............................. :rofl:

That has got to be the biggest strawman I have ever seen. I tip my hat to you, sir; you truly are a master of hyperbole.


Anyhooooo, I downloaded the demo and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It is the first Civilization since Call to Power that I thought was actually a step forward. Sieging cities is actually fun now! I didn't get into the diplomacy much, but there looked like deep amounts of strategy there, as well. I also enjoyed the policy trees as a means of shaping my empire. I am definitely going to be buying this at some point.

-snip-

I think calling DRM "murder" is a bit much, even for a metaphor - it's not like it's killing the game outright! Except in a few extreme cases, it's still perfectly possible to play the games, even though it has become ridiculously more complicated. But remember that we're talking about Steam here, not other forms of DRM which have been less successful at 1) stopping piracy and 2) hamstringing our favorite games (I'm looking at YOU, Ubisoft! :flame:) In half a decade of use I have yet to encounter any problems with using Steam, never once had it refuse to let me play a game when I wanted, although I will concede that I am indeed one of the 15% with reliable high-speed internet (although I believe this figure, if true, is climbing rapidly.)

Yes, DRM takes away some of the control of the game licenses that we have purchased, but we were never in full control of the product in the first place. It's certainly a two-way relationship, that it's in developers' best interests to heed the complaints and desires of their potential customers, but they are the ones doing the hard work, so to me it seems fair enough that they should dictate the terms of the relationship. Some developers go too far, which is why I'm no longer a customer of Ubisoft games, and in those cases I fully agree that some forms of DRM are worse than doing nothing by inconveniencing their paying customers, but I don't see this in Steam.

You can think of it as softening the blow, but I prefer to think of it as meeting gamers half-way.

I do concede that Steam is not the worst offender when it comes to how they kill PC gaming, but that does not make me any happier about the end result.

If I cannot play a PC game when I want to, then I am forced to play a console game... a platform on which publishers are able to completely prevent anything they don't want to allow.

Additionally, developers do not add DRM, it is the publishers that do so (granted, there are exceptions where the developer and publisher are the same). Therefore, the "hard work" is not what is being protected, the hard workers have all been given everything they are going to get already.

Using a console because you don't like DRM is like using a bike because your car isn't fast enough. Only difference is that consoles have the DRM in the hardware, not software.

Face what? That game publishers are using more and more authoritarian methods to fight "software pirates" (who I believe are actually the mythical "boogey man" due to the fact that none of them have ever been arrested and charged)?

Also liked the intro, but I still think http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C9CH3q9PLI

"This video contains content from Sony Music Entertainment, and is not viewable in your country due to copyright concerns." :blink: That's a first. What exactly does it contain that can't be viewed here?

A music video from Pearl Jam, ie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_Evolution

And it would make an awesome intro indeed.

"This video contains content from Sony Music Entertainment, and is not viewable in your country due to copyright concerns." :blink: That's a first. What exactly does it contain that can't be viewed here?

Additionally, if you are an intelligent computer user, then you are doing a complete resintall of your OS every 2-3 years. This means that you have to deal a slow download every 2-3 years.

Finally, the entire concept of DRM is one born of authoritarian control. When your method of protecting your product only inconveniences your paying customers and does nothing to prevent piracy, then it has failed.

Ending as I usually say: Face it and don't keep up false hope.

Nope, I'll face it by never ever buying the game. If I bought a game I want to be able to play it whenever I want without having to install additional software and worrying about having an internet connection. I bought the game, I will install it as many times as I want and play it whenever I want, and if they want to limit that then they lose me as a customer. Never once since my childhood have I bought a game with that kind of DRM, and my childhood was long ago. I absolutely refuse to accept this new change even if it means never buying a new game again.

Nope, I'll face it by never ever buying the game.

The DEMO WAS AMAZING!!!!! Oh my god 100 turns was not enough, need more turns.

I'll take a look at the demo if it becomes available and see how it runs, this laptop is a monster but I prefer to be sure anyway, thought I expect it to run smoothly.

I remember the days of playing Civ 2, I'll take a look at the demo if it becomes available and see how it runs, this laptop is a monster but I prefer to be sure anyway, thought I expect it to run smoothly. Might look at some reviews as well, it's on my "maybe" list.

So to anyone who has this game: What is the biggest improvement or change from Civilization IV?