Steamworks, add it in or not?

[Cookieeater]

The most important features that I view Steamworks brings to the table. I got this info off from Steamworks main page.

Persistent identity framework

Achievements, leaderboards, profiles, and avatars make your game come alive, building your community and providing a strong incentive to play more and recruit others.

Multiplayer matchmaking

Steamworks' multiplayer back-end is powered by robust matchmaking and lobby technology. The same technology that drives the quick and accurate match-ups in Left 4 Dead can be used in your game. Works with both peer-to-peer and server-based games. Steamworks' built-in voice functionality enables players to work quickly to strategize their next misson.

The Steam Community

Your game becomes the talk of the town as part of Steam’s large and connected Steam Community. Friends will see friends playing your game and will be able to organize matches, compare achievements, and talk about the next match, sequels, favorite parts, or their favorite villain.

In-game DLC

Sell additional content from within your game to the customers who want it most. Steamworks provides true in-game DLC, allowing customers to select, buy, and use DLC — all without leaving the game. Additionally, using Steamworks' DLC does not close off your other channels. You are still free to sell the content at retail, either with other online sites or through the Steam store.

Anti-cheat

With true cheat detection, keep cheaters from ruining it for the rest of us. Extend the life and sales of your game by making sure that the game plays as you intended it to when you shipped.

Access from any computer

Your customers can sign in and use their game from any PC or Mac. Access to their games is based on a customer account, not tied to a computer. Plus, with built-in offline mode, your customers can play on laptops when traveling — or anywhere else.

Voice chat

With built-in voice chat, players can talk to each other both inside and outside the game.

Steam Anti-Piracy

Steamworks' anti-piracy suite combines three approaches to anti-piracy: (1) Custom Executable Generation, (2) Retail Encryption, and (3) Valuable Platform-Dependent Features. These work together to provide a seamless end-user experience, protecting your game and giving real value to customers.




1. Custom Executable Generation
Custom Executable Generation creates a unique build of your game for each user, making it difficult for any one user to share the game with any other user. Each individual copy of a CEG-protected game is only playable by the Steam account authorized to access it. CEG is transparent, and does not impose limits on users. It lets users access their content from any hardware, and allows unlimited hardware configuration changes without the content becoming unplayable. In fact, no changes are made to a user's computer for CEG to work. Instead, CEG works in tandem with Steam authentication, enabling content access based on user accounts, not arbitrary hardware-based "rights-management" restrictions.

2. Retail Encryption
Protect your day-one release by shipping encrypted media to stores world-wide. No need to worry that your game will leak from a replicator or stock room - your game stays encrypted until the moment you decide to release it.

Encryption technology also allows you to preload your game to users on Steam. Download encrypted data weeks in advance so that players have access to your game the moment it's released, increasing player numbers and satisfaction during the critical first days.

3. Valuable Platform-Dependent Features
Customers won't want to pirate a game that's connected to 20 million gamers and a feature-rich platform. Features like Steam Achievements, Anti-Cheat, Auto-Updating, and Steam Cloud simply dont exist outside of Steam.

Furthermore, constantly updating your game with upgrades and content leaves the pirates in the dust they are relegated to a featureless game with no community of players.

Beta-testing

Run secure public betas of your game. Hold public betas and choose from one participant to thousands, if you like. The timing and scope of the beta is up to you.

Free Weekends and Guest Passes

Hold events like Free Weekends (or any length play period) to entice customers and promote your game. Then securely and efficiently turn the promotion off at the end of the period. Also available is guest pass technology that allows you to promote your game through your community. Let friends give free, limited-time passes to their friends. This is proven tech that has been used with our games and third parties.

Real-time sales data

Log on to your personal sales and data tracking site and see your product’s statistics up-to-the-minute. Don’t wait for weeks to find out where and how your game is selling. Real-time, worldwide activation and use reports give you the detail you need to make informed decisions about marketing and retail conditions when they need to be made.

As a person who owns 64 games on Steam, I really like Steam as a whole. I'd really like some of the Steamworks features such as the server browser, stats, and right clicking on a friend whose playing ArmA II to instantly join their server.

You can read more here if you're interested in it.
http://steampowered.com/steamworks/index.php

[Nicholas]

I own 80+ games on steam and I would 100% love to see some steam integration. Maruk even said that quite a few of the ArmA sales were made on steam. I'll see if I can find the post...

I personally believe that steam is a great platform not only to manage the game, but also to advertise it. Currently steam has nearly 2 million players on. That is quite a large number which can easily access the game.

[ArmAriffic]

no steam, keep it optional!!!!!
There is already a thread for steam in A3

[Celery]

I was extremely pissed off when I heard that Deus Ex 3 was a Steamworks game. I can't imagine what I'd do if Arma 3 was the same.

[metalcraze]

I don't want avatars and achievements for children - only to suffer from not being able to have a choice whether to have a problematic DRM that also messes with mods or not and running Steam's bloatware when I will need all resources for ArmA3.

[Celery]

Quoting myself from the earlier Steam thread:

- A Steam account is a static immaterial investment that gains value but said value cannot be exchanged back to money except when sold whole, although Valve frowns upon that, too.
- As a rule Steam prices for new games is way, way too high especially considering the above point.
- Steam doesn't evoke trust as a platform for heavily moddable games.
- Some people want to keep physical copies of their favorite games out of sentiment or independence from needlessly authoritarian connection, software and consumer unfriendly term requirements.
- Regarding consumer unfriendliness, Steam has a no refunds policy no matter how cheated you feel.

Strangely enough that kind of consumer rights butchery is not evident in non-downloaded non-Steam games, i.e. you can sell the copy to someone else. Movies are someone's IP as well, yet you can sell any and all DVDs you might have because they don't require you to bind them to a personal online account for all eternity.

Any consumer who knows their rights will wipe their ass with terms and conditions that are shown only after the product is bought. Reselling a legal physical copy is not prohibited anywhere as far as I know, and Steam is enforcing its own made-up rules that limit the consumer's rights compared to a physical product and the rules are solely for the benefit of Valve and its clients at the expense of customers who would normally have every right to pass their copies on to others.

a Steam-activated boxed game is the worst kind of deal you can get. It usually doesn't have a manual, it's a slower and usually an even more expensive way to get a Steam game, and after forever binding the game to a single account, the box and the installation media becomes garbage because you can't sell it to anyone and you can install the game by downloading it.

I still don't get why some Steam fans want everyone else to buy their games on Steam whether they like it or not. The lack of empathy and perspective is frankly astounding.

[kylania]

I bought ArmA and ArmA2 from Steam. In both cases I ended up uninstalling the games and buying the DVD versions for multiple reasons. Horrible patching, ridiculously delayed patching, full game instead of only changed file patching, Steam problems preventing me from playing my games, having to log in to play my games online even for single player (and no, 'offline mode' is not a valid solution since you have to be online to enable that, so if my cable goes down I'm out of luck), Steam's moronicly long file path causes mods to break, registry nonsense to even get the game to play and so on...

I've never had problems with DVD versions and I've only had problems with Steam versions for ArmA. For some games it's just fine, but for ArmA... DVD always. Also, leaderboards are for silly people.

[Ebolavirus]

there's a nice feeling going to a shop, perusing the titles and imagining the hours of enjoyment you may yet get to experience if and when you decide to own it. there's a nice feeling, as on your way home you get to open it and read through the manual and the glossy sale brochures that don't interest you but you read them anyway. there's a nice feeling once you get home, installing it and knowing everything contained in that bundle is everything you need to play it. No virtual middleman saying, hey guess what, you don't get to own this experience yet buddy.

So tell me, why does it need to be more complicated than that?

[dunedain]

I own around 130 games on Steam, so I do like this platform.

Yet, I kind of agree with Celery and kylania opinions, hence why I bought all my BIS games on retail. I don't see how Steamworks features could benefit Arma3.

The really good thing with Steam is that well it saves room, you have no download limit for you games and they never get old like when I broke my OFP CD "bought july 2001" about 3 or 4 years ago, while I had a urge to reinstall it. Wouldn't matter if I had it on Steam.. So now the broken CD rests in its box alongside its 7 brothers..

[Rebel44]

I like features like STeam Cloud, so Yes.