Elite Dangerous now on Steam

[Sanderson]

Nothing to do with steam keys, friend.
A simple message in comms saying "i'm here to help if anyone wants it - press enter to type message" will suffice. Haven't found anyone that wants help yet though.

Really? I suppose having a Steam key and posting a review with instructions, advice and offers to help newbs wouldn't help at all or mitigate some of the negative press? Friend.

We all know how easy it is for newbs to even know they got a message, provided they live long enough to learn what it is.

Just a stupid call by FD. Certainly wouldn't have hurt to give a bit of forethought to this before popping it out there.

 

[Fisker]

It seems like Frontier wanted the steam to be only another shop where people can buy the game but can play it without steam if they wanted so.

But people think otherwise. People want the game there with full integration of all steam mechanics which is not the case at the moment. Current state does no please anyone as it seems.

Well people might want full integration with Steam, I certainly wouldn't say no to it, but actually the only deal going on here is allowing current customers the courtesy of choosing the distribution platform they want their game on.

 

[Ben Ryder]

What does one use a Steamkey for?

Is there some kind of benefit?

 

[Sanderson]

Well people might want full integration with Steam, I certainly wouldn't say no to it, but actually the only deal going on here is allowing current customers the courtesy of choosing the distribution platform they want their game on.

FD doesn't want people choosing, they want sales, screw the rest. Happy Easter!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

What does one use a Steamkey for?

Is there some kind of benefit?

It opens the Steam door, that's currently locked for non-Steam players.

 

[philux]

What does one use a Steamkey for?

Is there some kind of benefit?

E.g., you can see when your friends are playing while you are not logged into the game.
Maybe auto-updates of the client, idk if that is supported yet tbh.

 

[HellSinGerNL]

my 2 cents.

I am also a beta backer and have the lifetime expansion pack deal. There are few reason i would like to receive a steam key.

For one i am a game collector and i collect most of my games on steam. Just because it is more then a shop alone, steam is an community by itself and has some very useful functions to go with it. I can stream my games to other computers on my network like my less powerful laptop and play anywhere in the house. Friends can also ask you if they can watch you playing. They just right click your name and ask to view your stream, just like twitch. Automatic updates of your installed games and so on. There are a lot of advantages if you use steam... Also what if FD decides to add trading cards in the future? You can trade or even sell those, but only if you steam. Or maybe they are gonna add achievements to the game, who knows?. Some people think that is fun to. Anyways i think beta backers are entitled to a steam key so they can add the game to their steam account for future expantions and options.

But this is of course my personal opinion.

 

[Sanderson]

What does one use a Steamkey for?

Is there some kind of benefit?

Seriously though, all it basically does (in it's current form) is make people feel "part of the Steam community" (if we had keys). In the future it could add other benefits.

 

[smiths121]

Frontier trying to extend the reach of the game, certainly causes some division.
I have steam to play the Total War series. I see it as a bot of an annoyance rather than adding value myself. As Rome Total War II was not my cup of tea (lost interest at Empires), steam is out of startup and not used.

I am very happy with the current situation, more players good, if Steam does not attract new players then FD are just givning margin away, bad!
Generally I could not care how well the game intergrates into Steam as Steam is simply not an attractive proposition to me, but I accept it as a neccesary evil in the 21st century.

Personal view above, the one upshot I can tihink offor using Steam infrastructure is as the game grows, smoother upgrades on major game updates, depending on where you are there have been some complainls about download speed.

Simon

It seems like Frontier wanted the steam to be only another shop where people can buy the game but can play it without steam if they wanted so.

But people think otherwise. People want the game there with full integration of all steam mechanics which is not the case at the moment. Current state does no please anyone as it seems.

 

[rytir_fik]

+1 for current owners getting a steam key.

I am really disappointed with Frontier steps to give the Game on STEAM because when I read some article 2 months ago Frontier said NO STEAM SALE therefore I bought it at that time. If I had known it I would have waited with buying.

But maybe there will be possibility to have steam key for current owner of game ... see last sentences.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-02-surprise-elite-dangerous-is-now-on-steam

 

[Jumbik]

Well the only plus I would see from getting to Steam would be getting rid of the start up login/update launcher as it would be fully integrated into steam with authentication and patch management. The current implementation follows the scheme where steam will be only another shop to buy the game in and have the possibility to track game time and be able to write review.

If this will not be the case then I will not be interested in steam much. Why would I use one launcher to start another launcher to login aftwards and then check if there some patches and then after all this play the game?

 

[Quuhod]

About time! This is great as it will open the game up to many more players. I would also like to register my game with Steam mainly because I could share screenshots with the community.

 

[lilikin]

Steam has a good streaming service is the main reason tbh

 

[The Nude Wizard]

It should have been a Steamworks game from day one.

I hope I get a code and live in hope they increase the integration with steam services as time passes.

 

[Tuyak]

Please hook up the people who have been here for you frontier, I have 300+ games on my steam and use the non steam game addition to play ED at the moment. HOWEVER I would love for it to be a legit copy, to have it track my hours played, to possibly have achievments.

Please don't spit on the people who were there before it dropped back in december of last year.

 

[terence44]

+1 Steam Keys for all

+1 for all !

 

[rytir_fik]

+1 for current owners getting a steam key.

I am really disappointed with Frontier steps to give the Game on STEAM because when I read some article 2 months ago Frontier said NO STEAM SALE therefore I bought it at that time. If I had known it I would have waited with buying.

 

[lilikin]

[How do FD fix the steam issue] [How do FD fix the steam issue]

Assuming we aren't going to all ask FD to spring a few million to give every player a steam key what is a fair solution for those players who don't get to use added advantages of using steam:
Bottom line is we don't want people feeling sour and steam does have advantages/streaming etc but it can't be so good the steamers feel bad
.

1. Free in game skins for players who didn't buy from Steam
2. Some kind of Freegle or the such
3. opportunity to pay the 30% that valve charge and get access to Steam
4. Mark them out in game so we can gank the pants off them
5. A chance to add some NPC names to the list like the backers got, or something like that, a way of marking the galaxy in their name (I know this might get backers back up a little)
6. Some other kind of bonus content that doesn't effect the actual gameplay like an exclusive wallpaper or the such.

First poll and it shows

 

[Ancipital]

It shouldn't really delay patches, as the EDLauncher is still used and if the 'steam version' is a bit older then it'll patch from the ED servers. Hopefully the Steam version will be periodically updated, so that new players don't have to do the Steam download and then have to sit through the ED Launcher doing patch 1, patch 2 etc. A lot of devs end up just pushing an updated build to the Steam servers automatically, so in theory both the ED and Steam versions stay in sync (not that it is vital, as the latter can be 'outside Steam' patched up anyway..).

It does delay updates on occasions. Patching out "outside Steam" is a bit of a disaster. A lot of the MMOs on Steam do that- they don't keep the Steam one synced, and only push updates occasionally. When people have problems with the game, and do the usual verification of the Steam cache, it then overwrites the external update with the older Steam version. Then when the player runs the game, the irritating MMO launcher/downloader then re-downloads the update over the top of Steam. People who don't realise what's happening can end up trapped in a loop, hilariously but unfortunately. I've seen it with a few titles now. Games hosted on Steam really need to stop using their own launcher/downloader in the Steam version, or it causes a lot of QQ, and also negates the benefits of their superior CDN.

This isn't a complaint about Steam- it's the first thing I install on any gaming machine these days. The complaints about problems it used to cause are about ten years out of date, and now it's one of the very best options. I also welcome ED being sold there- more sales=good. I just hope that they do it properly.. I guess I'll find out when we get our Steam keys \o/

 

[CMDR M Kozak]

I honestly cant see why I should be entitled to a Steam key, if I bought the game somewhere else.

EDIT: And I dont understand why selling the game somewhere else than where I bought it from should entitle me to some "free" stuff.
Its not like I got a worse game out if it.

It doesnt make sense to me.

EDIT 2: And what are "added advantages" of using steam?

 

[Steve50]

Steam keys don't actually cost them anything.

They just need to issue them linked to our existing ED account, so no one can give them away etc.