Buy direct from Frontier?

geekrawker

geekrawker
Hey all, was going to pick a copy up for my Son, hes finally old enough to enjoy ED with me.. but i was hoping to buy direct like i've done in the past. Is there no longer a direct buy from Frontier? I only see Steam/PS4/Xbox as the buy options. Let me know, i'm so tired of HAVING to support Steam. Are the other online vendors legit (the ones selling this for 13-20 bucks?) Again, would prefer to find the burred frontier link for direct buy/download. I've been gaming since the late 80's...with steam since mid 90s...truly fed up with Steam and will bend over backwards to not send them any more money.

Thanks! Excited my Kiddo finally wants to space epic with me.
 

Ian Doncaster

Ian Doncaster
Does this work?

Elite Dangerous - Frontier Store

An amazing space epic of breath-taking scope. Play on your own or be part of a remarkable multiplayer experience. With Elite Dangerous you carve your own path through the richest, largest gaming sandbox ever created, set against a backdrop of raw anarchy, galactic powerplays and intrigue.
www.frontierstore.net www.frontierstore.net
 

Factabulous

Factabulous
Hey OP - what was the page that made you think fdev no longer sells direct? There's been a couple of similar requests recently...
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
The fact that this is not the first post about this got me interested. So I loaded my VPN, logged in to a server in the USofA and started a new private browser window (Firefox) - and on the frontierstore.net site ( https://www.frontierstore.net/usd/games/elite-dangerous-cat.html ) all options were available to buy in US$ - no sign of a Steam anything. They are all shown as PC only - no mention of Xbox or PS4.

So I wonder what site people are looking at to see these alternatives.
 

Morbad

Morbad
You can buy it through Frontier. Indeed, I wouldn't be playing this game if it was only available through Steam.

Old Duck said:
What's wrong with Steam?
Click to expand...

The distribution model, the DRM, the client, Valve's tithe...

I can see buying a game through Steam if one has no particular convictions about any of these things, if they are the only source, or they are offering a lower price, but this is generally not the case with Elite: Dangerous.
 

Whiplash 1983

Whiplash 1983
The problem with Steam version of Elite (as some say) is (A) it may lag your performance a bit, and (B) the launcher will not work outside Steam. No stand alone operation. Married to it. What they call a "No Key Install". You won't get a ~32 digit FD licence code issued for the product.
 
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Old Duck

Old Duck
I thought people say they run ED outside of Steam... It seems to come up every time somebody posts Steam charts, and the way I've always read it is that these folks bought ED on Steam but launch the game without Steam running in the background. This is not the case?

Also, is it possible to run ED in Linux without that special Linux Steam?

I know little about this topic, so consider this research for the day I myself may be able to get ED for a PC.
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
Old Duck said:
I thought people say they run ED outside of Steam... It seems to come up every time somebody posts Steam charts, and the way I've always read it is that these folks bought ED on Steam but launch the game without Steam running in the background. This is not the case?
......
Click to expand...

Recent purchases of E D via Steam produce no "C D Key" and therefore cannot be validated as stand-alone versions of the game. At least that is the issue as I understand it - I don't know why Steam purchases now have no C D Key for people to register - the cynic in me supposes it is to ensure that their extortion taxes cut of micro-purchases or future DLC cannot be avoided.

Earlier purchases via steam have a CD Key which can be registered and so the account validated by Frontier and run without Steam being loaded / running. Hence my Steam-bought copy is not even installed in a Steam Library but is just another account I run from the main game installation.
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
Ahhhh..... Well then I understand and share the OP's concern! So what's the verdict? Can we still get the game directly from Frontier? I'm a US customer, in case that matters.
 

turgut.hakki

T
Whiplash 1983 said:
The problem with Steam version of Elite (as some say) is (A) it may lag your performance a bit, and (B) the launcher will not work outside Steam. No stand alone operation. Married to it. What they call a "No Key Install". You won't get a ~32 digit FD licence code issued for the product.
Click to expand...
I'm playing without steam right now. Just make a shortcut to launcher on your desktop. Actually if i launch using steam my control settings reset. :)
 

Morbad

Morbad
Old Duck said:
I thought people say they run ED outside of Steam... It seems to come up every time somebody posts Steam charts, and the way I've always read it is that these folks bought ED on Steam but launch the game without Steam running in the background. This is not the case?
Click to expand...

I haven't used Steam since 2004.

Old Duck said:
Also, is it possible to run ED in Linux without that special Linux Steam?
Click to expand...

There is no native Linux client, but running the Windows version of ED through Wine does not require Steam.
 

Old Duck

Old Duck
Morbad said:
I haven't used Steam since 2004.
Click to expand...
But the OP implies that buying a NEW copy of ED might require Steam.

There is no native Linux client, but running the Windows version of ED through Wine does not require Steam.
Click to expand...
Okay. I thought part of the trick to get this to work was using a Linux-specific version of Steam (which is like Wine++), but if ED will work with default Wine out of the box these days, that's great!

Speaking of, I'm on Linux right now. Is it possible to run ED on an older laptop with all of the settings set to "Super Low / Pathetic" mode? I could see grabbing a copy during the next sale, just to have if I do end up getting that new laptop later this year.

And related to all of this, it sounds like I'm buying a key, not the actual download, so could I download ED for PC right NOW, just to have the file, and then buy the key from Frontier later? Is there any part of the game, like the tutorials, that work without a key?

Sorry OP, don't mean to steal your thread, but all these questions feel relatively on topic, so I hope you don't mind!
 

znôrt

znôrt
oddly enough, their site's purchase links point to steam front end. you can still buy it in the shop, though.

Old Duck said:
Sorry OP, don't mean to steal your thread, but all these questions feel relatively on topic, so I hope you don't mind!
Click to expand...

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...experimental-not-officially-supported.366894/

Morbad said:
The distribution model, the DRM, the client, Valve's tithe...
Click to expand...

some valid concerns but ... steam is actually the best game platform there currently is, by far. other launchers are miserable in comparison, catalogs just ridiculous. it seems everybody wants their own platform now. i just yesterday uninstalled uplay for good (along with "for honor", "the division" and "the division 2" (all but the latter were gifted to me by a friend)) finally fed up by its unbelievable crappiness as a software piece. piece of crap can't even properly update their own games and yes, is a huge resource hog. so ubisoft just can stuff td2 (a good game, actually, but just more of the same), they definitely lost me as a customer and would do well leaving distribution and maintenance to a professional like valve.

yeah their share is a hefty 30%, and that hurts indy developers but then it's still their best option because they are an unmatched distribution and marketing channel and that has obviously a cost. other than that, their library is huge, their refund policy is unparalleled and the client is well done, plus they support linux. so given the general gaming landscape dunno why they would merit so much flak ...

and drm? why is that their fault?
 

Morbad

Morbad
Old Duck said:
But the OP implies that buying a NEW copy of ED might require Steam.
Click to expand...

I still see it for sale in the Frontier Store (I'm in the States).

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Valve had exclusive distribution rights for some markets, but there are definitely ways to get new licenses that work without Steam.

Old Duck said:
Okay. I thought part of the trick to get this to work was using a Linux-specific version of Steam (which is like Wine++), but if ED will work with default Wine out of the box these days, that's great!

Speaking of, I'm on Linux right now. Is it possible to run ED on an older laptop with all of the settings set to "Super Low / Pathetic" mode? I could see grabbing a copy during the next sale, just to have if I do end up getting that new laptop later this year.
Click to expand...

I'll clarify that I haven't actually bothered to install ED on Linux myself, as I run Windows on my gaming systems. However, I know that there are people running ED in Linux with at least some success without Proton/Steam. I've seen it run through Lutris and I can't imagine it not working through recent builds of Wine with some configuration. Proton (the Valve/Steam build of Wine) seems to be the most popular way to get it running in Linux and it might be the easiest way, but it's not the only way.

ED on an older laptop will depend on it's performance, largely GPU.

Old Duck said:
And related to all of this, it sounds like I'm buying a key, not the actual download, so could I download ED for PC right NOW, just to have the file, and then buy the key from Frontier later? Is there any part of the game, like the tutorials, that work without a key?
Click to expand...

You have to log in for the launcher to start, but I believe you can download and install the single player combat demo without having any products purchased/associated with that account.

Last I checked the single player combat demo was an older (pre-horizons) version of the tutorials/combat scenarios.
 

Morbad

Morbad
znôrt said:
some valid concerns but ... steam is actually the best game platform there currently is, by far. other launchers are miserable in comparison, catalogs just ridiculous. it seems everybody wants their own platform now.
Click to expand...

I won't use any such distribution platforms/clients.

I've never bought anything through Steam, uPlay, Origin, Epic Game Store, the Microsoft Store, or the like, and never will.

znôrt said:
and drm? why is that their fault?
Click to expand...

Steam is a DRM platform in and of itself and quite a few games use Steam as a form of copy protection.

While DRM is an intrinsic part of an online-only game, I no longer buy offline titles that use DRM.
 

znôrt

znôrt
znôrt said:
the 3 options at the top (deluxe/horizons/base) all point to the steam web. weird.
Click to expand...

just now realized the page has 'buy/steam' in the url :D it is the where you get sent when clicking 'purchase' on the main page, though, and there seems to be no other option. possibly some soft-lock-in deal with steam?
 
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