Do NOT get a "free" Steam key if you want to support Frontier

Jockey79

Jockey79
DextersIndignation said:
....

I am still waiting on support tickets from December?
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The support system was changed when the game went live mid December, if your tickets are pre-release, they need to be updated and registered on the newer system that came out with the release.
(This was all over the forums back then, that's how I know)
 

Arjin

Arjin
I really don't see the desperate need some folks seem to have in linking this game to steam, as it not needed in order to play the game..to each his own I reckon.
 

candytripn

C
Fasty said:
Can anyone who has linked their accounts tell me if there is *any* benefit to doing so? Does it keep the game up to date for you? Or does it just launch the launcher?
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Easier to meet up with friends (in game notifications of them coming online in other games and in game chat) ED page and group chatroom makes it easy to meet new CMDRs who are online at the time, overlay browser for searching routes, statistics or ship builds, Easily see updates and changes.. thats just off the top of my head. If you only have this game, and nothing else.. then I can see why you wouldn't want it, but really, most people use steam, if for nothing more than the free games places like GOG, IGN and PC gamer give out all the time (I redeemed 7 games today for free). It just makes it so much easier to keep up with news and friends. For ED, by posting screens, videos or steam streaming, along with reviews and community participation, you're drumming up the presence and pushing more people to get this game.

If this were an issue, FD would never have done it.
 

Keokil

Keokil
Thrym said:
Nary a review site exists at this point that isn't flagrantly bribed---virtually all of them gush over titles who have obviously paid for a good review or panned it based on a lack of kickback.
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I came to this game by way of Lee Hutchinson's Ars Technica review of the Warthog HOTAS, which briefly mentioned Elite. Never heard of Frontier or the Elite series. Looked like...fun. I think I bought it sometime in January, and there it sat until I had the right interface.

Seems like Lee's Elite review was pretty evenhanded about strengths and weaknesses, even considering he is pretty much a self-confessed fanboi. And coming from at least a couple decades of PC gaming while somehow almost never playing flight - much less space - sims, I start feeling kinda squishy when I think about my next immersion in this galaxy. Fanboi transform? mmmmmmmmyep! I'm flying my own freakin' spaceship!


Maybe something about the OP. I've been on Steam since, well, when exactly did it start up? Yeah, then. Mostly 'cause of Half-Life. I've got oodles of games. They've been good to me. But I bought this game though Frontier, and I really really really really really appreciate all the effort they've put into it. So while I probably will manually add it just so that friends can see what I'm playing, every penny I pay for DLC is going to Frontier.
 

Jockey79

Jockey79
ffr said:
You are very wrong.

"By the end of this year we will have the finished game," David Braben, 2014
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-09-11-elite-dangerous-original-budget-was-8m

"we released a game that was a complete game." David Braben, 2015
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/03/12/david-braben-on-fan-anger-interview
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No game is ever "finished" - even in the old days, we still had to download patches / updates to fix stuff and balance stuff.
And as they slapped an MMO tag on this, they have always been a work in progress, until the servers get turned off.
 

Tarman

Tarman
Arjin said:
I really don't see the desperate need some folks seem to have in linking this game to steam, as it not needed in order to play the game..to each his own I reckon.
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I'm with you, this need for Steam is beyond my ken. I have over a hundred games on my Steam account because I play games like a fiend, but none of them are games I added to Steam from my external collection. I can work the start links and launchers for them on my own just fine.
 

jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
Every time I tell someone IRL about Elite, they ask, "Is it on Steam?" Never fails. So Frontier made a good decision putting Elite on Steam, I think.

For me, as someone who wants to support Frontier and Elite as much as possible, transferring my account to Steam feels wrong in light of Steam getting a cut on all future content. I mean I'd like to have my copy of Elite on Steam, and I'd love to be able to post my Elite guide in Steam (which I can only do if I own the game on Steam). But I also intend on buying just about everything released for Elite. I've been thinking about this for a few days now and still can't bring myself to activate my Elite account on Steam. Sure, the Steam cut on my personal purchases won't kill Frontier Developments. But if enough people transfer their accounts that money can add up quick.

I'm torn on this issue. Not sure what to do.... And what's worse is that the folks at Frontier knew that offering Elite on Steam to current Elite players would cut into profits, but they still did it. I don't know of a single game developer or publisher I've dealt with who would do such a thing for its customers. To say the least, I'm very impressed with that kind of gesture.

Whether I transfer my account to Steam or not, I really appreciate being given the option. I really respect Frontier so far :)
 
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Nonya

Banned
Nonya
Just remember this: when Steam's authentication/purchase servers aren't up, Frontier's usually are.
 

CaptainKremmen

CaptainKremmen
ffr said:
You are very wrong.

"By the end of this year we will have the finished game," David Braben, 2014
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-09-11-elite-dangerous-original-budget-was-8m

"we released a game that was a complete game." David Braben, 2015
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/03/12/david-braben-on-fan-anger-interview
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Don't forget...

David Braben, December 2014

"No game is ever truly finished in the minds of those making it."

"When you are close to a project for a long time, you tend to see the things that have annoyed you; those things you know could be improved upon; those things you are afraid might not work well for people that are not 100 per cent au fait with the game. For me this makes a public alpha and beta process quite difficult, but it also helps focus on the bigger picture. I think the best definition is that something is launch-ready when it is a great game."

"There are two types of things that can happen at this stage," he continued. "The first is endless 'feature-creep' - new features are added which in turn cause problems that have to be fixed. The second is polishing what is there. The latter reaches a point where there are diminishing returns, but the challenge is always to be able to judge when that will be long in advance. At Frontier we have been doing this for a long time, so we are confident the date we have announced is a sensible one."
 

deathTouch

D
Nonya said:
Just remember this: when Steam's authentication/purchase servers aren't up, Frontier's usually are.
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In my experience they are very reliable.

On a related note, Steam was actually way ahead of its time for PC game publishing and even the largest publishers like EA have difficulty emulating its success years after.

Frontier gets access to steam's customer base that they otherwise might not reach, and steam gets a fee for use of a service they own. It's a mutually beneficial agreement.
 
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Cobblars

Cobblars
deathTouch said:
In my experience they are very reliable.

On a related note, Steam was actually way ahead of its time for PC game publishing and even the largest publishers like EA have difficulty emulating its success years after.

Frontier gets access to steam's customer base that they otherwise might not reach, and steam gets a fee for use of a service they own. It's a mutually beneficial agreement.
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Precisely!
 

Kramster

Kramster
I went to the store through steam when the new tactical skins hit the store and they were not there but were on the store when I went via the FD launcher. So it made me think that if you fire up ED from the FD launcher how would steam know what you purchased, they can only monitor that through their version of the client surely?
 

gogereaver

G
your logic makes no sense yes they take 30% its will known. but your also reaching the huge aduance of steam i bet they saw more then a 30% increase in sales when it dropped on steam sales they probably would have never saw in fact my buddy bought it when it hit steam. in this case whoever posted complaining on steams cut needs to shut up.
 
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ashbashbeard

ashbashbeard
I bought mine through FD themselves, and still got the steam key. FD agreed with Valve to put ED on Steam, so I don't see the issue of people buying it through Steam itself. The larger userbase of Steam could potentially offset the lower profits FD would get due to the 30% cut, anyway, and FD still has skins to gather more income for ED development.
 
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