Flagg wrote:I did know the requirements and was not expecting not to have internet for 2 weeks. What fucking pissed me off was that despite the fact that I legally purchased the game and had the fucking box sitting in front of me, I still couldn't play my game. This would have been fine for a game like WoW, where internet access is required for a very good reason, namely that the gameplay takes place in an online environment. The same cannot be said for HL2.
And I don't give a flying fuck if you feel bad for me or not. I didn't feel bad for me, I was pissed off at Valve for valueing security over their customers.
Translation: Wah, wah. Given the business model Valve has moved to, which largely involves digital distribution, the online registration makes sense. That it mildly inconvenienced you because you were too stupid to read the requirements on the box before you bought the game is hardly a concern of mine, nor should it be one of Valve. So you moved, big fucking deal. You had to wait a little longer to play. This isn't some big fucking crime like you keep wailing it is, you're just mad because instead of making you keep your CD in the tray and load up Starforce, they went with a one-time online registration with a personal level of freedom previously unheard of in regards to installations, backups, and new systems. Shit, do you not even understand that if your entire house burns to the fucking ground, gets washed away in a storm, or is nuked from orbit, all you have to do is get a new system and blammo, all your games are right there? Don't want to wait for the downloads? Well if you were smart and made backups, a feature built into Steam, you could just load them from that.
But hey, I guess a ten second online activation is too much to ask for that. You're right. I don't want to easily install the same game on two, three, or even four different systems. That's something that hurts me, the customer.
We live in the age of cheap internet. Even in America where fiber is late in coming, you can get online for a pittance each month. Chances are if you can afford a system capable of running HL2, you can afford net access. Most people who CAN afford net access do, in fact, get it. You gnashing and wailing over spending ten seconds online to register a game is ridiculous. The fact that you were in a period without net access is regrettable, but it's YOUR fault for not reading the requirements on the box, not Valve's for putting in the registration system. You assumed that you could play the game without any access to the net at all. You were wrong. You don't want to take responsibility for your mistake, so you're going to blame the company. Boo-fucking-hoo. If this were any other problem, you not having the right graphics card, processor, memory, or audio card, would you make the same argument? I mean, all that other stuff is listen on the requirements too, so if you can ignore one thing, why not ignore all? Why don't we blast Valve for not supporting 386s? Come on guys, it's horrible!
Yes, yes, I know, this is about an authentication process, not the game itself. Still, as far as protection methods go, this is pretty tame. No rootkits installed, no tracking of websites, no disabling of certain programs it doesn't like, no usurping any part of windows, etc. Ten seconds and it's done, that's it. Moreover, it gives you, the customer, the freedoms and rights you SHOULD have with regards to digital purchases, something which most companies do not give you. Hell, it even gives you extra protections and benefits! Sure, it had a hiccup in the first few days of release, big fucking deal. Sure, if you were moving and didn't have net yet, you missed out on a few days. Here's a bottom line question for you: Did this system make it impossible for you to play the game? This is not "Yeah, for a few days", yes or no. Did you get to play the game or did you not?
