Half-Life 2 - PAY as you PLAY!...

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: Davegod
I notice you didnt try to repond to "Only idiots stfu and have no chance of guiding things in the direction they would prefer".

I know this wasn't directed at me but is this really a serious comment? Honestly, mix in an economics class.

As a consumer, your (pretty much only) way of "guiding things" is by chosing how you spend your money. That's how you guide things. Crappy products don't sell, unsafe products don't sell, overpriced products don't sell. Because they don't sell the manufacturer has to adjust their aproach and/or product to fit the market. Imagine that, the market is being infuenced every day by consumers without them throwing a fit.

If you honestly think your aproach will work I sugest you take a look at the riaa vs. fileswapers war going on. Fileswapers are up in arms and where exactly has it gotten them? Oh that's right, absolutely nowhere.

On the other hand Universal just droped prices on cd's because sales are down on a (listen close here) overpriced product. What a wonderful example. People don't agree with a products price, sales go down, company adjusts it's price to meet the market. See how nice and tidy that was?

You be sure to let me know when griping to a bunch of strangers on a message board gets you anywhere.

 

[CrowDog]

Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl

Originally posted by: Davegod
I notice you didnt try to repond to "Only idiots stfu and have no chance of guiding things in the direction they would prefer".

I know this wasn't directed at me but is this really a serious comment? Honestly, mix in an economics class.

As a consumer, your (pretty much only) way of "guiding things" is by chosing how you spend your money. That's how you guide things. Crappy products don't sell, unsafe products don't sell, overpriced products don't sell. Because they don't sell the manufacturer has to adjust their aproach and/or product to fit the market. Imagine that, the market is being infuenced every day by consumers without them throwing a fit.

If you honestly think your aproach will work I sugest you take a look at the riaa vs. fileswapers war going on. Fileswapers are up in arms and where exactly has it gotten them? Oh that's right, absolutely nowhere.

On the other hand Universal just droped prices on cd's because sales are down on a (listen close here) overpriced product. What a wonderful example. People don't agree with a products price, sales go down, company adjusts it's price to meet the market. See how nice and tidy that was?

You be sure to let me know when griping to a bunch of strangers on a message board gets you anywhere.

Good stuff......I may put alittle more thought into my posts in the future

 

[vash]

Valve is pretty smart with the entire idea of this bundle, here's why:

1. If people want the SP experience of HL2, they can have it at a reduced price. I'm hoping this price is like $20. If it is, then that'll be great for anyone that is using the "wait and see" approach to HL2/Steam.

2. The full price version of the game is what most people are going to buy. They'll play the SP (some will finish) and play all the "free" mods associated. "Free" mods are from the community and probably at least one mod between TFC/CS/DOD. For the rest of these "commercial" mods, you will have to buy them to add it to your Steam account.

3. The monthly fee person is another person with the wait and see approach. In October, you can pay 9.95 for the entire SP and MP game. Finish up the game, play some MP and be done with it, ALL for 9.95! Not a bad deal, IHMO. If didn't like the exising MP gameplay, you are only out 9.95.

The #3 person really has a chance to get a good deal. Think of it, you get the entire game for 9.95/month, so you can enjoy it, anytime you want, for 9.95/month. Stop playing after October and come back next year, then you start again at 9.95. STILL not satisfied with how the mods came out, the MP changes, etc, STOP playing and you are out two months.

*IF* Valve is continually releasing content, the #3 person definitely has a better chance to try out the mods. The #2 person *will* have to pay for their commercial mods (probably DoD2 and CS2). If the price is nominal, I don't have any problems with it (9.95 is what I'd be willing to pay). If they want to charge around $20 for it, I'm out.

vash

 

[skace]

All of the packages make sense. I don't understand the problem.

The pay as you play plan is looking pretty good right now. I think I might get that one. I'm pretty sure that will give me exclusive access to almost everything Valve releases HL2-wise and that can't be a bad thing. It will also give me a no-nonsense place to get all my HL2-downloads.... Steam.

Personally, I'd rather they forced pay as you play and then used the cash to fund better ANTI-HACKING FEATURES. That is what I want the most in multiplayer. I really hope the security is rock solid on this game.

At this point, my only fear is that the 9.95 a month plan will end up being an excuse to make otherwise free mods cost money. Most mods for HL1 were free, IE CS and TF Classic (if I remember correctly). On the other side of the spectrum, CS and TF were both excellent and highly played mods and I think the makers of those mods deserve money as well.

It is silly to bitch about a $30 single player only game. If you don't want to buy it, THEN DON'T. I'm sure someone out there is going to go "Oh cool, single player only". And if they don't? Then someone eats the cost and that never happens again, big woopy.

 

[Davegod]

LOL. where am i "flooding BBSes with boo-boo-kitty posts"? I said "too much complication to buy a game". Personally I like the idea, but I think it's going to cause too much complication for more causal gamers.

If you read the source thread of the post you'd notice Gabe Newell posted in it. Why do you think he gives some random gamer emails about possible pricing plans? To guage opinion perhaps? Do you really think they are so stupid as to allow risky new pricing strategies to be used without first researching it? Gaming firms are widely known to be relatively close to their market.

Universal's price drop isnt exactly a nice and tidy example of market forces in action, it's taken years take effect. flxnimprtmscl, youre right, economics classes are worthwhile. Maybe you should have taken some, chapters involving "distortion" and "monopoly" might offer you a clue. Tbh the whole point is irrelevant anyway since this is an internet forum and people can --nay, actually its the purpose-- moan about whatever they want, using whatever grammar they can be bothered with.

"You be sure to let me know when griping to a bunch of strangers on a message board gets you anywhere."
Are you intentionally being sarcastic or what? Griping to the AT forums about my hardware has resulted in better purchase decisions, fixing otherwise binned hardware and a more secure + efficient PC. As for games, via a combination of other forums, IRC and email I've had influence over RTCW and Enemy Territory, plus the major mods for each. If you really think griping has no effect then you've never been in a gaming community.

DefRef, I notice again you chose the quoting game, picking one sentance out of many. so again; dont you think youre as little over the top compared to the posts your arguing against here? Where's the "holy ruckus"? The "virulently anti-profit attitudes"? At least 3/4 of what youre arguing against nobody even mentioned, so stfu and take your bs trolling elsewhere. The only virulent holy ruckus is coming from you.

 

[skace]

If you like the idea then why continue arguing, Dave?

 

[Davegod]

entertainment

 

[oLLie]

With the pay as you play plan I believe you get even more than just Half-life 2 and all the content they develop for that, I believe you get all their old stuff too... original Half-life, all it's expansions, maybe the official mods? I think I read it on Shacknews.

link
pay attention to the update part.

 

[Falloutboy]

as long as they still let people make thier own mods for the games and use it without having to pay an extra fee

 

[Shagga]

I wonder what version those ppl who have pre-ordered the game are going to get?

 

[NicColt]

I didn't read the entire thread but the other important thing that I have read and don't remember where is that the Paid Steam version will incorporate an Anti-Cheat engine and updates to the anticheat and the top of the line servers and clans servers will all be on steam. The other good thing is that it will give you access to exclusive content so no waiting in line for fileplanet etc...

>say I stop paying the subscription fee after a couple of months. Can I no longer play HL2 in any form? Can I resubscribe later when I want to start playing again?

Well all versions will be able to play SP... the other question is what if you get to be a member for one month, does that mean that for $10 you can go in and grab every expansion pack, game, upgrade and download and then cancel your subscription ? I don't know how that will play out.

I take it or guess that subscriptions will come in 3 months or more game cards and such....

 

[Davegod]

No the info released implies that all versions of HL2 with multiplayer will be able to use what is basically the equivalent of a WonID, but issued through the Steam system. This is supposed to be happening soon to all existing Valve games.

You will not need to be a Steam subscriber ($$) to get a "WonID", but it looks like you will have to be registered (free) at Steam.

Plenty of sites going on about it, first decent explanation googled to was:

http://www.planethalflife.com/
This is probably something we should have recognized last week, but it appears that Valve will soon be replacing the WonID system of user authentication that Half-Life has used since the very beginning with Steam. Here's some quotes from Valve's Erik Johnson yanked from this Steam forum thread:

There will no longer be a WonID system, it will be replaced by the SteamID system.
When we convert the userbase to Steam, a single WonID will be valid for all of the products.

If you're purchased a product from us at retail, you're going to have access to all of our products via Steam.

No, you do not have to pay for Steam.

So sometime in the near future, Valve will be releasing an update to Half-Life that will require you to convert your old WonID CD-Key into a SteamID. We asked Mr. Johnson if this meant Steam would be required to play Half-Life online:

That is correct, you'll have to have Steam installed to play the most current version of Half-Life.

This is a pretty significant change. While it probably makes sense to replace the aging WonID system, the transition over to Steam is bound to be a little bumpy. What do you think?

 

[rabbit fighter]

For real I can just pay $10 for 1 month of steam and play the whole game? Why would anybody buy the SP version? It surely won't take 3 months or more to finish...

 

[Davegod]

yeah thats a good question imo. personally i wouldnt be too surprised if there wasnt a minimum subs duration, 3 6 or 12 months seems likely, and then after that you can cancel whenever.

another Q has popped up though. from a Steam FAQ answer it is lookign like if you buy either the SP or SP+MP retail box, then it wont need any internet connection. But, from the FAQ, if you connect to (free) steam system for patch or whatever then everytime after that you would need to be connected to the 'net to play. TBH, i'm assuming it's badly written and that it means for any Steam services you will need internet active, but from the way the FAQ is worded it suggests to play HL in any form would henceforth require an active 'net connection (presumably some asinine anti-piracy measure).

faq
Do I have to be connected to the Internet when I play Steam games?

The short answer is yes.

All Steam-enabled games require you to be connected to the Internet in order to play.

Note: some Steam-enabled single-player games (such as Half-Life 2) purchased at a retail store will allow offline play until the user decides to play online or enable other Steam functionality. From that point on, an Internet connection will be required.

I sent an email to the address given requesting clarification but not received any reply. there's even a petition going on about it.