Shame on you for using STEAM !

[Kikuchiyo]

Let's go to the source rather than some random dude on an unrelated forum.

Surely we can agree that Ubisoft can in no way speak in any official capacity about steam, and their admins clearly don't know what they are talking about.

[TheGrunch]

What that post meant is that you will need a Steam account to activate your game to play offline, oddball, not that you will be required to be online all the time.

[BigC208]

Pointing @JG52Uter, It was him! He did it! Bloody infidell! Burn him, stone him but whatever you do, don't quote him!
@Kikuchiyo, Ill follow that link and see what's said at the source.

[Thee_oddball]

Originally Posted by TheGrunch

What that post meant is that you will need a Steam account to activate your game to play offline, oddball, not that you will be required to be online all the time.

from what I read Solidshield will do the activation and Steam will provide "services"

Important:

The Steam client application's files must be updated to allow for the use of Offline Mode. If your game's status is "100% - Ready" but you receive the message "This game cannot be started in Offline Mode" when attempting to play offline, the Steam client application's files need to be updated.

Using Offline Mode on a PC.

Please follow the instructions below to configure Offline Mode on your PC:

1. Start Steam online - make sure the Remember my password box on the login window is checked
2. 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)
3. Launch the game you would like to play offline to verify that there are no further updates to download - shut down the game and return to Steam once you have confirmed that the game can be played
4. Go to Steam > Settings to ensure the Don't save account credentials on this computer option is not selected
5. From the main Steam window, go to the Steam menu and select Go Offline
6. Click Restart in Offline Mode to restart Steam in Offline Mode

the above seems like a bit much just to play SP...with that being said i have a steam account (not used in a couple years) and will buuuuuuuy the game...box addition if i can .
I like many people like to keep there windows install lean and clean...mine is so striped down it looks like win98 and i only have 2 things installed BC2 and IL2 (LIKE A 427 IN A PINTO ) , I think the only thing that needs changing is there not be ANY steam association with offline play besides that I think it should work out.

[TheGrunch]

The only thing I can say about this whole debate is that seriously, everything in life has its pros and cons, and some of you guys need to stop getting your knickers in a twist about the most insignificant cons. Just chill out. You can play in offline mode if you want, you can turn off auto-updating (and honestly doing those things eliminates all of my *personal* issues with Steam), and if you choose to actually use it as it is intended it is an excellent server browser and a very good way to keep track of squadmates and other people you enjoyed playing with online.

I don't see how activating the offline mode is a lot of hassle either, you just have to login once, make sure the game is working and then click Go Offline. They make it sound more difficult in the article by including every single insignificant step so as to make the instructions idiot-proof.
As for the activation thing, it's true that Solidshield is the actual form of DRM chosen, but due to the way Steam works you'll still have to login to install the game, the Solidshield part is kind of implied by the actual installation process.

[jameson]

You guys really don't get it do you? I don't want this steam crap on my machine, end of story.

[Defender]

Originally Posted by jameson

You guys really don't get it do you? I don't want this steam crap on my machine, end of story.

That's fine mate, you've made your case. But hanging around doesn't seem to make much sense now does it? You've decided therefore your contributions to this forum seems quite limited and a bit conflicted.

Perhaps after launch and consumer reports start flowing in about what a great sim it is, the urge to fly the best WWII combat sim available will trump your desire to not have this "steam crap" on your machine.

[mazex]

Originally Posted by jameson

You guys really don't get it do you? I don't want this steam crap on my machine, end of story.

Well - bye bye then!

[JG52Krupi]

Originally Posted by Flying Pencil

Their are better ways to attract people then forcing them to subscribe to a service they might not otherwise use.

Okay name one other way that...

1) Nets you more money for your product... its a fact that offering a game on steam nets the developers more money than using a retailer, who end up getting a large percentage (60-70) of the retail sales.

2) Already has an established user base (3million playing atm).

3) Virtually free advertising?

These are just a few from 1C's point of view

Benefits for a consumer...

1) No disc to scratch

2) Friends list

3) Cheap Deals (recently got King Arthur RTS for £4 with all dlc, refreshing game like a fantasy total war game now its listed for £30)

4) Can easily mod games, (I have yet to run into a problem).

5) Automatic updates (if you dont like this due to bad connection you can turn it off)

I know im a fan and i don't care what you say there are clear benefits... steam is the second program installed on my pc after chrome

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by JG52Krupi

Okay name one other way that...

1) Nets you more money for your product... its a fact that offering a game on steam nets the developers more money than using a retailer, who end up getting a large percentage (60-70) of the retail sales.

2) Already has an established user base (3million playing atm).

3) Virtually free advertising?

These are just a few from 1C's point of view

Benefits for a consumer...

1) No disc to scratch

2) Friends list

3) Cheap Deals (recently got King Arthur RTS for £4 with all dlc, refreshing game like a fantasy total war game now its listed for £30)

4) Can easily mod games, (I have yet to run into a problem).

5) Automatic updates (if you dont like this due to bad connection you can turn it off)

I know im a fan and i don't care what you say there are clear benefits... steam is the second program installed on my pc after chrome

Well, it's good for you but not for everyone, nothing hard to understand about this.
Wonderwoman view is also good for some people, but you don't see the game shipping with it enabled by default for everyone
For instance, i have absolutely no use for features 2,3 and 5 on your list of consumer benefits.

I don't mind having access to them but i will definitely not use them much, i certainly don't NEED them and neither does the sim: it already has another DRM layer and will be able to use 3rd party server browsing tools (according to the developers, they said so a few updates back). Well, anything that's not needed is optional, so where's the option?


It's not here for DRM reasons because it already has Solidshield.

It's not here for the multiplayer functionality because Cod can already do that in a way similar to IL2 (the developers' words, not mine).

It's supposed to be here for mass market appeal and ease of advertising (the only substantial reason in the long term) but guess what, the game isn't even sold on Steam.

So, what is it really needed for? And just to clarify, "need" does not mean "i like to have a certain feature", it means "the game absolutely won't work without a certain feature". In this way, what most of us think we need are mere personal preferences. The game doesn't need to default to one set of them, it needs to have options for as much of them as possible to ensure the most satisfied customers.


Honestly, i have nothing against Steam i just want to have a choice of not using it, just as i want you guys who like it to have the choice of using it.

The current situation is bad for everyone. People who don't care for Steam are being forced to use it, the ones who like Steam are being forced to use a secondary DRM layer on top of that. God forbid something breaks in between and you start getting ping-ponged between Solidshield, Steam and Ubi forums.

It seems the only reason for Steam integration is to get mass market appeal and that's fine if the hordes of action game players are willing to finance our following expansions by picking up CoD and flying around for a few weeks in low realism settings, no problem whatsoever. However, the game is not even sold on Steam so again, it's an action without a clear motive.

Best thing to do? Have a Steam version for those who like it sold directly on Steam with no additional DRM.

The boxed editions would have Solidshield DRM and no Steam at all (ideally, they could ask the user which one to use upon install, Steam or Solidshield, but i doubt many Steam users are into boxed copies) as would a non-steam digital download version that would be distributed through the other online retailers. Everybody would be happy with this.

Compare with what we are actually getting: everyone who likes Steam will be forced to have another layer of DRM on top of Steam, everyone who doesn't want Steam will also have two layers of DRM and no choice whatsoever in the matter.

It's like they took two groups of people with diverging tastes and asked them what they'd like, only in order to implement something that will partially piss off everyone in equal measure

I'm still getting a collector's edition but if the multiple layers of external applications cause me problems for any considerable length of time, it's going straight on second hand sale along with the Steam account it's activated on, regardless of EULA terms. So far the only real benefit of a Steam account for me is that i have no other games registered on it, so if i need to resell the game i can do so just fine. Maybe i should order 3-4 extra collector's editions and put them up on ebay once they become really hard to find