No internet access

[Jason]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Is there anyway to bypass the Steam connection and play the game without
internet access?

--
Jason

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

On 1/4/2005 10:13 AM Jason brightened our day with:

>Is there anyway to bypass the Steam connection and play the game without
>internet access?
>
>--
>Jason
>
>
>
>
Once you've gone through the validation of files you can play offline.

--
Steve ¤»Inglo«¤
www.inglostadt.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

LymanAlpha wrote:
> On 1/4/2005 10:13 AM Jason brightened our day with:
>
>> Is there anyway to bypass the Steam connection and play the game without
>> internet access?
>>
>> --
>> Jason
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Once you've gone through the validation of files you can play offline.
>
yeah, you need an internet connection during the install (its one of the
requirements listed on the box)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Jason" <j.connon@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:3404n6F43tkvpU1@individual.net...
> Is there anyway to bypass the Steam connection and play the game without
> internet access?

Nope.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Chris Hawley" <chris@blood-god.NOSPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
news:crepq1$f0q$1@wisteria.csv.warwick.ac.uk...
> LymanAlpha wrote:
> > On 1/4/2005 10:13 AM Jason brightened our day with:
> >
> >> Is there anyway to bypass the Steam connection and play the game
without
> >> internet access?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Jason
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > Once you've gone through the validation of files you can play offline.
> >
> yeah, you need an internet connection during the install (its one of the
> requirements listed on the box)

Despite what common sense would suggest, a heck of a lot of people don't do
any research before laying down a wad of cash for a game. Then they come
home and discover that they can't play it for a lack of hardware or, in this
case, Internet access.

No offence to the OP; all I'm saying is that things are definately not
simple with games anymore and people should read gaming forums and such to
learn what they can before a potential purchase. Saves headaches later.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"GFree" <nickt4001@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
news:41db1a9d$1@yorrell.saard.net...
>
> Despite what common sense would suggest, a heck of a lot of people don't
> do
> any research before laying down a wad of cash for a game. Then they come
> home and discover that they can't play it for a lack of hardware or, in
> this
> case, Internet access.
>
> No offence to the OP; all I'm saying is that things are definately not
> simple with games anymore and people should read gaming forums and such to
> learn what they can before a potential purchase. Saves headaches later.

Part of the problem is with how ambiguous the "internet connection required"
listing on the box is. Required for what...to play online or for to play
the game at all? Neither one of those common assummptions is even accurate.
A much better listing would have been "needs to be activated over an
internet connection"

Somebody else responded in this thread with a simple "nope", seeming to
indicate that you can't do what the OP asked. Of course, he wasn't really
correct. It is very possible to "bypass a steam connection" once you have
activated the game with it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Patrick Michael" <heismanpat@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:cfFCd.9174$4h.7194@okepread03...
>
> Part of the problem is with how ambiguous the "internet connection
required"
> listing on the box is. Required for what...to play online or for to play
> the game at all? Neither one of those common assummptions is even
accurate.
> A much better listing would have been "needs to be activated over an
> internet connection"

True. Of course, if it said "needs to be activated over an internet
connection", it might scare off some potential buyers, but by saying
"internet connection required", Vivendi can get away with being technically
accurate enough to avoid legality issues.

> Somebody else responded in this thread with a simple "nope", seeming to
> indicate that you can't do what the OP asked. Of course, he wasn't really
> correct. It is very possible to "bypass a steam connection" once you have
> activated the game with it.

Yes, but in this day and age you need to do a little RESEARCH before making
what is a reasonably expensive purchase. All the HL forums on the net have
had at least one very long thread regarding the revelation that you needed
net access for activation, even with the retail version of HL2.

 

[Andrew]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 17:01:37 -0600, "Patrick Michael"
<heismanpat@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Part of the problem is with how ambiguous the "internet connection required"
>listing on the box is.

It isn't ambiguous, it says in the requirements that it needs a net
connection.
--
Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Patrick Michael wrote:
> Part of the problem is with how ambiguous the "internet connection required"
> listing on the box is. Required for what...to play online or for to play
> the game at all? Neither one of those common assummptions is even accurate.
> A much better listing would have been "needs to be activated over an
> internet connection"
>
> Somebody else responded in this thread with a simple "nope", seeming to
> indicate that you can't do what the OP asked. Of course, he wasn't really
> correct. It is very possible to "bypass a steam connection" once you have
> activated the game with it.
>
>

Yeah, by simply listing it in the "other" section its very ambiguous,
which would be made less so if the requirements was in the same was as
EA which lists multiplayer seperately from anything else.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Andrew wrote:

>>Part of the problem is with how ambiguous the "internet connection required"
>>listing on the box is.
>
>
> It isn't ambiguous, it says in the requirements that it needs a net
> connection.

Yes, you're right, but you're missing the point entirely...

We're talking about the average consumer here, not clued-up computer
techies who know to look out for these things. We also have to account
for the fact that even if the consumer did the smart thing and ask, the
shop assistants may be equally clueless, and are quite liable to say
"Oh, don't worry, the internet connection is only for multiplayer".

Should it happen? Of course not. But does it happen? Yes - Welcome to
the real world.

--
Ben Cottrell AKA Bench

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Ben Cottrell wrote:

> We're talking about the average consumer here, not clued-up computer
> techies who know to look out for these things.

We're also talking about it being 2005, where people's pets and 96 year
old great grandmothers are all on the Intarweb.

 

[sleepy]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Jason" <j.connon@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:3404n6F43tkvpU1@individual.net...
> Is there anyway to bypass the Steam connection and play the game without
> internet access?
>
> --
> Jason

No - an Internet Connection is mandatory to install the game and decrypt the
files off the disc. It is also mandatory to download patches through Steam
which will not be available as separate downloads or on a magazine cover
disc
so if you dont have access to a (at least) a 56k connection with no worrys
about the phone bill I would say stay away from Half-Life 2 altogether.

And Patrick Michaels comments about the reqirements being ambiguous
are dead right - Valve have moved the goal posts and should have elaborated
on the need for an Internet Connection in the requirements on the back of
the box.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Sleepy wrote:
> "Jason" <j.connon@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> No - an Internet Connection is mandatory to install the game and decrypt the
> files off the disc. It is also mandatory to download patches through Steam
> which will not be available as separate downloads or on a magazine cover
> disc

Yeah, patches is something that i'd not thought about, but the original
install of HL2 will work fine without any (at least in my experience) -
well, as long as you install CS:Source alongside it due to a nice error
in that hl2.ico is in the CS:Source .cab (whoops).

> so if you dont have access to a (at least) a 56k connection with no worrys
> about the phone bill I would say stay away from Half-Life 2 altogether.

I wouldn't say stay away from it, its not too bad to install it, and
after that you don't need to go near an internet connection afterwards.
Admittedly the chances of someone not having at least 56k unmetered
(through one of these monthly payment jobbies) is quite low nowadays so
this won't apply to many anyway.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

In my local Game shop the employees where actualy telling everybody who
bought the game that an interned connection is required to activate the
game. The woman in fornt of me didnt even know if her son had the internet
and just bought it anyway.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Chris Hawley wrote:
> Yeah, patches is something that i'd not thought about, but the original
> install of HL2 will work fine without any (at least in my experience) -
> well, as long as you install CS:Source alongside it due to a nice error
> in that hl2.ico is in the CS:Source .cab (whoops).

Not quite - Steam will only allow you to play the game if it thinks you
have the latest version of the game (Which it will discover you don't
when you activate from a fresh install).

--
Ben Cottrell AKA Bench

 

[sleepy]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Ben Cottrell" <bench@bench333.screaming.net> wrote in message
news:3426nfF47k749U1@individual.net...
> Chris Hawley wrote:
>> Yeah, patches is something that i'd not thought about, but the original
>> install of HL2 will work fine without any (at least in my experience) -
actually a great many ppl have struggled with the 'stuttering bug' and have
had to go through several updates to get a decent playing experience.
whereas you used to go to the developers site for news of patch and
download it - with Steam you just have to connect regular and you get
updates whether you want to or not and then you have to find some refernce
that tells you what the patch included.

>> well, as long as you install CS:Source alongside it due to a nice error
>> in that hl2.ico is in the CS:Source .cab (whoops).
>
> Not quite - Steam will only allow you to play the game if it thinks you
> have the latest version of the game (Which it will discover you don't
> when you activate from a fresh install).
>
> --
> Ben Cottrell AKA Bench

yes most ppl that have tried the offline mode report that Steam eventually
will keep wanting to go online and update.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Sleepy wrote:

>>>well, as long as you install CS:Source alongside it due to a nice error
>>>in that hl2.ico is in the CS:Source .cab (whoops).
>>
>>Not quite - Steam will only allow you to play the game if it thinks you
>>have the latest version of the game (Which it will discover you don't
>>when you activate from a fresh install).
>>
>
> yes most ppl that have tried the offline mode report that Steam eventually
> will keep wanting to go online and update.

That shouldn't happen any more, the bug was fixed a while ago AFAIK

--
Ben Cottrell AKA Bench

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"GFree" <nickt4001@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
news:41db22ef$1@yorrell.saard.net...
>
> Yes, but in this day and age you need to do a little RESEARCH before
> making
> what is a reasonably expensive purchase. All the HL forums on the net have
> had at least one very long thread regarding the revelation that you needed
> net access for activation, even with the retail version of HL2.

The problem is that we're talking about who don't have an internet
connection in their home. Of course you and I did our research, and rather
easily, but I don't think that I'd go out of my way to drive to a friend's
house or a library simply to "research" a game purchase. If the game had a
bright green sticker on the front that said "Internet Access required to
activate" then I would agree that the burden lies with the consumer. But
when they don't explain why internet access is required, then it gets a lot
more confusing for many consumers.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Andrew" <spamtrap@localhost.> wrote in message
news:bp8mt0po0jmprf24g2mbcm6rhf6t7o8r89@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 17:01:37 -0600, "Patrick Michael"
> <heismanpat@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Part of the problem is with how ambiguous the "internet connection
>>required"
>>listing on the box is.
>
> It isn't ambiguous, it says in the requirements that it needs a net
> connection.

Maybe "ambiguous" wasn't the best choice of words, but it is *misleading*,
as you would see if you had quoted the rest of my post. I believe the US
retail version of FarCry also said that an internet connection was
required..of course, this is blatantly untrue for the single player game.
Yes, yes, I know Ubi/EA/whatever the hell the conglomerate of the day is and
Valve/Vivendi are different companies, but I really think Vivendi dropped
the ball on being accurate in this case.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Patrick Michael" <heismanpat@yahoo.com> wrote in message
newsC_Cd.9977$4h.6781@okepread03...
>
> "GFree" <nickt4001@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
> news:41db22ef$1@yorrell.saard.net...
> >
> > Yes, but in this day and age you need to do a little RESEARCH before
> > making
> > what is a reasonably expensive purchase. All the HL forums on the net
have
> > had at least one very long thread regarding the revelation that you
needed
> > net access for activation, even with the retail version of HL2.
>
> The problem is that we're talking about who don't have an internet
> connection in their home. Of course you and I did our research, and
rather
> easily, but I don't think that I'd go out of my way to drive to a friend's
> house or a library simply to "research" a game purchase. If the game had
a
> bright green sticker on the front that said "Internet Access required to
> activate" then I would agree that the burden lies with the consumer. But
> when they don't explain why internet access is required, then it gets a
lot
> more confusing for many consumers.

Yeah, well. Valve have raised their standards I guess. Their benchmark is
that most people in the 21st century who have computers and want to play
games (REAL games, not Solitare) have at least SOME kind of
easily-accessable net access. Most people have, but a few do not. The ones
that do outweight the ones that don't, a statistic Valve can afford to live
with. Most developers can't, but then again, most developers don't have the
resources Valve have at their disposal. I can kinda see their point.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"GFree" <nickt4001@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
news:41dc79ba$1@yorrell.saard.net...
>
> Yeah, well. Valve have raised their standards I guess. Their benchmark is
> that most people in the 21st century who have computers and want to play
> games (REAL games, not Solitare) have at least SOME kind of
> easily-accessable net access. Most people have, but a few do not. The ones
> that do outweight the ones that don't, a statistic Valve can afford to
> live
> with. Most developers can't, but then again, most developers don't have
> the
> resources Valve have at their disposal. I can kinda see their point.

I just don't see why they couldn't have put "to Activate" after "internet
connection required", and made it more obvious. It wouldn't have really
cost them anything, and if anything, probably would have gained more
consumer trust.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"Patrick Michael" <heismanpat@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:72%Cd.10061$4h.6136@okepread03...
>
> "GFree" <nickt4001@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
> news:41dc79ba$1@yorrell.saard.net...
> >
> > Yeah, well. Valve have raised their standards I guess. Their benchmark
is
> > that most people in the 21st century who have computers and want to play
> > games (REAL games, not Solitare) have at least SOME kind of
> > easily-accessable net access. Most people have, but a few do not. The
ones
> > that do outweight the ones that don't, a statistic Valve can afford to
> > live
> > with. Most developers can't, but then again, most developers don't have
> > the
> > resources Valve have at their disposal. I can kinda see their point.
>
> I just don't see why they couldn't have put "to Activate" after "internet
> connection required", and made it more obvious. It wouldn't have really
> cost them anything, and if anything, probably would have gained more
> consumer trust.

Because by saying "Internet connection required", they are completely
accurate. By adding the "activate word in front of it, that might confuse
and hence deter potential impulse buyers. Blame Vivendi's marketing
department.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

"GFree" <nickt4001@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
news:41dc7fe9$1@yorrell.saard.net...
>
> Because by saying "Internet connection required", they are completely
> accurate. By adding the "activate word in front of it, that might confuse
> and hence deter potential impulse buyers. Blame Vivendi's marketing
> department.

I can't see how it could have confused people more than it already did.
Sorry, but I just can't side with VIvendi here. We can agree to disagree.

 

[Jason]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

GFree wrote:
> "Chris Hawley" <chris@blood-god.NOSPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:crepq1$f0q$1@wisteria.csv.warwick.ac.uk...
>> LymanAlpha wrote:
>>> On 1/4/2005 10:13 AM Jason brightened our day with:
>>>
>>>> Is there anyway to bypass the Steam connection and play the game
>>>> without internet access?
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Jason
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Once you've gone through the validation of files you can play
>>> offline.
>>>
>> yeah, you need an internet connection during the install (its one of
>> the requirements listed on the box)
>
> Despite what common sense would suggest, a heck of a lot of people
> don't do any research before laying down a wad of cash for a game.
> Then they come home and discover that they can't play it for a lack
> of hardware or, in this case, Internet access.
>
> No offence to the OP; all I'm saying is that things are definately not
> simple with games anymore and people should read gaming forums and
> such to learn what they can before a potential purchase. Saves
> headaches later.

I do have internet access. In fact, I've been a regular on-line gamer with
the original Half-life (Demon UK) on my desktop. Problem is, I can't be
arsed hooking up my laptop, which has Half-life installed. My desktop
doesn't have the capability to handler HL2.

When I can be arsed, I'll hook up the laptop. I was only asking for some
possible clever way to avoid that.

No harm done.

--
Jason

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Patrick Michael wrote:
> "Andrew" <spamtrap@localhost.> wrote in message
> news:bp8mt0po0jmprf24g2mbcm6rhf6t7o8r89@4ax.com...
>
>>On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 17:01:37 -0600, "Patrick Michael"
>><heismanpat@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Part of the problem is with how ambiguous the "internet connection
>>>required"
>>>listing on the box is.
>>
>>It isn't ambiguous, it says in the requirements that it needs a net
>>connection.
>
>
> Maybe "ambiguous" wasn't the best choice of words, but it is *misleading*,
> as you would see if you had quoted the rest of my post. I believe the US
> retail version of FarCry also said that an internet connection was
> required..of course, this is blatantly untrue for the single player game.
> Yes, yes, I know Ubi/EA/whatever the hell the conglomerate of the day is and
> Valve/Vivendi are different companies, but I really think Vivendi dropped
> the ball on being accurate in this case.
>
>

No less accurate than Sierra/Dynamix was with Tribes.