Steam Activation

I'm sure this post will be closed relatively quickly to get it down to the bottom of the forum posts but here goes.

When Sega/SI released the decision (very late and after the game had been available for pre-release for quite a while with no warnings that internet activation was a requirement may I add) that Steam was going to be a compulsory 3rd party application, not only needed to activate the product but to also have to stay on your system indefinately to play the game, it was met with shall we say a very mixed response.

Even on Steam one of the main news items on there is that there has been a huge amount of complaints from loyal fans of the series regardng the decision to make Steam compulsory to play the game.

Once the post was put up by Sega it attracted the most views and seemingly (before surprise surprise being closed and changed with a 'questions and answers' from Sega on just how safe and good Steam is!) some of the strongest criticism I would have thought the series has had in a long time and possibly ever. Now we know the official line, 'if you don't like it tough, we are doing it and you can't stop us' and yes Sega/SI are free to do as they please and we wil see how consumers react.

In the thread that was opened announcing this decision people were routinely being warned about 'trolling' (apparently if you consistently question the ethics and real reasons for the Steam decision and the way Steam actually works and the information it takes from your PC this is wrong but if you continually praise the decision or the game this isn't 'trolling' it's just good!). Some very very good questions were posted in that thread and some very real concerns were raised that SI/Sega got nowhere near answering. Yes there was the usual tantrums in there but surely the Forums are for debate, free speech, and the Community to make people aware if they are happy or unhappy with the direction the game is going or has Sega also taken that away from us as well!

Also new posts being added again questioning the decision regarding Steam are being closed straight away with a 'yeah we heard it all before go away' type of response. Even though some of these posts seem to be asking similar type questions they are still relevant and I personaly feel shouldn't just be closed because they are not what the companies running this game want to hear. Yes we have had a few before but you don't close the 'this games great' threads even though there may be quite a few of them do you!

So in general I just wanted to start this thread airing my above views and making it clear to Sega/SI (just from my personal view but seems alot of other people feel similarly) that the decision to make Steam compulsory not just for activation but to play the game was handled extremely poorly and insensitively.

The reasons given were fine, companies are after profit and they don't care about consumers unless the decison hits their profits then all of a sudden we are important again.

SI/Sega can do as they please they have that right but this game is different to alot of others. It is a community, the realism, the feedback, the passion is led by the community just as much as Sega/SI.

Yet this decision and the reasoning for it and the overall approach taken on these forums appears to make it clear, 'you're just not that important anymore unless you agree with what we have to say'.

I know some people love Steam but the issue isn't just about Steam. it's about the way it was handled and the attitude that has been given since that makes me think for the first time ever that the series is not for me.

The game has been a steamworks games for 2 years.. for god sake.. a modern pc game needs online activation.

If you cant handle this then you should stop playing pc games altogether.

No offense.

Last post to the thread I will make for obvious reasons.

Online activation isn't an issue, a 3rd party application forced on me to play the game and to stay on my system all the time I want to play it is.

There are alternative methods available and they haven't been chosen.

Just my opinion, each to their own.

You might want to get your facts straight before posting rants...

It was announced that the game would have to be activated through steam when the game was announced....

Steam is like a DRM without the annoying parts in my opinion.

You can turn on offline mode and never touch it again.

Steam is like a DRM without the annoying parts in my opinion.

You can turn on offline mode and never touch it again.

I wish this was like facebook and I could click "like" on this one.

Steam is an awesome third party product in my opinion. One activation and you are done!

Put yourself in their shoes. You make a product.....it's a really good product and it's going to make you rich! Unfortunatley only 1/4 of people actually buy it because the rest have found a way to get it for free! Sorry.....you're only going to cover costs and not get rich after all...unlucky!

I'm sure all of the options to limit piracy were looked at, but right now it would appear that the best option available is through steam! Maybe if more people (alot of whom I'm sure use this forum) bought the game then this problem wouldn't exist.

Put simply.....SI are stuck between a rock a hard place. They don't want to force us to use Steam but as a company, if you're losing that much money then steps need to be taken to attempt to fix it!

Your assumptions about our rationale for doing this are incorrect. We are sorry if it's not for you, of course, and we'd prefer not to lose any customers at all - but we feel the benefits of using Steam outweigh the negatives. Like the game itself, every decision we take risks alienating people who prefer "the way it was before".

If you have any specific questions regarding the implementation of Steam then please do let us know. However, I'm going to close this thread - I feel that 42 pages was enough for us to determine that some people were not happy - I don't feel the need to trawl through the debate again, as we're a few hours from releasing and the decision will obviously not be changed at this point.

I remain available via message if you have any specific queries.

Cheers

Matt