But the fact remains that some people simply don't want to forced to active their software because they're opposed to the idea of having to give out private information in general, or just don't want to be bothered or simply find the whole concept of treating a paying customer like a criminal unless he or she proves otherwise iniquitous. I guess the old "some people don't have Internet/broadband/whatever access" argument doesn't hold a lot of water anymore, especially with regard to the intended HL2 audience. It will, however, inconvenience those people who buy a legitimate copy of the game. I can understand their desire to protect their IP, especially after their ridiculous security policies have resulted in several breaches.īut this will simply not prevent determined people from pirating or leaking the game. It very well may be minor but it's still an annoyance. A very minor thing and yet people act like Valve is asking for the their first born child! Would they do so if they had to dial up and talk to some server from the 80s that doesn't exist anymore? No, they wouldn't.Īll in all, a horrible decision.
I still pull out old DOS games from when I was a dorkling in junior high, and I expect them to just install and WORK (well, provided the DOS emulators are up to snuff, anyway). As soon as Steam stops becoming available, nobody can play the game on a new installation without hacking it. The second, and to me more annoying thnig, is that they've just made it impossible to install and play the game once they go belly-up. Suppose I have restrictive firewall settings on that I don't want to have to bypass just to play a game against the computer. Suppose I just moved and my connection's not installed yet.
Suppose I didn't have a connection where I was. First off, a single player game just shouldn't have to talk to the internet. They've done a couple of things here which violate a couple of things I feel are integral to a single-player game.