Hello,
We received many questions about the Digital Rights Management solution used in IL2 : COD. we understand it is an important subject for many of you, and we are a glad to tell you that IL2 Sturmovik: Cliff of Dover will use the SolidShield DRM solution. SolidShield features a flexible activation process and allows for up to 3 simultaneous game installs.
Please note that the game will also use the Steam platform for services such as matchmaking, anti-cheat etc… So you will need a Steam account to play the game.
Please refer to the Q&A below for further clarifications on Solidshield integration.
What type of DRM is being used in IL-2 Sturmovik: COD?
Avatar uses a new driverless activation solution to manage activations developed by Solidshield with whom T@GES is partnering.
How many activations do I get?
You can indefinitely activate your copy of the game on the same PC. You start with three activations (so, three different PC hardware configurations) to begin with. After one month, one activation will be re-credited (up to a maximum of three available activations at any given time).
Do I have to be online to activate my game?
While the activation solution will initially attempt to activate your game online, you can elect to manually enter an activation code. You will need to enter the code that comes with your game into the activation wizard, you will then be given an activation code that you can enter manually. So, although you do not necessarily need to have your computer hooked up to the internet, you will need to go online to obtain a code before playing.
Can Solidshield be removed from my computer?
Once the activation process has been completed, the activation solution does not install any software on your computer. Once the activation is completed, a data file is stored. This file is not hidden and can be removed from your computer if you wish. In this case, a new activation process will be triggered at the next game launch (without any effect on your activation count credit). Finally, the activation is driverless: no driver must be installed and uninstalled.
What if I have problems?
You may contact Solidshield support directly via email at support@solidshield.com.
Is it possible to revoke an installation?
Revocations are not considered, since users get one new activation per month, so if you do somehow manage to burn through your three activations, you only need to wait one month or contact support.
Will Steam be required for strictly offline use too?
Yes.
Thanks, that means no sale from me.
Why UBI insists to force offline players into a system mainly geared for online players (“Friendslist, Matchmaking and so on”) is beyond me. It’s like upon installing CoD to be forced to install an “UBI Internet Explorer Toolbar”- unnecessary third party bloatware that will not touch my system.
Ahh that’s a shame I was looking forward to trying it. No dynamic campaign, plus requirement of a parasitic third party program now.
I was trying to overlook the naysayers about the flight model, the graphic models, the possible bugs on launch etc but this nails the coffin shame I was going to buy it.
I guess with DCS and Rise of Flight I’ll have plenty of content to keep my hands full.
Note that Rise of Flight prevents cheats and is able to handle the login process itself, without needing some third party crap like Steam. It also has a dynamic campaign about to release.
DCS also has integrity checks online and no cheats, without third party companies like steam getting their fingers into your computer.
There is no need for Steam unless people want to BUY games with Steam.
Great Job UBI with steam. I have purchased over 15 games in the last 2 years over Steam and I am very happy that I dont have to keep CD’s and the CD keys in a Fire proof save. As for Anti Cheat I have yet to see anything better. Great Job I can’t wait to buy the game. As for bloatware? I guess if you run games on a IPhone it could cause problems but most quad-core systems don’t even know its running.
So many valve-employees here?
Have to totally agree. Steam is by far the best thing to happen to PC gaming in recent years – writing this from a laptop I bought a few weeks ago and to install all my Steam games, it was a quick download of the Steam application, then select all the games I wanted, left it overnight and they were all installed. No scrabbling around for physical media, no changing disks, no patching. Absolutely fantastic.
Installing anything not from Steam took many evenings having to watch the computer, waiting for a change disk prompt, or typing in activation codes. And then going around looking for patches for old games, or running the built-in auto-patchers multiple times to get up to date. Highly frustrating – frankly the system feels utterly archaic in the 21st century.
Thank you Valve, for the fantastic Steam. And thankyou Ubisoft for using it. Now why are you adding an additional, entirely superfluous level of DRM?
I don’t know what these naysayers are all about. I love playing online with my steam games. Definitely the way of the future.
Bye!
Agreed.
Will we be able to play over LAN with one CD? That was the fun of the other IL2. We would just install the game on all of our computers and play against each other. If we have to buy separate copies to play over LAN that would be stupid, and I would not buy it.
Didn’t you learn your lesson with Silent Hunter 5? You screwed the pooch again UBI. No sale, until you get rid of steam.
Sad to hear. I only use my simulator PC offline.
Strange, creating one of the greatest games ever and refusing to sell it!?
Info for those brilliant technicians and designers brought up without the benefits (?) of capitalism; business means you get money from me in exchange for that game i’d love to have. That leaves me feeling robbed of a treat and you without my bucks.
Rethink, my money is awaiting a fysical edition but stays put till then.
@ admin:
Can you explain the reasonto have steam also for offline use? Is it for providing upgrades, patches and spam^wother content?
Sad news for me! I’ve been looking forward to buy IL2: CoD for quite some time but won’t bother if it requires Steam to play!
Good luck Oleg & Maddox crew!
“but won’t bother if it requires Steam to play!”
Awwwww, diddums!
A no-go!
I played IL-2 since the release nearly every day.
But I don’t want to have steam on my PC. Bye, IL-2 CoD!
So what way will the idea work when i buy the game for a different place instead of steam?do i add the game to steam as a shortcut?
If you buy physical media, it will still install through Steam. This is how all games that I have bought in a shop which also use Steam have worked.
What are the criteria that determines your ‘computer’.
If I change my hard disk will it use an activation?
If I change my network card will it use an activation?
If I upgrade my video card will it use an activation?
If I put in more RAM will it use an activation?
Hardware changes will not affect activations.
Can we have a link that describes the methodology of the copy protection from a technical standpoint – from the vendor?
From browsing through the sites of other publishers using this copy protection it’s becoming apparent that there’s not just activations, but authentications as well.
Once you’ve activated once, I’d assume that computer is then authenticated.
Do we ever need to re-authenticate a computer under any circumstances?
Is there an authentication limit?
~S~ Bard!
From what I’m reading hardware changes will affect activation. You’ll start with a pool of 3 changes available. Each time you change hardware, you can reactivate using the same code and one of these changes from the pool are used. After a month, 1 change is credited back to your pool. So my take is, basically if you don’t change hardware four times in one month everything should be fine.
Hmm its a server based activation so it dont have anything to do what things u change in your cpu
I was looking forward to this release as I’ve been an avid IL2 fan since its original release. That said I will not buy it, ever, as long as its associated with steam. Too bad, way to go ruining Oleg’s masterpiece.
Boo hooo
Lets just give in to your delusions for a moment and say Steam is a crappy piece of bloatware.
Than why are you running Windows?
Gaming, right? So how is Steam any different in this case?
It’s different because you control Windows, but Steam controls you.
I had waited years for this game… ready to buy several copies…
Now you tell me it has the “STEAM” malware on it? which among other things means:
-”restricts game registration and playability to the buyer’s country of residence”
So if I want to play in Holliday I am grounded at home and cannot travel to different regions? If I buy a product I expect FREEDOM to use it, even if I have to pay more.
-”Steam’s availability is not guaranteed and Valve is under no legal obligation to release an update disabling the authentication system in the event that Steam becomes permanently unavailable”
Now this must be joke! so I need steam, but they don’t have any obligation to guarantee availability and, once they stop supporting a game they just will abandon me in the dust?
Is that how you treat your sincere interested clients? Unbelievable! No CoD for me (nor many others), not with malware and chains all over the place. I can’t believe how you ruin our dreams and your business all together.
Sad, very sad… I would have expected a more mature relation with the public.
“Now you tell me it has the “STEAM” malware on it? ”
Hahaha, you are hilarious and a drama queen.
Steam is fine these days.
As long as compareable simulations didn’t came out over the last years, I want to be shure, that this Game can be played, even if 1C or Steam doesn’t exist anymore. I won’t buy a game which I may can’t play in a few years if things go bad for a company! There were already Games where they simply shut down the gateserver and the game was unplayable for ever.
I am still very satisfied with hyperlobby. It offers me to play different flight sims (I play IL2 and LOMAC). It’s easy to use and has all the features I need to play.
I my optinion the requirement of Steam is not a “service-enhancement”. I must register myself and have to stick my bought software product to a single account for ever. Steam might do with my account what they want (even closing it) and I can’t do anything then. Steam doesn’t offer me any rights – it cut’s them. It’s clearly a restriction (DRM) in using the software I paid for. Also Steam is a possible Spyware as they may watch how long/how often I’m online everytime I log in and out.
No one – and I mean no one – would buy a car, start a bank-account or other things under same conditions and limitations!
I see the problems of software piracy, but this is not a game for Wii-kiddies. I takes a time to master – most players are grown ups and have the money to buy a full-price game with all Flight-Equipment.
I bought Il2 AEP, IL2 1946 and LOMAC and still accepted the existance of disc-protections or cryptic serials as long as I can install and play the games even in 25 years.
But all the online-activations, registering and DRM lets me feel more like a criminal without any rights that has to be continiously guarded and not like a customer.
I’m not going to buy CoD with Steam and all the activation-crap. IL2 is still an excellent game and I’m pretty shure the old IL2 will make it a few years. At last online-games live with participating players and die without them…
About the question: “what if Steam quits?” it’s an old question that regards every game purchased with Steam, and Valve (Steam’s owner) said that they will release a patch (already tested) to eliminate the Steam authentication. It’s only a promise, but Valve made really a lot to earn the trust of gamers.
And in my opinion it’s really a remote possibility that Steam quits, and in case there will be hundreds of systems to bypass the Steam authentication (I think they already exists).
And no, I’m not a Valve employee
You are a real star R F Biggleswade!
Is it that hard to grasp that for quite a few people Steam is _NOT_ a good/working solution (for various reasons)???
If you like Steam fine but don’t expect that everyone to follow you Steamer’s like lemmings just because it’s the flavor of the month! Some of you just don’t realize (or care) how much of your customer rights you are giving away and on top of it paying money for it!
Stop your childish comments and at least say something that make some sort of sense.
AVG says steam contains active threats
I can see that u clearly dont know what u r talking about!!
Steam is a great way to go, the only thing is the offline mode that u need to be connected, but this is only a problem if u dont have internet.
Exactly. This is a big problem if you have an unreliable internet connection and this is the reason I disapprove of such a system. I have purchased a couple games in the past year that require this internet connection to operate and it has been a very negative experience indeed due to my unreliable internet connection which is a common problem in rural areas of the United States.
This decision is fckn retarded.
You lost a customer…
Awww, diddums!
I bet they dont want u as a customer hahaha
You’re right, in fact it seems like they don’t want any customers at all.
It seems exceptionally reasonable!
The only issue I have is that there is nothing to indicate that the EULA will guarantee that the activation servers will remain up. It would be very comforting for the lawyers to affirm our right to use the activation software (regardless of where UBI is in ten years).
Otherwise the is quite acceptable (for one long-time DRM opponent anyway) and I particularly like how there is a means to activate the install without using an internet connection (great in rural/remote parts of Canada))!
I think you probably meant that a Steam account will be required to play online. Is that right? If I only play offline, single-player missions do I still need a Steam account?
Yes, you will need a Steam account even if your play offline.
hmmm, again this ……, now what about my little cousin who’s still to young to have internet in his room but wants to play CoD? PEGI 16? comon… What about Steam closing down the IL2 servers after 4/5 years, will we still be able to play? Its a trick that Microsoft already pulled on us with CFS3, at 1 day it was all gone, nomore multiplay, lucky we could get on LAN. Same thing with IL2 old series, its still being played by the 1000′s now. Oleg, why, why why ? >>>they will shut us down after a few years, you gave away the monopoly of your IL2 to just some big money makers who don’t care about a few thousand flightsimmers. They promise everything …., anti cheat? After 6 months of Black Ops i do not see the difference at all about guy’s cheating in there, they still do, serveradmins have poor rights on they’r own rented Steam servers. As you will have noticed i’m one of the founders of the MOG IL2 group, perhaps the biggest IL2 online group and well known in the IL2 community, i will strongly advice our members to concider the purshace of CoD which includes Steam. Sry Oleg but a flightsim is not a FPS which is boring after 1 month of play.
The old Call of Duty series, all the updates (new maps) where all free, now on the Black Ops Steam charges 15€ for new maps……geeeeezzzzzz get of my back Steam. On Il2 some talented guy’s came togheter and made us some very very nice addons for it, gigabites of it, all for free, and you know what Steam, all of a suddon they recifed donations for it, and they kept on going, still up today from a game that’s about 10 years old. Ten years from now we won’t be playing CoD anymore, because a wise ass at Steam have closed down the servers and talented people are not able to show they’r goodies to the flightsim community.
Wow! That is just shocking to discover that a Steam account is required to play this game. You lost another potential customer. But, as stated previously. I guess I’m not wanted as a customer. in the first place!
I hope this is a sick joke, you’re targeted demographic isn’t or shouldn’t be 12 year olds and this will kill your new game. I really was excited about the release of COD and didn’t even mind the game, ie confusing it with an extremely popular Call Of Duty game, but this is the last straw. You’re demographic for this game should be professional people with the means and time to learn and play this for several years as your previous releases have been. This to me is a total insult to us and our – your community. Whoever is in charge of these decisions should be tarred and feathered as he/she is cutting into your Profit Margins hugely, I will NOT be buying this if it is released soley with STEAM. I have loved Il-2 for many years and I hope you rethink this disaster of a decision.
KC
Dont buy it then. It will be your loss.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Steam. You are over reacting .
That is all.
So…and how about LAN playing without internet ?
LOL Biggle, did they pay you to post a smart arse comment after any negative comment posted LOL
Ha – ha – ha. Are you kidding man right?
Are you trying to tell me that a salesmasn that can`t sell his goods in his own shop will tell me: you have lost?
No. It will be your loss. You will lose a lot of potentail customers, fans and… I think money. But we will save it
Can`t stop loughing… Maybe you should learn something more about economic rules, public relations etc?
About Steam. Steam is okay, but do I really need that on my machine? Take a look at Silent Hunter V sales history… Who loses? Customers with a legal copy still have problems with logging on. Fantastic! And you should know an illegal copy was realesed exactly at the same time as a legal copy. Who loses I`m asking again.
well, Steam’s DRM is completely different from the “always-logged-in” Ubisoft’s DRM…
I will personally lose if the game doesn’t sell well, because I hope there will be some other chapter of Il-2, as it was with the original series. And I fear there’s a huge misunderstanding about Steam, in a lot of customers.
hmm check out call of duty, and other steam based games, best sellers all over the world
you have no clue of what youre talking about…..
Read comment above. After a few years its done and over with CoD.
You are insane.
Please, do us all a favour and stick to your own advice. Get out of this community.
Actually, do the whole internet a favour and cancel your internet connection.
Why? Because he see a flaw of one are never owning a game one pays 45€ for.
He can’t cancel his internet connection—he has to activate all his games somehow!
…what a pity! Bought “Wings of Prey” via Steam.
Never was able to activate it due to a mixture of extremly unresponsive support and slow internet connection.(3 days for downloading the game !!???? )
Spend money on nearly every (truly excellent) simulation of Ubisoft.
Until now.
Yours sincerely
A. Gruettemann
I don’t think that you can blame Valve for your internet connection…
Having to use Steam for offline use is a killer for me as well. I’ve bought every version of Il2, looks like I won’t be upgrading from that.
you lost another customer, no steam-free no sale.
Do you really think anybody is bothered that you wont buy it.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
None more bothered than you it seems.
I think, Mister Biggleswade, that until now just rezading this topic that Ubi allready lost more than 10 customer in ten minutes reading….
La suite en français, Il était inscrit en pré commande, mais avec steam il ne sera plus !!!
Un autre client depuis 2001 avec toutes les extensions packs et un investissement matériel renouvelé presque chaque 18 mois (joystick trackIR ….. SSD …..) la totale pour me faire plaisir.
Je reste Donc avec IL2 premier du nom et HL, tant pis si ma team actuelle passera sous CoD, elle le fera sans moi.
Un autre client, adulte et qui paie ses jeux !!! de perdu
Biggs, I think that all the negative comments about Steam are well founded, your snide comments are weak and insulting. DRM has been a colossal failure up to this point in almost every game it has been employed (Spore, SH5 etc etc) Steam is a steaming turd and anyone with half a brain knows that. Its like Xbox live, a way to monitor and report on consumers and make more money from little lame shit sales. Most importantly though, most of the people commenting DO have a problem with Steam, Ubisoft and 1C really should take notice, SH5 really suffered, the proof is in the numbers.
yes I’am. R F Biggleswade stop defending the use of steam. you say we should calm down and accept steam. why don’t you accept the fact that many people don’t want steam and forcing buyers to use steam is simple bad PR. I won’t buy your game because of steam. and I will tell gamers that CoD will force steam and they should not buy the game.
I can not tolerate this. I will not buy Il2:COD.
I will NOT buy any software which forces me to beg a “support” hotline to activate my game.
NOT AGAIN
If you tolerate this, then your children will be next. LOL!
Steam only,even for offline play? EPIC FAIL ubi, you have just killed Olegs new sim.
Betcha Steam gets them more sales.
EPIC FAIL my ‘arris!
do you wanna bet??
Amen Oldman, Biggles hasn’t a clue but he and Ubi will soon enough.
wow RF Biggleswade people are making comments at you and all you can do is ignore them and move on to another negitive comment about steam. How much they paying you to do this rap lol. Can not be that much since you got no brain and have no idea what ya saying. Grow up get a life moron!!!
If anything, Steam will increase sales dramatically. Big Box stores are giving less and less space to PC titles, saving most space for the flavor of the week console games.
1C (yes i said 1C) decision to go with a publisher (UBI) that has distributed every other 1C product on Steam, is an easy business decision, sell your product to a larger demographic, or don’t sell it at all.
Heck, 1C is going to make some money on this one. KUDOS!
almost no one in sweden buy new games from steam for the simple fact that steam charges more for the game than anywhere else.
Is the Steam account and activation only required for activation? Do I have to have Steam in online mode to be able to play single player? Multiplayer(using other than Steam, say, HyperLobby)? Do I have to have Steam running at all?
read this qustion has been posted many times here!!!!
Normally you can run Steam games in offline mode – I do it all the time when in hotel rooms for work that have rubbish internet connections. You still need to run the Steam application, but you don’t need an active internet connection to play (except when companies add additional non-steam DRM as Ubisoft did with games like Assassin’s Creed).
It is of course always worth having Steam online whenever you can, because it automatically downloads any patches in the background (this can of course be paused) so you always have the most recent version of the game whenever you go to play.
It’s PC gaming in the 21st Century!
I tryed, geus what, no internet no play, its as simple as that
Why the hell it needs another DRM in addition to Steam ? Especially like one which is a rootkit? I am so sorry, but Starforce was the reason i stopped using Lock-on, and T@GES is worse than that.
I am refusing to install a dozen variations of DRM solutions, plus any that requires admin rights – i use my PC for development, and i am not willing to take the security risk it takes, not unless its certified by an independent 3rd party.
As Steam goes, i have no issues with it, although i has IL2 1946 DVD (and a couple older versions like FB, PF, AE on CD) too, i use my steam copy.
And i am not even suggesting that there are other ways to get this game without *any* DRM….
Steam has a habbit of screwing up any game they deal with as for their maintaining and policing of cheats, steam have shown this to be a total joke example modern warfare 2 anti cheat , a joke this game was inundated with them there anti cheat system is a joke, I was a big fan of IL2 and like many others was looking forward to sowbob now renamed COD, and running hyperlobby with it to host and log into a server. Sorry to say Oleg but this is another customer you have lost with this forcing ppl to play via steam, and i cna say for certain you have lost a few thousand other.
I am very disapointed
“and i cna say for certain you have lost a few thousand other.”
No you cant, you are over reacting, just like several other drama queens on this blog are.
lost a few thousand? I would say lost hundreds of thousand. game developers must stop with steam if they wanna start making money…
Well done ! You cheated your customers with Silent Hunter (V) series and now you finish the IL2 series.
Thank you UBISOFT and good luck Oleg !
I’m not arguing with you about Silent Hunter (V) mind yer.
So let me get this straight: there is solidshield DRM on top of steam’s DRM and if I want to play offline I still have to be logged to steam?
I could not wait for this simulation to be released but now I think I should spend my money elsewhere and keep playing il2:1946
Looks like you are now targeting different audience anyway, good luck.
Why Steam? I understand your wanting DRM, but why force users to use steam
This is disappointing but not a disaster. Yes it could have been worse, just imagine if it had been Games for Windows instead of Steam…(thanks for small mercies). While I don’t like activation limits etc. I am not too concerned about that. But Steam…
Steam makes everything take longer. And the in-game lobby system in some games lately has been useless. My internet is slow and unreliable and Steam does not make it easy to play offline (at least for me).
I was fairly happy with the way IL2 worked. Will I be able to use Hyper Lobby? guess not. Oleg, you should have gone to someone else than Ubisoft, I hope it was worth it.
Oh, and needless to say, I WILL buy this game, but for under £10 as a steam game is never worth more.
you’re right…
Not very wise option to require steam for offline playing.
I use steam and have no trouble with it at all,i dont blame ubisoft,1c for doing it this way as it stops cheap people pirating the game,i will still defo buy the game
There are other less annoying ways to fight piracy. Lucky you never had any problem with steam and its annoying interface.
The game has a different DRM than Steam (Solidshield) so “stops people pirating the game” has nothing to do with requiring Steam.
I have used steam for many years and have had about 99.99% success with it and really like the platform. I am a 42 yr old professional and have zero issues with the game being released this way. I prefer Steam vastly over buying the game in a big box store.
how can it stop people its all over the internet the same day it came out. I know more people playing IL2 COD from pirating then people that brought the game coz they refuse to pay for a game with steam in it. XIII u need to google more often be4 you make a stupid comment like that. Sorry no offence but read up on the subject be4 u talk about it.
I have to say I will probably buy the game anyway, but I am very disappointed with the decision of linking it to the steam platform for the same reasons others before me have already expressed. Please UBI reconsider your decision. Steam is not a good solution. Other flight sims like RISE OF FLIGHT or DCS A10 WARTHOG does not use steam and they are successfully battling piracy.
Fair comment!
The aforementioned forums where full of moaners rattling on about Starforce and online connectivity breaching human rights, being responsible for third world poverty etc etc.
All pretty much unfounded as Rise Of Flight and the DCS series are fine in my view.
When all is said and done though, using steam should be an option (an option I have no problem with) but not a neccessity.
What people don’t realise is that Steam and other DRM are the first steps on an incredibly slippery slope on which we gradually sign away our rights and freedoms, to make it easier for the obscenely rich to efectively syphon our money away
But as Mr. Bigglesturd keeps repeating like a burst arsehole, there’s nothing wrong with Steam……
oh yes there is
Steam is not being used to fight piracy. It’s a distribution method.
Honestly, this DRM scheme seems very reasonable. Also, steam has worked wonderfully for me. I prefer ubisoft using steam over any custom solution!
I am not a big fan of Steam but it is not the end of the world and it won’t stop me getting this game.
One clarification is that Steam does not need to be connected to the internet for you to play offline single player. Steam has a play offline mode that will allow you to play single player. However you will not be able to play without Steam running in the background.
I don’t think Steam will be going anywhere seeing as they are quite successful, but I really hope that 1C company find a way to future proof the game. IL-2 series had quite awesome longevity but it did suffer from its DRM not being future proof.
What about the people without internet, so they gotta go find some one with the net get them to setup steam for em and then go home just to play it. When you buy a product you expect to go home and use it without having to go through all that. Its like another game you had to go buy it and pay something like £40 for it you take it home then find out you gotta pay another £40 just to play it Becoz its online play only.
IWillNotBuyIt.
Its a Pitty!!!
I wanted buy this game. I was dreaming specialy with Collector’s Edition. And thinking to buy a HOTAS joystick to play these game.
But now, that i know its necessary the steam, … no, no and no.
Probably i’ll search for a previous version, like IL 2 1946.
Thats all i can say from Spain!!!
This is a poor decision. Have you considered the average age and demographic of Il2 users?. Most will be middle aged and used to retail purchase of a hard copy. You are potentially putting up barriers to prospective customers with using Steam.
how will this effect existing servers that support your current products?
STEAM powered?! Oh, no!!!! STEAM SUX.
I think steam is great platform for games. It keeps games updated and installing doesn’t require any media.
BUT:
- Why 3rd party DRM? Shouldnt steam be enough?
- Hope game is steamworks and not crappy shit like birds of prey which required alternative updatesoftware / authentication.
So make it fully steam compatible (remove 3rd DRM, and make updates through steam also).
Or leave steam complitely out of it and use some alternative method. No need to mix bunch of softwares.
Is this Game suposed to be STEAM only or not ?
I wonder how much Steam is paying them to force distribute it and force the Steam ads onto the player every time they launch COD
Ahh that’s a shame I was looking forward to trying it. No dynamic campaign, plus requirement of a parasitic third party program now.
I was trying to overlook the naysayers about the flight model, the graphic models, the possible bugs on launch etc but this nails the coffin shame I was going to buy it.
I guess with DCS and Rise of Flight I’ll have plenty of content to keep my hands full.
Note that Rise of Flight prevents cheats and is able to handle the login process itself, without needing some third party crap like Steam. It also has a dynamic campaign about to release.
DCS also has integrity checks online and no cheats, without third party companies like steam getting their fingers into your computer.
There is no need for Steam unless people want to BUY games with Steam and be part of that. I already use an alternative game provider.
I have been using Steam for a few years now, and are fortunate to have never had any service disruptions, and it is possible to take Steam into “offline” mode when you know there will be a connection outage.
I do not like the limited activation scenarios (each one has a different flavor), but I do understand that this is in place to protect our hobby and potential loss of revenue to the people that spend a lot of time and talent bringing us these titles.
At the end of the day, for every person that is put off by the DRM mechanism, there will be a LOT more that do not mind and will buy the title anyway. I do not say their opinion doesn’t matter, but that one cannot keep everyone happy. Stick with your principles and things will work out for the best.
Best of luck with Cliffs of Dover!
i have two further questions to make it more clear for me:
1: if i install the game from a DVD, is the installation process independent or is it working via STEAM ?
2:if playing singleplayermissions or working with the FullMissionEditor has STEAM to be run ? As example, will building missions on an offline Laptop be possible ?
thx in advance
1: It will work via steam, if you don’t have steam most likely the DVD will install it also.
2: Yes you will have to run steam, this does not mean you have to be online as steam has an offline mode but it will need to be running in the background. Think of it as the game needing steam’s permission in order to run. But Steam does not need to phone home to give you that permission. Although if you are connected to the internet it will phone home.
It sounds awful but in reality it is quite smooth and transparent. The problem is that it adds an extra layer of problems in the installation process. If steam is not up to date or it is not properly installed then you won’t be able to play CoD even if that is installed correctly. And if Steam and CoD are failing to communicate with each other then you won’t be able to play.
One advantage of steam is that patching games is very smooth you will be prompted that a new patch is online and it will install the patch. But the problem is that you will not be able to run unpatched versions of CoD so you HAVE to install the patches. If there is something in the patches that you don’t like and would prefer to run a non patched version you can’t do that.
If you ask me I would prefer that the CoD not use steam, but it is not the end of the world as some make it sound . I guess it is the price to pay for a non pirated and hacked CoD.
I’m fine with this, I run ARMA II series through steam and it’s been a great online source. I close it down when not in use, in a world where DRM’s seem to be something we must contend with, I’d trust STEAM’s servers far more than UBI’s after the SH5 shindig.
Lots of crazy uninformed comments about Steam here, especially the malware part.
Here’s some perspective to go with the kicking and screaming:
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=19094
There’s far more return for the developer, and it is possible to play the game in offline mode.
While I don’t agree with all the restrictions, it’s not going to stop me from supporting the developer and experiencing this one-of-a-kind simulation.
I hope do they’ve learned from the Half Life 2 debacle and are able to keep the servers running on release day.
So what is the big problem with steam?get over it
Not everyone likes steam. That does not mean there is something wrong with such a person.
I had a STEAM Account – years ago- and wanted to delete it.
It is not possible. That s not a good service and not trustable.
have used steam and had nothing but trouble with it
The BIG problem is, that as said, even for offline game you will need an STEAM account…..
So that means, no internet connection = no activation = no play, even offline… sad, very sad….
AFAIK you will need Steam to install and activate game. Then if you want to play offline you have to run Steam in offline mode. The only limit you’ll get will be impossibility to save your progress to Steam Cloud (means noone will see how tough u r).
At least Call of Duty MW2 works this way.
That is a fair point. Pretty much the only downside with Steam is that you must have an internet connection at least once in order to activate the game the first time. You can then run Steam in offline mode from then on.
This is of course a big problem for those without an internet connection, but I guess Ubisoft think that the number of gamers without an internet connection is very small these days and they are willing to sacrifice a few potential customers for all the benefits that Steam brings both to the company and to consumers.
At least someone actually gets it.
stop being a jerk biggles….
I have had nothing but trouble with Steam games, they take around 12hrs to install and over 20 minutes to start because Steam is slower than my internet connection. I stopped buying anymore games that go through this crap but I have noticed some games hide the integration by not having the Steam icon and using the smallest text possible. I have bought games that I have been so looking forward to playing only to find this sneaky Steam scam. So I will not get over it, I will avoid Steam games like the plague and play one of my many other games. No more sales from me!
Steam is nothing but hot air and will blow away eventually!
=XIII=Shea…..It does appear that you’re the only one here that’s happy with Steam, so it looks like you will be playing with yourself….
Sam van Gool wrote already the most important things. You might want to read it and you might want to accept, that most other players don’t want Steam.
I bought IL2 1946 and i am still today very satisfied with it.
I won’t buy CoD with Steam – i wouldn’t even take it as a free gift…
“you might want to accept, that most other players don’t want Steam.”
Look at the poll on the 1C site then come back and admit you are wrong.
OK, looking at the results of the poll it seems, that most people voted have in fact no problem with steam.
But reading all the comments here and on other forums doesn’t seem to match with the poll results and I am really in doubt that the pro-voters of the poll are/will become IL2-Player or favorize simulations in anyway. Also STEAM may have an interrest at influencing the results…
Maybe I’m wrong, but i think 1C/UBI will loose a lot of potential customers – specialy those customers who are already playing IL2 long time, who are grown ups and have the money to buy a full-price game with all Flight-Equipment.
How do you think, how many satisfied customers leave negative comments on forums?
So all negative you see is the problem of minority.
Then let me insert a positive one
(one of few here)
I am actually relieved its working through steam. I was PISSED when I tried preordering it from ubisoft where it said you needed to pay 8 euro’s to be able to download it for a measly 2 years lol. Then someone told me that you needed steam anyway so you could use the code in steam and have its life long download policy.
So now I might order it from ubisoft and download it with steam. I was actually wanting to bypass ubisuck and wait for d2d or steam.
Completely bypassing ubisuck seems difficult I think. Too bad Maddox can’t publish on its own. I would have gladly have given oleg and his team the entire pie. Now a piece goes to ubisoft. Really was thinking of waiting for steam but then maybe an even smaller slice goes to Oleg.
At least they get more from digital downloads though than from retail purchases.
I for one have had nothing but good experiences with Steam. I always lose my booklets and scratch my dvd’s so this is the perfect solution for me.
A few games though (mostly old ones) have had some problems. DLL which needed to be downloaded. That kind of thing.
Anyway I think a fair percentage of the complainers here will buy this game anway. Lets face it. We live in a world where stuff gets cracked. companys do anything about it to prevent this and the sim world being a niche market will sprout the least hackers because its not as populair as say GTA.
Cliffs of dover will be the best game for ALOT of you since well… Il2 1946 and before
Either you are all to stubborn OR (and you don’t have to admit it :p)
You will swallow your pride and go with it because its THE BEST GAME IN AGES AND YOU WANTS IT!!!!! GIEV!
Polls are not always right. I used to do polls on my website and found out you can adjust em to the way you want the poll to go. How do we know that poll is right and 1c didnt fix it to run in there favour? like i can vote on that poll 100 times if i want to as i can change my ip. So you tell me Biggles and come back and admit you r wrong.
Sad about the Stream requirement, I just canceled my preorder due to this news. I know many people like Steam and it is working great for them, but I have had way too much problems with the platform to spend my money on games using it any more. My time for games is quite limited these days and I want to spend it playing, not troubleshooting problems with Steam.
Stick to minesweeper, thats not too time consuming.
biggles you’re an arse. when you can’t justify the use of steam you go and be a sarcastic, mean arse…
Steam is actually easier than managing physical discs. I recommend you to try it before giving up completely on Il2. There are a couple demos and freebies available which is great for testing the service. You just install the steam client on a new Pc, download the games you want, and off you go.
So it will be a “steamworks” game, with cloud and everything? (strange I didn’t see any announcement on Steam)
For me Steam is Ok, it’s a platform that works well and I already use it for a lot of games. I understand that someone can be angry with that, but saying that the EULA of Steam is too strict and gives you no warranties means that you have never read a standard EULA, that comes with almost every software.
Everyone with a bad internet connection will be able to buy the physical copy, and then to link it into a Steam account, without digital download. Also Steam means auto-update and no worries if your dvd is scratched (but also no possibility to re-sell it). The only thing I hope is that there will be no mod-restrictions due to the Steam protection.
And at the end my complain: Steam is also a DRM, why do we need a second DRM (although it seem to be a “good” one)?
I’m going to buy a new PC (also) for this game, I hope there will be a demo soon
You gotta be joking.We need Steam.This Died for me years ago after it Censered versions of other games just because I live in Germany.
Sorry people.But if you ask me and the read the posts here.Your gonna KILL it.I have promised never to pay a single cent to such Malware companies as Steam
I think that your argument is with your government, who mandate censorship of certain themes in games. It’s not Valve’s fault that they have to comply with your laws.
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These comments have been interesting. One the one hand, it’s nice to see the free market doing what it does best: consumers voting with their dollars to let business know what they want. That’s the way it should work. On the other hand, I was surprised to see all of this hostility toward Steam. Complaints that Steam is “malware” doesn’t make much sense to me. I’m an information security professional of 10 years, and I’ve been using Steam since it’s debut. Steam is not malware. Nor is it “bloatware”. When a developer uses the services Steam provides instead of writing their own code to handle things like activation and multiplayer match-making, that is no unnecessary “bloat”, but simply outsourcing something that needs to be done anyway, which saves time and money for the developers. Hysterical fear, uncertainty and doubt in regards to the Steam EULA I also find misplaced. Valve has a hard-earned reputation for going the extra mile in behalf of their consumers. Supporting games with free new features and updates years after they have been released (TF2), supporting the modding community with some of the most mod-friendly tools in the industry, pioneering their own method of quality testing for their games which others have attempted to imitate, and making high quality games available to the masses, conveniently over the Internet, often offering very high quality games for less than $5 on a weekly basis. This is the company that you are all worried about stabbing you in the back? I simply don’t understand the sentiment one bit. I wonder how much of this angst is simply the result of the reputation that Ubisoft has acquired over the years in regards to DRM. Maybe people will lash out against any game that has “Ubisoft” and “DRM” anywhere in the product description, no matter what?
Maybe, most of us, only wants a DVD copy of the game. Install it on our computer and play the game. Without other things. No internet, no steam, no 3th codes inside our computer that we can’t control, …
Is it so hard to understand?
For lot of us, simplicy is a plus!!! (specialy singles and offline players!!!)
Sorry, those days have gone. Companies have to sell over the internet because there is very little profit in distributing physical product these days. Although you may only want to play single-player, many people will want to play multiplayer. If this is the case, then why would Ubisoft want to reinvent the wheel when they can use Steam’s service? If they had to develop their own system it would increase their costs, which either means cutting another part of the product, increasing the costs to us the consumer, or possibly not developing the product at all.
There is clearly a vocal minority who will avoid Steam at all costs, but for many developers it is the only option.
Currently the PC market feels very much like it did in the last days of the Amiga, or the Spectrum. Single format games magazines getting slimmer or closing, games getting cheaper even at release, than the same games on other formats, shelf space becoming more and more limited.
I consider us very lucky as consumers that Steam (or something like it) exists. If it did not, I don’t think very many full-price PC games would be produced at all today.
Steve where i live there are lots of shops selling pc games ive never brought a game online apart from the ps3, so that first part of ur statement is wrong ie – Sorry, those days have gone. Companies have to sell over the internet because there is very little profit in distributing physical product these days.
There is a lot more selling in shops, markets ect then online. Its like ebay you sell or buy on there then ebay and paypal take some of ya profit. Like when i sold my mobile for £75 i ended up getting £55 coz they took fees, yet if i sold it to some one then i would of got the /375 so tell me where is the profit selling online?
Steam is the ultimate knock-out criterion for “Cliffs of Dover”.
I hope UBI will go broke with this strategy. The managers there do not seem to dig it!
I’m going to buy the Russian version without steam!
You really mean that you want a free version from the pirates, dont yer!
lol and you dont have too wait for a long time
“So what is the big problem with steam?get over it”. NO…we DON’T, this is forcing
me to use/buy/install something that is not needed. Not everyone plays on line and
the fact that I will be wanting to play this for years when Steam has made clear
they can “walk away” at any time leaving me with nothing functional is not
acceptable at all.
¿Could you expand on the issue that the activation key obtained is not related with hardware changes? ¿That means I can use the same key that I obtained once, for new installations on a totally different computer forever?
Devs and Distributors: are you [i]getting the message[/i] yet, that consumers simply will not stand for this kind of “Big Brother” in-the-background control on their machines?
Go back to your precious spreadsheets and do some number crunching to compare the number of sales you’ll lose through pirating against the number of sales you’ll lose by turning away gladly-paying customers through your own futile attempts at code control.
And keep in mind that the pirates are NOT going to buy your product either way, if they can successfully hack it, or if they refuse to pay for it and just choose to do without.
They already pirated this game google the game name then add Torrent at end ur get loads of links. I will buy this game steam or no steam, never had trouble with it but i c where everyone is coming from. I never had the internet up till year ago as ive not needed it but now im disabled i can not get out much now. But i dont c y some people have to pay more to get the net just to play games on steam and yes you dont need it to play offline but u do to install steam and activate a game everytime u buy one.
Still a bit confused about Steam. I understand that I need to register with Steam.
I need Steam for Multiplay. Can I play the game offline, once it’s registered, without being connected to the internet? Do I have to connect with Steam before getting offline and play the game? Where I live my internet connections are unreliable at best. If I need to be online, even if it’s only to connect shortly, this will be a show stopper.
Usually with Steam games, you just need to go online once to activate the game. From then on you can switch it into offline mode.
However it is normally worth going online with Steam whenever you can as it will automatically update the game if a patch has been released.
Steam” no thanks “
Oh for crying out loud, get over it. Steam is not that bad. I stayed away from Steam for years but now it is a fairly mature and harmless way of managing games. It’s not Starforce you know. And yes, you can even play offline all the time if you want.
mature??? hehehe, managing games hehehehehe, money yep, and nope i tryed off line its a no go, come show me, i even buy u a trip over here….
From other comments it says u need the net to patch the game or u can not play it, Read the other comments not everyone has the net and how many patches came out on some new games after release one game had to be updated with patches 15 times in 4 days.
Who is responsible for your marketing??
You know that WW2-Plane-Sims mainly played by people older than 25?
You know that most of this people earn money and pay for a game they like?
You know that not so young people hate Third Party Software and don t trust?
You know that they don t like steam?
You know that you will loose many customers?
Are you doing a good job? Ask your boss…
You know that they don t like steam?
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=19089
Oh really!
Well, then, if you are so sure about the good health of Steam, why are you so worry about this comments?
I can suppose that several persons, like me, that refused give data to Steam, and refuse use it, refuse to be register in a web only to vote in the polling about Steam. Is it possible? Or maybe you have the only and correct truth?
“Well, then, if you are so sure about the good health of Steam, why are you so worry about this comments?”
If you dont intend to buy it, why are you on here?
Do you really think that people give a toss as to whether you aregoing to buy IL2 CoD or not.
It seems to me that most of the anti steam crew are the ones worried that their chances of getting a pirate copy of the game have gone up the the old khyber pass.
Here is an example ——-
Rowddy :9 March 2011 at 19:13 at 9:13 who came up with this gem.
Txs for the update i guess i wait for a illigal version wich is ct=racked to play it. But as long as i am forced to use STEAM i will never buy it
I bet that most of the Steam nay sayers were moaning when RoF came out with its always online connectivity meant that they couldn’t grab a copy for free and also moaned when the DCS series came out with its new version of Starforce also preventing widespread piracy.
For so called mature gamers, the amount of crying about Steam is hilarious.
No Mr. Biggles, what is hilarious is the amount of time you have spent trying to belittle people voicing their opinion about their dislike of Steam. I personally have had terrible luck the time’s i’ve bought steam games and chose not to go through that again, this was an outlet to respond so that some people that have control over the game may reconsider. I truly wonder what your connection here is, are you being paid for your massive time spent posting on these comments? makes me wonder about your motive, and I do reserve my RIGHT not to buy this game if it is thru steam, and NO I do not condone pirated software, I just don’t want to have to deal with the same issues with steam that I have had to in the past.
KC
@ R F Biggleswade
Did you read that i want buy Collector’s Edition? Do you believe this product will be in a pirate copy? I don’t think so.
Maybe you are wonder because you know that last news suggest that probably Collector’s Edition will be cancelled, don’t you?
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=18971
And you are in your right to say you like steam, but wrong attacking people thinks different than you.
“Do you really think that people give a toss as to whether you aregoing to buy IL2 CoD or not.”
He is one of many of us who care hence the disapproval of this issue’ YOUR disparaging us for our decisions cast even further doubt as to any future purchase, for me anyway. In fact YOUR smart ass comments have convinced me that NO OTHER UBI products will I ever purchase.
“I bet that most of the Steam nay sayers were moaning when RoF came out with its always online connectivity meant that they couldn’t grab a copy for free…”
Wrong mate! It was a easy decision, I just didn’t buy it (same with SH 5), maybe my loss maybe not!
“…and also moaned when the DCS series came out with its new version of Starforce also preventing widespread piracy.”
Wrong again! Bought both FC2 and DCS:BS since they have a fair DRM that requires a on-line activation at install and then leave you alone and doesn’t require anything else running.
55% of people like it. A majority yes but not a clear indication of how good or bad it is.
what o really???? only about 50% the other 50% don’t have a clue what Steam is
oh look i just went on there and voted for each one hmmm now tell me u can trust that poll lol
Is the Steam activation for OFFLINE play _one time_ only?
Is their a manual way of activation (phone call to distributor), in case buyer lives in a very remote area with limited to no internet (Africa)?
If CoD is installed on an external HDD, will the activation work, and will it stay with the drive?
You are like Ospray, just saying Get over it lol
When you dont have argument then is always Get over it……
Just cancelled my order with UBISOFT. I don’t play online and don’t think I ever will so having to go online just to play a game I purchase to play offline just makes no sense.I was so looking forward to this and now this.Guess the dream is over!!
What part of Steam games run in offline mode do you not understand?
I reckon that the majority of the the anti steam belly achers on here are just frustrated pirates who are a bit upset because IL2-CoD will be a bit difficult to crack.
Never mind, you “Steam haters” have given me a good laugh and I will be laughing at you even more when I am playing CoD in offline mode on Steam whilst you are depriving yourself of your fun because of your misinformed ideas and lack of knowledge about Steam.
Have a nice day.
I don’t know anything about steam good or bad I was just going by what the admin on this site said,you need to be online to play this game.Now if that is not correct then Ubisoft needed to make this clear.I am not a steam hater, i have never used steam i just dont play games online as my post said and didnot understand why the online requirement.My misinfirmed ideas as you put it are due to poor info from the Admin on this site.
I am not anti steam or a steam hater i just cancelled because the answer to the first question on this thread was YES you must be online to play offline.Now if that is incorrect great , but the answer by the admin doesn’t explain the offline function as you describe.As i have never used steam before i donot have any history good or bad with it.My concern was that my internet connection can be hit or miss because i live in a rural area.
The question was ‘Will Steam be required for strictly offline use too?’ and the answer was ‘yes’.
This is true for all games using Steam.
However the question and response did not say that Steam must stay online for offline play.
Usually with Steam games, unless the developer adds an additional layer of DRM (as happened with Assassins Creed), you have to activate the game once with Steam and you can then switch it to offline mode.
Steam is required, but Steam is not required to be connected.
I do this all the time as I travel for work and am often in hotel rooms without a good internet connection. Steam means that I can play games without having to carry around the physical media with me so that the game can check the disk (with 107 games in my Steam library – I am very happy about this!!!).
That is incorrect. You need to be online at least once to activate, then you can put into offline mode – if you want.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3160-agcb-2555
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo….it doesn’t work…………i tryes several times with differend games of Steam
Thanks Guys for your replies,you seem to know what you are talking about.I will wait for the release in North America (late april) before i reorder.The guys in russia seem to be beta testing right now and are finding issues but i expect these to be fixed.Again thx for replies UBI seem to not be to bothered about answering any questions!
@ R F Biggleswade
How old are you …geeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzz, a flight sim com. is an aver. age of about 42….geeeezzzzz.. go to sleep, daddy’s coming home
thats funny u should read up on that be4 u make a comment about pirating this game as ITS ALREADY BEEN DONE
Steam=no game for me. I Have all IL2 games, but won’t get this one because of it. More time to spend elsewhere…
You wont be missed. Goodbye.
Wow. Cant believe it. Its like a bad joke. All this hours spend on forums for COD, all the waiting. If I only knew that Steam was part of it any sooner…would spend my time doing something else.
I remember the afternoon I bought Flanker…great memory. Now ill remember today when I decided to skip Il2 COD
schade das es nun doch nur mit steam kommt.
Werde es sofort stornieren.
Da zuvor keine Rede davon war fühle ich mich auch noch veräppelt.
I have been flying IL2 for years. Been waiting for CoD however when a Steam application I purchased stopped working, all I received was a complete run around from Steam. I swore no more Steam programs for me That will include CoD. If you ever allow use of the program without it I will reconsider.
Steam is bad mmmk..
All jokes aside this is a bad move and you will find it WILL affect your sales.. Bad marketing move.
I have used Steam for years and I love the ability to have my game up today with patches, never lost I can just download the game again… this was great when my house burned down and I lost many games when they melted. I didn’t even need to remember my CD key due to Steam had all the info. Anti Cheat .. You cheat your baned, GPU ban, CPU ban, Credit Card ban, Account and all games BANED! Hack that. ” just look at the long list of COD Black OPS bans from walk hacks… lol.. Again I love Steam and for those crying about it well welcome to 2011. Some one at UBI has a clue good job.
Glad it works for you Iceman, It didn’t for me and thus you will still be able to find me playing the good old Il-2 where we both have flown for the past several years. If they ever allow this to be non-steam as the current Il-2 is maybe we can wing together again. I really was looking forward to this though, 3 years of waiting, such a let down.
KC
never seen the list Black Ops banns, those so called banned are still playing, u know why, because they payed for it and Steam can not allow themselfs into a lawsuit, simple as that.
u should read up on that iceman ive been banned from steam be4 and guess what im still playing. Go figure lol
I live in Australia and am planning on purchasing the download version from Just Flight – will I have problems activating it?? I’ve heard rumours of the game being region specific (us in Australia are being charged ALMOST TWICE what its being marketed for in the US ie. $90 vs $50…why?????) and want to get some definite word on this.
Please don’t kill off IL2 like you guys did to Silent Hunter 5.
Could the price in Australia be due to any tarriffs, taxes or import fees?
We have a 10% GST, that is all, so not significant enough to double the price. The major factor is that our dollar, which over the last ten years has fluctuated between .50 and .80 USD, has reached parity with the US dollar and now surpassed it, however retailers and wholesalers are yet to pass on the savings, hence the trend for Australians to be buying overseas at the moment.
The other drawback for us is that a lack of broadband internet is not uncommon in the regions, so Steam activation is going to cull some potential customers from playing, sadly enough
I find this hard to believe that steam will be required to play online.
I have played il2 from the first demo and never played on the ubi server once.
The people that I have played with for years have allways joined via IP / private server or through Hypper lobby.We have been a tight knit group and devoted fans of the IL2 from the beginning.
I find this move to steam as a kick in the nuts to the IL2 fans that have supported the IC product for the last 9 years.
To get notice of this just 2 weeks before the release after waiting and tracking the development for 4 years is an insult to me and my friends.
Im at a loss as to why Oleg would allowe this turn of events this late in the game.
If i want to play, I want the choice to choose Where and With Who I paly with and not be required to go through some steam account or other type of controls on a piece of software that I have spent hard earned cash on, That same hard earned cash is what makes you a profit
I had preordered this game as soon as it was availible, but i will withdraw my preorder due to this steam accout bull SIZZ!!!!!
Let the people that want steam have it !
But lets us( the devoted hardcore flight sim fans) keep our Hyper lobby and Private servers as an option !!!!
Money spent on IL2
IL2
AEP
FB
1946
9 years of playing online
Game that I did not buy due to excessive DRM
ubi soft silent hunter 4
its your choice, but it’s mine on where I SPEND MY MONEY
~!S BPO6 -Panp
ubi soft silent hunter 5
I’ve been a loyal fan of Oleg’s and Il-2 for nearly 8 years. Il-2 is the entire reason I got into flight simulations. I’ve waited years for this new title and was just about to pre-order a boxed copy. However, if Steam is REQUIRED to use this product, I will sadly not be buying. It is MY CHOICE what software I install on my computer. I have had experience with Steam in the past; all bad.
Good luck to Maddox and Co., but I will sadly not be in the virtual sky over the Channel.
Thanks so much, Ubi, for ruining something I had looked forward to for years.
I pre paid for the game and this was not part of the requirement of the game as advertised. Does this mean there will be no dvd ? If so how to i get a refund as i am not interested in anything to do with Steam or a requirement for a permanent internet connection to play. Why did you not say this before you took my money, very misleading .
Get a refund?
Its not out yet so you shouldn’t have to pay for it until its depatched.
Yes. there is a version available on a DVD and no you do not need a permanent internet connection to play.
Just cancel your order if you are not happy. It will be your loss though
hope they crack it soon
Another scumbag waiting for a freebie version.
Not the first on here either.
Does R F Biggleswade work for Steam or Ubisoft? He/She seems very keen on disparaging people who want to run COD without Steam. Or do they just like flaming people?
+1 I wondered the same thing
Biggleswade is a weak smartass who thinks he’s a big man talking crap to those against this Steam mess. Amazing how a keyboard and a net connection makes some feel so much bigger than they truly are in real life. Ask Biggles, he knows…
@ R F Biggleswade
Biggs give it a break, you don’t have to be an ass hole and cunt every day. We who chose not to buy COD because of DRM and Steam have the right to say so. If you can not handle what we say, then get ur head out of your ass and get a breath of air.
People like you are a penny a doz. So shut your freaken mouth and get a life you cunt. Better yet go to the doctor and have a monthy check up and see if your PMS is getting worse. Your a douch bag whore.
Thanks gimFreng,
you’re the kind of person that puts great developers like 1C Maddox out of business before you get bored and move on to your next theft.
I don’t know anything about Steam except what I have read here. I have no objection to activation on line. I understand that offline play is possible without internet connection once it is activated. I have no objection to a low resource backround utility running to protect the game from thieves. I am disappointed that it seems we must use an UBI server for online play (if that’s the case) as my friends and I like to run our own servers and there’s something arrogant about UBI that I can’t out my finger on.
I suppose I should sympathise with people who have a poor internet connection but that means they won’t be playing on line and will only need to activate it. Obvious choice for them is to buy the DVD and not download it.
As for problems etc., well, we’ll soon know.
The mistrusters would probablly do best to wait for others to try it before they decide to buy or not.
Sad news for me too! I won’t buy it anymore.
Good luck Oleg & Maddox crew!
I prefer Steam for distribution/updates, although I can see why some people want nothing to do with it for a game like this.
But why does the Steam version require additional DRM via SolidShield? Sorry, but that’s a lost sale. Hopefully the surplus DRM is dropped at some point, at which point I’ll be able to buy it.
So if we build a new PC or upgrade the motherboard are you telling me we would have to buy the game again ?
Can the game be played without being connected to the internet ?For example on a laptop on my boat ?
Can i burn the download to a dvd ?
Well you can activate the game multiple times with the Ubisoft DRM – Even if you had activated three PCs, activated them all on the same day and then decided to tear one apart and build a new PC, you could activate it on the new PC after waiting one month. This seems fairly reasonable as this situation appears to be fairly unlikely.
The advantage when building the new PC is that, if you have a decent internet connection, you would not even have to find the game DVD. You just download steam and ask it to reinstall the game (and any other games you may have bought through Steam) and walk away. It will automatically download and install the game(s), patched up to the most recent version and ready to play!
Steam really comes into it’s own when building a new PC – it makes reinstalling all your games soooo much easier!!!!
And on the other two points – yes, you can usually switch Steam into offline mode unless another form of DRM prevents this.
Yes you can copy the steam directory onto a DVD (or just buy the DVD version in a shop) or onto an external hard drive. Indeed if you have downloaded the game and then want to install it on another computer, the quickest way is often simply to copy the directory onto an external hard drive and then copy if from there onto the new computer. Steam runs a check of the directory and it is ready to play (google for guides as to how to do this).
I have been flying IL2 for 6 years and am a member of the FS admin squad (www.skiesoffire.org) who have been running 2 successfull servers for 4 years in Hyperlobby. I have pre-ordered COD and am going to invest in a new PC for the sole purpose of flying COD in our new COD server. First I wanted to test the game on my brothers PC and a friends older high spec PC so that I have an idea of the spec needed. That way I will not have to go over the top with my limited budget. I have no knowledge of ‘Steam’ so how does ‘Steam’ effect testing COD on other PCs in different locations?
By the way someone mentioned that ‘Steam’ was to combat ‘cheats’. However in our experience after 10 years of IL2 we very rarely see obvious ‘cheats’ in our servers. They are also easily found, recorded, IP documented and then banned so they certainly do not effect our enjoyment of online flying in any big capacity.
…lew…
Ubi must be getting paid commission for recruiting new steam users. C’mon guys, are you really that cheap? You probably just lost a whole lot more in lost sales…
lmao! Steam? You totally misunderstood your audience.
No purchase from me. I’m actually more worried about how much you’re going to charge for expansion packs but this seals the deal really.
Good luck Oleg and Co. You’re going to need it.
Most ensuring is that http://www.solidshield.com/ seems to be down
You lost a customer here. There is no way i will install steam on my computers. Not one of tham. I will wait for a solution to play cod offline. Ofcourse, you will not see any money from me. Not the path i wanted, but your choice.
Been using steam for years with no issues. It allowed me to redownload games onto my pc after I updated my computer, rather than having to load them one at a time from a CD, and it allows me to see when freinds are online in case I am in the mood for multiplayer. It has an offline mode, so no you don’t need to be connected to the internet to run it. Games are installed locally on the harddrive, and pc’s have no country coding as far as I know, so I have no idea about the localization thing mentioned earlier. Games are linked to your Steam account, so as long as you have your user name, login, and a decent internet connection, you can download the game no matter where you are. I’m not a big fan of DRM, but Valve has worked hard to produce a product that actually adds value.
P.S. If you have a slow internet connection, buy the DVD. Not sure why your crappy internet would be their fault.
I have over 20 games on Steam. I don’t see why so many are posting bad thing about something they have no clue about.
So it will be a “steamworks” game, with cloud and everything? (strange I didn’t see any announcement on Steam)
For me Steam is Ok, it’s a platform that works well and I already use it for a lot of games. I understand that someone can be angry with that, but saying that the EULA of Steam is too strict and gives you no warranties means that you have never read a standard EULA, that comes with almost every software.
Everyone with a bad internet connection will be able to buy the physical copy, and then to link it into a Steam account, without digital download. Also Steam means auto-update and no worries if your DVD is scratched (but also no possibility to re-sell it). The only thing I hope is that there will be no mod-restrictions due to the Steam protection.
And at the end my complain: Steam is also a DRM, why do we need a second DRM (although it seem to be a “good” one)?
I’m going to buy a new PC (also) for this game, I hope there will be a demo soon
STEAM == no purchase from me, an IL-2 “veteran”
I’m actually shocked.
Carry on enjoying your ancient old flight sims then. You will probably be more shocked if you actually use Steam and then realise that your fears are unfounded.
Are you employed by Steam? Why are you replying to every single post that opposes the Steam monopoly?
If i change my motherboard or buy a new PC will i need to repurchase the game ?
Will there be hard copies of the game released ?
Can i burn a copy of the download to a dvd ?
I try to answer you, but I’m just a Steam user…
If you change your pc or a component of it, you still have the copy of your game, no repurchase is necessary (of course).
I have no idea whether hard copies of CoD will be released (I hope so, at least collectors editions)
Steam has a backup utility that allows you to save your game in DVD, hard drives etc. But it should be more easy to simply copy the folder of the game, since it is normally stored in /steam/steamapps/common/
Ok that means i waited years on a game of i dreamed off but now i can NEVER BUY!!!!
I hate that freaky controll programm called STEAM, it’s utter CRAP. Now i will never be able to play Cliffs of Dover.
Txs for the update i guess i wait for a illigal version wich is ct=racked to play it. But as long as i am forced to use STEAM i will never buy it
“Txs for the update i guess i wait for a illigal version wich is ct=racked to play it. But as long as i am forced to use STEAM i will never buy it”
This cheapskate lowlife nugget enforces my theory about the so called Steam haters.
Thanks for that. Well done!
Shame on you.
I’m sorry, I’ve tried to be helpful and responded to people’s questions, but this sort of post really annoys me.
It’s like saying ‘This forces me to use Windows – I will not buy it!’, but you go further and say ‘This forces me to use Steam – I will therefore steal it!’. That is just an indefensible position.
PC gaming pretty much requires Steam these days, it is almost as vital as Windows. It is almost the sole reason that any non-casual (or non-Blizzard) PC games exist today.
I cannot believe the loads of trash people are saying about this particular DRM. I have tons of steam-activated games. All of which can be played in offline mode at anytime. Many of my games are installed in my laptop and I play them on the bus or whenever possible, and I must highlight that in none of these places internet is available.
Steam installs no obscure dark and sinister stuff in your computer. It’s a simple software that downloads games directly to the folder where steam is installed and the games are already downloaded pre-installed. So, you won’t even have to bother with long installation processes.
This is an incredible DRM solution for it’ll force everyone who actually like the game to buy it. By attaching all update system – and we do know IL2 always does have many patches – and online matchmaking to steam is a sure way to get back the torrents of money the developers have poured down into the development of this software.
If your lame excuse not to buy this game is “because it uses steam” I have to say, your short-sightedness does indeed help the community by keeping you out of it. The game will definitely sell very well and steam will sure ensure pirates stray away from it.
Round of applause for you mate!
This is true about Steam in general, but CoD installs a 3rd party DRM…
ok stream…… no way ubisoft!!!! no mouny from me
and you whant 349 dk lol forget it
“ok stream…… no way ubisoft!!!! no mouny from me”
I’ll have six bottles of what he’s had!
ok!! ill make it simple for you no sale here!!!
so wot if its steam… get over it chaps… i pre ordered the game weeks ago, (and proud of it),……….me and my son have been using steam for a couple of years with no issues at all……. see you all in the skies … FS~looksharp
Wow, did not think that this was the direction that IL2:COD was going.
First, they change the name of the game to IL2: COD, which has nothing to do with the previous IL2 series, and now this DRM decision?
I can understand where you don’t want pirated games all over the place, but christ, having Steam as a mandatory component in buying this game will, and has angered many people. Personally I don’t mind Steam, but it is a mistake in my eyes to have Steam used for multiplayer AND offline use.
Offline use is exactly what it says, offline, off the network, and to play offline needing online access? Thats BS. Now if I decide to take a vacation, or say moving, I can’t play the game because I have no internet. This is a huge disappointment to the IL2 community, and you will certainly lose out on a huge number of customers because of this decision.
Way to twist and ruin a game that COULD of been good.
/rant
Steam requires an internet connection just for the first launch of the game (and could be a 56k connection). Then you set it in “offline mode” and no more internet connection is required by Steam.
“If I can’t play the game because I have no internet”
Hard luck then innit. Best go back to playing Lemmings or some other 15 year old game.
However games that require an internet connection to launch will not start when Steam is in offline mode.
yep, that’s for multiplayer games an for games with an extra DRM. And for what I’ve understood that Solidshield DRM won’t ask for an internet connection to run, so I guess there won’t be problems.
Steam? Sorry, you just lost another costumer.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Its alright hes a costumer not a customer. People who dress up for a games are a little to immersive for me.
If it requires Steam I won’t be purchasing it. I have almost all the other IL-2 games and enjoyed them. If you want someone else telling when you can play a game offline, then buy it. I won’t.
I dont care mate, really I dont. Go back to enjoying your copy of Red Baron 2 or whatever it is you play.
I’m a Steam supporter but this is a very bad decision. Requiring an internet connection to play single player has essentially sunk ROF as a serious contender — in my close-knit gamer group they lost 5 sales, for example. I and many others simply won’t touch it because of that. Requiring a 3rd party program that has nothing to do with your game is even worse, and I don’t care if you use steamworks/vac/etc for online features, those aren’t required for offline play. Period. Anything else is an excuse. I’ve been playing IL2 for almost 8 years now and I’m still very active in the community. Youtube my name. Believe me when I say the hardcore simmer is not the demographic you want to piss off when your game is a hardcore sim.
steam = no COD for me or my entire squadron of 32 members….’
there has to be a better solution to this than what has been chosen….i see a lot of dollars rolling out the window on this decission…
pd
I bet that most of your entire squadron change their minds within a month of COD being released.
Please keep us all informed of the progress of the mass boycott.
rfbiggleswade,
mabey you should check other f/s forumes and see the reaction there….this is just the tip of the iceberg here….and dont hold your breath on my squadron flying this sim in its present release form…it aint gonna happen
pd
I checked the Steam poll on the 1C forum so your point is?
Bummed too about the STEAM requirement. A lot of people seem to like it but not me. No sale for me if STEAM is required in any way at all.
NOBODY IS BOTHERED THAT YOU WONT BUY IT. THOUSANDS OF OTHERS WILL.
Deal with it
I fail to understand the logic behind this decision. many have correctly stated that the customer demographic for this type of Sim, is not your shoot em up set, but many in their later years who have enjoyed the IL series and have spent good money in doing so. Not only will Ubi suffer ( again ) but many other companies who have profitted from hardware purchases to ensure the sim realism throughout the game is complete.Yet another knee jerk decision by some connected corporate no brains. I won’t be buying the product either and will encourage all of my many IL friends to boycott it also….how sad. Ubi have ruined yet another Sim.
Hee hee, you are a bedwetter.
NO STEAM AS I WILL NEVER SIGN THE FOLLOWING :
Actually, this is perfect! It will be released on steam and will thus show up on steam front page for a while when released, so all the idiots will buy the game and Oleg will get the money he needs. Then I (and other real IL2 fans) can buy this game a year or so later for next to nothing! They are subsidising my hobby! GREAT!
Steam Dorf look at the poll on 1c forums,165 people and counting like steam and will be getting COD,so i wont be playing alone
You will be! The 164 others are Valve-employees like you, too
I’ve been a huge fan of Il-2, the best sim ever. But no dynamic campaign and now Steam is required for offline use ? No thanks.
I’ll stick with Il-2 1946 which still is an amazing sim.
“I’ll stick with Il-2 1946 which still is an amazing sim.”
Will you, that’s nice dear.
You should really stop being childish. If you know Steam well sell its good points not the fact you have a whole repertoire of silly comments.
It comes across as although you don’t care that people are not going to buy the game because of Steam you are hurt and feel the need to reply with a silly comment.
If you were mature you’d just leave them alone to their own devices or explain in less childish terms how good Steam is.
I was really looking forward to this game !
I am an addict of IL-2 series. I own Lockon, Blackshark and Rise of flight…
… I already ordered CoD… but now with the knowledge that a Steam account is neccessary .. I will cancel my command n !!
No professional Spyware on my Computer ! For NO game !
I is tragik that Ubisoft uses such an idiotic sales strategy
Doc
“No professional Spyware on my Computer ! For NO game !”
Oh my gawwwdd!
I wonder when Ubi will actually learn something. Or then they just intend to completely pull out of PC market. Ubisoft already crashed its PC sales last year because of the absolutely idiotic DRM scheme designed for “gamer’s benefit”. Now they are trying something else that still only hurts paying customers. To make it worse they are doing it with a simulation game, which audience isn’t that interested in pirating the game, nor that they are easily manipulated by marketing to buy titles with horrid drm schemes.
I myself have no intention to buy any game priced some 40-50e and tied to external activation servers I have no control of, and no guarantee for functioning forever. This is also a disaster for gaming culture, because the games will die with the servers.
I could accept online activation only if Ubisoft makes a legally bind agreement that the activation requirement will be removed in a patch or otherwise after a certain time, i.e. one year. I have absolutely no trust for Ubisoft or any third party company to keep their activation servers up indefinitely, and this goes with Steam as well.
IL2COD was the most wanted for me for a long time. Being forced to play with Steam does not make a big problem for me but im worried that if my internet connection fails for any reason I wont be able to fly my IL2COD. The other concern about Steam is that you probably will need to install the game to the disk where Steam is installed. Since I have several steam games (Napoleon, Il-2 1946 etc) my disk where steam is got stuck. Does it mean I will need to uninstall other game to make some room for IL2COD?
I think that “Steam mover” could help you, it’s a program that allows to move a game into a different location, using symbolic links.
And no, if the internet connection fails you should be able to run the game in offline mode, without problems. Steam requires a connection only for the first time you run a game.
It is a fair criticism of Steam that it is only designed to run with games in one directory rather than spread over multiple disks. I wish Valve would sort that one out! I’ll have to look at “Steam Mover”.
Playing IL2 CoD through Steam.. no way
Another old fan off your list, sorry.
Dear UBI execs,
I hope that you are really listening to what people are saying here. I am going to purchase Il2 COD because of Oleg Maddox and his passion for WW2 flight sims. I have to say that many of the responces are from those same passionate “Simmers” who purchased everything that was put out. From the very first Il2 to 1946. This does not even include all of the add ons like The Last Days
Wings Over Citadel, Battle Over Europe,Ostfront,Wings Over Jungles,Operation Barbarossa,The Fires Above,Wings Over Waves,Rebirth Of Honor,Rebirth Of Honor, Aces Campaign by GMX, Combat Over Europe,Normandy 1944 Der Luftkrieg or The air war over europe 1940-1945 and Operation Case Blue. Did I even mention Joysicks,Rudder pedals, Tracking software ie. Track IR, Memory, bigger Monitors and brand new or built from scratch Pc’s and not to forget graphics cards.
I would just guess that public perception means alot. I use steam for games like the Total war series. I do not care for them tracking what kind of system I use, and when I had no internet my games would not play offline unless I connected again.(Moving troubles) . The worst part is the Marketing of this sim. I would give your company a D-
and I would ask for my money back. Why you may ask? Go visit any one of these forums. SimHQ, your own IL2 Cliffs of Dover forums and the IC forum. Do you know you have to spend at least an hour to find out where you can even buy a DVD copy in North America. I feel for my fellow simmers in Canada, Australia, Italy, Spain, and South America. Many are looking for a collectors edition to buy. Some are not anymore. That is only one fiasco by your company. Oleg states that Il2 COD will be out on the 25th of March. The notification for the region specific area on the UBI shop has Spring 2011. I am not trying to bash your company, it just looks like your doing all on your own.
Wings Over Waves
The Fires Above
Rebirth Of Honor
Operation Barbarossa
Banzai
Operation Overlord
Please disregard the list at the bottom. No edit button.
Have to admit that UBI are really losing the plot these days.
The DVD cover from the German Edition of Cliffs Of Dover is well funny.
PLease, have you any update about my previous question? It was:
“Could you expand on the issue that the activation key obtained is not related with hardware changes? That means I can use the same key that I obtained once, for new installations on a totally different computer forever?”
My main concern with DRM schemes is what happens when the publisher support stops for titles witl long lifecycle, like flightsims…..so, a non-related hardware DRM scheme would do the trick for me. Is this the case?
I have no real problem with Steam but it would probably be best if Steam was one of a few different DRM options available.
I say Steam is fine if it is optional.
STEAM? WHAT FOR? I thought that Solidshield will be everything, but now you’re adding that spyware on top? What is the meaning of this?
Sale lost.
still bellyaching and spouting untruths aboyt Steam being spyware are you?
Grow up.
Please NO steam! I was all set to purchase it, but am now giving pause because of steam and other online activation ideas. I much prefer offline or if online, then only within a LAN (no internet). Adding this to the other voices about disliking the steam and online activation ideas. Thanks for considering.
In my lifetime so far, when I have purchased/bought a product using cash, such as a car, lawn mower, baseball bat, cricket bat, footy, computer game etc, I then become the sole principal owner of that item. That meant & still means that I alone, or somebody I delegate, am/are totally responsible for its use, maintenance and longevity.
I would’ve gladly paid double the purchase price of IL2CoD if I knew that the game would be mine to use whenever & however I chose …like the items above.
But sadly, it appears that instead of a purchase, like those above, it will instead be much more like a lease (of sorts) where there are several other ‘conditions’ applied, keep in mind too that a lease may/may not necessarily mean either part/full ownership of the property. Of course I may well be a bit ‘off the track’ with that last sentence but I’m sure it’s somewhere ‘around the mark’.
I think that most of us see the IL2CoD/DRM/Steam issue as, or similarly to if not the same, how I’ve described it above.
I have used Steam with different games for a long time now and while I’ve not noticed any major issues, to the best of my knowledge that is, that’s not to say that they haven’t happened to other users. I’ve used Red Orchestra, COD4 & CODWAW all on Steam but I also have DVD store bought versions of those games & so can say that while I see no loss of gameplay using any version, the Steam versions DO extend game load times & of course there can be an annoying advertising window as well as updates to any Steam game on your pc at any time Steam is activated.
But I do prefer this…
That If I want to update anything on my pc then I will choose to do so, if I don’t want to I won’t ( I believe you can de-select updating via the Steam window but updating is ON by default & YOU must de-select it).
If I want to play any game on my pc whether on or offline, LAN or otherwise, then I choose to do so, on my own without any other steering, directing or otherwise interference from anyone nor anything not of my choosing.
So, like I’ve said, I feel its not so much Steam itself (from my pov) that most of us are grieving over but moreso, yet another example of loss of freedom of choice …& that is the argument mostly pushed here, again, as I see it …& fair enough too!
Some people may be happy with the way things are going wrt ‘ownership rights’, usually (but not always) the younger ones are more accepting.
Just keep in mind that your historical, traditional ‘ownership’ of certain things in life is gradually disappearing or eroding …by deliberation of those who wish to determine greater ownership over an item that YOU purchased.
Anyway, in a nutshell, whether IL2CoD/DRM/Steam was Olegs choice or Ubi’s, it seems to be more of a lease rather than a purchase …& I don’t like leases, I’d much rather purchase …precisely what I want, as by a matter of principal, I should be able to have.
Cheers
Sikshoota
all game is being leased. eula sey so. oleg change mind no releasey cliff. for friends only
Dear Developers,
There’s a lot of hate and spite here so I’d really like you to read this as I’m attempting to come from a reasonable and objective area regarding your decision.
I think the biggest concern here among players, and what has likely been raised countless times in this comment area is thus: DRM is not going to in any way hinder the piracy. Pirates will inevitably (as they’ve always been able to do) crack the game and run it free of Steam, “SolidShield”, and the activation limit; pirates will effectively be getting the better, more hassle-free game because of this. Please don’t allow yourselves to be deluded by the possibility that “it will work this time”; it will not. It never has.
So, by imposing this DRM you are simply hindering and forcing negative sentimentality upon those legitimate owners of your game.
And let me add that I do understand the inclusion of Steam for the inclusion of VAC (which, so far as anti-cheat is concerned is formidable, and much better than loathsome junk like PunkBuster) and easier updates. However forcing this on players who do not wish to use the game with Steam is pushing the boundaries for a few reasons. For one, many people can not run Steam. It can be a process hog for what is likely to already be a resource-intensive game. Secondly, some people also do not have stable enough internet connections to run Steam reliably, and Steam is known for it’s spotty and often ineffectual “Offline” mode. Surely simply releasing patch executables on your webpage wouldn’t be that much of an issue?
Perhaps this is out of your control at this late stage (if the rumors of Ubisofts staunch position on the issue in regards to what it publishes is to be believed), but let me recommend if it is still within your control to change it, that you would remove the DRM “SolidShield” entirely, and limit Steam synchronization to only copies bought through Steam. Much easier said than done, but as I read these comments I fear for IL2′s future as a franchise with such vitriol and anger this issue has generated among your community. Hope you consider it, and I hope this has come across as more reasonable than most.
Cheers,
Dear Users,
Thank you for voicing your concerns and opinions on this matter. We hope to have more answers for you on how Steamworks is integrated in the game later today.
Stay tuned.
My biggest issue with Cliffs of Dover is more due solidshield. That’s effectively double-DRM right there, what next? Securom + solidshield + starforce + safedisc + rootkit with trojan? I don’t have any real issues with Steam or bad experiences with it but since it behaves as quite friendly DRM* having solidshield sounds highly unnecessary.
* If you really look it at that way, I always considered it a service that works as relatively friendly DRM at the same time
Hi,
I’ve been “simming” for 15 years, into computing since the old ZX81 popped it’s ugly plastic face out of the box from Sinclair, most people here have never seen one I bet. Been into IL-2 since day one and I do know for a fact that a lot of old squadmates are reluctant to go down this road. Will probably not and that including me is some lost sales. I respect those not having issues with Steam but I don’t want those kind of software on my system and I don’t like the intrusive manner it collects personal data and selling it on to other parties.
I have been awaiting this for so long and it’s with sadness I decide to not buy. Hope OM and 1C doesn’t loose to many of the old farts that built the Il-2 community over the past decade.
all the best
Biggleswade are you on contract with stream?
wont buy it sorry.
I’ve used Steam, it’s ok but I simply don’t want to use it.
I don’t have to have a reason or give a reason. I simply want the game on a disc, play it on Hyperlobby, have a backup on my computer, use an IP address, add what Patches my squad wants to use
and in general use my paid for property as I see fit.
I have no reason to help Steam gather whatever, I don’t care if Steam exists or not
gadnab it, I simply want to enjoy it and use it as I use 4.09+UP2.01+modded maps of my choice.
I have paid for and own every piece of IL2 that Oleg has produced and would have been happy to pay twice the price.
Hell our computers that we continually upgrade have cost $thousands,
Bugga Steam!
Cheers,
Ibis.
Hello Ubisoft team,
It is unfortunate that you choose to include Steamworks.
I would have been interested, but I want to purchase a flight simulation
and not sign up with a third-party distribution system.
It really baffles me how Microsoft was forced by the EU to offer choices for browsers,
but the Valve can kill off any competition for digitial distribution for other companies by forcing people to already have a steam account…
And now, what’s the problem with Collector’s Edition?
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=18971
Is it production cancelled?
If it has a late delivery, but without steam, its ok, but … Any news?
They no make cliff of dovar no more .to many cry peopel.to many complan.
oleg fed up
not good
This response is for Mr. Biggleswade. I am 50 plus years old and have purchased every floppy disk (5.24 and 2.5), cd, dvd format flight simulator I have ever owned. With the expection of Operating System “advancements” I can load and play every game purchased. You think Valve/Steam are perpetual? How about this list of developers: LucasArts, Spectrum Holobyte, Jane’s, Dynamix, Sierra, Microprose, etc. You have a myopic vision of longevity. When your pubic hairs sprout, give us a shout.
@gullwing: For one thing, LucasArts is not out of business. For another thing, none of those other companies are (or likely ever were) anywhere near as large as Valve is. Valve does business in the BILLIONS of dollars annually, as both a world-class game developer, and a digital retailer (which none of those other companies had a business in). Furthermore, they’re a privately-owned company, which means they aren’t controlled by external forces (banks, investors, et cetera), and that they could not ever be hostilely taken over or bought out by any other company.
There is nothing “myopic” about Valve’s prospects for longevity. I daresay, they’ll likely outlive you and I, old man.
I’ve played and bought every serious sim since msfs1.0. It’s sad to see the commitment by sim programmers collapse down to a few. Even more difficult to watch one of the most prolific sim designers have his name scorned in horrible misguided decisions made by canned mainstream marketing boobs who are committing there corporate vested assets into the grave of the zit poppin fps gaming community who won’t even flinch when they see the title published on their spyware buggy online big brother STEAM clients. When it’s all said and done, someone will lose there job. Years later we can only hope that a lesson will be learned that “knowing your customer” is a powerful reality that you can’t deny…. I tried to download some games I had on steam a month ago and learned that the client now deprioritizes reinstalls and I was never able to gain access to the games I bought. I’ll keep my money as far away from steam as possible.
I’ m not going to buy this game that I have looked forward to for years!! And it’s because of the Steam thing. I simply refuse to use Steam so no COD for me, very sad but I still have other hobbies and I can still play the old IL2 I guess…..sigh!
I have a simple question, I fly on a couple of different servers right now and they have some minor differences in the settings, ie one no icons and the other short icons. Will say for instance the server that I fly on currently be able to host COD on their current servers or do the servers have to be set-up through steam?
Thanks in advance for the reply, I’m trying to figure out if this is different than the previous steam games that I had tried.
KC
Hello, anyone have an answer on this for me? Admins?
I cannot understand why many of you have this critical arrogance. “Now you tell me it has the “STEAM” malware on it?” Steam is NOT malware, nor will it harm your computer. Show me documented cases of this phenomenon, and then we’ll talk. However, as it stands, you are simply being snobbish toward Steam. You are not required to be online all the time– just during activation (or have an internet connection somewhere).
In short, if you were planning to buy, and now don’t because of Steam, you have played the fool. GJ
I’d like to know why my comment were deleted?!
Is it the policy know to delete comments critical about STEAM. If that is the case
your’e stomping down the path that EA took and had to back away from, bannin or deleting members for voicing critique.
This leaves a soure taste and I’m getting more convinced not to go down this road.
Period
Does this mean we’re gonna have problems like the “Silent Hunter V” debaucle with all it’s activation problems? I’d hate to miss out on this simulator, but if I want it, I’ll have to wait even LONGER after other purchasers’ verdicts & postings. ‘Doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll buy it.
damn, another customer lost. I looked forward to this game very much.
also, doesn’t steam prevent from the game being modded (as the extraordinary Jet pack just released for 1946)?
good luck
I do totally agree with the user which mean that an optional steam will be much better.
The poll of the 1c forums shows to me that about 250 user were fine with it and 110 not. This means 25% won´t buy it of cause of steam. This sounds not good for me at all.
But this poll is not very convincing, because i know myself many pilots which speak english more worst then me, so they were not registered to the board. They don´t like steam too and they do not have a chance to tell it to the developer or publisher.
And don´t confront me with google translator or another bad translator.
A couple of posts before I´ve read that someone were happy with his arma2, but there is a big difference between this and il-2 cod. arma 2 don´t need steam ! if you got a hardcopy then you can ie. choose all kind of patches, especially the newest beta patches or maybe some older ones.
But you were also be able to buy this game on steam and you were limited to the newest patch. This is not everytime the best solution on a game.
There you got a choice which i would prefer for all games, especially for sow:bob, ehhm il-2 cs, no wait il-2 bf3, ok now i got it: il-2 cod
.
@R F Biggleswade
.
Is your dad an employee of valve or ubi ?
Hmm, it doesn´t matter, your childish comments made my day
There are two motivating factors for me to also NOT to buy this flight sim afterall. Number one and most important;
The main motive for DRM promotion is financial. Don’t buy those media which apparently does put us at risk afterall and you’ll remove everyone’s motivation to go down this road any further. And while your individual decision may seem small, boycotts are more effective than you may think, especially when you tell the merchants why you don’t buy their merchandise. They’ll get the message…eventually. All you will accomplish is lost revenue not from hackers and lose it through honest consumers. What business sense does that make? And idiot could figure that out.
Many people have never heard of DRM, which is a problem. But as word gets out they will. As a Disney Executive said recently in an interview: “If consumers even know there’s a DRM, what it is, and how it works, we’ve already failed”. So if an executive from another but even larger corporation that has been around for decades states the obvious danger involved with DRM that’s enough for me.
Too many do not know of DRM. DRM affects real people in the real world. So keep posting and let’s wake them up. Protests have been effective ways of doing this in the past, and they still work. Not only will people who read your posts wonder what is going on, a protest also gives the press something to report. So get together with some friends, maybe seek support from other simmers and simply and go public.
My second motivating factor NOT to purchase afterall after waiting years is just who is this guy Biggleswade to basically talk crap to just about all of those of us who simply do not wish to take any chances? The majority posting here are NOT pirates nor do we pilfer/outright steal what isn’t ours and I for one will not be treated as such as if I do or will. Sorry Ubisoft, this clown Biggleswade finally convinced me. He represents the Ubi well doesn’t he?
Can you hear us now Biggleswade?
And for the record I am 54 years old and have been flying sims for over 20 years now.
STEAM is an absolutly No-Buy-Criteria! Amazon-Pre-Order for CoD cancelled!
I don’t like, that the publisher wants to tell me AFTER the purchase want to do and not to do with the product I payed for! No deal Oleg!
DocOc
PS: What/Who is this “R F Biggleswade”? Some sort of comedian? STEAM-Fanboy? Oleg-Fanboy? Very strange …
I think more important then steam or no steam (because if you are going to buy the game, which I intend to if it´s good and runs on my pc), steam doens´t bother me really.
But what trully bothers me is NO DEMO, so how do I know if it runs properly in my pc? Because most of the times in the past, the recomended specs said one thing and reality another, so i said to myself “no more buying games without playing a demo first”, I don´t want to buy the game, try it and then go “bleh, doesn´t run properly in my pc…”, so it either sits there until I have a proper machine or it goes back to the store.
I´m sure I like it, and I´m sure it will be the best simulator out there for a long time, when I first tried IL2 sturmovik I was stunned and even after great games came out, they are still far away from il2 sturmovik and the addons… So I´m sure this game will be my favorite for a looooooooooong time. But without trying it first I´m not buying it, sorry.
Any news on steamworks intergration
Steam is fine, I will buy and enjoy this game.
Hi!
Please use the Phoenix and all will be fine without the STEAM activation
I was very excited about COD until I read this post. Like many others, I find the requirement to instal steam intrusive. I won’t be buying this game.
Steam makes me feel like a cheap whore. Must be a generational thing. I have a few Steam games, but I’m VERY uneasy having software reconsider, over and over, whether I’m being honest. I’m farely shy, and I compete poorly, but I like history and any game that can “put me there.” I don’t like being pushed into “the market.” I buy a game, it’s not a down payment–it’s the advertised purchase price. WHEN I buy a game, I’m “owed” support, not the other way around. It’s about redress. It’s a pretty weak redress when you find you’ve made a deal with the seller AND all his cousins. I guess it’s kind of like getting married. But you can only take “you married the family too” so far. I pre-ordered BECAUSE I ADMIRE Oleg’s team. It’s a testament to the man that I even put up with Ubi and decisions like this. And, by the way, I’ve had a mobo failure, 2 HDD failures, and several video card failures just in the last few months. Oh, wait, that “redress” is not Ubi’s problem. But it would be nice if DRM took up residence in the same universe as current RMA trends. This policy is great for perectly stable systems, being upgraded according to some statistical analysis, but it just disqualified my cantakerous rig–and probably a few others.
Gratification won’t seem so “instant” when you have to plead for tokens.
You guys do realize that you only need to be online when you active the game, otherwise you can play the single player game just fine in Steam’s offline mode, right?
And the what if Steam shuts down arguement is pointles regarding a service that produces 100+% growths every year, and has 30million active users. Steam shutting down is as likely as BattleNet or XboxLive shutting down (=not going to happen).
You are all making a big deal out of nothing.
How evidence can you provide to prove that steam produces 100+% growth year on year ?
DRM you say?
Oh my.. oh my my my..
Lol Ubi, have you ever learned? You punish paying customers with faulty DRMs, meanwhile the pirates play games clean without a single issue with that crap 3rd party nonsense.
Trolololololol, my money’s in the bank and your game is on pirate bay.
AN URGENT MESSAGE FOR ALL THOSE THROWING THEIR TOYS OUT OF THE PRAM ABOUT STEAM:
Get over it. Steam is a good program which you are all clearly too set in your ways to even consider. There’s literally nothing wrong with it.
Thank you.
how very sad. Once again, people that live in the country and have limited bandwidth are left out in the cold. I guess this means I will not be able to buy the CD to play single player out here in teh country. So no CD to load this game?
THANK YOU! I am so glad this is on steam. Even better the steam integration with the game.
Most people here bemoaning steam seem to severely misunderstand how steam works, and how beneficial in general it has been for PC Gaming as a whole. You don’t give up any rights with steam because you never had any in the first place. Steam uses the same licensing system that’s always existed for games, and made it a whole lot more convenient (well, for anyone with a broadband connection, at least).
Everyone whining about rights seems to not realize you don’t have ANY rights whatsoever with any game you buy, because every game you buy you do not own, you simply license.
Worried about steam support in the future, say, 10 years from now not being able to play a game you purchased? How about the fact most CD’s arent likely to even last 10 years with the average user. My original IL2 disc no longer works, and I highly doubt if I go to ubisoft seeking support for a 10 year old game, that they’re gonna jump all over themselves to send me a new disc.
As far as i’m concerned, i’m more likely to have access to my game library further down the line with steam than I am with any other medium, not to mention have far more convenient access to it, and not have to dig around for updates. I can’t tell you how many games I “own” that I can’t even play anymore because the discs no longer work.
Hate Steam all you like, but the reason any PC game is likely to even get any funding these days is because of it. It’s entirely possible that without Steam, there won’t even be another IL2.
In my eyes, any game that uses full Steam integration gets a big thumbs up from me. It’s a massive added value, in my eyes, that far outweighs the relatively few cons of using such a service.
Maybe you should purchase a new|CD/DVD drive if you are having problems reading your CD/DVD’s or maybe take care of them more as I have no issues with any of my orginal games.
How can you be so arrogant that UBI soft would not replace your faulty CD/DVD’s if you returned them ?
What about the poor user that has only 512k broadband because he lives a long way from the exchange ?
I am not anti DRM or anti STEAM just wish to have a choice.
If you wish to purchase and download thats your choice, STEAM provides that choice, but what about the user who has slow broadband and prefer to install from CD/DVD as this is far faster and he has no choice about the broadband speed due to his location, do you insist he should move house ?
Gee Daniel, you related to “R F Biggleswade” – or just a coworker ?
(and, in what country is it legal for a couple of twelve year olds to work ?)
If nothing else, considering the number of people who have waited literally YEARS for this release, the marketing meatheads that came up with this idea have created a great incentive to those who will soon hack this crap – and provide a USEABLE version to those foolish souls that actually EXPECT to GET WHAT THEY PAID FOR !
Finally,
A well-thought-out rational post with valid points. All the people throwing their dummies out of the pram because of Steam integration really are missing the point. Spyware? Malware? Resource hog? It’s patently obvious that most of the people posting these claims have little idea how Steam works, and probably even less about what’s under the hood of the very computers they own.
I guarrantee that out of the 95% of people who have posted negative comments about steam have either some form of malware, spyware, or tracking cookies on their PC’s. after reading this far in the thread, it seems to me like a lot of people are acting like spoilt children. They can’t play the game by their pre-defined biased set of standards, therefore they are going to take their ball and go home.
Wake up people. If you think that for one second, the amount of “old-timers” from previous IL2 games who have decided to throw their toys out of the pram, is going to for one minute persuade Ubisoft to cow down and release the game according to your demands, think again. And i’ll also wager that in 6-12 months time, once the numbers in the old IL2 servers start dwindling, a lot of you will not feel like the moral high ground you claim to occupy is quite so rosy, while you watch the REST of us playing, and ultimately ENJOYING CoD.
The poster above is perfectly accurate. You cannot compare software purchases to any other purchase. You are not buying a physical product, you are buying a LICENCE to use that product The DVD, and associated bundled materials is simply another DELIVERY MEDIUM. Since your all Windows users, it was fine when you purchased Windows, so why does it therefore become a heinous crime when it involves a game?
Another point i’d like to make, is that Valve are a games developer. wholly privately owned, and not beholden to stockholders or banks or anyone else. And as a games developer with quite a few stand-out titles behind them I might add, code all their software, Steam included with the GAMER in mind, not the profit margin, unlike companies like EA amongst others.
And before anyone decides to slate Oleg Maddox for any of this, remember he was tied into this deal by Ubisoft and likely had very little, IF ANY say on it’s distribution methods outside of Russia (where 1C is the publisher/distributer). Build it and they will come. I can guarrantee you now, for every one of you “hardcore” fans that leave, there will be 5 more to replace you, so don’t choke on your humble pie folks.
I used to fly the online only game “Air Attack” in the UK for many years, and then moved over to it’s successor “Fighter Ace” in the US. We had ups, we had downs, but we kept faith in the product, and kept playing. Sadly Fighter Ace was shut down for the last time 1st August last year, and many of the freindships I’ve lost through that closure will never be restored because now we are a fragmented community. Some went to Aces High, some went to WWIIOL, some to WarBirds. The point is, the simulation market IS shrinking, and yet it IS a niche market, much like PC gaming in general. But it’s BECAUSE of this that WE, the community should stick it out and ride the storm.
On a final Note, I have had Steam since HL2 was released. I find it a much more pleasurable experience than the weekly patch downloads that were nessecary just to be able to play HL1 online. And once your content is downloaded you can back up some or all of it to DVD to restore to your next computer build when you buy it. What about this is so hard?
It dismays me that people are so angry over small issues like this when there are far bigger issues on PC’s, let alone the world at large to deal with. And when it comes down to freedom of choice, from what I hear you AQmericans aren’t all that well off anyway with your Patriot Act II and Homeland Security Act threatening to label half the population as “terrorists”.
Time to get some perspective here folks. /Rant.
Another few points for those of you out there who may be oblivious to the facts; Steam’s T&C’s are no different to walking into a physical store and buying a physical copy of said game.
Just because when you walk into your local game shop a sales rep doesn’t present you with a 20-page dossier of terms and conditions of sale, does not mean that those terms and conditions do not exist, because I can assure you they do. EULA’s for 99% of computer software are non-refundable once opened, and/or unless faulty. Your only guarrantee is that it works as it should on the reccomended specifications. Such licences are almost always non-transferable, so in that regard Steam is NO diferent to any high street shop. They have to present those T&C’s via dialog boxes because there are no physical documents to accompany a digital download, you know the documents you always toss to one side without reading when your installing that brand new game you just bought?
Then you get automatic, FREE updates. No need to pay Fileplanet or some other leech a subscription to download patches, no worries if your version will run with your friends next door. As for LAN gaming, that’s not a problem, one of you has the computers in one location, with the content installed, but you each have individual Steam accounts with the nessecary licences to play the games then you can still play at the same location. Company of Heroes removed LAN gaming because of people attempting to play pirated versions over LANS and WANS via software like Hamachi. If you think this trend is a one-off, again, you’ll be sorely dissapointed.
Steam was buggy at first. Hell, looking at the initial Russian reaction to CoD it looks like the game has severe issues at the moment too. But much in the same way Steam has matured, so will CoD. All you neysayers ought to get behind the product, because in 10 years time when IL2:1946 will no longer install on the latest Microsoft OS, or refuses to run, what excuses will you use then?
One poster moaned about Steam showing him adverts on launch. When was the last time you turned on the God-box (TV) and weren’t bombarded by advertising? When was the last time you visited a website without some form of advertising? If you feel compelled to spend money every time that “offers” screen appears, that’s rather more a relection on your weak resolve than it is on Valve’s marketing strategy.
I do sympathise with people on poor connections. I suffered with poor broadband speeds and astronomical phone bills when playing Air Attack, as we aren’t as lucky as our US cousins in having flat-rate / free local calls. But having said that, this is again not a reflection on Valve or Ubisoft, rather a relection on your telco not putting in the investment to give you a decent connection for the price your paying. Your the consumer, do the math, vote with your feet!
Steam has allowed many people to replay games like Quake, Quake II and even older games that would require tons of fiddling or emulation to get working under a modern OS, if they even work at all. I for one think it’s benefits FAR outweigh any percieved negatives.
OK.steam? my gaming computer is not an online pc, usually for fsx installs ect i have to manually transfer activation codes using a usb thumb drive. How does this steam
system affect my offline play?
I have already ordered and paid for a limited edition version, so I am now very concerned that I will not be able to even play the game.
edit (Concerned may turn to furious.)
No disk, and steam? Count me out, Oleg will not see any of my hard earned CASH!! Guess I’ll just play IL2 . Bye ubi soft, After buying IL2 Stromvik,IL2 Forgotten Battles, Ace expansion pack, Pacific Fighters and then 1946, plus the Silent Hunter series I guess I’m done buying from Ubi Limp
Rich 
AKA Wildcat_drvr
Doesnt matter whether steam is dangerous or not, I`ve been talking to all the IL-2 guys I know (people of 20+ years of age or more) and noone`s getting it because of steam and drm, come on ubisoft what are you doing?!?
I’ve had Steam for many years my first Steam game was Red Orchestra since then I accuired about 100 Steam games and never had a Steam related problem with any of them. I love Steam! I don’t work for them. I’ve been waiting for COD and glad that it will be on Steam , it seems like alot of the top games are heading there, Total war games, Civ 5, Silent Hunters, Theatre of War 1,2,3 ect. I will be buying COD and would buy it with steam required or not, or any which way, because it will be an awesome game anyway you get it. So get over any paranoia about steam and if you love the game for the game itself than get it and enjoy it. Anyway like IL2 1946 this game will probally have many patches and modes in the future, upgrading, fixing and tweeking the game to how you like, so get over it.
you don’t realise that this just doesn’t work for many people, do you?
We might be control freaks, but I don’t pay 49 Euro for a game that I don’t physically own. I don’t pay that much for a rental over which I have no control, with Valve having the possibility to ban my account at any given time. Oh and if the game sucks balls there is no way to resell it.
is COD available anywhere else that doesn’t require DRM
Just pre-ordered CoD on DVD-ROM from Amazon. Will I need Steam to play off line?
yes, as said above
I was quite intrigued by this new DRM policy. But the fact you have steam completely throws me off this purchase. Won’t be buying any game that Forces me to log into an e-commerce platform every time I want to play, and disallows me to lend or give away my copy to a friend.
How come I have to Pay to be subject to DRM restrictions and use of steam in order to play a game, when Pirates don’t have to use steam, and have no install limits?
Do you hate used game sales so much that you’re willing to drive away paying customers?
Lending games increases your customer base, not the opposite, can’t you guys see that?
Ahhh… still not got the message then…. never mind UBI…. bye bye.
I’m not too concerned about this system, I just want my c/e boxed set.Delayed till
31st? whats going on?
Well, i see that after the complains, the “solution” is … give no answer and keep the mouth closed.
I believe that as Steam is a MUST to activate the game, this MUST appears like one of the requeriments needed as they do with CPU, or RAM, etc for the game.
In other case, probably i’m going to report this situation to a consumer defense organization like OCU (in Spain). Sure that lot of purchaser will surprised when they try to install the game and see they need to create a steam account.
I have several questions,
I do a lot of travelling around the world, will I be able to play IL2 COD on my powerful laptop when I am in different countries like I can with the current version of IL2 1946 obviously I wont have internet access while actually flying between countries so I will to resort to playing IL2 1946 then?
Will you refund all purchasers if steam goes out of business, so as stopping the valid use of a product bought and paid for or will you bring out a patch to circumnavigate the steam verification process ?
Several friends (8 friends usually) of mine play lan games (IL2 1946 primarily) in a hall, since we have no internet access at this time how will we be able to play this new release of IL2 ?
I have several PC’s ay home and regulary play LAN games with IL2 1946, will I have to purchase several copies of IL2 COD and have multiple steam accounts to play LAN games at home ?
I will be so glad to get this released and installed. I am about to paint the walls with my brain always reading someone say how awful it will be for blah blah blah reason and this and that reason. I think its the money honestly. They can’t afford it.
Now ms-kleaneasy over at the Ubi forums is saying that if you have a hard copy of the game, you will only need to activate your copy with solidshield and won’t ever need to go on steam if you play offline. But this contradicts what she said about a week earlier, when she said you’d need steam no matter what. I’m sooooooo confused. Which is it??
the one she said when not holding a crackjoint
I find it funny that everyone has a problem with Steam being used for DRM for the game. It is a rather smart move being that it for one will help keep hacking and copying to a minimum (Steam has some of the best protection around), it makes it EXTREMELY easy to keep track of your friends in your squadron as it has built in buddy system and invites, AND it eliminates the hassle of having a disk and having to manually find updates.
I do not know where all of you are getting the idea that Steam is a parasitic app because as of the most current build, it is most surely not. I have purchased over 15 games on Steam and they ALL have worked flawlessly AND a have had nothing but superb support and network connection with them. This is coming from someone who once HATED any 3rd party junk like GameSpy arcade and so on.
Even you RoF players (Myself included) have to have a connection to play in online mode (who the heck plays in offline anyway?!) and it is really no different from using Steam. In the end, Steam is BY FAR the best online game community and game store currently available. I have actually chosen to not buy ANY game on disk if I can get it on Steam, if only to have the piece of mind that it will never get damaged and I will never loose the CD-Key. Oh, and auto updates and current game news is always a plus….
Personally, if you have that big of a problem with a service such as Steam that provides many benefits and perks to having it and cost you NOTHING extra, you might as well just stop playing PC games and sims because that is where it is all going. One final note, Steam uses less system resources than Yahoo chat, TS3, or Vent so the argument that it is a system hog is b/s. You guys just don’t like the fact that you cant take your single disk, put it on 10 PCs, and play with your mates for 20 bucks all together like you do on IL-2 1946. Shame…….. It will be a great game and it will lack so many great players because they can’t get over themselves………..
Take it as a warning if nothing else… if you have a problem with Steam, then you will find PC gaming in the future very very hard. I see within 5-10 years the total decline of disk based game sales as a whole, including consoles but starting with PC.
Respectfully and Sincerely,
A 1C Maddox fan.
Well, I have to use Steam anyways (Valve games, Just Cause 2 etc…) so I think it is fine. I understand it might be problem to some of you, but you just have to deal with it.
After all, Steam is pretty good piece of software.
Oh well… Steam = Canceled pre order
It’s on Steam? Count me OUT for this one. Steam is intrustive bloatware/spyware and isn’t really necessary to run a game. I am not going to be logged in to some server just to play the game offline. It’s just a way for more people to make more money from a title. The inflated price is a good indication of this. I want installation DVD’s in a box and don’t want to log onto some server just to play. Hell, put a dongle in the box if copy protection is your worry. But I think it’s more than that. If I were Ubisoft I’d be very concerned about the customers they are losing with this approach. Look at the sales you’re not getting from the people who have taken the time to respond here, not to mention the thousands of others who don’t reply but will also not spend their software dollar with Ubisoft.
And what about the people in rural areas with no or a slow internet connection? You’ve completely alienated them.
Oh, and let me post this statement that comes directly from the Steam user agreement:
C. NO GUARANTEES.
VALVE DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTINUOUS, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE OR SECURE OPERATION AND ACCESS TO STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT AND/OR YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS(S).
’nuff said?
STEAM !!!??? – You just ruined the best game/sim on earth, no thanks. Had too much problems with Steam games. Sad:(
You just lost a customer. Steam will not reside in any of my computers.
Steam does not concern me, been using it without issues since half life 2. However the info that it’s not using multi core and no sli support has me extremely concerned. I have already ordered the deluxe version so will stick with it. I really hope we will get the needed patches and the support, my fear is this seems really rushed out, having waited 6 yrs its all very suddenly coming out
was looking forward to this game and UBI cock up again with this drm crap didnt they learn last time on there other games all games with drm where weak in sales nobody wanted them noticed they all dropped in price to due to weak sales. get rid of your drm it stops palyers without internet to use your games someones pretty thick in your sales dept. as for steam its a pain in the arse there cheat system is rubbish as well as there slow surport. sad how there staff have to leave comments too on here to try make them look good so other lost on this game and will put a post in our clan forum not to buy this game
I’v been reading what people think about using steam and I agree that steam means no il-2:cod for me. I have used steam for years and i hate it. There is always some updates and it’s so god damn heavy! I’m a huge fan of il-2 1946+ultr@pack. For il-2 hyperlobby is the best way of finding servers, it’s not heavy like steam, it’s not updating all the time, it doesn’t have all those fking advertises and it’s very simple to use!
I think that those who say that steam is awesome haven’t used hyperlobby.
All I can say is that I loved the original il2, then 1946 came out and it was really awesome. hackers will figure a way round all this shit just like they did with silent hunter 5′s Direct internet connection system. screw steam and all this activation crap
“NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some DVD-RW and virtual drives.”
No comments.
http://il2sturmovik.ubi.com/cliffs-of-dover/en-GB/game-info/pc-configuration/index.aspx
It will be interesting to see how the sales respond with this very real issue of software purchase and use. It’s a buyers choice, but what I don’t like is, it’s Hobsons choice for people like me. I don’t like the way DRM has developed into this overly restrictive and draconian control for single player mode. I won’t be buying until the DRM is removed because I like the freedom to uninstall – reinstall whatever after upgrades patching etc etc without any recourse to beg favour from the publisher for something that should be mine. We will all make our choices but the way things are with DRM supporting this trend will certainly not improve our freedom of software use.
I’ll stick with the “old” IL2 and other titles for as long as possible until I perceive a more positive trend in copyright/DRM
Over and Out
Morty
I already have Steam..I have all the Half Life games installed so can’t see what the problem is.
Im hate DRM systems and Ubisoft are the worst at utilising bad systems. I have Steam on my system but am trying to get away from using it. And I definitely dont want another DRM system on my computer. So I wont be buying this game as I didnt buy Silent Hunter 5 either. Speak with your money and only reward developers/publishers who trust their customers!!
After having spent one day for dowlading and getting steam account, the game goes very slowly even with low grphic settings and since I have 8 G RAM, 1 G of memory with nvidia Gforce 230 with updated drivers. I can’t use the game.
I will buy this when it’s like 5 Euro on steam. That’s how much im usually willing to pay for a rental.
I downloaded this game in the end and guess what it works perfect and i never payed a penny for it yet i still went and brought the game.
Just joining the choir here. I work for a software company and I consider pirating games unethical. There’s not a single pirated game on any of the 4 PCs in my household. But: I will not allow any online DRM crap on these PCs either. I refused my kid’s wish to buy Assassin Creed 2, I didn’t buy SH5, and I will not buy COD. Good bye, Ubi. I am still having a great time with your older games.
A lot of the people complaining about Steam sound like they’ve never used it – or maybe tried it once and had unbelievably bad luck. Sure, I was pretty skeptical about Steam too – sounded like spyware, etc., etc. But Steam has proved itself. It’s a tiny app, doesn’t slow down the system or screw anything else up, or insert itself at a low level. It provides painless DRM, in exchange for which it lets you a) do away with ‘key’ discs; b) play your games on any system; c) get in on huge bargains. I’ve bought a lot of games for $2 and $5… it’s really renewed my interest in gaming. You do need to register your game ONCE online, after which you can play offline forever. I’ve NEVER had a problem with this, and I have literally a hundred Steam games.
Valve COULD have screwed this up. But they didn’t.
As to why 1C went with Steam… Obviously, NOT for DRM. Steam also offers some very important online services to games, such as match-making and friends lists. These have to be implemented somehow, and they have to contact the Internet. Smart publishers buy this sort of stuff from a third party. Used to be GameSpy, today it’s more likely to be Valve. As a games vendor, Steam also offers a HUGE advantage to developers, since it takes a much smaller cut of the profits, while hitting a much larger audience. Steam is almost single-handedly responsible for a resurgence in PC gaming, and the development of an innovative ‘indie’ games category.
People still paranoid about Steam need to realize that over 30,000,000 people are now using it. That makes Steam comparable in size to the major game consoles. (Xbox 360 ~ 45,000,000; PS3 ~40,000,000. Last time I looked…) Valve has won the trust of both gamers and developers, and been a hugely positive force in the industry.
That doesn’t mean Steam never has any problems. Every piece of technology has its horror stories. But I think you’ll find that the number of problems is pretty small, and the support is pretty good, compared to any alternative. (I once asked on the Steam forums for a new feature; I got an answer from a Valve tech guy within a day, and the feature was implemented within two weeks. Balance that against your horror stories…)
Bottom line: get over it. If you’re still terrified of Steam, I do understand where you’re coming from. I’m the most cautious PC user I know, and I don’t let ANYTHING onto my system without a lot of investigation. But Steam passed the test, long ago. Fighting it now is like pining away for vinyl LPs and tube-based amplifiers. Worse, because you’re only hurting an industry that’s gone through some rough times, and really needs your support.
@fungo
Not to be a smartass fungo, but I’m sure you’ve heard of a thing that is pretty much refered to worldwide as the “music industry”. If you have, you may know that to this very day it produces ridiculous amounts of revenue.
My point being if you’ve ever heard of “Hip-Hop” or “Rap” you might know that Vynil records are still being produced (and used) and though in less quantity usually fetch higher prices per unit due to exclusive artist content featured on them. (I’m talking New Releases – not old Beetles records). If you’ve ever heard of the “Electric Guitar” you might know that the tube amplifier is still in high demand and is an ever evolving technology. Just a fun fact for you!
As far as steam goes….. ANYTHING that has to run int the background of the game I’m playing just might be tracking my playing habits and reporting back to home everytime I log on to the Internet. Even if all it’s doing is counting how many times I play the game and how long per session I play the game, there’s a word for that. It’s called …. wait for it…………………SPYWARE!!
Don’t be so naive to believe steam is just a “distribution platform” and that corporate is not going beyond simply counting sales to figure what demographics to target (namely adolescent gamers with disposable income provided by mommy and daddy).
I love Il2 1946 and had a chance to experience it when it first came out. Only recently did I learn it was still available through a currently DRM free distributer and snapped it up in a heartbeat. I will stick with good ole ’46 and forgo CoD as I do not like SPYWARE.
I wonder if it ever occured to Corporate that some of the online squadrons that are now boycotting CoD are ex-combat pilots themselves who use this game as a way to keep their commraderie with their buddies active. These are the guys who can not only push a game like this to it’s limits, but have also been there since inception giving input and helping develop Il2 into the fine work it is today. Having those years of input culminate into the development of CoD only to find there’s a SPY in the mix is a slap in the face. ANY good military man knows “Find a spy, Kill a spy.” even if it is in the virtual world.
And if that F*cking Twat Biggles is is reading this and thinking about telling me to have fun with my “Outdated version of Il2″, I will because this game is a Classic and nothing can take that away from it. Hell, I’ll even enjoy a good game of cards. At least there’s no way for them to report back to the manufacturer what hand I’ve just been delt!
While not a perfect resolution to the whole issue involving Steam use, perhaps a partial solution may benefit a large number of potential game buyers.
Why not have a dual installation procedure? Those game players who don’t ever play online multiplayer can opt for a non-Steam single player off-line capable only install. Those who do play online can opt for a Steam install that would allow for both on and off-line use. There are a large number of gamers that have zero interest in on-line gaming but who do enjoy a great game with an impressive A.I. capability. Why saddle these gamers with having to run resource hogging extras like Steam, internet security software and an active internet connection when it’s not necessary?
You spend money to develop the game. We – your customers – have the money you need to refinance your investment and make money for a living. Forcing us to use Steam will not get you to the money you want.
Folks, it’s simple: Don’t buy products using Steam and make the vendors feel the power of the people.
Reading these comments totally made my day, to be honest.
I understand that this game, or rather; the players of these IL-2 games are members of a different demographic than the players of more main-stream games, such as many released on Steam.
But what I don’t understand is how uninformed and blatantly ignorant members of this demographic seem to be. Steam is “malware” now? People calling Steam a scam, or claiming it runs “malicious code in my computer”, and what not; seriously? Are you serious?
Steam is a distribution platform, and a distribution platform ONLY, for many games now. Some games utilize more Steam features than others, but just because a game is released on Steam doesn’t mean it necessarily has a lot to do with it.
Just because you’re over 30 and only interested in actually playing the game doesn’t mean you have to blindly call everything out for attempting to scam, hack or destroy your computer. That’s just bollocks. Buy it and play it, you’ll be just as happy.
Of course there’s exceptions; if you don’t have an Internet connection with any sense of reliability, I understand your general concerns – but in this day and age, that makes you a minority. I understand maybe you don’t like being the minority – but you are.
On the other hand, if you have a strong Internet connection and aren’t a paranoid brat about everything, Steam is a great platform. I almost, or in fact, I specifically only buy games through Steam nowadays. The platform started out a bit shaky, but over the years it’s matured and become a great platform for almost any kind of game release. And most games do in fact, as I mentioned above, not utilize most Steam features – a large amount of the games sold there simply use it as a distribution platform. I have never had any problems with it, ever, and I’ve been using it since the start – maybe I got lucky, but what do I care? It works for me. If it doesn’t work for you, and you have a good connection, the problem is most likely YOU, not Steam/Valve or their services.
There are many worse options out there, such as many of the driver-based DRM’s, which Ubisoft seem very fond of using for most of their releases, something that I personally find a plague – sure it works for me, I’ve no technical issues with it, but at the end of the day, I just don’t like it. That doesn’t mean I won’t buy a game because it uses a DRM I don’t like – what kind of idiocy is that really? That’s like saying “I really don’t like the packaging of this snack, so even though it’s my favourite snack EVER I won’t buy it! AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU IT WILL KILL YOUR PETS!!!11″
The sole reason all these negative comments here about Steam are actually here, is the same old reason that applies to almost anything in this world; when stuff works the way it’s meant to work, nobody really thinks about it. Look at your average newspaper: Does it contain more good news than bad news? No, because nobody cares about good news (sadly). On the other hand, the moment something negative happens, it earns front-page attention – because people like to complain, people like to be whiny little bitches, and people ENJOY being drama queens. Bad news sell. The same applies here, to this very forum (and I don’t meant internet forum, as such); the reason there’s a lot of negative comments here is because the minority of haters feel so upset about this that they HAVE to tell the world. The people that don’t care – still don’t care, and probably will never read this page, even less comment on it. They’ll buy the game, play it, and be happy.
A lot of you need to mature, grow up to the age indicated on your drivers licence, and some of you need to stop being so bloody paranoid and sceptical about everything. Scepticism where due; but this is not a good case for it.
And again; sure if you’ve got a bad internet connection – I get your concerns. If you do not have a bad connection and still complain about Steam, I contently laugh in your general direction.
I was looking forward to COD after IL2 but I will sit this one out.
BIG NO TO STEAM FOR ME.
ok.how do i install cod on my offline games machine?
all i get is staem internet connection required.
tried ti install on laptop connected to internet, game was ‘verified’ and the got
game will start in 12h 30 m
laptop in no way can suport cod this was just to see what happens!
any suggestionds will be appreciated
DF
Hi i have just downloaded cliffs of Dover(from the steam site) I have the icon on my desktop
but when i click on it for the game to run nothing happens and the
game dose not run ,i have emailed steam but so far i have not
had any help…so i paid £29.99 for no game ,
can you please help! and how do i get a hard copy of this game.
I’ve ordered the game and will see how it goes. I hope its fantastic and that an online lobby system like Hyperlobby exists to allow me to enjoy what I like most about IL2 gaming – multiplayer online battles. Steam seems to work ok with Half-Life and all the games built with that engine.
However, DRM always enivitably penalises well-meaning and honest consumers. Look at the mp3 online market; Amazon and Apple have changed the ballgame as people are more prepared to purchase DRM free material. I don’t mind paying the money for something that I can use on as may devices I want. I found even my bonafide IL2 1946 a massive hassle to install and run with Securecom and Windows 7 until I had scoured the net for solutions. It works fine now but there was absolutely no support from Ubisoft available. That shouldn’t be the case. I shouldn’t need to spend hours searching for a solution to play a game. I sincerely hope that CoD is not going to be the same way and that Ubisoft support genuine customers.
just read through tthis entire lot, and lots of good, valid points have been made, barring this Biggleswade jerk, who has single-handedly said ‘goodbye’ to over 10 people already. i doubt he works for valve/steam/oobie or any such people, as he’s trying his damndest to chase people(read money) away if they don’t like steam,,,,,what a great way to promote business. if i was running this site, i’d have banned his arse way back already, for the amount of potential money he’s just telling to bugger off….christ, where do fanboys like this get off….
i personally tried steam, and it gave me endless problems, even when i eventually sorted most of it out, i switched on my pc one day, and steam had fried itself for some godforsaken reason, and i was then faced with reinstalling everything, games, patches, the lot…..my monthly bandwidth (yes, believe it or not, some countries have capped bandwidth) was gone literally overnight, and then i had to wait for the next month to carry on. – only to have steam bomb out again amonth later. that’s my experience, and THAT is my reason for sticking steam where the sun don’t shine.
if you like it, good for you, but i’ve been burnt more than once with this ‘steam’-y crap, and no more for me.
good luck, Ubi, CoD, maddox, etc….chasing real money away is obviously a new business technique i wasn’t taught at ‘varsity….
i dont mind steam (though i’m not happy about it) but i do mind the fact that i have to be connected to the internet. I use my connection for work, and when it fails (happens about 4 times a week for a few hours) i just like play a game. IL2 has always been high on the “playlist”.
im sure some kind of patch will come out sooner or later to fix this issue.
Goodbye 1C … epic fail.
steam required? no sale!!
Why oh why would you force your loyal supporters’ hand like this?
i’d had happilly bought it, after many years of wait, if it wasn’t for steam.
at least, you could have given people the chance to buy a non-steam version.
now, i would not waste time telling how much i disrespect steam and every other piece of software that is so invasive (just my opinion though).
sorry then, but no sale for me
Me thinks R F Biggleswade needs to get out more, perhaps after school.
It’s annoying the lengths these companies have to go to in order to avoid piracy, but just as much so for them, at the end of the day they don’t want people to reject it because of factors such as Steam, so personally I think I’ll trust their judgement and give it a go. It does seem like the people who do buy the products get penalised for those that don’t, but if people could be trusted and games cost nil to develop then it wouldn’t be a problem. Be thankful it’s not using the same system Grand Theft Auto IV used for digital rights management and making us wish we’d bought something else. I just hope this one doesn’t fry my PC too. Chocks away!
I have CoD whith disk but i can’t install the game because connection to steam is always “IMPOSSIBLE” so what can i do ???
I’ve played quite a few games ‘through’ steam with no problems but I live in Germany and am a bit concerned about the ‘censorship’ of MY game. I’m a Brit and live here as part of my job and am dissapointed that UBI/Steam can force me to have to play a sanitised version. Also, I spend a lot of time away from home and often without an internet connection. The censorship issue and confusion over the need for a web connection means ‘no sale’ here.
I am in agreement with the last respondent: Although I am a long-time supporter of 1C:Maddox’s awesome flight-sim series I too, will not consider purchasing this if in fact it requires Steam to play. Sorry guys, no more money from me. And that’s a real shame, as this new release looks fabulous. Ubi, keep putting the clamps on and I assure you all you’re going to do is alienate your consumer base, because nothing is un-hackable and all this does (extra so-called “security” touted as a “Digital Rights Management solution”) is piss gamers off. Now, the funny part? It sounds like it would be easier to just download a cracked copy and let’s see, how much does Ubi get if we do that? Good luck.
I like steam
its so much better than other online stores like gamersgate(horrible)… or Ea download manager (horrible too)
I won’t buy it if it needs Steam. I already tried Steam and fell out with it for various reasons. Perhaps they will sell more copies to casual gamers and kids this way, but they will lose the connoisseurs of this genre. Shame, I was excited all for nothing. Now back to DCS and 1946!
Which silly bastard programmed this pile of fuckiing shite.
Is he fucking blind or does he think that micro stutters and pop up buildings are cool.
1C should send him off to Specsavers
Salve, ho avuto la cattiva idea di acquistare cliffs of dover pensando di ottenere il disco fisico.
Invece mi sono ritrovato un gioco da scaricare sul mio pc.
A tutt’oggi non sono riuscito a farlo partire. Ho anche contattato ubisoft per chiarimenti e per il rimborso dell’acquisto.
Mi hanno risposto che potevo ottenere il rimborso, poi, quando l’ho richiesto mi hanno scritto che la loro politica non prevede rimborsi in denaro e di scaricare invece un altro gioco. Trovo inconcepibile questo comportamento. Non voglio più acquistare tramite Ubisoft se continua questa politica.
Non volendo perdere i soldi che ho speso per l’acquisto ho riprovato la procedura indicata da steam-ubisoft, ma ho ancora dei problemi riguardo l’avvio del prodotto “Il 2 Stormovik – Cliffs Of Dover”.
Ora spiego le procedure che ho seguito per l’istallazione del programma :
Dopo il regolare acquisto e avuta conferma di poter scaricare dai link il programma in questione, ho iniziato il download.
Il download è avvenuto tramite steam, dove ho creato e loggato un mio account. Inserendo i codici ottenuti ho potuto avviare la procedura di download, che malgrado la mia connessione internet adsl procedeva a intermittenza credo per colpa di steam.
Finito il donwload il gioco è comparso nella mia libreria di steam.
A questo punto ho provato ad avviarlo dalla schermata di steam
(Libreria->Tutti i giochi->”Il 2 Stormovik – Cliffs Of Dover”).
Il programma fa partire una inizializzazzione del processo del gioco che termina con la visualizzazione a schermo
di una immagine rappresentante il simbolo di un aereo giallo dentro ad un mirino semrpe giallo a sfondo nero.
qui il programma cessa di funzionare e non da più alcun segnale, ho controllato nei processi della cpu e non vi è traccia.
Ho anche efettuato un controllo sulla integrità delle cache del gioco, sempre utilizzando steam, e ho verificato che non ci fossero problemi su di esse.
Sapendo che il mio pc possiede tutti i requisiti di sistema richiesti per il corretto funzionamento di “Il 2 Stormovik – Cliffs Of Dover” chiedo quindi di potermi dare una spiegazione riguardo al mal funzionamento dell’applicazione.
GRAZIE a chi mi vorrà aiutare.
Why run this game into the ground with activations and Steam? Yet another title augering in! Pulishers need to get a clue, even the average customer is checking for DRM now…
Steam?? Really?? Again?? Sorry but after buying every non steam war game you guys ever released im going to have to turn my back on you again. Dont care how great the game is. I hate steam. Steam sucks and so does anyone who likes wasting ram or likes getting kicked off a game because steam goes down. Mind you I will still play this game. But instead of paying you I will just pirate it and play off steam. Peace out UBI ya worthless sheep.
IL2 never ceases to amaze me and I have played it for years (never online). To have COD incumbered by Steam is like having money lenders in the temple. I wish I could do more than decline to buy. I’m not religious, but there should be a special hell for people who think it’s ok to put people in some kind of coral controlling their behavior. That’s the issue here, not the potential theft of the product. No one should support this perversion of free enterprise. No one should allow anyone to track and control their personal behavior. EE Cummings: ” A salesman is an it that stinks of excuse me”. Give the artists what they deserve when the parasites are out of the picture.