A Message On Football Manager 2012 Activation

[Foxo]

This is why we're going to provide as much customer care as we can in regards to FM and Steam. If you're having issues with offline mode, we'll be able to try and help. With offline, the best way to get it to work would be, for example with FM12, would be once the game is installed, set Steam to offline mode and set it to start in offline mode. Close Steam, disconnect from the Internet and launch the game. It should launch with no issues.

Neil are you SERIOUSLY SUGGESTING that people play FM with their internet entirely turned off? So the entire community that is FM gamers goes totally bust because you've "allied" with a platform that doesn't work properly for a large number of users in offline mode?

[milnerpoint]

I get the impression that there are people within SI who are sympathetic towards the no to Steam group but for obvious corporate reason their hands are tied on this issue. I'm basing this one the tone of some of thep post that I've read & the fact the the likes of Neil are still posting at this late hour on a Friday & this leads on to the customer service point, how many companies can you think off that would have key employees communicating with their consumer base in this way?

I believe people do not fully understand what true customer srevice is, what it isn't is bending over backwards to change a situation that cannot be changed to suit the needs of a minority, for those that have not been paying attention I am part of that minority who do not want a 100% Steam activation system.

i was just thinking the very same! We may not agree on the steam thing but your right there are few compaines who would do the same.

[arsenal_2111]

Actually we're simply stating the facts. What else are we supposed to say? People who aren't willing to use Steam won't be able to play Football Manager 2012. No-one has written "If you don't like it - tough" anywhere.

Sometimes you don't need to say something so bluntly for it to appear in a certain way. If someone doesn't want to use Steam, they won't be able to play the game. So, if they don't like it, what exactly should they do? They won't be able to play FM12.

To me, that seems like an extended version of 'if you don't like it - tough'.

Personally, I really don't like Steam. I'm not going to say I won't buy or play FM12 because of it, because I probably will. But that's not to say I don't strongly disagree with the decision - and that includes making us use Steam as well as the motives behind it, as I really can't see it affecting piracy levels (especially in the way you're hoping).

Whilst I'm likely to play FM12, I'm becoming more and more disillusioned by action such as this and I have to say that I'm not sure how much longer I'll be a player of the FM series.

[Pangaea]

This means I will not buy FM 12. Or any future games if this policy persists.

Simple as.

[BuryBlade]

i was just thinking the very same! We may not agree on the steam thing but your right there are few compaines who would do the same.

As a customer service advisor myself, I have to agree with you; hats off to them for still being up responding, even if I am totally against the idea of Steam being involved.

[SeanNUFC]

Neil are you SERIOUSLY SUGGESTING that people play FM with their internet entirely turned off? So the entire community that is FM gamers goes totally bust because you've "allied" with a platform that doesn't work properly for a large number of users in offline mode?

Think you've completely missed the point and misread everything.

[Guest]

Im in the bracket that Im not really fussed with this change

Nearly spat my beer out at the post on a previous page with a poster stating they had no access to the internet whilst posting on an online forum

If he was posting before 5pm he might have been on the skive at work or he could have been using his 3G mobile.

You are correct in saying that some of those complaining are doing so because it's a nice bandwagon to jump on.

I'm not keen on installing Steam because I had major issues with it in the past, granted that would have been 3 or 4 years ago but a negative experience of a product is hard to shake no matter how hard the marketing types tell you it's better. Trust is easy to lose, tough to gain & even harder to get a second time around.

[Smurf]

You don't have to turn your internet off. You can just set Steam to Offline Mode. That was just an added step for people with delusions of people hacking their computers, imo.

[jptykes]

Im in the bracket that Im not really fussed with this change

Nearly spat my beer out at the post on a previous page with a poster stating they had no access to the internet whilst posting on an online forum

Maybe he was posting from work or via a mobile phone?

[Foxo]

You don't have to turn your internet off. You can just set Steam to Offline Mode. That was just an added step for people with delusions of people hacking their computers, imo.

Neil suggested turning internet off to make Steam stay in offline mode. Mine stays in offline mode then crashes after 20 minutes when it discovers a connection and wants to connect. Steam can't help, they've tried. What am I meant to do?

[tattoman65]

This is the real and only reason why they want you to use steam .

Regional restrictions and pricing

Steam allows developers and publishers to change prices and restrict game availability depending on the user's location. This can cause some games to cost more than retail prices, despite digital distribution removing the costs of manufacturing, packaging, design, and logistics

Some games purchased in one region become unplayable if user moves to another.

Steam allows developers and publishers to change prices and restrict game availability depending on the user's location. This can cause some games to cost more than retail prices, despite digital distribution removing the costs of manufacturing, packaging, design, and logistics.

Valve also restricts game registration and playability to the buyer's country of residence. One example of this regional restriction can be seen where Valve uses Steam's authentication to prevent boxed versions of their games sold in Russia and Thailand, which are priced significantly lower than elsewhere, from being used outside those territories.

Steam offers products in four currencies: US Dollar, Euro, Pound Sterling and Russian Ruble. The currency is selected automatically based on the user's location, and cannot be changed. Steam has been heavily criticized by European users for pricing games much higher in Eurozone countries.

[Kriss]

Sometimes you don't need to say something so bluntly for it to appear in a certain way. If someone doesn't want to use Steam, they won't be able to play the game. So, if they don't like it, what exactly should they do? They won't be able to play FM12.

To me, that seems like an extended version of 'if you don't like it - tough'.

Personally, I really don't like Steam. I'm not going to say I won't buy or play FM12 because of it, because I probably will. But that's not to say I don't strongly disagree with the decision - and that includes making us use Steam as well as the motives behind it, as I really can't see it affecting piracy levels (especially in the way you're hoping).

Whilst I'm likely to play FM12, I'm becoming more and more disillusioned by action such as this and I have to say that I'm not sure how much longer I'll be a player of the FM series.

That's how you and others are choosing to interpret it, they could equally well be saying we deeply regret it but for FM12 you will need to authenticate via Steam, can't say I've seen any SI/sega staff putting it in the offensive way you've chosen to interpret it.

[SeanNUFC]

Neil suggested turning internet off to make Steam stay in offline mode. Mine stays in offline mode then crashes after 20 minutes when it discovers a connection and wants to connect. Steam can't help, they've tried. What am I meant to do?

Er, why not just play with the internet on? Avoid all problems then ?

[asdpoo]

This is the real and only reason why they want you to use steam .

Regional restrictions and pricing

Steam allows developers and publishers to change prices and restrict game availability depending on the user's location. This can cause some games to cost more than retail prices, despite digital distribution removing the costs of manufacturing, packaging, design, and logistics

Some games purchased in one region become unplayable if user moves to another.

Steam allows developers and publishers to change prices and restrict game availability depending on the user's location. This can cause some games to cost more than retail prices, despite digital distribution removing the costs of manufacturing, packaging, design, and logistics.

Valve also restricts game registration and playability to the buyer's country of residence. One example of this regional restriction can be seen where Valve uses Steam's authentication to prevent boxed versions of their games sold in Russia and Thailand, which are priced significantly lower than elsewhere, from being used outside those territories.

Steam offers products in four currencies: US Dollar, Euro, Pound Sterling and Russian Ruble. The currency is selected automatically based on the user's location, and cannot be changed. Steam has been heavily criticized by European users for pricing games much higher in Eurozone countries.

Steam (Valve) doesn't price anything, publishers (SEGA) do. But yeah, it enables them to do that.

[Foxo]

Er, why not just play with the internet on? Avoid all problems then ?

I don't avoid all problems because I commute 2-3 hours a day when I regularly play FM. How am I meant to be online and avoid problems? I can't be.

[Scott_Allen]

Just thought I would add my bit to this topic as well... Absolutely hate steam had it for 09 or 10 not sure which! Seriously disappointed at the decision from Sega! I have bought many legit copies over the years along with playing FML when that was around but this whole steam thing is a bit silly...surely there must be another way of activating this?

[BuryBlade]

That's how you and others are choosing to interpret it, they could equally well be saying we deeply regret it but for FM12 you will need to authenticate via Steam, can't say I've seen any SI/sega staff putting it in the offensive way you've chosen to interpret it.

Kriss- had it been written like you have put it then fair enough- but it was written- ''People who aren't willing to use Steam won't be able to play Football Manager 2012.''

That is pretty blunt and fairly cold/harsh imo. Your lexical choices are much more effective when it comes to this customer service side of things.

[tattoman65]

And also read your steam account terms .........

Authentication

It is necessary to authenticate every Steam game online, whether purchased via Steam itself or installed via a retail disc, the first time it is played.[90] After the initial authentication, an offline mode allows games to be run without being connected to your Steam account.

According to the Steam Subscriber Agreement, Steam's availability is not guaranteed and Valve is under no legal obligation to release an update disabling the authentication system in the event that Steam becomes permanently unavailable

More reasons to not buy this years game

[Smurf]

Neil suggested turning internet off to make Steam stay in offline mode. Mine stays in offline mode then crashes after 20 minutes when it discovers a connection and wants to connect. Steam can't help, they've tried. What am I meant to do?

Reconnect and the turn to offline mode again.

There's something wrong with your computer. That's not normal behaviour. I suggest you consult a pro.

[Foxo]

Reconnect and the turn to offline mode again.

There's something wrong with your computer. That's not normal behaviour. I suggest you consult a pro.

It's not my computer, it's my Steam account. This is my 3rd laptop this problem has happened on, and it isn't my internet either as i've moved house twice. Steam suggested a new account as the solution. I asked if they would move all the games bought on my old account over, about £50 worth. They said no I had to buy them again. This is what people mean by awful customer service.

[MAINBOY]

I downloaded the FM 11 demo from Steam last year and it crashed every time i played it. Here's hoping it doesn't do that with FM 12.

[dafuge]

This means I will not buy FM 12. Or any future games if this policy persists.

Simple as.

As unhappy as I am about this decision, I can't take it that far. I'll suck it up just to play FM.

[Chris Ritchie]

It's not my computer, it's my Steam account. This is my 3rd laptop this problem has happened on, and it isn't my internet either as i've moved house twice. Steam suggested a new account as the solution. I asked if they would move all the games bought on my old account over, about £50 worth. They said no I had to buy them again. This is what people mean by awful customer service.

Haha, that's brilliant

[tattoman65]

Also more hot news why not to use steam ..

Electronic Arts

In July 2011, several Electronic Arts games were removed from Steam. EA has stated that this is because of disputes over Valve's policies regarding how Downloadable Content can be distributed to Steam users

[reece1973]

Been using Steam with FM for 3 years now and never had problems.

No issues whatsoever playing with no internet connection either and no problems playing when connected to the internet too.

[SeanNUFC]

It's not my computer, it's my Steam account. This is my 3rd laptop this problem has happened on, and it isn't my internet either as i've moved house twice. Steam suggested a new account as the solution. I asked if they would move all the games bought on my old account over, about £50 worth. They said no I had to buy them again. This is what people mean by awful customer service.

I don't think it's a good idea to play fm when you're 'commuting' then.

[Guest]

Reconnect and the turn to offline mode again.

There's something wrong with your computer. That's not normal behaviour. I suggest you consult a pro.

Can you not accept that as is the way with all PC software Steam cannot be be 100% perfect on every system?

[tattoman65]

Been using Steam with FM for 3 years now and never had problems.

No issues whatsoever playing with no internet connection either and no problems playing when connected to the internet too.

iv been useing saga forums for years .. never had problems .................. Then our accounts got Hacked

it will happen on steam ...not if but when ... more reasons not to use steam

[Kriss]

Haha, that's brilliant

Yeh, they offered him a date with the tooth fairy as compo too:rolleyes:

[SeanNUFC]

iv been useing saga forums for years .. never had problems .................. Then our accounts got Hacked

it will happen on steam ...not if but when ... more reasons not to use steam

Ahhh, now the paranoia tactic. Nice.

[Foxo]

I don't think it's a good idea to play fm when you're 'commuting' then.

so you're basically saying I can't play FM when I mostly would do this year, as is my entire point. Well done for confirming it.

[Chris Ritchie]

so you're basically saying I can't play FM when I mostly would do this year, as is my entire point. Well done for confirming it.

Steam will tell you when it's appropriate to play the game you purchased, don't worry.

[SeanNUFC]

so you're basically saying I can't play FM when I mostly would do this year, as is my entire point. Well done for confirming it.

I can't play FM atm when i want to either, that's just the way life works sometimes. Would never bother playing it when travelling whatever the situation either.

[reece1973]

iv been useing saga forums for years .. never had problems .................. Then our accounts got Hacked

it will happen on steam ...not if but when ... more reasons not to use steam

All part of life im afraid.

You dont not use a bank card because of fear of someone cloning your card or not travel on a plane because someone may blow it up.

Jesus so many people cry over some things that are so little to worry about.

[Smurf]

Can you not accept that as is the way with all PC software Steam cannot be be 100% perfect on every system?

Yeh and neither will a lot of software.

If Steam doesn't work then take it up with Steam to resolve the issue or as said earlier SI want to help too so perhaps they can be contacted to accelerate your case?

But stating that Steam wont' be 100% perfect on every system is a no-brainer. No software can be guaranteed to work 100% of the time on any computer, including Fm12.

[tattoman65]

And my last take on all this is :

many games get downloaded and cracked ... but no one will buy rubbish games ..

if you had a cracked copy of a game that you really liked .. i bet you would wanna buy the game .. which happens in most cases ..

so this new plan by SI . is wrong and undermines there very own game

[Foxo]

I can't play FM atm when i want to either, that's just the way life works sometimes. Would never bother playing it when travelling whatever the situation either.

Well for this year it's the only chance I'm going to get and I'd rather that than give up FM completely. And Steam replied to my support ticket I submitted earlier asking for some clarification on what they could do. Well I say replied. They just marked it as resolved. It isn't bloody resolved lol!!!

[Chris Ritchie]

I can't play FM atm when i want to either, that's just the way life works sometimes. Would never bother playing it when travelling whatever the situation either.

You can't compare not being able to play FM due to being at work to a third party piece of software stopping you playing FM when there's no internet connection available Ridiculous argument.

[reece1973]

Its like when so many people cried over not being able to play online when the playstation network went down.

Yes it was annoying but bloody hell get a life and do something else for a few weeks.

[arsenal_2111]

And my last take on all this is :

many games get downloaded and cracked ... but no one will buy rubbish games ..

if you had a cracked copy of a game that you really liked .. i bet you would wanna buy the game .. which happens in most cases ..

so this new plan by SI . is wrong and undermines there very own game

As much as I'm against the move, the bold statement seems ridiculous.

[Guest]

Yeh and neither will a lot of software.

If Steam doesn't work then take it up with Steam to resolve the issue or as said earlier SI want to help too so perhaps they can be contacted to accelerate your case?

But stating that Steam wont' be 100% perfect on every system is a no-brainer. No software can be guaranteed to work 100% of the time on any computer, including Fm12.

I'm glad you agree as some of your posts came across as if it's all in our imagination & steam is a wonderful product that brings nothing but joy to the user.

Its like when so many people cried over not being able to play online when the playstation network went down.

Yes it was annoying but bloody hell get a life and do something else for a few weeks.

But this isn't a few weeks of service denial is it, legitimate potential purchaser's of the game are being denied access if they are unwilling or unable to activate the game via Steam.

[Chris Ritchie]

Yeh and neither will a lot of software.

If Steam doesn't work then take it up with Steam to resolve the issue or as said earlier SI want to help too so perhaps they can be contacted to accelerate your case?

But stating that Steam wont' be 100% perfect on every system is a no-brainer. No software can be guaranteed to work 100% of the time on any computer, including Fm12.

But the whole point is that Steam is unnecessary in order for FM to function and yet is capable of stopping it doing so.

[pigfacemonkeyman]

Getting fairly brassed off with "I'm alright Jack" posts.

[Kriss]

You can't compare not being able to play FM due to being at work to a third party piece of software stopping you playing FM when there's no internet connection available Ridiculous argument.

So you seize on one persons unproven claim of a possible problem with steam as definite proof of the end of the world, seems you're struggling even to convince yourself;)

[SeanNUFC]

You can't compare not being able to play FM due to being at work to a third party piece of software stopping you playing FM when there's no internet connection available Ridiculous argument.

I'm saying if it isn't working well for him now it probably isn't the best idea in the first place. Understand yet?

[MSCCG]

I'm worried about how many machines I can install the game on and whether I can pass the game off to a friend when I buy FM13.

[Foxo]

I'm saying if it isn't working well for him now it probably isn't the best idea in the first place. Understand yet?

Steam hasn't worked in a satisfactory manner for 15 months. For 15 months I have pestered Steam for a response and some help on what to do. They haven't been able to identify what the issue is. They haven't contacted me with a satisfactory solution. Every so often they just mark my ticket as resolved when I submit one. If the customer service were decent, and the software worked fine on my system, I would have no issue with this. As it is, it doesn't.

[reece1973]

I'm worried about how many machines I can install the game on and whether I can pass the game off to a friend when I buy FM13.

pass it off to a friend??? so basically your happy to pay for the game but also happy to pass it around to your friends as long as its free for them??

[Chris Ritchie]

So you seize on one persons unproven claim of a possible problem with steam as definite proof of the end of the world, seems you're struggling even to convince yourself;)

I've known plenty of people to have issues with Steam. Not usually huge ones, but enough to occasionally prevent access to the games they've paid for. That's the primary reason I won't use Steam - any time it's stopping you using the products you own, even a few minutes, is too much.

Out of interest, what does anyone here have to gain by making up lies about Steam failing them?

[Kriss]

I'm worried about how many machines I can install the game on and whether I can pass the game off to a friend when I buy FM13.

As many as you want and no you can't.