Steam is not satans creation...

[mercyne 10]

Ok i have been reading in alot of threads that people are almost near begging not have arma contect released on steam/steam only. I do not see why not steam is a great source for distrubding your game and contect. I mean i get really good download speed i can get ArmA II with in half an hour and when i bought ArmA II : Operation Arrowhead i just blinked and it was done. And i cant wait for the DLC to be released on steam.

Anyway i think this problem has something to do with people thinking that you need to start up ArmA using steam this is not true dispite that all the standart shortcuts start up with steam you can just go to where you installed steam then go steamapps/commen/arma and there should be a start up there if you use this you will start up arma without steam so basicly the normal version of it.

Hope this helps a bit. steam rocks \o/

[maddogx 13]

Some people just prefer to have a hard copy. ;)

[Devil Dogs SF 13]

I prefer hard copy, a hell of a lot more.

[rautapalli 10]

I've had bad experiences from games on Steam that aren't exclusive to it. A lot of older games haven't been patched at all, so you have to go and find the updates yourself, which won't often even be compatible with Steam.

I also bought STALKER: Clear Sky from Steam when it came out, but i encountered a game breaking bug that kept crashing the game every time at a certain point of the game (and i was not the only one).

That got patched fairly fast for the retail version, but that patch wasn't compatible with the Steam version. And guess what? The Steam version got patched MONTHS later than the retail version. At that point I had already dumped the game.

just go to where you installed steam then go steamapps/commen/arma and there should be a start up there if you use this you will start up arma without steam so basicly the normal version of it.\o/

This doesn't work with many games. A lot of the games check if Steam is running or not when starting the executable.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Rautapalli

[mercyne 10]

Why would you want a hard copy? It can break.

I've had bad experiences from games on Steam that aren't exclusive to it. A lot of older games haven't been patched at all, so you have to go and find the updates yourself, which won't often even be compatible with Steam.

I also bought STALKER: Clear Sky from Steam when it came out, but i encountered a game breaking bug that kept crashing the game every time at a certain point of the game (and i was not the only one).

That got patched fairly fast for the retail version, but that patch wasn't compatible with the Steam version. And guess what? The Steam version got patched MONTHS later than the retail version. At that point I had already dumped the game.

Now i am not completly sure how the steam patches work but should that be blamed on de developer instead of steam O.o

[Devil Dogs SF 13]

Not if you take care of your stuff, I've never had a hard copy break, and every single game I own is Hard Copy.

[fideco 1]

Only troubles in my experience with Steam

Hard copy is better.

[maddogx 13]

Why would you want a hard copy? It can break.

I still own games from pre-2000 and the CDs are still fine. It's just a matter of taking care of your stuff.

Now i am not completly sure how the steam patches work but should that be blamed on de developer instead of steam O.o

The devs already release very small patches that work just fine. Apparently it wasn't possible to distribute something similar via Steam.

EDIT: Anyway, you're right about one thing - Steam is not Satans creation. It's just not the be-all-end-all of games distribution either. ;)

EDIT 2: And just in case you were going to ask, yes I do use Steam and own a number of games on it. Just not Arma2.

Edited July 28, 2010 by MadDogX

[mercyne 10]

Ofcourse steam is the perfect but it sure isn't a bad way of distrupting games especialy games like ArmA as you download it trugh steam but thats all you can just boot it up manuely and it prevents my lazy ass from going to the store get a hard copy >.<

[rautapalli 10]

Steam patching doesn't work very well with ARMA 2 from what I've heard. The retail patcher knows how to update and add new files inside the pbo archives that BIS uses. Steam doesn't, so it has to download the WHOLE archive again instead of patching what's inside it.

Example of that: The 1.05 to 1.07 patch for ARMA 2 was only 90 mb, while for the Steam users the same update was over 7 gigs from what I've heard. (This is just something I've heard from the forum, i have ARMA2 retail myself)

Not to mention all the trouble you have to go through to combine ARMA 2 and OA + using beta patches and mods with the Steam versions.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Rautapalli

[mercyne 10]

Steam patching doesn't work very well with ARMA 2 from what I've heard. The retail patcher knows how to update and add new files inside the pbo archives that BIS uses. Steam doesn't, so it has to download the WHOLE archive again instead of patching what's inside it.

Example of that: The 1.05 to 1.07 patch for ARMA 2 was only 90 mb, while for the Steam users the same update was over 7 gigs from what I've heard. (This is just something I've heard from the forum, i have ARMA2 retail myself)

Not to mention all the trouble you have to go through to combine ARMA 2 and OA + using beta patches and mods with the Steam versions.

Well I did not have this problem or i might have missed it as beceuse of my awesome internet connection O.o

[KeyCat 131]

Ok i have been reading in alot of threads that people are almost near begging not have arma contect released on steam/steam only.

Steam only!? That would be a sad day really...

I'm one of them that prefer a DVD hardcopy or a DL version that isn't tied to a specific on-line verifying procedure to be able to play (this may not apply for all Steam stuff but some works/worked that way) nor do I like the auto update or to be forced to run another 3rd party software in the background.

You may like Steam and thats fine but please do not try to shove it down everyone's throats.

Another thing for you to consider... I've heard from some that Steam Inc. "promise" to always be available but I've lived long enough to know that nothing lasts forever - let alone mega corp businesses. Something to think about when/if they pull the servers X years from now and you want to re-play an older game/sim!

/KC

Edited July 28, 2010 by KeyCat

[RogueBlade 0]

Steam is amazing. I love it. I have lots of Steam games. It's is helping save/revive PC gaming.

I just like my Arma 2/OA hard copy.

[HyperU2 11]

Why would you want a hard copy? It can break.

Ok, we're done here.

[cossack8559 10]

I like steam and have never had a problem with steam... however i prefer hard retail copies of my games and almost all of my games are hard copies (including Arma series) they do not break if you take good care of your stuff. :)

[Placebo 29]

Steam opinion thread is something for another place in another time, anyways Sprocket's better so there ;)