Frontier is playing with fire regarding Steam

[nosleepdemon]

This is some good popcorn yo.

 

[popuptoaster]

I'm having problems with trying to figure out which part of your post is more nonsensical, the part about the vocal minority or the part about ignoring steam users.

Let me help you understand something. ED went to steam because they needed sales. Beyond the UK this game wasn't very popular and the crowd that needs to be hit to allow a indie studio grow to AAA is the largest consumer market -- the USA and the best way to target the USA? Steam. You can have a look at the steam charts my friend, ED sales has been increasing every day the game has been on steam. Steam gives (well, not give, its apart of the fee) its developers CDN services for their entire game which FD doesn't take advantage of (except for the patcher).

As far as FD putting non-steam users first, that's just ridiculous, that's like me telling my customers I'm not going to put those first that pay with with a credit card (ya know, because the merchant providers take a cut). Now, what do you think the credit card companies will say when I make this a policy? I'll give you a hint, I won't be able to use my merchant account any longer.

To sit here and tell everyone that FD made the huge choice of putting the game on steam on the whelm of a few players -- while I can tell the intent was to accost that "vocal minority" consisting of steam users, what you did, is paid the perfect insult to FD, basically accusing them of not knowing how to manage their own company.

And before you go making any fancy assumptions, yeah, I've been around the globe once or twice in service to my country, and no, I didn't buy this game on steam, nor have I registered a key through steam.

Almost 900 thousand sales even before the game went over to Steam, where exactly are you getting the idea that FD NEEDED Steam?

I SAW the threads on the forum demanding Steam keys, and the devs trying to dissuade people and I SAW the post from the dev asking people to buy from the store and not through Steam, it actually surprised me when I saw it and figured it had been done unofficially but either way there it was.

As for you assuming that I am making any assumptions about you and your travels serving the country, I wasn't but what the hell does that have to do with anything?

I'm 49 years old and have also travelled, i'm not some spotty kid either (Why do you mention this at all? Why do you have to mention that it was in service of your country? You think it makes you a better more knowledgeable person because you got sent places to shoot things?) it's totally irrelevant to this topic.

 

[Grumpy181155]

I skipped a few pages, so correct me if I'm wrong, but... Has it occurred to anyone that it has been all of half a day since the announcement, and that FD is poking around Europe. Valve is a US firm, and so Steam will generally be centralized there. I don't think delays are anything but expected.

Have a little patience, okay? Just because it's not available RIGHT NOW doesn't mean it won't be in a little while. Or tomorrow. If you don't want the game installing in a different library, wait a little bit. Have a little faith in FD, and Valve. If you don't get it in a few days? THEN you can pitch a fuss.

You, sir, should be banned from this thread. How dare you bring logic and common sense to what is essentially a knee jerk, emotional outpouring of angst.
.
I use Steam because it is convenient for me to use. I also bought both the original and Horizons direct from FD to maximise their profits and then used the Steam key that they provide.

 

[DragoonKnight]

it's pure greed.
why i have to redownload the game from their (usually crappy) servers when they had a deal with steam previously?
i just redownloaded elite yesterday on steam, beacause it's obviously better to get automatically updated while i'm at work, faster download and very useful community hub...just to find out i have to re-download the whole thing for horizons.
why should they put strain on their own servers (with delays, problems with service delivery and all the rest) when they could simply put a folder on steam and having all your gamers update flawlessly :/
i hope they are not doing this for maximizing sales (on an already OVERPRICED dlc) but...whathever

None of your arguments make any sense. Valve already took their cut from those people that purchased the gsme game from Steam. I am sorry (not really) that your favorite DRM platform doesn't get the update before the official developer web site. Too bad, but thats what you get and deserve for encouraging more DRM in this world. You still have the option of downloading the launcher the same way the rest of us did, but you couldnt be bothered to click your mouse an extra 3 times. Instead you come here and whine about a non-issue

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Who cares. Its FDs game not Valves. Since when did Gabe become the video game police.

 

[WR3ND]

You have no evidence to back that up.... If you do please share if not that is libellous

LOL - Depends who you are. That's "just his opinion." Being wrong isn't illegal.

 

[WR3ND]

FD didn't want to go through Steam anyway, it was only because a vocal minority kicked up a fuss on the forums about being able to see how many hours they had played and getting stupid achievement's that FD relented and gave out Steam keys and put the game on Valves store.

One of the devs even came on the forum and said they preferred that people bought through the FD store rather than Steam, because, you know, Valve take a cut of the profits that could go back to FD and maybe speed development a little.

Steam users are literally giving Valve money for nothing, there is nothing Steam are doing that you don't get through the FD store other than the auto updates, a timer, and some daft internet badges to say you did things.

FD are always going to look after the non Steam users first.

Thankfully you aren't FD, because if that was their attitude about it, I would have long since been in line for a refund. You don't speak for FD, so don't pretend to.

 

[WR3ND]

I hadn't linked my Steam account to the FD store until today, even though I initially got Elite: Dangerous through Steam, it wasn't linked on my account.

I linked it today to get the Horizons Steam key, since I already bought the Lifetime pass when Horizons was announced.

Ironically, if the launcher just gave me access to the game versions I already have, like it should in the first place, Valve wouldn't need to take a further cut than when I first got the game.

Yes, the whole Steam situation has been a mess, including the Horizons betas, and I'm likely going to have to go through this all over again for each "season" of DLCs.

 

[CTCParadox]

Things like GOG and Steam are a godsend.

If I had to make a login and password for every single dev/publisher/whatever to buy their game from their website I would lose my mind.
Well not really, but I would probably buy a lot less games.

CMDR CTCParadox

 

[WR3ND]

Steam is one of the worst pieces of bloatware/crapware imaginable + it takes money from the developer.

This is one of the most ignorant comments I've heard in a while. FD sells Elite on Steam to make money, else they wouldn't.

I wouldn't have the Lifetime Expansion Pass nor even known about Elite if it weren't for Steam. Also, having all my games in an easy to access place that keeps track of them and updates them for me and allows me to access them from any computer after changing computer system, et cetera, is a huge bonus.

I'm also a Linux user and Valve has done and continues to do a lot for Linux gaming.

To be very direct about it and no disrespect to FD, but without a doubt I would drop them before dropping Steam.

 

[WR3ND]

Not convinced, since you can't buy Horizons on Steam....

But thought 8.1gb seems big for the original game.

The Elite: Dangerous Steam install update includes Horizons, but not access to it through Steam. For that you need the Horizons Steam Key, which then installs it all over again, or just launch the Elite: Dangerous Steam installed launcher directly instead of through Steam.

Yeah, it's a hot mess.

 

[QziQza]

i didn't bother reading everything a there is still arguing i though i'd just throw my stones blindly...

all pre-orders for Horizons were direct through Frontier.

horizons isn't a patch, its an optional, non essential [windows 64bit] expansion.

Elite Dangerous 1.5 'was' updated via steam "as soon as the servers went live" including a windows 64bit version.

If you are a Steam user and hadn't purchased Horizons yet, why should you be able to download via Steam?

If Steam players felt that they were being forced to download the new client from Frontier, how exactly is that a Frontier money grab? because you could only download that client if you had already purchased the game from Frontier, and that is just business.

time zone differences.. Frontier having no definite release time.. game released to the pre-order player base as soon as it was ready.. Steam requiring the game.. Awaiting Keys from Steam as per agreement.. so many possible sensible reasons.

the op totally ignored the possibility of anything other than greed in this situation. seeing as people tend to view others via their own perception of self.. what does this thread say about the op?

as i said, business is business.. if this was something outside the agreement between Steam and Frontier.. why would Steam now be hosting the game? and why would they provide keys to Frontier?

 

[WR3ND]

This whole experience has been a crap fest. The Horizons Steam download doesn't work for me, yet I can play Horizons using the Elite: Dangerous Steam install (not the Horizons install, which is listed as a completely separate game, even though it isn't one; it's a pointless reinstall that's only apparent function is to waste user storage space and time).

For now I've just uninstalled all of Elite and will wait for them to get their act together. Frontier, Valve, whoever is to "blame" doesn't matter.

Having gotten the LEP during the Horizons reveal, after finding out about and getting Elite: Dangerous on Steam earlier in the year, I don't want 10 duplicate installs of the same game in 10 years, which by the current look of things won't even work, when I can just run them all off of the base game provided by Steam, just so I can use the gaming service where I bought the game in the first place.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

More i read this thread the more i hate people. Probably the dumbest thing to SERIOUSLY get mad over. For gods sake, the game plays the same either way. You can force steam layover just fine.

It's sad that this isn't even a troll. I can't even describe how dumb the people are who are legitimately mad about this without getting perma banned.

The game costs the same either way.

 

[WR3ND]

More i read this thread the more i hate people. Probably the dumbest thing to SERIOUSLY get mad over. For gods sake, the game plays the same either way. You can force steam layover just fine.

It's sad that this isn't even a troll. I can't even describe how dumb the people are who are legitimately mad about this without getting perma banned.

The game costs the same either way.

Yeah, I agree that it's stupid how the same game is listed as different games on Steam.

 

[FuelX]

The Elite: Dangerous Steam install update includes Horizons, but not access to it through Steam. For that you need the Horizons Steam Key, which then installs it all over again, or just launch the Elite: Dangerous Steam installed launcher directly instead of through Steam.

Yeah, it's a hot mess.

Thank you, I didn't want to download everything again tonight!

 

[tarasis]

Yeah, I agree that it's stupid how the same game is listed as different games on Steam.

Absolutely, its just going to lead to confusion and recrimination if people don't realise before their brief refund window passes. Never mind the complaints already there from people who bought the game recently and are now faced with having to buy again to get the full experience (one thing that desktop SW on the Mac tends to get right, if you buy within a 2-4 weeks of a new release you automatically get a key for the brand new version ... unless you buy it from the Mac App Store where you can't do upgrade fees easily)

 

[Cosmos]

Sacrifice 30% of revenue to steam is simply not worth it. Not when distribution costs have came down drastically. An setting up your own download store is trivial nowadays.

Hmm except the difference is that without steam the game has way less visibility. Steam is THE number one PC gaming platform, a lot of people wouldn't even have heard of the game if not for it.

 

[streki]

It is not. Once you purchase anything via steam, or link your game to steam; all future purchases from the frontier store (avoiding steam) still give valve their cut. In short, once you link with steam there is nothing Frontier can do to avoid paying Valve. Even for paint jobs etc.

If that's true, then I never would have associated my game with my steam account. I don't even play the game via steam.

Is there any way to break the association ?

FD, you should have mentioned this before ED appeared on steam.

I don't want to reward Valve for Frontier's hard work.

 

[WR3ND]

If that's true, then I never would have associated my game with my steam account. I don't even play the game via steam.

Is there any way to break the association ?

FD, you should have mentioned this before ED appeared on steam.

I don't want to reward Valve for Frontier's hard work.

Yeah, just log on to your FD account on their site, then click on linked accounts or similar on the left side and disassociate your Steam account.

As far as I can tell all the association does is give you the option to generate Steam keys for your game products. Steam still runs them fine after disassociating it from your FD account.