Angry about Steam and not getting what you paid for?

i am afraid that i was not joking. my sort of games are more along the dos and myst lines... :D
 
Dijonase said:
The difference here is that Valve didn't decide not to let you play the game. I can't speak for people who bought the retail package as I got the silver version from steam and it installed without a hitch, but it sounds like steam is getting hammered right now and people just need to be a little bit patient. I'd probably be pissed if I were in your shoes, but filing formal complaints and threatening to sue is a bit too "drama queen" if you ask me.
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Valve made the Steam system, not Vivendi. In fact, Vivendi hated it so much, they threatened legal action over it. So Valve really is the one keeping you from playing. :p
 
WesM63 said:
gah, This irratates the hell out of me. Honestly, who bitches when they have to activate windows? I don't see a million page long thread about people wanting to sue microsoft because they had to activate they're copy before they could use it.
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Obviously, you either weren't around when XP came out, or weren't paying attention. All over message boards, web pages, usenet, IRC... hell, Newspaper, Radio, and TV people were complaining about XP activation and issues with it. Now, a few years later, you don't hear about it much because it worked out fairly well because, as another poster pointed out, you had 30 days to complete it, and it didn't require internet connection, and it didn't need to be activated each time it was used.
 
I've been playing CS since beta, yeah when the awp had a green sight and everyone would just run around shooting the awp with a open sight. Ahh those were the days.

Since steam has come out, really the only words that express my feeling toward steam is,

"This was supposed to fix all our problems? Where are all the Fixes?"

I have had nothing but problems with connecting and game play. Hackers haven't been delt with and this hype about how CS:S was to be this great game and, yeah um wheres the greatness?

Hackers are everywhere and admins can do nothing. Updates? where did the updates go?


So I kinda decided to stop playing CS and wait for HL2. Yeah and I paid for the pre download. Couldn't wait, HL2 came out and now I have to activate it via steam, ok whatever lets activate.

Ok waiting.....and waiting...and waiting.......and waiting some more! So how long does activation take? :confused: Well about 90 minutes! :mad:

Thank You Steam for grinding CS, a well balanced great game into the ground.

Oh by the way, when I buy a game, and you advertise it to be playable as soon as it comes out, I kinda want to play it as soon as it come out, or maybe 5 or 10 minutes after :D Not ******** 90 minutes after :mad:
 
matguy said:
Obviously, you either weren't around when XP came out, or weren't paying attention. All over message boards, web pages, usenet, IRC... hell, Newspaper, Radio, and TV people were complaining about XP activation and issues with it. Now, a few years later, you don't hear about it much because it worked out fairly well because, as another poster pointed out, you had 30 days to complete it, and it didn't require internet connection, and it didn't need to be activated each time it was used.
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On a side note I still bitch when I have to activate Windows XP or any other type of Microsuck product.

Paying $200-$400 for an OS isn't enough to prove I bought it?
 
many, many people really resent the 'activation' thing... to me, it's only one more reason to stick with tried-and-true 98se...

not to start an os war... just my opinion. take or leave as you wish, but plz no warz.
 
I think this gimme, gimme thread is pretty lame.

But anyways.

If you had pre ordered HL2 on Steam the unlocking process was pretty quick and if the boxed version doesn't need any updated files the activation should be quick as well.

If you purchaced the retail box (haha you have to use a CD :p )... you have to be prepared to try and update/activate your copy with thousands of other people. You knew it would happen.

I really have to wonder why some people are having problems... Seems that some are just having problems because of bad computer setups.
 
matguy said:
Obviously, you either weren't around when XP came out, or weren't paying attention. All over message boards, web pages, usenet, IRC... hell, Newspaper, Radio, and TV people were complaining about XP activation and issues with it. Now, a few years later, you don't hear about it much because it worked out fairly well because, as another poster pointed out, you had 30 days to complete it, and it didn't require internet connection, and it didn't need to be activated each time it was used.
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Actually yes I was around, I was installing XP on more machines than you could dream of. Also, they didn't add the activation process untill SP1 was released. Yes you have 30days, unless your copy has been activated once, then you must activate it before it will even load a desktop. Oh wait, no Nic drivers, better get on the horn.

The point I was getting at was yes it was a bitch and people complained, but no one is still complaining. Granted, valve might not have steam working like they want it to, but it will work right over time. (a week or two)


Chill out for a few minutes and try agian. Its a game, its not the end of the world.
 
Valve so strange, they are great at making games. But they treat their customers like dirt. I have to say they've inspired me, if I ever have a chance to give out pirated copies of HL2 I'm gonna buy a cheap 100 pack of CD-R's and give out as many as I can.

I buy dozens of pc games and software every year, always legit, but this is not acceptable.
 
it would be nice if valve made the game so you can activate it via phone for those without internet or for those times when their reg servers puke.

...microsoft's activation thingy is a pain in the butt when you have 'exceeded' your allowable times to activate and have to call the fake lady and go thru 5 minutes or so of speaking numbers (of which I am pretty impressed with their voice recognition stuff and do have fun trying to stump it :) ) . ..and then she tells me she cant verify whatever and shoots me off to habib in India of whom I have to strain pretty hard sometimes to understand ... I guess its all for the greater good to dissuade(sp?) soft core would be pirates ..hard core pirates seem to find a way around just about everything.

..tho I myself dont have a problem with steam personally and think it can become a new standard for getting software products out to the masses ...it would seem there is still much to be desired on many different fronts for many people.
 
Shouldn't we cut them some slack, so all games in the future don't end up just being console type stuff?

(actually I was pretty pissed too, however I was able to log into Steam and play after a half hour or so)
 
I know it can suck to not play, and valve probally should have had a better way to activate it (a freaking phone number! come on)

However to bring down steam is going to be "bad" in the long run.

You think Vivendi is better?
You'd rather have a crappy box with no jewel case and not even a manual?
You'd rather pay more for less?

The way I see it, I'd rather have a few problems with steam, but still have it, then I would to have companies like Vivendi running everything and valve gettin gout of the picture.

Steam isn't going to eventually be only valve, but they plan to have it for other developers aswell, This basically cuts out the publisher, the developers get more of the money and in return it's better for them and us.

The only complaint I have is that they NEED a phone # to call and activate it for the non internet people.

I think that'd pretty much solve the problems.
 
Talz said:
Valve so strange, they are great at making games. But they treat their customers like dirt. I have to say they've inspired me, if I ever have a chance to give out pirated copies of HL2 I'm gonna buy a cheap 100 pack of CD-R's and give out as many as I can.

I buy dozens of pc games and software every year, always legit, but this is not acceptable.
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Are you being sarcastic or are you really considering pirating this game. I thought we could not talk about things like that.
 
ummmm

has ANYONE here had success with getting HL2 to work in offline mode?

i tried that soultion that valve put forward last night, (using my firewall to block activity for the steam application) however it comes back and bitches to me saying "you need to have STEAM in online mode to work" or some bullshit...

the game is "offline mode ready", and im doing exatly what it tells me to do... but it STILL doesnt fucken work.
is this just happening to me?

someone find a way to fuck Steam's shit up so we can all play HL2 without the lame-ass need to have that steam application running~~!
 
mcravenufo said:
Not to mention the fact that if steam shuts down it sounds like you can never play the game again.
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Not if you Offline Mode works for you. I've tested Offline Mode on my computer and it works fine.
 
cmputrnrd4lif said:
Not if you Offline Mode works for you. I've tested Offline Mode on my computer and it works fine.
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if its not too much trouble... can you run me through the exact steps that YOU did to get offline mode to work?

i followed the valve thing, but that just wasnt doing it for me at all :S
 
liquorman said:
I bet you all bitched when you had to buy a CDROM for the first time cause the newest game wasn't available on Floppy's. Valve is being the pioneer of a new paradigm for online distribution and copyright control, so ofcourse there are a few, or many, flaws. I am willing to bet that a Million people have already tried to activate today, so no matter how powerful their servers are there is going to be glitches. Someone in one of these threads claimed that Valve has offered no support what so ever, and if this is true Valve should be ashamed, but I have my doubts.

Why is all this happening? 2 reasons:
1) SoftWare Hackers are screwing developers
You same people that bitch cause you can't get it working were probably already pissed because you couldn't just download the Warez for free. The whole reason they are implementing such things as Online Activation is because hackers have been stealling revenue from these companies for years. Hell I know I may, or may not, have downloaded things for free in the past, but I can't be pissed that someone figured out a way to prevent this. In fact if you ask me it's pure genius.
2)Publishers are screwing developers
When you go to the store and buy a game, 90% of that money goes to the company that made the box(Vivendi) and not the people that actually made the game(Valve). Valve had an amazing concept: Instead of taking it up the ass by the publishers, why don't we offer our products online so users can get them directly from us? This way they can get proper compensation for their artwork, instead of the Corporate Blackhole.

All that being said though, I downloaded it all last week, and activation went through without a hitch this morning. In otherwords, my patience has not been tried like the rest of you.
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you moron, at least you still owned the game
 
Keitaro said:
has ANYONE here had success with getting HL2 to work in offline mode?
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Keitaro said:
if its not too much trouble... can you run me through the exact steps that YOU did to get offline mode to work?

i followed the valve thing, but that just wasnt doing it for me at all :S
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I haven't had any trouble period. Though, yesterday, I wanted to try and be of assistance to those who were having trouble. So I disabed my LAN connection, via "Network Connections". I made sure that I had exited out of my previous Steam session, and verified that my connection to the Internet was off. I then launched Steam and it came back with an error, stating that I had no connection. And as you probably know, there is an "Start in Offline Mode" button you can click on. So I did, and Steam launched itself in Offline Mode. HL2 loaded up without a hitch.

BTW, I purchased HL2 via Steam, and pre-loaded it days in advance. At the time of the above experiment, HL2 had already been authenticated, and I had played serveral times.

Maybe there's a connection between which version you buy (retail or via Steam), and whether or not you can access Offline Mode?

For reference, here is the error I received:

steam.jpg
 
thanks...
thats the exact box that i get as well, and i told it to work in offline mode......
but when i go to run the game, it says that i need to be connected to load it......

im doing it the lazy way and using my firewall to stop traffic inbound and outbound to "steam.exe"
that way the program THINKS it's offline even though im still connected (i dont want to disconnect my system because i have god knows how many remote connections to other PCs etc and reconnecting is a pain in the ass)
but now that i think of it, i may have to block traffic to "HL2.exe" as well, because it also accesses shit on the steam servers no doubt....

*ponders*

I'll try it again after work, blocking EVERYTHING associated with HL2 and Steam and see how i go.
Still a pain in the ass exercise to go through don't you think?
Id much prefer an option in steam that just switches the game to and from Offline mode..... it changes stuff about the game, then you could exit Steam (which has like a 30mb memory footprint) and load HL2 like you would any other NORMAL game
 
Keitaro, try disabling your NIC and seE if that works. Not sure, just a suggestion.

As for everyone saying that people should not have waited to download it, I preloaded at every single stage as soon as it would start. Even with the game fully downloaded and locked, I was unable to even attempt to unlock it for 3 hours and after that it took two hours to connect to the authentication servers. After that, it only took a few minutes to unlock. I started this whole process at 11:30PM central time.

Still the wait was still rediculous considering Valve was advertising that I would be able to play HL2 the moment it was released. In fact, it could be considered false and deceptive advertising, which the FTC would be interested in.

And also, don't patronize me by saying I used my mommy and daddy's money to buy HL2. I am college student who also works 60 hours a week in an ER and I paid for the game, along with everything else I want/need with my own hard earned money.

edit-I was typing my response when you posted yours Keitaro.
 
Keitaro said:
thanks...
thats the exact box that i get as well, and i told it to work in offline mode......
but when i go to run the game, it says that i need to be connected to load it......

im doing it the lazy way and using my firewall to stop traffic inbound and outbound to "steam.exe"
that way the program THINKS it's offline even though im still connected (i dont want to disconnect my system because i have god knows how many remote connections to other PCs etc and reconnecting is a pain in the ass)
but now that i think of it, i may have to block traffic to "HL2.exe" as well, because it also accesses shit on the steam servers no doubt....

*ponders*

I'll try it again after work, blocking EVERYTHING associated with HL2 and Steam and see how i go.
Still a pain in the ass exercise to go through don't you think?
Id much prefer an option in steam that just switches the game to and from Offline mode..... it changes stuff about the game, then you could exit Steam (which has like a 30mb memory footprint) and load HL2 like you would any other NORMAL game
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Just block everything. not just steam. If you have a router lookup your ip address and say block TCP/UDP port * to * this block all ports. thats should fix it. :D
 
WesM63 said:
Actually yes I was around, I was installing XP on more machines than you could dream of. Also, they didn't add the activation process untill SP1 was released. Yes you have 30days, unless your copy has been activated once, then you must activate it before it will even load a desktop. Oh wait, no Nic drivers, better get on the horn.

The point I was getting at was yes it was a bitch and people complained, but no one is still complaining. Granted, valve might not have steam working like they want it to, but it will work right over time. (a week or two)


Chill out for a few minutes and try agian. Its a game, its not the end of the world.
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Wow, I'm not sure how I could be more impressed. First off, since you didn't give any kind of number, it's hard to "argue" about you installing more machines that I can dream of. I do Desktop Support for a large university as well as manage the Student Log-in systems for the same University. One of my job duties is to get students on the network as they move in and one of the requirements this year was SP2 if they're running XP, and I'm sure you can guess how many re-installs of XP comes from that little requirement. Before that I ran a general computer service company for a few years, and before that (97-99) ran a computer gaming center. I'm not new, so quit with the grandeous asertations of earned respect. Facts are facts or not, just because someone with claimed experience says it doesn't automatically make it true.

Second, Windows XP has always required activation, beginning with the first retail and OEM releases, it's not something that was added with SP1. Also, there's nothing that keeps you from having a 30 day period on subsequent installs after the first activation, even on a repair install, unless you're trying to use hack to get around the activation and that hack fails (as they often do.) Other than failed hacks, the only time you should get stuck on an install would be if you installed, ran the system clock up a month durring the last reboot, then got locked out from the system thinking you've lapsed 30 days. And that'd your own damn fault. Plus, if the nic you're using is recognized by XP, it sure should have it's drivers working even if you get locked out before the desktop, the file shares should even still work. If you need to use specific TCP/IP or login settings, then you'd likely not have internet access, but a recognized nic should still work. I keep around a few older Intel Nics for similar situations.

About people not complaining anymore, actually I see a couple posts above here of people still complaining, and/or won't use XP because of the activation issues. Also, the activation issues weren't that hard to work around, unlike the ones with HL2 and Steam, which really don't have much in the way of workarounds for times when the Steam servers are too busy or down, or for people that don't have internet access at all. As much as the argument is mostly about Steam not working right, it's also that there is zero backup plan for one of the most highly anticipated and hyped games of the year and frustration about the requrements for internet access when there is nothing the game itself needs internet access for.

Now, I understand that it's just a damn game, a game which is part of a multi Billion dollar industry, and as someone that plays the games, I hate seeing things like this bring down otherwise great titles. As someone who used to depend on the big games like this to make a living, I may be a little less forgiving of things like this, especially now that my job depends on the things I create working, I don't have much sympathy for companies the don't test enough and plan for their big roll-outs.
 
slyguy63 said:
Just block everything. not just steam. If you have a router lookup your ip address and say block TCP/UDP port * to * this block all ports. thats should fix it. :D
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heh yea... i could. we do have a linux router box that i could do fun fun stuff with, blocking everything i need... but i also run a software firewall on my system, which means i can block outgoing shit (like from accursed Steam), and incoming of course.

im sure someone, somewhere out in this great world wide web, will devise a way to allow the game to run without having steam running at all...

and when that day comes.... i will do the dance of the funky chicken (it makes the girls go wild)
 
Have you actually completed all of the activation/downloads. I dont know if it comes out of the box "ready to activate" or if there are some files missing. It would be intersting to know that.

It also seems to be the Euro servers caused the biggest problem during authorization. I know there are not as many euro servers so that was probably the cause.

Maybe Valve should have put everyone in a line. Sorta like what MS did with SP2. (for the automatic updates)
 
MixPix said:
Have you actually completed all of the activation/downloads. I dont know if it comes out of the box "ready to activate" or if there are some files missing. It would be intersting to know that.
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Was just about to ask the same question.

I noticed a trend with people not being able to play in Offline Mode. That is, when activating their copy they ran into some authentication problems half way through, but Steam told them they could still play the game while connected to Internet. So maybe steam can't pick up from where it last was. i.e You encountered the authentication error at 53%, and Steam can't pick up from there. Then, for whatever reason, Steam does not try to authenticate the product again. That's just my cracked out theory as of now.
 
Talz said:
Valve so strange, they are great at making games. But they treat their customers like dirt. I have to say they've inspired me, if I ever have a chance to give out pirated copies of HL2 I'm gonna buy a cheap 100 pack of CD-R's and give out as many as I can.

I buy dozens of pc games and software every year, always legit, but this is not acceptable.
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I'll take one of those. I refuse to buy this shit because of VALVe and STEAM.

And again, I still bitch about having to activate Windows XP, in fact I went as far as calling Microsoft one day to tell them I thought there activation was fuckin' retarded. I spent $200 on the damn thing and I have to be treated like a derelict and activate it? Not to mention I can only use it on one computer.
 
No real probz with steam here?I think some people need to learn alittle patiance :p Look on the bright side at least you know your game is gonna constantly be up to date with steam ;)
and offline mode works a treat.And im on 56k to boot=1 hour wait many hours of the best gaming experiance to date by far=Worth every sent.
 
the reason to protest and be angry and send some emails to the ftc is not to fuck up valve, it is so that other companies dont start doing the same crap. imagine having to that with all games....noooooo
 
im sorry so many of you are having problems. i had zero problems.

but i hate valve, too! fight on brothers, argh! :)
 
yeah i bought it off the shelf, retail. Collectors edition and all. It went through and accepted my CDKEY, claiming that 'steams servers are busy and will authenticate it when they fucking well feel like it'....
so i let it 'unlock' the game, and download whatever messsed up shit it needed to (im guessing it downloads the binaries for the game etc)... but it wasn't till about an hour or so later of playing, that i quit out and found that steam had a nice message for me saying 'yay you cdkey has been registered and you are ready to play offline if you want. which is the first thing i tried to do.
so all 3 games, HL2, HL Source and CS Source are all "ready for offline shit"...ill give it another go when i get home

problem for me is that i live in New Zealand... now unbeknowest to most, we have data caps on our broadband internet (ie we can only download x Gigabytes of data each month)
"international" traffic is considered anything acquired from outside of new zealand, so anything downloaded from steam 'automatically' is counted as traffic, and is a fucken WASTE if you ask me... what i wanted was just a patch file to be released, that could be mirrored locally and i could just get it nationally and not use up my precious precious cap.

*shakes fist at various establishments and corporate entities that piss him off*
 
starhawk said:
many, many people really resent the 'activation' thing... to me, it's only one more reason to stick with tried-and-true 98se...

not to start an os war... just my opinion. take or leave as you wish, but plz no warz.
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are you kidding me, lol

atleast get win2k.
 
not in the least. win98se is free to me cuz i already got the cd.

same with win95 if i'm feeling particularly old
hehehe.gif
 
....and it starts.

I am a little miffed even though I had no problems activating at around 9pm PST last night. It did take a while... I went and watched a show and about 30 minutes later I came in to check and it was completed.

My problem with this STEAM activation situation is that I want my software to last years. I actually loaded up an played Doom I and II a few weeks before Doom III came out. Will I be able to do this with Half Life 2 when Half Life 3 comes out in another 4 or 5 years? How about when Half Life 4 comes out in 10 years or so?

It really SUCKS when I have to resort to a damn crack/patch to (in the future) run my 100% legitimate $55.00 game.

As for stopping piracy...hahahaha...I could have downloaded HL2 and had it installed just about the same time as it took me to go buy the damn thing...and I would have saved my $55.00 and would have the convenience of not having to deal with the bullshit of STEAM. ...buy no, I chose to purchase the game, which, thus far, seems quite amazing. Piracy is not affected what so ever by STEAM and, quite frankly, the hassle they are putting thier legitimate customers through is just very off-putting...

STEAM sucks...and I hope they receive such a backlash that they reconsider and issue a patch that will remove the STEAM authentication process requirement.
 
FrizzleFried said:
STEAM sucks...and I hope they receive such a backlash that they reconsider and issue a patch that will remove the STEAM authentication process requirement.
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I agree with you. If they totally get rid of STEAM due to these rediculously high demands then I'll buy HL2. Otherwise they can both fuck themselves.
 
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