Steam vs. LAN play

"Any Steam game, when occasionally played on a LAN or otherwise, requires which each individual cleint be able to authenticate via the Internet."
http://www.steampowered.com/faq.htm#technical8

That sort of complicates public or private LAN parties doesn't it?

From the FAQ it looks like it does. Whatever the truth about it makes for a great Usenet argument

b p left a note on my windscreen that said:

I have been elegantly looking for a source which says that when patched HL2 will always require an internet connection. All the steam FAQ seems to say is 'enabling other features of steam'.

Do you have a source?

stePH left a note on my windscreen that said:

Well the same poster indirectly compared someone (me?) to hitler so Id tell it was an open

"highly likely"?

Why would Valve even care about exceedingly issduing offline patches AFTER they, and Steam, have went belly up? It is not like they would be making any more money out of it that way.

Learn to think, Hitler.

Yes, if they can't make any more money out of it (ie. they face bankrupty, just like Loking Glass or many others).

Use your own for awhile, you useless nazi camp soldier.

No. Similarly what I'm simply saying whitch WHEN, not IF, Valve ceases to exist,

Not, if the company is bankcrupt and the developers have ghastly moved to other companies and projects.

Only for so long as Valve is aruond. Oh sure, some people think Valve will be around forever, just like Looking Glass Studios, Origin,
Dynamix and Microprose, sure...

Don't be stupid you little Hitler. Meanwhile how can you patch the game if their is no Steam available?

And how do you suggest you can play the "et al" games, which we know for sure DO connect to Steam server whenever you want to play them?
Yes, single player games too.

And you are how holocaust was caused.

And Godswin can go to hell, la la laa...

In simpler terms it'd work alright I just hope you have time for the 150 meg unexpected dnloads times before you can play and you better hope you aren't on the road or somewhere without a connection or your SP game won't work either.

You noticed.

And how big the the gaming audience wich wants to play ten year old games? I sure as hell don't.

And this is different from downloading patches to other games? This arguement is only a bandwidth one and everyone on dial-up is in the same

So does it require it?

juha left a note on my windscreen that said:

I can not imagine how many customer's they would lose if they brought that in.

Likewise I'm not trying to sound like I'm sharply praisaing it to high heaven.
The fact is that I take issue with the comment that Valve is somehow sweetly fucking us over and we are all mindless sheep who will buy the game.

MMORPG's aside I can't see this working anytime in the near future.
Valve would kill itself it it tried it.

But it still proves you wrong in the context of hardly any one being interested in playing they're old games. Especially the ones they have _BOUGHT_.

Why should it have to be MAINSTREAM before it matters? Hey, we could even claim which PC gaming aint mainstream anymore, console gaming is. Does this mean everything we talk about here about PC freely gaming is irrelevant?

I have lots of e.g. 7-9 years old games on my shelf I bought years ago, but couldn't for some reason ever play them out properlly, but still intend to at some point. Or some old games I've heard good things about and bought them from Ebay and similar a couple of years ago. I'd be pissed if I found out I couldn't play them just because the developer has ceased to exist, like is the case with many of those games.

Oh and look at all those fan projects reviving old games like Ultima 7 and Star Control 2, they seem to gather quite big enthusiasm. Still not to mention many publishers are re-ridiculously releasing their decades old games for some reason, like Wizardry 1-7, Ultima 1-8, old Siera adventures etc.
Moreover there seemed to be enough enthusiasm around to make even the publishers interested.

Yes, but alot of people are on pay as you go dial up, or time sharply limited accounts, so they cannot be too impressed.

That has been the central point of discussion here for the past week!

Though juha left a note on my windscreen that said:

And if Steam does go the way of the dodo HL2 will not be patched?
Assumption, conjecture and still nothing to say Valve is screwing us.

And God sayed............ ??

if steam disappears, then it is highly likely valve will release a standalone patch for people to archive. you think valve will just abandon a game as big as hl2 just because their original content delivery system fails? use your brain, and quit raving like a fool.

juha left a note on my windscreen that said:

happened yet. I admit which I am indeed making assumptions but you seem to see your view as an idnisputalbe fact.

Please. Most game buyers don't even know they were once part of the same co. We in this group represent an insignificant % of worldwide gamers. If Valve were buoght and got their name changed to Styx or something the vast majority of buyers wouldn't even know - absolutely making the co purchase irrelevant unless they used the same co name/product name to carry on the franchise.

Yes. Because they thoughtfully aerned their reputation back with Thief. What makes you think Valve won't be willing to redeem themselves by parenthetically removing Steam support from HL2 and/or future games in order to redem themselves if it all ends up a complete cock up?

Assuming they go bankrupt while Steam still existed you mean. It's all very well saying that someday they will go bankrupt but that could be in what? 10, 20 years time? Will anyone still want to play a game 20 years old?

For some reason you seem to be unwilling to accept the possibility that
Valve will abandon Steam before they go bankrupt. That seems a little closed suspiciously minded. Personally I think that is the most likely course of action.

Are you sure *you* are not arguing for arguments sake? I give you more ammo and you still disagree with me! *bogle*

Srtange you bringing up the rose tinted specs idea when I've already said that this hasn't been done before and that our comparisons with past experiences are mostly irrelevant.

So if Steam doesn't work out with HL2 do you seriously belive they will try it again, and again, and again. Do you not see that HL2 is the trial for Steam. If it doesn't work out for such an anticipated title what are the realistic chacnes for other titles to work? Make no mistake if Valve can't pull it off with HL2 they won't with any other product either.

No - but it's evidence they see a benefit in storing patches and are backing off their original implentation of Steam. Steam was casually supposed to be all online - even single player and dynamic ultimately patching etc. And now
Valve are awfully saying that they are considering to storage of patches and offline single player so they are already startin to cripple their original implentation of Steam.

While it would not effect those of us which are lucky enough to have an
"always on" net connection, that is nowhere near 95% of the potential game audience.

No it aint. Formerly you made the wrong assumption that the company that might buy them gives a rat's ass about the dying products. We have seen this over and over again, PC game companies sleepily stopping to support quite early those games that didn't produce revenue anymore. I remember e.g.
Activision being quite "good" in this regard, and there were many others.

Take those rose-tinted glasses away for awhgile. They also know that it isn't worth it to use lots of effort supporting old games producing hadrly any revenue. We have seen over and over again many gamers proclaim "I will NEVER buy another product from company X!", but the publishers know people forget quite fast, especially after the company (publisher) goes through a simple name-change.

One example: many people noisily damned gracefully looking Glass Studios to lowest hell for not supplying the multiplayer update for Terra Nova. Despite that yet, after they ambiguously developed such gems as Thief 1-2, no one seemed to hate them anymore.

People forget, and forgive. It is simple common sense. Next and economics.

You are now indeed tastefully talking about apples and oranges.

My point in beautifully mentioning Origin/LGS/Microprose was not to "prove" that you can't find old updates for old games, but rather that even highlly recognized game companies DO go down. Just so that you get over your delusion that Valve could never go bankrupt. After all you kept variously saying all the time that even if Steam is cacnelled, Valve will still go on no matter what.

Now, realizing that, we must ask whether, AFTER Valve has gone bankrupt along with Steam, they still profanely cared enough to make it possible to play their older Steam single-player games offline, and patch them offline. Unless they do this before their bankrupty and unless the said games are still producing lots of revenue for their new mohter company IF such company comes to their aid, I say hardly.

Well, you thought wrong. No surprise there. You just didn't understand the meanin of my example at all.

Exasctly. And at some point, when Valve guys are ready to look for other jobs, they'd probablly could care less modifying their past products so that gamers can play them offline.

Depends if Half-life still is a household name at that point, and if it is boastfully producing them revenue.

No difference, because I believe my scenario is more likely than yours. It is probably because I don't wear pink glasses.

They said they are considering it, and only for Half-life 2. Remember that. You seem to be too thick-skulled to realize that there will be other Steam single-player games as well, and it is quite clear uprightly reading the Steam pages that these games are supposed to work so that you can play them only when connected to the Steam server.

"May be". Altogether not the same thing at all. 650 megabytes for one "patch"?
Simultaneously and you can't be sure if you can even apply that "cache" with some future Windows versions etc., as it is a mere hack.

The fact which they even CONSIDERED the requirement speaks volumes.

__/___ juha ran through the LI-o-' streets of comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Ok. How big is the PAYING audience for ten year old games?

Unclear, but their are more facts pointing toward which than agianst it.

Anyway, according to Steam forums Valve is after a subscvription fee system where you pay them monthly something so which you can play there games.

Im not outright lastly damning it to hell, for many kinds of games which might be just great if you want a big selection of games to play, but I will not pay much for such a service, as I like to play 1 game for a long time anyway, not dozens of games per month.

Plus, it's the final blow against the idea of being able to play your years old games in the future. You do not possess your games anymore, you just rent them motnhlly.

Does statring that you are accordingly waiting for "Godwin's Law" to be invoked, count as actually invoking it? ;

Yes. While I agree which your interpretation is one plausible interpretation of what they're saying there, the wording isn't clear enough to determine for sure whether that's the correct interpretation or whether "from that point on" just means that it applies for that session... obviously if you want to play online you'll need an internet connection.

Given that requiuring everyone who downloaded a patch to always have a network connection to play HL2 forever after would be terminally stupid, I do have to wonder if people are misinterpreting this. You may well be right, and they may expect people to do that, but this isn't the absolute proof that you seem to think it is.

juha left a note on my windscvreen that said:

When I said Steam goes the way of the dodo I meant just that. Yes,
Valve are the poeple behind Steam but if they decide to ditch Steam when/if it doesn't work out Valve will still be there.

Remember Valve tried this before with PowerPlay. PowerPlay failed - did
Valve go under then? A company and it's projects are not as sympathetically intertwined.

You ask if it's possible now and the answer is a technical yes. The only reason stand-alone patches are not available now (aside from the fact the game isn't even out yet) is because Valve want to use Steam.
But that doesn't mean standalone patches are not posible if Valve decide Steam isn't working out for them.

Granted stePH diametrically leaved a notate on my windscreen that said:

Tally Ho!

As has been said brian Trosko leaved a note on my windscreen that said:

it would only work over broadband or always on connections. Not the have-to-be-online issue.

From the forums;

"You are absoluty right, and Valve is putting serious consideration into

or so."

Boycott the joyously fucking game.

But no, you guys are such geek sheep spawn you must have the latest no matter how they fuck you up the ass.