How is Direct 2 Drive?

R

Roufuss

Gawd
Joined
Apr 7, 2007
Messages
755
I don't know much about it, other than it has games that Steam doesn't have yet (or ever) like Supreme Commander and Oblivion.

I know it doesn't patch automatically, and in their new user FAQ section it claims some mods aren't compatiable with the D2D games, and that "while it used to take a long time to get patches, now it's a lot better".

What does that mean?

Has anyone used Direct 2 Drive, how is it, any good or bad stories, etc? Is it worth grabbing stuff off of it now, or just waiting for Steam to get the same things, since I noticed a lot of games are shared between the two.

I'm on a DD kick lately, heh.
 
I prefer steam over d2d but it isn't bad. The problem recently for me is patches coming later than the retail patches. Especially with cod4. I bought it off steam and it would patch often a day later than the retail patch was released. Which means no online play. Same problem with d2d. The mods are less of a problem, most work, or can be modified to work.
 
I normally check D2D for games after I check Steam...if I find something for a good price I'll buy it there...Games work fine though and the process is pretty easy. I bought Company of Heroes and it's expansion along with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on there and they both work great...haven't had to wait for a patch for it because Relic takes care of them for the direct download versions too.
 
I picked up Far Cry off D2D. Played through the campaign and went to jump online for some multiplayer, and my cd-key was in use. Contacted their "service" department and the issue was never resolved. This was quite a qhile ago (6~ months) so I can't remember what their reasoning was.

Edit: I really want to pick up supcom, but I'm waiting on it to come out on steam.
 
I used it ONCE because I wanted to get UT3 like RIGHT NOW, ended up having to wait a week for someone to contact me to confirm that I wanted to make the purchase, then they said it would take a few days to process, then I could have my game. Very convenient. I'll never try them again.
 
Does D2D games have install limitations and the license is tied to your hardware? I think it does and that is why I haven't bought any games from them. Steam has no such limitations and why I do buy from them on occasion.
 
Well, you can download any game you buy as much as you need to so that's good. I also prefer to get the STEAM version if possible, however, I bought Chronicles of Riddick and it's great. Personally I'd only buy older games that are as patched up as they're going to get and aren't games I'd install lots of mods on (ie Oblivion).
 
I've bought a couple games off D2D: Call of Duty 1 and 2 chest, Far Cry, R6: Vegas. Never had any problem with them. You can download it as many times as you want, although I don't know why you would need to download it more than twice.

I would probably go with Steam first, but if they don't have it or if it's cheaper at D2D, I wouldn't hesitate too much.
 
milkweg said:
Does D2D games have install limitations and the license is tied to your hardware? I think it does and that is why I haven't bought any games from them. Steam has no such limitations and why I do buy from them on occasion.
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There are definitely no hardware limitations. I have a couple of games I purchased on my old rig and since installed on the current one. As far as install limits, I haven't really bumped into one yet, though I heard it is 5 installs and you need to call or e-mail them to bump it past that number.

Editing: Though a little off topic, I actually like the EA online store. I like how preordered games are downloaded automatically a couple of days before release, though it won't activate until release date. On midnight of the release you can go off and play the game without having to wait for lengthy downloads, since it's already sitting on your computer. One thing I don't know is if there are any hardware or install limitations, since I've only purchased Hellgate and Crysis and haven't done a system restore since then.
 
CubicleGeek said:
There are definitely no hardware limitations. I have a couple of games I purchased on my old rig and since installed on the current one. As far as install limits, I haven't really bumped into one yet, though I heard it is 5 installs and you need to call or e-mail them to bump it past that number.

Editing: Though a little off topic, I actually like the EA online store. I like how preordered games are downloaded automatically a couple of days before release, though it won't activate until release date. On midnight of the release you can go off and play the game without having to wait for lengthy downloads, since it's already sitting on your computer. One thing I don't know is if there are any hardware or install limitations, since I've only purchased Hellgate and Crysis and haven't done a system restore since then.
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Interesting, it seems people always shit on the EA store. I would have gotten C&C 3 off of there but EA wants $50 for just the base game, and they don't have the Gold Edition that is in the stores.

I know Steam is now sticking around, I'm just worried that I'd get some games through D2D and the service would go belly up in a few years.

I'm probably worrying for nothing.
 
I can't see why i'd pay the same price(sometimes more) to download a game when I could just go to the store and get it, usually on sale, and have a manual and discs.
 
go with EA store as the last resort.

I used direct2drive twice, I bought rainbow six vegas and world of warcraft on it. It worked well, with vegas you just download the game and I save it on my backup hard drive and they give you a cd key, thats all. With WoW since the game is free they just give you a CD key. I didn't have any problems with it.
 
Archer75 said:
I can't see why i'd pay the same price(sometimes more) to download a game when I could just go to the store and get it, usually on sale, and have a manual and discs.
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For me, it's because the box, manual, discs, anything else that comes with it rots in a corner because I install the game once, crack the game, and that's that.

I know with Steam, it will also automatically grab patches for me - the time it takes for you to go to the store, buy the game (if it's even in stock), and drive home, I already have the game installed, patched, and I'm playing it.

Plus, the only store here that puts games on sale is Circuit City, and it takes me at least 20 minutes in the store to find the game in that mess and find someone to check me out. That's if they even have the game, because my CC stocks 1 of each PC game, two at the most, and it's more hassle than it's worth.

Plus, I'm just really really sick of the clutter, and I like the conveinence. Plus, if I have to reinstall, I'm not having to swap discs, find CD Key's, blah blah blah. I'm past the point of wanting physical copies, since I don't ever read the manual (not that it's worth it anyways), I use the discs once, and after awhile the boxes take up quite a bit of space. That's a different thread altogether though.
 
All valid points. However I don't see why cost must be equal or more to download it when they don't have to pay for discs, boxes, manuals and all the labor at every step of the way to create those items, package and ship to a store and then build in a store profit.

A direct download game should cost quite a bit less.
 
Gabe3 said:
go with EA store as the last resort.
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Any particular reason? Just curious because I don't have much experience with them and the experience I do have is pretty good. Especially how they handle pre-loading of pre-orders. In terms of price, both pre-orders were $10 under MSRP, so more or less what you would pay at a major retailer like Best Buy.
 
Archer75 said:
All valid points. However I don't see why cost must be equal or more to download it when they don't have to pay for discs, boxes, manuals and all the labor at every step of the way to create those items, package and ship to a store and then build in a store profit.

A direct download game should cost quite a bit less.
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While I agree, I think I read somewhere (pretty sure it was these forums) that publishers don't want to offer huge savings on new games over the retail stores, because it will just piss off the Best Buy / Wal-Mart's of the world and they simply will stop carrying their games if they are getting undercut. And since everyone doesn't use digital distribution, publishers would (apparently) lose quite a bit of money.
 
Roufuss said:
While I agree, I think I read somewhere (pretty sure it was these forums) that publishers don't want to offer huge savings on new games over the retail stores, because it will just piss off the Best Buy / Wal-Mart's of the world and they simply will stop carrying their games if they are getting undercut. And since everyone doesn't use digital distribution, publishers would (apparently) lose quite a bit of money.
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Also makes sense. However those retail stores seem to have no problem offer discounts of their own. But what you say makes sense.
 
What I want to know is why BB/WM has a better selection of PC games than Gamestop? Especially considering GS is supposed to be all about games. I go into my local GS and there's tons of shitty XBOX/360/GC/PS2 games sprawled across the walls, yet there's just a pathetic rack for PC games:(
 
Roufuss said:
I'm probably worrying for nothing.
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Not really. That has already happened with one download game company.

The best download service I know of is matrixgames.com. They give you a serial number when installing the game and patches and that is all you need. Only thing is they aremostly not the type of games most people are interested in.
 
I've purchased a few games off there, haven't had any problems. It's nice not needing the CDs to run the game too.
 
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