ArmA 3 on Steamworks?

[Steiner34 12]

They aren't! That's why the Verbraucherzentrale responsible for consumer protection here in Germany gave them a warning to comply with our laws which Steam ignored. Now they'll take them to court which in the worst case can mean a ban of Steam and it's services in Germany if they don't comply. I don't see that happen but it's at least a possibility.

I really do hope that they have success in their lawsuit against Valve. Hopefully people will then finally wake up and see what it means to bind games to a online third party company....

[-Coulum- 35]

Just set up a steam account for the alpha.

I agree with what Tonci said:

How about all people sceptical about steam try the Alpha lite on it?

I´m not a big fan of it either, but it isn´t as bad as some people say.

Talking about how good or bad arma will be on steam is pointless. Just give it a try and then you can formulate an accurate opinion from there. Too many myths, misconceptions and exaggerations in this thread so far. And you have nothing to loose trying out the Alpha lite.

[LordJarhead 1725]

Know why? Because it's the same game, as OFP, Armed Assault, ArmA II was - with a lot of polish on top.

Oo say what? ... you CANT even compare Armed Assault with OFP... really. ArmA 3 has less in common with OFP than any older ArmA game. Sure, gameplay, some realistic aspects are mostly the same but still, OFP was severely different. Far harder, more realistic (compared to its generation of games then).

Are there any real OFP players here that can confirm this please :P Sry but I really had to say that! ^^

LJ

Edited February 26, 2013 by LordJarhead

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

Oo say what? ... you CANT even compare Armed Assault with OFP... really. ArmA 3 has less in common with OFP than any older ArmA game. Sure, gameplay, some realistic aspects are mostly the same but still, OFP was severely different. Far harder, more realistic (compared to its generation of games then).

Are there any real OFP players here that can confirm this please :P Sry but I really had to say that! ^^

LJ

[-Coulum- 35]

Don't know if steamworks was confirmed before, but on the A3 website, if you mouse over community and then mouse over the steam logo, the little yellow info box that appears beside my mouse says Steamworks. So I thnk it is pretty safe to assume that arma 3 will not only be steam exclusive, but also take advantage of steamworks.

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

Don't know if steamworks was confirmed before, but on the A3 website, if you mouse over community and then mouse over the steam logo, the little yellow info box that appears beside my mouse says Steamworks. So I thnk it is pretty safe to assume that arma 3 will not only be steam exclusive, but also take advantage of steamworks.

That's... kinda been confirmed. That's what they meant in the Steam announcement blog by "Steam exclusive".

GNight everyone -- I'm counting down the hours to D-Day. :cc:

[-Coulum- 35]

That's... kinda been confirmed. That's what they meant in the Steam announcement blog by "Steam exclusive".

Yeah I kinda assumed that steam exclusive meant seamworks as well. But BIS had never actually mentioned it in their full steam ahead blog. They merely said "think user generated content and multiplayer". Seeing it on the website just turns it from assumption to confirmed in my mind.

[iceman77 18]

steam auto-updates disable was fixed several times, should work already correct

Well that's good to know that on this attempt it may be working correctly... :rolleyes: Yet another reason among all of the others why the program shouldn't be forced onto people who don't like dealing with constants like this...

[Zyromkiru 10]

Yeah I kinda assumed that steam exclusive meant seamworks as well. But BIS had never actually mentioned it in their full steam ahead blog. They merely said "think user generated content and multiplayer". Seeing it on the website just turns it from assumption to confirmed in my mind.

Full steam ahead text:

Ready-made functionality

Arma 3 Steamworks offers a library of features which we can fairly quickly hook into Arma 3. Some of them we wanted to develop anyway, but to do it ourselves would again cost valuable resources. External solutions have their own issues, such as the lack of immediate control, but Steamworks saves us needed time. We can take what we want, make adjustments and make sure it all benefits players and mod makers. I am convinced that without this choice, most of the features would not be available at all.

it was stated :)

[Yett71 10]

Here's my issues with Steam for Arma3;

I have to install it in the same directory as every other Steam game - I have a SSD for my 'main' game (Arma2:OA) and my operating system. I use a lot of mods (about 15GB worth) and have other games on my E: drive. If I have to use Steam I will have to install Arma3 on my E: drive and not my SSD as I simply don't have enough space on it for every other game I have on my system.

Steam allows you to install on any Drive. You can also move games from drives using a third party tool, works flawlessly.

Steam un-installs and re-installs games on its own - I had Arma2:OA on Steam and after the second time it did that I went to direct2drive and just downloaded my own copy of the game.

Im not sure when you last used Steam, this was a bug fixed in 2009, what you may of saw was your game updating or possibly verifying or installing new content.

Steam updates the game without my authorization - as others have mentioned even when told not to autoupdate Steam does.

I don't understand why you wouldn't want to update your games automatically? Anyway you can turn this off it was fixed last year.

Steam multiplay overlay is a total waste of time for me. I belong to a Unit and play only with other members of my Unit or guests or as a guest on another teams server. I don't have to 'look' for friends - they are on my team already. So having something monitor my game time is a waste of time.

Steam overlay can be turned off, it virtually uses no ram anyway.

I don't need or want 'achievements' or any of the kiddie stuff that Steam likes to add to games. Frankly I'm too old for that junk and not interested in any way. Again, Steam is monitoring my gameplay and I don't want it to be 'watched' by a 3rd party.

Steam Acheivments are optional you don't have to take notice of them, its not intrusive. Valve have never watched anyone in the ways you mention read there EULA.

Any unwanted program running on my system should be my choice to turn on or off - the way things look (and work) with Steam is that it must be turned on to play. If it was just a verification or something each time it started (and then Steam was shut off) I'd be OK with that - but having it monitor me, track me and basically take up bandwidth, CPU cycles and RAM to spy on me is not what I want.

Steam does not "Montor" you unless you interact with Steam Community and it will only monitor your in game scripts / hacks if VAC is enabled which it isnt on Arma 3, Steam does not take up any bandwidth in games, Steam does not use much CPU in game, Steam does not use RAM, Also your RAM cannot spy on you.

While I understand why BIS wants to use Steam (money) I think they are making a big mistake not listening to their customers who do not want to have 3rd party software as a requirement to enjoy their game.

BIS does not gain money from using Steam, infact Steam takes a % of profits, the only thing Steam does is promote and give developers tools to help them.

I know a lot of you guys are new to the series, and that's great - but those of us who have pretty much avoided Steam because of the reasons I posted (and I'm sure there are tons of other ones) do not want it. We are not being given a choice by BIS and from what I see and understand there is no reason why Arma3 cannot be sold as the previous titles were.

Let the buyers choose. If they want Steam - that is their choice. If they don't - then don't force us to buy it from Steam or use their 3rd party software to run our game.

I have been playing Arma since the first game. I have used Steam since 2006, its completley fine. Nothing to worry about

[cuel 25]

Just read their Terms of Agreement:

..

What I can see here is that the customer gets screwed over by all means. I cant even believe that those Terms are still legal in Europe. Its nothing but a big fraud which forces us the customers to give up all our rights just to bow down to a US hosted company.... Great job BI...... No more money for you from me. You've lost me as loyal customers who bought all of youre games since Operation Flashpoint.... I'm not willing to become a "happy" Steamslave.....

I hope you will be happy to hear that they are not. EU Court has on several occasions rejected EULA's if they are considered to be too big of a violation when it comes to consumer rights (example).

Not purchasing A3 because you don't agree with Steam's EULA is pretty sad. I'd like to see any company that does not have 'weird' stuff in their EULA. Do you own an apple product? You get screwed in their EULA as well. Any google products? Perhaps an origin product? Same thing there. They even wrote that "you may not take us to court" which is very laughable if you think that writing stuff like that would actually work.

Ed:

Not to mention how unlikely most of your suggestions are.

Edited February 26, 2013 by cuel

[iceman77 18]

They even wrote that "you may not take us to court" which is very laughable if you think that writing stuff like that would actually work.

But that's the entire point. It shouldn't have to come down to lawsuits & such. So pretty much, I'd have to spend time & money, to go to court over what? Over an account / game (that I payed for) that got taken away by steam? I don't think most would want to jump through those hoops over something such as a game/account.

So what happens then? You say "screw it, I'll just buy another game and create a new account..". Steam wins. You lose. Rinse repeat a few thousand times, for various consumers.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Iceman77

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

But that's the entire point. It shouldn't have to come down to lawsuits & such. So pretty much, I'd have to spend time & money, to go to court over what? Over an account / game (that I payed for) that got taken away by steam?

We're mentioning lawsuits and the Rule of law, because you have already assumed that 1 week into ArmA 3 Alpha's release, your account(s) are going to be seized for whatever imaginary reason you might currently have.

Be reasonable.

[iceman77 18]

No. But the possibility is there isn't it? If it wasn't beneficial to steam they wouldn't have put such things into the agreement(s) would they? Also, you don't think steam takes people games/accounts away on a daily basis? I've never had a steam game/account revoked, but I did have an origin account (IcemanArma) and BF taken away, just because I voiced my opinions on their forums about how bad bf is. And no I wasn't being vulgar or anything. I suppose it just boiled down to if the guy/mod/ ceo/ wtfe, was having a bad day or not. "I'm pissed off at the world, so let me find any excuse to take accounts away!! Just because I can!!". And my pockets suffer because of it. Very similar agreement to that of steam...

Edited February 27, 2013 by Iceman77

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

No. But the possibility is there isn't it?

There's a possibility that one of us could die in our sleep tonight. Scary, huh?

If it wasn't beneficial to steam they wouldn't have put such things into the agreement(s).

They are protecting themselves against PETTY lawsuits and minor complaints, that would severely damage their business. You won't believe what ignorant/arrogant/"I-paid-£29.99-thus-entitled-forevermore-to-damage-a-company's-imagine-with-libel-whenever-I-FEEL-like-it" people the world over sue for nowadays.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Iroquois Pliskin

[cuel 25]

but I did have an origin account (IcemanArma) and BF taken away, just because I voiced my opinions on their forums about how bad bf is. And no I wasn't being vulgar or anything. I suppose it just boiled down to if the guy/mod was having a bad day or not. And my pockets suffer because of it. Very similar agreement to that of steam...

Unlike EA, Valve actually wants you to play games. No one has had their account taken away because of what they wrote on game hubs / steam forums. Their access have been taken away for scamming and doing illegal purchases / trades however.

[jblackrupert 14]

Unlike EA, Valve actually wants you to play games. No one has had their account taken away because of what they wrote on game hubs / steam forums. Their access have been taken away for scamming and doing illegal purchases / trades however.

Steam accounts have been locked for customers disputing double billing on their credit cards and many times have taken several months to get them back.

Valve has habit of treating people like scammers when it's clearly an issue on their end.

EA nukes accounts for forum posts, they never always did it, so who's to say Valve won't start doing the same?

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

EA nukes accounts for forum posts, they never always did it, so who's to say Valve won't start doing the same?

If VALVe wanted to send more traffic to EA's Origin, they could do that.

[T.S.C.Plage 0]

Iceman, you're wasting your time. The people you're arguing with are the types that need to get overrun by a car themselfs first before the actually believe that car accidents with pedestrians can happen.

[Langlet 1]

Steam accounts have been locked for customers disputing double billing on their credit cards and many times have taken several months to get them back.

Valve has habit of treating people like scammers when it's clearly an issue on their end.

EA nukes accounts for forum posts, they never always did it, so who's to say Valve won't start doing the same?

I think Valve is a way better company than EA. If you think they are anything alike you need to do some reading :)

[Zyromkiru 10]

Nothing wrong with Valve and are FAR different from EA. EA destroys everything they touch, im surprised they didn't screw up battlefield 3, the launching from webbrowser sucks but its tolerable

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

Iceman, you're wasting your time. The people you're arguing with are the types that need to get overrun by a car themselfs first before the actually believe that car accidents with pedestrians can happen.

Simply awesome.

"But the oaks can't help their feelings

If they like the way they're made.

And they wonder why the maples

Can't be happy in their shade."

[pathetic_berserker 4]

Iceman, you're wasting your time. The people you're arguing with are the types that need to get overrun by a car themselfs first before the actually believe that car accidents with pedestrians can happen.

Nice one but by the same token arguments worring about the Steam EULA are a bit like saying there should be a 'can't ever get hit by bus button' that you can hit at birth to be covered infanitum. The universe simply doesnt work that way. Steam has to cover its ass in some fashion

If your have the forsight to read the EULA then you have the forsight to read and learn how to use steam. Other than being a victim of some random criminal act all you have to do is not do anything stupid (As you would when crossing the road) and you can do away with the tin foil hat.

OMG I think this thread is bring out the pro-Steam'r in me.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Pathetic_Berserker

[arkblade 1]

hi, i not receive response from BI.

1. steam workshops it make possible easily mod install for casual users. but bring to stress and inconvenience to advanced users and server admin. (it missing mod management, and lack of mod handling)

2. Some countries may be forced to be a inconvenience... if it happen, It is based on the bad contract between region publisher and BI. BI must be careful don't make it. (that cases occurs most in Japan)

How do you think about these? and you would have a resolution plan?

[T.S.C.Plage 0]

I can't understand that people give a flying fuq about their rights and have them revoked just for the sake of playing a computer game but I think that's what we've to cope with with the iGeneration. I actually think it'll even get worse.

Edited February 27, 2013 by T.S.C.Plage