Steam Distribution Discussion

I know what you mean about Steam. Has felt that way from the get go. Over time one gets more used to it.

 

You make a good point, when Ultima IV came out in 1985, I was 12.

 

As long as I can play without being forced to use steam, ok. But I won't use steam. I dropped Rift because I was forced to use Glyph. I just don't like being forced to use an installer that installs all the other games that I don't want, and don't want to hear about. they always have to "suggest " if I like this I'll like that. I'm a grouchy old man and I don't care what they think I might like.
However, I haven't used steam, and they may not be like Glyph. But I'm not taking the chance, or giving them the chance.

 

The analogy (posted by me in another thread) is of the frog in a slowly heating pan of water. He doesn't realize any thing is wrong until it is too late.

 

No worries about the million 12 year olds being part of the game with the steam release. When Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness released in 1981, the current average age of players of Shroud was about 10 years old.

 

We have the exact same thing. It is in human nature for our wetware to try to simplify what we think is complex.
So our service team works a lot with re-writing the first sentence in each message and each paragraph if such is needed.
I think that people delivering marketing messages are still working from assumptions from old media which does not necessarily apply to new. I know that my own attention span going through emails before skimming is a fraction of what I have for letters.
Looking at Portalariums market messages or updates, the first sentence is usually what it means for them, it's usually not until 3rd - 5th sentence that they get to what it means for the recipient.
This is something typical when you write since you always start with OK what am I going to write, and start from your own experience.especially if you are excited about something and might miss to take into account those who might respond negatively to something oneself perceive as good news. This since you have already thought about how to remedy those negative scenarios, but haven't necessarily thought about how to communicate that remedy.

 

When this game is available independent of Steam already, and the game itself allows you to select your multiplayer participants, you've really got no basis to slander Steam. Don't like it; don't use it. To think that it will cripple the clientele of the game is whimsical.

Yes, I favour Steam. But I especially favour games and developers that utilise more than one platform as we see between Good Old Games and Steam.

 

With regard to the OP points that millions of youngsters chase away adults, I wonder if that is exaggerated to some extent. However if there is some truth to the assumption, I have to ask the RP people if they think that the very young generation can effectively RP at all. My experience tends to support the fact that the very young are not exposed to real history these days. Is familiarity with historical societies necessary for roleplaying, or can roleplaying be made up on the spot with imagination only, not supported by factual back up? To date, I have the impression from the sale of this game that Roleplaying is strongly supported. It has attracted attention of many roleplayers as witness these forum discussions.

Now based on the OP opinion, is the fact that attracting millions (perhaps exaggerated) through steam evidence that Portalarium has changed its focus for the game? If so have roleplayers been left in the lurch or can everyone be accommodated seamlessly?

 

Because SotA doesn't use monthly subscriptions (and has promised, I think, to never do), when release hits, they will be reliant on unit sales and micro transactions to generate revenue, at least until the fundraising campaign for Episode 2 rolls around. Steam is a way to generate more exposure for the game, which in turn should generate more unit sales.

Of course this might be a detriment to the RP factor, especially if you're fond of the tightly knit community we have now. But not all the people who buy the game will actually play it, and not all those who choose to play it will stick with it for longer than a month. Honestly, though, business arguments aside, with the size of the game world and the way hexes are more or less isolated from each other, I think we'll need a lot more players than we have now to really flesh out the game world.

 

I have altered the title of this thread to be in line with the discussion contained herein.

 

You were probably 12 when you played ultima. Being 12 isnt so bad.

 

yes but parental control wasnt the same back then

 

My opinion has always been... if they design the game for role-players, it doesn't matter how many non-RPers join.

Its like if you designed a multi-player strategy game for strategy gamers, worrying about people who don't like strategy joining the game.

 

Hmmm. How about 34?

 

The only difference is who kids lie to

 

Unless your 59 or 60

 

I've used steam for many years. My husband and I hardly ever buy new games, we just wait for the steam specials! Although I made an exception with XCOM.

The steam community however is something entirely different. I avoid that at all costs!

Distribution through steam is something that has pros and cons. I'm sure that Portalarium is quite aware of both the light and dark side of steam and that they've done enough homework to be comfortable that the pros outweigh the cons. Unless anyone can bring up a concern that the team hasn't thought of already?

 

I have been a Steam member for 8 years and over all it has been a positive experience. The Steam forums are not as pleasant to visit as the SotA forums though with all the foul mouthed immature kids on there frequently trolling the topics. Maybe I am just showing my age.
One concern I have though is if I use my Steam key to access SotA will I still be able to access the game through the SotA app? I don't mind helping the Portalarium debug their steam connection, but I don't want to be locked into using Steam to play SotA.

 

Steam has always been kind of clunky to me. I don't like the way it defaults to installing games under several layers of folders that are pretty counter intuitive to navigate through. I still use it since several of my fiends use it and if you're willing to overlook it's short comings it's pretty convenient.

 

Yes you are able to play it either through Steam or the launcher. If you want to keep both current, you'll need to patch each separately.