Digital distribution

[Creepy_Smell]

Just saw that like CS and steam, Prey will be digitally distributed - http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... story=5536

While I like the idea of dd I dont want to have tons of different programs to download and play each game depending on the publisher, though its bound to happen since they wont want to use anothers system.

[Big Jake]

Well, another game along with HL2 that I won't be buying or playing. TOo bad.

My conversion to the console side is near complete. "Hooray for systems that don't have spyware!"

[Blackhawk]

"Hooray for systems that don't have spyware!"

I agree!

Now, what that has to do with Steam and digital distribution, I have no idea.

[Giles Habibula]

I did it for HL2, but that's it.

I don't want my games to be dependent on more than absolutely necessary. Net-dependent for SP games crosses the line for me.

I can understand the reasoning behind it. They are watching their pocketbooks without any regard for my convenience. The sad thing is that I'm in such a small minority, that this scheme will likely work out just fine for them.

I simply don't yet understand why consumers are so damn willing to go along with it. The 'coolness factor' of digital distribution just because it's 'neat' that we can do it this way? Other than that, I just don't see the appeal.

I prefer the convenience of having a CD or DVD copy that I can install quickly and easily any time I want to, without the requirement of being tethered to my internet connection.

Admittedly, I'm 'always on' internet-wise anyway with a speedy connection. I just don't appreciate it as yet another requirement to play the game. And as I've stated a zillion times before, you guys are all banking on the fact that all these different companies will always be around to authenticate your installation on-line (assuming of course that on-line authentication is a requirement in all these cases).

I can pretty easily envision a future in which ALL games use on-line authentication, resulting in future thread titles such as "X company folded: How do I get game X to run now?" And replies such as "It's easy. Just go to website www.xxx and download the unofficial patch, then edit your registry by scrolling down to...Then you'll need to spoof such and such line..."

All that for ONE game you want to play. Each defunct game will of course have different ways of getting them to run. And aside from the legalities of doing so, getting these games to run after the companies go under will be one GIANT pain in the ass.

Just think of all the classic games you still love to play. Sure, getting them to run under XP can be a pain. But all you REALLY need is an old machine, something totally within your control. If you care enough about your old games to keep an old rig around, XP issues don't even come into play, and neither does getting online permission.

Digital distribution (and authentication) removes any control over those games from you. You are putting your complete faith in a company that may or may not be around long. And aside from the complexities of keeping track of the status of all the various publishers and the myriad haxor websites and instructions bound to pop up to solve these problems, the whole uncertainty of future enjoyment of games I've paid for is a BIG GAMBLE I'm just not willing to take.

Wave of the future? Probably. I just don't understand the lure. And don't say I didn't warn you.

[Kraken]

I don't want my games to be dependent on more than absolutely necessary. Net-dependent for SP games crosses the line for me.

I can understand the reasoning behind it. They are watching their pocketbooks without any regard for my convenience. The sad thing is that I'm in such a small minority, that this scheme will likely work out just fine for them.

We are a minority of at least two, then. At most, as a nod to piracy prevention, I can tolerate an online security check the first time the game is run -- unlocking the game just once. After that, I want the convenience of uninstalling and reinstalling a game several times on various computers over the years, and that pretty much means having a disk (I'm willing to put up with the one-time activation check each time). I downloaded the HL2 demo and went through all the Steam rigamarole. After I finished the demo, I uninstalled it and Steam, and I have no intention of buying HL2 now because of that system. I didn't ever intend to play it online.

Once again, a demo convinces me not to buy a game.

We who replay old games must be a small minority. Most gamers seem to jump to the Next Big Thing every few weeks or months without much thought to replaying.

[dbt1949]

Matrixgames has had digital downloads for sometime. I think it's pretty great. In this day and age you don't recieve or even have the patient to read a paper manual anyway and most of us have access to a cd burner so I think it works out pretty well.
The only part of their system I'm not too fond of is their patches.You have to put in your verification number even for installing patches,but that's a minor thing.

[Blackhawk]

We are a minority of at least two, then. At most, as a nod to piracy prevention, I can tolerate an online security check the first time the game is run -- unlocking the game just once. After that, I want the convenience of uninstalling and reinstalling a game several times on various computers over the years, and that pretty much means having a disk (I'm willing to put up with the one-time activation check each time).

You're not a minority - I didn't mind Steam, mostly because I trust Valve, and don't think of it as malware, but I wouldn't want a similar product from, say, JoWood, Codemasters, or NovaLogic on my system. An online check is vital - even if it is just to confirm a serial #, otherwise all anyone would have to do is distribute the serial number on the 'net and everybody could get the game for free, but compromises would have to be made for longevity if this were to become fully accepted.

It is a relatively new concept for mainstream games, and there are certainly a few bugs to work out before it becomes widely accepted, but I think it is going to be a huge boon to PC gamers in the future. It isn't just watching the pocketbook. Without having to worry about distribution, packaging, paying for shelf space, and so forth, it can take control (or much control) of games away from the publishers and put it with the developers, meaning fewer games being altered to fit the mainstream (Ghost Recon 2?), fewer games pushed out before completion in order to fiddle with quarterly statements, fewer games altered to meet Wal-Mart's requirements, and less of a requirement for game cloning.

[Kobra]

I almost exclusively PREFER my games to be digitally distributed. It is more convient, faster, less hassles, and more often than not, easier to patch and update.

What I hate is really intrusive DRM systems that limit installs and other things. Steam, Stardock Central, and Matrix games are fine examples of DD done right.

I wish more companies would offer DRM free digital distribution, i'm tired of the brick and mortar model - it's lame.

[Giles Habibula]

... After that, I want the convenience of uninstalling and reinstalling a game several times on various computers over the years, and that pretty much means having a disk (I'm willing to put up with the one-time activation check each time).

My main point though, is "one-time activation check each time" through who? Which of these dozens of companies is still going to be around to verify it each time?

I too could tolerate an 'each-install-check' if I could be assured that there would be someone around who would do it (legally). And it seems to me that there is just no way such a guarantee could be met in the cases of all these upcoming games going that route.

I suspect that eventually there would be a centralized system that all game companies/publishers would sign up with to 'solve' this particular problem. Which would be just dandy until something happened to that centralized company, resulting in it either just folding up, or more likely, getting sold to a different centralized agency with perhaps a monthly fee required from the customer if he wishes to keep activating his games. And paying a monthly fee to keep playing games I already bought just absolutely rubs me the wrong way. I'm sorry, but I'm already paying subscription fees to plenty of other companies. It seems like every type of corporation wants in on this 'subscription' plan, as it generates a neverending stream of income. And I understand it's necessary to maintain servers for MMO games. But that's the reason I don't play those. Extending such a plan to SP games is the straw that would break this camel's back.

That's of course a purely hypothetical scenario of course, but it's the only way I can see any of this working in the long run (looking at it from the publishers' perspective).

[Giles Habibula]

I should really clarify:
I'm not really against digital distribution. I've purchased many games from small developers this way in the past, and it was very convenient in that I could buy the game and be up and running in the middle of the night if I wanted, without ever leaving the house or waiting for a mail-order to arrive.

But those games I burned to CDs and are now completely within my control. I can install them on whatever and whenever I want to off those CDs. So digital distribution in and of itself has those very nice benefits.

Were it not for all the upcoming problems with on-line verification each time you install, I'd be totally smitten with the idea, and I'd be first in line to be dowloading games, paying for them online, and then burning them to CD or DVD.

The problem of course from the developer or publisher's perspective is piracy. Because I'm fully aware that I can take these CDs to a friend's house and install them on his machine (albeit with my name on the title screen as registered owner) and he could have it for free.

I did exactly that one time only. Gave a buddy a registered copy of a game with the promise that he buy it for himself after he got paid. A few months later, I went up to his place and was dismayed to see he was still actively (and obsessively--he loved the game) playing my registered version. I reminded him that he had promised to buy his own registration, and he kinda shrugged it off. So I took out my wallet and handed him a $20 bill. "Here," I said, "Now register it."

He got my point, and bought his own registration while I was there (he's definitely not poor), and refused my $20. He was completely bemused however as to why I was so adamant about it. I think to him, if it isn't a physical item, it's not theft--just 1s and zeros. And trying to convince someone like that otherwise can be a daunting task.

I'm getting long-winded (and possibly of-topic, since digital distribution and online verification are two different things, but seem to go hand-in hand as far as I'm concerned).

So I'll simply concede that piracy is a problem, and I don't have a better solution, so this is apparently the path that MUST be taken. But I have to watch my own pocketbook too (as far as game longevity), so I won't be going down this particular path.

[Defiant]

Prey will be digitally distributed

Am I missing something? Are other games not digitally distributed? Are people getting their games in record or tape format these days?

[Lorini]

What I like about DRM is that the verification code is sent electronically, so as long as my email is backed up, I'll always have the code. Unlike CD's, where if I (or more likely my teen) lose the paper code, I'm hosed. I know with Fate they allow you to contact them to get additional unlock codes if you need them. If you lose your paper verification code, all you get is the ability to buy the game again

Jennifer

[Creepy_Smell]

In my original post, its not the ability to download directly from the developer/publisher, etc. that I dont like. I am all for directly downloading the game.

What I dont want is a lot of steam like programs that are required to download/run different games, but are not the actual game.