Where was the intelligence? Has Valve gone mad?

[StaticlyCharged]

I have an inquiry. Did Valve release Half-life 2 on the cds in an encrypted format? And assuming they did... Why would they do this? (besides the obvious reasons). There are people in the world MANY people in fact without internet... So does this mean all the people in the world that want to enjoy the first person shooter experience that is half-life 2, will be unable to do so? This seems to be like it would be somthing quite big that valve may have "overlooked"? Now obviously they didn't overlook this but none the less, it seems a bit odd. Why in the world would they do that, the poor people that go to buy half-life 2 that dont have an internet connection will be unable to play. SOL? Thats absurd, im tempted not to buy the game just for that reason. Please let me know how you feel, im QUITE interested.

 

[KagePrototype]

1. find a phone line

2. use free aol disc

3. authenticate

Besides, an internet connection is part of the miniumum requirements, which are most likely printed on the box. It's like saying "omfg what about people with a voodoo 2 graphics card, they won't be able to play HL2!! Valve are stupid!!"

 

[giant384]

well most ppl who know about halflife 2 most likely have an internet connection so i doubt that many ppl wouldnt

 

[StaticlyCharged]

I am not implying that valve is stupid in any way. It just seems like a large gap of users will be left out of this. I know when i played Half-life 1 i did not have an interent connection. Though yes it was many many years ago, it just seems like a silly move on valves part.

 

[Seeky]

It is safe to assume that the overwhelming majority of people purchasing the game, have internet access. People buying this game don't have their computer filled with "Dora the Explorer Teaches the Alphabet" and "Reading Rabbit".

If you feel "tempted" (perhaps you meant "inclined") to not purchase the game because of others' misfortune, you may be the first philanthropic gamer the world has seen.

Also, keep in mind that a corporation like Vivendi/Valve is staffed with employees of whom, a majority have at least a college degree, and many years of experience in the entertainment business. As an intern at Microsoft, I can say that a great number of staff meetings are devoted to evaluating problems, and providing solutions to potential conflicts that users may experience. I'm sure Valve knows what it is doing, and that phone registration will be available for the few without internet.

 

[Bsoul]

"Why in the world would they do that, the poor people that go to buy half-life 2 that dont have an internet connection will be unable to play."

/me thinks poor people don't even have the hardware to play hl²

besides who isn't buying this game for the mods that will come out ? (who require inet to download and play :afro

 

[StaticlyCharged]

I have an example, my good friend who lives only 6 to 8 miles away from me is unable to get any sort of internet (yes this includes dialup). He's got an awesome computer, (great system really, im quite jelous). And he really cant wait for half-life 2. But he will be unable to activate the game. I think you guys are miss-understanding my point. I feel this was just a poor way of protecting the game. only because it leaves out many users.

 

[Asuka]

I have an inquiry. Did Valve release Half-life 2 on the cds in an encrypted format? And assuming they did... Why would they do this? (besides the obvious reasons). There are people in the world MANY people in fact without internet... So does this mean all the people in the world that want to enjoy the first person shooter experience that is half-life 2, will be unable to do so? This seems to be like it would be somthing quite big that valve may have "overlooked"? Now obviously they didn't overlook this but none the less, it seems a bit odd. Why in the world would they do that, the poor people that go to buy half-life 2 that dont have an internet connection will be unable to play. SOL? Thats absurd, im tempted not to buy the game just for that reason. Please let me know how you feel, im QUITE interested.

Wow the 1090291092019209102 thread on this.

As i have said many times before. Go on any street and look for a AOL cd that says 999999999 FREE hours. Make account regester hl2 cancel account. HOLY CRAP I CAN PLAY HL2. PLz no more of these WowoW! Waffles!

I have an example, my good friend who lives only 6 to 8 miles away from me is unable to get any sort of internet (yes this includes dialup). He's got an awesome computer, (great system really, im quite jelous). And he really cant wait for half-life 2. But he will be unable to activate the game. I think you guys are miss-understanding my point. I feel this was just a poor way of protecting the game. only because it leaves out many users.

Does your friend have a phone? If he does he can have dial up.

 

[Alyx]

I doubt anyone who has a PC decent enough for PC won't at least have 56k access. If they don't then I think they will be in the absolute vast minority of people that would have bought the game. I don't think Valve will lose any sleep over it especially when they will gain more out of it, if only for temporarily stopping pirates.

 

[Clush]

I have an example, my good friend who lives only 6 to 8 miles away from me is unable to get any sort of internet (yes this includes dialup). He's got an awesome computer, (great system really, im quite jelous). And he really cant wait for half-life 2. But he will be unable to activate the game. I think you guys are miss-understanding my point. I feel this was just a poor way of protecting the game. only because it leaves out many users.

Can't he just pop over and activate on your PC then...

 

[Ownzed]

Get a damn free AOL disk.

 

[StaticlyCharged]

Not to say he wont (oh he will be here) (we'll be playing until its beat). But my point stands, i suppose valve worked out the numbers and they were going to make more money doing it this way than loosing money the other way. It simply upsets me that the day has come where I require internet to play a completely uninternet related game.

 

[OCybrManO]

Can't he just pop over and activate on your PC then...

Yeah, he'd be a pretty bad "friend" if he wouldn't let the guy bring his computer over for five minutes...

 

[Anthraxxx]

AOHell!! AOHell!!!

Netzero > AOHell

 

[Seeky]

Does it bother you that at one point in life, people did not require ID cards to check out library books? That's the price you pay.

 

[Arrowhead]

what if you live in like Zambooga or something?

 

[DevgruSeal]

Why must people continue to ask this question? USE COMMON SENSE GUYS..

There are 5 BILLION free internet trials out there. GOTO INGLES! They have AOL 9.0 discs out for a 45-day trial....

 

[StaticlyCharged]

Its true, and change bothers me, ill just be forced to deal with it. Of course i'd never really not buy the game, but its just very hard to deal with that i am going to NEED internet in the future in order to play games. But you're right. "thats the price you pay" damn pirates!

 

[Johan_Tayn]

who hasn't got Internet that has still heard of HL2? If you don't have a phone, friends with Internet, or friends with phone lines I can not really help you. You are in the minority and this is the best way ever to stop piracy before it is released.

 

[Seeky]

Well, think of it this way. The vast majority of teachers in school now require students to type their essays/reports. If students do not have a computer at home, the school provides equipment for these students so that they can complete their work. It's a smart "business" model.

Change will be for the better, if those instantiating it are mindful of those who will be most negatively affected by it.

 

[Marijn]

African dudes can send me scam mailes from the middle of the f*cking dessert but your friend can't get online? sure....

 

[UKchaos2]

More people have internet access than high spec PCs. My grandma has the internet but no AGP graphics card or anything

 

[MrMan16]

If your friend has a phone line, then he should be able to get dialup. If not, just let him activate the game on your computer. Besides, cant you just activate it over the phone? Or am I misinformed?

 

[fragShader]

ha can't activate over the phone (valve do not provide this service atm)
he can't activate on another PC -
it must be activated ON THE MACHINE IT IS INSTALLED ON
(otherwise how does it know it is activated?)

to make it clearer - activation involves unencrypting the .gcf files that come on the retail CDs. if u activate on another PC u just unencrypt the copies of the files on that machine.

this means ur friend must bring his PC 2 ur house if he can't do dailup

 

[dunny96us]

Think of us uni students ffs. I have an absolute beast of a computer, as do most of my friends here at uni, but i cant use steam to activate cus of the Firewall/proxy issues on the LAN. I think this is something that valve gravely underestimated. I have like 10 friends who cant activate hl2 on tuesday which has us all fooked off. So please rethink when you post things like 'if u dont have internet access then u cant have a decent pc' and just think of the tens of thousands of uni students who WON'T be playing the game on tuesday cus of some gay thing called steam activation.

Valve are targeting the wrong people and i am not a happy bunny.

 

[fragShader]

EDIT : this post was a waste of time. dunny96us is way ahead of me

 

[f|uke]

Please let me know how you feel, im QUITE interested.

Suck it up. This is the ONLY reason why HL2 is not being warez'd right now.

 

[Cole]

20,000 x $7 dollors was it. Was that the amount that valve makes off there games through retail? I think thats what it said in the gamespot thingy or was it gamespy..who cares. $140,000... hmm...

Through steam obviously they make more.(But everyone on here has the internet!)

Get a free AoL disk(ILL GIVE YOU ONE), plug a damn wire from the modem in the back of your computer into your phone line. Log on with AoL, activate, there you go.

IS IT REALLY THAT HARD.

 

[cadaveca]

Alot of people that do not have broadband, if they have a recent pc, don't even have modems...how can they use dial-up?

 

[alehm]

Thats absurd, im tempted not to buy the game just for that reason. Please let me know how you feel, im QUITE interested.

I DARE you to never buy/play Half Life 2 just to support the starving children in Africa and China who do not have internet connection.

 

[ViolenceJack]

I would never have thought the day would have come when people are actually wanting AOL discs. I can see it now. "can i have an AOL disc?" "What???". Then AOL will be saying. "what the hell is going on, our customers have gone up 500%, oh wait they canceled."

 

[guise]

people who buy hl2 will have already needed to the money to buy the game and have a pc good enough to PLAY the game. if they dont have the internet in this day and age, then boo who. nobody cares.