I will definitely wait and see what you can and will do, before talking
about it either positively or negatively.
It is true that lots of mainstream and small developers have found ways to
do business like they want.
But please let me tell you two things I have seen and of which I am not sure
what to make of them.
Not because change was introduced into a running system, but because the
"players" seemed to not need that big change (from any economical
viewpoint).
1. Egosoft:
Said company developed the X series of huge strathegy and exploration games.
Theese are in a science fiction setting.
A game named X 3: Terran Conflict was released a while ago.
Lots of patches and improovements were released during the post release
time.
Then, near the end of 2011 they announced the imminent release of an
expansion named X3: Albion Prelude.
This was offered as a stand alone product for all the people who got Terran
Conflict before and with the latest version of Terran Conflict as a three
disc boundle.
However, out of the blue, this new boundle had to be (exclusiveley) used
with Steam.
Meaning, anyone who got this title on DVD had to install or use (if already
present) Steam.
The official reasoning behind it was to to ease and streamline updates
because Steam could automatically download updates as soon as they were
ready.
Furthermore it was said that it would mean that they would have to pay less
for their internet presence and it would take traffic off their servers...
While this surely is true, I started to wonder, why this was done at this
point.
The older X games still don't use steam (when bought in a store), and the
same old and new small or big patches (depending on the game) are still
offered on their own web platform, and the Patches Albion Prelude got are
not exceptionally big and most patches are cumulative in nature, so you
wouldn't fill up your space with outdated files anyway.
Besides, they run their own community with user created content and this
probably takes up more space than patches, but it was not shut down or
brought to another owner/place due to money issues...
This shift seems not to be a new way of dealing with piracy either...
2. Betesta Softworks:
More specific, the Elder Scrolls game series.
Elder Scrolls Oblivion was released (Windows) as a stand alone offline RPG
on DVD. There is downloadable content (free and paid) and two expansion
packs were created.
Now, we have Skyrim. This is the next title in the series.
And again suddenly we have an offline play based game which you have to buy
normally and to actually run it you again need a Steam account.
It is again not a matter of delivery of updates or downloadable content
(because the Betesta network is big enough to host such things).
Maybe it could be a new atempt at better copy protection, but then we have
console versions of this game.
If you buy console games on a disc and not as a download you don't have to
install third party software to run your game and you don't have to be
actually logged into your account to run your game, even if you can switch
to an offline modus in Steam...
But to force to be connected to the internet for every (first) startup of
your registered and legally bought program after you turned on your computer
is a bit overkill.
Even activating Office, Windows or even JAWS is not that hard provided you
do not alter your hardware permanently.
And same goes for IOS or Mac Apps you bought and have installed on your
device or Mac.
That's enough of me telling you this.
But I really hope that whatever you are going to do with your engine and
busines/sales model won't be harder to use for any user "just" because he or
she has Windows instead of possessing OSX or an IOS device.
---
Gamers mailing list __ [email protected]
If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected].
You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at
http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org.
All messages are archived and can be searched and read at
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected].
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list,
please send E-mail to [email protected].
