Buy on Steam or direct? Does it matter?

[Layney]

I have Steam and I was wondering, is there any difference between buying the game on Steam vs. buying a code direct from Basilisk?

I read that Steam isn't very good at updating the patches. So why bother with Steam at all, if it adds nothing but gives you slow patches instead?

[IJBall]

I have Steam and I was wondering, is there any difference between buying the game on Steam vs. buying a code direct from Basilisk?

I read that Steam isn't very good at updating the patches. So why bother with Steam at all, if it adds nothing but gives you slow patches instead?

I don't use Steam, so take this for what it's worth - but I would highly recommend buying directly from Basilisk Games. That way you can update (Book II, at least) any time you want, and you won't have the Steam-specific issues (e.g. bugs) that sometime crop up. Just IMHO.

(Now, Book I? You might be better off to get via Steam, as that way you won't have to pester BW for a new downloads link every time there update to Book I...)

[AstralWanderer]

Bear in mind that any and all Steam purchases rely on your account being in good order - i.e. Valve can pull the plug on your Steam software collection at any time (an example of this happening can be found here). They could also bring in an annual (or even monthly) fee to keep accounts open - with 25 million claimed active accounts, a $5/month fee could bring in $1.35 billion/year (assuming a 90% take-up rate) with little extra effort for them.

In contrast, purchasing from Basilisk gets you a DRM-free version that you can download from multiple sources, including BitTorrent (see the GamersHell download page). You only need to keep a note of your registration key (if you've not already done so, it would be a good idea to create a file containing the keys for all purchased software - this makes subsequent installs easier and can be backed up for security).

[Pnume]

Bear in mind that any and all Steam purchases rely on your account being in good order - i.e. Valve can pull the plug on your Steam software collection at any time (an example of this happening can be found here).

Assuming this guy is genuine:

Steam is a little bit extreme but they are just protecting their asses. The real problem here is paypal. At least with a bank you would never have this problem as proving your identy is just a formality.
This guy has 2 solution instead of whining: Either he threaten to sue steam (or do it directly) or he propose to pay the 5 $ and the issue is settled!

They could also bring in an annual (or even monthly) fee to keep accounts open - with 25 million claimed active accounts, a $5/month fee could bring in $1.35 billion/year (assuming a 90% take-up rate) with little extra effort for them.

No they can't do that or more exactly not without lethal legal repercution. This is just the kind of misleaded hoax you can find on internet against steam. Bear in mind that you don't buy a game to steam but through steam. The final responsability would be against the game editors and they would sue valve for that.

Did you actually read steam's general conditions and find that it is their right to do so?

No chance in the universe that steam would do that but steam could go bankrupt! Many editors (not all ) have said that in such case they would find an alternate solution asap!

[AstralWanderer]

Steam is a little bit extreme but they are just protecting their asses. The real problem here is paypal.

Valve could have chosen to just block access to the game in question rather than the poster's entire account - other posters in that thread have reported similar experiences so it would seem unlikely to be fabrication.

And while Paypal may have been the root cause in this case, the same problem would apply if you were to dispute a payment with Valve. In any other situation, you'd be able to request a chargeback via your credit card issuer - try that with Steam and your entire collection goes bye-bye.

No they can't do that or more exactly not without lethal legal repercution. This is just the kind of misleaded hoax you can find on internet against steam. Bear in mind that you don't buy a game to steam but through steam. The final responsability would be against the game editors and they would sue valve for that.

Did you actually read steam's general conditions and find that it is their right to do so?

Yes, and this is covered in section 4B of their subscriber agreement, to quote:

" Valve reserves the right to change our fees or billing methods at any time and Valve will provide notice...If any change is unacceptable to you, you may cancel your Account or a particular Subscription at any time as described below, but Valve will not refund any fees that may have accrued..."

Given that you are paying in advance for software on Steam, what other use could such a section have other than to open the way for a future subscription charge?

No chance in the universe that steam would do that but steam could go bankrupt! Many editors (not all ) have said that in such case they would find an alternate solution asap!

How would an extra $1 Billion income cause a company to go bankrupt?

As for an alternate solution, forget it - very few people with $1,000+ of purchases from Steam are going to walk away from that over a $5/month fee whatever they may care to say. It would also be easy for Valve to sweeten the deal ("spend more than $120 in a year and we'll refund the fees for that year!") to blunt criticism. The only downside for them would be in deterring new signups but that can be dealt with by signing up more Steam exclusives.

[Pnume]

Steam is a little bit extreme but they are just protecting their asses. The real problem here is paypal.

Valve could have chosen to just block access to the game in question rather than the poster's entire account - other posters in that thread have reported similar experiences so it would seem unlikely to be fabrication.

And while Paypal may have been the root cause in this case, the same problem would apply if you were to dispute a payment with Valve. In any other situation, you'd be able to request a chargeback via your credit card issuer - try that with Steam and your entire collection goes bye-bye.

You still have the option to sue steam.

No they can't do that or more exactly not without lethal legal repercution. This is just the kind of misleaded hoax you can find on internet against steam. Bear in mind that you don't buy a game to steam but through steam. The final responsability would be against the game editors and they would sue valve for that.

Did you actually read steam's general conditions and find that it is their right to do so?

Yes, and this is covered in section 4B of their subscriber agreement, to quote:

" Valve reserves the right to change our fees or billing methods at any time and Valve will provide notice...If any change is unacceptable to you, you may cancel your Account or a particular Subscription at any time as described below, but Valve will not refund any fees that may have accrued..."

Given that you are paying in advance for software on Steam, what other use could such a section have other than to open the way for a future subscription charge?

In my understanding this clause refer to recuring fees for some obscure services. If they decide to change their fees and you don't cancel your account they will start charging your credit card these new fees.

It is not related to past on-shot transactions.

No chance in the universe that steam would do that but steam could go bankrupt! Many editors (not all ) have said that in such case they would find an alternate solution asap!

How would an extra $1 Billion income cause a company to go bankrupt?

As for an alternate solution, forget it - very few people with $1,000+ of purchases from Steam are going to walk away from that over a $5/month fee whatever they may care to say. It would also be easy for Valve to sweeten the deal ("spend more than $120 in a year and we'll refund the fees for that year!") to blunt criticism. The only downside for them would be in deterring new signups but that can be dealt with by signing up more Steam exclusives.

[/quote]

Even if contractually they could do that a juge could consider that the client (everybody knows that the average customer never read sales condition) was lead to beleive that no additional fees could be charge to use an already bought game. I don't think that even with ugky conditions they could go this way safely.

[AstralWanderer]

You still have the option to sue steam.

Which would take months (at least) to resolve during which time you'd have your Steam account access blocked - not a viable option for most I'd suggest. And that option is only realistically available to US customers - Valve has no legal presence in Europe that I can determine, so EU customers would have to file suit in Washington over any disputes.

In my understanding this clause refer to recuring fees for some obscure services. If they decide to change their fees and you don't cancel your account they will start charging your credit card these new fees.

And that clause can be used to implement a subscription fee also. It's original purpose is irrelevant.

Even if contractually they could do that a juge could consider that the client (everybody knows that the average customer never read sales condition) was lead to beleive that no additional fees could be charge to use an already bought game. I don't think that even with ugky conditions they could go this way safely.

EULAs (whether read or not by consumers) have been legally upheld in US courts previously - examples here and here.

Even if Valve had to justify an annual/monthly fee in court, there are a number of grounds on which they could do so:

• to cover ongoing costs of running Steam (servers, bandwidth, staff) which don't exist with once-off purchases elsewhere;
• to cover the "value-added" services they offer (forums, social networking, online player matching);
• to provide access to "special offers" - i.e. argue that Steam is a club offering regular "discounts" to members.

[Unreal2004]

I would personally use Impulse from Stardock, great support and fast patches without all the hassle of Steam. Plus you can use it on many different computers as well and not be locked to one. Also Stardocks/Impulse customer service has always been great to me.

[Layney]

I would personally use Impulse from Stardock, great support and fast patches without all the hassle of Steam. Plus you can use it on many different computers as well and not be locked to one. Also Stardocks/Impulse customer service has always been great to me.

I've had horrible experience with Impulse. They took forever to get a working patch for Company of Heroes' expansion.

Also, you are NOT limited to one computer with Steam, you may use your Steam account on as many PCs as you like, but you may only be logged in on ONE computer at a time.

It's my understanding Impulse has this same restriction.

[Unreal2004]

I would personally use Impulse from Stardock, great support and fast patches without all the hassle of Steam. Plus you can use it on many different computers as well and not be locked to one. Also Stardocks/Impulse customer service has always been great to me.

I've had horrible experience with Impulse. They took forever to get a working patch for Company of Heroes' expansion.

Also, you are NOT limited to one computer with Steam, you may use your Steam account on as many PCs as you like, but you may only be logged in on ONE computer at a time.

It's my understanding Impulse has this same restriction.

Not to start a war now between the two but Impulse is MUCH more friendly when it comes to being overseas and have a US account for purchases, Steam will not let you download unless you contact them every time and even then it was a hassle to get X2/X3. I wish I would have a good enough video card for CoH but with this crappy Intel 4 series mobile even EB2 plays at about 34 from what the options menu shows, 19 in a cave In the end I think it just comes down to where and what you purchase, I have both Steam and Impulse and both work great (except the offline part of Steam occasionally).

[sweeper240]

Does the Steam version of Book 2 have the expansion?

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Does the Steam version of Book 2 have the expansion?

At the moment NO version of Book 2 has the expansion, as it won't be released until October according to BW's latest update. When it is released, he will be sending files to Steam as well as all of the other services and it should automatically update your version if you bought from them. In theory as I understand the service, so your mileage may vary, and I make no comment about their efficiency in pushing out the update once BW sends it to them.

[botski]

I dont know how much the patch matters, but me Steam version that I just purchased is sitting at 1.03 and it appears that the regular version is 1.04. I wish I would have known that before going through Steam. Also, Steam doesnt have a forum for either Eschalon games.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I dont know how much the patch matters, but me Steam version that I just purchased is sitting at 1.03 and it appears that the regular version is 1.04. I wish I would have known that before going through Steam. Also, Steam doesnt have a forum for either Eschalon games.

All I can say is that Eschalon fans who bought their games on Steam need to make a lot of noise in their direction.

I've given them the updates, then they emailed back and said "test these updates out via this private beta test link and make sure they are correct." After downloading all four games (Win Book 1 & 2, Mac Book 1 & 2), I discovered that none of the games were actually updated except for one, and that one didn't seem to work right anyways. I told them this, and I never heard back.

So, if you were Valve and you were making millions of dollars on Fallout 3: New Vegas pre-orders, would you really give a second thought about some little indie RPG like Eschalon? Me neither. So, everyone who is upset at the way Steam handles these updates needs to send emails their way. Only when they realize they have upset customers are they likely to do anything.

As for Book II 1.04, at this point I'd save my energy for the 1.05 update. It's just a few weeks away and hopefully we can get Steam to give us some attention and get the update online quickly. But all of you may need to yell really loud about it.

[botski]

I contacted Steam concerning 1.04 patch and they replied:

"Hello Bill, Thank you for contacting Steam Support. Patches for third party games can only be distributed through Steam once the following two actions have occurred: (1) The Publisher has provided us with the necessary files (2) The Publisher has given us permission to release the update The latest patches will be released as soon as possible, and will be downloaded automatically when available. If you have questions about the availability of a specific patch, please contact the support department for the game in question. Your patience is appreciated, please let us know if you have any other questions. "

I now wish I would have bought the DVD, but I was too pumped after finishing Book 1 two times to wait for snail mail.