Soldiers against steam..

[byzking]

I believe there to be some serious matters to be considered here. Like soldiers for example.. While in Kuwait preparing to leave for a year in Iraq. I bought a game called Sniper.. Thinking Great. I can just install this from the disk and enjoy some playing on my downtime between missions. No... Wrong.. I needed internet.. So I had to go spends $150/month of alleged of 500k claimed speeds.. To which it took more than 3 weeks to download at about 15k/s on the good days.. And, the internet was rarely up after that early on in the tour. So between missions, IDF (rockets and mortars) every night. I came back to my crappy tent to see I was still downloading a game that took me only a couple days to beat.. So will I ever buy a game as a soldier that is fueled by steam or valve? NO... Because.. As a soldier.. The internet is a rare comfort, that is more frequently used to Skype home and make sure mom and the wife are ok.. But, if I just need to log on and shoot some ***.. Cause I'm pissed off the real enemy can rocket the crap out of me all night, and I haven't been allowed to fire a single real round back.. I have to pay out the ass just to have internet just to try to burn of some steam.. no pun in tended.. but Steam makes my PTSD worse! I can understand needing a 5 min online connection to verify a code included in the box.. but needing to download the whole game.. Is completely overboard...

 

[Hawkeye22]

First off, THANK YOU for serving our country.

The game specs should have stated that steam is required, or at the very least that the internet is required. If you didn't read the specs, Valve/Steam can't be responsible for it. Don't take it out on them because you didn't read the specs.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

it isnt steams fault they didnt consider the soldier in another country with crappy internet connection demographic. there is an offline mode for steam.

 

[byzking]

The case I bought in Kuwait said.. Single player offline available.. It really would have made more sense to only require like a cd key online activation where you could still install the game via disk.. Steam's design doesn't really consider the soldier market.. But, then again.. who does now a days?

I'm not butt hurt by the cost of the game as much as how hard it can be to get to offline mode here.. The Middle east servers are down a lot. So if you log on to get an update or something like that.. You could be screwed out of getting back to offline more for weeks.

I worked in Network Infrastructure and Image Development before I became a combat medic in the army. So, I'm quite OCD about keeping a smooth operating laptop even out here in this wasteland.

And, to be honest.. Even the overall, instability of the software itself. I find to be quite unfriendly with Windows 7x64.. on a Dell Studio XPS 1640 with a T9600 2.8ghz core2duo 6gb ram and Radeon hd 4760. So, on a good install and a solid hardware platform that has no other quirks or problems..Steam still bugs out a lot. Its easy to conclude that there is much more to be done to improve their product as a whole. I think they need to consider the market and alternatives. Because even out here on deployments, soldiers are steering away from buying PC games in fear of this occurring.. Not all cases are clearly marked. This is my 2nd deployment, and many of us have been resorting to PS3s and Xboxs with computer monitors for our gaming needs. And, when I do say needs.. yes.. Because here.. We need outlets for our stress.

 

[byzking]

Just to further iterate.. Is it really fair for a consumer to sell a disk with no game content? Even now a days... People still don't have internet, or can't afford decent connections. I know because I'm in Iraq. it can take days to even download a 500mb freebee game... But, still. It seems, brutally torturous to me..

 

[Hawkeye22]

I understand your turmoil. I like the old days when everything you needed was on the disk. Today's problem is all the DRM and unfortunately I think it's here to stay. That said, I find steam's DRM the least intrusive. Starforce DRM used to crap my machine out. So if i have the choice of DRM on a disk with the game vs steam, I'll take steam.

Maybe you should take up some kind of grievance (sp?) and have a bunch of soldiers sign it and send it off to Valve. I'd love for them to find a way to accomodate our soldiers.

 

[byzking]

That's a really good idea Hawkeye. I'm not quite sure, how I'd get it out across the battalion or on a bigger scale.. But, I'm sure I could think of something. On a positive note, though. This is my 2nd and final tour.. And, I'm expected to get out of the army in the next few months.. My time as a soldier is coming to an end. But, it wouldn't hurt to see if I could get something setup for other soldiers after I'm out.

 

[jaguarskx]

I suppose for the time being, the best thing to do is to avoid purchasing games that require you to connect to the internet in order to play. Additionally, install the games and patch them before deploying.

It's not an ideal solution especially since it means you need to bring the disks along with you. But considering an internet connection is slow at best when it's available, it is probably the best for now.

 

[byzking]

Best answer selected by byzking.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

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