Internet validation hoses single player

[toonces]

Did anyone else buy this expecting to be able to play the single player without a net connection?

I was going away for 4 days, picked up HL2, installed it, and couldn't do jack with it til I got home and registered online...

I tried calling the support line and got the "please try back later" deal til I gave up.

I'm not sure I'll buy another product from these guys after this...

 

[^Ben]

Did you read the box?

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Minimum requirements state that you need an internet connection.

 

[Megacolon]

Minimum requirements state that you need an internet connection.

So does every other game with a multi-player componant. People are used to seeing this. They don't figure it means tehy have to grab their ankles to play SP.

 

[f0rked]

So does every other game with a multi-player componant. People are used to seeing this. They don't figure it means tehy have to grab their ankles to play SP.

Actually, most games only state internet connection in the recommended section. HL2 is one of the few games I know that has internet connection listed under the minimum spec.

 

[Megacolon]

Actually, most games only state internet connection in the recommended section. HL2 is one of the few games I know that has internet connection listed under the minimum spec.

Well, yeah, but you can see where the confusion would lie.
Not to mention, how many people have a relatively modern computer, and don't even bother to read teh sys req's anymore?
IMO, valve's policy should be in big bold letters on teh back of the box, and teh EULA for software should be read and signed before the game is purchased. Otherwise, you have to open the box to even READ the EULA, and opening the box is an implied agreement. Nice little trap they've set. The legalities of this are VERY grey, but no court has actually put it to the test yet, as to my knowledge.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Well, yeah, but you can see where the confusion would lie.
Not to mention, how many people have a relatively modern computer, and don't even bother to read teh sys req's anymore?
IMO, valve's policy should be in big bold letters on teh back of the box, and teh EULA for software should be read and signed before the game is purchased. Otherwise, you have to open the box to even READ the EULA, and opening the box is an implied agreement. Nice little trap they've set. The legalities of this are VERY grey, but no court has actually put it to the test yet, as to my knowledge.

Well, they put it on the requirements (which I always check even with my computer)

They also said in interviews and countless emails that a connection is required. I thought it was common knowledge.

 

[Megacolon]

well, not everyone is a HL fanboi, who tracked teh progress of teh game like it was a matter of life & death.

A lot of us just happened to see it in the store, said "oh cool HL2's out!" and picked it up.

 

[Zeus]

well, not everyone is a HL fanboi, who tracked teh progress of teh game like it was a matter of life & death.

A lot of us just happened to see it in the store, said "oh cool HL2's out!" and picked it up.

Well said. I've been here since May 03 and have been following HL2 and I was thinking "What about the people who have lives and don't spend every waking moment on HL2.net that won't know about the stupid internet validation?".

I almost wish I hadn't known about HL2 until it came out, because I spend many hours of my life on watching HL2's development.

 

[Cole]

WHO THE HELL CAN'T OPEN A CERAL BOX GET A FREE AOL DISK, HOOK IT INTO THERE PHONE JACK, GET ON STEAM, INSTALL, ACTIVATE.
I MEAN C'MON IS IT REALLY THAT HARD!
(please excuse the caps, im bored).

Zues your sigs messed up, 1 month after steam came out I never experinced a bug, ever though its your computer?

 

[Megacolon]

WHO THE HELL CAN'T OPEN A CERAL BOX GET A FREE AOL DISK, HOOK IT INTO THERE PHONE JACK, GET ON STEAM, INSTALL, ACTIVATE.
I MEAN C'MON IS IT REALLY THAT HARD!
(please excuse the caps, im bored).

Zues your sigs messed up, 1 month after steam came out I never experinced a bug, ever though its your computer?

Woah! There's an idea! Use AOL to run Steam! Might as well install Gator, Weatherbug, and Download accellerator too!!!
And why stop at invasive, system-hijacking spyware? How about Sub7?? Maybe back oriface? Might as well put the trojans there ourselves, right?

/sarcasm

 

[toonces]

2 basic problems with this...

1. I'm not one of those people hwo registers games...I gave them my $50, they don't need another 10 min of my time feeding them demographic info for their marketing department. This forces you to register to play the game. That is lame.

2. The box absolutely does say that you need an internet connection to play, but, even if I had bothered to look at it, who would imagine that you need a net connection to play single player? If I had known this, I would've bought a game I could've played over that weekend, as opposed to a coaster with a multi-gig hard drive footprint...

This is the suits quaking in their loafers about piracy. Also lame.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

2 basic problems with this...

1. I'm not one of those people hwo registers games...I gave them my $50, they don't need another 10 min of my time feeding them demographic info for their marketing department. This forces you to register to play the game. That is lame.

2. The box absolutely does say that you need an internet connection to play, but, even if I had bothered to look at it, who would imagine that you need a net connection to play single player? If I had known this, I would've bought a game I could've played over that weekend, as opposed to a coaster with a multi-gig hard drive footprint...

This is the suits quaking in their loafers about piracy. Also lame.

Obviously it wasn't more than a minor inconvenience. Ten minutes to sign up isn't earth shattering, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't even mandatory. I didn't register my copy.

Also, anywhere minimum requirements are listed you'll see "internet" as one of them. If you buy a game without knowing whether it works on your PC, you can't really complain when it doesn't.
You're lucky you could play it at all. What if one of the minimum requirements was a zip disk drive, or a specific type of monitor? That's unlikely, but not impossible. It's up to you to check if the game will run.

I know the "man" is making you feel down, but you'd be quaking in your loafers too if you were in the game industry. Piracy makes Valve lose more of the money they desreve than most of have ever earned. It's millions of dollars.

If you knew in advance that someone was going to try as hard as they could to steal millions of dollars from you, what would you do? Protect it, I'd bet.

 

[baxter]

Woah! There's an idea! Use AOL to run Steam! Might as well install Gator, Weatherbug, and Download accellerator too!!!
And why stop at invasive, system-hijacking spyware? How about Sub7?? Maybe back oriface? Might as well put the trojans there ourselves, right?

/sarcasm

I hate to jump on the band wagon and be seen to be slagging off HL2 but I agree totally.

For the better part of the last ten years I have been playing video games and have never pirated, bought or sold. I am a firm believer in paying your way.

I do find it irritating and annoying that after all these years that valve have introduced a system that is so draconian. The annoying part of it is that it will soon become standard. This is “smashing the nut with a sledge hammer”.

FIRST PERSON SHOOTER is exactly that. You go out buy a game and enjoy.

What is the point of this steam? It serves no purpose other than to monitor and exclude. Big Brother is watching us or is it Valve.

I have recently found out I can’t even sell on my copy of HL2 as it is registered to me and me alone. How sad is that?

I rated HL2 but now doubt it purely because of the politics behind it.

If steam is the new standard then it’s a sad day for us all.

 

[WhiteZero]

Go bitch to the piraters about having to use authentication...

 

[Ryjalon5k]

Did anyone else buy this expecting to be able to play the single player without a net connection?

I was going away for 4 days, picked up HL2, installed it, and couldn't do jack with it til I got home and registered online...

I tried calling the support line and got the "please try back later" deal til I gave up.

I'm not sure I'll buy another product from these guys after this...

always read the box kids.

 

[Megacolon]

I know the "man" is making you feel down, but you'd be quaking in your loafers too if you were in the game industry. Piracy makes Valve lose more of the money they desreve than most of have ever earned. It's millions of dollars.

If you knew in advance that someone was going to try as hard as they could to steal millions of dollars from you, what would you do? Protect it, I'd bet.

Actually, ASSUMING that Valve "loses" money from pirates is wrong. This would mean that these people would have bought the game. There's no way of knowing that.

Second, intellectual property is just a fancy way of saying "idea". You cannot steal ideas from other people, you can only copy them. No one can reach into your head and "steal" your idea.

When something is stolen, the rightful owner no longer has possession of it. Something has actually been lost in this case. However, in the case of an idea, hte owner still has it in his head, and were someone to copy it, has only lost the POTENTIAL to sell it to that person. There's no way to say weather the copier would have bought the idea, though.

Saying software piracy is theft is thus like saying that "by not buying the game, you are stealing", simply by not giving them money.

This is why we have the concept of "copyright infringement", to begin with.

So...no one "loses" money through software piracy. It's just that much more money that they are less likely to gain.

AND.....let's not forget that teh security features in HL2 didn't stop groups from releasing working, hacked, steam-less versions of the game the SAME DAY that is was officially released. And hundreds of thousands of copies have been downloaded, with no way to disable them, or ban them, or whatever, since they require no internet connection.

Thus, you can see that while the people who downloaded the game have no hassles or problems at all, the people who paid for the game have to deal with the head-aches of steam.

The legitimate customer suffers. The pirate laughs.

Steam is NOT a good thing.

 

[dis]

While activation might be a minor inconvenience to some, I have had the game since Nov 16th and still haven't played it because I don't have internet at home. I have gone to great lengths to try to get the game to work, but I've pretty much given up now. I guess I'll have to get internet after the winter break even though I'd rather save my money for other things.

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

If you don't have an internet connection, you still have the ability to take tha game back after you've bought it. It's a fair enough deal really.

And people need to grow the hell up about Steam - it's not some profit-hoarding campaign to further stuff the pockets of millionairres, it's a clever and effective solution to a serious problem that faces the computer game industry.

It. Is. A. Good. Thing.

 

[toonces]

"Obviously it wasn't more than a minor inconvenience. Ten minutes to sign up isn't earth shattering, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't even mandatory. I didn't register my copy."

You did register it. And I make $60 an hour consulting...I want $10 from them for the time of data entry for their marketing info.
The point is the user should not be forced to register.

Also, anywhere minimum requirements are listed you'll see "internet" as one of them. If you buy a game without knowing whether it works on your PC, you can't really complain when it doesn't.
You're lucky you could play it at all. What if one of the minimum requirements was a zip disk drive, or a specific type of monitor? That's unlikely, but not impossible. It's up to you to check if the game will run."

I know games. I'm a gamer. I build PCs. I know my computer can run the game w/o looking at the box. A specific monitor? A zip drive? You're kinda reaching there....
The bottom line is you should not need an internet connection to play single player.

"I know the "man" is making you feel down, but you'd be quaking in your loafers too if you were in the game industry. Piracy makes Valve lose more of the money they desreve than most of have ever earned. It's millions of dollars."

I am in the gaming industry. The fact is, the game gets hacked within hours of release. There is no security protection for a game, or any software for that matter, that cannot be circumvented.
The issue is that they need to hit a fine line, of making it more convenient to simply buy the game, than to spend the time on getting hacked version to work. You want to protect your product reasonably, while at the same time not alienating your customer base. IMO, they went too far this time.

"If you knew in advance that someone was going to try as hard as they could to steal millions of dollars from you, what would you do? Protect it, I'd bet."

Yup, but see above.
The bottom line is they sold a heck of a lot of copies of HL1 with minimal protection from piracy.
The suits looked at it and said, "hey, let's see if we can wring even more money out of this by forcing people to register online...plus we'll get that marketing info whcih is like gold to us that no one ever sends in because they're lazy..."
These people, I can assure you, pretty much never think beyond the point where you plunk down your $50...after that, they do not care about you. Valve probably cares, but the execs at Sierra really don't. Unless, of course, people don't buy HL3 because they were annoyed with the copy protection of HL2...

I'll tell you a story. NWN had Securom copy protection because that was the standard at Infogrames (for clarification purposes, in this case Valve is equivalent to Bioware and Sierra is equivalent to Infogrames).

Sony updated their Securom authentication software, hosing people with certain configurations...in other words, they logged in, automatically updated, and then could not play...In the very next update, Bioware disabled Securom. The game was less protected, but they didn't want to alienate their customer base at the cost of a few dollars in pirated software.

Anyway, this post is too long now...and I gotta get some work done...and I still haven’t played through the game yet...been busy...maybe it'll blow me away to point that I'll forget all this...we'll see.

 

[The Dark Elf]

If you don't have an internet connection, you still have the ability to take tha game back after you've bought it. It's a fair enough deal really.

And people need to grow the hell up about Steam - it's not some profit-hoarding campaign to further stuff the pockets of millionairres, it's a clever and effective solution to a serious problem that faces the computer game industry.

It. Is. A. Good. Thing.

And whats surprising is, it actually does seem to be working

 

[Megacolon]

And whats surprising is, it actually does seem to be working

WTF are you talking about??? And MrWotsit, HOW exactly is it working? Give me examples on how steam has effected piracy at all.....in turn I can link you to forum after forum clogged with user complaints, several petitions, and a couple pending lawsuits.

Steam didn't work as an anti-piracy measure. Got look at any Bit Torrent tracker. Do it, really, go look!!! See the evidence with your own eyes!!! Go to isonews and read teh release notes for those warez ditributions and see that steam has been HACKED RIGHT OUT OF THE GAME. There's no way to touch these people. And pissing off your customers does more harm than good.

 

[Demonmerc]

Megacolon has a point, while Steam has prevented some piracy, it has not stopped it. Is that worth all the trouble people are put through?

On the other hand, steam shut off 20,000 hacked accounts. Thats a million dollars in sales.

 

[mattgirv]

I think actually, instead of blaming Valve blame the place who sold it to you. Ultimately I feel it is their job to specifically state you need an internet connection, and the fact you won't be getting a refund once you've purchased it.

 

[Kommie]

Megacolon has a point, while Steam has prevented some piracy, it has not stopped it. Is that worth all the trouble people are put through?

On the other hand, steam shut off 20,000 hacked accounts. Thats a million dollars in sales.

Assuming that the accounts were all actual user accounts, i bet most were just accounts created to try and warez hl2

I think actually, instead of blaming Valve blame the place who sold it to you. Ultimately I feel it is their job to specifically state you need an internet connection, and the fact you won't be getting a refund once you've purchased it.

How is it their job? Are they supposed to remind you to make sure your computer can run the game too?

This is becoming a major sticking point on the topic of EULAS
Once you have bought software you are stuck with it (at least where i live) you CANNOT return it for a refund for anyreason, if your lucky you can get another copy of the same game. If you disagree with the EULA then your stuck with a game you cant play. Groups like the EFF are working to change things such as this

 

[Zeus]

WTF are you talking about??? And MrWotsit, HOW exactly is it working? Give me examples on how steam has effected piracy at all.....in turn I can link you to forum after forum clogged with user complaints, several petitions, and a couple pending lawsuits.

Steam didn't work as an anti-piracy measure. Got look at any Bit Torrent tracker. Do it, really, go look!!! See the evidence with your own eyes!!! Go to isonews and read teh release notes for those warez ditributions and see that steam has been HACKED RIGHT OUT OF THE GAME. There's no way to touch these people. And pissing off your customers does more harm than good.

Yes exactly. I have to validate my game almost every single day. Valve spent millions upon millions of dollars on hl2s development and saved aprox 1 million dollars (if that, considering the fact that most of those accounts were backup accounts to try and warez hl2 like someone said before) with the 20,000 accounts banned. I'm also sure there were plenty of legitimate users that got banned in there as well.

Valve is it really worth it to piss off your fans by making them go through slow validation processes every day to save a couple dollars? Not to mention hackers are STILL getting their way and enjoying HL2 even though they didn't pay for it like I did. Face it valve, piracy isn't going anywhere anytime soon, deal with it instead of punishing your legitimate paying customers.

 

[Megacolon]

the problem is that thievs are part of humanity. thieves, biggots, rapists, cultists, facists, etc. You cannot punish the many because of the acts of a few. people are people, and if you want to exist in this world you have to allow for the other people who also live here, for good or bad.

 

[baxter]

It is good to see honest and open debate about an emotive subject.

I dislike steam and online validation for reasons that I have already stated. Whether you agree or disagree with it is a matter of opinion.

Without speaking for other members I would think that most people would agree that at this very moment every pirate and many computer geeks are figuring out a crack to it. Unfortunately, like all other software protection it is not a case of if but when it is cracked. How many weeks, days before HL2 cracks are available on the net?

By alienating many half life fans and computer gamers in general valve have played right into the hands of the pirates, who will end up having the last laugh. With dishearten fans and cracks readily available.

I am not a geek, rocket scientist or any other form of intellect but does it not follow that if steam can be cracked then surely it can be hacked?

Sorry if I sound the pessimist but no protection is invulnerable.

Just as a bye note I would like to take issue with the chap who keeps telling me we should read the box. I ordered HL2 from Amazon long before it was released and it was never mentioned that internet access was required to activate single player mode. Nor was it mentioned in any of the many pre release reviews I read

 

[Kommie]

It is good to see honest and open debate about an emotive subject.

I dislike steam and online validation for reasons that I have already stated. Whether you agree or disagree with it is a matter of opinion.

Without speaking for other members I would think that most people would agree that at this very moment every pirate and many computer geeks are figuring out a crack to it. Unfortunately, like all other software protection it is not a case of if but when it is cracked. How many weeks, days before HL2 cracks are available on the net?

By alienating many half life fans and computer gamers in general valve have played right into the hands of the pirates, who will end up having the last laugh. With dishearten fans and cracks readily available.

I am not a geek, rocket scientist or any other form of intellect but does it not follow that if steam can be cracked then surely it can be hacked?

Sorry if I sound the pessimist but no protection is invulnerable.

Just as a bye note I would like to take issue with the chap who keeps telling me we should read the box. I ordered HL2 from Amazon long before it was released and it was never mentioned that internet access was required to activate single player mode. Nor was it mentioned in any of the many pre release reviews I read

This is the backbone of almost all copyright protection software, ALOT of it (such as, or i should say ESPECIALLY securerom) which royally screws over some consumers, I.e. slowing down system, makes the cd necessary, slows down game, makes computer crash, cd rom cant read the cd. things such as that. With no major hit to the piracy of the game

I HATE pirates for many reasons, like they take what so many worked hard on without compensation, they can theoretically cause a price hike in video games, And they STINK!

I did also hate the hl2 installation process, and I hope that they improve the method for next time so it doesn't take quite so long, but hey, I got plenty of things to do while it validates

 

[baxter]

I agree I hate pirates with a passion, like you rightly point out they hike the price of games and they stink rotten.

Disagree with steam, hate pirates but hey loved HL2.

 

[mattgirv]

Assuming that the accounts were all actual user accounts, i bet most were just accounts created to try and warez hl2



How is it their job? Are they supposed to remind you to make sure your computer can run the game too?

Actually from reading most of this post, I understand that people do just pick up a game, and buy it. Right or not, people should be reminded that this game, unusual to others in comparison, that it requires an internet connection.

If I went to a store and bought Planetside/Everquest (which I have), I will and have been told that these games require internet connections. Obviously I knew but the average joe might not.

 

[fathom]

I have recently found out I can’t even sell on my copy of HL2 as it is registered to me and me alone. How sad is that?

This is the main issue that pisses me off the most. It totally destroys the legal side of the second hand market. It is normally totally legal to sell your copy if you destroy all backups and installations of it, i reckon valve should be forced to add an unregister by law. :flame:

 

[insig]

I have to validate my game almost every single day.

Validating is not an anti-piracy measure, but one meant to repair any damaged HL2 files. Supposedly.

 

[Megacolon]

Valve/VU need to add information that lets you know what you are getting into BEFORE you buy the game.

You should have to read, and sign the EULA, and be made aware that Valve considers it a living document.
You should be made aware by large print on teh box that and internet connection is required to play the game at all, AND a non-transferrable steam account is required which the game's key will be permenantly bound to.

This is what people get as a "SURPRISE!!!" after they buy this flaming piece of shit. And this is why people are mad.

Do a google search sometime for "hate steam" ....really...it's amazing.

 

[baxter]

Do a google search sometime for "hate steam" ....really...it's amazing.

Just done that, hope valve do the same.

 

[O.G. GOaT]

what’s with all the haters, bloody hell! So what? Who here hasn’t got a net connection? Oh, wait you must have if your reading this! So why are you complaining?
I personally dot see anything wrong with steam, all I see is just a bunch of jealous tw@’s who don’t like seeing others make a success of themselves! If you don’t want to see valve make money, don’t buy the bloody game and who here can honestly say they would not do the same as valve to stop piracy of their product and maximise profits? No one that who!
Plus if you can afford to buy and have a computer that can run HL2, I have no doubt you could even have access to the cheapest form of access to the net! I.e. free access and the cost of a phone call!

I don’t know about anyone else but the first thing I noticed when I picked up my copy of HL2 was the sticker telling you that you need a net connection! Its not exactly rocket science! All you jealous tw@’s should just shut the feck up, and face the music, because I have no doubt what so ever that in the next few years all PC games will need to be registered and unlocked over the net, and not long after that as the net gets faster most mainstream games will only be available for download cutting out the middleman eventually lowering prices, (a tad) so why are you complaining?

 

[Megacolon]

what’s with all the haters, bloody hell! So what? Who here hasn’t got a net connection? Oh, wait you must have if your reading this! So why are you complaining?
I personally dot see anything wrong with steam, all I see is just a bunch of jealous tw@’s who don’t like seeing others make a success of themselves! If you don’t want to see valve make money, don’t buy the bloody game and who here can honestly say they would not do the same as valve to stop piracy of their product and maximise profits? No one that who!
Plus if you can afford to buy and have a computer that can run HL2, I have no doubt you could even have access to the cheapest form of access to the net! I.e. free access and the cost of a phone call!

I don’t know about anyone else but the first thing I noticed when I picked up my copy of HL2 was the sticker telling you that you need a net connection! Its not exactly rocket science! All you jealous tw@’s should just shut the feck up, and face the music, because I have no doubt what so ever that in the next few years all PC games will need to be registered and unlocked over the net, and not long after that as the net gets faster most mainstream games will only be available for download cutting out the middleman eventually lowering prices, (a tad) so why are you complaining?

Put the crack-pipe down and step away from the computer.

First off, a lot of people didn't know about steam when they purchased the game, and now they have to deal with it.

Secondly, have you tried decrypting and authenticating on 56k??

Thirdly, almost all games with a multi-player componant have "internet connection required" on teh box. No one expects to have to have an internet connection to play a SINGLE_PLAYER game.

Fourth-most, no, other companies probably WON'T be using the steam-model in the future, because of teh hellacious uproar this has caused in the gaming community.

And finally, Steam did not stop piracy....it didn't even slow it down. Pirates play a steam-less version with better performance, hassle-free. Legitimate customers on teh otehr hand, get to deal with Valve's nazi-ware, and elitist attitude.

Head over to steampowered.com and take a look at the "General" steam forum. of course, first, you'll probably have to pull your head out of your ass to do so.

 

[baxter]

what’s with all the haters, bloody hell! So what? Who here hasn’t got a net connection? Oh, wait you must have if your reading this! So why are you complaining?
I personally dot see anything wrong with steam, all I see is just a bunch of jealous tw@’s who don’t like seeing others make a success of themselves! If you don’t want to see valve make money, don’t buy the bloody game and who here can honestly say they would not do the same as valve to stop piracy of their product and maximise profits? No one that who!
Plus if you can afford to buy and have a computer that can run HL2, I have no doubt you could even have access to the cheapest form of access to the net! I.e. free access and the cost of a phone call!

I don’t know about anyone else but the first thing I noticed when I picked up my copy of HL2 was the sticker telling you that you need a net connection! Its not exactly rocket science! All you jealous tw@’s should just shut the feck up, and face the music, because I have no doubt what so ever that in the next few years all PC games will need to be registered and unlocked over the net, and not long after that as the net gets faster most mainstream games will only be available for download cutting out the middleman eventually lowering prices, (a tad) so why are you complaining?

You are talking shite pal, how you dare tell people that have a valid point of view to shut up. It is plebs like you that have drove valve to introduce steam.

As for being a jealous twat, wake up mate, what have we to be jealous at?

You are a very sad and opinionated person.

Do you really think that unlocking games over the net is the way forward and it will lower prices?

WAKE UP

 

[Redkahn]

This is the main issue that pisses me off the most. It totally destroys the legal side of the second hand market. It is normally totally legal to sell your copy if you destroy all backups and installations of it, i reckon valve should be forced to add an unregister by law. :flame:

Just create a new account for the game and then give the account to whoever your selling it too.

 

[baxter]

Just create a new account for the game and then give the account to whoever your selling it too.

Can you expand on this please as it seems to invalidad all the gripes on the resale of HL 2

Cheers baxter