Jul 3rd 2010.
I avoided steam as long as I could because I didn’t like the intrusive nature of the thing. I prefered Direct to drive and the other sites where you download the game and just play it. But eventually the selection on Steam was too much to resist(because they had a lot of things they were the only ones to have digital)
Yesterday… I needed to join to install Shogun TW2, Gosh, installing the legal version is way harder than the pirate “demo”.
I think I’ll only buy DRM-free games from now on
I was half a month shy of getting a seven year badge. I registered July 31, 2005. I don’t remember what I joined for, probably HL2.
Don’t give me this BS.
Here’s a comprehensive guide to installing the pirated TW:SG2 (links omitted)
Just follow these steps:
1)First off ,dont decrypt .mdx file with lastest verison of phoenix ,use 1.4 beta 7
then you update your phoenix ‘‘database’’ by clicking at ''Instruments;; > ‘‘Update Content’’
Let it update,
2)then decrypt file by ‘‘Instrument’’ > ‘‘SID Unpacker’’
3)Mount your .mdx file using daemon tools. aslo mount both files,
4)back to phoenix,after clicking at sid unpacker,interface would change
5)browse SIM-file, go to your mounted drive for 1st mdx
6)Choose shogun2_disk1
7)select your destination folder,then scan for sim-file.then select first 4 in lists ,.exe,data,redist,English(or choose other lang of your choice)
8)let it unpack
9)Decrypted file size must be around 15.4gb
10)download patch from *** omitted ***
or
*** omitted ***
or
*** omitted ***
11)run patch ,then choose the folder where your decrypted files are
12)let patch run ,Done
Tons of people still having issues after following all of that nonsense. Nevermind having to repeat some of these steps every time the dev puts out a patch. And nevermind the morality of stealing someone else’s hard work.
There’s nothing difficult about installing steam along with your game. And nothing difficult about running your game after that (you can use the desktop shortcut, or run it from your steam library).
Plus it’s the only way to meet up and play with us Dopers online. You DO want to play with your fellow dopers online, right? Right?!?
My badge is for 6 years of service by the way:
Steam Community :: Steam Badges March 16th 2006.
Buy it, wait for it to install and hit play?
Does the pirated version come with a monkey that hits play for you? Because that’s the only way it could really be easier.
Yeah, not getting the “Steam is worse than pirating” thing. Steam has never been intrusive, it’s never slowed down or screwed up my computer the way something like SecuROM might, and while sure you have to go through an initial setup to purchase and download your first game, it’s a one-time thing.
I have over 100 titles and a lot of people have far, far more. Being able to access my library from Steam’s cloud is vastly more convenient than needing to keep a ton of physical discs around that could get lost or scratched up or obsolete, and in the meantime take up room.
My anti-brag: I’m not much of a gamer. I just joined this past December when the rest of my online buddies did. I’ve gotten the majority of my games in the winter/summer sales. (And a Humble Indie Bundle or two). I think the most “serious gamer” game I have is Portal 2. I’ve not found Steam to be intrusive, maybe because I don’t have any big name games?
(Just joined the SDMB group though. Didn’t even know there was one until Kinthalis’ post.)
I actually had a difficult-with-Steam install today, and the only reason was because Windows Games Live (XBox Live for the PC) insisted on being involved in the process of installing Fable III. I had to create a WGL account (just used one of my Hotmail accounts for this), during login. After playing for a bit, I realized I hadn’t seen anywhere to register the DLC. I had go back into the WGL interface and type in all the “CD keys” for the several bits of DLC that I got, download them separately, wait for them to install, run the game again, watch it hang after the start screen, restart several times, search fruitlessly for solutions, and finally disable DLC until I figured out that uninstalling the Traitor’s Keep DLC made it stop hanging.
But I blame that on Microsoft. Bastards.
Every other game I’ve run has been smooth as hell, plus they fix old games to make them run on your modern computer.
(Didn’t realize there was a SDMB group either - I just joined too.)
I have actually started buying some titles on Steam that I already own, just so I won’t have to worry about the physical media anymore. Plus, for older titles like X-Com, they come equipped with DOSBox and that make playing them so much easier than setting it yourself.
I had the same problem with Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. Windows Games Live stuck its nose in and I got offended. Luckily it let me create a simple local profile (while resentfully telling me I wouldn’t be able to access online leaderboards and things - oh woe) and let me play, but even so that was an unpleasant surprise.
I’m sure a lot of people have my join date, Christmas Eve 2004.