ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead & Reinforcements, version 1.59 - Patch released

[marceldev89 89]

For what it's worth, I bought 3 OA copies on steam because of the Christmas-New Years holiday sale (1 for me, 2 as a gift). Which was (and still is) 10 euros cheaper then the DVD in retail which still is 29 euros (in The Netherlands that is). Times 3 = 30 euros! So I bought 3 copies for the price of two! :)

Anyway, had a question, does OA still have the steam copy protection? Otherwise it would be as simple as copying the ArmA files from the steam folder to some other folder and edit the registry keys to reflect that. That way you pretty much end up with a DVD version.

If possible, I'll do that!

UPDATE: It seems to be working this way :).

Before you remove the steam ArmA files (if you are) be sure to export the registry keys for all ArmA stuff and run those .reg files after removing to make sure all the stuff is back in place. I don't know if this is needed though, haven't removed the files from steam yet.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Pvt. Lucky

[ScareCroweb 10]

I wish I could have enough money to buy arma2 + OA + reinforcement for everyone who has a steam version.. I hate steam for creating such a delivery system as they have. they should change it and just sell games the normal way!! thats my opinion!

[concurssi 11]

I think Steam is great, and I've never had any problems with it. If they fail to patch one game I wouldn't say that makes the whole system bad.

[purepassion 22]

if i would be rich i would love to buy high end pc's and the Arma2 family for everyone!

epic mp games ;)

[LondonLad 13]

At the end of the day, I don't care who is at fault/who is to blame.

As a customer I expect without disruption, the latest version to work with minimal input from myself; at the same time as all other customers, NO MATTER what delivery method (retail-dvd, or a digital distribution) has been chosen by the customer.

Time and time again BIS has failed to provide this to the entire customer-base, and this is what is disappoints me about BIS - I don't see BIS learning and improving on this scenario as it keeps on happening with each release (whether an expansion, dlc or patch).

[Zipper5 74]

So why not, in future, stop buying it on Steam and start buying it off Sprocket if you must go for digital distribution?

[purepassion 22]

@ Zipper

thats the point!

[sickboy 13]

Confusing, and those of us that do manage larger steam player bases ( > 30 people on steam), we *do* see the random times where steam doesnt update the registry, runs a random file check when it shouldnt, etc.

I don't know about the automatic / random file checks,

but as to registry keys - just run both the games seperately once through Steam to get the registry entries back. - Perhaps manually back em up.

From then onwards patching should be just fine.

On a side note - anyone incl Steam users can also use the 1.59 beta patches to join 1.59 servers.

Now my Arma2 is version 1.08? The patcher didn't say anything about patching arma2 which i thought was strange to begin with.

See my reply to jaynus (above). Edited April 6, 2011 by Sickboy

[LondonLad 13]

At the end of the day, I don't care who is at fault/who is to blame.

As a customer I expect without disruption, the latest version to work with minimal input from myself; at the same time as all other customers, NO MATTER what delivery method (retail-dvd, or a digital distribution) has been chosen by the customer.

Time and time again BIS has failed to provide this to the entire customer-base, and this is what is disappoints me about BIS - I don't see BIS learning and improving on this scenario as it keeps on happening with each release (whether an expansion, dlc or patch).

So why not, in future, stop buying it on Steam and start buying it off Sprocket if you must go for digital distribution?

If that reply was addressed to me then you've missed the point of the reply!

It wouldn't matter what distribution method was used, I'd still excpect a 'level-playing' field (so to speak) for EVERYONE.

At the moment, those who don't want to patch manually (referring to STEAM users), whether through choice, inexperience or just not knowing that their is an update available, are left out from the rest; especially in terms of Multiplayer.

To say why not use another delivery method is flippant. I have a choice and my choice is STEAM (as are many of my other games I have chosen to purchase over the years, which there are many)!

[sickboy 13]

Well i'm not sure what people think BIS can do about Steam not distributing their patches upon release.

Drive to Steam HQ with a USB-stick and handle it themselves? :)

I feel responsibility is split - BIS can't wash their hands, but they are also not just to blame. The Steam situation is shitty for everyone involved, incl them.

Admitted, Fer has a good point in saying that it probably would do less damage if the patch was delayed - if the reason to release the patch was indeed A2: Reinforcements release.

On the other hand it is kind of crazy to delay a patch just because 1 distributor can't coop.

I think what Zipper means is; it's clear by now that Steam has downsides - so if he was you, he would stop buying (BIS) games over Steam.

Probably a bad comparison, but here I go anyway :P

If BIS soap needs special care when applied to a car, and Steam would wrongly apply it to my car causing damage or not the intended effects,

then the problem is probably not BIS soap, but Steam, and I would stop going to Steam, and go to somewhere where they can apply it properly.

Another one. If I create a 12-piece screw-driver set, a distributor buys 1000 sets, and from each set he takes 6 screw drivers out, and sells it to his customers this way.

You can not blame me, as creator, for the 6 missing pieces can you?

But, I suppose the least of the problems is the blame game - it doesn't help the actual problem people have now.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Sickboy

[JojoTheSlayer 35]

Well i'm not sure what people think BIS can do about Steam not distributing their patches upon release.

Well, like it or not, Steam is the current future for PC games just like fps main market is consoles today, but if thats the only side, Steam being slow, I think it would be better to release the patches in line when Steam, the slowest part here, was ready.

Why?

Because this is a nich game. Its mainly MP for those that still play it, not just own it, and its a bad idea to have regular splitting of the MP community between patches when the community isnt the largest. I also think its not great for BIS, if future sales of their games will be dominated by Steam, that they become viewed as unreliable on Steam, regardless of their level of fault in the situation.

-------------

Also, the reason I looked at this thread now. Whats the ETA on the Steam patch?

[fer 21]

With respect to the recent posters, the issues of whether or not Steam is an appropriate distribution mechanism for ArmA2, or if Steam is rubbish/awesome, are tangential to this discussion (they are whole threads in their own right). For the moment, BI has opted to sell ArmA2 via Steam, so it is reasonable for Steam users to expect at least the same level of support provided to non-Steam users. Part of that support means inter-operability, which as JojoTheSlayer reminds us, is critical in a title that depends on MP for longevity.

All I was advocating was a change to the release policy, such that the main part of the community is not fragmented needlessly. In this instance that would have entailed merely waiting until Steam was ready before releasing the patch as a direct download.

I'd really like to hear from BI at this point (and it's BI, not Dwarden, as I think it's important to disentangle the spokesperson from the organisation and avoid making this seem like a personal attack/defence).

[birtuma 28]

I uninstalled Arma and OA from Steam und downloaded "semi-illegally" the ISOs. :D Than I installed CO from them using my Steam keys and the DLCs from Steam, after this I updated everything to 1.59, 1.09 etc.

Now I have CO and DLCs without Steam and everything works...

[dm 9]

So why not, in future, stop buying it on Steam and start buying it off Sprocket if you must go for digital distribution?

Maybe because I have a fairly sizeable collection of games on Steam already, and I dont want to use yet another digital distribution method to obtain a very small (but important) series of games.

As a customer I expect without disruption, the latest version to work with minimal input from myself; at the same time as all other customers, NO MATTER what delivery method (retail-dvd, or a digital distribution) has been chosen by the customer.

10 chars of THIS.

If, as a company, you make the choice (or are forced to make the choice) to operate multiple types of distribution, then it is 100% YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that ALL versions remain in-sync. ESPECIALLY when multiplayer is concerned!

Well i'm not sure what people think BIS can do about Steam not distributing their patches upon release.

They can, I dont know, hold back the non-steam versions of the patch until steam is up-to-speed?

[chiefredcloud 10]

Edited

[Zipper5 74]

I think what Zipper means is; it's clear by now that Steam has downsides - so if he was you, he would stop buying (BIS) games over Steam.

That was exactly my point, sorry I didn't make it clearer. I'm not saying it should be accepted to have these failures, I'm saying you should also be trying to avoid such failures until BIS get their Steam capabilities at 100%. Sprocket downloads are identical to those on Steam anyways, and hey, they don't require Steam to run them. :p

[r.flagg 11]

At the end of the day, I don't care ....As a customer I expect ...Time and time again BIS has failed ... and this is what is disappoints me about BIS ...I don't see BIS learning and improving ....

As a PC-ONLY gamer, these type of comments make me a sand panda. :( As a at-times-frustrated Steam user, these types of comments still make me sad.

I think in the fog of war over the Steam updates, some of us might be sidetracked from what I feel is a much more important issue. Which is the fact that BIS is updating the game at all. And not only that, but the fact that it is not a poorly ported console game to begin with.

Someone who is too quick to respond might accuse me of simply Kissing BIS' backside, and I expect that. But that is far from the case. And I believe Mr. Fer has some valid points to make as well. But no - this is all about me, the consumer. I love PC games, and I love the old-fashioned way that BIS still doles out the updates. It could be any other company, and I'd feel the same way.

I would say that I have many games via Steam, and Arma2:CO is by far the one giving me the most trouble from that platform. And there might be more than one reason - I'm not informed enough to know. But I can guess as to at least one reason, it's because BIS is delivering. They are giving me just what I love. A PC-centric game (with an editor even!) that is constantly updated/supported, and not only that, but by a company that is constantly asking for input from it's customer base.

Before coming to Arma2 a couple years ago, I spent a good 8 or 9 years working with a mod team on another game, only to see that company eventually turn it's back on the PC platform, even turn to mocking and insulting their former bread and butter PC fan-base. I don't want to see that happen here.

My fellow Steam users, please join me in looking at this from another angle. If you love PC games, if you love the after-sales support - than please do not forget there is another side to this coin.

BTW - I got tired of waiting, and applied the already released patch manually, and it worked just fine. And on top of that, there was yet another public beta ready to go as well.

Thank you BIS. Yes, Please continue to work on your issues with Steam, but at the same time, thank you for your support of PC games, and your continued updates to this game. As a self-centered consumer who loves to blow shit up, I am very grateful.

[dm 9]

Sprocket downloads are identical to those on Steam anyways

Except that misses the points.

1. If you offer something on several different services, it is your responsibility (as the company) to ensure that ALL the services run to the same level/quality as each other.

2. That a lot of customers dont want to use yet another digital distribution service for ONE game. I like steam because it has almost all my PC games on it. I dont [want to] have to eff around going through services A, B, C and Z to get games 1, 2, 3 and 4. Its all in one convenient location. And lets face it, gaming is about gaming, not effing around installing patches and tweaks and whatnot. (And before anyone rages, I was a DOS gamer, so I had to deal with IRQ port conflicts and hardware issues, so naff off)

3. That you keep saying "if you dont like it, use something else" is some of the WORST customer-care I've seen in a long time. We've already PAID for it on service A. You should provide the same level of aftercare for service A as you do for services B, C and D. And not be saying "well this other thing is better". Thats EA-level support that is ("Oh, so that disk has a scratch and has stopped working? Best buy another one then")

[old_painless 182]

Amen to that R.Flagg!

And about the viewpoint "yet another digital distribution method is undesirable", do note that Sprocket is totally unobtrusive, it's simply a download-and-run, an electronic DVD if you like.

And Sprocket does not leave behind bloated software such as Steam that my kids installed on my gaming rig when I had my back turned. That thing cost me about a minute of startup time. Might just as well visit exotic home pages for all the latest viruses if you want to bring your machine down like Steam does.

[Zipper5 74]

I'm not saying that it shouldn't go without improvement, I had hoped I made that clear. All I'm saying is that if you know there are issues with the Steam versions, avoid purchasing the games through it for the short-term and look at other sources until the problems are fixed. Otherwise you're just going to keep ending up with a product you deem non-functional.

[mrcash2009 0]

[conspiracy]I wonder if Steam play foul because of reasons behind the curtain, IE .. we will make life difficult, well, that is unless you use through us only *strokes white cat* .. or, your not priority as you are small fry .

[/conspiracy]

[LondonLad 13]

I'm not saying that it shouldn't go without improvement, I had hoped I made that clear. All I'm saying is that if you know there are issues with the Steam versions, avoid purchasing the games through it for the short-term and look at other sources until the problems are fixed. Otherwise you're just going to keep ending up with a product you deem non-functional.

That certainly wasn't the type of thinking going through my mind when I initially purchased the Arma2 game via STEAM.

Had I had the luxury of 'hindsight' before the fiasco of the purchasing the expansion (OA) and its absolute knightmare getting it to merge with Arma2 to make it the expansion (CO) then I certainly would NOT have purchased the ARMA 2 on STEAM in the first instance.

If BIS, or its publisher(s) wish to reimburst me the STEAM purchase cost that I've paid out (ARMA 2, ARMA 2:OA, DLC-BAF, DLC-PMC), or provide courtesy copies of the series then I'm more than happy to go the Retail DVD route.

On another note - I do have many other games on the STEAM platform (including Paradox games that someone else mentioned has issues, which I've not actually encountered), and the BIS product has been the only one that has gone badly in such a way that it leaves me quite disappointed.

[1in1class 0]

All in all BI should pull the plug on steam. Nothing but problems come from it, some game's you most have steam to play as that's an big problem too, but ArmA/OA you dont have to have steam to run the game. That's good option to have dont you think:icon_lol: If you dont get what Zipper5 is saying by now i dont think your seeing his point as your steam ego is getting in the way:sly:

[Herbal Influence 10]

It is always bad not to use the original game in it's pure fashion.

I would never like to use steam.

I need it real.

[mrcash2009 0]

Is binary in any storage format any less real? Just a thought :)