Steam vs Gamersgate

So I am looking for some advice.

On the 5th I will be purchasing Football Manager as a digital download for the first time...ever. I have never bought anything off of steam but use gamersgate quite often and I am very happy with them.

Now, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't purchase FM through gamersgate but would like to hear from those that have used steam or both what their take is. Why would one be better over the other? I realize with steam you get automatic updates but as I understand it you have to always be connected to their servers to play. Something about that doesn't sit right with me for some reason.

If I download off of gamersgate I could easily just download the patches myself as they are released. It is what I have always done with the boxed versions anyway.

So what are your views? Steam or Gamersgate?

Based on what you've said, I would go with Gamersgate.

It's not the choice I made - being connected to Steam doesn't bother me, and I like the convenience of automatic patching. But had either of those circumstances been different for me, I would have made a different decision. If that makes sense.

Gamersgate is a good store, iv spent 100s of euros there.

BUT, the gamersgate version of FM11 uses uniloc it seems.

so id go with steam.

you could also get it from here http://www.greenmangaming.com/games/football-manager-2011/ (you need to activate it on steam and download but its cheaper)

but as I understand it you have to always be connected to their servers to play.

That's not true, you need an internet connection to download the game (and to install updates) but it isn't required to play the game.

Gamersgate is a good store, iv spent 100s of euros there.

BUT, the gamersgate version of FM11 uses uniloc it seems.

so id go with steam.

you could also get it from here http://www.greenmangaming.com/games/football-manager-2011/ (you need to activate it on steam and download but its cheaper)

So that greenman gaming site will send a code to use in STEAM at midnight on the 4th?

Basicly its like using STEAM, just cheaper?

So that greenman gaming site will send a code to use in STEAM at midnight on the 4th?

Basicly its like using STEAM, just cheaper?

They will send you a steam code, that you activate on release.

This game requires Steam in order to install and run and so cannot be traded or refunded.

Special Pre-purchase Offer

If you pre-purchase Football Manager 2011 now, you'll get 20 SEGA MegaDrive Classics games for Free! That's 21 SEGA games for just £29.99.

How Pre-purchase Works

When you pre-purchase a game from Green Man Gaming, you are guaranteeing that you will be one of the first to get your hands on this game. Football Manager 2011 will be unlocked and available for download the moment it is released. Any keys you need to play the game will be e-mailed to you at the same time

I'm using a 3rd option personally, downloading from Game.co.uk, £27.99 and just a direct download. Prefer that to having to open Steam every time I play, as with the demo.

Okay, seems nice

However I have a doubt.

When I made an account, I did not have to fill in anything in regards to region. So I was able to checkout with the FM11 version at 40 dollars. Thats pretty cheap for, living in Denmark, compared to the normal stupid prices in Euroes I have to pay.

However When I look around on the sire, its says currency is determined by region. So when I go to checkout and pay, and fill in my details, could I risk the site changing to euro, and me edning up not saving anything in the end?

At any rate, do you know if they draw the money right away, or wait until they send the code come midnight on the 4th?

Okay, seems nice

However I have a doubt.

When I made an account, I did not have to fill in anything in regards to region. So I was able to checkout with the FM11 version at 40 dollars. Thats pretty cheap for, living in Denmark, compared to the normal stupid prices in Euroes I have to pay.

However When I look around on the sire, its says currency is determined by region. So when I go to checkout and pay, and fill in my details, could I risk the site changing to euro, and me edning up not saving anything in the end?

At any rate, do you know if they draw the money right away, or wait until they send the code come midnight on the 4th?

I'm from Norway and I used paypal (unsure if there is other payment options) and I paid 29,99 pounds.. thats 33 euros.

steam wants 50 euros.

and yes with paypal they charge you right away.

I prefer Steam, you don't have to worry about any of the DRM other than Steam itself. You get achievements which although a very superficial thing add replay value to the game, theres automatic patching and Steam's community based features are better than GamersGate aswell if still rather lacking. If you can get it for the same price on Steam go for that.

I used to hate Steam and the idea of digital games before someone gifted me a copy of Mount and Blade on Steam and ever since then I've been a convert. Especially to Steam's amazing sales, I got all three of the Red Faction games for about a fiver yesterday and Arkham Asylum for a tenner. In the past I've also got KOTOR for £1.98 or something around there, that's not even the price of a pint. All the games are kept in one easy to use place aswell, which is useful rather than having half a dozen different sources and installs all over the place.

Just so I'm clear, games purchased off of Steam only need their servers for the initial download and verification. Then after that you can play "offline" is that correct? The reason I ask is because I know that Steam's servers tend to go down every now and then and that would mean that whatever games you have would be unplayable until they came back up. But if you can play without having to be connected to Steam then that would be tops.

Just so I'm clear, games purchased off of Steam only need their servers for the initial download and verification. Then after that you can play "offline" is that correct? The reason I ask is because I know that Steam's servers tend to go down every now and then and that would mean that whatever games you have would be unplayable until they came back up. But if you can play without having to be connected to Steam then that would be tops.

You can set STEAM to offline mode. This means that steam is started in offline mode, with no need to connect to the internet. Then you can start manager

You will need to set steam to online mode to get patches tho

I've a question, if i needed to format my PC, does it need to buy the game again ?

I've a question, if i needed to format my PC, does it need to buy the game again ?

Not with steam, you can download steam to as many PCs you want, log in with your account and install any game you have linked with your account.

I'm using a 3rd option personally, downloading from Game.co.uk, £27.99 and just a direct download. Prefer that to having to open Steam every time I play, as with the demo.

Got FM10 from them, they were great, sent me the download a couple of hours early. Once I had to contact them because I was changing PC and lost my download link, they responded within minutes with a new link. They'll get my money again this year.

I'm using a 3rd option personally, downloading from Game.co.uk, £27.99 and just a direct download. Prefer that to having to open Steam every time I play, as with the demo.

I never open Steam to play FM2010. I get a small prompt asking if I want to play in offline mode; I agree; and the game launches.

Yea same here, it's just preferable to me to be able to download something once and not have to keep a programme always running in the background, offline mode or not.

Got FM10 from them, they were great, sent me the download a couple of hours early. Once I had to contact them because I was changing PC and lost my download link, they responded within minutes with a new link. They'll get my money again this year.

Haven't used other options so difficult to comment on those. Used steam to buy the last couple of FMs and have never had a problem. Game downloads in a decent time, automatic patch updates, can be played offline. Steam is a good option and one I will keep using simply because of the convenience of it all