Development Blog & Reveals

[Leaulux 2]

I am a HUGE STEAM fan and look forward to another ARMA title in my Library

On the flip side, I wish that they would have a separate download option for people that do not like STEAM because having the freedom of the choice in playing your games is really what matters.

[h - 169]

Well, not a huge fan of Steam, basically only have 'play-once-then-forget' games on there..

Find it funny though that piracy is listed one of the reasons why Steam was chosen when, if you're at all up to speed, Steam games are hacked/cracked on release day, so much for the über-Steam protection.. :rolleyes:

[fragmachine 12]

So wait, just to be clear...is THIS the 24 hour huge news?

:p

this-me-curious-too :p i anticipated tits-be-blowed-off (mentioning JC) but seems that nothing really happened

[antoineflemming 14]

this-me-curious-too :p i anticipated tits-be-blowed-off (mentioning JC) but seems that nothing really happened

Uh, do you see the rage here? I'd say tits-be-blowed-off. Now, is this RiE's "jiggle" news? Cuz it's caused an uproar.

[jefferspang 2]

I think this is my worst ArmAIII nightmare come true and honestly I would have never thought that ArmA III would go down the Steam path. Suffice to say, I am hugely dissapointed. Now before anyone starts accusing me of jumping on the "Steam hating bandwagon", I'd like to say there is logic behind me not touching my old steam account for more than 2 years (It was so old that I had to reactivate it and by now my old school e-mail is invalid so that only left me which one choice - create a new account).

1. The fact that once I log into Steam, I am suddenly surrounded by all these pop ups of the latest hottest games advertising cheap prices blah blah *insert generic marketing line here*, it's like everywhere I walk in town I am inundated with all these advertisement that are shoved to my face and this is exactly how I feel about Steam, I know you guys will say well yeah but you have a choice in buying the product, it's not like steam is forcing you to buy the latest deal, but this isn't my point. My point is that I have always felt there is something cathartic and intimate about slotting a disk into your PC and firing the game up and it's a shame to see it go away.

2. Now I don't know about the latest Steam versions but back then, to play a game (even if it's offline which is what I mostly play), I had to update the game in order to even launch it. Personally I fucking hate it, it's like here, you must download this in order to use a product that you've already paid for. First of all, there's a chance the patch could screw the game up - this happen to my Gmod which caused it to crash on loadup and they couldn't come out with a fix for a week, a whole week.

3. Furthermore, lets say for argument sakes that you have a favourite ArmA II mod and you play it all the time. But then the mod creator decides to drop the project so that leaves the latest version of the mod compatible with only the latest version of ArmA II. Now for ArmA II, the player has 2 choices; he could either update his copy of ArmA II therefore unable to play with the mod, or the player decides that the mod is too good and therefore gives up updated in order to enjoy the mod. Doesn't Steam's force update take away the latter option? What if the latest patch isn't compatible with addons and the addon makers aren't quick enough to come up with their own fixes? Don't tell me that it's the addon makers fault because BI knows damn well that one thing that makes the ArmA/OFP experience so unique is because of the diverse modding community and so BI has the obligation to make the game mod friendly.

4. Finally, I'd just like to say that Armaholic has probably been the number 1 go-to place for mods and addons download and for years Armaholic has been (I'm assuming) providing free hosting service for ArmA players and that in turn is like providing a free service to Bohemia. Migrating over to Steam is like signing a death warrant for Armaholic since Steamworks will inevitably become the premier addon/mod hub. I guess it all boils down to the fact that after 7 years of unwavering support, BI is saying "Thanks for all your service, go fuck yourself" to Armaholic.

Call me an old timer, I don't care but I feel very strongly about this.

*edit typo

Edited February 21, 2013 by JeffersPang

[dslyecxi 23]

I've been using Steam since the beta of it back in... I don't even remember; long ago. I've encouraged my group to use Steam as our means of owning the Arma series since it first appeared on it. The shift of A3 to Steam-exclusive, for the reasons cited (and those alluded to), is a good one.

There is a lot of knee-jerk reaction going on in this thread - fears of the impact on modding, as well as a lot of truly outrageous hyperbole. Dwarden's addressed the modding aspect. Only the most wildly paranoid and cynical would think that a company that has seen great success and worked with their community to the extent that BIS had would suddenly turn their backs on modding. Nothing they've said or done would indicate that, yet of course some select people freak out because of it. BIS very candidly explained their rationale, and it looks sound. The game and series will benefit from this.

Steam is not the devil incarnate. BIS does not have unlimited resources. Focusing efforts to one distribution method, and using those time savings and other perks to further refine and flesh out their games, is a definite good thing from the end user's perspective.

Whether you're there to experience those benefits or not is up to you.

[the.d 0]

Thank you, JeffersPang, my sentiments exactly - you are certainly not the only one :-)

Steam is "great" for mediocre game titles and stuff that is not really worth "collecting" or personalizing, in terms of modding and customization. ArmA2 - and ArmA3 for that matter - do not belong there, at the very least not exclusively.

[hellfire257 3]

Oh isn't this good news? After all the ranting people did about not wanting Steam, this happens. Wonderful. I for one like to own my games, not rent them.

I am against this decision.

[Rebel44 10]

I like Steam, so I dont have any problem with this development.

[Zacho 0]

Very happy to hear this, will make updating so much easier. And workshop could be a nice way to get mods.

[rangerpl 13]

Honestly, I don't have a strong opinion in either direction - I own a boxed copy of ArmA 2 but don't mind buying ArmA 3 on Steam.

I can see some people's concerns (flawed as they are), but holy shit are you overreacting. This is actually kind of scary to watch. There's something almost cult-like about it.

Edited February 21, 2013 by RangerPL

[Alwarren 2767]

2. Now I don't know about the latest Steam versions but back then, to play a game (even if it's offline which is what I mostly play), I had to update the game in order to even launch it. Personally I fucking hate it, it's like here, you must download this in order to use a product that you've already paid for. First of all, there's a chance the patch could screw the game up - this happen to my Gmod which caused it to crash on loadup and they couldn't come out with a fix for a week, a whole week.

You can opt to not update the game by going to the Properties and disabling "keep this game up to date". There is a first time setup when the game launches, which is kind of annoying but it is only the first time.

Doesn't Steam's force update take away the latter option?

See above, Steam doesn't force you to update anything.

4. Finally, I'd just like to say that Armaholic has probably been the number go-to place for mods and addons download and for years Armaholic has been (I'm assuming) providing free hosting service for ArmA players and that in turn is like providing a free service to Bohemia. Migrating over to Steam is like signing a death warrant for Armaholic since Steamworks will inevitably become the premier addon/mod hub. I guess it all boils down to the fact that after 7 years of unwavering support, BI is saying "Thanks for all your service, go fuck yourself" to Armaholic.

See the Skyrim/Nexus example why this isn't true.

[Sgt.Spoetnik 10]

lol nice one Krazikilla, bit like the most of us feld and yelled when we read the news.

its a sad day in the armavers if it stays like this;(, to bad)

would be nice to hear some more off the devs and explain it in some depth(the steam move)and why they would not release it else in 2013(?) when your testing the alpha this month!

[ozzbik 71]

I personally have to wait and see how this turns out. I use steam for Skyrim and have no problems updating or using mods. Mods btw for skyrim can be downloaded from the nexus and from steamworks. It's all to the users/gamers which one they prefer.

The only concern i have is how the update function will be used. I have a collague who uses arma2 via steam and when there's an update he get a whole lot of data which has te be downloaded instead of the quite smaal updates you download manually (the no steam version).

Will the serversoftware btw be steam free?

[SirBroud 1]

See the Skyrim/Nexus example why this isn't true.

I think the problem is that ArmA doesnt have "millions" of players like Skyrim, so if the modding community would split in half, there aren't many left.

[arkblade 1]

there are lots online key sellers, i'm buying fresh released games there, for 20-30€ instead of 49€ i have to buy in germany, also usually are there multilanguage games, so just keep browsing, but some might be scam, so better read user reviews about first.

do you know? steam keys can restrict purchase countries...

In Japan, foreign key of the game is disabled well...

[Alwarren 2767]

Steam is "great" for mediocre game titles and stuff that is not really worth "collecting" or personalizing, in terms of modding and customization. ArmA2 - and ArmA3 for that matter - do not belong there, at the very least not exclusively.

I am sorry, but that's nonsense. Skyrim is a great game, and I have a couple of dozen mods installed on it. As has everyone. In fact, modding is one of Skyrim's prime selling points. I think you should check that first before making such a statement.

[Masharra 10]

do you know? steam keys can restrict purchase countries...

In Japan, foreign key of the game is disabled well...

Ill save up spare monies for you if they decide to do you up the behind. Drop me a email if you "need"

[tonygrunt 10]

What will happen with beta updates?

Right now if a broken beta was released or a beta broke an addon, you could always revert to a working one. I doubt steam beta menu will cover a complete list with earlier betas, you will have to choose beta or no beta. I hope they don't push back on beta updates.

[Alwarren 2767]

I think the problem is that ArmA doesnt have "millions" of players like Skyrim, so if the modding community would split in half, there aren't many left.

Split in half? Why?

I use both the Workshop and Nexus for mods. Does it matter where I get them from? Not at all. The workshop has advantages of the Nexus, but I don't care at all where I get my mods from. So if someone decides he doesn't want to use the Workshop, fine. No split, no danger.

[antoineflemming 14]

I am sorry, but that's nonsense. Skyrim is a great game, and I have a couple of dozen mods installed on it. As has everyone. In fact, modding is one of Skyrim's prime selling points. I think you should check that first before making such a statement.

Most of these guys complaining about a lack of modding ability probably either 1) haven't ever used Steam or 2) haven't played highly moddable games on Steam. To be honest, I don't have ANY Steam-Only games that are highly moddable. But I've seen the MANY Skyrim mods and Counter-Strike Mods and Half-Life mods etc, etc, etc, on Steam. So I know it's doable. I just hope that you aren't REQUIRED to use Steam to download mods. Because I do like Armaholic and I do plan to mod for ArmA3.

[aviatormoser 6]

Panties in bunches everywhere. People need to man up.

[kamping-killoch 16]

It's sad to see how many members of the ArmA community have had such an over the top reaction to this. This is completely understandable decision for BI to make. I urge anyone with doubts to really read and understand the dev-blog and replies, and read up on what steam, steam-works and workshop actually are and what they do and do not do.

[St. Jimmy 272]

So this is what the "Adapt" part means in Arma 3 ;)

What I afraid the most in Steam are the mods and their updates. I hope we can still update and download mods manually. But otherwise it's time to adapt.

[the.d 0]

I am sorry, but that's nonsense. Skyrim is a great game, and I have a couple of dozen mods installed on it. As has everyone. In fact, modding is one of Skyrim's prime selling points. I think you should check that first before making such a statement.

Alwarren, the debatable qualities of Skyrim aside, my point is that ArmA3 will be permanently restricted to Steam. Every time you want to launch the game you are forced to launch the Steam platform. You have to keep its folder integrity, you will never be able to create a Steam-independant archive and you most certainly will not be able to keep a personalized/modded copy of the game that plays "out of the box" without previously installing Steam and validating the game online. All these possibilities are gone with a Steam-exclusive approach.

Edit:

So this is what the "Adapt" part means in Arma 3 ;).

Brilliant! :-D