A Message On Football Manager 2012 Activation

[soldierblue123]

I will as always buy the game. But I do resent being forced to use Steam.

[BayernMB]

Steam will have to be active any time you want to play FM, it always has to be on at the same time.

I think that in first year that FM was on Steam it was possible to run it without Steam, but not since...

[BayernMB]

I would be wary giving out advice like that on a public forum, your right, it can be done, but im not sure of the legalities of it all.

Thanks for the advice...but I'm sure it's "less illegal" than to use a no-cd crack

[milnerpoint]

Thanks for the advice...but I'm sure it's "less illegal" than to use a no-cd crack

in reality they are both as illegal as each other im afriad.

[CaptainPlanet]

So the only people this actually affects, are those that don't have the internet at all and can't get access to the internet for 60 seconds. And those who have a computer old enough (and probably below the recommended specs) that running a single extra application whilst the game is running affects performance of the game.

Why is there 20 pages of rage on this?

[Kriss]

Steam issues resolved now. Apparently, Steam was waiting for an update to Deus Ex that wasn't pushed out to me, so it stopped me from playing all the games in my library until it downloaded the patch.

Annoying.

Something Steam could do easily is make auto update off the default instead of on, I'm sure they see it as good for people that they don't consciously have to set it to update but I'm pretty sure FM users would prefer it the other way around.

[StoneColdA]

What do you do, if the ports for connecting to Steam are blocked ?

[Wakers]

Steam price in the EU; 49.99

I hope no one actually pays that.

[mantralux]

So the only people this actually affects, are those that don't have the internet at all and can't get access to the internet for 60 seconds. And those who have a computer old enough (and probably below the recommended specs) that running a single extra application whilst the game is running affects performance of the game.

Why is there 20 pages of rage on this?

No. It also affects most Mac users, as the Steam client for Mac is some kind of bloatware PC port that uses more resources than foreground apps like Google Chrome or Mail. It also affects those who constantly have problems with Steam - not connecting, crashes, won't let us play, etc - because if Steam isn't working, we can't play the game we bought.

Here's the deal though - it shouldn't affect anyone.

[CaptainPlanet]

Here's the deal though - it shouldn't affect anyone.

See it as a new minimum system spec. As well as a certain speed processor and certain graphics card, you now need the ability to run a piece of software at the same time.

And I bet that affects less customers than if they put up the minimum CPU requirement by a couple of years.

There is no reason why a PC or Mac with above the minimum system requirements can not run Steam at the same time as FM. And if there are problems there are lines of support to help with those problems. The customer impact is miniscule.

[milnerpoint]

No. It also affects most Mac users, as the Steam client for Mac is some kind of bloatware PC port that uses more resources than foreground apps like Google Chrome or Mail. It also affects those who constantly have problems with Steam - not connecting, crashes, won't let us play, etc - because if Steam isn't working, we can't play the game we bought.

Here's the deal though - it shouldn't affect anyone.

I thought the MAC steam client had been updated and now worked quite well? Have you used it recently?

[milnerpoint]

See it as a new minimum system spec. As well as a certain speed processor and certain graphics card, you now need the ability to run a piece of software at the same time.

And I bet that affects less customers than if they put up the minimum CPU requirement by a couple of years.

There is no reason why a PC or Mac with above the minimum system requirements can not run Steam at the same time as FM. And if there are problems there are lines of support to help with those problems. The customer impact is miniscule.

exactly, if people want to play FM, steam is now part of the system requirements, all these people who dont have internet access would also struggle if the directX needed updated, or if their graphics drivers were out of date and were causing an issue with FM, why is this treated any different to those situations?

[SuperManager]

Even better a never win bug

Much, MUCH, better than having to use Steam!

[x42bn6]

It's bound to be. But with the exception of FM2009, every version of FM has been available to pirate before the retail release. During that few days, every year, retail see pre-orders being cancelled. Every year retail see pre-orders not being collected, even those with "free gifts" and where deposits have been paid. If it can be made that those people who legitimately buy our games this year get to play it before those that are pirating, that will be a good thing. If it can be that way for a few months, weeks, or even days, after that release, we do believe it will make a big difference.

See, FM10 and FM11 weren't Steam-only. If they weren't leaked early, it's clearly not down to Steam.

Steam really makes no difference in this regard. There's a risk of a leak whether you use Steam-only authentication or not. Civilization V was leaked early.

If you are worried about leaks, then tighten up your controls.

We are also not saying that we believe that if the game isn't cracked, all of those previous pirates will buy it. I do not believe that 1 pirated copy = 1 lost sale. The vast majority of people who pirate it won't pay the money for it, certainly not at launch. But I do believe that a proportion of them will do. And those extra sales, for however long the game can be protected, will lead to an increase in dev budgets, and therefore better, or more, games for all.

You're unlikely to get better sales, simply because you've restricted the mechanism upon which users can start using your product. Steam can only reach a certain audience.

If only one car dealer exists in the world, car manufacturers will make less money than if there were two car dealers in the world (ideally competing against each other, of course).

Sure, your piracy rate might go down... But then again, that's meaningless if your sales figures don't increase to compensate for it.

Dave gave some stats out earlier which were slightly inaccurate. It's not the case that there are 3 people playing pirated copies of FM for every 1 legitimate customer - there are more than 4 people playing pirated copies of FM for every legitimate customer. And to the question on whether that takes into account people who have bought who play with CD cracks, it doesn't matter, as even if every single person who bought FM played with a CD crack, there would still be 3 people playing pirated versions for each 1 legitimate customer who has decided to install a 3rd party, illegal in the majority of countries, CD crack.

There could be a million people pirating per legitimate customer for all you care... It's the legitimate customers that matter to your bottom line.

But the reality is that those being negative in the 17 pages are mainly the same people - about 50 in total.

This is just a sample. There's more customers out there who are not going to buy, who aren't on these forums.

You've also lost goodwill from many people with this decision, something you may never get back. You've potentially lost future sales of future iterations, too.

[...] were just as disappointed to be losing some long term customers as I am - but that doesn't change the decision that has been made, nor change my belief that from the options we had, it's the best one for all.

... Except for those poor former customers you've annoyed.

There've been many posts about the problem being the installation of third party software on your machine, but that's just a part of life when it comes to PC games. Whether that be Direct X, graphics drivers, Windows/MacOS, font rendering technology, web browsing tech or other middleware, anytime you install a game, or application on your computer, you require third party software.

None of this requires specific registration which is a potential avenue for leaked personal details and point-of-failure. DirectX, drivers, OS, fonts and Internet connectivity is miles more established than Steam will ever be - these bits of software in themselves are very "thin". None of this is an inconvenience - middleware restricts what we can do (i.e. DirectX can only do DirectX-like things) but having it vastly outweighs the advantage of not having it.

I can think of advantage for "no Steam" against "Steam" for the customers, although I of course understand why established Steam users usually won't mind (barring the fact there's a loss of choice), so what is the outweighing advantage of this middleware known as Steam?

[Popider]

Popider, any thought given to this?

Regarding those who don't have an internet connection? My knowledge on this kind of demographic is sketchy at best so give me some slack if I'm ignorant in this regard. Where do you find people without access to the internet? It's tempting at first to say that every Football Manager incarnation will leave people behind - imagine a drastic leap forward in the 3d match engine... 90% would say "YES! this is what we've been asking for!" whereas 10% would say "wait a minute... so in other words I need a new/better computer with a better graphics card?" The problem with this argument is that it assumes people without internet have the choice to get it and 'should' have it "in this day and age".

As for those without that choice, I don't know. I know that coverage is pretty comprehensive in the UK and the ideal scenario is that anyone, with enough want, should be able to get onto the internet even for half an hour. The same can't be said for the rural United States or perhaps other poorer countries, but again I'm not knowledgeable on this. I know the forces are an example being mooted here - all I can say is that I hope SI/sega have a plan for them (which in itself would be an epic PR boost should any bright spark have a solution). Otherwise, it's just a matter of convenience and that tipping point before value for money.

I suppose I could make the point that a lot of modern games are practically unplayable without the internet anyway. The first patch in any game is almost vital - 2 PS3 games I played recently (FIFA11 and Bulletstorm) reached a point that I couldn't pass without a patch due to a bug. I'm sure not even Miles himself will claim that the unpatched FM12 will meet our expectations bugwise. I consider the patches essential and these need that same internet connection - so the people who you speak of are already left behind. The only difference being that you could overcome this with a USB key and co-operation with a helpful chum (who could in turn lend you the internet connection he used for the patch to install steam for the first time).

[Wakers]

Even better a never win bug

That's not a bug, that's a feature of the final release.

Pirates actually managed to win a league without their team suddenly losing all morale and ability half way through the season for no reason

[CaptainPlanet]

None of this requires specific registration which is a potential avenue for leaked personal details and point-of-failure. DirectX, drivers, OS, fonts and Internet connectivity is miles more established than Steam will ever be - these bits of software in themselves are very "thin". None of this is an inconvenience - middleware restricts what we can do (i.e. DirectX can only do DirectX-like things) but having it vastly outweighs the advantage of not having it.

I would bet that more people have failures due to drivers than from using Steam. As far as point of failures go.

And "personal" information taken from Steam is a very woolly argument that has little to no substance. You're more likely to lose personal information from visiting a java website than through being signed up to Steam. You can't even buy anything online without having to register any more, and given that the majority of people will probably FM online they have already had to submit their details over a hackable connection, using a hackable client to a hackable website who might well on the sly sell your details on to someone dodgy anyway. Registering for Steam (where you don't have to even use actual personal information) is hardly a noticeable increased risk.

The rest of your post is telling SI what their sales figures will do, which I'm sure they're grateful for your input having clearly done zero research at all their end.

[Wakers]

You can't use directx and drivers as a counter argument to having third party apps. That just doesn't make sense. Drivers and Directx are an integral part of an operating system, without which, hardware and software simply can't run.

It is not possible to make a modern game without making use of drivers or directx.

It is possible to make a modern game without having Steam running in the background. There is no technical reason why Steam is needed. It does not manager hardware, it does not provide a graphical engine.

[metal_guitarist]

Did those other people who were having problem playing games in Steam last night have any success?

I've just tried it again this morning (not that I'll have time now until the weekend again) and it still says all of my games are unavailable. I've just gone through all of the standard troubleshooting tips for each game and can't get any of them to work at this moment.

Not pleased.

Mine has just started downloading Portal now. It still wasn't working at 12:00am

[milnerpoint]

You can't use directx and drivers as a counter argument to having third party apps. That just doesn't make sense. Drivers and Directx are an integral part of an operating system, without which, hardware and software simply can't run.

It is not possible to make a modern game without making use of drivers or directx.

It is possible to make a modern game without having Steam running in the background. There is no technical reason why Steam is needed. It does not manager hardware, it does not provide a graphical engine.

But there is, it provides DRM for FM12, without it FM12 will not work, just like directx or anything else, this is now part of the system requirements.

[Kriss]

But there is, it provides DRM for FM12, without it FM12 will not work, just like directx or anything else, this is now part of the system requirements.

Not just FM12 but more and more games all the time, Sega are actually quite late on this particular bandwagon.

[molemenacer]

Really disappointed by this, i have just cancelled my pre-order as i will not install steam on another one of my machines.

Was really looking forward to the next release as well as i have just played my longest every save on FM2011. Oh well after god knows how many years i have been playing CM/FM i am going to have to give up playing, still the good news is that i will suddenly have a lot more time available to do other things.

[Guest aaron70]

This is nothing against you personaly its jsut your the most recent.

I am getting fed up at people saying it is Si's fault. If people actually read what Miles' said in some of his replies SEGA presented SI with options of how to activate FM and this was to most viable of those options. Unfourtunatly, we don't know what those options were, they were obviously more obtrusive to the customer has this was the least obtrusive.

Agreed. It is both SI and Sega's fault. I just lump them together under SI.

Why were they obviously more obtrusive??? I don't think decision was made with anyone in mind but Sega/SI/Steam...more money please. The peasants will have to accept it.

The part that is annoying people is that the justification for doing this is weak. The reason it is being done is because there is a greater profit margin (fine but don't tell porky pies about piracy).

[milnerpoint]

Not just FM12 but more and more games all the time, Sega are actually quite late on this particular bandwagon.

yeah other compaines like Valve have been doing this for a long time now, i dont think their sales figues have suffered too much.

This will be an industry standard in a few years, maybe not steam exactly, but definitely similar 3rd party programmes.

[SnakeXe]

Well I, for one, agree with all the naysayers - why should we be forced to keep STEAM on our computers in order to play FM2012? It's infringing on my BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS to have to install a really horribly intrusive bit of software that totally slows my computer down and makes FM take a FEW SECONDS longer to load!!!

But why stop there? Let's RISE UP and conquer the evil oppression of SI that has gone on too long!

For years now, we have been forced to buy an awful, electricity hogging COMPUTER in order to play Football Manager! This is a grave injustice - why should I SPEND upwards of £1000 to play a £30 piece of software?! Join me, friends, and END THIS NOW!!!

FM2012 should run natively in PLANET EARTH!! I want to invert the pyramid in the soil of the forest, rage quit and replay the match in the oceans, and send SI hate mail in the skies because PASTORE WON'T SIGN FOR MAN UTD!!!

Let us shake off the shackles that the EVIL EMPIRE has placed upon us, and take back FM2012 FOR THE PEOPLE!!!

(P.S. I totally agree with Miles, and I don't see why people are getting their knickers in such a twist about this. Either you care about having to use Steam or you don't. If you don't, fine. If you do, either take your tinfoil hat off and suck it up, or don't buy the game. Either way, fine.)

[Smurf]

I applaud SI for taking steps in countering piracy. Steam is definitely a way to do it. I've read some claims that Steam can disconnect you from the game world and make your games unavailable. But I'm not really concerned about that.

I'll be buying the disc of the game and installing it, and authenticating through Steam.

I've read more and more about Steam in the last few days, and it's parent company Valve. And I'm convinced more than ever that this is the right way to go.

It's now a system requirement to have Steam and an internet connection to authenticate the copy of FM12. And I have no issues with that at all.

[Herter]

Really disappointed by this, i have just cancelled my pre-order as i will not install steam on another one of my machines.

Was really looking forward to the next release as well as i have just played my longest every save on FM2011. Oh well after god knows how many years i have been playing CM/FM i am going to have to give up playing, still the good news is that i will suddenly have a lot more time available to do other things.

Good for you - its good to see the good in bad situations

[Popider]

x42bn6, you seem to be the one talking the most sense in opposition to the Steam Registration. I've got something I'd like to ask...

There could be a million people pirating per legitimate customer for all you care... It's the legitimate customers that matter to your bottom line.

The example I used earlier was that 5 years ago the norm was to download music for free (Napster/Kazaa/etc.) but now the norm is to pay for music through iTunes etc. What has caused this shift? Surely it's partly because of a reminder to those who only pirated "because it was easy" or "because I don't see anyone putting me off" or "I don't see anyone getting in trouble for this" that Piracy is being watched. I'm not suggesting Steam is going to miraculously jail a gaggle of hackers, I'm just saying surely it will remind those borderline piraters that "the makers haven't forgotten about you."

Agreed. It is both SI and Sega's fault. I just lump them together under SI.

Why were they obviously more obtrusive??? I don't think decision was made with anyone in mind but Sega/SI/Steam...more money please. The peasants will have to accept it.

Are the peasants you refer to here the people who get it for free? Call me a ruthless capitalist, but I'm pretty sure if a business provides a service it deserves to get paid. If they don't get paid, everyone in this forum suffers. That's why these measures have to be taken I suppose.

Really disappointed by this, i have just cancelled my pre-order as i will not install steam on another one of my machines.

Was really looking forward to the next release as well as i have just played my longest every save on FM2011. Oh well after god knows how many years i have been playing CM/FM i am going to have to give up playing, still the good news is that i will suddenly have a lot more time available to do other things.

Is that really all that it takes to push you over the edge of not buying this?

Mine has just started downloading Portal now. It still wasn't working at 12:00am

On the other hand, if this kind of thing stops me playing my beloved FM regularly, I'll be switching sides pretty damn swiftly in this argument.

[SuperManager]

Well I, for one, agree with all the naysayers - why should we be forced to keep STEAM on our computers in order to play FM2012? It's infringing on my BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS to have to install a really horribly intrusive bit of software that totally slows my computer down and makes FM take a FEW SECONDS longer to load!!!

But why stop there? Let's RISE UP and conquer the evil oppression of SI that has gone on too long!

For years now, we have been forced to buy an awful, electricity hogging COMPUTER in order to play Football Manager! This is a grave injustice - why should I SPEND upwards of £1000 to play a £30 piece of software?! Join me, friends, and END THIS NOW!!!

FM2012 should run natively in PLANET EARTH!! I want to invert the pyramid in the soil of the forest, rage quit and replay the match in the oceans, and send SI hate mail in the skies because PASTORE WON'T SIGN FOR MAN UTD!!!

Let us shake off the shackles that the EVIL EMPIRE has placed upon us, and take back FM2012 FOR THE PEOPLE!!!

(P.S. I totally agree with Miles, and I don't see why people are getting their knickers in such a twist about this. Either you care about having to use Steam or you don't. If you don't, fine. If you do, either take your tinfoil hat off and suck it up, or don't buy the game. Either way, fine.)

While I'm not on your side, have to say I love the sarcasm involved here. Whose side am I on, well I'm sitting on the fence, such a lost art!

[Guest aaron70]

Accepting corporate lies as the truth. That is what we are getting upset. Don't make up stories about "this is to stop pirates, "this is in the consumers best interest". This is too make more money. I get tired of companies lying through their teeth and expected better of SI.

People can mock and say "get over it", "this is normal", "families shouldn't be able to play a game together", and if this is how the majority feels, than no wonder we are always gets ****ed up the ass by these companies.

[metal_guitarist]

This problem with the Steam servers being 'unavailable' and refusing to let you play your games, is this going to affect access to the editor as well? Because that could cause some huge problems for the likes of myself, wally and TheMinsterman.

[Guest aaron70]

Are the peasants you refer to here the people who get it for free? Call me a ruthless capitalist, but I'm pretty sure if a business provides a service it deserves to get paid. If they don't get paid, everyone in this forum suffers. That's why these measures have to be taken I suppose.

The peasants being the people who bought the game for years. They now just have to accept whatever so they can play the game....like it or lump it. Not sure how peasants would be equal to the pirates?

[CaptainPlanet]

yeah other compaines like Valve have been doing this for a long time now, i dont think their sales figues have suffered too much.

This will be an industry standard in a few years, maybe not steam exactly, but definitely similar 3rd party programmes.

There has been similar public reaction every time something like this has happened. And it continues to be done and the sales figures aren't affected. The outrage at the activation for FM09 was huge, Spore (and EA in general) had some horrendous PR from implementing it. And SWTOR is getting rage because of EA's origin software.

Come to think of it, when has something like this happened and there hasn't been a backlash of forum rage? And how many times have companies introduced a DRM method that has significantly affected sales?

[data6930]

On the day of release steam will be a shambles mark my words.

Another that has jumped ship i'm afraid.

[metal_guitarist]

And SWTOR is getting rage because of EA's origin software.

Do explain please

[milnerpoint]

We're not getting anything up the ass, we are being asked to download a FREE 3rd party program, not pay for anything, you dont need to use any of your real personal details, sign up for a made up hotmail account and your fine, honestly, calm down.

[milnerpoint]

This problem with the Steam servers being 'unavailable' and refusing to let you play your games, is this going to affect access to the editor as well? Because that could cause some huge problems for the likes of myself, wally and TheMinsterman.

The editor is not run through steam, it is completely separate so it will never affect you

[CaptainPlanet]

Do explain please

If you bought the game through EA Online via their Origin Store you have to install the Origin software to download it through.

[Popider]

The peasants being the people who bought the game for years. They now just have to accept whatever so they can play the game....like it or lump it. Not sure how peasants would be equal to the pirates?

The 'peasants' have always paid for security. The difference between the price in Game, for example, and amazon can be as much as £10-20. This is because online stores don't have overheads which include staffing and, probably more prominently, premises. These premises tend to be quite heavily secured at night and insured against thefts. All of this costs more money than the current warehouse-and-post solution of online stores. I'd put it to you that with Steam adding nothing to the cost, the peasants are doing quite well out of the online gaming industry these days.

[milnerpoint]

There has been similar public reaction every time something like this has happened. And it continues to be done and the sales figures aren't affected. The outrage at the activation for FM09 was huge, Spore (and EA in general) had some horrendous PR from implementing it. And SWTOR is getting rage because of EA's origin software.

Come to think of it, when has something like this happened and there hasn't been a backlash of forum rage? And how many times have companies introduced a DRM method that has significantly affected sales?

exactly, there will be huge rage the day SI switch to 64bit as well, any change that prevents or restricts certain people will be met with huge backlash, SI are not silly, they knew this thread would be exactly like this, but they will be confident that in a few months their decision will be vindicated.

[CaptainPlanet]

This problem with the Steam servers being 'unavailable' and refusing to let you play your games, is this going to affect access to the editor as well? Because that could cause some huge problems for the likes of myself, wally and TheMinsterman.

Steam servers have had like 0.01% downtime in the last 5 years. And even then you only need the server up when you authenticate the game, it doesn't need to be up constantly whilst you're playing the game.

[afced7]

Well I, for one, agree with all the naysayers - why should we be forced to keep STEAM on our computers in order to play FM2012? It's infringing on my BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS to have to install a really horribly intrusive bit of software that totally slows my computer down and makes FM take a FEW SECONDS longer to load!!!

But why stop there? Let's RISE UP and conquer the evil oppression of SI that has gone on too long!

For years now, we have been forced to buy an awful, electricity hogging COMPUTER in order to play Football Manager! This is a grave injustice - why should I SPEND upwards of £1000 to play a £30 piece of software?! Join me, friends, and END THIS NOW!!!

FM2012 should run natively in PLANET EARTH!! I want to invert the pyramid in the soil of the forest, rage quit and replay the match in the oceans, and send SI hate mail in the skies because PASTORE WON'T SIGN FOR MAN UTD!!!

Let us shake off the shackles that the EVIL EMPIRE has placed upon us, and take back FM2012 FOR THE PEOPLE!!!

(P.S. I totally agree with Miles, and I don't see why people are getting their knickers in such a twist about this. Either you care about having to use Steam or you don't. If you don't, fine. If you do, either take your tinfoil hat off and suck it up, or don't buy the game. Either way, fine.)

Read the first few lines and came close to venting my spleen. Read the rest and now I'm in stitches, good post.

[metal_guitarist]

The editor is not run through steam, it is completely separate so it will never affect you

Brilliant, thanks

If you bought the game through EA Online via their Origin Store you have to install the Origin software to download it through.

Well I plan on buying it boxed. Am I still going to have to use Origin?

[The Welsh Lad]

Agreed. It is both SI and Sega's fault. I just lump them together under SI.

Why were they obviously more obtrusive??? I don't think decision was made with anyone in mind but Sega/SI/Steam...more money please. The peasants will have to accept it.

If it was all about money, why are we not being charged for using steam. If you don't buy anything from steam they will make no money from, if anything SEGA would have to pay Steam for the use to allow everyone to activate through Steam. SAGE will get the same amount of money off me and others even if we didn't have activate it. So where does you logic 'more money please' come into the equation.

Everything moves on, even analog radio signals are going to be faded out and everyone will have to get a DAB radio or similar, Video started to fade out people had to buy DVD players, The Gaming industry moving toward online activations people have to get access to the interent. Only a few years ago Managers didn't need qualifications to coach but now they do, which they have to resit every so often which cost them more money every time because prices increases. DO you think they just said no and and didn't bother. If you need to do any business with barclays you have to have a card reader even in your house, everytime you log in you have to entre a code to autherise that it is you.

We could be doing that with Steam but no we just install it and it sits there, ok there maybe problems with losing connection, but efectively it just sitting there. If people want to get the internet they have to really on the provider keeping them supplied. We have to really on Steam to let us play FM.

[CaptainPlanet]

This is a one-time only activation

Does this mean the game doesn't need to authenticate each time the game is started, only the first time after installation?

In which case, Steam servers being down at any time in the future is a complete non-issue.

Well I plan on buying it boxed. Am I still going to have to use Origin?

Nope

[Richard76]

I really can't beleive this.

For the first time ever I'm seriously considering not bothering this year.

[Smurf]

This problem with the Steam servers being 'unavailable' and refusing to let you play your games, is this going to affect access to the editor as well? Because that could cause some huge problems for the likes of myself, wally and TheMinsterman.

Why don't people understand this? You activate the game through Steam. It's a one time activation. Once the game is installed, you just have to have Steam running, switch it to Offline mode.

I don't really see an issue with "Steam servers being 'unavailable'". After the 1 time activation you don't need to be connected to the Steam servers at all to play the game.

[Guest aaron70]

We're not getting anything up the ass, we are being asked to download a FREE 3rd party program, not pay for anything, you dont need to use any of your real personal details, sign up for a made up hotmail account and your fine, honestly, calm down.

Milner. I do understand this. I am saying not everybody will be able to do this. My main point is that the reason giving for doing this is either a lie or a shocking display of intelligence. The reasons given are unfounded. This is solely being done to make more money. So don't lie to people with half a brain. Sega/SI are just doing what all these companies do; smile and say we love you, whilst doing whatever to get your dollar, even to the point of lying outright. Why did they announce this after thousands of pre sales? Tired off it, so FM11 will do me.

[milnerpoint]

Does this mean the game doesn't need to authenticate each time the game is started, only the first time after installation?

In which case, Steam servers being down at any time in the future is a complete non-issue.

Nope

Steam authenticates the game everytime you start it, but you only need to activate the game online once, so technically speaking you activate the game and the steam servers then become irrelevant, you set in offline mode and you will never need to connect to them again.

For what its worth ive now had my offline mode on for 5 days, not had any issues at all, fingers crossed it stays this way.

[pigfacemonkeyman]

This is nothing against you personaly its jsut your the most recent.

I am getting fed up at people saying it is Si's fault. If people actually read what Miles' said in some of his replies SEGA presented SI with options of how to activate FM and this was to most viable of those options. Unfourtunatly, we don't know what those options were, they were obviously more obtrusive to the customer has this was the least obtrusive.

We don't need to know those options. What SI apparently didn't do was provide an alternative, or take a stance against the 'options' they were forced to 'choose' from.