Download from Steam

[Matteo123]

Told you so...

While we can blame this all on Steam and Valve, the logistics should have been worked out before today. I am going to call my credit card and try to cancel the payment to Steam and dispute it. They have messed with the wrong law student.

[Liberator]

LOL blame it on yourself
Why download when you you can have it on disk?!

[quadalpha]

LOL blame it on yourself
Why download when you you can have it on disk?!

I'd rather hoped this place doesn't descend to TWC standards.

It's supposed to start 5AM EST or something on Wednesday, so my countdown thing actually decreased by a few hours. Maybe they'll have dedicated servers for this?

[Monk]

1 day and 13 hours according to Steam's store countdown page. So probably around 4 AM EST on Wednesday this thing will unlock.

I'm with BzzY on this one, it could be much worse. With all the stuff we've gotten in the last week or so (campaign reports especially) I really don't see a reason to start bashing CA.

[Matteo123]

Anyone able to find the number for Steam to call and request a refund? All I get is an email address.

[Graphic]

Pre-purchased on Steam and...meh, I don't care. My download is almost 2 MB/s. I'll get it soon enough.

[Styles]

Well most customers are upset because Steam promised a 48h preload time and most have probably bought it on steam because of the preload. Many Steam users will now be playing the game later then box buyers.

[Lemur]

Actually, it wasn't Steam but rather Creative Assembly who had the 48-hour preload thing on their web site. Which means that CA had some reason to believe it was so; there's no profit for them in announcing something that's untrue.

Here's a semi-official satement:

Hello all,

Here is the official word regarding Empire: Total War and pre-loading:

"There is no pre-load for Empire: Total War. Due to the staggered release times worldwide, preloading is not possible and as such, Empire will begin loading at the time of release. The current release schedules for the game are:

Tuesday, March 3rd - 1800 CET / 1700 GMT / 0900 PST
* North American & Canadian Ship Date
* Steam Authentication Servers activated for North American & Canadian Retail customers.
* Steam Authentication Servers activated for all European and other Worldwide retail and digital download customers.
* Game available for sale and download for European and other Worldwide digital download customers.

Wednesday, March 4th - 1000 CET / 0900 CET / 0100 PST
* Worldwide street date.
* Game available for sale and download for North American & Canadian digital download customers.

In brief, the game will authenticate for customers at 1800 / 1700 / 0900 Tuesday and allow for European players to start playing then. North American and Canadian customers will be able to start playing at 0100 Wednesday.

That is the official word. No pre-loading.

[Styles]

For myself I dont care for the preload I decided to buy a box and it will arrive tomorow. But I care for those players that bought it on steam.

Even if it was anounced by CA and not steam it doesnt make it any better. They should have clarified it sooner but I bet it was far more tempting to get 10 bucks more for the game in hope that most buyers are "I dont care" customers.

[Dogfish]

Ouch, that sucks. I'm an older jaded gamer, and have never done a digital download because I like being able to physically hold the box and disc... evidence like this makes me contemplate whether I will do a digital purchase in the foreseeable future.

I really don't see any advantage to doing a digital purchase like through steam? It's the same price... but you don't get box, discs, manual, etc. Maybe not having to drive to the store to pick it up is an advantage, but hardly worth the aforementioned disadvantages, unless it's a more obscure game that isn't available at the local store... or maybe if they charged $20 less to reflect their lower overhead, otherwise it seems a bit of a rip off.

[Matteo123]

Dogfish, you are 100% right, the only reason any of us went with Steam was the pre-load so they now take that away from us and rip us off by charging the same for less.

[Graphic]

There are two situations when I buy on Steam:

1) When it's a game I want on day one. I can't trust my local retailers to meet street dates for PC games. They all seem to have the attitude "well, no one's going to buy this anyway, so whatever."

2) When the game's been out for a while and isn't carried by retail chains anymore.

In both situations I prefer Steam over buying a boxed copy off the internet because it's cheaper with no S&H fee involved.

[Vlad Tzepes]

I don't like it either, the idea of downloading a digital copy, but down here, in the EU's Far East (Romania), there's no other way to legally get ETW sooner than through Steam.

So I pre-ordered and everything... I'll wait till tomorrow now... I'll use the .Org as my game manual (much better, anyway)... And I'll most probably get a disc in about 6 months, when they go to sales :)

[Monk]

Ouch, that sucks. I'm an older jaded gamer, and have never done a digital download because I like being able to physically hold the box and disc... evidence like this makes me contemplate whether I will do a digital purchase in the foreseeable future.

I really don't see any advantage to doing a digital purchase like through steam? It's the same price... but you don't get box, discs, manual, etc. Maybe not having to drive to the store to pick it up is an advantage, but hardly worth the aforementioned disadvantages, unless it's a more obscure game that isn't available at the local store... or maybe if they charged $20 less to reflect their lower overhead, otherwise it seems a bit of a rip off.

It was my understanding that there was going to be a pre-load for the game, so you could be ready to go the moment the game was unlocked on steam which was a big reason why I bought with steam. Now that feature seems to not be present it does make me feel a bit disappointed, but I was still going to spend $50+ on this game anyway so I don't really feel "ripped off". If I had bought the SF edition on Steam I certainly would! But I opted for normal.

I don't feel I missed out on anything by not getting the manual, having the disc is probably the only thing I feel I got aced out of. Having bought with steam before, though, that doesn't bother me to a great degree. Fallout 3 and left 4 dead are just as enjoyable without a disc as they are with, and I'm sure ETW will be too.

All that said, it's really about preference which way you go. The boxed copy still has that tangible pro to it which is certainly nice.

[vyan]

Matteo123,

I dont know if this is correct but here is what i read on another forum relating to cancelling your card payments.

Groam wrote: call your bank from the card you purchased the game from and tell them you dont want to be billed for steam, you can log onto your account from the internet as well and not allow the charge to go threw.

That's a bad idea, as Steam has stated that it suspends the accounts of anyone who blocks payment by their credit card or bank, meaning that you won't be able to activate the game even if you get it at a store.

If you're in Europe, it would seem you are entitled by law to cancel within 2 weeks of your purchase (assuming you didn't download and install RTW Gold). In the US, you can cancel anytime within 72 hours. If you're outside of either of those time frames, you'll have to count on Steam's good graces.

[Alexander XXI]

I feel sorry for everyone that is using Steam, but I would never use it as you don't feel as though you have the game properly without the disk. I hope there are no more problems, what next? Could there be a problem with activating games, even those that have been posted?

[Fisherking]

Quote removed. -- Martok

The usual explanative is

Use it and everyone knows exactly what you mean…

And no bad men in masks come wanting a word with you…

Aw man.

Oh well. I don't see a reason to act like the sky is falling, it was a choice of Steams to take the pre-load out of the equation. It's disappointing, but I'll live. It's not as if they delayed the release by another month.

Don’t even think like that!!!!

Bad Karma dude! Ya know, man. Not cool man!

[Lemur]

Hmm, I may wind up eating a pug after all ...

[Fisherking]

Hmm, I may wind up eating a pug after all ...

No carnivores Lemurs allowed…think veggie man!

All you dudes….a deep breath and OOOOMMMMM, OOOOOOMMM

Out with the bad vibes man…chill, chill…everything is groovy man…

Think good vibes man…Tomorrow it all goes great!

Good vibes man!

Deeeep Breath and hold it!

Chough* this stuff is a killer man! Cough*cough*

Good Vibes Man!

Cool!

[Monk]

No carnivores Lemurs allowed…think veggie man!

All you dudes….a deep breath and OOOOMMMMM, OOOOOOMMM

Out with the bad vibes man…chill, chill…everything is groovy man…

Think good vibes man…Tomorrow it all goes great!

Good vibes man!

Deeeep Breath and hold it!

Chough* this stuff is a killer man! Cough*cough*

Good Vibes Man!

Cool!

Dr. Feelgood, ladies and gentlemen!

Even if it was anounced by CA and not steam it doesnt make it any better. They should have clarified it sooner but I bet it was far more tempting to get 10 bucks more for the game in hope that most buyers are "I dont care" customers.

Oh, without a doubt I am frustrated that CA appears to have "jumped the gun" before they got the okay from steam. It was my understanding Steam was on-board with such an offer, it appears they were not. Still despite that frustration and outright disappointment, I'm not gonna let it damper my enthusiasm for the game. I'll let release day be the judge.

[Styles]

Well the game itself and the business policies of CA and Valve/Steam are two different shoes.

I dont judge the game by that but I'm not very tolerant with that kind of making business and the absolute lack of customer service by steam.

It will be even worse on release if the download does not work properly. I can hear the voices of a thousand people crying out in pain because of the horrific download speed

[Matteo123]

But this screws over all of us who took the day off.


No bashing CA please. -- Martok

[Matteo123]

If steam cancels my account, i just make a new account.