. Everybody knows them, but nobody knows. Why they come together.......... Just play cards. |
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SaZ - Student
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all these new "systems" are giving me a headache... steam... starforce (we all know that program is virus dont we?) ... they are just trying to protect their games with some dumb systems... and those are absolute failure... dont create them... the end. _______________ playing jk3 since 30th of january (2005), member since 1st of february. [Unofficial Master to Vision and Z�diac ] If you can make a fool of yourself infront of 300 people you can do anything - Jaiko D'kana This comment was edited by SaZ on Mar 17 2005 08:21pm. |
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JavaGuy - Student
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Quote: Dude go to Steampowered.com andgo to the help forum. I have HL2 and that never happened. Dont do this until youve checked the website i gave you, but you may need to delete your clientregistry.blob file in the steam folder. Ok? I've already been there. That's the site that's referrenced by the error dialog. It just says to mail them the CD and wait three to four weeks (!) for a reply. I went to the Sierra web site and did find a form to submit a support request. They promise a response within 24 hours, but it has now been 18 hours and no word, so I'm not optimistic. There's even a (non-toll free) phone number so you can be put on hold for twenty minutes and then get hung up on. I don't think they care what happens to their customers after they have your money. Sierra/Valve is a very different operation from the one that produced the masterful Half Life six years ago. They get no more of my money ever again. _______________ My signature is only one line. You're welcome. |
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Sauron-the-rasta-mon - Student 
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Dude go to Steampowered.com andgo to the help forum. I have HL2 and that never happened. Dont do this until youve checked the website i gave you, but you may need to delete your clientregistry.blob file in the steam folder. Ok? _______________ Ω Allehelgens Død Helveds Rike Ω |
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Gradius - Ex-Student 
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Ouch, that's a kicker ain't it. _______________ - Proud padawan of Kueller. - We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. - Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything - <gen-e-sis-happy> Liek, you can train, liek, a n00b, but he'll just be a trained n00b... --> Wise words! - "daer SOE me likes your a company i am having your some money for letting me do stuff cos mes the best amd i do it all meself" - Slider |
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Devlin - Student 
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Wow, sorry to hear about all the trouble you've gone through over this Java. Luckily my cd-key worked fine, but I had a friend who bought a copy and ran into the same problem your having. He found out that it was a returned game which was why he had all his troubles. I hope video game stores like EB will be smart enough to know not to buy used copies of HL2. *edit* I just went and read the article that you had the link for and saw that you can change ownership of the cd-key. I can't believe you have to pay to do that, it's ridiculus! _______________ Be at peace, and you will discover things you never dreamed possible. This comment was edited by Devlin on Mar 17 2005 03:49am. |
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