ARMA II - Steam Listing Issue

[ONDIER 0]

There is a problem with the Steam listing for ARMA II that has persisted for a very long time.

 

There are two versions of ARMA II; the version that most of us bought from 2010 onwards, and another version that is effectively identical to the prior - but one version is no longer bundled, nor even listed on Steam. Although trivial, this issue means we cannot complete any of the ARMA collections that include ARMA II - ARMA II is already "owned" and is excluded from the purchase because they are recognised by Steam as effectively the same product, even though they are not. I have worked through several Discussions on the ARMA II Steam Community, and the consensus seems to be that the unlisted version was originally the ROW version of ARMA II. Some of these discussions date as early as 2014, are active to this day, and have users reporting BI's indifference towards the issue, as well as Steam's inability to resolve it - only BI has the ability to fix this, Steam Support cannot do anything to help us.
 

ARMA II - App ID 33900 - listed on Steam

ARMA II - App ID 33910 - unlisted on Steam

 

Without the intention of directing any disrespect toward the BI team and staff - am I really to believe that over the course of ten years BI hasn't had a single QA or even a support staff member available to consolidate the ARMA II Steam listings in a reasonable way? The "new" ARMA II listing is bundled in the ARMA X bundle on sale RIGHT NOW - even though the "old" version was originally bundled this way too. If BI can take the time to reconfigure the ARMA X bundle to include listing 33900, and delisted listing 33910, why don't all users own listing 33900?

 

Other, much smaller companies/developers/publishers have managed to consolidate their listings smoothly, and in very short periods of time as their editions (and as result, their listings) change - is it too much to ask for BI to do the same?

[dalber24 151]

Don't pay attention to that, it doesn't affect anything, does the game not work?
 

27 minutes ago, ONDIER said:

Although trivial, this issue means we cannot complete any of the ARMA collections that include ARMA II

I don't understand what you mean when you say you can't complete an ArmA collection because it contains ArmA 2 (Explain this point, I don't know if you mean something like a steam achievement, all the ArmA Series titles, or what.)

Cheers

[ONDIER 0]

Quote

Don't pay attention to that, it doesn't affect anything, does the game not work?

 

It affects the completion of the ARMA series collection; the version of ARMA II actually sold on Steam as a part of the series collection (app ID 33900) is not the same version as the one I own on Steam (app ID 33910) - the version I own is unlisted and unpurchaseable entirely. This means that the unlisted version I own (app ID 33910) stops me from purchasing the version actually being sold on Steam (app ID 33900), so the ARMA series collection cannot be completed.

 

The problem would in theory be solved easily by simply giving ARMA II players who own the unlisted version (app ID 33910) access to the listed version (app ID 33900).

 

It seems that BI at some point created an entirely new Application (the term used for a single game on Steam) just for the ROW version of ARMA II, either because Steam's documentation was unclear when they did it, or because they considered it a work-around to another problem at the time, and then delisted the ROW version as a makeshift fix. Applications are region-agnostic, so the unlisted version of ARMA II exists only to differentiate it from the exact same version.

 

Steam documentation states:

 

Quote

Each App is represented by a unique ID called an App ID - that you'll see referenced throughout this documentation and used with the Steamworks API and Steamworks Web API. Generally a single product will not span multiple Applications.

 

This can't be solved by anyone other than the person/people responsible for managing the Steamworks Partner account for BI - but given that there are Steam Community threads that are full of ten-years-worth of complaints about this issue, I don't think they will fix the listing issue any time soon. If by some miracle someone who could fix it comes across this thread; please read: I think Autogrants of app ID 33900 to owners of app ID 33910 would put this decade-old issue to bed with minimal effort. I can't say for sure it would, but as a Steam Partner you have access to support from Steam just as your clients do - they would be able to advise on the best course of action.

[dalber24 151]

In reality it is not like that, as you have the 33910 just like I do, (in fact I even have the retail versions because ArmA was not on steam before.)
You can buy ArmA X: Anniversary Edition, without problems and complete the collection, you just do not receive the ArmA 2 version 33900, and that is not a problem, it is just that they have removed it recently so there is no confusion I suppose, but in the end it is the same version, and it does not affect anything, I have the complete collection despite having A2 33910.

[ONDIER 0]

I have an old retail copy too! But the version I own on Steam was from the ARMA X bundle I got from Humble ~2014, which is why I think it's the ROW version 33910.

 

The new ARMA X: ANNIVERSARY EDITION is now bundled with 33900 on the Steam store - and because of the conflict it will not let you purchase 33900 through the bundle, but you will get everything else. Unlike you I cannot see a completed ARMA collection via the store, because I don't technically own ARMA II according to the store, I just have access to the delisted 33910.

 

I understand this might be a silly issue, but I'm going to try and work through it with Steam Support to see if there's a work around. I suspect I'll ultimately have to have 33910 removed from my account entirely so I can purchase 33900 and complete the collection.

 

Thanks for your responses by the way, I appreciate your time!

[dalber24 151]

@ONDIER If you want you can buy the listed version directly and without problems, it allows you to buy it without problems despite having the 33910
https://store.steampowered.com/app/33900/Arma_2/

[ONDIER 0]

@dalber24

 

Thank you friend, but I've tried that - once I go to checkout to pay, it stops me from paying saying I "already own one of the items" in my cart, even though I obviously don't own it.

 

I've spent some time explaining the problem to Steam support; they made some suggestions at first, but once they understood what was going on, they just told me they can't help me with this, and that I should reach out to the publisher to fix the issue - so I'm out of luck.

 

I will contact BI directly through their support e-mail tomorrow, and hope whoever sees it has the time and patience needed to resolve this - that is if anyone sees the e-mail at all. If it doesn't work, I tried at least. 

 

[dalber24 151]

@ONDIER So in that case, maybe the best way to fix it is to delete it from your account, uninstall it, then right click on it and click on manage then remove from account, with that you remove all traces of the game and there you can buy it, it shouldn't say that you have it or anything like that.

[ONDIER 0]

@dalber24

 

Steam support initially made the same suggestion - but 33910 ROW is a retail key, so Steam support cannot completely remove it from my account. They said that removing it from my account won't be possible from their end because it was a retail product, so I'm waiting on them to let me know whether or not I could have it removed by BI.

[ONDIER 0]

2 hours ago, ONDIER said:

@dalber24

 

Steam support initially made the same suggestion - but 33910 ROW is a retail key, so Steam support cannot completely remove it from my account. They said that removing it from my account won't be possible from their end because it was a retail product, so I'm waiting on them to let me know whether or not I could have it removed by BI.

 

Support updated my ticket; they informed me that neither them nor BI would be able to remove ARMA II from my account at all. They suggested I direct technical enquiries to the forums, so I'm back at square one.

 

The only solution is BI rectifying the disconnect in SteamWorks, but to be honest if they haven't felt the need to fix it in the last ten years, I doubt they'll set it right just because I asked.

 

I'll leave it as-is, it's all I can do.

 

Thanks for the chat, I'll definitely be seeing you around friend. Keep well.